Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year one hundred times what he planted. Yahweh 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 springing water. The herdsmen of Gerar argued with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” He called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him. They dug another well, and they argued over that, also. He called its name Sitnah. He left that place, and dug another well. They didn’t argue over that one. He called it Rehoboth. He said, “For now Yahweh has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”
He went up from there to Beersheba. Yahweh 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.”
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv12, 14, 16, 18, 23, 24 12. Then Isaac sowed. Here Moses proceeds to relate…
12. Then Isaac sowed. Here Moses proceeds to relate in what manner Isaac reaped the manifest fruit of the blessing promised to him by God; for he says, that when he had sowed, the increase was a hundredfold: which was an extraordinary fertility, even in that land. He also adds, that he was rich in cattle, and had a very great household. Moreover, he ascribes the praise of all these things to the blessing of God; as it is also declared in the psalm, that the Lord abundantly supplies what will satisfy his people while they sleep. (Psalm 127:2.) It may, however, be asked, how could Isaac sow when God had commanded him to be a stranger all his life? Some suppose that he had bought a field, and so translate the word קנה (kanah) a possession; but the context corrects their error: for we find soon afterwards, that the holy man was not delayed, by having land to sell, from removing his effects elsewhere: besides, since the purchasing of land was contrary to his peculiar vocation and to the command of God, Moses undoubtedly would not have passed over such a notable offense. To this may be added, that since express mention is immediately made of a tent, we may hence infer, that wherever he might come, he would have to dwell in the precarious condition of a stranger. We must, therefore, maintain, that he sowed in a hired field. For although he had not a foot of land in his own possession, yet, that he might discharge the duty of a good householder, it behoved him to prepare food for his family; and perhaps hunger quickened his care and industry, that he might with the greater diligence make provision for himself against the future. Nevertheless, it is right to keep in mind, what I have lately alluded to, that he received as a divine favor the abundance which he had acquired by his own labor.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv12, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24 Or, an hundred measures.
Or, an hundred measures.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv12–24 Gen 26:12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and…
Gen 26:12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.
Ver. 12. Then Isaac sowed in that land.] In ground hired for his use, and managed by himself: for it was anciently a great commendation, saith Cicero, to be a good husbandman. {a} M. Curius, after three triumphs, returned to the plough, and held it no disgrace; neither ever was there more plenty at Rome than then, saith Pliny; Quasi gauderet terra laureato vomere, et Aratore triumphali. This good husbandman in the text, sowing in that barren land, and in a time of famine too, hath a hundredfold increase; which is the utmost that our Saviour mentioneth in the parable of the sower; {Mat 13:23} and in reference hereunto, he elsewhere assureth such as part with all for his sake and the gospel’s, they "shall receive a hundredfold here, and eternal life hereafter". {Mat 19:29} That which Herodotus and Pliny report of Babylon is beyond belief: that the land thereabouts returns two hundredfold increase. {b} But grant it were true, yet he that is a good husband for his soul, sows in a better ground, and shall have a better return: for, "he that soweth to the Spirit, shall, of the Spirit, reap life everlasting." Only it is required, that he "be not weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not". {Gal 6:8-9} We must not look to sow and reap all in a day, as he {c} saith of the Hyperborean people far north; that they sow shortly after the sunrising, and reap before the sunset; because the whole half year is one continual day with them. We must "wait," with "the husbandman, for the precious fruit of the earth, and have long patience for it, until we receive the former and latter rain". {Jas 5:7} And "be diligent" in the meanwhile, that when Christ comes, "we may be found of him in peace". {2Pe 3:14} Heaven will pay for all our pains and patience. "He which soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly; and he that soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully," {2Co 9:6} even blessing upon blessing, as the word there (επ ευλογιαις) signifies: he "shall doubtless come again with joy, bringing his sheaves with him". {Psa 126:6}
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{a} Veteres siquem virum bonum colonum appellassent, amplissime laudasse exstimabant. - Cic.
{b} Dιηκοσια μεν το παραπαν αποδιδοι. - Her., lib. i. - Plin., lib. vi. cap. 26.
{c} Heresbach., De Re Rustica.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 23 Isaac sowed in that land; either in the grounds…
Isaac sowed in that land; either in the grounds which he had hired of the right owners, or in some grounds which lay neglected, and therefore were free to the first occupier; which was not strange in that age of the world, when the inhabitants of countries were not so numerous as afterward.
An hundredfold, i.e. a hundred times as much as he sowed. The same degree of increase is intimated Mat 13:8, and affirmed sometimes of other places by heathen writers; but then it was in a better soil and season than this was, for this was a time of famine or scarcity.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v12 Here we have,
Here we have,
I. The tokens of God's good-will to Isaac. He blessed him, and prospered him, and made all that he had to thrive under his hands. 1. His corn multiplied strangely, Gen 26:12. He had no land of his own, but took land of the Philistines, and sowed it; and (be it observed for the encouragement of poor tenants, that occupy other people's lands, and are honest and industrious) God blessed him with a great increase. He reaped a hundred fold; and there seems to be an emphasis laid upon the time: it was that same year when there was a famine in the land; while others scarcely reaped at all, he reaped thus plentifully. See Isa 65:13, My servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry, Psa 37:19, In the days of famine they shall be satisfied. 2. His cattle also increased, Gen 26:14. And then, 3. He had great store of servants, whom he employed and maintained. Note, As goods are increased those are increased that eat them, Ecc 5:11.
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II. The tokens of the Philistines' ill-will to him. They envied him, Gen 26:14. It is an instance, 1. Of the vanity of the world that the more men have of it the more they are envied, and exposed to censure and injury. Who can stand before envy? Pro 27:4. See Ecc 4:4. 2. Of the corruption of nature; for that is a bad principle indeed which makes men grieve at the good of others, as if it must needs be ill with me because it is well with my neighbor. (1.) They had already shown their ill-will to his family, by stopping up the wells which his father had digged, Gen 26:15. This was spitefully done. Because they had not flocks of their own to water at these wells, they would not leave them for the use of others; so absurd a thing is malice. And it was perfidiously done, contrary to the covenant of friendship they had made with Abraham, Gen 21:31, Gen 21:32. No bonds will hold ill-nature. (2.) They expelled him out of their country, Gen 26:16, Gen 26:17. The king of Gerar began to look upon him with a jealous eye. Isaac's house was like a court, and his riches and retinue eclipsed Abimelech's; and therefore he must go further off. They were weary of his neighborhood, because they saw that the Lord blessed him; whereas, for that reason, they should the rather have courted his stay, that they also might be blessed for his sake. Isaac does not insist upon the bargain he had made with them for the lands he held, nor upon his occupying and improving them, nor does he offer to contest with them by force, though he had become very great, but very peaceably departs thence further from the royal city, and perhaps to a part of the country less fruitful. Note, We should deny ourselves both in our rights and in our conveniences, rather than quarrel: a wise and a good man will rather retire into obscurity, like Isaac here into a valley, than sit high to be the butt of envy and ill-will.
