Bible Commentaries

THIRD SECTION

Isaac in the region of Abimelech at Gerar. The manifestation of God, and confirmed promise. His imitation of the maxim of his father. The exposure of Rebekah. The living figure of a richly blessed, patient endurance

Genesis 26:1-22

1And there was [again] a famine in the land, besides the first [previous] 1famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar 2 And the Lord [Jehovah] appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into 3 Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: Sojourn [as a stranger] in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform [cause to stand] the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; 4And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give to thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed [bless themselves]; 5Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

6And Isaac dwelt in Gerar: 7And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he [thought he], the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon 8 And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time,¹ that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife 9 And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety [certainly] she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said [I thought], Lest I die for her 10 And Abimelech said, What is this that thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly² have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us 11 And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth [injures] this man or his wife shall surely be put to death 12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received [found. A. G.] in the same year an hundred fold: and [thus] the Lord blessed him: 13And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: 14For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him 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 16 And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.

17And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley [(brook) valley—wady.—A. G.] of Gerar, and dwelt there 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: and he called their names after [like] the names by which his father had called them 19 And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley [at the bottom], and found there a well of springing [living] water 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 Ezek [contention]; because they strove with him 21 And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah [enmity-adversary, Satan wells]. 22And he removed [brake up] from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth [wide room]; and he said, For now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.

GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS

1. The present chapter ( Genesis 26) is the only one devoted exclusively to traditions concerning Isaac. The former narratives were, on the one hand, interwoven with Abraham’s history, and, on the other, contained the beginnings of the history of Esau and Jacob. The section in the following chapter, but more fully given in the beginning of Genesis 28, forms a conclusion, in which the history of Isaac and that of his sons are considered as one. This is followed by Genesis 35:27, like a melancholy echo extending over Isaac’s long and isolated life, during which Rebekah disappears from the scene, deeply grieved on account of her sons. We have here a vivid life-picture, taken from the midst of Isaac’s pilgrimage, and representing clearly the fact that Isaac’s composedness and, tranquillity draw after them pure blessings. This thought, however, pervades his whole history. He submits to suffer upon Moriah, and thus receives a mysterious theocratic consecration as a type of Christ. He waited for his bride until Abraham’s and Eliezer’s care procured one for him without his co-operation, and in this he fared well. During Rebekah’s long barrenness he seeks no remedy such as Abraham did in connection with Hagar, but finally resorts to prayer, and is richly compensated in the bestowal of twins. During the famine he does not go to Egypt, but, according to Jehovah’s instruction, remains in Canaan, and here, in the country of the Philistines, is most abundantly blessed. He receives in silence the censure of Abimelech for his deceptive statement respecting Rebekah. He is exiled, and departs from Gerar. He yields one well after another to the shepherds of the Philistines, ever receding, further and further; and yet the king of the Philistines applies to him for an alliance, as to a mighty prince. Finally Isaac knows how to reconcile himself to the strong deception prepared for him by Rebekah and Jacob, and even this pliancy of temper is blessed to him, in that he is thereby kept in the right theocratic direction. His passive conduct, too, at the marriage of his sons, renders the difference between the true Esau and the theocratic Jacob more distinct. His composure and endurance seem infirmities; these, however, with all weakness of temperament, are evidently supported by a power of the spirit and of faith. The moral power in it is the self-restraint whereby, in opposition to his own wishes, he gives up his hasty purpose to bless Esau. Isaac learned experimentally upon Moriah, that quietness, tranquillity, and confidence in the Lord have a glorious issue. This experience is stamped upon his whole career. If we judge him from the declarations concerning Rebekah at Gerar, he appears to be the timid imitator of his father; though the assuming of his father’s maxim in this respect may be explained from his modest, susceptible nature. But that he does not imitate his father slavishly, is seen especially from the fact of his quiet suffering without any resistance. This is made evident, too, by the fact that he does not, like Abraham, go to Egypt during the famine. Moreover, he does not take a concubine, as Abraham did; nor like him does he look to divine revelation for the decision respecting the lawful heir, but holds himself sure of it by reason of the transmitted right of the first-born. New and original traits appear in his transition to agriculture, as well as in his zealous digging of wells. The naming of the wells, taken away from him, has something of humor, such as is peculiar to tranquil minds. His pleasant disposition reveals itself not only in his preference of venison, but by his peculiar manner of preparing, for Abimelech of Gerar, and his friends, a feast, even after the gentle reproof, and before he made a covenant with him on the following day. In his vocation, however, as patriarch, he shows himself a man of spirit by building an altar unto the Lord, and calling upon his name ( Genesis 26:25). And while there are but two visions mentioned definitely during his life ( Genesis 26:3, Genesis 26:24), still there follows a higher spiritual life, and, at the same time, a further development of the Abrahamic promise through the disposition he manifests in the blessing of his sons. Our section may be divided as follows: 1. Isaac’s sojourn in the country during the famine in consequence of an injunction of Jehovah. Renewed promise ( Genesis 26:1-6); 2. Isaac’s assertion that Rebekah was his sister ( Genesis 26:7-11); 3. Isaac’s prosperity; his exile from the city of Gerar, and his settlement in the valley of Gerar ( Genesis 26:12-17); 4. Isaac’s patience in what he endured from the Philistines, and its blessing ( Genesis 26:18-22). Knobel regards the present chapter as a Jehovistic supplement, mingled with Elohistic elements. [In regard to the numerous points of resemblance between Isaac and Abraham, Kurtz has shown (Gesch., p226) that these resemblances are not slavish imitations, but are marked by distinct peculiarities, and moreover, that these similar experiences are not accidental, but on the one hand, as the result of the divine providence, they flow from the same purpose and discipline with the father and the Song of Solomon, and on the other hand, as far as they are the result of human choices, they arise from an actual resemblance in their condition and hopes. Thus all believers in their experiences are alike and yet unlike.—A. G.]

