And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba.
Gen 26:23-25
Fear not, for I am with thee
Lessons
1.
The return from exilement to their own, God giveth to His sojourners as He pleaseth.
2. Beer-sheba is is more desirable to Isaac than Gerar. The place by covenant allotted, than the place envied by others (Gen 26:23).
3. Gods gracious appearance unto souls is usually in the time of their hardships, and where He calls them.
4. Gods special care of His in times of persecution from men, is to keep them from fear.
5. Gods relation to Abraham is a good ground to secure Abrahams seed from fears.
6. Gods gracious presence, revealed and believed, is security against fear of men.
7. Gods blessing of the faithful may justly set them above all affrightments from men.
8. Gods multiplying His Church is sufficient security against the fear of the worlds diminishing it (Gen 26:24).
9. Gods appearance to troubled souls requireth speedy and true worship from them to Him again.
10. Gracious souls are careful to give unto God right worship by right means.
11. Saints desire to have God dwell with them that they may dwell with God.
12. Where God dwelleth with His servants, they serve His providence in all honest labour for subsistence (Gen 26:25). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Where he lived before the famine drove him thence.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And he went up from thence to Beersheba. From the place he last, removed unto Beersheba; the famine being over, he returns to the place where he and his rather formerly lived, Ge 21:33.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Isaac’s Journey to Beersheba. – Here, where Abraham had spent a long time (Gen 21:33.), Jehovah appeared to him during the night and renewed the promises already given; upon which, Isaac built an altar and performed a solemn service. Here his servants also dug a well near to the tents.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
23. And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba. Next follows a more abundant consolation, and one affording effectual refreshment to the mind of the holy man. In the tranquil enjoyment of the well, he acknowledges the favor which God had showed him: but forasmuch as one word of God weighs more with the faithful than the accumulated mass of all good things, we cannot doubt that Isaac received this oracle more joyfully than if a thousand rivers of nectar had flowed unto him: and truly Moses designedly commemorates in lofty terms this act of favor, that the Lord encouraged him by his own word, (Gen 26:24😉 whence we may learn, in ascribing proper honor to each of the other gifts of God, still always to give the palm to that proof of his paternal love which he grants us in his word. Food, clothing, health, peace, and other advantages, afford us a taste of the Divine goodness; but when he addresses us familiarly, and expressly declares himself to be our Father, then indeed it is that he thoroughly refreshes us to satiety. Moses does not explain what had been the cause of Isaac’s removal to Beer-sheba, the ancient dwelling-place of his fathers. It might be that the Philistines ceased not occasionally to annoy him; and thus the holy man, worn out with their implacable malice, removed to a greater distance. It is indeed probable, taking the circumstance of the time into account, that he was sorrowful and anxious; for as soon as he had arrived at that place, God appeared unto him on the very first night. Here, then, something very opportune is noticed. Moreover, as often as Moses before related that God had appeared unto Abraham, he, at the same time, showed that the holy man was either tormented with grievous cares, or was held in suspense under some apprehension, or was plunged in sadness, or, after many distresses, was nearly borne down by fatigue, so as to render it apparent that the hand of God was seasonably stretched out to him as his necessity required, lest he should sink under the evils which surrounded him. So now, as I explain it, he came to Isaac, for the purpose of restoring him, already wearied and broken down by various miseries.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
7. The Theophany at Beersbeba (Gen. 26:23-25). We now read that Isaac went up from Gerar to Beersheba. (Though Beersheba is said to lie lower than Gerar, yet the general expression for approaching any part of Palestine from the southwest is to go up, EG, 729). Here Yahweh appears again to Isaac, for covenant matters must be again considered. Isaac has conducted himself in a manner that calls forth divine approval. Besides, Isaacs faith needs to be strengthened in the matter of the realization of the covenant promise. For one part of the promise is: numerous descendants. . . . Isaac shall have to walk by faith very largely as did Abraham. That this faith might well be established he is informed that God will surely bring this promise to pass. So we see that the situation is sufficiently important to call for the appearance of Yahweh, the second and last that is granted to Isaac. The substance of Yahwehs promise is: Fear not as to the realization of the promise given thee, for I am with thee, I, the God of Abraham, thy father, who never failed to make good what I promised to him; I guarantee to make thy descendants (Hebrew seed) numerous, for the sake of Abraham my servant. It is here only in Genesis that the title my servant is applied to Abraham. By it another aspect of Abrahams relation to the Lord is covered: he stood in Gods service all his days and faithfully did His will (EG, 729).
