Genesis 26

Genesis 26:1 A famine happened in the land, in addition to the first famine that happened in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines at Gerar.

Genesis 26:2 And Yahveh appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I will tell you.

Genesis 26:3 Travel as a guest in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, because to you and to your seed I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father.

Genesis 26:4 I will multiply your seed as the stars of the sky and will give to your seed all these lands. And all the nations of the land will be blessed by your seed,

Genesis 26:5 because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

Genesis 26:6 So Isaac relocated to Gerar.

Genesis 26:7 When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “My wife,” thinking, “or else men of this place will kill me because of Rebekah,” because she was good to look at.

Genesis 26:8 When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw, noticing Isaac caressing Rebekah his wife.

Genesis 26:9 So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “I noticed she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Or else I will die because of her.'”

Genesis 26:10 Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have had sex with your wife, and you would have brought need for reparation upon us.”

Genesis 26:11 So Abimelech warned all the people, and this is what he said, “Whoever harms this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”

Genesis 26:12 And Isaac planted in that land and harvested in the same year a hundredfold. Yahveh blessed him,

Genesis 26:13 and the man became rich, and succeeded more and more until he became very wealthy.

Genesis 26:14 He had so many flocks and herds and many servants, that the Philistines envied him.

Genesis 26:15 (And the Philistines had closed down and filled with dirt all the wells that his father’s slaves had dug in the days of Abraham his father.)

Genesis 26:16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, because you are much stronger than we.”

Genesis 26:17 So Isaac left from there and resettled in the valley of Gerar and lived there.

Genesis 26:18 And Isaac dug the wells of water again that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had closed down after the death of Abraham. And he gave them the names that his father had given them.

Genesis 26:19 But when Isaac’s slaves dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water,

Genesis 26:20 the herdsmen of Gerar argued with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So, he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him.

Genesis 26:21 Then they dug another well, and they argued over that also, so he called its name Sitnah.

Genesis 26:22 And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not argue over that one. So, he called its name Rehoboth, saying, “Because now Yahveh has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

Genesis 26:23 He went up from there to Beer-sheba.

Genesis 26:24 And Yahveh appeared to him in that night and he said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Do not fear, because I am with you and will bless you and multiply your seed for my slave Abraham’s sake.”

Genesis 26:25 So he built an altar there and called upon the name of Yahveh and pitched his tent there. And Isaac’s slaves dug a well there.

Genesis 26:26 When Abimelech visited him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army,

Genesis 26:27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?”

Genesis 26:28 They said, “We see clearly that Yahveh has been with you. So, we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you,

Genesis 26:29 that you will not do harm to us, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of Yahveh.”

Genesis 26:30 So he prepared them a feast, and they ate and drank.

Genesis 26:31 In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.

Genesis 26:32 That same day Isaac’s slaves came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.”

Genesis 26:33 He called it Shibah; so, the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

Genesis 26:34 When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite,

Genesis 26:35 and they were a bitter wind to Isaac and Rebekah.

Genesis 26 quotes:

“Sometimes, just before God opens the windows of heaven and pours you out a blessing, it will seem that every door has closed to you, and that there is famine in your life. At times, it will seem that there is no one who can help you, and there’s a purpose in that too. When you do begin to make progress under these difficult circumstances, you’ll know that it is not being accomplished in your own strength, but that it is because of your Lord working in you.”

Ellis, Neil C. Surviving the Crisis: [When the Test Is Finally Over]. 1st ed., Legacy Publishers International, 2004. p. 22.

“In observing Isaac’s walk with God, we have a profile of his life and character in Genesis 26:11-33. The witness of Isaac was in his actions rather than in words. His gentle example spoke the beauty of a “meek and quiet spirit”. In fact, “in the beauty of holiness” he lived among his sometimes hostile neighbors. The fact that God had blessed and made him so prosperous, “for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds, and a great number of servants,” caused the Philistines to envy him. (Gen. 26:14)”

Rossi, Sanna Barlow. Portraits from the Beginnings : They Walked with God. Xlibris Corporation, 2004. p. 97.

“The Hittites became a major nation in history and would ultimately become a part of the inheritance for Abraham’s descendants (Genesis 15:20). Many Hittites are mentioned in Scripture over the course of Israel’s dealings with them. Esau married Hittites (Genesis 26:34; 36:2), much to the dismay of Isaac and Rebekah. God insisted that the Hittites were to be destroyed by Israel when they took their territory under the leadership of Joshua (Deuteronomy 20:17).”

Morris, Henry M. The Book of Beginnings : A Practical Guide to Understand and Teach Genesis. Institute for Creation Research, 2012. p. 92.