Bible Study Genesis Verse By Verse

[Beetow]

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● Gen 26:2a . .The Lord had appeared to him

This is the very first recorded incident where God appeared especially for Isaac.
When he was offered as a burnt offering back in chapter 22, God appeared to his
dad while Isaac was with him. But God was not said to appear to Isaac. This is the
first time.

● Gen 26:2b . . and said: Do not go down to Egypt;

Isaac may have been considering Egypt as plan B if Gerar didn't work out.

● Gen 26:2c . . stay in the land which I point out to you.

That had to be encouraging. Even if things looked bad in Gerar when Isaac arrived,
he could rest upon the fact that he was going in the right direction.

● Gen 26:3a . . Reside in this land, and I will be with you and bless you;

Suppose it turned out Isaac didn't like the land God selected for him and moved to
another one? Well he could just forget about the promise: "I will be with you and
bless you" That promise was conditional. He had to live where God directed him to
live.

● Gen 26:3b-4 . . I will assign all these lands to you and to your heirs, fulfilling the
oath that I swore to your father Abraham. I will make your heirs as numerous as
the stars of heaven, and assign to your heirs all these lands, so that all the nations
of the earth shall bless themselves by your heirs--

Although some translations render the word "heirs" plural, zera' is one of those
Hebrew words that can just as accurately be translated in the singular as well the
plural: like the words sheep, fish, and deer. In this case, it's probably best to
understand zera' in the singular because it most certainly refers to Jacob rather
than to both he and his brother Esau.

● Gen 26:5 . . inasmuch as Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge: My
commandments, My laws, and My teachings.

Some construe God's statement to indicate that Abraham was included in the
covenant that Moses' people entered into with God per Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
and Deuteronomy. But the statement below excludes him.

"The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Not with our forefathers did
The Lord make this covenant, but with us, we, all of whom are here alive today."
(Deut 5:2-3)

Abraham complied with God's requirements voluntarily rather than by compulsion.
In other words; his association with God was based upon an honor system rather
than a legal system.

The promises God made to Abraham as per Gen 12:2-3 and Gen 17:8 were not
sustained by Abraham's piety. In other words: once God made those promises,
neither Abraham nor his posterity can ever lose them because they are
unconditional

"The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously
established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance is
based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to
Abraham by means of a promise." (Gal 3:17-18)

The "promise" in question reads like this:

"And I will give you and your seed after you the land of your sojournings, the entire
land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be to them for a deity."
(Gen 17:8)

That should be really good news to Abraham's posterity because although the law
has a marked effect upon their occupation of the land, it has no effect upon their
entitlement to it.

● Gen 26:6a . . So Isaac stayed in Gerar.
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[Beetow]

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● Gen 26:6b . . When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said "She
is my sister" for he was afraid to say "my wife" thinking: The men of the place
might kill me on account of Rebecca, for she is beautiful.

The Hebrew word translated "sister" has very wide application. In point of fact,
Becky's entire family, mom and dad too, called her sister when she left home. (Gen
24:59-60)

The word can mean a sibling of the same parents, or it can just mean female kin,
either near or far. (I'm guessing that Isaac and Rebecca were far enough apart in
age that she could easily pass for his niece.)

Isaac's response was semantic double-speak. In other words: he didn't tell an
outright bald face lie; what he said was true; from a certain point of view-- he and
Rebecca were related. But nevertheless, his response was a half truth meant to
deceive.

I just have to wonder sometimes about the IQ of some of the patriarchs. God had
just reaffirmed Abraham's covenant with Isaac; guaranteeing He would bless him
on account of his father Abraham's righteousness (not Isaac's righteousness). Yet
now he's worried about being murdered in Gerar? I'd hate to think that Isaac didn't
believe God. I'd much rather reckon he wasn't paying attention.

● Gen 26:8 . . When some time had passed, Abimelech king of the Philistines,
looking out of the window, saw Isaac sporting with his wife Rebecca.

Sporting with one's wife is far and away different than sporting with one's sibling.
The way those two were horsing around was unmistakably the behavior of lovers.

● Gen 26:9-10 . . Abimelech sent for Isaac and said: So she is your wife! Why then
did you say "She is my sister". Isaac said to him: Because I thought I might lose
my life on account of her. Abimelech said: What have you done to us! One of the
people might have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.