Now, any place that is sanctified by a Divine appearance naturally became a sacred spot where Yahweh was wont to be worshiped (cf. Gen. 12:7-8, Gen. 13:4). Hence, following the example of his illustrious father, Isaac erected an altar, and of course offered sacrifice: a fact so obvious that it hardly need be mentioned. It is stated that he called upon the name of Jehovah. This means, as it did from the very beginning (cf. Gen. 4:26), that Isaac acting on behalf of his entire householdas their priestengaged in all the essentials of public worship of God characteristic of the Patriarchal Dispensation, the very heart of which was sacrifice that included the shedding of precious blood (Gen. 4:4-5, Heb. 11:4, Lev. 17:11, Joh. 1:29, Heb. 9:11-22, Rev. 7:13-14). Because of Yahwehs manifestation at this place it became sacred to Isaac and he pitched his tent there, and as relatively permanent residence was involved, he ordered his servants to (literally) start digging a well there: the success of the attempt is not reported until Gen. 26:32 (ABG, 202).
FOR MEDITATION AND SERMONIZING
The Essentials of Life
Text: Gen. 26:25. Dr. Bowie (IBG, 675676) presents some challenging thoughts concerning our text, Gen. 26:25. We have here, he writes, only the bare catalogue of what Isaac did on a particular day. However, there are three nouns in this text which have deep implications: an altar, a tent, and a well.
1. It should be noted that the altar was first. The first thing Isaac did when he moved up to Beersheba was to cause his servants to build an altar there. (Recall that the first thing Noah did on coming out of the ark was to build an altar unto Jehovah and offer the prescribed sacrifice, Gen. 8:20). With Isaac, as with Israel in all its history, God was no afterthought. Existence was not secular, but lifted up always to a religious reference. Isaac was doing what his father Abraham always did on moving into a new environment. The altar was first. When a man is right with God all other matters fall into place. In our affluent society today men have so much that they consider themselves self-sufficient, whereas if God did not provide the food they eat, the water they drink, and the air they breathe, they could not live five minutes. Man is a creature. When he loses sight of this fact, he loses his bearings and brings chaos upon himself and his fellows. We must start with God as the First Truth of all being. Hence if any part of life is to be worth anything, it must begin with the recognition and worship of God.
2. After erecting his altar and calling upon the name of Jehovah (in his office as the patriarch-priest of his household), Isaac then pitched his tent there. Naturally what went on in that tent was commonplace enough: everyday human needs had to be provided for through the routine of ordinary work; the building of an altar could not obviate that, nor contact with the spiritual world take men out of this one. What Isaac kept in mind was that family lifeits duties, loyalties, and affectionsneeded always to be brought under the protection of the altar. Note, too, that Isaac had no mansion, not even a house solidly built and comfortable, adapted to present occupancy, such as men and women desire in our day. He had only a tent. Does not this suggest that the patriarchs were not rooted in material things; that, on the contrary, they confessed themselves to be strangers and pilgrims on the earth (Heb. 11:12)? Are not we all just such? In the civilization of today, complex and materially rich, there is danger that men may be so satisfied with what they already possess that they do not reach forward to that spiritual communion which pilgrim souls would seek to gain. Yet in the scale of eternal values the great man is he who knows that life here is a pilgrimage (Job. 14:1-2, Mat. 6:19-21, Col. 3:1-3, 2Co. 4:16-18), and that if he does not seek the city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God (Heb. 11:10), his life on earth will be aimless and empty, The only happiness to which man is ordained by the very nature of his being is ultimate union with God, the union of the human mind with the Mind of God in knowledge and the union of the human will with the Will of God in love (1Co. 13:12, 1Jn. 3:2): that alone will be perfect happiness (cf, Mat. 5:3-12; note that the Latin word for happiness is beatitudo, blessedness, hence this ultimate union with God is known as the Beatific Vision; the Latin word was coined by Cicero; Aristotle used the word endaimonia, which means, literally, well-being). To achieve this Beatific Vision, one must be steadfast in growing in the Spiritual Life here (2Pe. 3:18) as programmed for him in the Divine Word (1Co. 15:58, Gal. 5:22-25; 1Co. 12:31; 1Co. 13:1-13; Rev. 2:10, etc.).
