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],
There was a famine in the country—not the one that happened before in Abraham's time, but a later one. So Isaac moved to Gerar in the territory of Abimelech, king of the Philistines.
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!
The Lord appeared to Isaac and told him, “Don't go to Egypt—live in the country that I tell you to.
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.
Stay here in this country. I will be with you and I will bless you, because I'm going to give you and your descendants all these lands. I will keep the solemn promise that I swore to Abraham your father.
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.
I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and I will give them all these lands. All the nations of the earth will be blessed by your descendants,
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 Abraham did what I told him, and kept my requirements, my commands, my regulations, and my laws.”
6 [so Isaac] stayed there [along with his wife and sons].
So Isaac stayed in Gerar.
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.”
When the men there asked him about his wife, he told them, “She's my sister,” because he was afraid. He said to himself, “If I say she's my wife, the men here will kill me to get Rebekah, because she's so beautiful.”
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.
But later on, after he'd been there a while, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, happened to look out the window and saw Isaac lovingly fondling his wife Rebekah.
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.”
Abimelech sent for Isaac and complained. “From what I saw she's clearly your wife!” he said. “Why on earth did you say, ‘She's my sister’?” “Because I thought I'd be killed because of her,” Isaac replied.
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!”
“Why would you do this to us?” Abimelech asked. “One of the men here might have slept with your wife, and you would have made us all guilty!”
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!”
Abimelech issued orders to all the people, warning them, “Anyone who touches this man or his wife will be executed.”
12 Isaac planted grain in that land that year, and he harvested a very large crop, because Yahweh blessed him.
Isaac sowed grain that year, and the Lord blessed him with a harvest that was a hundred times what he planted.
13 Isaac continued to acquire more and more possessions, until finally he became very wealthy.
He became a rich man, and his wealth steadily increased until he was very rich.
14 He had large herds of sheep and goats and cattle, and many slaves. Because of that, the Philistine people envied him.
He owned many flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, as well as many slaves. He had so much that the Philistines became jealous of 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.
So the Philistines used dirt to block up all the wells his father Abraham's servants had dug.
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.”
Then Abimelech told Isaac, “You have to leave our country, because you've become much too powerful for us.”
17 So Isaac [and his family] moved from there. They set up their tents in Gerar Valley [and started to live there].
So Isaac moved away and set up his tents in the Gerar Valley where he settled down.
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.
He unblocked the wells that had been dug in his father Abraham's time—the ones the Philistines had blocked after the death of Abraham. He gave them the same names his father had.
19 Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water.
Isaac's servants also dug a new well in the valley and found spring 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.
But the herdsmen from Gerar argued with Isaac's herdsmen, claiming, “That's our water!” So Isaac named the well, “Argument,” because they argued with 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]’.
He had another well dug, and they argued over that one too. He named the well, “Opposition.”
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.”
So they moved on from there and he had another well dug. This time there was no argument so he named the well, “Freedom,” saying, “Now the Lord has given us freedom to expand and be successful in this land.”
23 From there Isaac went up to Beersheba.
From there he moved on to Beersheba.
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.”
That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Don't be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and give you many descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”
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.
Isaac built an altar and worshiped the Lord. He also set up his tent, and his servants dug a well there.
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.
Sometime later Abimelech came from Gerar to see Isaac, along with Ahuzzath his advisor, and Phicol the commander 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?”
“Why have you come to see me?” Isaac asked them. “Previously you hated me and told me to leave!”
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,
“Now we realize that the Lord is with you,” they replied. “So we agreed that we should make a sworn agreement 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.”
You'll promise not to harm us in the same way we've never hurt you. You'll agree that we've always treated you well, and when we asked you to leave we did so kindly. Now look at how the Lord is blessing you!”
30 So Isaac made a feast for them, and they all ate and drank.
So Isaac had a special meal prepared to celebrate the agreement. 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 got up early in the morning and they each swore oaths to one other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left in peace.
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!”
It was that very day when Isaac's servants who'd been digging a well came and told him, “We've 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’].
So Isaac named the well, “Oath,” and that's why the name of the town is “Well of the Oath” (Beersheba) to 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].
When Esau was 40, he married Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, as well as Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite.
35 Esau’s two wives made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah.
They caused Isaac and Rebekah a great deal of grief.
