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 vv16, 18 16. And Abimelech said unto Isaac. It is uncertain…
16. And Abimelech said unto Isaac. It is uncertain whether the king of Gerar expelled Isaac of his own accord from his kingdom, or whether he commanded him to settle elsewhere, because he perceived him to be envied by the people. He possibly might, in this manner, advise him as a friend; although it is more probable that his mind had become alienated from Isaac; for at the close of the chapter Moses relates, that the holy man complains strongly of the king as well as of others. But since we can assert nothing with certainty respecting the real feelings of the king, let it suffice to maintain, what is of more importance, that in consequence of the common wickedness of mankind, they who are the most eminent fall under the suspicion of the common people. Satiety, indeed, produces ferocity. Wherefore there is nothing to which the rich are more prone than proudly to boast, to carry themselves more insolently than they ought, and to stretch every nerve of their power to oppress others. No such suspicion, indeed, could fall upon Isaac; but he had to bear that envy which was the attendant on a common vice. Whence we infer, how much more useful and desirable it often is, for us to be placed in a moderate condition; which is, at least, more peaceful, and which is neither exposed to the storms of envy, nor obnoxious to unjust suspicions. Moreover, how rare and unwonted was the blessing of God in rendering Isaac prosperous, may be inferred from the fact, that his wealth had become formidable both to the king and to the people. A large inheritance truly had descended to him from his father; but Moses shows, that from his first entrance into the land, he had so greatly prospered in a very short time, that it seemed no longer possible for the inhabitants to endure him.
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 vv17, 19, 20, 21, 22 The Hebrew word signifieth a flood, or valley, where…
The Hebrew word signifieth a flood, or valley, where water at any time runneth.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv15–22 Gen 26:15 For all the wells which his father’s…
Gen 26:15 For all the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.
Ver. 15. The Philistines had stopped them.] They deprived themselves of the benefit of those wells, so that Isaac might not water at them. Envy doth nothing with reason. It is vitium diabolicum, saith Augustine. {a} The devil, of pure spite, hinders men from heaven: he rageth and rangeth, roaring up and down, "seeking whom to devour"; and not caring to be doubly damned himself, so that others may not be saved. We should be so far from envying at the happiness of others, that we should rejoice in it. This were to be as the angels of God; and the contrary, is to be like the devils of hell, as Saul was, who, because he could not see David’s heart, fed upon his own. Envy devours itself, as the worm doth the nut out of which it grows.
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{a} Aug. in Ps. cxxxix.
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 vv16, 18, 20 Which breeds envy, and jealousy, and fear among my…
Which breeds envy, and jealousy, and fear among my subjects, and may occasion greater mischiefs; and therefore it is better that we should part friends, than by continuing together be turned into enemies.
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 vv15–22 And Abimelech said unto Isaac, go from us,.... Which…
And Abimelech said unto Isaac, go from us,.... Which was either said by way of advice, consulting Isaac's good, and the peace of his own kingdom; or else by way of command, enjoining him to depart, having a secret envy to him himself, or at least was jealous of his growing power and wealth:
for thou art much mightier than we; in riches or goods, as the Targum of Jonathan adds; or in number; his family being greatly increased, his servants numerous, many being born of them in his house; Abraham had three hundred and eighteen trained servants in his house, Gen 14:14; how many Isaac had is not certain; they must be a large number for Abimelech to fear anything from them. Some choose to interpret the words, thou hast increased, or thou hast got much from us, and by us; and therefore it is high time for thee to be gone from us.
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 vv15, 16, 18, 19, 21 Verse 15. For all the wells - the Philistines…
Verse 15. For all the wells - the Philistines had stopped them] In such countries a good well was a great acquisition; and hence in predatory wars it was usual for either party to fill the wells with earth or sand, in order to distress the enemy. The filling up the wells in this case was a most unprincipled transaction, as they had pledged themselves to Abraham, by a solemn oath, not to injure each other in this or any other respect. See Ge 21:25-31.
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 vv15, 16, 17, 18, 20 15. Wells… filled — The wells dug by Abraham…
15. Wells… filled — The wells dug by Abraham gave Isaac a sort of title to the land, and filling them up was equivalent to a declaration of war. Comp. 2Ki_3:25; Isa_15:6.
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 vv15–22 15. his father’s servants] Cf. Gen_21:25.
15. his father’s servants] Cf. Gen_21:25.
had stopped them] Wells were of priceless value to large owners of cattle and sheep. The “Philistines” adopted the most malignant method of spiting the Hebrews, and of rendering their continued sojourn in the land impossible. See 2Ki_3:25.