3. Finally, having built his altar and pitched his tent, Isaacs servants digged a well. This was necessary to their existence. Out of it must come the water to slake the thirst of men and cattle; and because of it there could be an oasis of growth and shade. Without water, physical life would come to an end soon. Hence, all through the Bible water is a symbol for the satisfaction of a deeper thirst. (Cf. Psa. 42:1, Isa. 55:1; Joh. 4:14; Joh. 7:37-39).
Review Questions
See Gen. 26:34-35.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(23-25) He went up from thence to Beer-sheba.This was a very serious act on Isaacs part He leaves the solitudes where he had found a refuge from the enmity of the Philistines, and returns to a place scarcely five leagues distant from their city. Should the old rancour revive, it may now take the form of actual war. And next, he does not go back to the well Lahai-Roi, where he had so long resided, but to Beer-sheba, his fathers favourite home. It was a claim on his part to the rights and inheritance of Abraham, and the claim was admitted. The same night Jehovah appears to him, bids him put away his fears, and renews to him the promises which were his by the right of his birth.
My servant Abraham.A title of high honour and significance, given to Moses repeatedly, to Joshua (Jos. 24:29), to Israel (Isa. 41:8), and to the Messiah (Isa. 52:13). It means Gods prime minister and vicegerent.
He builded an altar.In returning to Beer-sheba, Isaac had apparently faced the dangers of his position, through confidence in the promises made to his father, with whom he identified himself by taking up his abode at his home. And no sooner are the promises confirmed to him than he restores the public worship of God in the very place where Abraham had established it (Gen. 21:33).
Digged a well.The word is not that previously used in the chapter, but one that signifies the re-opening of the well which Abraham had dug, but which had become stopped by violence or neglect.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
EXPOSITION
Gen 26:23
And he (viz; Isaac) went up from thence (Rehoboth, where latterly he had been encamped) to Beer-shebaa former residence of Abraham (Gen 21:33), situated “near the water-shed between the Mediterranean and the Salt Sea” (Murphy), hence approached from the low-lying wady by an ascent.
Gen 26:24
And the Lord appeared unto him the same night (i.e. the night of his arrival at Beersheba), and said (in a dream or vision), I (the pronoun is emphatic) am the God (the Elohim) of Abraham thy father (the language is expressive not alone of the covenant relationship which subsisted between Jehovah and the patriarch while the latter lived, but also of the present continuance of that relationship, since Abraham, though dead, had not ceased to he): fear not (cf. Gen 15:1, in which the same encouraging admonition is addressed to Abraham after his battle with the kings), for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seeda repetition of promises already given to himself (vide Gen 26:3, Gen 26:4)for my servant Abraham’s sakea reason declaring God’s gracious covenant, and not personal merit, to be the true source of blessing for Isaac.
Gen 26:25
And he (i.e. Isaac, in grateful response to the Divine Promiser who had appeared to him) builded an altar there,the first instance of altar building ascribed to Isaac; “those erected by his father no doubt still remaining in the other places where he sojourned” (Inglis) and called upon the name of the Lord,i.e. publicly celebrated his worship in the midst of his household (vide on Gen 12:7, Gen 12:8)and pitched his tent there (the place being now to him doubly hallowed by the appearance of the Lord to himself as well as to his father): and there Isaac’s servants digged a wella necessary appendage to a flockmaster’s settlement.
Gen 26:26
Then (literally, and) Abimelech went to him from Gerar,the object of this visit was to resuscitate the alliance which had formerly existed between the predecessor of Abimelech and Abraham (Gen 21:22-32); yet the dissimilarity between the two accounts is so great as to discredit the hypothesis that the present is only another version of the earlier transactionand Ahuzzath one of his friends,; neither (LXX.), nor a suite or number of his friends (Onkelos), nor one of his friends (A.V.); but his friend, and probably his privy councilor (Keil, Kalisch, Murphy), whose presence along with the monarch and his general marks the first point of difference between the present and the former incidentand Phichol (vide Gen 21:22) the chief captain of his army.
