Russian synodal translation. See what "Genesis" is in other dictionaries Chapter 26 and 90 from the bible

26:1 beyond the famine...in the days of Abraham. God reaffirms His commitment to Isaac just as He reaffirmed it to Abraham.

26:2-6 The command and promise given by the Lord to Isaac, and the latter's obedience, are connected with the history of God's covenant with Abraham (see 12:1-4&N).

26:3 wander in this land. The meaning of this Hebrew expression is: "live temporarily," "live as a stranger."

I'll be with you. This promise in the story of Abraham refers to the miraculous birth of a son, and in the story of Isaac to the miraculous protection (vv. 24; 26:3.24; 28:15.20; 31:3.5.42; 32:10).

I will fulfill my vow. See 15:18; 17.21; 22:16-18. The promise made to Abraham remains in force, but Isaac can be his successor only on the condition of obedience.

26:5 my precepts, my statutes and my laws. Abraham's obedience is described by Moses in the same terms as the demands on Israel to keep God's law. Abraham is a type of Christ, who by His obedience fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law and secured the blessings of His seed (Isaiah 53:10-11; Heb. 2:13).

26:6 Isaac settled. See 12.4.

26:7-11 The story of Rebekah's danger is similar to that of Sarah (20:1-18). Father and son made the same mistake. However, this is not the same event retold twice, as the stories differ significantly.

26:7 sister. See 12:13; 20.2.

26:8 looking out the window. If Abraham was saved by a special revelation to Abimelech (20:3), then Isaac was saved by providence.

plays. This Hebrew word, which in 21:9 is translated "taunts," comes from the same root as the name Isaac.

26:9 Abimelech. See 20:2&N.

26:10 one of the people. If the king took Sarah for himself (20:2), then in the story of Rebekah the king is innocent; therefore, no remuneration is required from him. lead us into sin. Abimelech fears God (20:9-11&N).

26:12 he sowed ... in that land. Unlike his nomadic father, Isaac leads a relatively sedentary lifestyle.

a hundred times. Isaac's obedience during the famine was rewarded a hundredfold.

the Lord blessed him. The presence of God's blessing is as evident in the story of Isaac as the chosen heir of God's promises, as it was evident in the life of his father (21:22).

26:15 The Philistines overwhelmed and covered them with earth. Now that Abraham had died, the Philistines, who did not have true faith in the God of Abraham, grossly violated the peace treaty (see 21:23&N).

26:17-22 A rich pastoralist left the fertile land and went to the arid steppe, where everything depended on water sources. He moved from one well to another, their names reflected gratitude to God for His care and protection. Interestingly, none of the patriarchs waged risky and thoughtless wars for the promised land; they all hoped that God would give their descendants the land at the right time (15:13-14).

26:18 which were dug up in the days of Abraham. According to the oldest manuscripts "which were dug up by the servants of his father Abraham." This emphasizes the connection between the patriarchs.

26:21 Sitna. The Hebrew root of this name is the same as in the word "Satan", and means "fierce enmity."

26:22 Now the Lord has given us a spacious place. God's protection of Isaac in the dispute over the wells is reminiscent of the reward given to Abraham in his dispute with Lot (ch. 13).

26:23-33 Isaac goes to the place where the peace treaty with the Philistines was originally concluded.

26:24 See 26:2-6&N.

26:25 set up an altar. Like his father, Isaac built an altar in response to God's revelation (12:7-8-21&N). The sanctuary of Abraham at Beer-sheba now passed to Isaac (21:32-33).

26:28 we clearly saw. They saw that Isaac, a wealthy pastoralist, did not suffer material damage by becoming a nomad, because God took care of the wells for him.

26:28-29 The Lord is with you... you are blessed. These words spoken by the Philistines testify to the power and legitimacy of the Lord's promise (vv. 3, 4).

an oath. See 21:23&N.

26:30-31 made a feast for them... swore to each other. Isaac, like his father, is equated here with the king (21:23). He occupies such a high position due to his faith.

26:32 about the well. The mention of the well connects the events in Beersheba with the blessings of God described in v. 17-22.