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 vv15, 17, 18 (15) The wells.—In the East the digger of a…
(15) The wells.—In the East the digger of a well is regarded as a public benefactor; but the Philistines stopped those that Abraham had digged, probably because they regarded his possession of them, though confirmed by the covenant between him and Abimelech (Gen_21:32), as an intrusion upon their rights as the people of the country, Envious, too, at the rapid increase of an alien’s wealth, they determined to drive Isaac away; and for this no expedient would be more effectual than the preventing him from procuring water for his cattle. Following upon this came an express command of the king to depart, which Isaac obeyed; for he had sought refuge there because of the famine, and had no right to continue at Gerar, if the people refused their hospitality.
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 vv15–22 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, (vide Gen_21:30) the philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth. This act, commonly regarded as legitimate in ancient warfare, was practically to Isaac an act of expulsion, it being impossible for flocks and herds to exist without access to water supplies. It was probably, as the text indicates, the outcome of envy, rather than inspired by fear that Isaac in digging and possessing wells was tacitly claiming the ownership of the land.
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 v17 Isaac digged again the wells of water
Gen_26:17-33
Isaac digged again the wells of water
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Isaacs wells
These four names are the names (Gen_26:20-22; Gen_26:33) of four wells of springing water, dug in a valley, to feed families and flocks.
Esek means Strife; Sitnah, Hatred; Rehoboth, Room; Shebah, Oath. Have you not been at them all?
I. When you began life you found people trying to put you down by saying that the well was theirs, and that you were crowding yourself upon their ground. If they did not try to put you down, you tried to put them down. The well is there in life--strife, contention, debate--you must find it in your life somewhere.
II. If you drive people off the ground they may strive with you no more. They will hate you; your name will be the signal for abuse. First you are opposed, then you are hated; so you call it Sitnah, Hatred--the second well.
III. Then you come to the third stage, if you are not killed. You are hated, but you keep digging away, and at last room is made for you--Rehoboth. You are recognized, looked for, and missed if you do not come.
IV. If you have got to Rehoboth is there anything to hinder you from going on? The next step is easy: confidence--rest. Be not discouraged: move on honestly, laboriously, religiously. Go on: that is your duty in two words. Life is full of difficulty. It is through tribulation that you get into any kingdom worth anything. In Christ we are called to strife. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Generations united by common labour and joy
I. THE EXISTING GENERATIONS SUCCEED TO THE LABOURS OF THOSE WHO ARE GONE. Divine benevolence is to be seen in this arrangement.
1. It serves to weld all generations in a common interest.
2. It serves as a guarantee of progress in the quality of human productions.
II. THE EXISTING GENERATIONS ENTER ON THE ENJOYMENTS OF THOSE THAT ARE GONE.
1. The well of sensuous enjoyment.
2. The well of intellectual enjoyment.
3. The well of social enjoyment.
4. The well of religious enjoyment. (Homilist.)
Contrasts in character
What a detestable man Isaac is when he tells lies to the king of the Philistines! Then he goes out well-hunting, as if he deserved to find water in the earth; and, secondly, calls the wells after the names which his father Abraham had given them. What contradictions we are!--telling lies to a living king, and sentimentally honouring a dead father. Mean man! has Isaac left any posterity upon the earth? Do we look upon him as an ancient character, or as a modern instance? We are doing the same thing ourselves in some form or way. What if in the very middle of our life there be just one great black lie, and lying outside two or three beautiful touches of sentiment--quite a skill in the drawing up of epitaphs, and quite a tearful and watery way of talking about old fathers and old associations? All these speeches make the lie the worse; when we see how little good we might be and might do, it aggravates the central evil of the life into overpowering and intolerable proportions. We never know how profane is the blasphemy until we catch ourselves in prayer. To think that the tongue blackened by that profanity could have also uttered that same prayer! Why, in the contrast is a new accusation and a fresh reproach. But let us follow Isaac in his well-digging. Man must have wells; man must go out of himself and pray to God in digging, if he will not pray in liturgy and uttered hymn and psalm in words. God lays His hand upon us at unexpected places: if we will not fall down upon our knees, we must still bend the proud back and dig in His earth in quest of water. At best we are dependants, seekers, always in quest of something which another hand alone can give us. Oh that men were wise! that in these true and inevitable providences we might see the beginning of inward and spiritual revelations, and that, knowing the goodness of God in the gift of water and of bread, we might proceed to know that ineffable goodness which expressed itself in sacrificial and propitiatory blood. From the lower to the higher, I charge thee to go, or else thy reasoning is a base sophism and the beginning of an awful crime. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Lessons
Justice warrants the saints to recover their just possessions left them from their fathers.