III. His constancy and continuance in his business still.
1. He kept up his husbandry, and continued industrious to find wells of water, and to fit them for his use, Gen 26:18, etc. Though he had grown very rich, yet he was as solicitous as ever about the state of his flocks, and still looked well to his herds; when men grow great, they must take heed of thinking themselves too big and too high for their business. Though he was driven from the conveniences he had had, and could not follow his husbandry with the same ease and advantage as before, yet he set himself to make the best of the country he had come into, which it is every man's prudence to do. Observe,
(1.) He opened the wells that his father had digged (Gen 26:18), and out of respect to his father called them by the same names that he had given them. Note, In our searches after truth, that fountain of living water, it is good to make use of the discoveries of former ages, which have been clouded by the corruptions of later times. Enquire for the old way, the wells which our fathers digged, which the adversaries of truth have stopped up: Ask thy elders, and they shall teach thee.
(2.) His servants dug new wells, Gen 26:19. Note, Though we must use the light of former ages, it does not therefore follow that we must rest in it, and make no advances. We must still be building upon their foundation, running to and fro, that knowledge may be increased, Dan 12:4.
(3.) In digging his wells he met with much opposition, Gen 26:20, Gen 26:21. Those that open the fountains of truth must expect contradiction. The first two wells which they dug were called Esek and Sitnah, contention and hatred. See here, [1.] What is the nature of worldly things; they are make-bates and occasions of strife. [2.] What is often the lot even of the most quiet and peaceable men in this world; those that avoid striving yet cannot avoid being striven with, Psa 120:7. In this sense, Jeremiah was a man of contention (Jer 15:10), and Christ himself, though he is the prince of peace. [3.] What a mercy it is to have plenty of water, to have it without striving for it. The more common this mercy is the more reason we have to be thankful for it.
(4.) At length he removed to a quiet settlement, cleaving to his peaceable principle, rather to fly than fight, and unwilling to dwell with those that hated peace, Psa 120:6. He preferred quietness to victory. He dug a well, and for this they strove not, Gen 26:22. Note, Those that follow peace, sooner or later, shall find peace; those that study to be quiet seldom fail of being so. How unlike was Isaac to his brother Ishmael, who, right or wrong, would hold what he had, against all the world! Gen 16:12. And which of these would we be found the followers of? This well they called Rehoboth, enlargements, room enough: in the two former wells we may see what the earth is, straitness and strife; men cannot thrive, for the throng of their neighbours. This well shows us what heaven is; it is enlargement and peace, room enough there, for there are many mansions.
2. He continued firm to his religion, and kept up his communion with God. (1.) God graciously appeared to him, Gen 26:24. When the Philistines expelled him, forced him to remove from place to place, and gave him continual molestation, then God visited him, and gave him fresh assurances of his favour. Note, When men are found false and unkind, we may comfort ourselves that God is faithful and gracious; and his time to show himself so is when we are most disappointed in our expectations from men. When Isaac had come to Beer-sheba (Gen 26:23) it is probable that it troubled him to think of his unsettled condition, and that he could not be suffered to stay long in a place; and, in the multitude of these thoughts within him, that same night that he came weary and uneasy to Beer-sheba God brought him his comforts to delight his soul. Probably he was apprehensive that the Philistines would not let him rest there: Fear not, says God to him, I am with thee, and will bless thee. Those may remove with comfort that are sure of God's presence with them wherever they go. (2.) He was not wanting in his returns of duty to God; for there he built an altar, and called upon the name of the Lord, Gen 26:25. Note, [1.] Wherever we go, we must take our religion along with us. Probably Isaac's altars and his religious worship gave offence to the Philistines, and provoked them to be the more troublesome to him; yet he kept up his duty, whatever ill-will he might be exposed to by it. [2.] The comforts and encouragements God gives us by his word should excite and quicken us to every exercise of devotion by which God may be honoured and our intercourse with heaven maintained.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv12–24 And the man waxed great,.... In substance, as well…
And the man waxed great,.... In substance, as well as in honour and glory, among men:
and went forward; in the world, and in the increase of worldly things:
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and grew until he became very great: as he must needs be, since Abraham his father left him all that he had, who was very rich in cattle, in gold and silver, and had been increasing ever since; and especially since he came to Gerar, where he was gradually increasing, until he became to be exceeding great indeed, even the greatest man in all the country, yea, greater than King Abimelech himself, as it seems, from Gen 26:16.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv12, 20, 21, 22, 24 Isaac received an hundred fold - And there seems…
Isaac received an hundred fold - And there seems to be an emphasis laid upon the time; it was that same year when there was a famine in the land; while others scarce reaped at all, he reaped thus plentifully.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 24 Verse 12. Isaac sowed in that land] Being now…
Verse 12. Isaac sowed in that land] Being now perfectly free from the fear of evil, he betakes himself to agricultural and pastoral pursuits, in which he has the especial blessing of God, so that his property becomes greatly increased.
A hundred-fold] מאה שערים, meah shearim, literally, "A hundred-fold of barley;" and so the Septuagint, εκατοστευουσαν κριθην. Perhaps such a crop of this grain was a rare occurrence in Gerar. The words, however, may be taken in a general way, as signifying a very great increase; so they are used by our Lord in the parable of the sower.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv12, 16, 22, 24 Gen 26:12. Isaac sowed in that land — Either…
Gen 26:12. Isaac sowed in that land — Either in grounds which he had hired of the right owners, or in some which lay neglected, and therefore were free to the first occupier. That this should be the case, in that age of the world, is not strange, considering how few the inhabitants, even of Canaan, then were, in comparison of what they were three hundred years after, when the Israelites came out of Egypt. He received a hundred-fold — A hundred times as much as he sowed. The same degree of increase is spoken of Mat 13:8; and affirmed sometimes of other places by heathen writers. But then it was in a better soil and season than this was; for this was in a time of famine. Accordingly an emphasis is laid upon the time; it was the same year when there was a famine in the land; while others scarce reaped at all, he reaped thus plentifully, through the divine blessing.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv12, 16, 18, 19, 22, 24 And the Lord. This is not mentioned as a…
And the Lord. This is not mentioned as a miracle; for Egypt and many other countries produced 100 fold. Pliny, Natural History xviii. 10, says, some parts of Africa rendered 150 times as much as was sowed. The famine had now ceased. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v23 Isaac in Beer-sheba. Treaty of Peace with Abimelech
FOURTH SECTION
Isaac in Beer-sheba. Treaty of Peace with Abimelech
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Gen_26:23-33
23And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba. 24And the Lord appeared unto him the same [first] night, and said, I3 am the God of Abraham thy father; fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake. 25And he builded an altar there, and called upon [witnessed to] the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent4 there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well.