26:33 the name of that city is Beersheba. Same as Bathsheba. God's protection of Abraham in Beersheba now passes to Isaac.

26:34 took to wife. Esau, being a worldly man, showed disrespect for the blessing of the covenant by marrying "Hittite daughters" (24:3-4; 31:50&N). Having intermarried with the Canaanites and thereby arousing the displeasure of his parents (27:46), he finally separates himself from the sacred heritage (21:21; 25:6).

Hittite. The Hittites were considered Canaanites (28:1).

26:35 they were a burden to Isaac. However, in conveying his blessing, Isaac relied on his changing feelings, not his spirit (ch. 27).

Philos. a concept denoting the presence of phenomena and objects in themselves or as given in the mind, and not their content aspect. It can be understood as a synonym for the concepts of "existence" and "existent" or differ from them in one or another semantic ... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

BEING- BEING (Greek εἶναι, οὐσία; Lat. esse), one of the central concepts of philosophy. In different cultural and historical eras, a special language was formed to express different definitions of being. The concepts of "existing", "essence", "existence", "substance" ... ... ancient philosophy

Being- Genesis ♦ Être “It is impossible to define being without falling into absurdity [i.e. i.e. without trying to explain the meaning of any word with the same word], because the definition of any word begins with the expression “this is ...” - it does not matter whether it is expressed ... ... Philosophical Dictionary of Sponville

Being is a philosophical concept that captures the aspect of the existence of a being, in contrast to its essence. If the essence is determined by the question: “What is the existent?”, then being is the question: “What does it mean that the existent is?”. Since being can be understood as one (see ... Wikipedia

- (colloquial) BEING, I; cf. 1. Philos. only: being. Objective reality (matter, nature) that exists independently of human consciousness. Objective, real b. 2. The totality of the conditions of the material life of society. Public b. B. determines ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

being- BEING (Greek ousia; Lat. esse) is a philosophical concept that conceptualizes the presence of phenomena and objects, and not their content aspect. It can be understood as a synonym for the concepts of "existence" and "existent" or differ from them in semantic ... ... Encyclopedia of Epistemology and Philosophy of Science

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A philosophical category denoting a reality that exists objectively. Irreducible only to the material world of objects, being has different levels: organic and inorganic nature, the biosphere, social being, objectively ideal ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

- [existing] noun, s., use. infrequently Morphology: (no) what? being, what? being, (see) what? being what? life, about what? about being 1. Being is what exists in reality, matter, nature; usually used in a philosophical sense. Meaning… … Dictionary of Dmitriev

Being- BEING, a philosophical category denoting a reality that exists objectively. Being not reducible only to the materially objective world, being has different levels: organic and inorganic nature, biosphere, social being, objectively ... ... Illustrated encyclopedic Dictionary

26:1-3 There was a famine in the land, beyond the famine that was in the days of Abraham; And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.
2 The Lord appeared to him and said, Do not go into Egypt; live in the land that I will tell you about
3 wander in this land, and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will fulfill the oath that I swore to Abraham your father;
And for Isaac, as before for his father- periodically there were difficulties and life was not sugar. A severe famine in the land where he lives with his family forced Isaac to go to the Philistine king, apparently for help or advice. Judging by the fact that God stopped Isaac’s thoughts to go to Egypt for salvation, Isaac was going to Egypt, but God stopped him, saying that he should remain in this land, tormented by hunger and not worry about anything: God takes him under his guardianship.
Note that this favor to Isaac is not due to the merits of Isaac or his family, but solely due to the oath of God given to Abraham for his posterity through Isaac.

26:4 I will multiply your offspring like the stars of heaven, and I will give to your offspring all these lands; in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,
The essence of the oath to bless Abraham was to:
1) through a certain seed (descendant) of Abraham, who later turned out to be Christ – Gal. 3:16, God had the opportunity to bless all the peoples of the earth; 2) to give the land of Abraham's wanderings, in which "milk and honey flows" - as an eternal inheritance to the numerous carnal descendants of Abraham along the line of Isaac (Ishmael, the eldest son of Abraham from a slave, was removed by God from participation in the covenant with Abraham).

After Abraham's death, these blessings passed to Isaac.

