Gen 26:17-33 · Read 10 min · think and write 15 min
In the last lesson, Isaac farmed in Gerar, “and reaped in the same year one hundred times what he planted. The LORD blessed him” (Gen 26:12). “He had possessions of flocks, possessions of herds, and a great household. The Philistines envied him” (Gen 26:14). The wells his father’s servants had dug long before, “the Philistines had stopped, and filled with earth” (Gen 26:15).
Abimelech said to Isaac: “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we” (Gen 26:16). This lesson begins as Isaac leaves.
17Isaac departed from there, encamped in the valley of Gerar, and lived there.
18Isaac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham. He called their names after the names by which his father had called them.
19Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of flowing water.
20The herdsmen of Gerar argued with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him.
21They dug another well, and they argued over that, also. So he called its name Sitnah.
22He left that place, and dug another well. They didn’t argue over that one. So he called it Rehoboth. He said, “For now the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”
23He went up from there to Beersheba.
24The LORD appeared to him the same night, and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you, and will bless you, and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.”
25He built an altar there, and called on the LORD’s name, and pitched his tent there. There Isaac’s servants dug a well.
26Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain of his army.
27Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me, and have sent me away from you?”
28They said, “We saw plainly that the LORD was with you. We said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, even between us and you, and let’s make a covenant with you,
29that you will do us no harm, as we have not touched you, and as we have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace.’ You are now the blessed of the LORD.”
30He made them a feast, and they ate and drank.
31They rose up some time in the morning, and swore an oath to one another. Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
32The same day, Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.”
33He called it “Shibah”. Therefore the name of the city is “Beersheba” to this day.
Dug again. “Isaac departed from there, encamped in the valley of Gerar, and lived there” (v. 17). The first thing he did was dig again the wells his father had dug: after Abraham’s death the Philistines had stopped them, and Isaac “dug again the wells of water … He called their names after the names by which his father had called them” (v. 18).
Esek, Sitnah. “Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of flowing water” (v. 19). “The herdsmen of Gerar argued with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, ‘The water is ours.’ So he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him” (v. 20). “They dug another well, and they argued over that, also. So he called its name Sitnah” (v. 21).
Rehoboth. “He left that place, and dug another well. They didn’t argue over that one. So he called it Rehoboth” (v. 22). He said: “For now the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land” (v. 22).
Don’t be afraid. “He went up from there to Beersheba” (v. 23). “The LORD appeared to him the same night, and said, ‘I am the God of Abraham your father. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you, and will bless you’” (v. 24). “He built an altar there, and called on the LORD’s name” (v. 25).
Since you hate me. Abimelech came with Ahuzzath his friend and Phicol the captain of his army (v. 26). Isaac said: “Why have you come to me, since you hate me, and have sent me away from you?” (v. 27). They said: “We saw plainly that the LORD was with you. We said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us … and let’s make a covenant with you’” (v. 28), and also, “You are now the blessed of the LORD” (v. 29).
A feast. “He made them a feast, and they ate and drank” (v. 30). “They rose up some time in the morning, and swore an oath to one another. Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace” (v. 31).
We have found water. “The same day, Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had dug, and said to him, ‘We have found water’” (v. 32). “He called it ‘Shibah’. Therefore the name of the city is ‘Beersheba’ to this day” (v. 33).
The name Beersheba has come up before, in Abraham’s day. Abraham and Abimelech swore an oath there: “Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because they both swore an oath there” (Gen 21:31); “So they made a covenant at Beersheba” (Gen 21:32).
In this lesson, Isaac and Abimelech also “swore an oath to one another” (v. 31); that same day the servants came and said, “We have found water” (v. 32).
Readers can see this: at Beersheba an oath was sworn once in Abraham’s day, and once again in Isaac’s. The passage says “the name of the city is ‘Beersheba’ to this day” (v. 33).
Perhaps you, too, are digging wells right now: you have moved, changed jobs, started over, and what you worked hard for has been taken away again and again. Perhaps you, too, have known days of being ‘sent away.’
This lesson does not say that if you give way, things will turn out well. What it shows you is this: when a well was taken, Isaac dug again; when he came to a place where no one argued, he said, “For now the LORD has made room for us” (v. 22); and that night God said to him, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you” (v. 24). A psalm says: “Out of my distress, I called on the LORD. The LORD answered me with freedom” (Ps 118:5).
This week: Think of something you have recently started over — or have had to start over. Find a time this week, as Isaac did at Beersheba, to call quietly on God and hand this over to him.
Scripture: World English Bible.