John Calvin Commentary Genesis 26:18

"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." — Genesis 26:18 (ASV)

And Isaac digged again the wells of water. First, we see that the holy man was so hated by his neighbors that he was forced to seek a retreat for himself that lacked water; and no dwelling is so troublesome and inconvenient for daily life as one that suffers from a scarcity of water.

Besides, the abundance of his cattle and the large number of his servants—who were like a small army—made a water supply very necessary; from this we learn that he was brought into severe difficulties. But that this dire necessity did not provoke him to seek revenge is a proof of remarkable forbearance, for we know that lesser injuries will often exhaust the patience even of kind and reasonable people.

If anyone should object to this view, arguing that he lacked strength, I grant, indeed, that he was not able to undertake a regular war. However, as his father Abraham had armed four hundred servants, Isaac also certainly had a large troop of household servants who could easily have repelled any force his neighbors brought against him.

But the hope Isaac had held when he settled in the valley of Gerar was again suddenly cut off. He knew that his father Abraham had used wells there that were his own, and which he himself had discovered. Although they had been filled in, they were well known to have sufficient springs of water, so the labor of digging them again would not be wasted.

Moreover, the fact that the wells had been blocked ever since Abraham’s departure shows how little respect the inhabitants had for him as a guest. For although their own country would have benefited from these wells, they preferred to deprive themselves of this advantage rather than have Abraham for a neighbor. So that such a convenience might not attract him to the place, they, by filling in the wells, in a certain sense, barred his way.

It was a custom among the ancients, if they wished to bring ruin upon someone and cut him off from human society, to forbid him access to water and fire. Thus the Philistines, to remove Abraham from their vicinity, deprived him of the element of water.

He called their names. Isaac did not give new names to the wells but restored those that had been given to them by his father Abraham, so that by this reminder, his ancient ownership of them might be reasserted. But later violence forced him to change their names, so that he might at least, by some record, make clear the injury done by the Philistines and rebuke them for it. For when he calls one well strife, or contention, and another hostility, he denies that the inhabitants possessed by right, or by any legitimate claim, what they had seized as enemies or robbers.

Meanwhile, it is important to consider that amidst these conflicts, Isaac had an equally severe struggle with thirst and lack of water, by which the Philistines tried to destroy him; this is the scope of the story.

First, Moses, in his usual way, briefly summarizes the matter: namely, that Isaac intended to use again for his own purposes the wells his father had previously found, and to recover his lost possession of them. Moses then discusses the subject more extensively, stating that when Isaac attempted the work, he was unjustly cheated out of his labor.

And when, in digging the third well, Isaac gives thanks to God and calls it Room—because, by God’s favor, a more plentiful supply is now afforded him—he provides an example of invincible patience. Therefore, however severely he may have been troubled, yet when, after being freed from these troubles, he so calmly returns thanks to God and celebrates His goodness, he shows that amidst trials he has retained a composed and tranquil mind.