26:5 because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept what I was [commanded] to keep: my precepts, my statutes, and my laws.
Why was Abraham awarded such an honor - to become the progenitor of the people that God will choose in the future for His inheritance, deciding to show on it the advantage of life under the leadership of the heavenly Ruler - to all the peoples of the earth?

It is no coincidence that the choice fell on Abraham: of all those living on earth at the time when God decided to proceed with the fulfillment of His intention to bring a seed to the earth, which was to expose and defeat the devil (Gen. 3:15), there was no one else on earth who would be so devoted to Jehovah and obedient to him in everything. Even in what it would seem impossible for a mortal man to obey God: the demand to sacrifice his son - Abraham accepted the servant of God just as meekly and with the greatest humility.

If, for example, Abraham were of English or Japanese origin, or a dark-skinned African, then the people of God would not be Jews, but Englishmen, or Japanese, or dark-skinned ones.
But since Abraham was a Jew, then the people of God turned out to be Jews along the line of Isaac Jacob (Israel in the future)

26:6,7 Isaac settled in Gerar.
7 The inhabitants of that place asked about his wife, and he said, This is my sister; because he was afraid to say: My wife, lest they kill me, [he thought], the inhabitants of this place are for Rebekah, because she is beautiful in appearance.
Isaac trusted God and obeyed His desire, remaining to live in a hungry region. And the story of the father and Isaac was repeated: they became interested in Rebekah, his wife in Gerrara, he had to say that she was just his sister.

Here the reason for such strange behavior becomes known: the wild customs of the people among whom he happened to live did not consider the husband if they liked his wife. Wives were taken away without problems, but at the same time they didn’t leave their husband alive, and Isaac’s life was dear to him, so he decided on such a reception just like his father in the old days (20:12) Actually, Rebekah was also a relative of Isaac, (daughter of Abraham's nephew). So there was no deception in this case either.
What else can be noted here? Although it is said further that prettiness is deceptive, and beauty is vain, and God-fearing wives have an advantage (Pr. 31:30), nevertheless, God did not give Abraham and Isaac ugly wives, each of them even in adulthood she was a beauty pleasing to the eye of her husbands.

Conclusion: A God-fearing wife is a great luck for husbands in this century, but if she is also beautiful, the luck is double. Although there are more difficulties: if Rebekah were ugly and faded, no one would covet her in Gerrara and Isaac would not be in danger: he would not have to get out.

26:8 But when he had already lived there for a long time, Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, looking out the window, saw that Isaac was playing with Rebekah, his wife.
However, the secret always sooner or later becomes clear: from Abimelech the king, watching this couple from his window, he noticed that Isaac treats Rebekah not as a sister, but as a wife. An expert on this part, he instantly "saw through" their cunning and called Isaac to a serious conversation.

26:9-11 And Abimelech called Isaac and said, Behold, this is your wife; how did you say: she is my sister? Isaac said to him: because I thought I would not die for her sake.
10 But Abimelech said, What have you done to us? As soon as one of the people had not copulated with your wife, and you would have led us into sin.
11 And Abimelech gave a command to all the people, saying: whoever touches this man and his wife, he will be put to death.
Whatever it was, but even in this corrupted land, they understood that it was not good to sleep with someone else's wife (in fact, that's why husbands were killed to make their wife free). Trouble almost happened to Rebekah, one of the natives wished for her, but, fortunately, did not have time to fulfill his desire. And Abimelech was glad about this, realizing that Isaac was a man of God, and to sin against him would mean having a bad end for himself and the whole country.
Therefore, the king gives instructions throughout the earth that, under pain of death, no one dares to lay a finger on this family of strangers.

Abimelech hoped that the desire to live - the normal men of his country have much more desire to possess Rebekah, therefore, with this decree, he ensured the safety of Isaac and his wife, and of himself at the same time.

