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Genesis 26:12–25 — Isaac’s Prosperity. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

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Alexander MaclarenExpositions of Holy Scripturec. 1905

Our text begins with a sweet little picture of peaceful industry, blessed by God, and therefore prospering. Travellers tell us that the land where Isaac dwelt is still marvellously fertile, even to rude farming. But to be merely a successful farmer and sheep-owner might have seemed poor work to the heir of such glowing promises

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

The Heb. is, a hundred measures, but the word is unknown elsewhere, and the LXX. and Syriac read, a hundred of barley, measures being understood, as in Ruth 3:15 . Herodotus (Book i. 193) mentions two—and even three—hundredfold as possible in Babylonia; but our Lord seems to give one hundredfold as the extreme measure of productiveness in Palestine ( Matthew 13:8 ). Such a return, like Isaac’s, would be rare and extraordinary.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

it was the same year when there was a famine in the land; while others scarce reaped at all, he reaped thus plentifully, through the divine blessing.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

As Isaac had experienced the promised protection ("I will be with thee," Genesis 26:3 ) in the safety of his wife, so did he received while in Gerar the promised blessing. He sowed and received in that year "a hundred measures," i.e., a hundred-fold return.

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Now Isaac sowed seed in the land, and that very year he reaped a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

yiṣ·ḥāq way·yiz·ra‘ ha·hi·w bā·’ā·reṣ ha·hi·w baš·šā·nāh way·yim·ṣā mê·’āh šə·‘ā·rîm Yah·weh way·ḇā·ră·ḵê·hū

Word by word11 · parsed

יִצְחָק֙yiṣ·ḥāqNow IsaacH3327

√ Yitschâq — Jitschak (or Isaac), son of AbrahamNounpropermasculine singular

וַיִּזְרַ֤עway·yiz·ra‘sowed seedH2232

√ zâraʻ — to sowConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

way·yiz·ra‘ (H2232, sow) — the patriarch's first recorded act of tilling rather than herding. Maclaren: this “marks a stage in progress” from his father's purely nomadic life.

הַהִ֔ואha·hi·win theH1931

√ hûwʼ — he (she or it)ArticlePronounthird person feminine singular

Article + demonstrative — that land; the narrator binds the blessing to a specific, hostile place: Philistia, the land of sojourn, not the land of promise.

בָּאָ֣רֶץbā·’ā·reṣlandH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)Preposition-b, ArticleNounfeminine singular

הַהִ֖ואha·hi·wand that veryH1931

√ hûwʼ — he (she or it)ArticlePronounthird person feminine singular

בַּשָּׁנָ֥הbaš·šā·nāhyearH8141

√ shâneh — a year (as a revolution of time)Preposition-b, ArticleNounfeminine singular

וַיִּמְצָ֛אway·yim·ṣāhe reapedH4672

√ mâtsâʼ — properly, to come forth to, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

מֵאָ֣הmê·’āha hundredfoldH3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine singular

mê·’āh (H3967, a hundred) — the number our Lord names as the extreme of fruitfulness in Palestine (Matthew 13:8). Benson and Poole note the harvest came “the same year” of famine, doubling the wonder.

שְׁעָרִ֑יםšə·‘ā·rîm. . .H8180

√ shaʻar — a measure (as a section)Nounmasculine plural

יְהוָֽה׃Yah·wehAnd the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

וַֽיְבָרֲכֵ֖הוּway·ḇā·ră·ḵê·hūblessed himH1288

√ bârak — to kneelConjunctive wawVerbPielConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singularthird person masculine singular

The verse's last word in Hebrew. By syntax God's blessing is the cause standing behind the harvest already narrated — the effect told first, the source named last.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-Isaac sowed in that the-land, and-in-that the-year he-found a-hundred measures; and-Yahweh blessed-him.

Where the English smooths the original

וַיִּמְצָ֛א BSB reads “reaped,” but the verb is way·yim·ṣā — H4672 mâtsâʼ, properly to find, come upon. Isaac did not merely harvest a calculated yield; he found a hundredfold, as one stumbles on more than was sown. The same verb returns in v.19 (“found a well”) and v.32 — discovery, not entitlement, is the unit's keynote.
שְׁעָרִ֑ים BSB folds this into “hundredfold,” but šə·‘ā·rîm (H8180) is a noun — measures. The Hebrew is literally “a hundred measures.” The LXX read it as barley (κριθήν), confusing the consonants; the word is rare, which is precisely why Ellicott and the Cambridge editors flag the ancient versions here.
וַֽיְבָרֲכֵ֖הוּ Rendered “blessed,” the verb bârak (H1288) is in the Piel and roots in to kneel — a posture of bestowal. The clause is the verse's hinge: the hundredfold is not Isaac's agronomy but God's act, placed last for emphasis after the harvest is told.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

went forward , - literally, went going , the verb followed by the infinitive expressing constant growth or progressive increase (cf. Genesis 8:3 ; Genesis 12:9 ; Judges 4:24 ) - and grew until he became very great

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

Being thus blessed of Jehovah, Isaac became increasingly (הלוך, vid., Genesis 8:3 ) greater (i.e., stronger), until he was very powerful and his wealth very great; so that the Philistines envied him

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

until he became to be exceeding great indeed, even the greatest man in all the country, yea, greater than King Abimelech himself, as it seems, from Genesis 26:16 .

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Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Bible1706–14

the more men have of it, the more they are envied, and exposed to censure and injury

Henry's concise note on vv.12–17, read against Isaac's rising greatness and the envy it drew.

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and he became richer and richer, until he was exceedingly wealthy.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

hā·’îš way·yiḡ·dal way·yê·leḵ hā·lō·wḵ ‘aḏ kî- ḡā·ḏal mə·’ōḏ wə·ḡā·ḏêl

Word by word9 · parsed

הָאִ֑ישׁhā·’îšand [he]H376

√ ʼîysh — a man as an individual or a male personArticleNounmasculine singular

hā·’îš (H376) — “the man.” The narrator drops “Isaac” for the bare title, framing him as the representative man whom God blesses against the world's grain.

וַיִּגְדַּ֖לway·yiḡ·dalbecame richer and richerH1431

√ gâdal — to be (causatively make) large (in various senses, as in body, mind, estate or honor, also in pride)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

וַיֵּ֤לֶךְway·yê·leḵvvvH1980

√ hâlak — to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

הָלוֹךְ֙hā·lō·wḵ. . .H1980

√ hâlak — to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbQalInfinitive absolute

Infinitive absolute hā·lō·wḵ (H1980) — the grammatical engine of the verse: paired with the finite verb it expresses progressive, unbroken increase (so the Pulpit Commentary, citing Genesis 8:3).

עַ֥ד‘aḏuntilH5704

√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition

כִּֽי־kî-. . .H3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

גָדַ֖לḡā·ḏal. . .H1431

√ gâdal — to be (causatively make) large (in various senses, as in body, mind, estate or honor, also in pride)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

מְאֹֽד׃mə·’ōḏhe was exceedinglyH3966

√ mᵉʼôd — properly, vehemence, iAdverb

וְגָדֵ֔לwə·ḡā·ḏêlwealthyH1432

√ gâdêl — large (literally or figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular

wə·ḡā·ḏêl (H1432, gâdêl) — a rare adjective occurring in only four verses; Keil ties it to “stronger,” and it verbally binds Isaac's rise to the cautionary rises of Ezekiel 16:26 and 2 Chronicles 17:12.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-the-man grew-great, and-he-went going and-growing until that he-was-great exceedingly.

Where the English smooths the original

וַיֵּ֤לֶךְ הָלוֹךְ֙ BSB's “richer and richer” flattens an idiom of motion: way·yê·leḵ hā·lō·wḵ — literally “he went going.” A finite verb of walking (H1980) followed by its own infinitive absolute paints not a state of wealth but a continuous, accelerating advance — “went going and growing.”
וַיִּגְדַּ֖ל The English “became richer” narrows way·yiḡ·dal (H1431 gâdal), to become great/large — in body, mind, estate, or honor. The verse three times rings the root g-d-l (vv.13a, 13b, 13b); Isaac's greatness, not merely his riches, is the drumbeat.
מְאֹֽד Rendered adverbially “exceedingly,” mə·’ōḏ (H3966) is properly a noun of vehemence, muchness — the same word Abimelech will throw back in v.16 (“too powerful” / mə·’ōḏ). The narrator's praise becomes the king's complaint.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

Literally it means making employment, and answers to our word business. But if in a man’s life there is much activity and plenty to do, there must be people to do it, and profits made whereby to maintain them. And thus the translation, “great store of servants,” gives the sense; but we see besides that Isaac kept them all actively employed,

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

The patriarch's possessions ( mikneh , from kanah, to acquire) excited jealous feeling (from root kana , to burn) in the breasts of his neighbors (cf. Ecclesiastes 4:4 ).

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Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599

The malicious always envy the graces of God in others.

Geneva's marginal gloss (g) attached to “envied him.”

