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 the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.
22. Rehoboth ] That is, Broad places, or, Room. LXX ; Lat. Latitudo. This has been identified by modern travellers with a place called. er-Ruaibeh, 20 miles S. W. of Beer-sheba, where there is a well.
we shall be fruitful ] i.e. prosperous. Prosperity depended upon unhindered access to a supply of water. The same word is used as in Gen 1:22, Gen 41:52, Gen 49:22.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And he removed from thence,…. A little further from their border, to cut off all pretence, and put a stop to all dispute and controversy for the future:
and digged another well; in the place he removed to:
and for that they strove not; it being at such a distance from their border, they could not have the face to claim any right to it:
and he called the name of it Rehoboth; which signifies broad and spacious, places, enlargements:
for now hath the Lord made room for us; for himself, his family, his herds, and flocks, and freed them, from those difficulties under which they laboured, and the straits into which they were brought through the contention of the herdsmen of Gerar:
and we shall be fruitful in the land; his flocks and his herds increase, having good pasturage and watering for them, and so he and his family be in prosperous circumstances.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Rehoboth means roomy. Psa 4:1 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 26:22 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 the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.
Ver. 22. And he removed from thence, &c. ] See here a pattern of a patient and peaceable disposition, not broken by the continual injuries and affronts of the Philistines, that maligned and molested him, “I am peace,” saith David; Psa 120:7 and I, saith Isaac; and I, saith every son of peace, every child of wisdom. How well might good Isaac take up that of David, and say, “My feet stand in an even place” a Psa 26:12 now that he was at Rehoboth especially, and God had made room for him: The scales of his mind neither rose up toward the beam, through their own lightness; nor were too much depressed with any load of sorrow: but, hanging equally and unmoved between both, gave him liberty, in all occurrences, to enjoy himself. Our minds, saith a divine, b should be like to the adamant, that no knife can cut; the salamander, that no fire can burn; the rock, which no waves can shake; the cypress tree, which no weather can alter; the hill Olympus, higher than storm or tempest, wind or weather can reach unto; or rather, “like mount Zion, that cannot be removed, but standeth fast for ever”. Psa 125:1 Thus Paul had “learned how to abound, and to be abased”. Php 4:11 Bradford, if the Queen would give him life, he would thank her; if banish him, he would thank her; if burn him, he will thank her; if condemn him to perpetual imprisonment, he will thank her; as he told one Cresswell, that offered to intercede for him. c Praeclara est, aequabilitas in omni vita, et idem semper vultus eademque frons, ut de Socrate, idemque de C. Laelio accepimus, saith Cicero, in his books of offices, d which book the old Lord Burleigh, Lord High Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth, would always carry about him, to his dying day, either in his bosom or pocket: e and what use he made of it, take M. Camden’s f testimony: Burleigh, Lord Treasurer, was wont to say, that he overcame envy more by patience than pertinacy. His private estate he managed with that integrity, that he never sued any man, no man ever sued him. He was in the number of those few, that both lived and died with glory.
a Barthol. Westmer., in Ps. xxvi.
b Ambros.
c Act. and Mon.
d Aelian., lib. ix. – Solln., cap. 8.
e Peacham’s Complete Gentleman, p. 45.
f Camden’s Elisabeth, fol. 495.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Rehoboth. Hebrew roominess.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
digged: The wells in Arabia are generally dug in the rock: their mouths are about six feet in diameter, and they are from nineteen to twenty feet in depth. But Niebuhr informs us, that many wells are from 160 to 170 feet deep.
Rehoboth: i.e. Room
the Lord: Psa 4:1, Psa 18:19, Psa 118:5
be fruitful: Gen 17:6, Gen 28:3, Gen 41:52, Exo 1:7
Reciprocal: Gen 46:1 – Beersheba 2Sa 22:20 – brought
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
ISAAC THE PEACEABLE
And Isaac removed.
Gen 26:22
Religion is in every age the peacemaking principle in the world. The Fall brought in the possibility of divergence and conflict between man and man. In the very beginnings of human history appears cruel Cain who was of that Evil One and slew his brother. The quarrelsome and the peace-loving types of men have been represented in every generation since.
I. Isaac was a conspicuous illustration of the fair-minded, non-combative, meek and gentle type of man. His greatness brought him the envy of the jealous Philistines. His very success had its complications. Even in that primitive pastoral age care was not unknown. Life had its fret and worry. Enemies abounded. An instance of such oppression of the enemy, of which in later times David complained, is afforded by the indefatigable hostility of the Philistines in destroying the wells which Abraham had here and there with great labour caused to be dug. In hot Oriental lands, wells are of the greatest importance to the people of the country, and to passing travellers. Well-digging is frequently an enterprise of great difficulty, and with it is associated the name of the sheikh or pasha who engineers the work. The Philistines in their campaign of well-filling and blocking were actuated both by malice and by a fear lest the wells which Abraham had opened should seem to confer upon him and his descendants a title to the lands thus bored into. The Philistine spoilers are still abroad in the land. They are the individuals who recklessly mar what other persons laboriously make.
II. Isaac was not a fighter, although there is no reason to think that he was a coward. He regarded Abimelechs request, which was almost a command, to depart to another section. Encamping in the valley of Gerar, he digged again the neglected well dug by Abraham. This teaches symbolically that the work of spiritual reconstruction must constantly go on in this world. Old constructions fall into disrepair at times, like the wells of Abraham which were choked up, and it frequently becomes necessary to pierce through the corruptions of later years to reopen the fountains of pure water of life which formerly flowed so freely. Even the names of the old wells Isaac perpetuated.
Strife, however, soon occurred over a new well of live springing water, which in consequence of the quarrel received the bitter name of Esek, Contention. Again Isaac waived his rights and retired to dig another well. Strife once more ensued, and this time he fitly named the new spring Sitnah, Spite. Someone has remarked that Sitnah comes from the same root as Satan. Spite is certainly Satanic.
Most men would at this stage have yielded to a natural exasperation and struck back. But Isaac was thoroughly loving in disposition. It is not really an anachronism to say that he was Christ-like in his meekness. A third time he digged a well, calling it Rehoboth, Room. The Philistines were now conquered by patience, pacified by generosity, and the comfortable condition which ensued Isaac ascribed to the control of a higher power, dwelling on his mercies rather than his vexations and saying, The Lord hath made room for us!
Illustration
Pleasant it is when there is no strife betwixt my neighbour and myself. Let me love him with the love of forgiveness, freely pardoning every hasty word and every unkind and unbrotherly deed. Let me give him the love of forbearance, remembering that his point of view is different from mine, and that I cannot expect him to travel always along my road. Let me cherish for him the love of sympathy, for he has sorrows which I can soothe, and burdens which I can strengthen him to carry. And let me bring him, too, the love of active helpfulness and co-operation, doing with my might everything I can for his welfare. Thus let there be a covenant betwixt me and my neighbour.
Still pleasanter is it, however, when there is no strife between my God and myself. Is the breach which my sin has caused, healed and ended? For the dear sake of Christ who died, has God sworn His oath of friendship with me?have I sworn my oath of faith and obedience and consecration with Him? Is there this Beersheba in the story of my pilgrimage? Once an enemy, but now a loved and honoured child; once in the far country, but now at the Kings court and in the Fathers houseO that it may be so!
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Gen 26:22. He digged a well, and for that they strove not Those that follow peace, sooner or later shall find peace. Those that study to be quiet, seldom fail of being so. This well they called Rehoboth, enlargement, room enough.