Genesis 26

1 Then, when a famine arose over the land, after that barrenness which had happened in the days of Abraham, Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Palestinians, in Gerar.

And there is a famine in the land, besides the first famine which was in the days of Abraham, and Isaac goes to Abimelech king of the Philistines, to Gerar.

2 And the Lord appeared to him, and he said: “Do not descend into Egypt, but rest in the land that I will tell you,

And YHWH appears to him and says, “Do not go down toward Egypt, dwell in the land concerning which I speak to you,

3 and sojourn in it, and I will be with you, and I will bless you. For to you and to your offspring I will give all these regions, completing the oath that I promised to Abraham your father.

sojourn in this land, and I am with you, and bless you, for to you and to your seed I give all these lands, and I have established the oath which I have sworn to your father Abraham;

4 And I will multiply your offspring like the stars of heaven. And I will give to your posterity all these regions. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed,

and I have multiplied your seed as stars of the heavens, and I have given to your seed all these lands; and all nations of the earth have blessed themselves in your Seed;

5 because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my precepts and commandments, and observed the ceremonies and the laws.”

because that Abraham has listened to My voice, and keeps My charge, My commands, My statutes, and My laws.”

6 And so Isaac remained in Gerar.

And Isaac dwells in Gerar;

7 And when he was questioned by the men of that place about his wife, he answered, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to confess her to be his mate, thinking that perhaps they would put him to death because of her beauty.

and men of the place ask him of his wife, and he says, “She [is] my sister”: for he has been afraid to say, “My wife—lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, for she [is] of good appearance.”

8 And when very many days had passed, and he had remained in the same place, Abimelech, king of the Palestinians, gazing through a window, saw him being playful with Rebekah, his wife.

And it comes to pass, when the days have been prolonged to him there, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looks through the window, and sees, and behold, Isaac is playing with his wife Rebekah.

9 And summoning him, he said: “It is clear that she is your wife. Why did you falsely claim her to be your sister?” He answered, “I was afraid, lest I might die because of her.”

And Abimelech calls for Isaac and says, “Behold, she [is] surely your wife; and how could you have said, She [is] my sister?” And Isaac says to him, “Because I said, Lest I die for her.”

10 And Abimelech said: “Why have you burdened us? Someone from the people could have lain with your wife, and you would have brought a great sin upon us.” And he instructed all the people, saying,

And Abimelech says, “What [is] this you have done to us? As a little thing one of the people had lain with your wife, and you had brought on us guilt”;

11 “Whoever will touch the wife of this man will die a death.”

and Abimelech commands all the people, saying, “He who comes against this man or against his wife, dying does die.”

12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and he found, in that same year, one hundredfold. And the Lord blessed him.

And Isaac sows in that land, and finds in that year a hundredfold, and YHWH blesses him;

13 And the man was enriched, and he continued prospering as well as increasing, until he became very great.

and the man is great, and goes on, going on and becoming great, until he has been very great,

14 Likewise, he had possessions of sheep and of herds, and a very large family. Because of this, the Palestinians envied him,

and he has possession of a flock, and possession of a herd, and an abundant service; and the Philistines envy him,

15 so, at that time, they obstructed all the wells that the servants of his father Abraham had dug, filling them with soil.

and all the wells which his father’s servants dug in the days of his father Abraham, the Philistines have stopped them, and fill them with dust.

16 It reached a point where Abimelech himself said to Isaac, “Move away from us, for you have become very much more powerful than we.”

And Abimelech says to Isaac, “Go from us; for you have become much mightier than we”;

17 And departing, he then went toward the torrent of Gerar, and he dwelt there.

and Isaac goes from there, and encamps in the Valley of Gerar, and dwells there;

18 Again, he dug up other wells, which the servants of his father Abraham had dug, and which, after his death, the Philistines had formerly obstructed. And he called them by the same names that his father had called them before.

and Isaac turns back, and digs the wells of water which they dug in the days of his father Abraham, which the Philistines have stopped after the death of Abraham, and he calls to them names according to the names which his father called them.

19 And they dug in the torrent, and they found living water.

And Isaac’s servants dig in the valley, and find there a well of living water,

20 But in that place also the shepherds of Gerar argued against the shepherds of Isaac, by saying, “It is our water.” For this reason, he called the name of the well, because of what had happened, ‘Calumny.’

and shepherds of Gerar strive with shepherds of Isaac, saying, “The water [is] ours”; and he calls the name of the well “Strife,” because they have striven habitually with him;

21 Then they dug up yet another one. And over that one also they fought, and he called it, ‘Enmity.’

and they dig another well, and they strive also for it, and he calls its name “Hatred.”

22 Advancing from there, he dug another well, over which they did not contend. And so he called its name, ‘Latitude,’ saying, “Now the Lord has expanded us and caused us to increase across the land.”

And he removes from there, and digs another well, and they have not striven for it, and he calls its name “Enlargements,” and says, “For—now has YHWH given enlargement to us, and we have been fruitful in the land.”

23 Then he ascended from that place into Beersheba,

And he goes up from there [to] Beer-Sheba,

24 where the Lord appeared to him on the same night, saying: “I am the God of Abraham your father. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you, and I will multiply your offspring because of my servant Abraham.”

and YHWH appears to him during that night and says, “I [am] the God of your father Abraham, do not fear, for I [am] with you, and have blessed you, and have multiplied your seed, because of My servant Abraham”;

25 And so he built an altar there. And he invoked the name of the Lord, and he stretched out his tent. And he instructed his servants to dig a well.

and he builds there an altar, and preaches in the Name of YHWH, and stretches out there his tent, and there Isaac’s servants dig a well.

26 When Abimelech, and Ahuzzath, his friend, and Phicol, the leader of the military, had arrived from Gerar to that place,

And Abimelech has gone to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phichol head of his host;

27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, a man whom you hate, and whom you have expelled from among you?”

and Isaac says to them, “Why have you come to me, and you have hated me, and you send me away from you?”

28 And they responded: “We saw that the Lord is with you, and therefore we said: Let there be an oath between us, and let us initiate a pact,

And they say, “We have certainly seen that YHWH has been with you, and we say, Now let there be an oath between us, between us and you, and let us make a covenant with you;

29 so that you may not do us any kind of harm, just as we have touched nothing of yours, and have not caused any injury to you, but with peace we released you, augmented by the blessing of the Lord.”

do no evil with us, as we have not touched you, and as we have only done good with you, and send you away in peace; you [are] now blessed of YHWH.”

30 Therefore, he made them a feast, and after the food and drink,

And he makes a banquet for them, and they eat and drink,

31 arising in the morning, they swore to one another. And Isaac sent them away peacefully to their own place.

and rise early in the morning, and swear to one another, and Isaac sends them away, and they go from him in peace.

32 Then, behold, on the same day the servants of Isaac came, reporting to him about a well which they had dug, and saying: “We have found water.”

And it comes to pass during that day that Isaac’s servants come and declare to him concerning the circumstances of the well which they have dug, and say to him, “We have found water”;

33 Therefore, he called it, ‘Abundance.’ And the name of the city was established as ‘Beersheba,’ even to the present day.

and he calls it Shebah, [oath, ] therefore the name of the city [is] Beer-Sheba, [Well of the Oath, ] to this day.

34 In truth, at forty years of age, Esau took wives: Judith, the daughter of Beeri, the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon, of the same place.

And Esau is a son of forty years, and he takes a wife, Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite,

35 And they both offended the mind of Isaac and Rebekah.

and they are a bitterness of spirit to Isaac and to Rebekah.