Genèse 26
1 Cependant une famine étant survenue dans ce pays, après la disette qui était arrivée dans les jours d’Abraham, Isaac s’en alla vers Abimélech, roi des Philistins, à Gérara.
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 Or le Seigneur lui apparut, et dit: Ne descends pas en Égypte, mais demeure dans le pays que je te dirai.
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 Restes-y comme étranger, et je serai avec toi, et je te bénirai; car c’est à toi et à ta postérité que je donnerai toutes ces contrées, accomplissant le serment que j’ai fait à Abraham ton père.
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 Et je multiplierai ta postérité comme les étoiles du ciel; et je donnerai à tes descendants toutes ces contrées, et seront bénies en ta postérité toutes les nations de la terre;
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 Parce qu’Abraham a obéi à ma voix, qu’il a gardé mes préceptes et mes commandements, et qu’il a observé les cérémonies et les lois.
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 Isaac donc demeura à Gérara.
[so Isaac] stayed there [along with his wife and sons].
7 Comme il était interrogé par les hommes de ce lieu sur sa femme, il répondit: C’est ma sœur; car il avait craint d’avouer qu’elle lui était unie par le mariage, pensant que peut-être ils le tueraient à cause de sa beauté.
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 Or, lorsque beaucoup de jours furent passés, et qu’il demeurait encore en ce même endroit, Abimélech, roi des Philistins, regardant par la fenêtre, le vit jouant avec Rébecca, sa femme.
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 Et l’ayant fait venir, il dit: Il est évident que c’est ta femme; pourquoi as-tu menti, disant que c’est ta sœur? Il répondit: J’ai eu peur de mourir à cause d’elle.
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 Et Abimélech reprit: Pourquoi nous en as-tu imposé? quelqu’un du peuple aurait pu abuser de ta femme, et tu aurais attiré sur nous un grand péché. Et il commanda à tout le peuple, disant:
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 Quiconque touchera la femme de cet homme, mourra de mort.
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 Et Isaac sema en ce pays, et il trouva dans l’année même le centuple; car le Seigneur le bénit.
Isaac planted grain in that land that year, and he harvested a very large crop, because Yahweh blessed him.
13 Ainsi cet homme, s’enrichit, et il allait prospérant et s’accroissant, jusqu’à ce qu’il devint extrêmement puissant.
Isaac continued to acquire more and more possessions, until finally he became very wealthy.
14 Il eut aussi des possessions de brebis et de gros troupeaux, et une nombreuse famille. A cause de cela, les Philistins jaloux de lui,
He had large herds of sheep and goats and cattle, and many slaves. Because of that, the Philistine people envied him.
15 Comblèrent en ce temps-là tous les puits qu’avaient creusés les serviteurs de son père Abraham, les remplissant de terre;
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 Tellement qu’Abimélech dit à Isaac: Eloigne-toi de nous, parce que tu es devenu beaucoup plus puissant que nous.
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 Et lui descendant, vint au torrent de Gérara pour y habiter.
So Isaac [and his family] moved from there. They set up their tents in Gerar Valley [and started to live there].
18 Il creusa de nouveau les autres puits qu’avaient creusés les serviteurs de son père Abraham, et que, celui-ci mort, les Philistins avaient anciennement comblés; et il les appela des mêmes noms dont auparavant son père les avait nommés.
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 Ils creusèrent aussi dans le torrent, et ils trouvèrent de l’eau vive.
Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water.
20 Mais là aussi les pasteurs de Gérara firent une querelle aux pasteurs d’Isaac, disant: L’eau est à nous; c’est pourquoi, il donna à ce puits, à cause de ce qui était arrivé, le nom de Calomnie.
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 Or ils creusèrent un autre puits: et pour celui-là aussi ils se querellèrent, et il l’appela Inimitiés.
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 Parti de là, il creusa un autre puits, pour lequel ils ne se disputèrent point, et il l’appela du nom d’Etendue, disant: Maintenant le Seigneur nous a donné de l’étendue et nous a fait croître sur la terre,
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 Puis il monta de ce lieu à Bersabée,
From there Isaac went up to Beersheba.
24 Où lui apparut le Seigneur cette nuit-là même, disant: Je suis le Dieu d’Abraham ton père; ne crains pas, parce que je suis avec toi: je te bénirai, et je multiplierai ta postérité à cause de mon serviteur Abraham.
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 C’est pourquoi il bâtit là un autel: puis, le nom du Seigneur invoqué, il dressa sa tente, et ordonna à ses serviteurs de creuser un puits.
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 Comme en ce lieu vinrent de Gérara, Abimélech, Ochozath son ami, et Phicol chef de ses soldats.
[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 Isaac leur demanda: Pourquoi venez-vous vers moi, homme que vous haïssez, et que vous avez chassé d’auprès de vous?
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 Ils répondirent: Nous avons vu qu’avec toi était le Seigneur, et c’est pourquoi nous avons dit: Qu’il y ait serment entre nous, et faisons alliance,
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 Afin que tu ne nous fasses aucun mal, comme nous-mêmes, nous n’avons touché à rien de ce qui est à toi, et nous n’avons rien fait qui t’offensât; mais nous t’avons renvoyé en paix, comblé de la bénédiction du Seigneur.
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 Isaac donc leur fit un festin: et après qu’ils eurent mangé et bu,
So Isaac made a feast for them, and they all ate and drank.
31 Se levant le matin, ils firent serment de part et d’autre; ensuite Isaac les envoya paisiblement chez eux.
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 Mais voilà que vinrent en ce jour-là même les serviteurs d’Isaac, lui apportant des nouvelles du puits qu’ils avaient creusé, et disant: Nous avons trouvé de l’eau.
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 D’où il l’appela Abondance: et à la ville on a imposé le nom de Bersabée jusqu’au présent jour.
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 Quant à Esaü, quadragénaire, il prit pour femmes Judith, fille de Béeri l’Hétéen, et Basemath, fille d’Elon, du même lieu;
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 Qui toutes deux avaient irrité l’esprit d’Isaac et de Rébecca.
Esau’s two wives made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah.