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

Great store of servants; or rather, of husbandry, as this word is elsewhere used; of corn-fields, vineyards, &c.; for he is describing his riches, which then consisted in the two things here expressed, cattle and lands

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He owned so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·hî- lōw miq·nêh- ṣōn ū·miq·nêh ḇā·qār rab·bāh wa·‘ă·ḇud·dāh pə·liš·tîm way·qan·’ū ’ō·ṯōw

Word by word11 · parsed

וַֽיְהִי־way·hî-He owned so manyH1961

√ hâyâh — to exist, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

ל֤וֹlōw

Prepositionthird person masculine singular

מִקְנֵה־miq·nêh-flocksH4735

√ miqneh — something bought, iNounmasculine singular construct

miq·nêh (H4735) — wealth reckoned in living stock, the currency of the patriarchal age.

צֹאן֙ṣōn. . .H6629

√ tsôʼn — a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats)Nouncommon singular construct

וּמִקְנֵ֣הū·miq·nêhand herdsH4735

√ miqneh — something bought, iConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct

בָקָ֔רḇā·qār. . .H1241

√ bâqâr — beef cattle or an animal of the ox family of either gender (as used for plowing)Nounmasculine singular

רַבָּ֑הrab·bāhandH7227

√ rab — abundant (in quantity, size, age, number, rank, quality)Adjectivefeminine singular

וַעֲבֻדָּ֖הwa·‘ă·ḇud·dāhservantsH5657

√ ʻăbuddâh — something wrought, iConjunctive wawNounfeminine singular

wa·‘ă·ḇud·dāh (H5657) — a hapax-like abstract; the LXX reads γεώργια πολλά, “much husbandry,” the abstract for the concrete (so Ainsworth, cited in the Pulpit Commentary).

פְּלִשְׁתִּֽים׃pə·liš·tîmthat the PhilistinesH6430

√ Pᵉlishtîy — a Pelishtite or inhabitant of PeleshethNounpropermasculine plural

pə·liš·tîm (H6430) — the Philistines, named as a collective antagonist; the same proper noun frames the chapter (v.1) and the well-stopping of v.15.

וַיְקַנְא֥וּway·qan·’ūenvied himH7065

√ qânâʼ — to be (causatively, make) zealous, iConjunctive wawVerbPielConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

The intensive form makes envy active and corporate — a settled policy, not a passing mood, which issues in the sabotage of v.15.

אֹת֖וֹ’ō·ṯōwH853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object markerthird person masculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-there-was to-him acquisition of-flock and-acquisition of-herd and-service abundant; and-they-envied him the-Philistines.

Where the English smooths the original

וַעֲבֻדָּ֖ה BSB reads “servants,” but wa·‘ă·ḇud·dāh (H5657) literally means something wrought — work, husbandry, business. The margins and Poole render it “husbandry.” Ellicott: it “means making employment, and answers to our word business.” The text describes activity, not only persons.
מִקְנֵה Rendered simply “flocks…herds,” the repeated miq·nêh (H4735) is built from qânâh, to acquire — “possession, that which is bought.” The Pulpit Commentary catches a Hebrew pun the English loses: his mikneh (acquisition) excited the neighbors' qinʼah (envy).
וַיְקַנְא֥וּ way·qan·’ū (H7065, qânâʼ) is in the intensive Piel — not mild jealousy but burning zeal turned sour. The root literally evokes to become red, to burn; the same fire that fuels holy zeal here fuels covetous spite (Geneva: “The malicious always envy the graces of God in others”).

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

In the East the digger of a well is regarded as a public benefactor; but the Philistines stopped those that Abraham had digged, probably because they regarded his possession of them, though confirmed by the covenant between him and Abimelech ( Genesis 21:32 ), as an intrusion upon their rights as the people of the country

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Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

The same base stratagem for annoying those against whom they have taken an umbrage is practiced still by choking the wells with sand or stones, or defiling them with putrid carcases.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

This act, commonly regarded as legitimate in ancient warfare, was practically to Isaac an act of expulsion, it being impossible for flocks and herds to exist without access to water supplies.

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So the Philistines took dirt and stopped up all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

pə·liš·tîm way·mal·’ūm ‘ā·p̄ār sit·tə·mūm wə·ḵāl hab·bə·’ê·rōṯ ’ă·šer ’ā·ḇîw ‘aḇ·ḏê ḥā·p̄ə·rū bî·mê ’ā·ḇîw ’aḇ·rā·hām

Word by word13 · parsed

פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔יםpə·liš·tîmSo the PhilistinesH6430

√ Pᵉlishtîy — a Pelishtite or inhabitant of PeleshethNounpropermasculine plural

pə·liš·tîm (H6430) fronted for emphasis — the agents of malice named first, before their crime is told.

וַיְמַלְא֖וּםway·mal·’ūmtookH4390

√ mâlêʼ — to fill or (intransitively) be full of, in a wide application (literally and figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbPielConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine pluralthird person masculine plural

עָפָֽר׃‘ā·p̄ārdirtH6083

√ ʻâphâr — dust (as powdered or gray)Nounmasculine singular

סִתְּמ֣וּםsit·tə·mūmand stopped upH5640

√ çâtham — to stop upVerbPielPerfectthird person common pluralthird person masculine plural

וְכָל־wə·ḵālallH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct

הַבְּאֵרֹ֗תhab·bə·’ê·rōṯthe wellsH875

√ bᵉʼêr — a pitArticleNounfeminine plural

hab·bə·’ê·rōṯ (H875, bᵉʼêr) — “the wells,” the word that will recur throughout vv.18–25; in this arid land a stopped well is an act of expulsion (Pulpit Commentary), violating Abimelech's earlier covenant (Gen 21:32).

אֲשֶׁ֤ר’ă·šerthatH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

אָבִ֔יו’ā·ḇîwhis father’sH1

√ ʼâb — father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote applicationNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular

עַבְדֵ֣י‘aḇ·ḏêservantsH5650

√ ʻebed — a servantNounmasculine plural construct

‘aḇ·ḏê (H5650, servants of Abraham) — the wells carry Abraham's title to the land; stopping them is an attack on inherited covenant right, not merely on water.

חָֽפְרוּ֙ḥā·p̄ə·rūhad dugH2658

√ châphar — properly, to pry intoVerbQalPerfectthird person common plural

בִּימֵ֖יbî·mêin the daysH3117

√ yôwm — a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)Preposition-bNounmasculine plural construct

אָבִ֑יו’ā·ḇîwof his fatherH1

√ ʼâb — father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote applicationNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular

אַבְרָהָ֣ם’aḇ·rā·hāmAbrahamH85

√ ʼAbrâhâm — Abraham, the later name of AbramNounpropermasculine singular

’aḇ·rā·hām (H85) — named twice in this verse (“his father” / “Abraham”), anchoring the dispute in the dead father's legacy that Isaac must now reclaim.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-all the-wells which dug the-servants-of his-father in-the-days-of Abraham his-father, the-Philistines stopped-them and-they-filled-them dust.

Where the English smooths the original

סִתְּמ֣וּם BSB's “stopped up” is exactly right in sense but the verb sit·tə·mūm (H5640, çâtham) is intensive (Piel) — to dam, choke, obstruct deliberately. The doubled object-suffix (“stopped-them”) makes the wells the grammatical victims; this is sabotage, not neglect.
עָפָֽר Translated “dirt,” ‘ā·p̄ār (H6083) is the loaded word dust — the stuff of Adam's making (Gen 2:7) and of the curse (Gen 3:19). The Philistines bury life-giving water under death's own material; the choice of dust over a neutral word for soil is pointed.
וַיְמַלְא֖וּם BSB collapses two verbs into “took dirt and stopped up,” but the Hebrew has them in sequence: way·mal·’ūm…sit·tə·mūm — “they filled them, they stopped them.” The order in the original is filling first, then sealing — a thorough, two-stroke act of erasure.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

Go from us (a royal command rather than a friendly advice); for thou art much mightier than we . The same apprehension of the growing numbers and strength of Isaac's descendants in Egypt took possession of the heart of Pharaoh, and led to their enslavement ( vide Exodus 1:9 ).

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

Isaac’s attitude is one of concession and compliance towards the people among whom he sojourns. He is the type of the race that grows rich, but excites envy and hatred in the land of its sojourn.

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

Which breeds envy, and jealousy, and fear among my subjects, and may occasion greater mischiefs; and therefore it is better that we should part friends, than by continuing together be turned into enemies.

Poole supplies Abimelech's unspoken reasoning.

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Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Depart from us, for you are much too powerful for us.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’ă·ḇî·me·leḵ way·yō·mer ’el- yiṣ·ḥāq lêḵ mê·‘im·mā·nū kî- mə·’ōḏ ‘ā·ṣam·tā- mim·men·nū

Word by word10 · parsed

אֲבִימֶ֖לֶךְ’ă·ḇî·me·leḵThen AbimelechH40

√ ʼĂbîymelek — Abimelek, the name of two Philistine kings and of two IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

’ă·ḇî·me·leḵ (H40) — “Abimelech” (“my father is king”), a Philistine royal title; the Pulpit Commentary suspects he had quietly instigated the hostility he now resolves.