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

1. [He kept the charge of God, the special commission he had given him; his commandments, his express or occasional orders; his statutes, his stated prescriptions graven on stone; his law, the great doctrine of moral obligations. Murphy, p874. His obedience was not perfect, as we know, but it was unreserved, and as it flows from a living faith, is thus honored of God.—A. G.] The motive of the promise emphasizes the humility and low position of Isaac. He must also, however, render the obedience of faith, if Jehovah’s blessing is to rest upon him, and, indeed, first of all, by remaining in the country. Abraham had to go to Egypt, Jacob must go to Egypt to die there, Isaac, the second patriarch, is not to go to Egypt at all. Notwithstanding the resemblance to the promise, Genesis 22, the new here is unmistakable.

2. Genesis 26:7-11. Isaac’s assertion respecting Rebekah. In the declaration of Isaac, the event here resembles Abraham’s experience, both in Egypt and at Gerar, but as to all else, it differs entirely. With regard to the declaration itself, it is true that Rebekah was also related to Isaac, but more distantly than Sarah to Abraham. It is evident from the narrative itself that Isaac is not so seriously threatened as Abraham, although the inquiries of the people at Gerar might have alarmed him. It is not by a punishment inflicted upon a heathen prince, who perhaps might have abducted the wife, but through the intercourse of Isaac with Rebekah that the true relation became known. That the Abimelech mentioned in this narrative is the same person who, eighty years before, received Sarah into his harem, appears plausible to Kurtz and Delitzsch, since it may be taken for granted that as a man gray with age he did not send for Rebekah and take her into his harem. We reject these as superficial grounds. The main point is, that Isaac appears in this narrative as a very cautious man, while the severe edict of Abimelech seems to suppose a solemn remembrance in the king’s house of the former experience with Abraham. The oath that follows seems also to show that the new Abimelech avails himself of the policy of his father, as well as Isaac. The windows in old times were latticed openings for the light to enter, as found in the East at the present day.

3. Genesis 26:12-17. Isaac’s prosperity and exile.—Then Isaac sowed.—Besides planting trees, Abraham was yet a mere nomad. Isaac begins to pursue agriculture along with his nomadic life; and Jacob seems to have continued it in a larger measure ( Genesis 37:7). “Many nomads of Arabia connect agriculture with a nomadic life (see Burkhardt: Syrien, p430, etc.).” Knobel. This account agrees well with the locality at Gerar. The soil of Gaza is very rich, and in Nuttar Abu Sumar, a tract northwest of Elysa, the Arabs possess now storehouses for their grain (see Robinson, i. p291, 292). Even at the present time, in those countries (e.g, Hauran), the soil yields a very rich produce (Burkhardt: “Syria,” p463). Knobel. [The hundred-fold is a large and very rare product, and yet Babylonia is said to have yielded two hundred and even three hundred fold. Herod, i. p193; Murphy, p375.—A. G.] “The exigency of the famine induced Isaac to undertake agriculture, and in the very first year his crops yielded a hundred-fold (שְׂעָרִים). The agriculture of Isaac indicates already a more permanent settlement in Palestine; but agriculture and the occupation of the nomadic life were first engaged in equally by the Israelites in Egypt, and it was not until their return from Egypt that agriculture became the predominant employment.” Delitzsch.—And the Philistines envied him.—Hostilities began in their filling with earth the wells that Abraham dug at Gerar, and which therefore belonged to Isaac. This very act is already an indirect expulsion, for without wells it is not possible that Isaac should live a nomadic life at Gerar. [The digging of wells was regarded as a sort of occupancy of the land, and as conferring a kind of title to it; and hence perhaps the envy of the Philistines.—A. G.] “This conduct was customary during wars ( 2 Kings 3:25; Isaiah 15:6), and the Arabs fill with earth the wells along the route of the pilgrims if they do not receive the toll asked by them (Troilo: Orientalische Reisebeschreib., p682; Niebuhr: ‘Arab.’ p362).” Knobel.—Go from us.—Abimelech openly vents his displeasure against Isaac. He banishes him from his city, Gerar, and from his country in the narrower sense.—In the valley of Gerar.—The undulating country Gurf-el-Gerâr, through which flows a wady (Ritter: Erdk. xiv. p804). Constantine erected a monument in this valley (Sozom6, 32).

