Chapter 26

1 Isaac because of famine went to Gerar. 2 God instructeth, and blesseth him. 7 He is reproved by Abimelech for denying his wife. 12 He groweth rich. 18 He diggeth Esek, Sitnah, and Rehoboth. 26 Abimelech maketh a covenant with him at Beer-sheba. 34 Esau’s wives.

1. There was a famine. A famine similar to that which occurred in the time of Abraham (see ch. 12:10). The more fertile region of Gerar was not affected by drought, as was the semiarid Negeb. On the presence of Philistines in Canaan at this time, see on ch. 21:32. Whether Abimelech and Phichol (Gen. 26:26) are the same individuals as those mentioned in chs. 20:2 and 21:22, or simply titles meaning, respectively, “king” and “army commander,” is not known, more probably the latter (see on chs. 20:2; 21:22).

2. The Lord appeared unto him. This is the first recorded divine revelation accorded Isaac. Several promises made earlier to Abraham were now repeated to Isaac (see chs. 12:3; 15:5; 22:17, 18).

5. Abraham obeyed. The obedience of the father is here given as the reason for the blessings that would come upon the son. It is also an implied promise that similar action on Isaac’s part would bring similar results. James explains that Abraham’s faith, for which he was rightly praised by Paul (Rom. 4:1–5), was perfected by his obedience (James 2:21–23). Neither trust nor obedience is complete without the other.

My voice. Whenever God spoke, Abraham always obeyed without delay (Gen. 12:1–4; 22:1–3).

My commandments. “Commandments” refers to precepts given by God (1 Sam. 13:13; 1 Kings 13:21), by a father (Prov. 4:1, 4; 6:20), by a king (1 Kings 2:43; 2 Kings 18:36), or by a teacher (Prov. 2:1; 7:1, 2). Such a precept, to walk perfectly before God, had been enjoined upon Abraham at the age of 99 (Gen. 17:1).

My statutes. This refers to divine laws, ceremonial (Ex. 13:10; Num. 9:14; etc.) as well as moral (Deut. 4:5, 8, 14; 6:24; etc.).

My laws. Ethical instructions as well as ceremonial and spiritual precepts (Job 22:22; Isa. 8:16, 20.)

This verse includes most of the Hebrew words that refer to divine laws or commandments. Abraham diligently observed them all, whether they came directly from God or whether they had been handed down from past generations. He purposed in his heart to obey God implicitly; where he failed, he approached God with the sacrifice of contrition upon the altar of his heart (see Heb. 7:25; 8:1–4). He left his native land, he offered his son, he carried out the rite of circumcision, he paid tithe. The same must certainly have been true with regard to phases of God’s law not specifically mentioned in connection with his life story. God’s own testimony, here given, makes it certain, for instance, that Abraham was faithful in Sabbath observance, as he was in other matters, such as tithe paying.

7. She is my sister. As Abraham had declared his wife to be his sister (chs. 12:11, 12; 20:2, 11), so also did Isaac; but the manner in which God protected Rebekah was very different from that in which Sarah was preserved. No one so much as touched her. This experience and one other (ch. 25:28) are the only recorded instances in the life of Isaac of deviation from strict rectitude. Ashamed of his own conduct, Abraham may not have warned Isaac by a narration of his own failures in this respect. More likely, however, Abraham had told Isaac but, as so often happens, Isaac had to learn the lesson for himself through bitter experience. How often the sins of parents are perpetuated in their children! But hereditary weaknesses never free the children from personal accountability for their own mistakes. (see Eze. 18:20).

12. An hundredfold. Although the patriarchs lived, generally speaking, a seminomadic life, their habits differed considerably from those of present-day Bedouins. The latter neither till the land nor own great herds and flocks as the patriarchs did. Although the Gerar valley is exceptionally fertile, a hundredfold increase in the yield of grain is about the maximum for Palestine, where it is normally thirtyfold to fiftyfold (see Matt. 13:23). The special blessing of God rested upon Isaac.