26Then [and] Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath [possession, occupant] one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain [see Gen_21:22, commander] of his army. 27And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me [have treated me with hatred], and have sent me away from you? 28And they said, We saw certainly5 that the Lord was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us [on both sides], 29 even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee; That6 thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou art [thus art thou] now the blessed of the Lord. 30And he made, them a feast, and they did eat and drink. 31And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. 32And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac’s servants came and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water. 33And he called it Shebah [seven; here in its signification: oath]: therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
To Beer-sheba.—The former residence of Abraham (Gen_21:33), and Isaac’s former station for his flocks.—The appearance of Jehovah.—A night vision; a form which now enters more definitely into the history of the patriarchs.—The God of Abraham, thy father.—In this way Jehovah reminds him of the consistency of his covenant faithfulness, but especially of his covenant with Abraham.—Fear not.—This encouraging exhortation no doubt refers to the disposition of Isaac. Abraham needed such an encouragement, after having exposed himself to the revenge of the Eastern kings on account of his victory over them. Isaac needs it because of his modest, timid disposition, and on account of the enmity of the Philistines, by whom he was driven from place to place. Perhaps his heart foreboded that Abimelech would yet follow him. He consecrates his prolonged sojourn at Beer-sheba by the erection of an altar, the establishment of a regulated worship, and by a fixed settlement.—Then Abimelech went to him.—By comparing this covenant act with that between Abraham and Abimelech of Gerar, the difference appears more strikingly. Abimelech, in the present chapter, is accompanied not only by the chief captain of his army, but also by his friend, i.e., Ahuzzath, his private counsellor. Isaac animadverts on his hatred, but not like Abraham, on the wells that had been taken away from him (see Gen_21:25). Even in the boasting assertion of Abimelech respecting his conduct toward Isaac—which the facts will not sustain—we recognize, apparently, another Abimelech, less noble than the former. This appears also in his demand of the imprecatory oath (אלה). It is also peculiar to Isaac that he permits a banquet, a feast of peace as it were, to precede the making of the covenant. The same day, after the departure of Abimelech, the servants, who had commenced some time before to dig a new well, found water. Their message seems to be a new reward of blessing, immediately following the peaceable conduct of Isaac. Isaac names this well as Abraham had done the one before (Gen_21:31); thus the name Beer-sheba is given to it also. [It is not said that this name was here given for the first time; but as the covenant concluded was the renewal and confirmation of the covenant of Abraham with the previous Abimelech, so the name is the renewal and confirmation of that given by Abraham. The same name is appropriate to both occasions.—A. G.] The existence of both these wells bears witness to the credibility of this fact. Keil. Knobel, of course, regards this as an entirely different tradition. But Delitzsch remarks: To all appearance, Isaac, in the naming of this well, followed the example of his father in naming the well situated near it; since in other cases he renewed the old names of the wells.—Bunsen: To swear, to the Hebrew, signifies, “to take sevenfold,” or, “to bind oneself to seven holy things, referring to the Aramaic idea of God as Lord of Seven; i.e., of the seven planets (Sun, Moon, Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn).” The remembrance of the seven sacrifices or pledges of the covenant, is far more probable, unless the expression is to be regarded as signifying a seven-fold degree of ordinary certainty.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Isaac’s holy elevation of soul at his return from the country of the Philistines to his old home, Beer-sheba, crowned by a promise and a glorious appearance of God.
2. The divine promise renewed; see above.
3. Isaac at Beer-sheba. He builds an altar to the Lord before a tent for himself. In the establishment of the worship of Jehovah, in this testimony to him, as he calls upon his name, and in his preaching, he is a worthy heir of his father.
4. Human covenants are well established, if a divine covenant precedes and constitutes their basis.
5. Isaac in his yielding, his patient endurance and concessions, a terror to the king.
6. Isaac’s feast of peace with Abimelech, a sign of his great inoffensiveness.
7. The solemnity of the well, and on the same day with the feast of peace, or, the blessing of noble conduct.
8. Abraham prefers to dwell in the plains (Moreh, Mamre), and he planted trees. Isaac prefers to reside at wells, and he is fond of digging wells.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
See the Doctrinal and Ethical paragraphs. The rich contents of the term: God of Abraham. It declares: 1. That the eternal God has made a covenant with us imperishable beings (Luk_20:37-38); 2. the continuity, the unity, the unchangeableness, of the revelation of Jehovah through all times and developments; 3. the transmission of the hereditary blessing from the believing father to the believing children.—How the expression, in the history of the patriarchs, fear not (Gen_15:1; Gen_26:24; Gen_28:15), goes through the whole scriptures until it reaches its full development in the angelic message of the birth of Christ (Luk_2:10), and at the morning of his resurrection.
Starke: Cramer: God always supports his church, and builds it everywhere (Isa_51:6). Whatever a Christian undertakes, he ought to undertake in the name of the Lord (Col_3:17). When a man’s ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him (Pro_16:7; Gen_33:4).—Lawful alliances and oaths are permitted (Deu_6:13).—Gerlach: At this place, remarkable, already, during the life of Abraham, the Lord renews the assurance of his grace, as afterwards to Jacob (Gen_46:1); whilst, in the consecration of individual places, he connected himself with the child-like faith of the patriarchs, and satisfied the want to which it gave rise.
Schröder: The least thing we sacrifice for the sake of God, he repays, by giving us himself (Berl. Bib.). Whenever Jehovah calls himself God of Ahraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he shows, thereby, in each day’s revelation of himself to Israel, the ground and occasion of the same in the revelation that is past—thus connecting the new with the old, while presenting the grace shown to the posterity, as a necessary consequence of that which he had covenanted to their fathers’ fathers. True religion is essentially historical; history (not fanciful myths) is its foundation and limits. God is our God, because he has made himself our God by repeated acts in history. In the kingdom of God everything develops and progresses; there is no past without a future, nor a future without a past.—Abraham received the promise respecting the Messiah in the name of all the faithful; if, now, Isaac and every believer be blessed for the sake of Abraham, he is blessed merely for the sake of the promise that was given to Abraham, and, therefore, for the sake of Christ (Roos).—Isaac is mindful of his sacerdotal office, as soon as he takes up his abode (Berl. Bib.).—The Abimelech mentioned here is more cunning than his father, for he pretends to know nothing about the taking away of Isaac’s wells by his servants (Luther).—Such is the course of the world. Now insolent, then mean. He who wishes to live in peace with it (which is true of all believers) must be able to bear and suffer (Roos).—The Abimelech of Genesis 21 uses Elohim, a word proper to him; the one in the present chapter, not caring much about the affair, says Jehovah, because he constantly heard Isaac make use of this divine name. He accommodates himself to the feast of Isaac, as Laban in Genesis 24 (Rom_12:20; Jos_9:14; 2Sa_3:20; Isa_25:6; Luk_14:17.)—The divine blessing of this conciliatory and humble love, did not exhaust itself in temporal things. Isaac contended and suffered for the sake of wells; as to the wells which he digged soon after his arrival at Beer-sheba, it happened on the very day he made the covenant and swore, etc.—The relation, of which the name Beer-sheba was the memorial, had ceased to exist. But by the repetition of the fact, the name regained its significance and power, and was the same as if now given for the first time (Hengstenberg).
Footnotes:
[3][Gen_26:24.—אָנֹכִי The pronoun is emphatic—I the God, etc.—A. G.]
[4][Gen_26:25.—יַיֶט. Not the usual word for the pitching a tent, see verse.17. The term may be chosen with reference to the permanence of his abode, or the increase of his family and retinue.—A. G.]
[5][Gen_26:28.—Lit., Seeing we have seen.—A. G.]