I'm not surprised that Abimelech was frightened. It hadn't been all that long ago
when his predecessor had a run-in with Isaac's deity, That incident involving
Abraham undoubtedly went down in the castle records.

And to top it off, out there grazing on Gerar pastures was a special breed of sheep
that bore a witness for Abraham too (Gen 21:27-32) and their story was very likely
woven into Gerar folklore. Oh yes. They knew about Jehovah alright; and they all
knew what could happen to them if any of the local men messed around with
Rebecca, the wife of Abraham's son.

● Gen 26:11 . . Abimelech then charged all the people, saying: Anyone who
molests this man or his wife shall be put to death.

The Hebrew translated "molest" means to touch, i.e. lay the hand upon (for any
purpose; euphemistically, to lie with a woman); by implication, to reach
(figuratively, to arrive, acquire); violently, to strike (punish, defeat, destroy, etc.)

So Abimelech decreed that his people not even so much as lay a finger upon Isaac
and Rebecca, not even so much as a pinky, in any way at all. Isaac, of course, is
getting by on his dad's influence. But what the hey, it doesn't hurt to be connected.

● Gen 26:12-14a . . Isaac sowed in that land and reaped a hundredfold the same
year. The Lord blessed him, and the man grew richer and richer until he was very
wealthy: he acquired flocks and herds, and a large household,

I thus far haven't had much luck finding a useful definition of hundredfold. It seems
to me; from what information I've managed to discover, that it's simply a bushel
count per acre.

Farming may seem like a switch from animal husbandry, but the combination was
common among pastoral peoples those days for two good reasons. For one; Isaac's
herds needed pasture. And two; man can't live on meat alone.

Isaac needed large quantities to feed his immense community. He inherited at least
a thousand people from his dad. By now, those have multiplied well beyond that. I
think if you'd have encountered Isaac's outfit in those days it would have resembled
an Iowa town rather than a simple camp of Bedouins.
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[Beetow]

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● Gen 26:14b . . so that the Philistines envied him.

Envy is a powerful, negative feeling that overwhelms us whenever others are doing
better than ourselves.

The Philistine couldn't match Isaac's productivity because he enjoyed an advantage.
The Lord worked his fields along with the men whereas the locals had only their
green thumbs to rely on.

● Gen 26:15 . . And the Philistines stopped up all the wells which his father's
servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham, filling them with earth.

Abimelech forbade his citizens to harm Isaac; but that didn't preclude harassing
and annoying him. Cutting off his water supplies was very serious because Isaac
needed them to irrigate crops and water the livestock. Without adequate water
supplies, Isaac Enterprises was doomed. He had a right to file a complaint. But
Abimelech felt it best for all concerned to run Isaac out of the country.

I suspect that the rural Philistines had become territorial; which can be roughly
defined as an assumed property right due to long-time occupation; whether legal or
otherwise. In other words; Isaac's rivals probably felt that although they didn't
actually own the countryside, they had been there longer than Isaac so they had a
preemptive right to dictate its use. It's a Neanderthal's way of thinking, but goes on
all the time; commonly in work places where senior employees are inclined to
dominate new hires.

● Gen 26:16 . . And Abimelech said to Isaac: Go away from us, for you have
become far too big for us.

Just exactly what Abimelech meant by "far too big for us" is hard to know for sure.
But it looks suspiciously like a cowardly act of favoritism; pure and simple. Instead
of being fair and equitable with Isaac, Abimelech, like a cheap politician, ignored
the vandalism his citizens had done against Isaac and made it look like this whole
nasty business was his fault; vz: he was just getting too greedy and beginning to
crowd everybody else out. In other words: Abimelech blamed the victims for the
perpetrators' crimes.

● Gen 26:17 . . So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the wadi of Gerar,
where he settled.

Wadis are basins towards which water from higher ground gravitates; both surface
water and underground. Bottom land benefits from seasonal flooding that leaves
behind fresh deposits of silt.

● Gen 26:18 . . Isaac dug anew the wells which had been dug in the days of his
father Abraham and which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham's death;
and he gave them the same names that his father had given them.

Those wells were dug nearly a hundred years prior to this event; and makes one
wonder how Isaac knew where they were and how he knew the names his dad had
named them. The Gerarians probably waited until Abraham was dead to plug them
up because they feared him. He had a reputation as a military leader and he also
had a pact with the king Abimelech of Abraham's period.

● Gen 26:19-20 . . But when Isaac's servants, digging in the wadi, found there a
well of spring water, the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen,
saying: The water is ours. He named that well Esek, because they contended with
him.