וַיֹּ֥אמֶרway·yō·mersaidH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

אֶל־’el-toH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

יִצְחָ֑קyiṣ·ḥāqIsaacH3327

√ Yitschâq — Jitschak (or Isaac), son of AbrahamNounpropermasculine singular

לֵ֚ךְlêḵDepart fromH1980

√ hâlak — to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbQalImperativemasculine singular

Imperative lêḵ — terse, unsoftened; Isaac's obedience to it (v.17) is, for Maclaren, the first Old-Testament instance of the Sermon-on-the-Mount spirit.

מֵֽעִמָּ֔נוּmê·‘im·mā·nūusH5973

√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPreposition-mfirst person common plural

כִּֽי־kî-forH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

מְאֹֽד׃mə·’ōḏyou are muchH3966

√ mᵉʼôd — properly, vehemence, iAdverb

עָצַֽמְתָּ־‘ā·ṣam·tā-too powerfulH6105

√ ʻâtsam — to bind fast, iVerbQalPerfectsecond person masculine singular

‘ā·ṣam·tā (H6105) — a perfect verb, “you have grown mighty”; the confession is, ironically, a testimony to the blessing of v.12 that the speaker resents.

מִמֶּ֖נּוּmim·men·nūfor usH4480

√ min — properly, a part ofPrepositionfirst person common plural

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-said Abimelech to Isaac, Go from-with-us, for you-are-mightier than-us exceedingly.

Where the English smooths the original

לֵ֚ךְ BSB's “Depart” renders the bare imperative lêḵ (H1980, hâlak) — “Go!” It is a royal command, not a request; the same verb of walking that drove the whole chapter (vv.13, 17). Maclaren notes a “more pugnacious person” would have answered the command with defiance.
עָצַֽמְתָּ Rendered “too powerful,” ‘ā·ṣam·tā (H6105, ‘âtsam) properly means to be numerous, to be bone-strong — “you have become mighty/numerous.” The same dread of an alien's multiplying that grips Pharaoh in Exodus 1:9 (“mightier than we”) speaks here through Abimelech's mouth.
מְאֹֽד The “much” in “much too powerful” is mə·’ōḏ (H3966) — the very word the narrator used in v.13 to praise Isaac's greatness. The king now weaponizes the blessing's own vocabulary: what God called exceeding, the world calls intolerable.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

The word nahal, rendered “valley,” means a narrow defile through which a summer torrent flows. In the bed of these streams water can generally be found by digging, and Isaac hoped that he was far enough from the city for the enmity to cease. But he was mistaken

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

he departed immediately, as soon as he perceived his abode was disagreeable to the king and his people; which gives us a very agree, able idea of the calm and peaceable disposition of Isaac

Gill's “agree, able” reproduces a typographic break in the source text.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

And Isaac - perhaps not without remonstrance, but without offering resistance, as became a saint ( Matthew 5:5 ; Romans 12:17, 18 ; Hebrews 12:14 ; 1 Peter 3:9 ) - departed thence

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So Isaac left that place and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

yiṣ·ḥāq way·yê·leḵ miš·šām way·yi·ḥan bə·na·ḥal- gə·rār way·yê·šeḇ šām

Word by word8 · parsed

יִצְחָ֑קyiṣ·ḥāqSo IsaacH3327

√ Yitschâq — Jitschak (or Isaac), son of AbrahamNounpropermasculine singular

וַיֵּ֥לֶךְway·yê·leḵleftH1980

√ hâlak — to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

way·yê·leḵ (H1980) — “he went”; obedience to Abimelech's lêḵ of v.16, accomplished without argument or arms (Gill: “immediately… peaceably and quietly”).

מִשָּׁ֖םmiš·šāmthat placeH8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenPreposition-mAdverb

וַיִּ֥חַןway·yi·ḥanand encampedH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

בְּנַֽחַל־bə·na·ḥal-in the ValleyH5158

√ nachal — a stream, especially a winter torrentPreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

na·ḥal (H5158) — the Geneva margin: “a flood, or valley, where water at any time runs”; identified by Keil and the Pulpit Commentary with the Wady Gerar / Joorf-el-Gerar.

גְּרָ֖רgə·rārof GerarH1642

√ Gᵉrâr — Gerar, a Philistine cityNounproperfeminine singular

וַיֵּ֥שֶׁבway·yê·šeḇand settledH3427

√ yâshab — properly, to sit down (specifically as judgeConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

שָֽׁם׃šāmthereH8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverb

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-went Isaac from-there, and-he-encamped in-the-wadi-of Gerar, and-he-dwelt there.

Where the English smooths the original

בְּנַֽחַל BSB's “Valley” is too broad for bə·na·ḥal (H5158, nachal) — a wadi, a narrow defile carved by a winter torrent, usually dry in summer. The choice of place is strategic: in a torrent-bed water can be found by digging, which is exactly what vv.18–22 narrate.
וַיִּ֥חַן Rendered “encamped,” way·yi·ḥan (H2583, chânâh) properly means to incline, to pitch (a tent) — the movable settling of a tent-dweller, not a fixed founding. The word concedes Isaac's continuing pilgrim status even as he seeks a new home.
וַיֵּ֥שֶׁב BSB's “settled” for way·yê·šeḇ (H3427, yâshab) carries a note of permanence the act lacks; the same verb means simply to sit, to dwell. The three verbs (went / pitched / dwelt) trace the whole peaceable retreat in a single breath.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

he called their names after the names by which his father had called them; which he did out of respect to his father, to preserve the memory of his name, as well as to make his title and claim to them the more dear and certain.

source ↗

Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

The naming of wells by Abraham, and the hereditary right of his family to the property, the change of the names by the Philistines to obliterate the traces of their origin, the restoration of the names by Isaac, and the contests between the respective shepherds to the exclusive possession of the water, are circumstances that occur among the natives in those regions as frequently in the present day as in the time of Isaac.

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

And Isaac digged those rather than new ones, partly to keep up his father’s memory, and partly because he had most right to them, and others less cause of quarrel with him about them.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

And Isaac digged again - literally, returned and digged , i . e . re-dug (cf. 2 Kings 20:5 )

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Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. And he gave these wells the same names his father had given them.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

yiṣ·ḥāq way·yā·šāḇ way·yaḥ·pōr ’eṯ- bə·’ê·rōṯ ham·ma·yim ’ă·šer ḥā·p̄ə·rū bî·mê ’ā·ḇîw ’aḇ·rā·hām pə·liš·tîm way·sat·tə·mūm ’a·ḥă·rê ’aḇ·rā·hām mō·wṯ way·yiq·rā lā·hen šê·mō·wṯ kaš·šê·mōṯ ’ă·šer- ’ā·ḇîw qā·rā lā·hen

Word by word24 · parsed

יִצְחָ֜קyiṣ·ḥāqIsaacH3327

√ Yitschâq — Jitschak (or Isaac), son of AbrahamNounpropermasculine singular

וַיָּ֨שָׁבway·yā·šāḇreopenedH7725

√ shûwb — to turn back (hence, away) transitively or intransitively, literally or figuratively (not necessarily with the idea of return to the starting point)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

way·yā·šāḇ (H7725, shûwb) — “he returned”; used adverbially with the next verb to mean “again,” i.e. re-dug (Pulpit Commentary, citing 2 Kings 20:5).

וַיַּחְפֹּ֣ר׀way·yaḥ·pōr. . .H2658

√ châphar — properly, to pry intoConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

בְּאֵרֹ֣תbə·’ê·rōṯthe wellsH875

√ bᵉʼêr — a pitNounfeminine plural construct

הַמַּ֗יִםham·ma·yim. . .H4325

√ mayim — waterArticleNounmasculine plural

אֲשֶׁ֤ר’ă·šerthatH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

חָֽפְרוּ֙ḥā·p̄ə·rūhad been dugH2658

√ châphar — properly, to pry intoVerbQalPerfectthird person common plural

בִּימֵי֙bî·mêin the daysH3117

אָבִ֔יו’ā·ḇîwof his fatherH1

√ ʼâb — father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote applicationNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular

אַבְרָהָ֣ם’aḇ·rā·hāmAbrahamH85

√ ʼAbrâhâm — Abraham, the later name of AbramNounpropermasculine singular

פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔יםpə·liš·tîmwhich the PhilistinesH6430

√ Pᵉlishtîy — a Pelishtite or inhabitant of PeleshethNounpropermasculine plural

וַיְסַתְּמ֣וּםway·sat·tə·mūmhad stopped upH5640

√ çâtham — to stop upConjunctive wawVerbPielConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine pluralthird person masculine plural

אַחֲרֵ֖י’a·ḥă·rêafterH310

√ ʼachar — properly, the hind partPreposition

אַבְרָהָ֑ם’aḇ·rā·hāmAbrahamH85

√ ʼAbrâhâm — Abraham, the later name of AbramNounpropermasculine singular

מ֣וֹתmō·wṯdiedH4194

√ mâveth — death (natural or violent)Nounmasculine singular construct

mō·wṯ (H4194, death) — “after the death of Abraham”; the Philistines waited until the covenant-partner was gone to break the league of Genesis 21:23 (Pulpit Commentary).