[6][Gen_26:29.—Lit., If thou shalt. The usual Hebrew form of an imprecation or oath.—A. G.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv12, 15, 17, 18 Then Isaac sowed in that land--During his sojourn in…
Then Isaac sowed in that land--During his sojourn in that district he farmed a piece of land, which, by the blessing of God on his skill and industry, was very productive (Isa 65:13; Psa 37:19); and by his plentiful returns he increased so rapidly in wealth and influence that the Philistines, afraid or envious of his prosperity, obliged him to leave the place (Pro 27:4; Ecc 4:4). This may receive illustration from the fact that many Syrian shepherds at this day settle for a year or two in a place, rent some ground, in the produce of which they trade with the neighboring market, till the owners, through jealousy of their growing substance, refuse to renew their lease and compel them to remove elsewhere.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 24 12. Isaac sowed — He now added agriculture to…
12. Isaac sowed — He now added agriculture to the pursuits of nomadic life.
Received — Hebrews, found.
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A hundredfold — Or, a hundred measures. Some (Sept., Syr.) read, שׂערים, barley, instead of שׁערים, measures, or fold. The letters of the two words are the same. A hundredfold is a very large increase, but Herodotus (i, 193) writes of the Babylonian territory as “so fruitful in the produce of corn, that it yields continually two hundredfold, and when it produces its best, it yields even three hundredfold.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24 12–17 (J). Isaac’s Prosperity
12–17 (J). Isaac’s Prosperity
12. an hundredfold] Lit. “a hundred measures.” LXX ἑκατοστεύουσαν κριθήν = “barley bearing a hundredfold,” mistaking the Hebrew word for “measure,” and confusing it with that for “barley.” So also the Syriac Pesh. “An hundredfold,” i.e. one hundred for one.
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Isaac’s agricultural pursuits offer a contrast to the roaming life of a nomad. But see, in Jacob’s career, Gen_30:14, Gen_37:7.
blessed him] See Gen_26:3, Gen_24:1; Gen_24:35.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 23 (12) Isaac sowed in that land.—When Abraham planted a…
(12) Isaac sowed in that land.—When Abraham planted a tamarisk-tree at Beer-sheba (Gen_21:33) it showed that he regarded the place as a permanent residence, which it was worth his while to adorn, and to provide for its increasing pleasantness. Isaac and Jacob took a still further step in advance towards a settled life when they began to cultivate plots of ground. At first, however, Isaac did no more than the Bedaween do at present; for they often sow a piece of land, wait till the crop is ripe, and then resume their roving habits. Permanently to till the soil is with them a mark of inferiority (Gen_25:16). But the tendency, both with Abraham and Isaac, had long been to remain in the region about Beer-sheba. Isaac had been driven thence by the famine, by which he had probably lost much of his cattle, and many even of his people. Apparently he was even so weakened thereby as to be no match for the Philistines of Gerar. His large harvest recouped him for his losses, and made him once more a prosperous man; and in due time Beer-sheba was again his home, and with settled habits agriculture was sure to begin.
An hundredfold.—The Heb. is, a hundred measures, but the word is unknown elsewhere, and the LXX. and Syriac read, a hundred of barley, measures being understood, as in Rth_3:15. Herodotus (Book i. 193) mentions two—and even three—hundredfold as possible in Babylonia; but our Lord seems to give one hundredfold as the extreme measure of productiveness in Palestine (Mat_13:8). Such a return, like Isaac’s, would be rare and extraordinary.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv12–24 Then Isaac sowed in that land, viz., Philistia. Though…
CHAPTER 26:12-22
Then Isaac sowed in that land, viz., Philistia. Though a distinct advance on the purely nomadic life pursued by Abraham, this did not imply fixed property in, or even permanent settlement on, the soil, "but only annual tenancy" thereof. Robinson (1. 77) mentions a colony of the Tawarah Arabs, about fifty families, living near Abu Zabel, in Egypt, who cultivated the soil and yet dwelt in tents. "The Biblical patriarchs were not mere Bedawin wanderers, like those who now occupy the Eastern deserts. They had large herds of cattle, which genuine Bedawins have not; they tilled the ground, which these robbers never do; and they accommodated themselves, without difficulty or reluctance, to town and city when necessary, which wild Arabs cannot endure" ("Land and Book," p. 296)and received in the same year a hundred-fold literally, an hundred measures, i.e. for each measure of that which he sowed; an exceptional return even for Philistia, though "the country is no less fertile than the very best of the Mississippi Valley" ("Land and Book," p. 557); and Arab grain stores at Nuttar-abu-Sumar, in the vicinity of Gaza, still proclaim the remunerative yield of its harvests (Robinson, vol. 1. p. 292). Herodotus (1. 193) speaks of two and three hundred-fold as having been reaped on the plain of Babylonia; but in Palestine the usual rate of increase was from thirty to a hundred-fold. (vide Mat_13:23) The reading "a hundred of barley" (LXX, Syriac, Michaelis) is not to be preferred to that in the Textus Receptus. And the Lord blessed him as he had promised (ver. 3).
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HOMILETICS.
Vers. 12-22.
A good man"s prosperity.
I WHENCE IT PROCEEDED.
1. The industry of Isaac. "Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year a hundredfold." An intimate connection subsists between diligence and prosperity.
(1) As there is no harvest without a seed-time, so there is no increase of wealth without the putting forth of personal labor in its acquisition (cf. Pro_10:4 Pro_13:4 Pro_28:19)
(2) As by God"s appointment harvest follows seed-time, so commonly "the hand of the diligent maketh rich" (cf. Pro_13:4 Pro_21:5 Pro_28:19)
2. The blessing of God. "And the Lord blessed him. As without Divine assistance the best contrived and most laboriously applied means may fail in the accumulation of material goods, so with heavenly succor the least likely instruments can achieve success. The harvests of the farmer depend more upon the goodness of God than upon the excellence of the plough. (Psa_127:1, Psa_127:2)
II IN WHAT IT RESULTED.
1. The envy of the Philistines. Envy, one of the works of the flesh (Gal_5:19; Jam_4:5) a frequent characteristic of evil men (1Co_3:3; Tit_3:3) an occasional infirmity of pious souls (1Co_3:3; Php_1:15; 1Pe_2:1) and straitly forbidden by the law of God (Exo_20:17; Psa_37:1; Jam_5:9) is commonly excited by observing the prosperity of others Psa_37:7 Psa_73:7; Ecc_4:4; cf. Rachel and Leah, Gen_30:1, Gen_30:15; Joseph"s brethren, Gen_37:4-11, Gen_37:19, Gen_37:20; Act_7:9; Miriam and Num_12:1-10; the princes of Darius, (Dan_4:4) is usually accompanied with some degree of hatred (Cain) Gen_4:4 Gen_4:8; Gen_16:5, Gen_16:6; Laban, (Gen_31:5) and inevitably tends, as in the case of the Philistines, to hostility, secret or open.