Isaac was much too affable. He didn't have to let those guys buffalo him; after all,
Isaac had a pretty good sized army of his own; left to him by his dad. He could
easily have posted an armed platoon by the well to keep the local cowboys away
from it. But no, he chose the path of appeasement and let them have their own way.
Isaac was truly a "turn the other cheek" kind of guy who was willing (maybe a bit
too willing) to bend over backward to accommodate people and prevent violence
and ill will. (cf. Ps 37:10-11)

Esek was a new well; not one of Abraham's. The herdsmen were motivated by envy
so they were reluctant to share the regions resources with the likes of Isaac
because they hated his success. They didn't contest Isaac's access to the water in
Abraham's wells. They probably felt he had a right to use those; but the men would
not tolerate Isaac taking any more water than that; and most especially water of
this quality. It was literally living water-- viz: artesian.

Urban dwellers really don't appreciate their water and typically haven't a clue where
it comes from nor how it gets into their homes. But in Isaac's day, people couldn't
live too far from a natural source of water. Many of the ancient cities and
communities were located adjacent to rivers for that very reason.
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[Beetow]

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● Gen 26:21 . . And when they dug another well, they disputed over that one also;
so he named it Sitnah.

The Hebrew word for "Sitnah" basically means opposition (in writing).

Apparently the herdsmen were filing formal complaints against Isaac like the
enemies of Ezra did when he was attempting to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.
(Ezr 4:6-7)

Gerar County's Water Board must have ruled in favor of the herdsmen because
Isaac had to keep moving around until they finally left him alone.

● Gen 26:22 . . He moved from there and dug yet another well, and they did not
quarrel over it; so he called it Rehoboth, saying: Now at last the Lord has granted
us ample space to increase in the land.

Rehoboth first appeared in the Bible at Gen 10:11 as the name of an ancient city. It
appears two more times in the Bible after here as the name of a city (Gen 36:37,
1Chrn 1:48) and means pretty much what Isaac said, i.e. lots of room to maneuver
and/or spread out.

The herdsmen had, by this time, probably pushed Isaac way out to land that
nobody wanted. But God was with Isaac. Even the deserts produce when His hands
are in it. (cf. Isa 35:1-4)

With those pesky herdsmen out of the way, the road, or rather, roads ahead were
wide and clear; and Isaac could put the pedal to the metal and go full speed ahead
and not worry about hitting an iceberg; viz: the sky was the limit.

Isaac was a very patient man, and affable too. But push him too far, and he might
show his teeth. In a bit, Abimelech is coming calling and Isaac is going to confront
the obtuse monarch about the way he was treated by the County Water Board.

Yes, Isaac Enterprises was a huge, going concern that spread over many acres of
land. But he didn't obtain his wealth by dishonest means. All of Isaac's business
was conducted legally and above board. And he complied with all of the Gerar
County rulings concerning disputes over the water rights even though their rulings
were undoubtedly biased in favor of Gerar citizens. Isaac didn't deserve to be
treated so unfairly.

● Gen 26:23 . . From there he went up to Beer-sheba.

Exactly where the boys Jacob and Esau were during this era in Isaac's life isn't
stated. They may have remained in the highlands to protect Isaac's interests while
he was out of town, but then again, they may have been with him in Gerar: it's
impossible to tell.

Genesis doesn't say exactly how long Isaac and Rebecca lived around Gaza. Isaac's
usual haunts were Beer-lahai-roi, about 50 miles further south. Beer-sheba was
Abraham's zone on oath between him and an earlier Abimelech. The Gerarians
could be expected to leave Isaac alone there. The first night, God showed up.

● Gen 26:24a . .That night the Lord appeared to him and said: I am the deity of
your father Abraham.

In what manner, or by what method, God appeared to Isaac isn't stated. It could
have been in a dream, it could have been as a traveling man, or a close encounter
of a third kind: nobody knows for sure.

● Gen 26:24b . . Fear not, for I am with you,

It's reasonable to assume it was unnecessary for God to reassure Isaac, but
Abimelech is on the way. He won't come alone either. He was a king; and kings
travel with an armed retinue. So when news of this comes to Isaac, he would have
good cause to become alarmed. I think God is just giving him a pep talk to prepare
him for the meeting. Like they say: one with God is a majority; and a man who
fears God, has no man to fear.
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