וַיִּקְרָ֤אway·yiq·rāAnd he gaveH7121

√ qârâʼ — to call out to (iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

way·yiq·rā (H7121, to call/name) — the naming-verb that drives vv.18, 20, 21, 22, 25; here it restores Abraham's names against Philistine erasure.

לָהֶן֙lā·hen[these wells]

Prepositionthird person feminine plural

שֵׁמ֔וֹתšê·mō·wṯthe same namesH8034

√ shêm — an appellation, as amark or memorial of individualityNounmasculine plural

כַּשֵּׁמֹ֕תkaš·šê·mōṯ. . .H8034

√ shêm — an appellation, as amark or memorial of individualityPreposition-k, ArticleNounmasculine plural

אֲשֶׁר־’ă·šer-H834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

אָבִֽיו׃’ā·ḇîwhis fatherH1

√ ʼâb — father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote applicationNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular

קָרָ֥אqā·rāhad givenH7121

√ qârâʼ — to call out to (iVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

qā·rā (H7121) — the same root in the perfect, of Abraham's original naming; the doubling (Isaac calls / his father called) makes the verse a deliberate echo across the generations.

לָהֶ֖ןlā·henthem

Prepositionthird person feminine plural

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-returned Isaac and-he-dug the-wells-of the-water which they-dug in-the-days-of Abraham his-father, and-the-Philistines stopped-them after the-death-of Abraham; and-he-called to-them names like-the-names which called-them his-father.

Where the English smooths the original

וַיָּ֨שָׁב וַיַּחְפֹּ֣ר BSB's single word “reopened” hides a verbal pair: way·yā·šāḇ way·yaḥ·pōr — literally “he returned and dug.” The verb shûwb (H7725, to turn back) plus châphar (H2658, to dig) means he re-dug. Isaac restores, he does not innovate; the gesture is filial recovery of his father's work.
וַיִּקְרָ֤א…שֵׁמ֔וֹת BSB: “gave these wells the same names.” The Hebrew way·yiq·rā…šê·mō·wṯ uses qârâʼ (H7121), to call out, proclaim a name — the same naming-verb God and the patriarchs use over creation and covenant. Isaac's re-naming is an act of re-claiming, a verbal repossession of Abraham's title.
חָֽפְרוּ֙ The relative clause “that had been dug” renders the active ḥā·p̄ə·rū (H2658) — “which they dug” (Abraham's servants). The verb châphar occurs in only twenty-one verses; its dense recurrence here (and in vv.19, 21, 22, 32) makes well-digging the unit's signature word and the basis of its strongest cross-references.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

found there a well of springing water; or "living water" (l), which continually flows, as Aben Ezra rightly interprets it: hence this phrase is used of the perpetual and ever living graces of the Spirit of God, John 4:10 .

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

Heb. living . A well ( be’êr ) might contain either the water that came from a spring, as here; or water that was stored from rainfall. The word rendered “springing” appears as “running” in Leviticus 14:5 and as “living” in Jeremiah 2:13 ; cf. Zechariah 14:8 ; John 4:10 .

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

found there a well of springing water . Literally, living water (cf. Leviticus 14:5, 6 ; Zechariah 14:8 ; Revelation 21:6 ).

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Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Bible1706–14

what a mercy it is to have plenty of water; to have it without striving for it!

Henry on vv.18–25; the strife over wells frames the mercy of un-contested water.

source ↗

Then Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of fresh water there.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

yiṣ·ḥāq ‘aḇ·ḏê- way·yaḥ·pə·rū ban·nā·ḥal way·yim·ṣə·’ū- bə·’êr ḥay·yîm ma·yim šām

Word by word9 · parsed

יִצְחָ֖קyiṣ·ḥāqThen Isaac’sH3327

√ Yitschâq — Jitschak (or Isaac), son of AbrahamNounpropermasculine singular

עַבְדֵֽי־‘aḇ·ḏê-servantsH5650

√ ʻebed — a servantNounmasculine plural construct

וַיַּחְפְּר֥וּway·yaḥ·pə·rūdugH2658

√ châphar — properly, to pry intoConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

way·yaḥ·pə·rū (H2658, châphar) — the digging-verb again; here it issues not in strife but in life-giving discovery, the unit's first unalloyed mercy.

בַּנָּ֑חַלban·nā·ḥalin the valleyH5158

√ nachal — a stream, especially a winter torrentPreposition-b, ArticleNounmasculine singular

וַיִּ֨מְצְאוּ־way·yim·ṣə·’ū-and foundH4672

√ mâtsâʼ — properly, to come forth to, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְּאֵ֖רbə·’êra wellH875

√ bᵉʼêr — a pitNounfeminine singular construct

bə·’êr (H875) — a well; with ḥayyîm it becomes the celebrated “living water,” which Gill applies to “the perpetual and ever living graces of the Spirit of God, John 4:10.”

חַיִּֽים׃ḥay·yîmof freshH2416

√ chay — aliveAdjectivemasculine plural

ḥay·yîm (H2416, living) — the Cambridge editors trace the same word from “running” (Lev 14:5) to “living” (Jer 2:13) to John 4:10; a thread that runs from this desert well to Christ's well-side word.

מַ֥יִםma·yimwaterH4325

√ mayim — waterNounmasculine plural

שָׁ֔םšāmthereH8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverb

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-dug servants-of Isaac in-the-wadi, and-they-found there a-well-of living water.

Where the English smooths the original

חַיִּֽים BSB's “fresh” domesticates ḥay·yîm (H2416) — literally living. “A well of living water” names a spring that flows of itself, ever-renewing, against a mere rain-fed cistern. The phrase is a Scriptural emblem (Jeremiah 2:13; Zechariah 14:8; John 4:10) the English rendering quietly buries.
וַיִּ֨מְצְאוּ Rendered “found,” way·yim·ṣə·’ū (H4672, mâtsâʼ) is the same verb as Isaac's hundredfold harvest in v.12 — they did not manufacture the spring, they came upon it. The unit's grace is consistently a thing discovered, given, not engineered.
מַ֥יִם The plural ma·yim (H4325, water) sits in apposition to “living,” forming the construct be’êr mayim ḥayyîm — “a well of living waters.” Hebrew speaks of water as inherently plural and active; the English singular “water” loses that pulse of abundance.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

The water is ours, because digged in our soil; which was no good argument, because he digged it by their consent or permission at his own charge, and for his own use.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

did strive with Isaac's herdmen , - as Lot's with those of Abraham ( Genesis 13:7 ) - saying, The water is ours : - literally, to us (belong) the waters - and he called the name of the well Esek ("Strife"); because they strove with him

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

Esek ] That is, Contention . LXX Ἀδικία ; Lat. Calumnia . In this and the two following verses we have popular tradition as to the origin of the names of wells in the region associated with the sojournings of the patriarch.

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Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Bible1706–14

those who avoid striving, yet cannot avoid being striven with

Henry on the well-strife: the peaceable man is still made the object of others' contention.

source ↗

But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they contended with him.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

rō·‘ê ḡə·rār way·yā·rî·ḇū ‘im- yiṣ·ḥāq rō·‘ê lê·mōr lā·nū ham·mā·yim way·yiq·rā šêm- hab·bə·’êr ‘ê·śeq kî hiṯ·‘aś·śə·qū ‘im·mōw

Word by word16 · parsed

רֹעֵ֣יrō·‘êBut the herdsmenH7462

√ râʻâh — to tend a flockVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural construct

rō·‘ê (H7462, herdsmen) — a participle of râ‘âh, “those who tend”; the same shepherd-strife that once divided Abraham and Lot's men (Gen 13:7), now visited on Isaac.

גְרָ֗רḡə·rārof GerarH1642

√ Gᵉrâr — Gerar, a Philistine cityNounproperfeminine singular

וַיָּרִ֜יבוּway·yā·rî·ḇūquarreledH7378

√ rîyb — properly, to toss, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

עִם־‘im-withH5973

√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPreposition

יִצְחָ֛קyiṣ·ḥāqIsaac’sH3327

√ Yitschâq — Jitschak (or Isaac), son of AbrahamNounpropermasculine singular

רֹעֵ֥יrō·‘êherdsmenH7462

√ râʻâh — to tend a flockVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural construct

לֵאמֹ֖רlê·mōrand saidH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

לָ֣נוּlā·nū

Prepositionfirst person common plural

הַמָּ֑יִםham·mā·yimThe water is oursH4325

√ mayim — waterArticleNounmasculine plural

וַיִּקְרָ֤אway·yiq·rāSo he namedH7121

√ qârâʼ — to call out to (iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

way·yiq·rā (H7121, named) — the naming-verb turned to lament; Isaac memorializes the wrong rather than avenge it.