2. The suspicion of Abimelech. The growing power of the patriarch had filled the monarch"s mind with alarm. Interpreting the character of Isaac by his own, he conceived it impossible to possess large resources without using them to acquire dominion over others. Modern kings and statesmen are scarcely further advanced, the prosperity of neighboring empires being commonly regarded as a menace to the liberties of their own. It is the mission of Christianity, as regards both nations and individuals, to show how power of every kind can be possessed without injury, and wielded with advantage, to the highest interests of others.
III HOW IT WAS MAINTAINED. By
1. Patience, or the exhibition of a meek and unresisting spirit in submitting to injury. When Abimelech requested him to leave the town of Gerar, he left. When the Philistines filled up his father"s wells, he quietly dug them out again. When the herdmen of Gerar wrangled with his shepherds about a spring, he simply gave it up, and sought another; and when this too was disputed, he retired and sank a third. And all the while his flocks and herds kept on multiplying. A beautiful example of the spirit which Christ has enjoined: (Mat_5:39-42) and of the promise which Christ has made (Mat_5:5) to his followers.
1. Perseverance, or the diligent exercise of means in selecting pasture grounds and digging wells; not permitting himself to be discouraged by the opposition of his neighbors, but, while peacefully allowing himself to be despoiled, steadily attending to his business. An illustration of that quiet, determined, and unwearied application which often contributes more to success in life than brilliant abilities.
2. Piety, or the grateful recognition of God"s hand in putting an end to the irritation and annoyance of his neighbors, and giving him at last a comfortable settlement at Rehoboth. It is grace in God which affords quiet neighborhoods to reside in, easy circumstances to live in, and hopeful futures to trust in; and it is piety in us to acknowledge that grace.
Learn
1. That there is only one royal road to material prosperity, viz., diligence and devotion.
2. That if material prosperity can procure comforts, it is also attended by drawbacks.
3. That material prosperity is often thrown away in litigation when it might be preserved by submission.
4. That material prosperity should stir the heart"s gratitude to God.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv12, 14, 17, 23 Isaac sowed . . . and the Lord blessed…
Gen_26:12
Isaac sowed . . . and the Lord blessed him
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The prosperity of Isaac
In this narrative it is Isaac the prosperous man who comes to view.
Examine the sources and circumstances of his remarkable, unequalled prosperity.
I. ISAAC HAD A GOOD FATHER. Happy the son whose father was chosen partner with God in a divine covenant, and twice blessed the son whose father had this testimony that he pleased God in the fulfilment of such a covenant, Not only great favour rests upon the head of such a father, but the richest blessings are pledged to his posterity.
II. ISAAC HAD TRAITS OF HIS OWN TO WHICH HIS PROSPERITY WAS LARGELY INDEBTED. His very name indicates that he was a son of laughter and joy. True to his name, his nature was of the sunny and hopeful type. The value of this disposition in the successful conduct of life is simply incalculable. It is more than capital, for capital will perish. It is more than friends, for friends die. It is more than success, for it outlives success. When everything is gone, the man who has hope has all he needs. Thus Isaac went from well to well. He was envied at Gerar, and he moved to Esek. Esek was captured by the enemy. He hopefully journeyed to Sitnah, and dug again. But Sitnah was claimed. Should he give up now? No; all these choked wells were leading him to the broader valleys of Rehoboth, where was room--room for his still multiplying flocks and growing wealth.
III. The third secret of Isaacs prosperity was HIS EXTREME PEACEABLENESS. The spirit of the beatitudes dwelt in this man more than in any other man of his times.
IV. But there remains a fourth and final element to be noticed in the prosperity of Isaac. I have said that he had a good father behind him, a brave heart within him, a good will to men about him; but he put the crown upon his success by owning and seeking THE FAVOUR OF GOD ABOVE HIM. (J. B. Clark.)
The prosperity of Isaac
I. HIS PROSPERITY WAS EVIDENTLY DUE TO THE DIVINE BLESSING. His prosperity was wonderful. Thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold, is the range of fertility in that land. Thus the yield of Isaacs land reaches the highest degree of productiveness.
1. Such was the position of the sacred historian. He who relates this story, after describing the prosperity of this man, adds, And the Lord blessed him (Gen_26:12).
2. It was evident to Isaac himself. His prosperity, the rest he enjoyed from his enemies, and room to enlarge in, he ascribed all to God (Gen_26:22).
3. It was evident to his enemies. They were constrained to acknowledge that God was with him.
II. HIS PROSPERITY MADE HIM A MARK FOR ENVY. We are told that the Philistines envied him. His prosperity was not without alloy. Every blessing of this world is accompanied by some disadvantage or evil. We have to pay a price for every earthly good.
III. HIS PROSPERITY SERVED TO DEVELOP THE VIRTUES OF HIS CHARACTER. Bacon has said that Prosperity doth best discover vice, but adversity doth best discover virtue. And human experience shows that such are the usual effects of these conditions. But in the case of Isaac there were virtues that shined out in his prosperity.
1. The virtue of patience. The Philistines carried their envy into action. They stopped up the wells which he had inherited from his father (Gen_26:15).
But he met all this envy by patience. When persecuted in one place he fled to another. He removed from well to well (Gen_26:18-22).
(1) His patience was victorious. It won upon his enemies. The Philistines were at length wearied out. They came round, and asked for a treaty (Gen_26:28-30).
(2) His patience won the Divine approval. The Lord appeared to him and renewed the old promises. He was assured of perpetual protection and guidance.
2. The virtue of forgiveness. He had suffered a grievous wrong, but he forgave it on the entreaty of Abimelech. This was not the easy virtue of a man who has no strong feelings and who is soon won over. It was principle, and not a weak feeling, that made him forgive.
3. The virtue of reverence. He set up an altar for the worship of God, and pitched his tent there as if he would dwell in the Lords house (Gen_26:25). He bears a public testimony to the obligation of religion. Many a man forgets God with increasing prosperity, but it was not so with Isaac. With him it served to deepen the feeling of reverence and to strengthen every duty of piety. (T. H. Leale.)
Isaacs prosperity
I. ISAAC IN HIS BUSINESS RELATIONS.
1. He was active and enterprising (Gen_26:12-13).
2. His industry and enterprise under the blessing of God resulted in immense wealth.
II. ISAAC IN SOCIETY.
1. As tried by society (Gen_26:14; Gen_26:16; Gen_26:19-21).
2. His bearing under these trials.
(1) He bore envy and strife and hatred with perfect patience.
(2) He separated himself from those around him rather than contend with them.
(3) He recognized Gods hand in all (Gen_26:22).
(4) This example of Isaac, both in business and in society, is worthy of all commendation and imitation.
III. ISAAC IN HIS RELIGIOUS LIFE.
1. He was honoured with personal communications from God (Gen_26:24).
(1) This proves that his conduct was approved by God.
(2) This approval signified Gods encouragement to him in view of future trials.
2. Isaac evinced his appreciation of these Divine promises and privileges by a renewed consecration of himself to God (Gen_26:25).
Lessons:
1. Prosperity is as real a test of faith as adversity.
2. The test of prosperity is more severe than that of adversity.
3. Peace has ever been the choice of true believers.
4. Such a choice has ever met with the Divine approval.
5. Let Isaacs example be ours--in business, industrious and enterprizing; in society, peace-loving and yielding; in religion, ever prepared for communion with God, and ever yielding ourselves in consecration to God. (D. C. Hughes, M. A.)
