Genesis 26
1 And there was a famine in the lande besides the first famine that was in the dayes of Abraham. Wherefore Izhak went to Abimelech King of the Philistims vnto Gerar.
Some time later there was a severe (famine/scarcity of food) there. That was different from the famine that occurred when Abraham was alive. So Isaac went [southeast] to Gerar [town, to talk] to Abimelech, the king of the Philistine people-group. [What happened was this: Isaac considered going to Egypt],
2 For the Lord appeared vnto him, and sayde, Goe not downe into Egypt, but abide in the land which I shall shewe vnto thee.
but Yahweh appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt! Live in the land where I will tell you to go!
3 Dwell in this lande, and I will be with thee, and will blesse thee: for to thee, and to thy seede I will giue all these countreys: and I will performe the othe which I sware vnto Abraham thy father.
Stay in this land for a while, and I will help you and bless you, because it is to you and your descendants that I will give all these lands, and I will do what I solemnly promised to your father.
4 Also I wil cause thy seede to multiply as the starres of heauen, and will giue vnto thy seede all these countreys: and in thy seede shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,
I will cause your descendants to be as numerous as the stars in the sky. I will give to your descendants all these lands, and I will cause your descendants to be a blessing to the people of [MTY] all nations on the earth.
5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voyce and kept mine ordinance, my commandements, my statutes, and my Lawes.
I will do that because your father Abraham obeyed me. He obeyed everything that I told him to do, everything that I declared and all the laws that I gave him.” So Isaac [went and asked King Abimelech if he would permit him to live in the Gerar area. The king said, “Okay,”]
6 So Izhak dwelt in Gerar.
[so Isaac] stayed there [along with his wife and sons].
7 And the men of the place asked him of his wife, and he sayd, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife, least, sayde he, the men of the place shoulde kill me, because of Rebekah: for she was beautifull to the eye.
When the men in Gerar [town] asked who Rebekah was, Isaac said, “She is my sister.” He said that because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “Rebekah is very beautiful, so they will want her. [If I say that she is my sister, they know they will have to negotiate about a bride price because I am her older brother; but if I say that she is my wife, no negotiation will be possible]. They will just kill me to get her.”
8 So after hee had bene there long time, Abimelech King of the Philistims looked out at a windowe, and loe, he sawe Izhak sporting with Rebekah his wife.
When Isaac had been there a long time, one day Abimelech, the king of the Philistine people-group, looked down from a window [in his palace] and was surprised to see Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.
9 Then Abimelech called Izhak, and sayde, Loe, shee is of a suertie thy wife, and why saydest thou, She is my sister? To whom Izhak answered, Because I thought this, It may be that I shall dye for her.
So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said to him, “Now I realize that she is really your wife! So why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac replied to him, “I said that because I thought that someone here might kill me to get her.”
10 Then Abimelech said, Why hast thou done this vnto vs? one of the people had almost lien by thy wife, so shouldest thou haue brought sinne vpon vs.
Abimelech said, “(You should not have done this to us!/Why did you do this?) [RHQ] One of our people might have (had sex with/slept with) [EUP] your wife, and you would have caused us to be guilty of a great sin!”
11 Then Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man, or his wife, shall die the death.
Then Abimelech commanded all his people, saying, “Do not harm/molest this man or his wife! Anyone who does that will surely be executed!”
12 Afterwarde Izhak sowed in that lande, and founde in the same yeere an hundreth folde by estimation: and so the Lord blessed him.
Isaac planted grain in that land that year, and he harvested a very large crop, because Yahweh blessed him.
13 And the man waxed mightie, and stil increased, till he was exceeding great,
Isaac continued to acquire more and more possessions, until finally he became very wealthy.
14 For he had flockes of sheepe, and heards of cattell, and a mightie housholde: therefore the Philistims had enuy at him.
He had large herds of sheep and goats and cattle, and many slaves. Because of that, the Philistine people envied him.
15 In so much that the Philistims stopped and filled vp with earth all the welles, which his fathers seruantes digged in his father Abrahams time.
So all the wells that the servants of his father Abraham had dug during the time when he was alive, the people filled up with dirt.
16 Then Abimelech sayde vnto Izhak, Get thee from vs, for thou art mightier then wee a great deale.
Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “You people have become more numerous than we are, so I want you to get out of our area.”
17 Therefore Izhak departed thence and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
So Isaac [and his family] moved from there. They set up their tents in Gerar Valley [and started to live there].
18 And Izhak returning, digged the welles of water, which they had digged in the dayes of Abraham his father: for the Philistims had stopped them after the death of Abraham, and hee gaue them the same names, which his father gaue them.