שֵֽׁם־šêm-. . .H8034

√ shêm — an appellation, as amark or memorial of individualityNounmasculine singular construct

הַבְּאֵר֙hab·bə·’êrthe wellH875

√ bᵉʼêr — a pitArticleNounfeminine singular

עֵ֔שֶׂק‘ê·śeqEsekH6230

√ ʻêseq — strifeNounproperfeminine singular

‘ê·śeq (H6230, Esek = Contention) — Benson: “Esek means contention”; the first of three named wells whose names chart the descent and recovery of peace.

כִּ֥יkîbecauseH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

הִֽתְעַשְּׂק֖וּhiṯ·‘aś·śə·qūthey contendedH6229

√ ʻâsaq — to press upon, iVerbHitpaelPerfectthird person common plural

עִמּֽוֹ׃‘im·mōwwith himH5973

√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPrepositionthird person masculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-strove the-herdsmen-of Gerar with herdsmen-of Isaac, saying, To-us the-water! And-he-called the-name-of the-well Esek, because they-contended with-him.

Where the English smooths the original

עֵ֔שֶׂק BSB transliterates “Esek” and glosses “because they contended”; the name ‘ê·śeq (H6230) means strife, contention outright. The naming is etymological theology: the well's name is the dispute fossilized. The LXX rendered it Ἀδικία (“injustice”), the Vulgate Calumnia.
הִֽתְעַשְּׂק֖וּ BSB's “contended” renders hiṯ·‘aś·śə·qū (H6229, ‘âsaq) — a Hitpael (reflexive/reciprocal): they pressed against, wrangled with one another. The verb is chosen to chime with the noun ‘êseq; Hebrew names the well by the very sound of the quarrel that birthed it.
לָ֣נוּ הַמָּ֑יִם BSB's “The water is ours!” smooths a verbless cry: lā·nū ham·mā·yim — literally “To us — the water!” The blunt, possessive shout has no verb in the original; the bare dative “to us” carries the whole greedy claim, which Poole judged “no good argument.”

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

he called the name of it Sitnah; which signifies "hatred", it being out of hatred and malice to him that they gave him so much trouble; from this word Satan has his name, and these men were of a diabolical spirit, envious, spiteful, and malicious.

source ↗

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

Sitnah ] That is, Enmity . This name is connected with the same root as the word satan , “adversary”; cf. Numbers 20:22 ; 1 Samuel 29:4 .

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

And they digged another well (Isaac having yielded up the first), and strove for that also : - "The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water" ( Proverbs 17:14 )

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Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Bible1706–14

When men are false and unkind, still God is faithful and gracious

Henry on the wells of strife (Esek, Sitnah) and the comfort that follows at Beersheba.

source ↗

Then they dug another well and quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yaḥ·pə·rū ’a·ḥe·reṯ bə·’êr way·yā·rî·ḇū ‘ā·le·hā gam- way·yiq·rā šə·māh śiṭ·nāh

Word by word9 · parsed

וַֽיַּחְפְּרוּ֙way·yaḥ·pə·rūThen they dugH2658

√ châphar — properly, to pry intoConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

way·yaḥ·pə·rū (H2658, châphar) — they dig again; the verb of patient labor repeated in the teeth of repeated theft.

אַחֶ֔רֶת’a·ḥe·reṯanotherH312

√ ʼachêr — properly, hinderAdjectivefeminine singular

בְּאֵ֣רbə·’êrwellH875

√ bᵉʼêr — a pitNounfeminine singular

וַיָּרִ֖יבוּway·yā·rî·ḇūand quarreledH7378

√ rîyb — properly, to toss, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

עָלֶ֑יהָ‘ā·le·hāoverH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPrepositionthird person feminine singular

גַּם־gam-that one {also}H1571

√ gam — properly, assemblageConjunction

וַיִּקְרָ֥אway·yiq·rāso he namedH7121

√ qârâʼ — to call out to (iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

שְׁמָ֖הּšə·māhitH8034

√ shêm — an appellation, as amark or memorial of individualityNounmasculine singular constructthird person feminine singular

שִׂטְנָֽה׃śiṭ·nāhSitnahH7856

√ Siṭnâh — Sitnah, the name of a well in PalNounproperfeminine singular

śiṭ·nāh (H7856, Sitnah = Enmity) — Cambridge: connected with the root of satan, “adversary” (cf. Numbers 22:22; 1 Samuel 29:4); the well's name names the spirit behind the strife.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-dug another well, and-they-strove over-her also; and-he-called her-name Sitnah.

Where the English smooths the original

שִׂטְנָֽה BSB transliterates “Sitnah” without rendering its bite: śiṭ·nāh (H7856) means enmity, accusation, opposition, and shares the root śâṭan from which Satan (“the adversary”) is named. The escalation from Esek (strife) to Sitnah (hatred) is lexical as well as narrative.
וַיָּרִ֖יבוּ Rendered “quarreled,” way·yā·rî·ḇū (H7378, rîyb) properly means to grapple, to contend in a lawsuit — the formal language of legal dispute. “The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water” (Proverbs 17:14), as the Pulpit Commentary observes over this very well.
עָלֶ֑יהָ BSB's “over that one” renders ‘ā·le·hā — “over her,” the well being grammatically feminine. The pronoun keeps the contested object vividly singular and concrete: not an abstraction but this one pit of water, twice fought over.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

He digged a well, and for that they strove not — Those that follow peace, sooner or later shall find peace. Those that study to be quiet, seldom fail of being so. This well they called Rehoboth, enlargement, room enough.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

Rehoboth ] That is, Broad places , or, Room . LXX Εὐρυχωρία ; Lat. Latitudo .

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

it received in consequence the name Rehoboth, "breadths," for Isaac said, "Yea now (כּי־עתּה, as in Genesis 29:32 , etc.) Jehovah has provided for us a broad space, that we may be fruitful (multiply) in the land."

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

he called the name of it Rehoboth; which signifies broad and spacious, places, enlargements: for now hath the Lord made room for us; for himself, his family, his herds, and flocks, and freed them, from those difficulties under which they laboured

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He moved on from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Rehoboth and said, “At last the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·ya‘·têq miš·šām way·yaḥ·pōr bə·’êr ’a·ḥe·reṯ wə·lō rā·ḇū ‘ā·le·hā way·yiq·rā šə·māh rə·ḥō·ḇō·wṯ way·yō·mer kî- ‘at·tāh Yah·weh hir·ḥîḇ lā·nū ū·p̄ā·rî·nū ḇā·’ā·reṣ

Word by word19 · parsed

וַיַּעְתֵּ֣קway·ya‘·têqHe moved onH6275

√ ʻâthaq — to remove (intransitive or transitive) figuratively, to grow oldConjunctive wawVerbHifilConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

way·ya‘·têq (H6275, removed) — a Hiphil of ‘âthaq, “he moved on”; the third yielding, beyond Gerar's reach (Pulpit Commentary), where strife finally ceases.

מִשָּׁ֗םmiš·šāmfrom thereH8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenPreposition-mAdverb

וַיַּחְפֹּר֙way·yaḥ·pōrand dugH2658

√ châphar — properly, to pry intoConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

בְּאֵ֣רbə·’êr. . .H875

√ bᵉʼêr — a pitNounfeminine singular

אַחֶ֔רֶת’a·ḥe·reṯanother [well]H312

√ ʼachêr — properly, hinderAdjectivefeminine singular

וְלֹ֥אwə·lōand they did notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absConjunctive wawAdverbNegative particle

רָב֖וּrā·ḇūquarrelH7378

√ rîyb — properly, to toss, iVerbQalPerfectthird person common plural

עָלֶ֑יהָ‘ā·le·hāover itH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPrepositionthird person feminine singular

וַיִּקְרָ֤אway·yiq·rāHe namedH7121

√ qârâʼ — to call out to (iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

שְׁמָהּ֙šə·māhitH8034

√ shêm — an appellation, as amark or memorial of individualityNounmasculine singular constructthird person feminine singular

רְחֹב֔וֹתrə·ḥō·ḇō·wṯRehobothH7344

√ Rᵉchôbôwth — Rechoboth, a place in Assyria and one in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

וַיֹּ֗אמֶרway·yō·merand saidH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

כִּֽי־kî-At lastH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

kî-‘at·tāh — “for now”; Keil compares Genesis 29:32, the formula by which a name interprets a turning-point of grace.

עַתָּ֞ה‘at·tāh. . .H6258

√ ʻattâh — at this time, whether adverb, conjunction or expletiveAdverb

יְהוָ֛הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

הִרְחִ֧יבhir·ḥîḇhas made roomH7337

√ râchab — to broaden (intransitive or transitive, literal or figurative)VerbHifilPerfectthird person masculine singular

hir·ḥîḇ (H7337) — “has made a broad space”; the well-name spoken as theology: Isaac traces his repose to God, not to the Philistines' weariness.

