John Gill Commentary Genesis 26

And there was a famine in the land
In the land of Canaan, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it; besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham ;
of which see (Genesis 12:10) ; which was an hundred years before this.

and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, to Gerar ;
where his father Abraham had sojourned before he was born; and therefore the present king of this place can scarcely be thought to be the same Abimelech that was king of it in Abraham's time; but it is highly probable that this Abimelech was the son of the former king, and that this was a common name to the kings of Gerar or the Philistines, as Pharaoh was to the kings of Egypt.

Isaac came to this place from Lahairoi, where he had dwelt many years, see (Genesis 24:62) (25:11) ; which was at or near Beersheba, and was about eight miles from Gerar ^F1.

FOOTNOTES:

• F1: Bunting's Travels, p. 70.

And the Lord appeared unto him In a vision or dream, when he was at Gerar:

and said, go not down into Egypt; as his father had done in the like case, and where Isaac thought to have gone, and the rather, as that was a fruitful country; and so the Targum of Jonathan, "and it was in the heart of Isaac to go down into Egypt, and the Lord appeared unto him" and charged him not to go thither;

partly to try his faith in him, and dependence on his providence for support in this time of famine, and partly lest he should think of continuing there, and be unmindful of the promise of the land of Canaan to Abraham's seed:

dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of; even the land of Canaan, which he was now about to give him on account of the promise of it to Abraham and his seed, and to renew it to him and to his seed.

Sojourn in this land
The land of Canaan, where he now was; either in Gerar, which though in the land of the Philistines was a part of Canaan, the place of his present residence; or in any other part of it he should be directed to: however, by this it appears it was the pleasure of God that he should not go out of that land, and which Abraham his father was careful of, that he should not while he lived; see (Genesis 24:6Genesis 24:8) :

and I will be with you, and I will bless you ;
with his presence; with protection from all enemies; with a supply of all the necessaries of life; and with all spiritual blessings, and with eternal life and happiness:

for unto you, and to your seed, will I give these countries ;
inhabited at that time by the Philistines, Canaanites, and the several tribes of them:

and I will perform the oath which I swore unto Abraham your father ;
concerning the promise of the Messiah from him and his seed, the gift of the land of Canaan to them, and the multiplication of them, (Genesis 22:16–18) .

And I will make your seed to multiply as the stars of heaven ,
&c.] Meaning in the line of Jacob especially, if not only; from whom sprung twelve patriarchs, the heads of so many tribes, which in process of time became very numerous, even as the stars of heaven: and I will give to your seed all these countries ;
which is repeated from (Genesis 26:3) for the greater confirmation of it: and in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed ;
meaning in the Messiah that should spring from him, see (Genesis 22:18) .

Because that Abraham obeyed my voice
In all things, and particularly in offering up his son at his command: and kept my charge ;
whatever was given him in charge to observe; this, as Aben Ezra thinks, is the general, of which the particulars follow: my commandments, my statutes, and my laws ;
whether moral, ceremonial, or civil and judicial; all and everyone which God enjoined him, he was careful to observe.

Here seems to be something wanting, for the words are not to be joined with the preceding, as if Abraham's obedience was the cause of the above promises made to Isaac, or to himself: but this is mentioned rather as an example to Isaac, and to stir him up to do the like, as if it was said, because or seeing that Abraham your father did so and so, do you likewise.