4. Genesis 26:18-22. Isaac’s patient behavior under the violation of his rights by the Philistines. The wells.—Digged again the wells.—Behind his back too, the Philistines filled the wells which Abraham dug. Knobel infers from verse29 that the hostile conduct of the Philistines was not mentioned in the more ancient record! The discoveries of the wells ( Genesis 26:19; Genesis 26:21), too, must be regarded as identical with the digging again, Genesis 26:18!—The quarrels about the wells seem to be connected with views respecting the boundaries of Isaac’s place of exile. He is driven further and further by them. “Quarrels about watering-places and pastures are common among the Bedouins (see Genesis 13:7; Exodus 2:17; Burkhardt: ‘ Syria,’ p628, and ‘Bedouins,’ p118). Among the ancient Arabs, also, severe contests arose about watering-places (Hamasa, i. p122 f287). In many regions the scarcity of water is such that the Bedouins rather offer milk than water as a beverage (Seetzen, iii. p21).” Knobel. Isaac yields without any resistance; still he erects a monument to the injustice he suffered. The name of the second well, שִׂטְנָה, from the verb שׂטן, brings to view an enmity malignant and satanic.—A well of springing water.—Running water ( Leviticus 14:5, etc.).—Rehoboth (ample room).—The third well was probably situated beyond the boundaries of Gerar; for it is previously said that he had removed from thence, i.e, from the valley of Gerar. The name Rehoboth indicates that now by the guidance of Jehovah he had come to a wide, open region. Ruhaibeh, a wady, southwest from Elusa, and discovered by Robinson (i 291 ff.‎), together with the extended ruins of the city of the same name, situated upon the top of a mountain, remind us of this third well (Strauss: ‘Sinai and Golgotha,’ p149).” Delitzsch. Robinson also discovered further north, in a wady, what was perhaps the Sitnah of Isaac. Ruhaibeh is situated about three hours in a southerly direction from Elusa and about eight and a half from Beer-sheba, where the main roads leading to Gaza and Hebron separate from each other.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. Delitzsch: “This chapter (26) is composed of these seven short, special, and peculiarly colored narratives, which the Jehovist arranged. One purpose runs through all: to show, by a special narration of examples running through the first forty years of Isaac’s independent history, how even the patriarch himself, though less distinguished in deeds and sufferings, yet under Jehovah’s blessing and protection comes forth out of all his fearful embarrassments and ascends to still greater riches and honor.” His life, however, is not “the echo of the life of Abraham;” but Isaac’s meekness and gentleness indicate rather a decisive progress, which, like his pure monogamy, was a type of New Testament relations.

2. The events related in the present section belong undoubtedly to a time when Esau had not reached the development of all his powers, for otherwise this stately and powerful hunter would scarcely have submitted so quietly to the infringements of his rights by the Philistines.

3. The two visions which mark the life of Isaac are entirely in accordance with his character and his point of view. In the first, Jehovah addresses him: Go not down into Egypt; in the second: Fear not. The promises, however, which he receives, are further developments of the Abrahamic promise. For Isaac, moreover, Jehovah’s promises become a divine oath, i.e, a confidence of faith in him built upon a rock.

4. The three famines occurring in the history of the three patriarchs constitute the fixed manifestations of one of the great national calamities of antiquity, from which the pious have to suffer together with the ungodly; but in which the pious always experience the special care of the Lord, assuring them that all things work together for good to them that love God.

5. Isaac’s imitation of his father in passing his wife for his sister, incurs the more severe censure of history than the same actions of Abraham, and it has this time for its result the gradual expulsion from Gerar. This ignominy, too, must have the more inclined him to yield patiently to the infringements of his rights by the Philistines; and thus he is again blessed with the freedom of a new region, so that the word is fulfilled in him: Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.

