Genesis 26
1 Orta autem fame super terram post eam sterilitatem, quæ acciderat in diebus Abraham, abiit Isaac ad Abimelech regem Palæstinorum in Gerara.
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 Apparuitque ei Dominus, et ait: Ne descendas in Ægyptum, sed quiesce in terra quam dixero tibi,
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 et peregrinare in ea: eroque tecum, et benedicam tibi: tibi enim et semini tuo dabo universas regiones has, complens juramentum quod spopondi Abraham patri tuo.
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 multiplicabo semen tuum sicut stellas cæli: daboque posteris tuis universas regiones has: et benedicentur in semine tuo omnes gentes terræ,
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 eo quod obedierit Abraham voci meæ, et custodierit præcepta et mandata mea, et cæremonias legesque servaverit.
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 Mansit itaque Isaac in Geraris.
[so Isaac] stayed there [along with his wife and sons].
7 Qui cum interrogaretur a viris loci illius super uxore sua, respondit: Soror mea est: timuerat enim confiteri quod sibi esset sociata conjugio, reputans ne forte interficerent eum propter illius pulchritudinem.
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 Cumque pertransissent dies plurimi, et ibidem moraretur, prospiciens Abimelech rex Palæstinorum per fenestram, vidit eum jocantem cum Rebecca uxore sua.
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 accersito eo, ait: Perspicuum est quod uxor tua sit: cur mentitus es eam sororem tuam esse? Respondit: Timui ne morerer propter eam.
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 Dixitque Abimelech: Quare imposuisti nobis? potuit coire quispiam de populo cum uxore tua, et induxeras super nos grande peccatum. Præcepitque omni populo, dicens:
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 Qui tetigerit hominis hujus uxorem, morte morietur.
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 Sevit autem Isaac in terra illa, et invenit in ipso anno centuplum: benedixitque ei Dominus.
Isaac planted grain in that land that year, and he harvested a very large crop, because Yahweh blessed him.
13 Et locupletatus est homo, et ibat proficiens atque succrescens, donec magnus vehementer effectus est:
Isaac continued to acquire more and more possessions, until finally he became very wealthy.
14 habuit quoque possessiones ovium et armentorum, et familiæ plurimum. Ob hoc invidentes ei Palæstini,
He had large herds of sheep and goats and cattle, and many slaves. Because of that, the Philistine people envied him.
15 omnes puteos, quos foderant servi patris illius Abraham, illo tempore obstruxerunt, implentes humo:
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 in tantum, ut ipse Abimelech diceret ad Isaac: Recede a nobis, quoniam potentior nobis factus es valde.
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 ille discedens, ut veniret ad torrentem Geraræ, habitaretque ibi,
So Isaac [and his family] moved from there. They set up their tents in Gerar Valley [and started to live there].
18 rursum fodit alios puteos, quos foderant servi patris sui Abraham, et quos, illo mortuo, olim obstruxerant Philisthiim: appellavitque eos eisdem nominibus quibus ante pater vocaverat.
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 Foderuntque in torrente, et repererunt aquam vivam.
Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water.
20 Sed et ibi jurgium fuit pastorum Geraræ adversus pastores Isaac, dicentium: Nostra est aqua, quam ob rem nomen putei ex eo, quod acciderat, vocavit Calumniam.
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 Foderunt autem et alium: et pro illo quoque rixati sunt, appellavitque eum Inimicitias.
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 Profectus inde fodit alium puteum, pro quo non contenderunt: itaque vocavit nomen ejus Latitudo, dicens: Nunc dilatavit nos Dominus, et fecit crescere super terram.
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 Ascendit autem ex illo loco in Bersabee,
From there Isaac went up to Beersheba.
24 ubi apparuit ei Dominus in ipsa nocte, dicens: Ego sum Deus Abraham patris tui: noli timere, quia ego tecum sum: benedicam tibi, et multiplicabo semen tuum propter servum meum 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 Itaque ædificavit ibi altare: et invocato nomine Domini, extendit tabernaculum, præcepitque servis suis ut foderent puteum.
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 Ad quem locum cum venissent de Geraris Abimelech, et Ochozath amicus illius, et Phicol dux militum,
[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 locutus est eis Isaac: Quid venistis ad me, hominem quem odistis, et expulistis a vobis?
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 Qui responderunt: Vidimus tecum esse Dominum, et idcirco nos diximus: Sit juramentum inter nos, et ineamus fœdus,
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 ut non facias nobis quidquam mali, sicut et nos nihil tuorum attigimus, nec fecimus quod te læderet: sed cum pace dimisimus auctum benedictione Domini.
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 Fecit ergo eis convivium, et post cibum et potum
So Isaac made a feast for them, and they all ate and drank.
31 surgentes mane, juraverunt sibi mutuo: dimisitque eos Isaac pacifice in locum suum.
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 Ecce autem venerunt in ipso die servi Isaac annuntiantes ei de puteo, quem foderant, atque dicentes: Invenimus aquam.
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 Unde appellavit eum Abundantiam: et nomen urbi impositum est Bersabee, usque in præsentem diem.
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 Esau vero quadragenarius duxit uxores, Judith filiam Beeri Hethæi, et Basemath filiam Elon ejusdem loci:
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 quæ ambæ offenderant animum Isaac et Rebeccæ.
Esau’s two wives made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah.
