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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;"/><title>Genesis 26 ISV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/genesis/26.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/genesis/26-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">ISV</a> > Genesis 26</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../genesis/25.htm" title="Genesis 25">◄</a> Genesis 26 <a href="../genesis/27.htm" title="Genesis 27">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">International Standard Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/isv/esv/genesis/26.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="heading">Isaac Lives in Philistia for a While</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Later on, a famine swept through the land. This famine was different from the previous famine that had occurred earlier, during Abraham’s lifetime. So Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>That’s when the LORD appeared to Isaac.<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:2 Lit. him">a</a></span> “You are not to go down to Egypt,” he said. “Instead, you are to settle down in an area within this land where I’ll tell you. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>Remain in this land, and I’ll be with and bless you by giving all these lands to you and to your descendants in fulfillment of my solemn promise that I made to your father Abraham. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>I’ll cause you to have as many descendants as the stars of the heavens, and I’ll certainly give all these lands to your descendants. Later on, through your descendants all the nations of the earth will bless one another. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>I’m going to do this because Abraham did what I told him to do. He kept my instructions, commands, statutes, and laws.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>So Isaac lived in Gerar.</p> <p class="heading">Isaac Lies about His Wife</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>Later on, the men of that place asked about his wife, so he replied, “She’s my sister,” because he was afraid to call her “my wife.” He kept thinking, “…otherwise, the men around here will kill me on account of Rebekah, since she’s very beautiful.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>After he had been there awhile, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out through a window and saw Isaac caressing<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:8 Or fondling; the Heb. verb is a word play on the name Isaac and sounds like it.">b</a></span> his wife Rebekah.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>So Abimelech called Isaac and confronted him. “She is definitely your wife!” he accused him, “So why did you claim, ‘She’s my sister?’”</p> <p class="reg">Isaac responded, “Because I had thought ‘…otherwise, I’ll die on account of her.’”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>“What have you done to us?” Abimelech asked. “Any minute now, one of the people could have had sex with your wife and you would have caused all of us to be guilty.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>So he issued this order to everyone: “Whoever touches this man or his wife is to be executed.”</p> <p class="heading">Isaac Grows Wealthy</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>Isaac received a 100-fold return on what he planted that year in the land he received,<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:12 Lit. found">c</a></span> because the LORD blessed him. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>He<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:13 Lit. The man">d</a></span> became very wealthy and lived a life of wealth,<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:13 Lit. and walked">e</a></span> becoming more and more wealthy. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>He owned so many sheep, cattle, and servants that the Philistines eventually became envious of him. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>They<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:15 Lit. The Philistines.">f</a></span> filled in with sand all of the wells that Isaac’s<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:15 Lit. his">g</a></span> father Abraham’s servants had dug during his lifetime. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>Then Abimelech ordered Isaac, “Move away from us! You’ve become more powerful than we are.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>So Isaac moved from there and encamped in the Gerar Valley, where he settled.</p> <p class="heading">Disputes over Water Rights</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>Isaac re-excavated some wells that his father had first dug during his lifetime, because the Philistines had filled them with sand<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:18 The Heb. lacks with sand">h</a></span> after Abraham’s death. Isaac<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:18 Lit. He">i</a></span> renamed those wells with the same names that his father had called them.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>While Isaac’s servants were digging in the valley, they discovered a well with flowing water. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>But the herdsmen who lived in Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen. “The water is ours,” they said. As a result, Isaac named the well Esek,<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:20 The Heb. name Esek means disputed">j</a></span> for they had fiercely disputed with him about it. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>When his workers started digging another well, those herdsmen<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:21 Lit. well, they">k</a></span> quarreled about that one, too, so Isaac<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:21 Lit. he">l</a></span> named it Sitnah.<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:21 The Heb. name Sitnah means strife">m</a></span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>Then he left that area and dug still another well. Because they did not quarrel over that one, Isaac<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:22 Lit. he">n</a></span> named it Rehoboth,<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:22 The Heb. name Rehoboth means wide places">o</a></span> because he used to say, “The LORD has enlarged the territory<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:22 The Heb. lacks the territory">p</a></span> for us. We will prosper in the land.”