Isaacs wanderings
I. ISAACS PATIENCE. An example of those who endure, instead of murmuring, rebelling, or despairing.
II. ISAACS PROTECTOR.
1. God directed Isaac.
2. God exhorted Isaac.
3. God encouraged Isaac.
III. ISAACS PROSPERITY.
1. The man waxed great. He grew very prosperous, and his prosperity was continuous.
2. The Lord blessed him. Gods blessing makes rich, whether it be in temporal or in spiritual things.
3. The Lord made room for him (Gen_26:22).
4. The Lord made his enemies to be at peace with him. (W. S. Smith, B. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v12 Gen_26:13. Went forward.] Heb. “Went or walked, going;” i.e.,…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Gen_26:13. Went forward.] Heb. “Went or walked, going;” i.e., “Became increasingly greater.” The Heb. term for walk is frequently used in the sense of continued increase.
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Gen_26:20. Strove.] Heb. “They oppressed him.”—
Gen_26:21. Strove for that also.] This is a different word from the former, and signifies contended. Situah. From the term Satan, meaning accusation.
Gen_26:22. Rehoboth.] Meaning space, enlargement.—
Gen_26:26. Ahuzzath.] Called here “one of his friends,” by which we are to understand his priry counsellor. Phichol. Probably an official name for the commander-in-chief. But Grove (Biblical Dict.) says that it is a Philistine name, of the meaning of which we are ignorant.—
Gen_26:33. And he called it Shebah; therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day.] “He called the well Sheba (oath), in commemoration of the oath here made, thus confirming the name given the town by Abraham on the like occasion. (Gen_21:31.) It is not here said that the place now first took its name, but that it retained its name under this new confirmation up to the writer’s day. It was rather the well that was named by Abraham ‘Beer-sheba,’ meaning ‘Well of an oath.’ Now the name was again given to the well, and was therefore fixed upon the city.” (Jacobus)—
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Gen_26:12-33
THE PROSPERITY OF ISAAC
We have here a picture of the prosperity of the patriarch, and also of the blessings and dangers of that condition.
I. His prosperity was evidently due to the Divine blessing. His prosperity was wonderful. “Thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold,” is the range of fertility in that land. Thus the yield of Isaac’s land reaches the highest degree of productiveness. In ordinary cases the return is not greater than twenty-five or thirty fold. All this prosperity was due to the blessing of God.
1. Such was the position of the sacred historian. He who relates this history, after describing the prosperity of this man, adds, “And the Lord blessed him.” (Gen_26:12.)
2. It was evident to Isaac himself. His prosperity, the rest he enjoyed from his enemies, and room to enlarge in, he ascribed all to God. (Gen_26:22.)
3. It was evident to his enemies. They were constrained to acknowledge that God was with him. The impression made by Abraham’s character still lived in history, and they saw that the son was also a friend of God and enjoyed His presence and favour. (Gen_26:28.)
II. His prosperity made him a mark for envy. We are told that “the Philistines envied him.” His prosperity was not without alloy. Every blessing of this world is accompanied by some disadvantage or evil. Civilisation is a blessing, but we lose thereby some of the virtues and natural endowments of simpler times. Great possessions are a blessing, but they often rob us of our quiet and repose, and they bring us new anxieties. High station in society is a blessing, but it oftens renders a man the object of jealousy. He becomes public property, and he is robbed of his peace. We have to pay a price for every earthly good.
III. His prosperity served to develop the virtues of his character. Bacon has said that, “Prosperity doth best discover vice, but adversity doth best discover virtue.” And human experience shows that such are the usual effects of these conditions. But in the case of Isaac there were virtues that shined out in his prosperity.
1. The virtue of patience. The Philistines carried their envy into action. They stopped up the wells which he had inherited from his father. (Gen_26:15.) But he met all this envy by patience. When persecuted in one place he fled to another. He removed from well to well. (Gen_26:18-22.) (a.) His patience was victorious. It won upon his enemies. The Philistines were, at length wearied out. They came round, and asked for a treaty. (Gen_26:28-30.) (b.) His patience won the Divine approval. The Lord appeared to him and renewed the old promises. He was assured of perpetual protection and guidance.
2. The virtue of forgiveness. He had suffered a grievous wrong, but he forgave it on the entreaty of Abimelech. This was not the easy virtue of a man who has no strong feelings and who is soon won over. He keenly felt the wrong. His sense of honour was wounded, he smarted under the indignity. It was principle, and not a weak feeling, that made him forgive. So it was with our Lord Himself, who while He could forgive in the greatness of His love, could yet feel indignity and shame under the cruel taunts and ingratitude of His enemies. He could say, “Why smitest thou Me?” “Are ye come out against me as against a thief with swords and with staves.?”
3. The virtue of reverence. He set up an altar for the worship of God and pitched his tent there as if he would dwell in the Lord’s house. (Gen_26:25.) He bears a public testimony to the obligation of religion. Many a man forgets God with increasing prosperity, but it was not so with Isaac. With him it served to deepen the feeling of reverence and to strengthen every duty of piety. He kept up the old traditions of his father. (Gen_26:33.) When he opened again the wells which Abraham had digged he called them by the old names. (Gen_26:33.) This would remind him to follow in his father’s faith and footsteps.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen_26:12-13. It is a further stage in progress when a wandering tribe changes from a pastoral to an agricultural people. In this advance we see the preparation of the chosen people to become a great nation.
Gen_26:14. Here again we see how vanity attaches to every earthly good; prosperity begets envy, and from envy proceeds injury.—(Fuller.)
Envy is the constant companion of prosperity, as David felt and complained. Succoth and Peniel contemn Gideon, out of envy of his victory; Joseph’s brethren cannot abide him, because more favoured of his father. Korah maligneth Moses; Saul, David; the Pharisees, our Saviour; their malice wilfully crossing their consciences.—(Trapp.)
Gen_26:15. In those countries a good well of water was a possession of immense value; and hence in predatory wars it was always an object for either party to fill the wells with earth or sand in order to distress the enemy. Had the Philistines merely forced their way to these wells and drank of them, it might have been encased; but to stop them was an act of downright barbarity, and a gross violation of the treaty of peace which had been made between a former Abimelech and Abraham (Gen_21:25-31). But envy considers that which is lost to another as gained to itself, and not only delights in working gratuitous mischief, but will even punish itself, in a measure, to have the malicious satisfaction of doing a still greater injury to an enemy.—(Bush.)
Gen_26:16-17. Abimelech understood the temper of his people and therefore he sought to persuade Isaac to remove. He used the language of compliment and flattery. Isaac might have stood upon his ground and urged the rights of the covenant made with his father. But he was a man of peace, and choose rather to forego a right than enter into a quarrel. He acted upon the maxim of the wise man,—“yielding, pacifieth great offences.”
A little with peace and quietness is better than much with envy and contention.—(Fuller.)
Gen_26:18. It is a pious duty to keep up the memorials of the great and good.
