Chapter Overview
This chapter shows that Isaac is favored by god in the same way his father is. It also shows Isaac doing the exact same thing his father pulled with the Pharaoh and Abimelech in Chapter 20 and 12 respectively. Isaac then gets ran out of town and almost (but not quite) attacked by Abimelech. Like with AbramHam, Abimelech decides to strike a deal rather than slaughter.
Additional Thoughts
This chapter appears to be showing that Isaac is the one who is favored by god. It repeats the agreement between god and AbramHam twice, has Isaac doing the same thing his father did, and even starts off with a good ‘ol famine. On the whole, it reads like a story that was told about Isaac at the same time that stories about AbramHam were circulating.
It seems to strengthen the idea that there are three different writers in genesis. We’ve had 3 tales of a similar sort now, and it seems unlikely that we’ll have any more. Genesis reads like an attempt to reconcile all of these stories that were circulating into a single mega-story that attempts to tell history and explain the world, but fails miserably, of course.
I can’t hold the author’s lack of knowledge about the world against them. They literally didn’t know how many things worked at the time. I CAN, however, hold the lack of knowledge against people who believe Genesis is a literally accurate recounting of history.
Chapter 26: Like Father, Like Son
- 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.
- And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:
- 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 countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;
- And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
- Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
- And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:
- And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.
- 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.
- 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 for her.
- And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.
- And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.
- Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.
- And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:
- For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.
- For 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.
- And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.
- And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
- 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.
- And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.
- And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac’s herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him.
- And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.
- 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.
- And he went up from thence to Beersheba.
- 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.
- 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.
- Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.
- And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?
- And they said, We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;
- 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.
- And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.
- And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
- 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.
- And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day.
- And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite:
- Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.
- Hey, this is sounding somewhat similar to when we first met AbramHam. Famine… journey to a different land despite being wealthy…
- If I were to guess, the Pharaoh (who is presumably a different one now) hates AbramHam and his kids?
- I thought all the countries were supposed to have been given to AbramHam already. Does god not remember this? Does he lack the power to fulfill his own promises to the little folk?
- This is basically a rehashing of what god told AbramHam. It makes me wonder if Isaac is supposed to have actually been AbramHam here.
- I mean, this could just as easily say “Because that Noah obeyed etc” and still reference AbramHam.
- At least the name is the same
- But why? Presumably Isaac believes in the “Power Of The Lord” to protect him. WHY is he afraid at all?? This is literally Chapters 12 and 20 redone again. For no reason that I can figure.
- Oh look, this guy is still around. I wonder if we get to hear how old he is now.
- How would he have even heard of this?
- Oh what a shame that would be. If only there was some way that Isaac could have prevented such a misunderstanding from ever happening.
- At least Isaac is safe now.
- Isaac has moved out from where AbramHam lived and presumably gave up all of AbramHam’s stuff?
- This sounds very familiar. How long exactly was he here? 20 years? 50? Maybe he’s at that magical age of 120?
- Oh look, people are getting tired of being dunked on by some young whiper-snapper.
- But why? It seems like having wells around would be a benefit to everyone around. This seems like a contrivance to drive the “plot”.
- Oh look, he’s being sent away by the king with a bunch of stuff that made him rich
- AKA: He traveled about a kilometer outside the city limits and pitched tent?
- At least this doesn’t do a massive recap like chapter 18 did. Still, this seems like a contrived reason to go do something.
- Oh how lucky for them.
- AKA: Dude, you’re literally just outside our city, try buggering off to somewhere else instead of stealing our stuff!
- AKA: We already told you that we don’t want liars like you around. Bugger off already!
- AKA: Fine, fine, I’m leaving already! Geez… if only there was someone who could have forewarned me that lying about my wife being my sister could have unforeseen consequences.
- But why?
- Dadgum this guy loves to reiterate things over and over again. We just heard this 20 verses ago. We get it. Isaac is AbramHam’s kid. Alternatively, god nullified the old agreement and started a new on now?
- In another fashion of like father, like son, Isaac decides to build altars.
- But why? There’s literally no reason given for this event. No documentation for us to read about it either.
- I don’t know… maybe the lying and stealing got on their nerves? At least he’s a little further away from the city now.
- How would they have any way of judging this? Presumably they are not of god’s “chosen people”, so why would they even believe that Isaac is anything special? There’s no reason for this.
- AKA: Don’t start wars with us and we’ll agree not to start wars with you.
- Isaac can eat to that idea.
- Presumably, if the standing army nearby had attacked, Isaac would have killed them all with a small slave army like his father would have done.
- Just how many wells are they digging around here? We’ve been told about 4 already.
- This sounds like an attempt to explain a city name after the fact.
- Oh no, the Hittites are coming! The Hittites are coming! Just kidding… I don’t really care.
- They do cause some grief for Isaac later though.