The First Book of Moses: Genesis

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- Chapter 26 -

(Genesis 12:1–9)

Then, when a famine arose over the land, after that barrenness which had happened in the days of Abraham, Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Palestinians, in Gerar.

And the Lord appeared to him, and he said: “Do not descend into Egypt, but rest in the land that I will tell you,

and sojourn in it, and I will be with you, and I will bless you. For to you and to your offspring I will give all these regions, completing the oath that I promised to Abraham your father.

And I will multiply your offspring like the stars of heaven. And I will give to your posterity all these regions. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed,

because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my precepts and commandments, and observed the ceremonies and the laws.”

Isaac Deceives Abimelech

And so Isaac remained in Gerar.

And when he was questioned by the men of that place about his wife, he answered, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to confess her to be his mate, thinking that perhaps they would put him to death because of her beauty.

And when very many days had passed, and he had remained in the same place, Abimelech, king of the Palestinians, gazing through a window, saw him being playful with Rebekah, his wife.

And summoning him, he said: “It is clear that she is your wife. Why did you falsely claim her to be your sister?” He answered, “I was afraid, lest I might die because of her.”

And Abimelech said: “Why have you burdened us? Someone from the people could have lain with your wife, and you would have brought a great sin upon us.” And he instructed all the people, saying,

“Whoever will touch the wife of this man will die a death.”

Isaac’s Prosperity

Then Isaac sowed in that land, and he found, in that same year, one hundredfold. And the Lord blessed him.

And the man was enriched, and he continued prospering as well as increasing, until he became very great.

Likewise, he had possessions of sheep and of herds, and a very large family. Because of this, the Palestinians envied him,

so, at that time, they obstructed all the wells that the servants of his father Abraham had dug, filling them with soil.

It reached a point where Abimelech himself said to Isaac, “Move away from us, for you have become very much more powerful than we.”

And departing, he then went toward the torrent of Gerar, and he dwelt there.

Again, he dug up other wells, which the servants of his father Abraham had dug, and which, after his death, the Philistines had formerly obstructed. And he called them by the same names that his father had called them before.

And they dug in the torrent, and they found living water.(a)

(b)

But in that place also the shepherds of Gerar argued against the shepherds of Isaac, by saying, “It is our water.” For this reason, he called the name of the well, because of what had happened, ‘Calumny.’

Then they dug up yet another one. And over that one also they fought, and he called it, ‘Enmity.’

Advancing from there, he dug another well, over which they did not contend. And so he called its name, ‘Latitude,’ saying, “Now the Lord has expanded us and caused us to increase across the land.”(c)

Then he ascended from that place into Beersheba,

where the Lord appeared to him on the same night, saying: “I am the God of Abraham your father. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you, and I will multiply your offspring because of my servant Abraham.”

And so he built an altar there. And he invoked the name of the Lord, and he stretched out his tent. And he instructed his servants to dig a well.

Isaac’s Covenant with Abimelech

When Abimelech, and Ahuzzath, his friend, and Phicol, the leader of the military, had arrived from Gerar to that place,

Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, a man whom you hate, and whom you have expelled from among you?”

And they responded: “We saw that the Lord is with you, and therefore we said: Let there be an oath between us, and let us initiate a pact,

so that you may not do us any kind of harm, just as we have touched nothing of yours, and have not caused any injury to you, but with peace we released you, augmented by the blessing of the Lord.”

Therefore, he made them a feast, and after the food and drink,

arising in the morning, they swore to one another. And Isaac sent them away peacefully to their own place.

Then, behold, on the same day the servants of Isaac came, reporting to him about a well which they had dug, and saying: “We have found water.”

Therefore, he called it, ‘Abundance.’ And the name of the city was established as ‘Beersheba,’ even to the present day.

Esau’s Wives

In truth, at forty years of age, Esau took wives: Judith, the daughter of Beeri, the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon, of the same place.

And they both offended the mind of Isaac and Rebekah.

Footnotes

(a)26:19 The expression ‘aquam vivam’ has a dual meaning. It refers to water that continually pours forth (perhaps similar to an artesian well). It also has a spiritual meaning, as found in the Gospels. The torrent is a wadi, in other words, a dry stream bed that is a rushing torrent in the rainy season (perhaps only one or two months a year). The word torrentem in Latin can refer to something that is hot and dry, or to a rushing stream.(Conte)

(b)26:19 Torrent:That is, a channel where sometimes a torrent or violent stream had run.(Challoner)

(Genesis 12:1–9)

There was a famine in the land, in addition to the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, to Gerar.

The LORD appeared to him, and said, “Don’t go down into Egypt. Live in the land I will tell you about.

Live in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you. For I will give to you, and to your offspring, all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.

I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the sky, and will give all these lands to your offspring. In your offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed,

because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my requirements, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

Isaac Deceives Abimelech

Isaac lived in Gerar.

The men of the place asked him about his wife. He said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “My wife”, lest, he thought, “the men of the place might kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to look at.”

When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was caressing Rebekah, his wife.

Abimelech called Isaac, and said, “Behold, surely she is your wife. Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die because of her.’”

Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!”

Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”

Isaac’s Prosperity

Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year one hundred times what he planted. The LORD blessed him.

The man grew great, and grew more and more until he became very great.

He had possessions of flocks, possessions of herds, and a great household. The Philistines envied him.

Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped, and filled with earth.

Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”

Isaac departed from there, encamped in the valley of Gerar, and lived there.

Isaac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham. He called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of flowing

(a)

water.

The herdsmen of Gerar argued with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek,(b) because they contended with him.

They dug another well, and they argued over that, also. So he called its name Sitnah.(c)

He left that place, and dug another well. They didn’t argue over that one. So he called it Rehoboth.(d) He said, “For now the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

He went up from there to Beersheba.

The LORD appeared to him the same night, and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you, and will bless you, and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.”

He built an altar there, and called on the LORD’s name, and pitched his tent there. There Isaac’s servants dug a well.

Isaac’s Covenant with Abimelech

Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain of his army.

Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me, and have sent me away from you?”

They said, “We saw plainly that the LORD was with you. We said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, even between us and you, and let’s make a covenant with you,

that you will do us no harm, as we have not touched you, and as we have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace.’ You are now the blessed of the LORD.”

He made them a feast, and they ate and drank.

They rose up some time in the morning, and swore an oath to one another. Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

The same day, Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.”

He called it “Shibah”.(e) Therefore the name of the city is “Beersheba”(f) to this day.

Esau’s Wives

When Esau was forty years old, he took as wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

They grieved Isaac’s and Rebekah’s spirits.

Footnotes

(a)26:19 Or, living. Or, fresh.

(b)26:20 “Esek” means “contention”.

(d)26:22 “Rehoboth” means “broad places”.

(e)26:33 Shibah means “oath” or “seven”.

(f)26:33 Beersheba means “well of the oath” or “well of the seven”