Genesis 26

1 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],

And there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine, which was in the time of Abraam; and Isaac went to Abimelech the king of the Phylistines to Gerara.

2 but Yahweh appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt! Live in the land where I will tell you to go!

And the Lord appeared to him and said, Go not down to Egypt, but dwell in the land, which I shall tell you of.

3 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.

And sojourn in this land; and I will be with you, and bless you, for I will give to you and to your seed all this land; and I will establish my oath which I swore to your father Abraam.

4 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.

And I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven; and I will give to your seed all this land, and all the nations of the earth shall be blest in your seed.

5 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,”]

Because Abraam your father listened to my voice, and kept my injunctions, and my commandments, and my ordinances, and my statutes.

6 [so Isaac] stayed there [along with his wife and sons].

And Isaac lived in Gerara.

7 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.”

And the men of the place questioned him concerning Rebecca his wife, and he said, She is my sister, for he feared to say, She is my wife, lest at any time the men of the place should kill him because of Rebecca, because she was fair.

8 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.

And he remained there a long time, and Abimelech the king of Gerara leaned to look through the window, and saw Isaac sporting with Rebecca his wife.

9 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.”

And Abimelech called Isaac, and said to him, Is she then your wife? why have you said, She is my sister? And Isaac said to him, [I did so], for I said, Lest at any time I die on her account.

10 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!”

And Abimelech said to him, Why have you done this to us? one of my kindred within a little had lain with your wife, and you would have brought [a sin of] ignorance upon us.

11 Then Abimelech commanded all his people, saying, “Do not harm/molest this man or his wife! Anyone who does that will surely be executed!”

And Abimelech charged all his people, saying Every man that touches this man and his wife shall be liable to death.

12 Isaac planted grain in that land that year, and he harvested a very large crop, because Yahweh blessed him.

And Isaac sowed in that land, and he found in that year barley and hundred-fold, and the Lord blessed him.

13 Isaac continued to acquire more and more possessions, until finally he became very wealthy.

And the man was exalted, and advancing he increased, till he became very great.

14 He had large herds of sheep and goats and cattle, and many slaves. Because of that, the Philistine people envied him.

And he had cattle of sheep, and cattle of oxen, and many tilled lands, and the Phylistines envied him.

15 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.

And all the wells which the servants of his father had dug in the time of his father, the Phylistines stopped them, and filled them with earth.

16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “You people have become more numerous than we are, so I want you to get out of our area.”

And Abimelech said to Isaac, Depart from us, for you are become much mightier than we.

17 So Isaac [and his family] moved from there. They set up their tents in Gerar Valley [and started to live there].

And Isaac departed thence, and rested in the valley of Gerara, and lived there.

18 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.

And Isaac dug again the wells of water, which the servants of his father Abraam had dug, and the Phylistines had stopped them, after the death of his father Abraam; and he gave them names, according to the names by which his father named them.

19 Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water.

And the servants of Isaac dug in the valley of Gerara, and they found there a well of living water.

20 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.

And the shepherds of Gerara strove with the shepherds of Isaac, saying that the water was theirs; and they called the name of the well, Injury, for they injured him.

21 Then Isaac’s servants dug another well, but they quarreled about who owned that one also. So Isaac named it Sitnah, [which means ‘opposition]’.

And having departed thence he dug another well, and they strove also for that; and he named the name of it, Enmity.

22 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.”

And he departed thence and dug another well; and they did not strive about that; and he named the name of it, Room, saying, Because now the Lord has made room for us, and has increased us upon the earth.

23 From there Isaac went up to Beersheba.

And he went up thence to the well of the oath.

24 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.”

And the Lord appeared to him in that night, and said, I am the God of Abraam your father; fear not, for I am with you, and I will bless you, and multiply your seed for the sake of Abraam your father.

25 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.

And he built there an altar, and called on the name of the Lord, and there he pitched his tent, and there the servants of Isaac dug a well in the valley of Gerara.

26 [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.

And Abimelech came to him from Gerara, and so did Ochozath his friend, and Phichol the commander-in-chief of his army.

27 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?”

And Isaac said to them, Therefore have you come to me? whereas you hated me, and sent me away from you.

28 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,

And they said, We have surely seen that the Lord was with you, and we said, Let there be an oath between us and you, and we will make a covenant with you,

29 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.”

that you shall do no wrong by us, as we have not abhorred you, and according as we have treated you well, and have sent you forth peaceably; and now you are blessed of the Lord.

30 So Isaac made a feast for them, and they all ate and drank.

And he made a feast for them, and they ate and drank.

31 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.

And they arose in the morning, and swore each to his neighbor; and Isaac sent them forth, and they departed from him in safety.

32 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!”

And it came to pass in that day, that the servants of Isaac came and told him of the well which they had dug; and they said, We have not found water.

33 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’].

And he called it, Oath: therefore he called the name of that city, the Well of Oath, until this day.

34 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].

And Esau was forty years old; and he took as wife Judith the daughter of Beoch the Chettite, and Basemath, daughter of Helon the Chettite.

35 Esau’s two wives made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah.

And they were provoking to Isaac and Rebecca.