GRIFFIN COMMENTS—GEN 26 (Gen 26:1) And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. This was not very likely the same king that Abraham met some eighty years ago, so it could be that the name Abimelech was handed down to the next king, in which casethere may have been several kings who kept this name. Abimelech means “father of a king.” There had been a famine in the land a hundred years earlier, in the days of Abraham, and this one was mentioned in conjunction with it so if these were the only two in a hundred years, the land was blessed. (Gen 26:2) And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: This was the first of two manifestations of Jehovah that appeared to Isaac. He apparently was thinking of going down to Egypt as his father did in the famine of his days. But out of that visit came Hagar apparently and the troubles that ensued would have been repeated. Two things were noticeable in this renewed covenant (1) the land of Canaan belonged to the seed of Abraham, and (2) these things were given for the sake of Abraham. (Gen 26:3) Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; God told him to stay in the land of the Philistines, which would be part of Canaan, and yet all the land from the Euphrates to the Nile was to be his. God did want him in Egypt. God does not ever want His people to live in a place that is a type of worldly ways. To Isaac God rests His promiseson the ground of his father's obedience. Thus the Lord would teach Isaac that His attributes are on the side of the saints; that they possessHim only so far as they are obedient; that he must not regard the promised blessings as a matter of course, to be given irrespective of conduct, but rather as, by their very terms, demanding obedience; and that the greatnessof his people could
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only arise from that piety and practical trust in God of which Abraham was such an illustrious example (Gen_26:5). (T. H. Leale)
(Gen 26:4) And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; All of the nations of the earth would be blessed in him, by the coming of JesusChrist who would be of his seed. Jesusfulfilled all of these promises to Abraham. Every degree of Divine respect to the obedience of the patriarchs was no other than respect to the obedience of Christ, in whom they believed, and through whom their obedience, like ours, became acceptable. The light of the moon which is derived from its looking, as it were, on the face of the sun, is no other than the light of the sun itself reflected. (A. Fuller)
(Gen 26:5) Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. Notice God did not say these blessings were to come upon Isaac becauseof his obedience, but becauseof his father. Here we have one person reaping the benefits of the sacrifice of another; Isaac reaped all of the covenant blessings that were originally given to Abraham. This does not detract from the personal blessings of God directly to Isaac. (Gen 26:6) And Isaac dwelt in Gerar: Isaac dwelt in Gerar in obedience to the command of the Lord. One thing about him was his faithfulness to whomever he was indebted. Isaac had now laid aside all thoughts of going to Egypt, and, in obedience to the heavenly vision, sets up his staff in Gerar, the country in which he was born (Gen_26:6), yet there he enters into temptation. (Matthew Henry)
(Gen 26:7) And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.
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His father, Abraham was telling the truth when he said that his wife was also his sister, but there was no way Isaac could justify his saying that Rebekah was his sister. This was just a son following the bad habits of his father. The falls of them that have gone before us are so many rocks on which others have split; and the recording of them is like placing buoys over them, for the security of future mariners. (A. Fuller)
(Gen 26:8) And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife. He must have been caressing her or taking liberties with her that would obviously not be taken with anyone other than a wife. Heb_11:1 FOUNDAT IO NS OF FAITH Mal_2:15 UNITED FAMILY 18. Develop a life-long courtship (Gen_26:8). What did the girl do when she wanted to go with a boy? She prepared to pleasehim. She did not nag him or dominate him. She found out what he likes. He fell and fell hard. What did the boy do when he wanted to go with the girl? He paid her a lot of attention. He spent quality time talking with her and enjoying her presence. She made him feel significant. He made her feel secure. Son_5:1 Sex in marriage 1Co_7:3 Render due benevolence (Gen 26:9) And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her. Be sure your sins will find you out. Our hiding the truth may work for awhile, and get us by temporary problems, but eventually we will be found out and the results of our hiding will make us worse off in the eyes of those
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who should be told the truth, than if we had been honest and told the truth in the first place. We want their acceptance, so we tell them something that eventually take away the very thing we want. (Gen 26:10) And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us. Abraham had learned the year that Isaac was born that these were a righteous people. Why was it that Isaac did not seem to know that they too worship the same God he did? Were they only secret admirers of Jehovah? Did they spread their religion as Abraham apparently did? One good thing about them is that they did know what was morally right and wrong and lived by it. (Gen 26:11) And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death. We can see that this monarch had complete control over his kingdom as most kings of that day did. The power of life and death was in their control. Such power in the hands of good men leads to righteousness,but in the wrong hands, as it usually is, leads only to the destruction of the entire people. In this caseit would be necessary to have such a command because of a woman's vulnerability in those days. (Gen 26:12) Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him. Here is one of the few times you could observe where Isaac was actually achieving anything on his own. He was a successful farmer and increased under the blessing of God until he was a threat to the people of the land. Everywhere else Isaac was not so successful. He was a passive man who was willing to clear the wells of his father, but did not dig many wells of his own. (Gen 26:13) And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: In terms of material wealth, he must have already been great before this for he inherited all that Abraham, his father had before him, and from the earlier record we know that Abraham was very wealthy. GRIFFIN COMMENTS GEN 26—PAGE 4
And the man was Great; and he went, going on, and was Great, until that he was exceeding Great. How simple is this language, and yet how forcible! (Adam Clarke)
(Gen 26:14) For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him. Anytime a person becomessuccessful, they can expect envy, jealousy and covetousnessfrom others. There will always be someone who wants to take your possessions away from you one way or another. That is one problem of the rich; they have to work hard at keeping what they have; in fact they often have to work harder at keeping it than in obtaining it in the first place. (Gen 26:15) For all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth. There arose a generation that knew not Abraham. The generation before saw a very friendly spirit between Abraham and Abimelech. There was an old covenant between them that would have prevented this stopping up of the wells. But that generation was gone and this one had no regard for pacts of the past. In the East digging wells was proof of title to surrounding unoccupied lands. Isaac inherited the lands where Abraham had dug wells. To fill wells was a declaration of war, or at least a hostile act (2Ki_3:19-25). To avert war Isaac gave up the wells.