2. Malice and treachery of wicked men would put out the name and possessions of saints after decease.
3. Providence sometimes orders a restitution of outward comforts to the Church, which have been spoiled by wicked men (Gen_26:18). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. Wicked servants prosecute the quarrel of wicked masters against the Church.
2. Persecuting enemies, if in their power, would not spare a little water to the saints.
3. The wicked double their strife to destroy the life of the saints.
4. Saints give way to the malice of adversaries, but leave a brand of their hateful carriages (Gen_26:21) in what they yield to them. Sitnah.
5. All the envy and malice of the wicked will stand up as a monument against them, when God shall call them to account (Gen_26:21). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. God sojourners voluntarily translate themselves from such places where enemies under Providence do afflict them.
2. Wherever saints come as sojourners, they must labour under Providence to get necessary supports.
3. Where some wells of comfort are denied by enemies, saints may seek to find out others.
4. Wells of strife and hatred among men may be turned into wells of enlargement and ease by God to His people.
5. Gods mercies are fit to be named, published, and recorded among His saints. (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Old wells dug out
In Oriental lands a well of water is a fortune. If a king dug one, he became as famous as though he had built a pyramid or conquered a province. Great battles were fought for the conquest or defence of wells of water; castles and towers were erected to secure permanent possession of them. The traveller to-day finds the well of Jacob dug one hundred feet through a solid rock of limestone. These ancient wells of water were surrounded by walls of rock. This wall of rock was covered up with a great slab. In the centre of the slab there was a hole, through which the leathern bottle or earthen jar was let down. This opening was covered by a stone. It was considered one of the greatest calamities that could happen to a nation when these wells of water were stopped. Isaac, you see, in the text, found out that the wells of water that had been dug out by his father Abraham, at great expense and care, had been filled up by the spiteful Philistines. Immediately Isaac orders them all opened again. He was very careful to call all the wells by the same names which his father had called them by; and if this well was called The Well in the Valley, or The Well by the Rock, or The Well of Bubbles, Isaac baptized it with the same nomenclature. You have noticed, friends, that many of the old Gospel wells that our fathers dug have been dug up by the modern Philistine. They have thrown in their scepticisms and their philosophies, until the well is almost filled up, and it is nigh impossible to get one drop of the clear water. You will not think it strange, then, if the Isaac who speaks to you this morning tries to dig open some of the old wells made by Abraham, his father, nor will you be surprised if he call them by the same old names.
1. Bring your shovel and pickaxe, and crowbar, and the first well we will open is the glorious well of the Atonement. It is nearly filled up with the chips and debris of old philosophies that were worn out in the time of Confucius and Zeno, but which smart men in our day unwrap from their mummy-bandages, and try to make us believe are original with themselves. I plunge the shovel to the very bottom of the well, and I find the clear water starting. Glorious well of the Atonement. Perhaps there are people here who do not know what atonement means, it is so long since you have heard the definition. The word itself, if you give it a peculiar pronunciation, will show the meaning--at-one-ment. Man is a sinner and deserves to die. Jesus comes in and bears His punishments and weeps His griefs. I was lost once, but now I am found. Cowper, overborne with his sin, threw himself into a chair by the window, picked up a New Testament, and his eye lighted upon this: Whom God hath set forth as a propitiation through faith in His blood; and instantly he was free. Unless Christ pays our debts, we go to eternal jail. Unless our Joseph opens the Kings corn-crib, we die of famine. One sacrifice for all. A heathen got worried about his sins, and came to a priest and asked how he might be cured. The priest said: If you will drive spikes into your shoes and walk five hundred miles, you will get over it. So he drove spikes in his shoes and began the pilgrimage, trembling, tottering, agonizing on the way, until he came about twenty miles, and sat down under a tree, exhausted. Near by, a missionary was preaching Christ, the Saviour of all men. When the heathen heard it, he pulled off his sandals, threw them as far as he could, and cried: Thats what I want: give me Jesus! give me Jesus! O ye who have been convicted and worn of sin, trudging on all your days to reap eternal woe, will you not, this morning, at the announcement of a full and glorious Atonement, throw your torturing transgressions to the winds? The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin; that was the very passage that came to the tent of Hedley Vicars, the brave English soldier, and changed him into a hero for the Lord.
