Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 26
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Genesis 26
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Genesis 26
"And there was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines, unto Gerar." — Genesis 26:1 (ASV)
Isaac went ... unto Gerar. — Following the stream of Semitic migration (Genesis 12:15), Isaac had originally intended to go to Egypt, but was commanded by God to remain in the land, and by doing so, he received the assurance that he would be confirmed in the inheritance of the promises made to his father.
Isaac was then dwelling at the well Lahai-Roi, and although the exact site of this place is unknown, it lay too far to the south for Isaac to have gone to Gerar on his direct way to Egypt.
"And there was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines, unto Gerar. And Jehovah 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 lands, and I will establish the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father. And I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these lands. 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, 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 because of her. And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? One of the people might easily have lain with thy wife, and thou wouldest have brought guiltiness upon us. And Abimelech charged all the people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death. And Isaac sowed in that land, and found in the same year a hundredfold. And Jehovah blessed him. And the man waxed great, and grew more and more until he became very great. And he had possessions of flocks, and possessions of herds, and a great household. And the Philistines envied him. Now all the wells which his father`s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped, and filled with earth. And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us. For thou art much mightier than we. And Isaac departed thence, and encamped 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 herdsmen of Gerar strove with Isaac`s herdsmen, saying, The water is ours. And he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him. And they digged another well, and they 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 Jehovah hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land. And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba. And Jehovah 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 Jehovah, and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac`s servants digged a well. Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain of his host. And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore are ye come unto me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you? And they said, We saw plainly that Jehovah was with thee. And we said, Let there now be 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 Jehovah. 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 Shibah. Therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day. And when Esau was forty years old he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. And they were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah." — Genesis 26:1-35 (ASV)
THE TÔLDÔTH ISAAC (Genesis 25:19-35:29).
THE BIRTH OF ISAAC’S SONS.
Abraham begot Isaac —The Tôldôth in its original form probably gave a complete genealogy of Isaac, tracing his descent up to Shem, and showing by this that the right of primogeniture belonged to him; but the inspired historian uses only so much of this as is necessary for tracing the development of the Divine plan of human redemption.
The Syrian. —Really, the Aramean, or descendant of Aram . The name of the district also correctly is “Paddan-Ararn,” and so far from being identical with Aram-Naharaim (Genesis 24:10), it is strictly the designation of the region immediately in the neighborhood of Charran. The assertion of Gesenius that it meant “Mesopotamia, with the desert to the west of the Euphrates, in opposition to the mountainous district towards the Mediterranean,” is devoid of proof (see Chwolsohn, Die Ssabier, 1, p. 304). In Syriac, the language of Charran, padana means a plough (1 Samuel 13:20) or a yoke of oxen (1 Samuel 11:7); and this also suggests that it was the cultivated district close to the town.
In Hosea 12:12 it is said that Jacob fled to the field of Aram; but this is a very general description of the country in which he found refuge, and affords no basis for the assertion that Padan-aram was the level region. Finally, the assertion that it is an ancient name used by the Jehovist is an assertion only. It is the name of a special district, and the knowledge of it was the result of Jacob’s extended stay there. Chwolsohn says that traces of the name still remain in Faddân and Tel Faddân, two places close to Charran, mentioned by Yacut, the Arabian geographer, who flourished in the thirteenth century.
Isaac intreated the Lord. —This barrenness lasted twenty years (Genesis 25:26) and must have greatly troubled Isaac. It would also compel him to dwell much in thought upon the purpose for which he had been given to Abraham and afterwards rescued from death upon Mount Jehovah-Jireh. When offspring came, in answer to his earnest pleading of the promise, the delay would serve to impress upon both parents the religious significance of their existence as a separate race and family, and the necessity of training their children worthily. The derivation of the verb to intreat, from a noun signifying incense, is uncertain but made probable by the natural connection of the idea of the ascending fragrance and that of the prayer mounting heavenward (Revelation 5:8; Revelation 8:4).
The children struggled together.— Two dissimilar nations sprang from Abraham, but from mothers totally unlike; so, too, from the peaceful Isaac two distinct races of men were to take their origin, but from the same mother, and the contest began while they were yet unborn. And Rebekah, apparently unaware that she was pregnant with twins, but harassed with the pain of strange jostlings and thrusts, grew despondent, and exclaimed—
If it be so, why am I thus? —Literally, If so, why am I this? Some explain this as meaning “Why do I still live?” but more probably she meant, If I have thus conceived, in answer to my husband’s prayers, why do I suffer in this strange manner? It thus prepares for what follows, namely, that Rebekah wished to have her condition explained to her, and therefore went to inquire of Jehovah.
She went to enquire of the Lord. —Not to Shem, nor Melchizedek, as many think, nor even to Abraham, who was still alive, but, as Theodoret suggests, to the family altar. Isaac had several homes, but probably the altar at Bethel, erected when Abraham first took possession of the Promised Land (Genesis 12:7), and therefore especially holy, was the place signified; and if Abraham were there, he would doubtless join his prayers to those of Rebekah.
"And Jehovah appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt. Dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of." — Genesis 26:2 (ASV)
The Lord appeared unto him.—Only one other time does Jehovah manifest himself to Isaac (Genesis 26:24), and sixty years had now passed since the revelations recorded in Genesis 22:0. Except for Abraham, it was only at rare and distant intervals that God spoke to the patriarchs. The greater part of their lives was spent under the control of the same ordinary Providence that governs our actions now; but on special occasions, God was pleased to confirm their faith in Him in a way not necessary now that the whole counsel of God has been made known to us.
"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 lands, and I will establish the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father. And I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these lands. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." — Genesis 26:3-4 (ASV)
These countries. —On the archaic form of the pronoun these, see Note on Genesis 19:8. The countries are enumerated in Genesis 15:19-21. For the “oath,” see Genesis 22:16; and for the metaphor, “as the stars,” see Genesis 15:5.
"And the men of the place asked him of his wife. And he said, She is my sister. For he feared to say, My wife. Lest, [said he], the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah. Because she was fair to look upon." — Genesis 26:7 (ASV)
He said, She is my sister. —We have already seen that Abraham at Gerar showed no awareness of having done wrong in denying his wife (Genesis 20:2); and we now find Isaac imitating his example with even less reason for his conduct.
The circumstances are, however, different. It is the people who inquire about Isaac’s relation to Rebekah, and though she was fair to look upon, yet no annoyance followed his denial of her. The king after a long time detects their intimacy; but there are no presents, and no marks of respect to Rebekah, and no friendship. It is only after long quarrels, during which Isaac is obliged to withdraw to a long distance from Gerar, that finally peace is made between them.
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