לָ֖נוּlā·nūfor us

Prepositionfirst person common plural

וּפָרִ֥ינוּū·p̄ā·rî·nūand we will be fruitfulH6509

√ pârâh — to bear fruit (literally or figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectfirst person common plural

ū·p̄ā·rî·nū (H6509, pârâh) — the creation/blessing verb; Cambridge notes the same word in Genesis 1:22; 41:52; 49:22 — fruitfulness as covenant continuity.

בָאָֽרֶץ׃ḇā·’ā·reṣin the landH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)Preposition-b, ArticleNounfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-he-removed from-there and-he-dug another well, and-not they-strove over-her; and-he-called her-name Rehoboth, and-he-said, For now has-made-room Yahweh for-us, and-we-shall-be-fruitful in-the-land.

Where the English smooths the original

רְחֹב֔וֹת BSB transliterates “Rehoboth” then glosses “made room”; the name rə·ḥō·ḇō·wṯ (H7344) is the plural Broad Places, Wide Spaces (LXX Εὐρυχωρία, Vulgate Latitudo). After Esek and Sitnah, the third well's name turns from human strife to divine spaciousness — and is a rare word, occurring in only four verses.
הִרְחִ֧יב BSB's “made room” renders the causative hir·ḥîḇ (H7337, râchab) — He has broadened, made wide, the verb cognate to the name Rehoboth. Hebrew binds the name to the deed: the LORD rehoboth-ed a place for them. Isaac reads providence in topography.
וּפָרִ֥ינוּ Rendered “we will be fruitful,” ū·p̄ā·rî·nū (H6509, pârâh) is the very verb of the creation mandate, “be fruitful” (Gen 1:22, 28) and of the patriarchal promise (Gen 17:6). Isaac's quiet hope at a desert well reaches back to Eden's blessing — the same root, deliberately chosen.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

This was a very serious act on Isaac’s 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 father’s favourite home. It was a claim on his part to the rights and inheritance of Abraham, and the claim was admitted.

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

"Went up." It was an ascent from Wady er-Ruhaibeh to Beer-sheba; which was near the watershed between the Mediterranean and the Salt Sea.

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

Where he lived before the famine drove him thence.

Poole's entire note on the verse — Beersheba as the pre-famine home.

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From there Isaac went up to Beersheba,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

miš·šām bə·’êr way·ya·‘al šā·ḇa‘

Word by word4 · parsed

מִשָּׁ֖םmiš·šāmFrom thereH8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenPreposition-mAdverb

miš·šām (H8033, from there) — from Rehoboth, the place of rest, now left behind for the place of covenant.

בְּאֵ֥רbə·’êrH884

√ Bᵉʼêr Shebaʻ — Beer-Sheba, a place in PalestinePreposition

וַיַּ֥עַלway·ya·‘al[Isaac] went upH5927

√ ʻâlâh — to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

שָֽׁבַע׃šā·ḇa‘to BeershebaH884

√ Bᵉʼêr Shebaʻ — Beer-Sheba, a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

šā·ḇa‘ (part of H884, Beersheba) — Ellicott calls the return “a very serious act,” a deliberate claim to Abraham's inheritance, drawing within five leagues of the Philistine city again.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-he-went-up from-there to-Beersheba.

Where the English smooths the original

וַיַּ֥עַל BSB's “went up” is geographically literal — way·ya·‘al (H5927, ‘âlâh), to ascend — Beersheba sits on the watershed, reached by a climb from the low wadi. But ‘âlâh also carries the freight of pilgrimage and return; Isaac ascends to his father's altar-ground (Gen 21:33), a homecoming as much as a climb.
שָֽׁבַע BSB renders the whole phrase “to Beersheba”; the Hebrew splits the name Bᵉʼêr Shebaʻ (H884) into be’êr (well) + šā·ḇa‘ (seven / oath). The very destination is a well-name — “Well of the Oath/Seven” — fitting climax to a chapter of contested wells: Isaac returns to the one well bound by covenant oath (Gen 21:31).

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

"Fear not," as he had said to Abraham after his victory over the four kings Genesis 15:1 . Then follow the reasons for courage: I, with thee, blessing thee, multiplying thy seed; a reassurance of three parts of the promise involving all the rest. Then comes the instructive reason for this assurance - "for the sake of Abraham my servant."

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

The title “my servant” here given to Abraham is only found in this place in Genesis. LXX reads “thy father.” But it was the obedience of Abraham that won for him this great title: cf. Isaiah 41:8 , “Israel my servant … Abraham my friend.”

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

Fear not, I am with thee, and will bless thee — Those may remove with comfort that are sure of God’s presence with them wherever they go.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

for my servant Abraham's sake - a reason declaring God's gracious covenant, and not personal merit, to be the true source of blessing for Isaac.

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and that night the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of My servant Abraham.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ha·hū bal·lay·lāh Yah·weh way·yê·rā ’ê·lāw way·yō·mer ’ā·nō·ḵî ’ĕ·lō·hê ’ā·ḇî·ḵā ’aḇ·rā·hām ’al- tî·rā kî- ’ā·nō·ḵî ’it·tə·ḵā ū·ḇê·raḵ·tî·ḵā wə·hir·bê·ṯî ’eṯ- zar·‘ă·ḵā ba·‘ă·ḇūr ‘aḇ·dî ’aḇ·rā·hām

Word by word22 · parsed

הַה֔וּאha·hūand thatH1931

√ hûwʼ — he (she or it)ArticlePronounthird person masculine singular

ha·hū bal·lay·lāh — “that night,” the night of arrival; God's word meets Isaac at his weariest (Matthew Henry: “God brought comforts to his soul”).

בַּלַּ֣יְלָהbal·lay·lāhnightH3915

√ layil — properly, a twist (away of the light), iPreposition-b, ArticleNounmasculine singular

יְהוָה֙Yah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

וַיֵּרָ֨אway·yê·rāappearedH7200

√ râʼâh — to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)Conjunctive wawVerbNifalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

way·yê·rā (H7200, appeared) — a Nifal, “let Himself be seen”; the first recorded theophany to Isaac in his own right, sealing Beersheba as holy ground.

אֵלָ֤יו’ê·lāwto himH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionthird person masculine singular

וַיֹּ֕אמֶרway·yō·merand saidH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

אָנֹכִ֕י’ā·nō·ḵîIH595

√ ʼânôkîy — IPronounfirst person common singular

אֱלֹהֵ֖י’ĕ·lō·hêam the GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural construct

אָבִ֑יךָ’ā·ḇî·ḵāof your fatherH1

√ ʼâb — father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote applicationNounmasculine singular constructsecond person masculine singular

אַבְרָהָ֣ם’aḇ·rā·hāmAbrahamH85

√ ʼAbrâhâm — Abraham, the later name of AbramNounpropermasculine singular

אַל־’al-Do notH408

√ ʼal — not (the qualified negation, used as a deprecative)Adverb

תִּירָא֙tî·rābe afraidH3372

√ yârêʼ — to fearVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine singular

tî·rā (H3372, yârêʼ, fear) — the verb of the “fear not” formula; shared with Genesis 15:1, binding Isaac's reassurance to his father's.

כִּֽי־kî-forH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

אָנֹ֔כִי’ā·nō·ḵîIH595

√ ʼânôkîy — IPronounfirst person common singular

אִתְּךָ֣’it·tə·ḵāam with youH854

√ ʼêth — properly, nearness (used only as a preposition or an adverb), nearPrepositionsecond person masculine singular

וּבֵֽרַכְתִּ֙יךָ֙ū·ḇê·raḵ·tî·ḵāI will blessH1288

√ bârak — to kneelConjunctive wawVerbPielConjunctive perfectfirst person common singularsecond person masculine singular

וְהִרְבֵּיתִ֣יwə·hir·bê·ṯîyou and multiplyH7235

√ râbâh — to increase (in whatever respect)Conjunctive wawVerbHifilConjunctive perfectfirst person common singular

אֶֽת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

זַרְעֲךָ֔zar·‘ă·ḵāyour descendantsH2233

√ zeraʻ — seedNounmasculine singular constructsecond person masculine singular

בַּעֲב֖וּרba·‘ă·ḇūrfor the sakeH5668

√ ʻâbûwr — properly, crossed, iPreposition-bNounmasculine singular

עַבְדִּֽי׃‘aḇ·dîof My servantH5650

√ ʻebed — a servantNounmasculine singular constructfirst person common singular

‘aḇ·dî (H5650, My servant) — a title of high honor (so Ellicott: given also to Moses, Joshua, Israel, and the Messiah of Isaiah 52:13).

אַבְרָהָ֥ם’aḇ·rā·hāmAbrahamH85

√ ʼAbrâhâm — Abraham, the later name of AbramNounpropermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-appeared to-him Yahweh in-that the-night, and-he-said, I am-the-God-of Abraham your-father; fear-not, for I-am-with-you, and-I-will-bless-you and-I-will-multiply your-seed for-the-sake-of Abraham My-servant.