(Dake's Study Notes) (Gen 26:16) And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we. Such men who discard their friends usually find that they later need them, as Jephthah’s family did after casting him aside. It is always wise to build fellowship rather then do away with it. This is the first instance on record of what was termed among the Greeksostracism; i.e., the banishment of a person from the state, of whose power, influence, or riches, the people were jealous. (Adam Clarke)
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(Gen 26:17) And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. Isaac did not argue as was natural for him. His brother mocked him and persecuted him when he was a child and he did not fight back. His father took him to a place of sacrifice, and Isaac learned he was to be sacrificed and he, as a sheep that is dumb before his shearers, opened not his mouth. Can you imagine what would have happened if Abraham had tried to get Ishmael up on that altar? Isaac was always passive. (Gen 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. You will notice that Isaac did not dig any wells of his own until he had unstopped those of his father (Jer_6:16). He did not appear to have a lot of ambition and desired peace with everyone and felt good about others making his decisions for him. Isaac’s actions symbolize to us the rediscovery of a once known truth that we embraced in the past but has been discarded or neglected. (Heb_2:1-3) We need to reestablish the wells our forefathers dug. They dug the wells of sound doctrine, of faith, of consecration and prayer. We not only need to dig them again, but restore their names. Restore your life to its former purity. Restore the first love you have left. Return to Bethel, the House of God. Is self-will hindering you? Dig another well. Are afflictions hindering you? Dig another well. Is the world hindering you? Dig another well. Are cares of life plugging up your old well? Dig another well. Dig until the living waters of the Spirit flow (Joh_4:14). Dig until the deep calls unto deep in the Word of God (Psa_42:7). There is always some Philistine who wants to fill your well with trash. Jesusspoke of our wells getting clogged up with the cares of life GRIFFIN COMMENTS GEN 26—PAGE 6
(Luk_21:34). OLDTESTAMENTSURVEY2Co_3:14 * (3) Well-digger: Gen_26:24 As one who constantly was unstopping wells he shows us the need to keep the Spirit flowing in our lives and to refuse to let the Philistines clog them up. Gen_26:14-22 What is the spiritual significance of unstopping wells? Gen_25:22 (Gen 26:19) And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water. Springing water is artesian water that springs up of its own accord. That is the kind the Lord promised to be in us when we are filled with His Spirit (Joh_7:38-39). Though we must use the light of former ages, it doesnot therefore follow that we must rest in it, and make no advances. We must still be building upon their foundation, running to and fro, that knowledge may be increased, Dan_12:4.
(Matthew Henry) (Gen 26:20) And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him. Notice that Isaac followed the course that would be the most peaceful, and would probably be his justification, but keeping peace is not the same as making peace. In keeping peace the trouble remains, but when we make peace we confront the issue and solve it. Isaac’s stance may be considered by some to be honorable, and he certainly would keep more friends, but there are times a person needs to stand for what is right and it may be at a cost.
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(Gen 26:21) And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah. He called the last well “contention,” becauseof the strife involved when it was dug. This one he called “hatred or hostility,” for the same reason. The enemy of your soul will never tire of claiming for his own what belongs to the child of God. He must be defeated by the blood of JesusChrist and the Christian must take dominion of what God has promised; take back what has been taken from him. (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. He finally dug a well that was not fought over so he called it “broad place, or room,” becausehe had finally reached a place where he would be unmolested. One thing Isaac did was to keep unstopping wells until he found plenty and we should do the same spiritually. There are a lot of devils that will try to keep your wells stopped up but we must make up our minds that we will dig until we find room. Patience; why it is the soul of peace. Of all the virtues, it is the nearest kin to heaven. It makes men look like gods. The best of men that ever wore earth about them was a sufferer, a soft, meek, patient, and humble, tranquil spirit. It is the first true gentleman that ever breathed.