Gen 26:27
And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore, contr, from , what is taught?for what reason (cf. )come ye to me, seeing (literally, and) ye hate me, and have sent me away from you? While animadverting to the personal hostility to which he had been subjected, Isaac says nothing about the wells of which he had been deprived: a second point of difference between this and the preceding narrative of Abraham’s covenant with the Philistine king.
Gen 26:28
And they said, We saw certainlyliterally, seeing we saw, i.e. we assuredly perceived, or, we have indeed discovered. Abimelech and his ministers first explain the motive which has impelled them to solicit a renewal of the old alliancethat the Lord was with thee:the use of Jehovah instead of Elohim, as in Gen 21:22, does not prove that this is a Jehovistic elaboration of the earlier legend. Neither is it necessary to suppose that the term Jehovah is a Mosaic translation of the epithet employed by Abimelech (Rosenmller). The long-continued residence of Abraham in Gemr and Beersheba afforded ample opportunity for Abimelech becoming acquainted with the patriarch’s God. The introduction of Jehovah into the narrative may be noted as a third point of dissimilarity between this and the previous accountand we said, Let there he now an oathi.e. a treaty secured by an oath or self-imprecation on the transgressor (cf. Gen 24:41; Deu 29:11, Deu 29:13)betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee,a farther particularization of the parties to the covenant for the sake of emphasisand let us make a covenant with thee. The phrase “to cut a covenant,” here used in a so-called Jehovistic portion of the history, occurs in Gen 21:27, Gen 21:32, which confessedly belongs to the fundamental document.
Gen 26:29
That thou wilt do us no hurt,literally, if thou wilt do us evil (sc. thy curse come upon thee!); the force being to negative in the strongest way possible any intention of injury (cf. Gen 21:23)as we have not touched thee,i.e. injured thee; which was not true, as they, through their servants, had robbed Isaac of at least two wellsand as we have done unto thee nothing but good,Abimelech’s estimate of his own behavior, if exceedingly favorable to himself, is at least natural (vide Pro 16:2)and have sent thee away in peace (without open violence certainly, because of Isaac’s yielding, but scarcely without hostility): thou art now the blessed of the Lord. Regarded by some as an instance of adroit and pious flattery, these words are perhaps better understood as explaining either why Isaac should overlook the injuries which they had done to him (Calvin, Bush), or why he should grant them the oath which they desired (Ainsworth),he requiring no guarantee of safety from them, since Jehovah was on his side (Murphy),or why they had been stirred up to seek his favor and alliance (Rosenmller).
Gen 26:30
And he made them a feast,so Lot did to the angels (Gen 19:3). There is no mention of any banquet in the case of Abraham’s covenant, which may be noted as another point of difference between the two transactions. A similar entertainment accompanied Jacob’s covenant with Laban (Gen 31:54); while in the Mosaic system the sacrificial meal formed an integral part of the regularly-appointed sacrificial worship (Le Gen 7:15, 31; Deu 12:7, Deu 12:17; vide Kurtz, ‘Sacrificial Worship,’ 79)and they did eat and drink.
Gen 26:31
And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to anotherliterally, a man to his brother. On the derivation of the verb to swear from the word for seven, see Gen 21:23and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
Gen 26:32
And it came to pass the same day (i.e. the day of the treaty), that Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged,the operation of sinking this well had probably commenced on the day of Abimelech’s arrival at Beersheba (vide Gen 26:25). Almost immediately on the king’s departure the well-diggers returned to the patriarch’s encampment to report the success of their operationsand said unto him, We have found water. The LXX; mistaking , to him, for , not, read, “We have not found water;” the incorrectness of which is sufficiently declared by what follows.
Gen 26:33
And he called it Shebah (“Oath;” which he would certainly not have done had it not been a well): therefore the name of the city (which ultimately gathered round the well) is Beershebai.e. the well of the oath (vide Gen 21:31). Isaac must have perfectly understood that the place had been so named by his father three quarters of a century previous; but either the name had been forgotten by others, or had not come into general use amongst the inhabitants, or, observing the coincidence between his finding a well just at the time of covenanting with Abimelech and the fact that his father’s treaty was also connected with a well, he wished to confirm and perpetuate the early name which had been assigned to the town. It is not certain that this was Abraham’s well which had been rediscovered; the probability is that it was another, since at Bir-es-Sheba two wells are still in existence (vide Gen 21:31) unto this dayan expression used throughout Genesis to describe events separated from the age of Moses by several centuries (vide Gen 19:37, Gen 19:38; Gen 22:14; Gen 32:32).