Where the English smooths the original

אָנֹכִ֕י BSB's “I am the God” opens with the emphatic pronoun ’ā·nō·ḵî (H595) — the fuller, weightier “I” (not the shorter ’ănî). The same emphatic ’ānōḵî recurs in “for I am with you,” framing the whole oracle around the divine self-assertion: it is God's own person, twice underlined, that grounds Isaac's courage.
אַל־תִּירָא֙ BSB's “Do not be afraid” renders ’al-tî·rā (H408 + H3372) — the great covenant formula “Fear not,” first spoken to Abraham (Gen 15:1). It is a prohibition (’al, not lōʼ) — a tender command, not a mere description, met to Isaac's loneliness as a stranger (Cambridge).
זַרְעֲךָ֔ Rendered “descendants,” zar·‘ă·ḵā (H2233, zera‘) is literally your seed — the singular-collective term carrying the whole promise from Genesis 3:15 onward. The English “descendants” loses the organic seed-image that the New Testament will fasten upon (Galatians 3:16).
עַבְדִּֽי BSB's “My servant Abraham” renders ‘aḇ·dî (H5650). Cambridge notes this exact title for Abraham occurs only here in Genesis — won, says the editor, by his obedience; the LXX softened it to “thy father.” The blessing rests not on Isaac's merit but on God's covenant with His servant.

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

"An altar" - the first on record erected by Isaac. "Called on the name of the Lord" - engaged in the solemn and public invocation of Yahweh Genesis 4:26 ; Genesis 12:8 . "His tent there." It was hallowed ground to his father Genesis 21:33 , and now to himself.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

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

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Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599

To signify that he would serve no other God, but the God of his father Abraham.

Geneva's marginal gloss (x) on “builded an altar.”

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

digged a well ] According to Genesis 21:30 a well had already been digged by Abraham. The word in the Hebrew is not the same as that used in Genesis 26:22 ; see Genesis 50:5 .

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So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there. His servants also dug a well there.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yi·ḇen miz·bê·aḥ šām way·yiq·rā bə·šêm Yah·weh way·yeṭ- ’ā·ho·lōw šām yiṣ·ḥāq ‘aḇ·ḏê- way·yiḵ·rū- bə·’êr šām

Word by word14 · parsed

וַיִּ֧בֶןway·yi·ḇenSo [Isaac] builtH1129

√ bânâh — to build (literally and figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

way·yi·ḇen (H1129, bânâh, built) — paired with altar, tent, and well, it echoes Abraham's pattern at Bethel (Gen 12:8): the patriarch marks each dwelling with worship.

מִזְבֵּ֗חַmiz·bê·aḥan altarH4196

√ mizbêach — an altarNounmasculine singular

שָׁ֣םšāmthereH8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverb

וַיִּקְרָא֙way·yiq·rāand calledH7121

√ qârâʼ — to call out to (iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

way·yiq·rā (H7121) — “called”; the unit's signature naming-verb, here turned wholly Godward.

בְּשֵׁ֣םbə·šêmon the nameH8034

√ shêm — an appellation, as amark or memorial of individualityPreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

bə·šêm (H8034, on the name) — public invocation; Barnes links it to Genesis 4:26 and 12:8, the solemn worship of the covenant line.

יְהוָ֔הYah·wehof the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

וַיֶּט־way·yeṭ-and he pitchedH5186

√ nâṭâh — to stretch or spread outConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

אָהֳל֑וֹ’ā·ho·lōwhis tentH168

√ ʼôhel — a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance)Nounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular

שָׁ֖םšāmthereH8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverb

יִצְחָ֖קyiṣ·ḥāq[His]H3327

√ Yitschâq — Jitschak (or Isaac), son of AbrahamNounpropermasculine singular

עַבְדֵי־‘aḇ·ḏê-servantsH5650

√ ʻebed — a servantNounmasculine plural construct

וַיִּכְרוּ־way·yiḵ·rū-also dugH3738

√ kârâh — properly, to digConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

way·yiḵ·rū (H3738, kârâh) — note the verb shifts from châphar (the chapter's usual “dig”) to kârâh, “to dig/bore”; Cambridge flags the change. Even the closing well is dug with a fresh word, as Isaac begins anew on hallowed ground.

בְּאֵֽר׃bə·’êra wellH875

√ bᵉʼêr — a pitNounfeminine singular

שָׁ֥םšāmthereH8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverb

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-he-built there an-altar, and-he-called on-the-name-of Yahweh, and-he-pitched-there his-tent; and-dug there servants-of Isaac a-well.

Where the English smooths the original

וַיִּ֧בֶן…מִזְבֵּ֗חַ BSB's “built an altar” is exact, but the sequence matters: way·yi·ḇen miz·bê·aḥ (H1129 + H4196) is the first altar Scripture ascribes to Isaac. Built only after the theophany, it answers grace with worship; Maclaren: “The best beginning of a new undertaking is to rear an altar.”
וַיִּקְרָא֙ בְּשֵׁ֣ם Rendered “called on the name,” way·yiq·rā bə·šêm (H7121 + H8034) is the technical phrase for public, proclaimed worship — “to call upon the name of the LORD” (Gen 4:26; 12:8). The same naming-verb that named the contested wells now names Yahweh in praise; the chapter's word for strife becomes its word for worship.
וַיֶּט־אָהֳל֑וֹ BSB's “pitched his tent” renders way·yeṭ ’ā·ho·lōw (H5186, nâṭâh, to stretch out). The order is theological: altar first, then the tent — worship precedes dwelling. Only after God is honored is the home spread out and (last of all) the well dug.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The hundredfold in the hostile field — 26:12–14

The unit opens not with conquest but with a furrow. Isaac sowed (way·yiz·ra‘, H2232) and found — not merely reaped — a hundredfold, the verb mâtsâʼ (H4672) marking the harvest as a thing discovered rather than engineered. Maclaren reads the scene as a sweet little picture of peaceful industry, blessed by God, and therefore prospering, and warns that to be merely a successful farmer and sheep-owner might have seemed poor work to the heir of such glowing promises. The hinge of the verse is its last word, way·ḇā·ră·ḵê·hū (H1288, blessed-him): the agronomy is real, but the cause named is God. Benson (verifiable in the v.12 voices) sharpens the wonder — the bumper crop came the same year when there was a famine in the land; while others scarce reaped at all, he reaped thus plentifully. Then the threefold drumbeat of g-d-l (vv.13a–b) — Isaac went going and growing, the idiom the Pulpit Commentary parses as constant growth or progressive increase — until the rare word gâdêl (H1432) names him very great. The Geneva margin, attached to v.14's envied him, states the law that governs the next ten verses: The malicious always envy the graces of God in others.

ii. Stopped wells and the first apostle of peace — 26:15–22

Envy turns to sabotage. The Philistines filled and stopped (way·mal·’ūm…sit·tə·mūm, H5640) Abraham's wells with ‘ā·p̄ār (H6083) — not neutral soil but dust, the matter of death. JFB notes the tactic survives: choking the wells with sand or stones, or defiling them with putrid carcases. Abimelech's curt imperative lêḵ — the bare “Go!” of v.16 — is, the Pulpit Commentary insists, a royal command rather than a friendly advice. Here Maclaren's title fits the man: the first apostle of peace at any price. Isaac neither argues nor arms; Gill marvels at the calm and peaceable disposition of Isaac. He re-digs (way·yā·šāḇ way·yaḥ·pōr, literally returned and digged, per the Pulpit Commentary) and re-names his father's wells, an act Gill reads as filial piety to preserve the memory of his name, as well as to make his title and claim to them the more dear and certain. The three new wells chart a moral arc in their very names: Esek (H6230, Contention), Sitnah (H7856, Enmity — Cambridge ties it to the root of satan, adversary), and at last Rehoboth (H7344, Broad Places). Benson draws the thread tight: Those that follow peace, sooner or later shall find peace. Isaac's closing word reaches back to Eden — ū·p̄ā·rî·nū (H6509, we shall be fruitful), the creation-mandate verb of Genesis 1:22.

iii. The altar after the oracle — 26:23–25

Isaac goes up (way·ya·‘al, H5927) to Beersheba — Ellicott calls it a very serious act, a deliberate claim on his part to the rights and inheritance of Abraham. That night Yahweh appears (the first theophany to Isaac in his own right) with the great covenant words — emphatic ’ā·nō·ḵî (I), the fear not first spoken to Abraham (Gen 15:1, so Barnes), and the title Cambridge flags as occurring only … in this place in Genesis: Abraham, My servant. The Pulpit Commentary draws the doctrine: the blessing rests God's gracious covenant, and not personal merit. Isaac answers grace with worship — the first altar Scripture ascribes to him (Barnes). The order is deliberate and theological: altar, then invocation, then tent, and only last the well. Worship precedes dwelling; the well of the body waits on the well of the soul.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

Under Sola Scriptura, and offered as a fallible ⚙ reading to be tested: this unit is a sustained meditation on inheritance contested and recovered through meekness. Three times the text rings the naming-verb qârâʼ (H7121) — Isaac names the contested wells (vv.18, 20, 21, 22) and finally calls on the name of the LORD (v.25); the same word that memorializes strife becomes the word of worship. The wells are the unit's parable: a stopped well is buried inheritance; a re-dug well bearing the old name is inheritance reclaimed without violence; the un-contested well, Rehoboth, is inheritance enlarged by God Himself (hir·ḥîḇ, H7337). Isaac never strikes back; he yields, moves, digs again — and the narrative vindicates him, for the LORD appears precisely to the man who refused to fight. The structural payoff is that the blessing of v.12 and the blessing of v.24 are the same blessing, framed first as harvest and last as covenant word — and both rest, the text twice says, not on Isaac but on the God of Abraham. The meek do, in the end, inherit the land (v.22: we shall be fruitful in the land).