26:12-14 And Isaac sowed in that land, and in that year he received a hundredfold barley: thus the Lord blessed him.
13 And this man became great, and was exalted more and more until he became very great.
14 He had herds of flocks and herds of herds of cattle and many arable fields, and the Philistines became jealous of him.
Since then, Isaac began to prosper in this land and became very rich. So much so that all the inhabitants of that land began to envy him. Such a reaction is very natural in human society, so it is better not to go beyond the average resident of the country in which it falls to live.
However, Isaac grew rich under the supervision of Jehovah, so that he could be convinced of the veracity of God's promise to take his whole family under his care, and so that the neighbors would not forget about the one under whose protection Isaac lives in their land.

26:15,16 And all the wells that his father's servants dug during the life of his father Abraham, the Philistines filled up and covered with earth.
16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, Depart from us, for you have become much stronger than we are.
Not being able to harm Isaac on a grand scale under pain of death, the Philistines did him harm not very big: they took and filled up all the wells that still belonged to Abraham, leaving everyone without water. Judging by the fact that after that the king asked Isaac to leave his territory, this deed was not done without the knowledge of the king.
And, in fact, the behavior and fears of Abimelech can be understood: Isaac became stronger and richer than him, what kind of king is this, if strangers are more majestic than him? Will they not also take away the land of the king, if they have taken possession of his greatness?

26:17 And Isaac departed from there, and pitched his tents in the valley of Gerar, and settled there.
It is noteworthy how Isaac behaves: he did not oppose Abimelech, although he could well say that God Himself is in his patrons and threaten that Abimelech could suffer greatly for such arbitrariness: is it a joke to leave so many people without water?

Might as well turn to God for help, for example. But no. Isaac yields to the request of the king and agrees to leave his territory without any problems (before that he lived not far from the royal palace).
In general, Isaac, in addition to being prudent in this situation, also demonstrated his attitude towards people: “there is something to pay, but he did not want to win at any cost.” Isaac treated the inhabitants of this country kindly, in which he was well received until now. And the desire to send him away was quite understandable.

So, Isaac did not fight for his place under the sun of Abimelech, humbly listening to a foreign king. Humility is a valuable quality for God's servant.

26:18-22 And again Isaac dug the wells of water, which had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, and which the Philistines had filled up after the death of Abraham; and called them by the same names that his father called them.
19 And Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of living water.
20 And the shepherds of Gerar argued with the shepherds of Isaac, saying, Our water. And he called the name of the well: Esek, because they argued with him.
21 dug another well; they also argued about him; and he called his name: Sitna.
22 And he moved from here and dug another well, which was no longer disputed, and called his name: Rehoboth, for, he said, now the Lord has given us a spacious place, and we will multiply on the earth.
A story that tells of Isaac's prudent approach to finding a place to live for himself and his family: places where strife and disputes arose over the use of wells - Isaac left and again yielded to the disputers, although digging a well is not an easy task and requires many efforts.
No physical effort was dear to Isaac as the world was dear to the life of his family. For the sake of peace, Isaac was ready to make great sacrifices and in the end he found a place about which no one argued with him. There he stayed.
Interestingly, Isaac, having found quiet place for residence, said that it was God who gave, and not he found. It is clear why: God could not approve of Isaac's place of residence, in which strife and all evil would arise daily because of them. Jehovah is a peace-loving God, therefore His servants are peace-loving in their inner essence, but they are ready to pay the price for peace to their own detriment: they leave the “battlefield” themselves, and do not push their opponents out by force.
God's servant has much to learn from Isaac in his desire to find a place under the sun in this age.

26:23-25 From there he went to Bathsheba.
24 And that night the Lord appeared to him and said, I am the God of Abraham your father; do not be afraid, for I am with you; and I will bless you and multiply your offspring, for the sake of Abraham my servant.
25 And he built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord. And he pitched his tent there, and Isaac's servants dug a well there.
Bathsheba - the place where the peace treaty between Abraham and the Philistines was concluded (21:32). There God appeared to Isaac with a revelation that he did not leave Isaac and was faithful to the promise of Abraham, his servant in part of the blessing for his descendants through Isaac.
The revelation of the Lord prompted Isaac to build an altar and offer a sacrifice of thanks for Jehovah's mercy.
In fact, his father once did the same, erecting an altar in response to the revelation of God (12:7). The figurative Sanctuary of Abraham now passed to Isaac in Beersheba (21:32,33).