Gen 26:34
And Esau was forty years oldliterally, a son of forty years; the age of Isaac when he married Rebekah (Gen 25:20)when he took to wife Judith (Jehudith, “Celebrated,” “Praised,” if Shemitic; but the name is probably Phoenician) the daughter of Beeri(“of a well”? “The Well-finder,” vide Gen 36:24)the Hittits, and Bashemath (“Sweet-smelling,” “Fragrant”) the daughter of Elon the Hittite)adding to them afterwards Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, and sister of Nebajoth (Gen 28:9). On Esau’s wives vide Gen 36:2, Gen 36:3.
Gen 26:35
Which were a grief of mind (literally, bitterness of spirit) unto Isaac and to Rebekahpossibly because of their personal characters, but chiefly because of their Canaanitish descent, and because in marrying them Esau had not only violated the Divine law which forbade polygamy, but also evinced an utterly irreligious and unspiritual disposition.
HOMILETICS
Gen 26:23-35
A good man’s environment.
I. ISAAC AND JEHOVAH.
1. Jehovah‘s grace to Isaac.
(1) Revealing his presence. “The Lord appeared unto him.” Similiar discoveries are now made to saints in “night’ seasons, and at localities like Beersheba, previously consecrated by gracious revelations of himself.
(2) Proclaiming his character. “I am the God of thy father;” an appellation that must have sounded dear to Abraham’s son, but not more than the God of our Lord Jesus Christ is to Christians.
(3) Comforting his servant. “Fear not, for I am with thee.” So a Christian has the best right to preserve equanimity amid life’s vicissitudes and tribulations, Christ’s command (Mat 10:31; Luk 12:32); and the best reason, Christ’s presence (Mat 28:20; Mat 28:20).
(4) Renewing his promises. “I will bless thee and multiply thy seed.” God renews his promises when he revives their impressions on the heart, which he does for his own glory as the faithful Promiser, and for his people’s comfort as necessity requires.
2. Isaac‘s gratitude to Jehovah.
(1) Building an altar; an act expressive of Isaac’s personal devotion (1Th 5:18).
(2) Invoking God’s name; referring to the public recital of God’s goodness (vide Gen 12:8). It becomes saints to remember God’s mercies (Psa 48:9; Psa 103:1, Psa 103:2), and to speak of them to others (Psa 66:16; Psa 78:4).
(3) Pitching a tent and digging a well; indicative of Isaac’s confidence in God. Grateful acknowledgment of past mercies, public celebration of present mercies, hopeful expectation of future mercies, are duties incumbent upon all, but especially on saints.
II. ISAAC AND ABIMELECH.
1. Abimelech’s request of Isaac.
(1) The nature of demand for a formal alliance confirmed by the sanctions of religion. “Let there be now an oath betwixt us, and let us make a covenant with thee.”
(2) The object of it: his own rather than Isaac’s protection. “That thou wilt do us no hurt.” Most men suspect their neighbors sooner than themselves. Christianity requires saints to be as careful of their neighbor’s interests as of their own (Php 2:4).
(3) The motive of it: partly selfish fear, and partly a recognition of Isaac’s goodness. “Thou art now the blessed of the Lord.”
2. Isaac‘s reception of Abimelech.
(1) Cautious inquiry. “Wherefore come ye to me?” It is prudent to try injurious men before we trust them.
(2) Generous entertainment. “He made them a feast.” Overlooking, as became a good man, their too favorable account of themselves, he gave them welcome to his hospitable board. God’s people should not be censorious even in judging enemies; when obliged to suffer, they should forget as well as forgive injuries, and never should they disdain overtures for peace, though made by those who have done them wrong.
3. Solemn adjuration. “And they swore one to another.” Though religion does not lie within the sphere of politics, politics lie within the sphere of religion. Nothing should be done by a good man that he cannot sanctify by the word of God and prayer (Col 3:17, Col 3:23).