It seems wherever Abraham went, he improved the country; and wherever the Philistines followed him, their study was to mar his improvements, and that for no other end than the pleasure of doing mischief. Isaac, however, is resolved to open these wells again. Their waters would be doubly sweet to him for their having been first tasted by his beloved father; and to show his filial affection still more, he “called their names after the names which his father had called them.” Many of our enjoyments, both civil and religious, are the sweeter for being the fruits of the labour of our fathers; and if they have been corrupted by adversaries since their days, we must restore them to their former purity.—(Fuller.)
Gen_26:19-20. Isaac’s servants also digged new wells, and which occasioned new strife. While we avail ourselves of the labours of our forefathers, we ought not to rest in them without making farther progress, even though it expose us to many unpleasant disputes. Envy and strife may be expected to follow those whose researches are really beneficial, provided they go a step beyond their forefathers. But let them not be discouraged: the wells of salvation are worth striving for, and after a few conflicts, they may enjoy the fruits of their labours in peace.—(Fuller.)
Gen_26:21-22. We are told that he met the envy with patience, and removed from well to well. At last the Philistines desisted. Thus patience wears the world out. Endurance, meekness, the Gospel spirit, this is the only true weapon against the world. Hence, Christianity can have no addition. It is final. There is nothing beyond this—“Love your enemies.” Isaac, like Christ, had conquered by meekness.—(Robertson.)
Gen_26:23-24. There is shed abroad in his heart that deep peace which is most profound in the midst of storm. God was with him. The waves which lash the surface of the sea are only on the surface; below, the depths are calm. And Isaac quietly leaving place after place felt the deeps of his soul untouched. What was the loss of a well, or ten wells, to him with whom God was, for his portion, his exceeding and all-sufficient great reward.—(Robertson.)
“God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” Therefore Isaac is assured that his father has not perished by death, that he is not clean gone for ever with the breath which he gave up. God’s covenant with his friend was not annulled.
This is the same person as the Angel of the Covenant who appeared to Moses in Horeb, in the burning bush (Exo_3:2) and is therefore the Messiah. Abraham was the man of faith, Isaac the man of endurance, and Jacob was the man of prayer. God is God to each believer in his peculiar circumstances. Isaac is here promised the blessing for Abraham’s sake. This is the actual working of the household covenant. God has so displayed Himself in all the history of the Church as a covenant God to the families of His people.—(Jacobus.)
Gen_26:25. He called upon the name of the Lord that had made room for him; and now, by His presence and promise, comforted him. Let the streams of God’s bounty lead us, as the watercourse doth, either to the spring upward, or downward to the main ocean, to the source and fountain whence they flow. Let God taste of the fruit of His own planting. We are no better than brute beasts, if, contenting ourselves with a natural use of the creatures, we rise not up to the Author; if, instead of being temples to His praise, we become graves of His benefits. Isaac first built an altar, and then digged a well.—(Trapp.)
Every dwelling-place of the godly should be a sanctuary.
Gen_26:26-27. True meekness does not arise from insensibility. The meek keenly feel the wrongs and indignities committed against them.
Isaac, while they acted as enemies, bore it patiently, as a part of his lot in an evil world; but now that they want to be thought friends, and to renew covenant with him, he feels keenly, and speaks his mind. We can bear that from an avowed adversary which we cannot bear from a professed friend; nor is it any transgression of the law of meekness and love plainly to signify our strong perception of the injuries received, and to stand on our guard in dealing with those who have once acted unfairly.—(Bush.)
Gen_26:28. The world pays an involuntary tribute of respect and admiration to good men. This is the crown of glory which society places upon their head.
Gen_26:29. They had shown acts of hospitality to Isaac at first; but their kindness soon turned to hatred, and their hatred to persecution. Men magnify the few acts of kindness they have done for others, but forget the many wrongs they have committed against them.
“Thou art now the blessed of the Lord.” This explains the one-sidedness of the covenant. Isaac needed no guaranty from them as Jehovah was with him. This clause may refer to his being under the Divine protection, and therefore safe, or as being sufficiently provided for not to make account of the injury done him by the servants. Or it may express the king’s salaam at the conclusion of the treaty pronouncing him blessed, or supposing he makes the treaty as proposed, calling him blessed of Jehovah.—(Jacobus.)
Gen_26:30-31. It was a large-hearted generosity which was content to admit so poor a plea. He who would work out great purposes of charity towards mankind must be prepared to make large allowances.
This reconciliation between Isaac and Abimelech was pledged in a feast. They both sware unto one another; so is our reconciliation with God pledged in the Christian feast of the Lord’s Supper.—(Robertson.)
Gen_26:32. Blessings follow quickly in the path of a large-hearted charity. As Isaac forgave them for depriving him of his wells (rather than quarrel with them), so the Lord opened to him another well for his need the same day.—(Jacobus.)
Gen_26:33. Beer-Sheba unto this day. So it was before; but the name was almost worn out, the well being stopped up. Isaac therefore now names it, and so preserves it for a monument of God’s mercy to his father and to himself.—(Trapp.)
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v12 Gen 26:12 - Gen 26:25.
Genesis
THE FIRST APOSTLE OF PEACE AT ANY PRICE
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Gen 26:12 - Gen 26:25.
The salient feature of Isaac’s life is that it has no salient features. He lived out his hundred and eighty years in quiet, with little to make history. Few details of his story are given, and some of these are not very creditable. He seems never to have wandered far from the neighbourhood of Beersheba. These quiet, rolling stretches of thinly peopled land contented him, and gave pasture for his flocks, as well as fields for his cultivation. Like many of the tribes of that district still, he had passed from the purely nomad and pastoral life, such as Abraham led, and had begun to ‘sow in that land.’ That marks a stage in progress. His father’s life had been like a midsummer day, with bursts of splendour and heavy thunder-clouds; his was liker a calm day in autumn, windless and unchanging from morning till serene evening. The world thinks little of such lives, but they are fruitful.
Our text begins with a sweet little picture of peaceful industry, blessed by God, and therefore prospering. Travellers tell us that the land where Isaac dwelt is still marvellously fertile, even to rude farming. But to be merely a successful farmer and sheep-owner might have seemed poor work to the heir of such glowing promises, and the prospect of a high destiny often disgusts its possessor with lowly duties. ‘But if we hope for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for it,’ and the best way to fit ourselves for great things in the future is to bend our backs and wills to humble toil in the present. Peter expected every day to see the risen Lord, when he said, ‘I go a-fishing.’
The Philistines’ envy was very natural, since Isaac was an alien, and, in some sense, an intruder. Their stopping of the wells was a common act of hostility, and an effectual one in that land, where everything lives where water comes, and dies if it is cut off. Abimelech’s reason for ‘extraditing’ Isaac might have provoked a more pugnacious person to stay and defy the Philistines to expel him. ‘Thou art much mightier than we,’ and so he could have said, ‘Try to put me out, then,’ and the result might have been that Abimelech and his Philistines would have been the ones to go. But the same spirit was in the man as had been in the lad, when he let his father bind him and lay him on the altar without a struggle or a word, and he quietly went, leaving his fields and pastures. ‘Very poor-spirited,’ says the world; what does Christ say?
