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, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.

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 unto him, and said: 'Go not down unto Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee 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.

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 lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore unto Abraham thy 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.

and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these lands; and by thy seed shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves;

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 that Abraham hearkened to My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.'

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

And Isaac dwelt 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.”

And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said: 'She is my sister'; for he feared to say: 'My wife'; 'lest the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah, because she is fair to look upon.'

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 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 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: '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 because of her.'

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: 'What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might easily have lain with thy wife, and thou wouldest have brought guiltiness 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 the people, saying: 'He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put 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 found in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him.

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

And the man waxed great, and grew more and more until 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 possessions of flocks, and possessions of herds, and a great household; and the Philistines 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.

Now 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 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 unto Isaac: 'Go from us; for thou art 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 encamped in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt 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 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 Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water.

And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and 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 herdmen of Gerar strove with Isaac's herdmen, saying: 'The water is ours.' And he called the name of the well Esek; because they contended 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]’.

And they digged another well, and they strove for that also. And he called the name of it Sitnah.

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 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 From there Isaac went up to Beersheba.

And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba.

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 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 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 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 [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.

Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain of his host.

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 unto them: 'Wherefore are ye come unto me, seeing ye hate me, and have 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 saw plainly that the LORD was with thee; and we said: Let there now be an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;

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

And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.

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 rose up betimes in the morning, and swore one to another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him 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!”

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 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 Shibah. Therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto 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 when Esau was forty years old, he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

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

And they were a bitterness of spirit unto Isaac and to Rebekah.