4. Peaceful dismissal. “Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.” Those who come for peace should never go without peace. It is the saint’s interest as well as duty to follow after peace (Mat 5:9). No sooner had Isaac dismissed Abimelech and his ministers, than his servants came with tidings of their successful operations in sinking a well. Peace-makers seldom fail to find a recompense (Jas 3:18).
III. ISAAC AND ESAU.
1. Esau‘s sinful marriage.
(1) He took more wives than one, which was against the fundamental law of marriage (Gen 2:24; Mat 19:5);
(2) he married Canaanitish women, which was against the will of God, as expressed by Abraham in regard to Isaac’s marriage, and doubtless also by Isaac with reference to Esau’s; and
(3) he acted contrary to ‘his parents’ counsel in the matter, which was a violation of that filial duty which he owed his aged parents.
2. Isaac‘s bitter grief.
(1) Deeply seated as to its intensity, being bitterness of spirit (Pro 18:14);
(2) truly religious as to its character, being occasioned chiefly by the circumstance that Esau’s ill-assorted marriages were not such as Heaven could approve; and
(3) sympathizingly shared by Rebekah, whoso motherly bosom was also stricken with sorrow at her son’s impiety.
Learn
1. That God’s gracious visits to his people are always admirably suited to their needs in respect of time, place, and manner.
2. That when a man’s ways please God he maketh even his enemies be at peace with him.
3. That while a wise son maketh a glad father, a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
FOURTH SECTION
Isaac in Beer-sheba. Treaty of Peace with Abimelech
Gen 26:23-33
23And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba. 24And the Lord appeared unto him the same [first] night, and said, I3 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 Abrahams sake. 25And he builded an altar there, and called upon [witnessed to] the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent4 there: and there Isaacs servants digged a well.
26Then [and] Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath [possession, occupant] one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain [see Gen 21:22, commander] of his army. 27And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me [have treated me with hatred], and have sent me away from you? 28And they said, We saw certainly5 that the Lord was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us [on both sides], 29 even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee; That6 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 [thus art thou] now the blessed of the Lord. 30And he made, them a feast, and they did eat and drink. 31And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. 32And it came to pass the same day, that Isaacs servants came and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water. 33And he called it Shebah [seven; here in its signification: oath]: therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
To Beer-sheba.The former residence of Abraham (Gen 21:33), and Isaacs former station for his flocks.The appearance of Jehovah.A night vision; a form which now enters more definitely into the history of the patriarchs.The God of Abraham, thy father.In this way Jehovah reminds him of the consistency of his covenant faithfulness, but especially of his covenant with Abraham.Fear not.This encouraging exhortation no doubt refers to the disposition of Isaac. Abraham needed such an encouragement, after having exposed himself to the revenge of the Eastern kings on account of his victory over them. Isaac needs it because of his modest, timid disposition, and on account of the enmity of the Philistines, by whom he was driven from place to place. Perhaps his heart foreboded that Abimelech would yet follow him. He consecrates his prolonged sojourn at Beer-sheba by the erection of an altar, the establishment of a regulated worship, and by a fixed settlement.Then Abimelech went to him.By comparing this covenant act with that between Abraham and Abimelech of Gerar, the difference appears more strikingly. Abimelech, in the present chapter, is accompanied not only by the chief captain of his army, but also by his friend, i.e., Ahuzzath, his private counsellor. Isaac animadverts on his hatred, but not like Abraham, on the wells that had been taken away from him (see Gen 21:25). Even in the boasting assertion of Abimelech respecting his conduct toward Isaacwhich the facts will not sustainwe recognize, apparently, another Abimelech, less noble than the former. This appears also in his demand of the imprecatory oath (). It is also peculiar to Isaac that he permits a banquet, a feast of peace as it were, to precede the making of the covenant. The same day, after the departure of Abimelech, the servants, who had commenced some time before to dig a new well, found water. Their message seems to be a new reward of blessing, immediately following the peaceable conduct of Isaac. Isaac names this well as Abraham had done the one before (Gen 21:31); thus the name Beer-sheba is given to it also. [It is not said that this name was here given for the first time; but as the covenant concluded was the renewal and confirmation of the covenant of Abraham with the previous Abimelech, so the name is the renewal and confirmation of that given by Abraham. The same name is appropriate to both occasions.A. G.] The existence of both these wells bears witness to the credibility of this fact. Keil. Knobel, of course, regards this as an entirely different tradition. But Delitzsch remarks: To all appearance, Isaac, in the naming of this well, followed the example of his father in naming the well situated near it; since in other cases he renewed the old names of the wells.Bunsen: To swear, to the Hebrew, signifies, to take sevenfold, or, to bind oneself to seven holy things, referring to the Aramaic idea of God as Lord of Seven; i.e., of the seven planets (Sun, Moon, Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn). The remembrance of the seven sacrifices or pledges of the covenant, is far more probable, unless the expression is to be regarded as signifying a seven-fold degree of ordinary certainty.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Isaacs holy elevation of soul at his return from the country of the Philistines to his old home, Beer-sheba, crowned by a promise and a glorious appearance of God.
