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God’s Promise to Isaac
Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines.
Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines.
Isaac Deceives Abimelech
A severe famine now struck the land, as had happened before in Abraham’s time. So Isaac moved to Gerar, where Abimelech, king of the Philistines, lived.
A severe famine now struck the land, as had happened before in Abraham’s time. So Isaac moved to Gerar, where Abimelech, king of the Philistines, lived.
And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you.
The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt, but do as I tell you.
Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father.
I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed,
I will cause your descendants to become as numerous as the stars of the sky, and I will give them all these lands. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed.
because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
I will do this because Abraham listened to me and obeyed all my requirements, commands, decrees, and instructions.”
When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because she was attractive in appearance.
When the men who lived there asked Isaac about his wife, Rebekah, he said, “She is my sister.” He was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “They will kill me to get her, because she is so beautiful.”
But some time later, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out his window and saw Isaac caressing Rebekah.
So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’”
Immediately, Abimelech called for Isaac and exclaimed, “She is obviously your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?”
“Because I was afraid someone would kill me to get her from me,” Isaac replied.
“Because I was afraid someone would kill me to get her from me,” Isaac replied.
Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”
“How could you do this to us?” Abimelech exclaimed. “One of my people might easily have taken your wife and slept with her, and you would have made us guilty of great sin.”
So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”
Then Abimelech issued a public proclamation: “Anyone who touches this man or his wife will be put to death!”
And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him,
Conflict over Water Rights
When Isaac planted his crops that year, he harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, for the LORD blessed him.
and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy.
He became a very rich man, and his wealth continued to grow.
He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him.
He acquired so many flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and servants that the Philistines became jealous of him.
(Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.)
So the Philistines filled up all of Isaac’s wells with dirt. These were the wells that had been dug by the servants of his father, Abraham.
And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”
Finally, Abimelech ordered Isaac to leave the country. “Go somewhere else,” he said, “for you have become too powerful for us.”
So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there.
So Isaac moved away to the Gerar Valley, where he set up their tents and settled down.
And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And he gave them the names that his father had given them.
He reopened the wells his father had dug, which the Philistines had filled in after Abraham’s death. Isaac also restored the names Abraham had given them.
But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water,
Isaac’s servants also dug in the Gerar Valley and discovered a well of fresh water.
But then the shepherds from Gerar came and claimed the spring. “This is our water,” they said, and they argued over it with Isaac’s herdsmen. So Isaac named the well Esek (which means “argument”).
Isaac’s men then dug another well, but again there was a dispute over it. So Isaac named it Sitnah (which means “hostility”).
Abandoning that one, Isaac moved on and dug another well. This time there was no dispute over it, so Isaac named the place Rehoboth (which means “open space”), for he said, “At last the LORD has created enough space for us to prosper in this land.”
And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.”
where the LORD appeared to him on the night of his arrival. “I am the God of your father, Abraham,” he said. “Do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you. I will multiply your descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will do this because of my promise to Abraham, my servant.”
So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.
Then Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the LORD. He set up his camp at that place, and his servants dug another well.
When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army,
Isaac’s Covenant with Abimelech
One day King Abimelech came from Gerar with his adviser, Ahuzzath, and also Phicol, his army commander.
Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?”
“Why have you come here?” Isaac asked. “You obviously hate me, since you kicked me off your land.”
They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you,
They replied, “We can plainly see that the LORD is with you. So we want to enter into a sworn treaty with you. Let’s make a covenant.
that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.”
Swear that you will not harm us, just as we have never troubled you. We have always treated you well, and we sent you away from us in peace. And now look how the LORD has blessed you!”
So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.
So Isaac prepared a covenant feast to celebrate the treaty, and they ate and drank together.
In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace.
Early the next morning, they each took a solemn oath not to interfere with each other. Then Isaac sent them home again, and they left him in peace.
That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.”
That very day Isaac’s servants came and told him about a new well they had dug. “We’ve found water!” they exclaimed.
So Isaac named the well Shibah (which means “oath”). And to this day the town that grew up there is called Beersheba (which means “well of the oath”).
When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite,
At the age of forty, Esau married two Hittite wives: Judith, the daughter of Beeri, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon.