Genesis 26:12-22
12 Isaac planted crops in that land and took in a huge harvest. God blessed him. 13 The man got richer and richer by the day until he was very wealthy. 14 He accumulated flocks and herds and many, many servants, so much so that the Philistines began to envy him. 15 They got back at him by throwing dirt and debris into all the wells that his father's servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham, clogging up all the wells. 16 Finally, Abimelech told Isaac: "Leave. You've become far too big for us." 17 So Isaac left. He camped in the valley of Gerar and settled down there. 18 Isaac dug again the wells which were dug in the days of his father Abraham but had been clogged up by the Philistines after Abraham's death. And he renamed them, using the original names his father had given them. 19 One day, as Isaac's servants were digging in the valley, they came on a well of spring water. 20 The shepherds of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's shepherds, claiming, "This water is ours." So Isaac named the well Esek (Quarrel) because they quarreled over it. 21 They dug another well and there was a difference over that one also, so he named it Sitnah (Accusation). 22 He went on from there and dug yet another well. But there was no fighting over this one so he named it Rehoboth (Wide-Open Spaces), saying, "Now God has given us plenty of space to spread out in the land."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Genesis 26:12-22
Commentary on Genesis 26:12-17
(Read Genesis 26:12-17)
God blessed Isaac. Be it observed, for the encouragement of poor tenants who occupy other people's lands, and are honest and industrious, that God blessed him with a great increase. The Philistines envied Isaac. It is an instance of the vanity of the world; for the more men have of it, the more they are envied, and exposed to censure and injury. Also of the corruption of nature; for that is an ill principle indeed, which makes men grieve at the good of others. They made Isaac go out of their country. That wisdom which is from above, will teach us to give up our right, and to draw back from contentions. If we are wrongfully driven from one place, the Lord will make room for us in another.
Commentary on Genesis 26:18-25
(Read Genesis 26:18-25)
Isaac met with much opposition in digging wells. Two were called Contention and Hatred. See the nature of worldly things; they make quarrels, and are occasions of strife; and what is often the lot of the most quiet and peaceable; those who avoid striving, yet cannot avoid being striven with. And what a mercy it is to have plenty of water; to have it without striving for it! The more common this mercy is, the more reason to be thankful for it. At length Isaac digged a well, for which they strove not. Those that study to be quiet, seldom fail of being so. When men are false and unkind, still God is faithful and gracious; and his time to show himself so is, when we are most disappointed by men. The same night that Isaac came weary and uneasy to Beer-sheba, God brought comforts to his soul. Those may remove with comfort who are sure of God's presence.