Gen 26:1-3 | Clarke | e4.org | CHAPTER XXVI A famine in the land obliges Isaac to leave Beer-sheba and go to Gerar , 1. God appears to him, and warns him not to go to Egypt , 2. Renews the promises to him which he had made to his father Abraham , 3-5. Isaac dwells at Gerar , 6. Being questioned concerning Rebekah, and fearing to lose his life on her account, he calls her his sister , 7. Abimelech the king discovers, by certain familiarities which he had noticed between Isaac and Rebekah, that she was his wife , 8. Calls Isaac and reproaches him for his insincerity , 9, 10. He gives a strict command to all his people not to molest either Isaac or his wife , 11. Isaac applies himself to husbandry and breeding of cattle, and has a great increase , 12-14. Is envied by the Philistines, who stop up the wells he had digged , 15. Is desired by Abimelech to remove , 16. He obeys, and fixes his tent in the valley of Gerar , 17. Opens the wells dug in the days of Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up , 18. Digs the well, Ezek . 19, 20; and the well Sitnah , 21; and the well Rehoboth , 22. Returns to Beer-sheba , 23. God appears to him, and renews his promises , 24. He builds an altar there, pitches his tent, and digs a well , 25. Abimelech, Ahuzzath, and Phichol, visit him , 26. Isaac accuses them of unkindness , 27. They beg him to make a covenant with them , 28, 29. He makes them a feast, and they bind themselves to each other by an oath , 30, 31. The well dug by Isaac's servants (ver. 25) called Shebah , 33. Esau, at forty years of age, marries two wives of the Hittites , 34, at which Isaac and Rebekah are grieved , 35. NOTES ON CHAP. XXVI Verse 1. There was a famine ] When this happened we cannot tell; it appears to have been after the death of Abraham. Concerning the first famine , see . Abimelech ] As we know not the time when the famine happened, so we cannot tell whether this was the same Abimelech, Phichol, &c., which are mentioned , &c., or the sons or other descendants of these persons.

‏ Genesis 26:1-3

CHAPTER XXVI

A famine in the land obliges Isaac to leave Beer-sheba and go to Gerar, 1.

God appears to him, and warns him not to go to Egypt, 2.

Renews the promises to him which he had made to his father Abraham, 3-5.

Isaac dwells at Gerar, 6.

Being questioned concerning Rebekah, and fearing to lose his life on her account, he calls her his sister, 7.

Abimelech the king discovers, by certain familiarities which he had noticed between Isaac and Rebekah, that she was his wife, 8.

Calls Isaac and reproaches him for his insincerity, 9, 10.

He gives a strict command to all his people not to molest either Isaac or his wife, 11.

Isaac applies himself to husbandry and breeding of cattle, and has a great increase, 12-14.

Is envied by the Philistines, who stop up the wells he had digged, 15.

Is desired by Abimelech to remove, 16.

He obeys, and fixes his tent in the valley of Gerar, 17.

Opens the wells dug in the days of Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up, 18.

Digs the well, Ezek. 19, 20;

and the well Sitnah, 21;

and the well Rehoboth, 22.

Returns to Beer-sheba, 23.

God appears to him, and renews his promises, 24.

He builds an altar there, pitches his tent, and digs a well, 25.

Abimelech, Ahuzzath, and Phichol, visit him, 26.

Isaac accuses them of unkindness, 27.

They beg him to make a covenant with them, 28, 29.

He makes them a feast, and they bind themselves to each other by an oath, 30, 31.

The well dug by Isaac's servants (ver. 25) called Shebah, 33.

Esau, at forty years of age, marries two wives of the Hittites, 34,

at which Isaac and Rebekah are grieved, 35.

NOTES ON CHAP. XXVI

Verse 1. There was a famine] When this happened we cannot tell; it appears to have been after the death of Abraham. Concerning the first famine, see Ge 12:10.

Abimelech] As we know not the time when the famine happened, so we cannot tell whether this was the same Abimelech, Phichol, &c., which are mentioned Ge 20:1, 2, &c., or the sons or other descendants of these persons.

Verse 2. Go not down into Egypt] As Abraham had taken refuge in that country, it is probable that Isaac was preparing to go thither also; and God, foreseeing that he would there meet with trials, &c., which might prove fatal to his peace or to his piety, warns him not to fulfil his intention.

Verse 3. Sojourn in this land] In Gerar, whither he had gone, Ge 26:1, and where we find he settled, Ge 26:6, though the land of Canaan in general might be here intended. That there were serious and important reasons why Isaac should not go to Egypt, we may be fully assured, though they be not assigned here; it is probable that even Isaac himself was not informed why he should not go down to Egypt. I have already supposed that God saw trials in his way which he might not have been able to bear. While a man acknowledges God in all his ways, he will direct all his steps, though he may not choose to give him the reasons of the workings of his providence. Abraham might go safely to Egypt, Isaac might not; in firmness and decision of character there was a wide difference between the two men.