</p> <p class="heading">God Renews His Promise to Isaac</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>Later on, he left there and went to Beer-sheba, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>where one night the LORD appeared to him. “I am the God of your father Abraham,” he told him. “Don’t be afraid, because I’m with you. I’m going to bless you and multiply your descendants on account of my servant Abraham.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>In response, Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. He also pitched his tents there and his servants dug a well.</p> <p class="heading">Abimelech Requests a Covenant</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>Later, Abimelech traveled from Gerar to visit Isaac<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:26 Lit. him">q</a></span> . He arrived with Ahuzzath, his staff advisor, and Phicol, the commanding officer of his army.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>“Why have you come to see me,” Isaac asked them, “since you hate me so much that you sent me away from you?”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>“We’ve seen that the LORD is with you,” they responded, “so we’re proposing an agreement<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:28 Lit. oath">r</a></span> between us—between us and you. Allow us to make a treaty with you <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>by which you’ll agree not to do us any harm, just as we haven’t harmed<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:29 Lit. touched">s</a></span> you, since we’ve done nothing but good for you after we sent you away in peace. As a result, you’ve been tremendously blessed by the LORD.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>So Isaac<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:30 Lit. he">t</a></span> held a festival for them, and they ate and drank. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span>They woke up early the next morning and made the treaty.<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:31 Lit. and swore an oath one to another.">u</a></span> After this, Isaac sent them off and they left on peaceful terms.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-32.htm"><b>32</b></a></span>That very same day, Isaac’s servants arrived and reported to him about a well that they had just completed digging. “We’ve found water!” they said. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-33.htm"><b>33</b></a></span>So Isaac<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:33 Lit. he">v</a></span> named the well Shebah,<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:33 The Heb. name Shebah means oath">w</a></span> which is why the city is named Beer-sheba<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:33 The Heb. name Beer-sheba means Well of the Oath">x</a></span> to this day.</p> <p class="heading">Esau Causes Trouble for Isaac</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-34.htm"><b>34</b></a></span>When Esau was 40 years old, he married<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="26:34 Lit. he took as a wife">y</a></span> Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/26-35.htm"><b>35</b></a></span>This brought extreme grief to Isaac and Rebekah.</p><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><A name="ftn"></a><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn1"><span class="fnb">a</span> 26:2 Lit. <i>him</i><br /><span class="fnb">b</span> 26:8 Or <i>fondling</i>; the Heb. verb is a word play on the name <i>Isaac</i> and sounds like it.<br /><span class="fnb">c</span> 26:12 Lit. <i>found</i><br /><span class="fnb">d</span> 26:13 Lit. <i>The man</i><br /><span class="fnb">e</span> 26:13 Lit. <i>and walked</i><br /><span class="fnb">f</span> 26:15 Lit. <i>The Philistines</i>.<br /><span class="fnb">g</span> 26:15 Lit. <i>his</i><br /><span class="fnb">h</span> 26:18 The Heb. lacks <i>with sand</i><br /><span class="fnb">i</span> 26:18 Lit. <i>He</i><br /><span class="fnb">j</span> 26:20 The Heb. name <i>Esek</i> means <i>disputed</i><br /><span class="fnb">k</span> 26:21 Lit. <i>well, they</i><br /><span class="fnb">l</span> 26:21 Lit. <i>he</i><br /><span class="fnb">m</span> 26:21 The Heb. name <i>Sitnah</i> means <i>strife</i><br /><span class="fnb">n</span> 26:22 Lit. <i>he</i><br /><span class="fnb">o</span> 26:22 The Heb. name <i>Rehoboth</i> means <i>wide places</i><br /><span class="fnb">p</span> 26:22 The Heb. lacks <i>the territory</i><br /><span class="fnb">q</span> 26:26 Lit. <i>him</i><br /><span class="fnb">r</span> 26:28 Lit. <i>oath</i><br /><span class="fnb">s</span> 26:29 Lit. <i>touched</i><br /><span class="fnb">t</span> 26:30 Lit. <i>he</i><br /><span class="fnb">u</span> 26:31 Lit. <i>and swore an oath one to another.</i><br /><span class="fnb">v</span> 26:33 Lit. <i>he</i><br /><span class="fnb">w</span> 26:33 The Heb. name <i>Shebah </i>means <i>oath</i><br /><span class="fnb">x</span> 26:33 The Heb. name <i>Beer-sheba</i> means <i>Well of the Oath</i><br /><span class="fnb">y</span> 26:34 Lit. <i>he took as a wife</i><br /></span><br><br><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><div align="center"><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1<br />Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation<br />ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a></div></div></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../genesis/25.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Genesis 25"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Genesis 25" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../genesis/27.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Genesis 27"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Genesis 27" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="rightbox"><div class="padright"><div id="pic"><iframe width="100%" height="860" scrolling="no" src="//biblescan.com/mpc/genesis/26-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><div id="rightbox4"><div class="padright2"><div id="spons1"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="sp1"><iframe width="122" height="860" scrolling="no" src="../sidemenu.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></div><div id="bot"><div align="center" style="background-color:#F2FAFF"><br /><br /><div class="bot2"><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td><script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>  <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="6710025936" data-ad-format="auto"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 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