26:26,27 Abimelech came to him from Gerar, and Ahuzath his friend, and Phichol his captain.
27 Isaac said to them, Why did you come to me when you hated me and sent me away from you?
Over time, those who drove him away came to him - King Abimelech with a friend and commander, and, naturally, Isaac was surprised at their arrival, however, the arrival of these big people was not accidental: However, since he left their territory, he stopped them threaten, and as an ally, the strong and rich Isaac could very well be useful to them.

26:28,29 They said: We clearly saw that the Lord is with you, and therefore we said: we will make an oath between us and you and make an alliance with you,
29 so that you do us no harm, just as we did not touch you, but did you one good thing and sent you away in peace; you are now blessed by the Lord.
The king clearly saw that it was not Isaac who was so lucky and wise, but that God would bless him if Isaac did not suffer any damage in the waterless and arid valley where he had gone from them.
Having a servant of God as an ally is very beneficial, because to some extent it is a guarantee of protection from evil on his part, at least. And if evil comes from the other side, then God's servant, being an ally, can also provide help with the blessing of God.
In general, they all concluded an alliance of peace, but the matter did not end there.

26:30,31 He made a feast for them, and they ate and drank.
31 And rising early in the morning, they swore to one another; and Isaac let them go, and they departed from him in peace.
In honor of the conclusion of the alliance, Isaac arranged a feast for his guests and they swore to each other that they would not harm each other.
Even with non-believers, peace and friendly relations it won't hurt anyone to support.

26:32,33 On the same day, Isaac's servants came and informed him of the well they were digging, and said to him, We have found water.
33 And he named him: Shiva. Therefore the name of that city is Beersheba to this day.
Report that the servants of Isaac found water in the area where they had to live. One can imagine how difficult the life of Isaac and his family was, for it was not God who dug wells for them and equipped their lives, but they themselves through their labors.

26:34,35 And Esau was forty years old, and took to wife Judith the daughter of Beer the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite;
35 and they were a burden to Isaac and Rebekah.
Message about the marriage of Esau, who sold the birthright to Jacob, to the daughters of the Hittites.
Actually, this act also indicates that Esau was not burdened with love for the spiritual and for the covenants of Abraham, who did not want the daughters of Canaan - his descendants to be his wife. Neglect of spiritual values ​​also played its role in the life of Esau and showed everyone that God could not have chosen him - the heir of the promise of Abraham for the simple reason that Esau was not at all interested in this part of life.
He became a worldly person with carnal desires and understanding of the world, thereby making himself unworthy of accepting the baton of Abraham's blessing.

in. Isaac - under the influence of the blessing received by Abraham (26:1-33)

Gen. 26:1-5. Some believe that the story of Isaac's visit to Abimelech in Gerar was confused by tradition with those cases when Abraham came to Egypt (12:10-20) and Gerar to Abimelech. But it is more correct to think that this and other leitmotifs are repeated in Holy Scripture intentionally - to show that the blessing received by the patriarch passed on to his descendants. Indeed, in the biographies of Abraham and Isaac, it is not difficult to find many parallel passages. These are:

a) hunger (compare 12:10);

b) the plan to go to Egypt, which God allowed Abraham to carry out but did not allow Isaac (compare 12:11);

c) sojourn in Gerar (compare 20:1);

d) lying about a wife being presented as a "sister" out of fear (compare 12:12-13; 20:2, 11);

e) the extraordinary beauty of the wife (compare 12:11,14);

f) Abimelech's concern that a married woman might be involved in the sin of adultery (compare 20:4-7); and g) Abimelech's reproaches (compare 20:9-10).

It is possible that Abimelech in 26:1 is not the same person as Abimelech in chapter 20, since the events described in these chapters are approximately ninety years apart. In addition, the very word "Abimelech" corresponded to the title (the same as "pharaoh" or "king"). Perhaps "Fihol" was also a title (Gen. 26:26), although there is no direct evidence for this. But Phicol, mentioned in this chapter, could also be the namesake of Phichol, who lived earlier (21:22,32).

Abraham was no more on earth. He died! What about the promise he received? Rhetorically in chapter 26 it is emphasized that Isaac became his successor. main idea verses 1-11 is that the descendants of Abraham, the obedient servant of God, will be blessed because of him, however, on the condition that they also believe.