2. Now, bring your shovels and your pickaxes, and we will try to open another well. I call it the well of Christian comfort. You have noticed that there are a good many new ways of comforting. Your father dies. Your neighbour comes in and he says: It is only a natural law that your father should die. The machinery is merely worn out; and before he leaves you, he makes some other excellent remarks about the coagulation of blood, and the difference between respiratory and nitrogenized food. Your child dies, and your philosophic neighbour comes, and for your soothing tells you that it was impossible the child should live with such a state of mucous membrane! Out with your chemistry and physiology when I have trouble, and give me a plain new Testament! I would rather have an illiterate man from the back-woods, who knows Christ, talk with me when I am in trouble than the profoundest Worldling who does not know Him. The Gospel, without telling you anything about mucous membrane, or gastric juice, or hydrochloric acid, comes and says: All things together work for good to those who love God, and that if your child is gone, it is only because Jesus has folded it in His arms, and that the judgment-day will explain things that are now inexplicable. Oh! let us dig out this Gospel well of comfort.
3. Now, bring your shovels and pickaxes, and we will dig out another well--a well opened by our father Abraham, but which the Philistines havefilled up. It is the well of Gospel invitation. Do you know why more men do not come to Christ? It is because men are not invited that they do not come. You get a general invitation from your friend. Come around some time to my house and dine with me. You do not go. But he says: Come around to-day at four oclock and bring your family, and well dine together. And you say: I dont know that I have any engagement: I will come. I expect you at four oclock. And you go. The world feels it is a general invitation to come around some time ,rid sit at the Gospel feast, and men do not come because they are not specially invited. It is because you do not take hold of them and say: My brother, come to Christ; come now, come now! (Dr. Talmage.)
Malice overcome by zeal
The conflict still continues between good and evil. Every town, every village, every congregation, every heart, feels this conflict being carried on. Often we go a long way to see the site of some famous battle-field. We stand and muse over the spot. Here, we say, was the standard fixed; down yonder slope the charge of the cavalry madly rushed. Yet we seldom stop to reflect on the fight that goes on within our souls, on the result of which hang eternal consequences. To this scene, to this struggle so close at hand, let us turn our eyes. If religion is not practical it is worthless--if it is always seeking distant spheres of operation, it is mistaken, for its first mission is at home. Yet how cold is our interest in our religious progress! How half-hearted our feelings on the subject! How ready we are to place the easy cushions of self-satisfaction under our conscience, and to allow only a very little of our time, and still less of our thoughts, to be devoted to religious matters. A quaint writer offers the prescription, To produce spiritual indifference, add to five minutes only of prayer fourteen hours of worldliness, and nearly ten of torpor. Since then the cares of this world have, like the Philistines, filled up and choked those cool and pleasant wells which Abraham dug in the old time. Perhaps much of this arises from a dangerous habit of always letting the things of religion take a second place. But it would have been useless for Isaac and his servants to stand idly grieving over the choked-up wells and the want of water. There was nothing to be done but to labour diligently at the work and dig the wells again. So if we would strive to renew the withered and damaged plants of spiritual life--if we would be hearty, active, sincere Christians, we must rouse ourselves to prayer, watchfulness and activity! (W. Hardman, LL. D.)
The permanence of the helpful
The old Hebrew wells are flowing to-day. The monuments men build to their own pride and prowess--Pyramids, Bisen, Nimroud, Palaces, &c.
are triturated by the passing centuries; the forces of nature preserve, and in some instances enlarge, the wells. Mahomet when asked, What monument shall I build to my friend? replied, Dig a well.
Isaacs peace-loving nature
Few things are more pleasing than the picture of this gentle patriarch, yielding everything and finding everything; as if his history was an antique pictorial illustration of the very words, Give, and it shall be given unto you. He yields his life on the altar on Moriah, and he finds it. In the strife he always gives up. A lamb among wolves, he conquers the wolves. By patience he is successful. And so the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great, illustrating, so far back, the Hebrew saying, that to the good man the very stones of the field shall be at peace. Ah! that our striving, grieved hearts, standing on our points of pride or interest, would cry, Sitnah (hate), and go away, though we lose the precious well, forgiving the worst injustice by remembering the love and pity of God our Saviour towards us! (A. G. Mercer, D. D.)
Old and new wells to be dug
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. Isaacs 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 further 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. Isaacs servants dug two wells, which, from the bitter strife they occasioned, were called Esek and Sitnah, contention and hatred; but peaceably removing from these scenes of wrangle, he at length digged a well for which they strove not. This he called Rehoboth, saying, Now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land. (A. Fuller.)
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 v17 26:17-22 Isaac moved . . . to the Gerar…
26:17-22 Isaac moved . . . to the Gerar Valley (away from the city of Gerar itself, 26:6, but probably still within ten miles) and reopened his father’s wells. Isaac was also opposed there, but chose not to fight back; he relinquished one well after another until God’s blessing outdid the opposition. Whenever Isaac reopened a well, and regardless of how often enemies caused them to cave in, he found water. God was blessing Isaac and that blessing could not be hindered. Finally, the Philistines left Isaac alone.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.