(Gen 26:23) And he went up from thence to Beersheba. Isaac was always associated with wells. When he first moved out on his own he stayed at the well of Hagar, and there he met Rebekah. Then he unstopped the wells of his father. Now he has moved to the well of the oath where his father and Abimelech swore to an alliance between them; an alliance which was apparently not being honored at this time. He is to be honored for continuing to progress in God regardless of opposition. (Gen 26:24) And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I 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 Abraham's sake.
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This was the second and last time Jehovah revealed Himself to Isaac. Jehovah confirmed to Isaac the He still IS the God of Abraham. The Sadduceesapparently never remembered this when they formed their doctrine of no resurrection. Jesushad to point out to them what they failed to recognize, that God is a God of the living, not of the dead (Mat_23:23-31) (Gen 26:25) And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac's servants digged a well. This was the first time that Isaac is mentioned as building an altar. It is hard to believe that it was the first and probably was not, but it is the first mentioned. It is certainly not the first well he unstopped, and this one was known from before as the well of the oath. It was the place where Abraham had spent a lot of time earlier (Gen_21:33). (Gen 26:26) Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army. Abimelech [probably the father of this one] had come to Abraham a hundred years ago with the same intention; of making a covenant. That had worked out well and was probably the reason why there was hope of another one made. When a man’s ways pleaseGod, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him (Pro_16:7); so Isaac experienced on this occasion. (Gen 26:27) And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you? It was not very likely that Abimelech hated Isaac, but sent him away to save conflict in the area, but as often happens, when someone says something to us or does something to us that can be regarded in a bad light we begin to have ideas about them that are often erroneous. How many times we see people consider others an enemy when that other person considers that one a hero. (Gen 26:28) And they said, We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee; GRIFFIN COMMENTS GEN 26—PAGE 9
Notice that Abimelech knew Jehovah and worshiped Him, and knew that this God was a covenant-making God, therefore he desireed to make a covenant with others he found of the same persuasion. It is too bad Isaac did not initiate this. Oftentimes however, it is the unbeliever or outsider who shows the greater right spirit. (Gen 26:29) That 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 now the blessed of the LORD. There does not appear to be any real problem that would prompt Abimelech to believe Isaac would hurt him, and had he known the man’s nature he would have known he had nothing to worry about. Isaac was not going to hurt anyone. Isaac was the recipient of many blessings, including peacewith God, with his conscience, with his passions, and with all men (Benson Bailey)
(Gen 26:30) And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink. There was not nearly the ritual this time as their had been with Abraham at this same place long ago. Isaac apparently did not feel any need to extend this favor beyond what Abimelech wanted and allowed him to make all the overtures to fellowship. This would be very conducive to his nature that allowed others to make the decisions. (Gen 26:31) And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. The verb to swear is derived from the Hebrew numeral seven, inasmuch as the septennary number was sacred, and oaths were confirmed either by seven sacrifices (Gen_21:28) or by seven witnessesand pledges. (Pulpit Commentary) By whatever motive the proposal was dictated - whether fear of his growing power, or regret for the bad usage they had given him, the king and two of his courtiers paid a visit to the tent of Isaac (Pro_16:7). (JFB)
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(Gen 26:32) And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water. Except for the finding of the well by the servants, this was similar to what happened to Abraham some ninety years earlier. He had dug a well that the Philistines had taken and he had Abimelech take an oath that he knew that Abraham had dug the well (Gen_21:31). Thus they called it Beersheba, the well of the oath. It is God's will we should dig. He may send a blessing unsought. But usually he works through means. The Bible, prayer, the Lord's table, Christian converse, Christian work (Pro_11:25), all are as wells, means for getting the water of life; nothing in themselves,yet made effectual where the blessing is desired.
(J. F. Montgomery) (Gen 26:33) And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day. Here we were many years past the covenant between Abraham and Abimelech and Isaac was making a covenant at the same place. Servants found the well and dug it again and called it Beer-sheba once again. Though this was a new covenant, it held the same basic hope of fellowship between those who had been strangers. (Gen 26:34) And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite: Esauwas the same age when he married as his father Isaac who married Rebekah when he was forty. He later took a wife of Ishmael becausehe thought it would put him in good relations with his father. Esau was forty years old when he married. A sin is aggravated sometimes by the age of the sinner. Somemen learn nothing by age: they are forty years old on the books of the registrar; they are no age at all in the books of wisdom. (Joseph
Parker, D. D.) (Gen 26:35) Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.
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TheseCanaanite wives very likely had many heathen ways that made no difference to Esau, and may have even been a reason for marrying them, but those traits would have been very offensive to Isaac and Rebekah. Thesewives will be mentioned again in Gen_36:2-3 where they appear under different names and parentage.
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