Genesis 26
King James Version
26 And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.
2 And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:
3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;
4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:
7 And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.
8 And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.
9 And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife; and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.
10 And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.
11 And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.
12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.
13 And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:
14 For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.
15 For all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.
16 And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.
17 And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
18 And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.
19 And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.
20 And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him.
21 And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.
22 And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.
23 And he went up from thence to Beersheba.
24 And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.
25 And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac's servants digged a well.
26 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.
27 And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?
28 And they said, We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;
29 That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now the blessed of the Lord.
30 And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.
31 And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
32 And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water.
33 And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day.
34 And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite:
35 Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.
Genesis 26
1599 Geneva Bible
26 1 God provideth for Isaac in the famine. 3 He reneweth his promise. 9 The King blameth him for denying his wife. 14 The Philistines hate him for his riches. 15 Stop his wells. 16 And drive him away. 24 God comforteth him.
1 And there was a famine in the [a]land besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. Wherefore Isaac went to Abimelech King of the Philistines unto Gerar.
2 For the Lord appeared unto him, and said, [b]Go not down into Egypt, but abide in the land which I shall show thee.
3 Dwell in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee: for to thee, and to thy seed I will give all these (A)countries, and I will perform the oath which I swear unto Abraham thy father.
4 Also I will cause thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be (B)blessed,
5 Because that Abraham [c]obeyed my voice and kept mine [d]ordinance, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
6 ¶ So Isaac dwelt in Gerar.
7 And the men of the place asked him of his wife, and he said, She is my sister: for he [e]feared to say, she is my wife, lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me, because of Rebekah, for she was beautiful to the eye.
8 So after he had been there a long time, Abimelech King of the Philistines looked out at a window, and lo, he saw Isaac [f]sporting with Rebekah his wife.
9 Then Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Lo, she is of a surety thy wife, and why saidest thou, She is my sister? To whom Isaac answered, Because I thought this, It may be that I shall die for her.
10 Then Abimelech said, Why hast thou done this unto us? one of the people had almost lain by thy wife, so shouldest thou have brought [g]sin upon us.
11 Then Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man, or his wife, shall die the death.
12 Afterward Isaac sowed in that land, and found in the same year an [h]hundredfold by estimation: and so the Lord blessed him.
13 And the man waxed mightily, and [i]still increased, till he was exceeding great.
14 For he had flocks of sheep, and herds of cattle, and a mighty household: therefore the Philistines had [j]envy at him,
15 Insomuch that the Philistines stopped, and filled up with earth all the wells, which his father’s servants dug in his father Abraham’s time.
16 Then Abimelech said unto Isaac, Get thee from us, for thou art mightier than we a great deal.
17 ¶ Therefore Isaac departed thence and pitched his tent in the [k]valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
18 And Isaac returning, dug the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham, and he gave them the same names, that his father gave them.
19 Isaac’s servants then dug in the valley and found there a well of [l]living water.
20 But the herdsmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, The water is ours, therefore called he the name of the well [m]Esek, because they were at strife with him.
21 Afterward they dug another well, and strove for that also, and he called the name of it [n]Sitnah.
22 Then he removed thence, and dug another well, for which they strove not: therefore called he the name of it [o]Rehoboth, and said, Because the Lord hath now made us room, we shall increase upon the earth.
23 So he went up thence to Beersheba.
24 And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God [p]of Abraham thy father: fear not, I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake.
25 Then he built an [q]altar there, and called upon the Name of the Lord, and there spread his tent: where also Isaac’s servants dug a well.
26 ¶ Then came Abimelech to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the captain of his army.
27 To whom Isaac said, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me and have put me away from you?
28 Who answered, We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee, and we thought thus, Let there be now an oath between us, even between us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee.
29 [r]If thou shalt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and sent thee away in peace: thou now, the blessed of the Lord, do this.
30 Then he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.
31 And they rose up betimes in the morning, and swear one to another: then Isaac let them go, and they departed from him in peace.
32 And that same day Isaac’s servants came and told him of a well, which they had dug, and said unto him, We have found water.
33 So he called it [s]Shebah: therefore the name of the city is called [t]Beersheba unto this day.
34 ¶ Now when Esau was forty years old, he took to wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri an Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon an Hittite also.
35 And they (C)were [u]a grief of mind to Isaac and to Rebekah.
Footnotes
- Genesis 26:1 In the land of Canaan.
- Genesis 26:2 God’s providence always watcheth to direct the ways of his children.
- Genesis 26:5 He commendeth Abraham’s obedience, because Isaac should be the more ready to follow the like: for as God made this promise of his free mercy, so doth the confirmation thereof proceed of the same fountain.
- Genesis 26:5 Hebrew, my keeping.
- Genesis 26:7 Whereby we see that fear and distrust is found in the most faithful.
- Genesis 26:8 Or showing some familiar sign of love, whereby it might be known that she was his wife.
- Genesis 26:10 In all ages men were persuaded that God’s vengeance should light upon wedlock breakers.
- Genesis 26:12 Or, an hundred measures.
- Genesis 26:13 Hebrew, he went forth going and increasing.
- Genesis 26:14 The malicious envy always the graces of God in others.
- Genesis 26:17 The Hebrew word signifieth a flood, or valley, where water at any time runneth.
- Genesis 26:19 Or, springing.
- Genesis 26:20 Or, contention, strife.
- Genesis 26:21 Or, hatred.
- Genesis 26:22 Or, largeness, room.
- Genesis 26:24 God assureth Isaac against all fear by rehearsing the promise made to Abraham.
- Genesis 26:25 To signify that he would serve none other God, but the God of his father Abraham.
- Genesis 26:29 The Hebrews in swearing begin commonly with If, and understand the rest, that is, that God shall punish him that breaketh the oath: here the wicked show that they are afraid lest that come to them which they would do to others.
- Genesis 26:33 Or, oath.
- Genesis 26:33 Or, the well of the oath.
- Genesis 26:35 Or, disobedient and rebellious.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