God promised Isaac, as he promised his father, that he would not leave him, that he would bless and give him and his sons the lands he now wanders, that he would make his offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven (compare 12:2-3; 15:5 -8; 17:3-8; 22:15-18; 28:13-14). All this, says the Lord, that Abraham obeyed His voice and kept his commandments, commandments, ordinances and laws.

Before the reader is the "legal terminology" adopted in the Old Testament, and it was not difficult for the Israelites to see its correspondence to the language of their Torah; this could not but stimulate them to obey the law, the meaning of which, in essence, was reduced to the need to obey the word of God. Abraham knew that such obedience testifies to the truth of faith.

Gen. 26:6-11. Isaac in Gerar deceived Abimelech in the same way as his father once did, which caused reproaches from the pagan king, that, they say, he almost led one of his subjects into the sin of adultery, which deserved punishment by death and according to the concepts of Abimelech (verses 10- eleven). These verses were to remind Israel once again how important it is for the preservation of the people to observe the foundations of marriage.

As soon as they collapse, society also collapses (if the marriage of Isaac had broken up then, the people of Israel would not have arisen). (Note that, unlike Sarah, Rebekah was apparently not taken into the harem by Abimelech, but although she remained in her husband's house (verse 8), he passed her off as a sister, so as not to "be in danger" from whom - or from the inhabitants of Gerar, who would wish Rebekah a beautiful view.)

Here again the play on words attracts attention. The Russian text of the Bible says: Isaac plays with Rebekah (verse 8). With a more accurate translation, it does not "play", but "caresses" (mesakhek); this word is consonant with the name Isaac (yishak), but it also reminds of Ishmael's "mocking" of Sarah (21:9), for "mocking" also sounds in Hebrew as mesakhek. The choice of words is not accidental.

Moses seems to be saying that the lack of faith in Isaac, expressed in the fact that he married his wife to his sister, turned into a "mockery" over the great promise imprinted in his name, over those promises according to the covenant that were - after the death of Abraham were given to him (26:2-5). In the very fear of the believer there is a "mockery" over faith, which, being true, induces those who have it to joyfully (victoriously) laugh (about the meaning of the name "Isaac" in the interpretation of 21:6).

Gen. 26:12-22. Although a temporary resident in the promised land, Isaac nevertheless grew rich and prospered, blessed by God. And the Philistines became jealous of him and filled up and covered all his wells with earth. Here the wells (sources of water), being the "prevailing motif", again symbolize God's blessings (compare Abraham's dispute with the Philistines over the well in 21:25,30). No matter where Isaac dug and how often the Philistines filled up his wells, he dug them again and dug new ones (verses 18-19). Nothing could stop the effects of God's blessing!

Exiled by the Philistines, Isaac settled in the valley of Gerar and continued to search for water. But even here those who were at enmity with him did not leave him; the inhabitants of Gerar insisted that two of the three wells dug by Isaac belonged to them. This was reflected in the names that Isaac gave to the sources of water: Esek (argument, quarrel), Sitna (fierce enmity) and, finally, Rehoboth, which means a spacious place; the name of the last well reflects the triumph of God's care for those blessed by Him.

Isaac did not get involved in the fight against the Herarians. He gave them one well after another until the Philistines left him alone.

Gen. 26:23-25. After Isaac settled in Beersheba, the Lord appeared to him and again confirmed that the Abrahamic covenant would apply to him (verses 23-24). Isaac reacted to this in the same way as his father: he erected an altar there and called on the name of the Lord (compare 12:7-8; 21:33).