2. The divine promise renewed; see above.
3. Isaac at Beer-sheba. He builds an altar to the Lord before a tent for himself. In the establishment of the worship of Jehovah, in this testimony to him, as he calls upon his name, and in his preaching, he is a worthy heir of his father.
4. Human covenants are well established, if a divine covenant precedes and constitutes their basis.
5. Isaac in his yielding, his patient endurance and concessions, a terror to the king.
6. Isaacs feast of peace with Abimelech, a sign of his great inoffensiveness.
7. The solemnity of the well, and on the same day with the feast of peace, or, the blessing of noble conduct.
8. Abraham prefers to dwell in the plains (Moreh, Mamre), and he planted trees. Isaac prefers to reside at wells, and he is fond of digging wells.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
See the Doctrinal and Ethical paragraphs. The rich contents of the term: God of Abraham. It declares: 1. That the eternal God has made a covenant with us imperishable beings (Luk 20:37-38); 2. the continuity, the unity, the unchangeableness, of the revelation of Jehovah through all times and developments; 3. the transmission of the hereditary blessing from the believing father to the believing children.How the expression, in the history of the patriarchs, fear not (Gen 15:1; Gen 26:24; Gen 28:15), goes through the whole scriptures until it reaches its full development in the angelic message of the birth of Christ (Luk 2:10), and at the morning of his resurrection.
Starke: Cramer: God always supports his church, and builds it everywhere (Isa 51:6). Whatever a Christian undertakes, he ought to undertake in the name of the Lord (Col 3:17). When a mans ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him (Pro 16:7; Gen 33:4).Lawful alliances and oaths are permitted (Deu 6:13).Gerlach: At this place, remarkable, already, during the life of Abraham, the Lord renews the assurance of his grace, as afterwards to Jacob (Gen 46:1); whilst, in the consecration of individual places, he connected himself with the child-like faith of the patriarchs, and satisfied the want to which it gave rise.
Schrder: The least thing we sacrifice for the sake of God, he repays, by giving us himself (Berl. Bib.). Whenever Jehovah calls himself God of Ahraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he shows, thereby, in each days revelation of himself to Israel, the ground and occasion of the same in the revelation that is pastthus connecting the new with the old, while presenting the grace shown to the posterity, as a necessary consequence of that which he had covenanted to their fathers fathers. True religion is essentially historical; history (not fanciful myths) is its foundation and limits. God is our God, because he has made himself our God by repeated acts in history. In the kingdom of God everything develops and progresses; there is no past without a future, nor a future without a past.Abraham received the promise respecting the Messiah in the name of all the faithful; if, now, Isaac and every believer be blessed for the sake of Abraham, he is blessed merely for the sake of the promise that was given to Abraham, and, therefore, for the sake of Christ (Roos).Isaac is mindful of his sacerdotal office, as soon as he takes up his abode (Berl. Bib.).The Abimelech mentioned here is more cunning than his father, for he pretends to know nothing about the taking away of Isaacs wells by his servants (Luther).Such is the course of the world. Now insolent, then mean. He who wishes to live in peace with it (which is true of all believers) must be able to bear and suffer (Roos).The Abimelech of Genesis 21 uses Elohim, a word proper to him; the one in the present chapter, not caring much about the affair, says Jehovah, because he constantly heard Isaac make use of this divine name. He accommodates himself to the feast of Isaac, as Laban in Genesis 24 (Rom 12:20; Jos 9:14; 2Sa 3:20; Isa 25:6; Luk 14:17.)The divine blessing of this conciliatory and humble love, did not exhaust itself in temporal things. Isaac contended and suffered for the sake of wells; as to the wells which he digged soon after his arrival at Beer-sheba, it happened on the very day he made the covenant and swore, etc.The relation, of which the name Beer-sheba was the memorial, had ceased to exist. But by the repetition of the fact, the name regained its significance and power, and was the same as if now given for the first time (Hengstenberg).