6. Isaac and Abimelech, sons of their respective fathers, and yet having each a peculiar character according to their individual and finer traits.

7. Isaac, and the signs that appear of a willingness to struggle bravely for the faith, though still subject to his natural infirmities and obscured by them.

8. Isaac’s energy in his agricultural undertakings and in the diligent digging of wells.

9. The filling of the wells with earth, as taken in a spiritual sense, indicates an old hatred of the Philistines towards the children of God.

10. And thou shouldst have brought guiltiness upon us. The idea of guilt is the extension of culpability over the future of the sinner; and frequently (as e.g. in public offences) more or less even to those around us. Participation of sin is participation in its corrupting and ruinous results.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

To the whole chapter. How the promises of Abraham descend upon Isaac: 1. As the same promises; 2. as newly shaped in their development and confirmation.—Incidents of a life of faithful suffering and rich with blessings, as presented in the history of Isaac: Isaac during the famine; in danger at Gerar; as exposed to the jealousy of the Philistines; during the exile; in the strife about the wells; in the visit of Abimelech; in the marriage of Esau.—How Isaac gradually comes out of his difficulty: 1. From Gerar to the valley of Gerar; 2. from the valley of Gerar to Rehoboth; 3. from Rehoboth to Beer-sheba.—Isaac as a digger of wells, a type also of spiritual conduct: 1. In digging again the wells of the father that are filled with earth; 2. in digging new wells.—Isaac and Abimelech, or the sons in relation to their fathers: 1. Resemblance; 2. difference.—The blessing of Isaac in his crops (at the harvest-festival).—Malignant joy, a joy moat destructive to the malignant man himself. [Wordsworth, who finds types everywhere, says: “Here also we have a type of what Christ, the pure Isaac, is doing in the church. The wells of ancient truth had been choked up by error, but Christ reopened them and restored them to their primitive state and called them by their old names,” etc, p115.—A. G.]

Starke: (What Moses narrates in this chapter appears to have happened before Esau and Jacob were born (see Genesis 26:7). [More probably when they were about fifteen years old, after Abraham’s death.—A. G.] Regarding the Philistines and Philistia, see Dictionaries.) The reason why God did not permit Isaac to go to Egypt is not given, yet it may have been that Isaac might experience the wonderful providence and paternal care of God toward him. Some (Calvin) assign the reason, that Isaac, because not as far advanced in faith as his father Abraham, might have been easily led astray by the idolatrous Egyptians (the result shows, however, that it was unnecessary this time).—I will give all these countries. Thy descendants through Esau shall receive a great part of the southern countries, lying between Canaan and Egypt.

Genesis 26:5. It does not follow from these four terms, which were frequently used after the law was given upon Mt. Sinai, that Abraham already possessed the law of Moses, as the Jews assert. Had this been the case, no doubt he would have transmitted it to his children. Moses, however, chooses these expressions, which were in use in his time, in order to point out clearly to the people of Israel how Abraham had submitted himself entirely to the divine will and command, and earnestly abstained from everything to the contrary in his walk before God. To these four terms there are sometimes added two more, viz, rules and testimonies.—Osiander: There are no calamities in the world from which even the pious do not sometimes suffer. The best of it, however, is that God is their protection and comfort ( Psalm 91:1).—We are to remember the divine promises, though ancient and general, and apply them to ourselves.—Cramer: We are to abide by God’s command, for his word is a light unto our path ( Psalm 119:105).—Thus God sometimes permits his people to stumble, that his care over them may become known.—To Genesis 26:10. From this we see that the inhabitants of Gerar, notwithstanding their idolatry, were still so conscientious that they considered adultery a crime so great as to involve the whole land in its punishment.—Cramer: Comely persons should be much more watchful of themselves than others.—The woods have ears and the fields eyes, therefore let no one do anything thinking that no one sees and hears him.—Strangers are to be protected. (Since Isaac possessed no property, perhaps he cultivated with the king’s permission an unfruitful tract of land, or hired a piece of ground.)—It is the worst kind of jealousy if we repine at another’s prosperity without any prospect of our own advantage.

Bibl. Tub.: God blesses his people extraordinarily in famine. Cramer: Success creates jealousy; but let us not be surprised at this; it is the course of the world.

Genesis 26:17. To suffer wrong, and therein to exercise patience, is always better than to revenge oneself and do wrong.—Christian, the Holy Scriptures are also a well of living water; draw therefrom incessantly.—Bibl. Tub.: The jealousy and artifice of enemies cannot prevent or restrain the blessing which the Lord designs for the pious.

Footnotes