261 Now there was a famine in the land , besides e the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham . So Isaac went to Gerar , to Abimelech king of the Philistines . 2 The Lord appeared to him and said , "Do not go down to Egypt ; stay in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 "Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands , and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham . 4 " I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven , and will give your descendants all these lands ; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed ; 5 because e Abraham obeyed e Me and kept My charge , My commandments , My statutes and My laws ."
6 So Isaac lived in Gerar . 7 When the men of the place asked about his wife , he said , " She is my sister ," for he was afraid to say , "my wife ," thinking, "the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah , for she is beautiful ." 8 It came about, when he had been there a long time , that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window , and saw , and behold , Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah . 9 Then Abimelech called Isaac and said , "Behold , certainly she is your wife ! How then did you say , 'She is my sister '?" And Isaac said to him, "Because I said , 'I might die on account of her.' " 10 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." 11 So Abimelech charged all the people , saying , "He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death ."
12 Now Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold e . And the Lord blessed him, 13 and the man became rich , and continued to grow richer until he became very wealthy ; 14 for he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household , so that the Philistines envied him. 15 Now all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father , the Philistines stopped up by filling them with earth . 16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac , "Go away from us, for you are too powerful for us." 17 And Isaac departed from there and camped in the valley of Gerar , and settled there . 18 Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham , for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham ; and he gave them the same names which his father had given them. 19 But when Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing water , 20 the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac , saying , "The water is ours!" So he named e the well Esek , because they contended with him. 21 Then they dug another well , and they quarreled over it too , so he named e it Sitnah . 22 He moved away from there and dug another well , and they did not quarrel over it; so he named e it Rehoboth , for he said , " At last e the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Genesis 26:1-22
Commentary on Genesis 26:1-5
(Read Genesis 26:1-5)
Isaac had been trained up in a believing dependence upon the Divine grant of the land of Canaan to him and his heirs; and now that there is a famine in the land, Isaac still cleaves to the covenant. The real worth of God's promises cannot be lessened to a believer by any cross providences that may befall him. If God engage to be with us, and we are where he would have us to be, nothing but our own unbelief and distrust can prevent our comfort. The obedience of Abraham to the Divine command, was evidence of that faith, whereby, as a sinner, he was justified before God, and the effect of that love whereby true faith works. God testifies that he approved this obedience, to encourage others, especially Isaac.
Commentary on Genesis 26:6-11
(Read Genesis 26:6-11)
There is nothing in Isaac's denial of his wife to be imitated, nor even excused. The temptation of Isaac is the same as that which overcame his father, and that in two instances. This rendered his conduct the greater sin. The falls of those who are gone before us are so many rocks on which others have split; and the recording of them is like placing buoys to save future mariners. This Abimelech was not the same that lived in Abraham's days, but both acted rightly. The sins of professors shame them before those that are not themselves religious.
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.