Isaac was not ‘original.’ He cleaned out the wells which his father had digged, and with filial piety gave them again the old names ‘which his father had called them.’ Some of us nowadays get credit for being ‘advanced and liberal thinkers,’ because we regard our fathers’ wells as much too choked with rubbish to be worth clearing out, and the last thing we should dream of would be to revive the old names. But the old wells were not enough for the new time, and so fresh ones were added. Isaac and his servants did not say, ‘We will have no water but what is drawn from Abraham’s wells. What was enough for him is enough for us.’ So, like all wise men, they were conservatively progressive and progressively conservative. The Gerar shepherds were sharp lawyers. They took strong ground in saying, ‘The water is ours; you have dug wells, but we are ground-owners, and what is below the surface, as well as what is on it, is our property.’ Again Isaac fielded, moved on a little way, and tried again. A second well was claimed, and given up, and all that Isaac did was to name the two ‘Contention’ and ‘Enmity,’ as a gentle rebuke and memorial. Then, as is generally the result, gentleness wearied violence out, and the Philistines tired of annoying before Isaac tired of yielding. So he came into a quiet harbour at last, and traced his repose to God, naming his last well ‘Broad Places,’ because the Lord had made room for him.
Such a quiet spirit, strong in non-resistance, and ready to yield rather than quarrel, was strangely out of place in these wild days and lands. He obeyed the Sermon on the Mount millenniums before it was spoken. Whether from temperament or from faith, he is the first instance of the Christian type of excellence in the Old Testament. For there ought to be no question that the spirit of meekness, which will not meet violence by violence, is the Christian spirit. Christian morals alter the perspective of moral excellences, and exalt meekness above the ‘heroic virtues’ admired by the world. The violets and lilies in Christ’s garden outshine voluptuous roses and flaunting sunflowers. In this day, when there is a recrudescence of militarism, and we are tempted to canonise the soldier, we need more than ever to insist that the highest type is ‘the Lamb of God,’ who was ‘as a sheep before her shearers.’ To fight for my rights is not the Christian ideal, nor is it the best way to secure them. Isaac will generally weary out the Philistines, and get his well at last, and will have escaped much friction and many evil passions.
‘Tis safer being meek than fierce.’
Isaac won the friendship of his opponents by his patience, as the verses after the text tell. Their consciences and hearts were touched, and they ‘saw plainly that the Lord was with him,’ and sued him for alliance. It is better to turn enemies into friends than to beat them and have them as enemies still. ‘I’ll knock you down unless you love me’ does not sound a very hopeful way of cementing peaceful relations. But ‘when a man’s ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.’ But Isaac won more than the Philistines’ favour by his meek peacefulness, for ‘the Lord appeared unto him,’ and assured him that, undefended and unresisting as he was, he had a strong defence, and need not be afraid: ‘Fear not, for I am with thee.’ The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit is, in the sight of God, of great price, and that not only for ‘a woman’; and it brings visions of God, and assurances of tranquil safety to him who cherishes it. The Spirit of God comes down in the likeness of a dove, and that bird of peace sits ‘brooding "only" on the charmed wave’ of a heart stilled from strife and wrath, like a quiet summer’s sea.
Isaac’s new home at Beersheba, having been thus hallowed by the appearance of the Lord, was consecrated by the building of an altar. We should hallow by grateful remembrance the spots where God has made Himself known to us. The best beginning of a new undertaking is to rear an altar. It is well when new settlers begin their work by calling on the name of the Lord. Beersheba and Plymouth Rock are a pair. First comes the altar, then the tent can be trustfully pitched, but ‘except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.’ And if the house is built in faith, a well will not be lacking; for they who ‘seek first the kingdom of God’ will have all needful ‘things added unto them.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v20 name of the well
name of the well
The wells of Genesis have significant names, and are associated with significant events:
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(1) Beer-lahai-roi, the well of him that liveth and seeth me Gen 16:14; Gen 24:62; Gen 25:11.
(2) Beer-sheba, the well of the oath or covenant Gen 21:15-33; Gen 22:19; Gen 26:23-25; Gen 46:1-5.
(3) Esek, contention Gen 26:20.
(4) Sitnah, hatred Gen 26:21. Esek and Sitnah were Isaac’s own attempts at well-digging. Afterward, he dwelt by the old wells of his father.
(5) Rehoboth, enlargement Gen 26:22.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v17 The Enmity of the Philistines
The Enmity of the Philistines
v. 17. And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. He left the city of Gerar and the domain of the Philistines in the narrower sense, putting up his encampment farther to the west, in the undulating country toward the mountains.
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v. 18. And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham, his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham, thus disregarding the covenant which had been made between them and Abraham, Gen 21:22-30. And he called their names after the names by which his father had called them. Having gone over the field often while his father was yet alive, Isaac was familiar with the entire country.
v. 19. And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water, one which was filled with water from a living spring, not a mere cistern for rain water, as most of the wells were.
v. 20. And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac’s herdmen, saying, The water is ours; and he called the name of the well Esek (contention), because they strove with him.
v. 21. And they digged an other well, and strove for that also; and he called the name of it Sitnah (hatred). Isaac suffered all this injustice and harm with the greatest patience and forbearance, preferring to endure rather than to inflict injury, as he probably might have done.
v. 22. And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth (widths, wide expanses) ; and he said, for now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land. This camp was located still farther to the west, and entirely outside of Philistine jurisdiction, on the extreme southern boundary of Canaan.
v. 23. And he went up from thence to Beersheba, a matter of some twenty miles to the north.
v. 24. And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham, thy father; fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for My servant Abraham’s sake. In the midst of the persecution which Isaac was then enduring this encouragement came with all its uplifting strength. The believers are strangers and pilgrims on earth and as such are subjected to many indignities, but the Lord’s assurance of His everlasting presence is always the one certain prop for their faith.
v. 25. And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants digged a well. Isaac here followed the custom of his father Abraham in building an altar and proclaiming the name of Jehovah, in establishing the worship of the true God, not only for his own household, but also for all with whom he came in contact. Every time when believers experience the blessing, protection, and help of the Lord, they turn to Him with all the greater zeal and love and praise His holy name.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv12, 15, 18, 19, 21, 23 General Information:
General Information:
This begins a new part of the story. It changes from telling about Isaac calling Rebekah his sister, and it starts to tell about how Isaac became very rich and the Philistines were jealous of him.
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in that land
"in Gerar"
a hundredfold
This means "one hundred times as much as he planted." It can be translated more generally as "a very large crop." (See: Numbers)
The man became rich
"Isaac became rich" or "He became rich"
grew more and more until he became very great
"he gained more and more until he became very wealthy"
sheep
This may also include goats. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
a large household
Here "household" stands for workers or servants. AT: "many servants" (See: Metonymy)
The Philistines envied him
"The Philistines were jealous of him"
translationWords
Isaac
reap
year
Yahweh
bless
ewe
cow
household
Philistines
envy
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv12, 14, 17, 23 26:12-13 Isaac lived in the land as a temporary…
26:12-13 Isaac lived in the land as a temporary settler, enjoying abundant prosperity because of God’s blessing; his crops flourished and he became very rich.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.