Gen. 26:26-33. After resolving conflicts over water sources, Abimelech came to Isaac with an offer of peace and union. Just as Abimelech, a contemporary of Abraham, acknowledged that God was with Abraham (21:22), so the present Abimelech acknowledged that God blesses Isaac. A new source of water - evidence of the inexhaustible mercy of the Lord - Isaac called Shiva (which means "oath" or "seven"), because the union between him and Abimelech was sealed with an oath similar to the one that was uttered by Abraham, in honor of which he then received his the name of the city is Beersheba (Beershiva; 21:23-24). This "covenant" was to be renewed by Isaac, the heir of Abraham's blessing. This proclaimed to other nations for the future: God's hand rests on the "seed" of Abraham, and they should seek peace with Israel if they too want to become recipients of blessings from above. Esau's failure (26:34-35)

Gen. 26:34-35. It is noteworthy that Esau, unrestrained in his sensuality, married (the impression is that at the same time) two women - the Hittites (i.e., Canaanites) - Judith and Basemath, and this greatly upset Isaac and Rebekah. From this short message it is clear how little Esau, indifferent to the purity of his offspring, was suitable for God's blessing, and how unreasonable was Isaac's desire to bless him (27:1-40). Esau later married a third wife, taking Mahalath, Ishmael's daughter, into his household (28:9).

1 There was a famine in the land, beyond the first famine that was in the days of Abraham; And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.

2 The Lord appeared to him and said, Do not go into Egypt; live in the land that I will tell you about

3 wander in this land, and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will fulfill the oath that I swore to Abraham your father;

4 I will multiply your offspring like the stars of heaven, and I will give to your offspring all these lands; in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,

5 because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept what I was [commanded] to keep: my statutes, my statutes, and my laws.

6 Isaac settled in Gerar.

7 The inhabitants of that place asked about his wife, and he said, This is my sister; because he was afraid to say: My wife, lest they kill me, [he thought], the inhabitants of this place are for Rebekah, because she is beautiful in appearance.

8 But after he had been living there for a long time, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out of the window and saw that Isaac was playing with Rebekah his wife.

9 And Abimelech called Isaac and said, Behold, this is your wife; how did you say: she is my sister? Isaac said to him: because I thought I would not die for her sake.

10 But Abimelech said, What have you done to us? As soon as one of the people had not copulated with your wife, and you would have led us into sin.

11 And Abimelech gave a command to all the people, saying: whoever touches this man and his wife, he will be put to death.

12 And Isaac sowed in that land, and in that year he received a hundredfold barley: thus the Lord blessed him.

13 And this man became great, and was exalted more and more until he became very great.

14 He had herds of flocks and herds of herds of cattle and many arable fields, and the Philistines became jealous of him.

15 And all the wells that his father's servants dug during the life of his father Abraham, the Philistines filled up and covered with earth.

16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, Depart from us, for you have become much stronger than we are.

17 And Isaac departed from there, and pitched his tents in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.

18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water, which had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, and which the Philistines had filled up after the death of Abraham; and called them by the same names that his father called them.

19 And Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of living water.

20 And the shepherds of Gerar argued with the shepherds of Isaac, saying, Our water. And he called the name of the well: Esek, because they argued with him.

21 dug another well; they also argued about him; and he called his name: Sitna.

22 And he moved from here and dug another well, which was no longer disputed, and called his name: Rehoboth, for, he said, now the Lord has given us a spacious place, and we will multiply on the earth.

23 From there he went to Beer-sheba.

24 And that night the Lord appeared to him and said, I am the God of Abraham your father; do not be afraid, for I am with you; and I will bless you and multiply your offspring, for the sake of Abraham my servant.

25 And he built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord. And he pitched his tent there, and Isaac's servants dug a well there.

26 Abimelech came to him from Gerar, and Ahuzath his friend, and Phichol his captain.

27 Isaac said to them, Why did you come to me when you hated me and sent me away from you?

28 They said, We have clearly seen that the Lord is with you, and therefore we said, Let us make an oath between you and us, and make a covenant with you,

29 so that you do us no harm, just as we did not touch you, but did you one good thing and sent you away in peace; you are now blessed by the Lord.

30 He made them a feast, and they ate and drank.

31 And rising early in the morning, they swore to one another; and Isaac let them go, and they departed from him in peace.

32 On the same day Isaac's servants came and informed him of the well that they were digging, and said to him, We have found water.

33 And he named him: Shiva. Therefore the name of that city is Beersheba to this day.

34 And Esau was forty years old, and took to wife Judith the daughter of Beer the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite;

35 and they were a burden to Isaac and Rebekah.