There were several wells in that area that had been dug when Isaac’s father Abraham was living, but Philistine people had filled them up [with dirt] after Abraham died. Now Isaac and his servants removed the dirt, and Isaac gave the wells the same names that his father had given to them.
19 Izhaks seruantes then digged in the valley, and found there a well of liuing water.
Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water.
20 But the herdmen of Gerar did striue with Izhaks herdmen, saying, The water is ours: therefore called he the name of the well Esek, because they were at strife with him.
But other men who lived in Gerar [Valley] who took care of their animals argued/quarreled with the men who took care of Isaac’s animals, and said, “The water in this well is ours!” So Isaac named the well Esek, which means ‘dispute’, because they disputed about who owned it.
21 Afterwarde they digged another well, and stroue for that also, and he called the name of it Sitnah.
Then Isaac’s servants dug another well, but they quarreled about who owned that one also. So Isaac named it Sitnah, [which means ‘opposition]’.
22 Then he remoued thence, and digged an other well, for the which they stroue not: therefore called hee the name of it Rehoboth, and sayde, Because the Lord hath nowe made vs roome, we shall increase vpon the earth.
They moved on from there and dug another well, but this time no one quarreled about who owned it. So Isaac named it Rehoboth, [which means ‘uninhabited place’], saying, “Yahweh has given us an uninhabited place to live in, a place that is not wanted by other people, and we will become very prosperous here.”
23 So he went vp thence to Beer-sheba.
From there Isaac went up to Beersheba.
24 And the Lord appeared vnto him the same night, and sayde, I am the God of Abraham thy father: feare not, for I am with thee, and wil blesse thee, and will multiplie thy seede for my seruant Abrahams sake.
The first night that he was there, Yahweh appeared to him and said, “I am God, whom your father Abraham worshiped. Do not be afraid of anything. I will help you and bless you, and because of what I promised my servant Abraham, I will greatly increase the number of your descendants.”
25 Then he builte an altar there, and called vpon the Name of the Lord, and there spred his tent: where also Izhaks seruauntes digged a well.
So Isaac built a stone altar there [and offered a sacrifice] to worship Yahweh. He [and his servants] set up their tents there, and his servants started to dig a well.
26 Then came Abimelech to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friendes, and Phichol the captaine of his armie.
[While they were digging the well], King Abimelech came to Isaac from Gerar, along with Ahuzzath, his advisor, and Phicol, the commander of his army.
27 To whom Izhak sayd, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate mee and haue put mee away from you?
Isaac asked them, “You (acted in a hostile way toward me/treated me like an enemy) before, and sent me away. So why have you come to me now?”
28 Who answered, Wee sawe certainely that the Lord was with thee, and wee thought thus, Let there be nowe an othe betweene vs, euen betweene vs and thee, and let vs make a couenant with thee.
One of them answered, “We have seen that Yahweh helps you. So we said to each other, ‘We should have an agreement between us and you. We should make a peace treaty with you,
29 If thou shalt do vs no hurt, as we haue not touched thee, and as we haue done vnto thee nothing but good, and sent thee away in peace: thou nowe, the blessed of the Lord, doe this.
stating that you will not harm us, in the same way that we did not molest [EUP] you.’ We always treated you well and sent you away peacefully. And now Yahweh is blessing you.”
30 Then hee made them a feast, and they dyd eate and drinke.
So Isaac made a feast for them, and they all ate and drank.
31 And they rose vp betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: then Izhak let them go, and they departed from him in peace.
Early the next morning they all (swore/solemnly promised) each other that they would do what they had promised. Then Isaac sent them home peacefully.
32 And that same day Izhaks seruantes came and tolde him of a well, which they had digged, and said vnto him, We haue found water.
That day Isaac’s servants came to him and told him about the well that they had finished digging. They said, “We found water in the well!”
33 So hee called it Shibah: therefore the name of the citie is called Beer-sheba vnto this day.
Isaac named the well Shibah, [which sounds like the Hebrew word that means ‘oath’]. To the present time the town there has the name Beersheba [which means ‘Friendship Agreement Well’].
34 Nowe when Esau was fourtie yeere olde, he tooke to wife Iudith, the daughter of Beeri an Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon an Hittite also.
When Esau was 40 years old, he married Judith, the daughter of Beeri, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon. Both of those women were descendants of Heth, [not from Isaac’s clan].
35 And they were a griefe of minde to Izhak and to Rebekah.
Esau’s two wives made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah.
