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.”
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv14, 16, 18 14. And the Philistines envied him. We are taught…
14. And the Philistines envied him. We are taught by this history that the blessings of God which pertain to the present earthly life are never pure and perfect, but are mixed with some troubles, lest quiet and indulgence should render us negligent. Wherefore, let us all learn not too ardently to desire great wealth. If the rich are harassed by any cause of disquietude, let them know that they are roused by the Lord, lest they should fall fast asleep in the midst of their pleasures; and let the poor enjoy this consolation, that their poverty is not without its advantages. For it is no light good to live free from envy, tumults, and strifes. Should any one raise the objection, that it can by no means be regarded as a favor, that God, in causing Isaac to abound in wealth, exposed him to envy, to contentions, and to many troubles; there is a ready answer, that not all the troubles with which God exercises his people, in any degree prevent the benefits which he bestows upon them from retaining the taste of his paternal love. Finally, he so attempers the favor which he manifests towards his children in this world, that he stirs them up, as with sharp goads, to the consideration of a celestial life. It was not, however, a slight trial, that the simple element of water, which is the common property of all animals, was denied to the holy patriarch; with how much greater patience ought we to bear our less grievous sufferings! If, however, at any time we are angry at being unworthily injured; let us remember that, at least, we are not so cruelly treated as holy Isaac was, when he had to contend for water. Besides, not only was he deprived of the element of water, but the wells which his father Abraham had dug for himself and his posterity were filled up. This, therefore, was the extreme of cruelty, not only to defraud a stranger of every service due to him, but even to take from him what had been obtained by the labor of his own father, and what he possessed without inconvenience to any one.
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 vv14, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22 The malicious envy always the graces of God in…
The malicious envy always the graces of God in others.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv14–22 Gen 26:14 For he had possession of flocks, and…
Gen 26:14 For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.
Ver. 14. And the Philistines envied him.] Envy is the constant companion of prosperity, as David felt and complained. Succoth and Pennel 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. Caligula sacrificed to Neptune and Envy, ne sibi, ut ipse dicebat, invideretur. {a} He thought other men sick, like him, of his disease (as the devil accused God of envy to our first parents); for certainly there was not a more envious person living than he; witness his throwing down the statues of all famous men, and defacing their titles; forbidding any new to be set up without his leave and liking. So that tiger, Tiberius, laid hold, with his spiteful teeth, on all the excellent spirits of his time: he put a poet to death, for making an excellent tragedy; {b} and banished a certain architect, for building an elaborate porch at Rome, which he could not choose but admire and reward with money. Nero envied all men that were any whit gracious with the people. {c} Valentinian hated all that were well apparelled, or well learned, or wealthy, or noble {d} Fortibus etiam detrahere solebat, ut solus videretur bonis artibus eminere, saith Ammianus. {e} Germanicus had not any more deadly enemies than his own ornaments, {f} and his adversaries (as here Isaac’s) had - nothing to complain of him, more than his greatness. So true is that of Salust; {g} Difficillimum inter mortales est, gloria invidiam vincere. Hercules had not more ado with Hydra than a good man shall have with this beast. Envied he shall be of his neighbour, for his labour and right work. {Ecc 4:4} "This is also vanity, and vexation of spirit."
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{a} Dio in Vita Caligula.
{b} Sueton., cap. 3 and 4. Lucano, quod arte poetics clarus erat vetitum fuit, ne carmen faceret.
{c} Dio in Neron.
{d} Seneca.
{e} Am. Marcell., lib. xxx. cap. 29.
{f} Tacitus.
{g} Salust in Catil.
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 vv14, 16, 18, 20 Great store of servants; or rather, of husbandry, as…
Great store of servants; or rather, of husbandry, as this word is elsewhere used; of corn-fields, vineyards, &c.; for he is describing his riches, which then consisted in the two things here expressed, cattle and lands, which he diligently and successfully managed, Gen 26:12.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv14–22 For all the wells which his father's servants had…
For all the wells which his father's servants had digged, in the days of Abraham his father,.... For the watering of his flocks and herds, see Gen 21:25,
the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth; that they might be of no use; and this they did through envy to him, and is mentioned as a proof of it.
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 vv20–22 Esek - That is, contention.
Esek - That is, contention.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21 Verse 14. He had possession of flocks] He who…
Verse 14. He had possession of flocks] He who blessed him in the increase of his fields blessed him also in the increase of his flocks; and as he had extensive possessions, so he must have many hands to manage such concerns: therefore it is added, he had great store of servants - he had many domestics, some born in his house, and others purchased by his money.
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 vv16, 22 Gen 26:16. Go from us: for thou art much…
Gen 26:16. Go from us: for thou art much mightier than we — It seems Isaac’s increasing riches and power caused envy, jealousy, and fear among Abimelech’s subjects, and he was afraid that unpleasant consequences might follow should Isaac continue in that neighbourhood.
