Isaac sojourneth in Gerara – Genesis, chapter 26

Isaac sojourneth in Gerara, where God reneweth to him the promise made to Abraham. King Abimelech maketh league with him.

[1] And when a famine came in the land, after that barrenness which had happened in the days of Abraham, Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Palestines to Gerara. [2] And the Lord appeared to him and said: Go not down into Egypt, but stay in the land that I shall tell thee. [3] And sojourn in it, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee: for to thee and to thy seed I will give all these countries, to fulfill the oath which I swore to Abraham thy father. [4] And I will multiply thy seed like the stars of heaven: and I will give to thy posterity all these countries: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. [5] Because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my precepts and commandments, and observed my ceremonies and laws.

[6] So Isaac abode in Gerara. [7] And when he was asked by the men of that place, concerning his wife, he answered: She is my sister; for he was afraid to confess that she was his wife, thinking lest perhaps they would kill him because of her beauty. [8] And when very many days were passed, and he abode there, Abimelech king of the Palestines looking out through a window, saw him playing with Rebecca his wife. [9] And calling for him, he said: It is evident she is thy wife: why didst thou feign her to be thy sister? He answered: I feared lest I should die for her sake. [10] And Abimelech said: Why hast thou deceived us? Some man of the people might have lain with thy wife, and thou hadst brought upon us a great sin. And he commanded all the people, saying:

[11] He that shall touch this man’s wife, shall surely be put to death. [12] And Isaac sowed in that land, and he found that same year a hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him. [13] And the man was enriched, and he went on prospering and increasing, till he became exceeding great: [14] And he had possessions of sheep and of herds, and a very great family. Wherefore the Palestines envying him, [15] Stopped up at that time all the wells, that the servants of his father Abraham had digged, filling them up with earth:

[16] Insomuch that Abimelech himself said to Isaac: Depart from us, for thou art become much mightier than we. [17] So he departed and came to the torrent of Gerara, to dwell there: [18] And he digged again other wells, which the servants of his father Abraham had digged, and which, after his death, the Palestines had of old stopped up: and he called them by the same names by which his father before had called them. [19] And they digged in the torrent, and found living water. [20] But there also the herdsmen of Gerara strove against the herdsmen of Isaac, saying: It is our water. Wherefore he called the name of the well, on occasion of that which had happened, Calumny.

[21] And they digged also another; and for that they quarrelled likewise, and he called the name of it, Enmity. [22] Going forward from thence, he digged another well, for which they contended not: therefore he called the name thereof, Latitude, saying: Now hath the Lord given us room, and made us to increase upon the earth. [23] And he went up from that place to Bersabee, [24] Where the Lord appeared to him that same night, saying: I am the God of Abraham thy father; do not fear, for I am with thee: I will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake. [25] And he built there an altar: and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent: and commanded his servants to dig a well.

[26] To which place when Abimelech, and Ochozath his friend, and Phicol chief captain of his soldiers came from Gerara, [27] Isaac said to them: Why are ye come to me, a man whom you hate, and have thrust out from you? [28] And they answered: We saw that the Lord is with thee, and therefore we said: Let there be an oath between us, and let us make a covenant, [29] That thou do us no harm, as we on our part have touched nothing of thine, nor have done any thing to hurt thee: but with peace have sent thee away increased with the blessing of the Lord. [30] And he made them a feast, and after they had eaten and drunk:

[31] Arising in the morning, they swore one to another: and Isaac sent them away peaceably to their own home. [32] And behold the same day the servants of Isaac came, telling him of a well which they had digged, and saying: We have found water. [33] Whereupon he called it Abundance: and the name of the city was called Bersabee, even to this day. [34] And Esau being forty years old, married wives, Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hethite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon of the same place. [35] And they both offended the mind of Isaac and Rebecca.

Commentary

[19] “Torrent”: That is, a channel where sometimes a torrent or violent stream had run.

[22] “Latitude”: That is, wideness, or room.

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