Isaac and Abimelech
Genesis 26, verse 1. Now there was a famine in the land, besides the first famine in the days of Abraham; and Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, in Gerar. Genesis 26, verse 2. Then the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I will tell you. Genesis 26, verse 3. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your seed I give all these lands; and I will perform the oath I swore to Abraham your father. Genesis 26, verse 4. And I will make your seed multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give your seed all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; Genesis 26, verse 5. because Abraham your father obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My ordinances, and My laws.” Genesis 26, verse 6. So Isaac dwelt in Gerar. Genesis 26, verse 7. Now the men of the place asked about his wife, and he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” lest the men of the place should kill him for Rebekah, because she was beautiful to behold. Genesis 26, verse 8. Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of Gerar looked through a window and saw Isaac, showing endearment to Rebekah his wife. Genesis 26, verse 9. Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Quite obviously she is your wife; so how could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I said to myself, ‘Lest I should die on account of her.’” Genesis 26, verse 10. Thus Abimelech said, “Why have you done this to us? One of the people could easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.” Genesis 26, verse 11. So Abimelech charged all his people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.” Genesis 26, verse 12. Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. Genesis 26, verse 13. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; Genesis 26, verse 14. for he had herds of sheep and oxen and many fields. So the Philistines envied him. Genesis 26, verse 15. Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. Genesis 26, verse 16. Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.” Genesis 26, verse 17. Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. Genesis 26, verse 18. Again, Isaac dug the wells of water they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names his father had called them. Genesis 26, verse 19. Also, Isaac's servants dug in the valley of Gerar, and found a well of fresh water there. Genesis 26, verse 20. But the herdsmen of Gerar fought with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Injustice, because they quarreled with him. Genesis 26, verse 21. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name Enmity. Genesis 26, verse 22. So he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not fight over it. Thus he called its name Room, because he said, “Now the Lord has made room for us, and has increased us in the land.” Genesis 26, verse 23. Then he went up from there to the Well of Oath. Genesis 26, verse 24. Now the 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 seed for My servant Abraham's sake.” Genesis 26, verse 25. So he built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord; and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants dug a well. Genesis 26, verse 26. Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his friend, and Phichol the commander-in-chief of his army. Genesis 26, verse 27. Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?” Genesis 26, verse 28. But they said, “We have certainly seen the Lord is with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a covenant with you, Genesis 26, verse 29. that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we have done nothing to you but good, and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.’” Genesis 26, verse 30. So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. Genesis 26, verse 31. Then they arose early in the morning and swore an oath with one another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. Genesis 26, verse 32. It came to pass the same day, Isaac's servants came and told him about the well they dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” Genesis 26, verse 33. So he called it, Oath; therefore, the name of the city is the Well of Oath to this day. Genesis 26, verse 34. Now when Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. Genesis 26, verse 35. But they were contentious with Isaac and Rebekah.