Gen 26:20-21. Esek means contention; and Sitnah, hatred.
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 vv16, 18, 19, 22 Depart. Instead of repressing the outrages of his subjects,…
Depart. Instead of repressing the outrages of his subjects, the king enters into their jealousies, and banishes a wealthy person, (Haydock) as the Athenians so frequently did afterwards with respect to their best citizens. (Aristotle, Polit. iii. 9.) --- And Pharao used the same pretext, when he persecuted the Hebrews. (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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv15, 17, 18 all the wells which his father's servants had digged…
all the wells which his father's servants had digged . . . the Philistines had stopped, &c.--The same base stratagem for annoying those against whom they have taken an umbrage is practiced still by choking the wells with sand or stones, or defiling them with putrid carcases.
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 vv14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20 14. Flocks… herds… servants… envied — These four words…
14. Flocks… herds… servants… envied — These four words speak volumes. Prosperity and abundance excite the envy of ignoble natures.
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 vv14–22 14. and a great household] i.e. a large number…
14. and a great household] i.e. a large number of slaves and attendants.
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 vv14, 15, 17, 18 (14) Great store of servants.—Marg., husbandry. In Job_1:3 the…
(14) Great store of servants.—Marg., husbandry. In Job_1:3 the word is rendered household in the text, and husbandry again in the margin. Literally it means making employment, and answers to our word business. But if in a man’s life there is much activity and plenty to do, there must be people to do it, and profits made whereby to maintain them. And thus the translation, “great store of servants,” gives the sense; but we see besides that Isaac kept them all actively employed,
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 vv14–22 For he had (literally, there was to him) possession…
For he had (literally, there was to him) possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: gewrgia polla (LXX), i.e. much husbandry, the abstract being put for the concrete, "implying all manner of work and service belonging to a family, and so servants and tillage of all sorts" (Ainsworth); but the reference rather seems to be to the number of his household, or domestic slaves, plurimum familiae (Vulgate) and the Philistines envied him. The patriarch"s possessions (mikneh, from kanah, to acquire) excited jealous feeling (from root kana, to burn) in the breasts of his neighbors (cf. Ecc_4:4)
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 vv14, 17 The Philistines envied him
Gen_26:14-16
The Philistines envied him
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The prosperous are subject to envy
1.
Great estates subject the best of men to envy.
2. Philistine spirits envy all increase of good to the Church of God (Gen_26:14).
3. Men fearless of God make no scruple of doing the greatest injuries to His servants.
4. All the saints right, persuades not the wicked from doing wrong.
5. A malicious spirit destroyeth that which itself needeth, only to mischief the righteous man.
6. Water-mercies are very great, therefore would the wicked take them from the just (Gen_26:15). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. Powers as well as peasants join together to afflict the saints.
2. Worldly men in power would not suffer the godly to prosper by them.
3. Exilement is the best which wicked powers allow to saints.
4. Gods greatning of His saints causeth the powers of the world to diminish them (Gen_26:16). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
No worldly blessing is unalloyed
Isaacs prosperity was not unalloyed. He suffered from envy. Be sure of this, that for every blessing man pays a price. If the world has gained in medical skill, it has lost that simple life which made it unnecessary. If we heap possessions round us we lose quiet, we get anxiety. Every man pays a price for his advantages, for talents, for property, for high station; he bids adieu to rest, being public property. It was so with Isaac. He had great possessions, and the Philistines envied him. 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; and then it was that there was shed abroad in his heart that deep peace which is most profound in the midst of storm, the peace of God which passeth all understanding. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — 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 vv15, 18, 19, 21 Here this word does not mean "at this moment."…
Now
Here this word does not mean "at this moment." It is indicating where the action in the story begins. It can be translated with the connecting word "So" to show that this is a result of what happened in Genesis 26:12-13. (See: Connecting Words)
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in the days of Abraham his father
The phrase "in the days of" stands for a person's lifetime. AT: "when Abraham, his father, was living" or "during his father Abraham's lifetime"
Abimelech said
Possible meanings are 1) this is another action to force Isaac and his people to leave. AT: "Then Abimelech said" or "Finally Abimelech said" or 2) Abimelech made this decision because he saw that his people were jealous and acting in a hostile way towards Isaac. AT: "Therefore Abimelech said" (See: Connecting Words)
much mightier than we
"much stronger than we are"
So Isaac departed
Only Isaac is mentioned because he is the leader, but his family and servants went with him. AT: "So Isaac and his household left" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
cistern
ancestor
servant
Philistines
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 vv14, 17 26:14-16 The Philistines envied Isaac’s prosperity and filled his…
26:14-16 The Philistines envied Isaac’s prosperity and filled his wells with dirt. The king then ordered Isaac to leave that region because he was too powerful for them (cp. 21:22-23).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.