15. All the wells. Isaac’s increased wealth and influence aroused the envy of the Philistines, and they sought to do him injury. The wells rendered useless by the Philistines, the king of Gerar had solemnly guaranteed to Abraham in perpetuity (see ch. 21:25–32). The accessibility of wells is most important in the southern desert country of Palestine, and without them a herdsman must seek pasture elsewhere.

17. Isaac departed thence. As was becoming a saint, Isaac did not strive, but moved his encampment to the east of the city, though still in the same valley from which Gerar took its name.

22. He removed from thence. A peace-loving man, Isaac did not wish to get into trouble over the wells his men dug, and moved on each time his rights were contested. The third new well seems to have been sufficiently far from the Philistines that they left him in peace there, for which reason he named it Rehoboth, “wide spaces.” This spring has been identified with the present erРRuchebeh, 20 mi. southwest of Beersheba in the Wadi Ruchebeh, which perpetuates today the name it received from Isaac.

23. He went up from thence. For some unexplained reason Isaac moved on northward after a time and settled at Beersheba, where Abraham once lived (chs. 21:33; 22:19). Here Jehovah appeared to Isaac by night and renewed the covenant promise.

26. Abimelech went to him. Upon the occasion of the former treaty Isaac was about three years of age (ch. 21:8, 22; see also on ch. 21:8). The second treaty came approximately 97 years later (chs. 25:26; 26:34). It is probable, therefore, that the Abimelech of ch. 26:26 is not the individual mentioned in ch. 21:22. When a man’s ways are pleasing to God, even his enemies will be at peace with him (Prov. 16:7). The new king of Gerar now proposed a treaty that was in reality a renewal of the original treaty between Abraham and an earlier king of Gerar. In spite of the injustice Isaac had suffered at their hands, he, as a peace-loving man, was happy to conclude a new pact of friendship with Abimelech. One can only wonder how Isaac felt as Abimelech brazenly boasted of his own erstwhile fairness and honesty. The fact that there had been no violence when Abimelech’s servants ruined several wells and robbed Isaac of at least two others was due solely to Isaac’s peaceful retreat. Though Isaac could not forget these bitter experiences, he did not mention them. His was a great heart, a magnanimous spirit. Though not mentioned here, animals were presumably slaughtered and the usual ceremonies observed (see on ch. 21:27).

33. He called it Shebah. Isaac’s servants informed him of their success in opening a new well that very day, and to it he gave the name of Shebah, meaning “oath,” in commemoration of the treaty with Abimelech. The statement, “therefore the name of the city is called Beer-sheba,” does not discredit the fact that Abraham had already given that very name to the place (ch. 21:31). There was now an added reason for perpetuating the name assigned the spot a century earlier. As the treaty between Abimelech and Isaac was but a renewal of that earlier treaty, so the name Shebah given by Isaac to the new well was a reaffirmation of the earlier name, Beersheba.

34. Esau was forty years old. To Isaac’s difficulties with the Philistines a domestic cross was now added, one which caused him deep and lasting sorrow. Esau, who had already demonstrated his indifference toward religious principles, saw no reason for counseling with his parents in regard to the choice of a wife or for going to the trouble of arranging for one from among his relatives in Mesopotamia. When he was 40 years of age, and his father 100 (ch. 25:26), he married two Hittite women, simultaneously or nearly so. In so doing he openly defied the principles of parental guidance, of nonintermarriage with the heathen, and of monogamy.

The names of Esau’s wives, as well as those of their fathers, are Semitic. Judith means “the praised one,” Beeri, “my well,” Bashemath, “fragrance,” and Elon, “the strong one.” These names suggest that the two Hittite families involved must have lived in Canaan for some time and had adopted the language of the Canaanites. On the presence of Hittites in southern Palestine at this early period, see on ch. 20:1.

35. Which were a grief of mind. These two women, as the Hebrew clearly indicates, became literally, “a bitterness of spirit” to Esau’s parents. Their perverse and evil ways, their idolatrous religion, and their unspiritual and frivolous disposition brought heartache to Isaac and Rebekah. This sad world knows no greater grief than that which children can bring.

Ellen G. White comments

3 1T 203

5 PP 140, 154, 363, 370; SR 146

24 2T 271

34, 35 PP 179