Footnotes:
[3][Gen 26:24. The pronoun is emphaticI the God, etc.A. G.]
[4][Gen 26:25.. Not the usual word for the pitching a tent, see verse.17. The term may be chosen with reference to the permanence of his abode, or the increase of his family and retinue.A. G.]
[5][Gen 26:28.Lit., Seeing we have seen.A. G.]
[6][Gen 26:29.Lit., If thou shalt. The usual Hebrew form of an imprecation or oath.A. G.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
Beersheba a city to the south of Canaan.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 26:23 And he went up from thence to Beersheba.
Ver. 23. And he went up. ] To the place of God’s worship. Strabo writeth that the Metapontines, when they were enriched by a good year of grain, dedicated to Apollo a golden harvest. a
a Dedicasse in Delphis .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Gen 26:23-25
23Then he went up from there to Beersheba. 24The Lord appeared to him the same night and said,
“I am the God of your father Abraham;
Do not fear, for I am with you.
I will bless you, and multiply your descendants,
For the sake of My servant Abraham.”
25So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.
Gen 26:23 “Then he went up from there to Beersheba” This is a site in the southern area of the Judean wilderness which was an important sojourning camp for Abraham (cf. Gen 22:19).
Gen 26:24 “The LORD appeared to him the same night and said” This is the second time YHWH appears to Isaac (cf. Gen 26:2). Here it was in a dream at night (cf. Gen 15:5; Gen 15:12; Gen 21:12; Gen 21:14; Gen 22:1-3; Gen 26:24). Many of the revelations in Genesis are recorded in poetry, as is Gen 26:24 (cf. Gen 12:1-3; Gen 15:1; Gen 15:18; Gen 17:1-2; Gen 17:4-5; Gen 35:10-12).
“I am the God of your father Abraham” Notice how YHWH and Elohim are parallel (cf. Gen 2:4). This is a more formal and complete revelation than Gen 26:2. It is structured similarly to God’s revelations to Abraham.
“Do not fear, for I am with you” What a great promise (also note Gen 15:1; Gen 21:17; Gen 46:3).
“for the sake of My servant Abraham” This is a special honorific title used for Abraham, Moses, Joshua, and David. It may be the origin of the Pauline phrase, “a slave of Jesus Christ.”
Gen 26:25 The sites of YHWH’s personal revelations became sacred places. Altars were built in these places and they became places of worship, prayer, and sacrifice (cf. Gen 8:20; Gen 12:7-8; Gen 13:4; Gen 13:18; Gen 22:9).
“dug a well” Water is a precious commodity in these semi-arid lands. Isaac patiently waited for YHWH’s help and direction. The several successful wells mentioned in this context show YHWH’s presence and blessing.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Beer-sheba. Hebrew the well of the oath.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Beersheba: Gen 21:31, Gen 46:1, Jdg 20:1
Reciprocal: Gen 21:33 – called 2Ki 23:8 – Beersheba Amo 7:9 – the high
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isaac returned to Beersheba where Abraham had lived occasionally. God appeared to him there (his second revelation) calming his fears and reviewing the promises that He had given previously (Gen 26:2-5). Isaac’s response was to build an altar, worship Yahweh, and settle down there.
Settlers could only continue to live in an area where there was a well. Wells were vital to the life of nomadic herdsmen. While there was probably at least one well at Beersheba already, Isaac dug another for his own use, or perhaps because he needed more water. His ability to dig wells indicates both his wealth and his intention to establish permanent residence in the land.
These verses seem to confirm the fact that Isaac’s decision to move out of Philistine territory pleased God.