A stopped well is a buried inheritance; the meek re-dig it, keep the old name, and let God alone make it broad.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The re-dug wells: Abraham's and Isaac's labor (verbal) verbal / quotation — confirmed

Genesis 26:18 (re-digging the wells) shares the rare verb châphar (H2658, to dig, in only 21 verses) and the noun bᵉʼêr (H875, well) with the original well-digging covenant of Genesis 21:30 and with the chapter's own coda at 26:32. The dense, low-frequency recurrence makes this the unit's strongest verbal spine — the Verifier returns these exact shared lexemes for each pairing. The link is verbal-lexical (a shared rare verb), not a quotation: no passage cites another; rather, the narrator deliberately reuses the same scarce word to bind father's and son's labor.

Genesis 26:18 · Genesis 21:30 · Genesis 26:32

basis: shared rare lexemes H2658 châphar (21 vv) + H875 bᵉʼêr (33 vv), per Verifier on 26:18↔21:30 and 26:18↔26:32 (which also shares H3327 Yitschâq, H4325 mayim); verbal-lexical, not a citation

The same king, the same seized well: Abraham's prior dispute (structural) structural / thematic — confirmed

Isaac's conflict is his father's conflict relived. Genesis 21:25 records Abraham's reproof of Abimelech over a well of water that Abimelech's servants had seized — the very pattern (stopped or seized wells, the house of Abimelech, the patriarch's servants) that Genesis 26:15–22 stages a generation later with the same royal title. The shared lexemes — bᵉʼêr (H875, well), ʼAbrâhâm (H85), ʻebed (H5650, servants) — are common rather than rare, so the Verifier rightly tiers this structural, not verbal: the bond is a repeated narrative pattern and shared cast, not a quotation. It deepens the unit's theme of contested inheritance, for the wells were Abraham's title to the land before they were Isaac's burden to reclaim.

Genesis 26:15 · Genesis 21:25 · Genesis 26:18

basis: Verifier on 26:15↔21:25: shared H875 bᵉʼêr (33 vv), H85 ʼAbrâhâm (159 vv), H5650 ʻebed (714 vv) — common lexemes + shared scene (well-seizure, house of Abimelech), hence structural not verbal

Spring up, O well: the Song of the Well (verbal) verbal / quotation — confirmed

The same rare verb-and-noun pair that spans Isaac's wells reappears in Numbers 21:18, the celebrated Song of the Well, where Israel sings of the well the princes and nobles of the people dug. Genesis 26:18 and Numbers 21:18 share châphar (H2658, in only 21 verses) and bᵉʼêr (H875). The recurrence of this scarce digging-vocabulary turns Israel's later desert song into an echo of the patriarch's patient labor — water sought and found in a dry land. It is a genuine verbal-lexical link (the shared rare verb), not a quotation: Numbers does not cite Genesis, but both reach for the same uncommon word.

Genesis 26:18 · Numbers 21:18

basis: shared rare lexeme H2658 châphar (21 vv) + H875 bᵉʼêr (33 vv), per Verifier on 26:18↔Num 21:18; verbal-lexical, not a citation

Rehoboth: a name shared across the map (verbal) verbal / quotation — confirmed

The well-name Rehoboth (rə·ḥō·ḇō·wṯ, H7344, Broad Places) is a rare proper noun occurring in only four verses of the Hebrew Bible. Genesis 26:22 shares it with the Rehoboth of Nimrod's Assyrian cities (Genesis 10:11) and the Edomite Rehoboth-by-the-River (Genesis 36:37). The link is verbal but onomastic, not thematic — the same place-word recurs of different places; the basis is the lexeme itself, not a shared motif.

Genesis 26:22 · Genesis 10:11 · Genesis 36:37

basis: shared rare lexeme H7344 Rᵉchôbôwth (in only 4 vv), per Verifier on 26:22↔10:11; same lexeme present in 36:37 / 1 Chr 1:48

Isaac waxing great — and the rare word gâdêl (verbal) verbal / quotation — confirmed

Genesis 26:13's adjective gâdêl (H1432, growing/great, in only 4 verses) recurs in Ezekiel 16:26, where Israel's great Egyptian neighbors are named in a chapter of rebuke. The shared lexeme is verbal and rare, but the contexts diverge sharply (blessing vs. judgment) — the connection is lexical, and should not be over-read as thematic kinship.

Genesis 26:13 · Ezekiel 16:26

basis: shared rare lexeme H1432 gâdêl (in only 4 vv), per Verifier on 26:13↔Ezek 16:26; same word also at 2 Chr 17:12, 1 Sam 2:26

The renewed promise: I am with you, fear not, multiply your seed (structural) structural / thematic — confirmed

The Beersheba oracle (Genesis 26:24) reprises the chapter's own opening promise (Genesis 26:3 — blessing, seed, Abraham) and the Fear not first spoken to Abraham (Genesis 15:1, sharing yârêʼ and the emphatic ’ānōḵî). Barnes makes the cross-reference explicit. The shared lexemes are common covenant vocabulary, so the link is structural/thematic, not a quotation claim.

Genesis 26:24 · Genesis 26:3 · Genesis 15:1

basis: Verifier: 26:24↔26:3 share H85 ʼAbrâhâm, H2233 zeraʻ, H1288 bârak; 26:24↔15:1 share H3372 yârêʼ, H595 ʼānōḵî, H7235 râbâh — all common, hence structural not verbal

Be fruitful in the land: Rehoboth and the creation mandate (structural) structural / thematic — confirmed

Isaac's hope at Rehoboth — we shall be fruitful (pârâh, H6509) — uses the same verb as the creation blessing of Genesis 1:22 (be fruitful and multiply) and the patriarchal promise. The shared lexeme grounds a thematic continuity from Eden's mandate to the patriarch's well, but pârâh is too widely used (28 vv) and the claim too motif-level to call verbal.

Genesis 26:22 · Genesis 1:22

basis: shared lexeme H6509 pârâh (in 28 vv), per Verifier on 26:22↔1:22 — thematic continuity (creation/covenant fruitfulness), not a quotation

Altar, tent, and the call on the name (structural) structural / thematic — confirmed

Isaac's worship at Beersheba (Genesis 26:25) mirrors his father's pattern at Bethel (Genesis 12:8): build an altar (H4196), pitch a tent (nâṭâh ’ōhel, H5186 + H168), and call on the name of the LORD (qârâʼ bᵉšêm, H7121 + H8034). The cluster of shared lexemes marks a deliberate patriarchal type-scene; the words are common, so the link is structural.

Genesis 26:25 · Genesis 12:8 · Genesis 4:26

basis: Verifier: 26:25↔12:8 share H5186 nâṭâh, H168 ʼôhel, H4196 mizbêach, H1129 bânâh, H7121 qârâʼ — a shared worship type-scene; Barnes cites Gen 4:26 for 'calling on the name'

The hundredfold harvest and the sower's good ground (cross-Testament, flagged) flagged — verify source

The patriarchal commentators (Ellicott, Benson, Poole, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary) uniformly read Genesis 26:12's hundredfold alongside the hundredfold of the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:8, 23). The connection is genuine and ancient in the commentary tradition, but it is cross-Testament: a Hebrew narrative and a Greek parable cannot share a Strong's number. The Verifier confirms no shared original-language lexeme exists. We therefore flag it: the link is interpretive, argued from the shared image of extraordinary yield, not from verbal identity.

Genesis 26:12 · Matthew 13:8

basis: Verifier: no shared lexeme (Hebrew↔Greek — cannot share Strong's). Link is thematic/interpretive (hundredfold yield), asserted by Ellicott/Benson/Poole et al., not verbal

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The well of living water widely-held

Isaac's servants found … a well of living water (Genesis 26:19, be’êr mayim ḥayyîm, H875 + H4325 + H2416). Gill (verifiable in the v.19 voices) already draws the figure forward: the phrase is used of the perpetual and ever living graces of the Spirit of God, John 4:10. Cambridge and the Pulpit Commentary likewise chain Genesis 26:19 to Jeremiah 2:13, Zechariah 14:8, and John 4:10. The figural reading — that the patriarch's springing well prefigures the living water Christ offers the Samaritan woman at another patriarchal well — is widely held in the tradition; but as a Hebrew↔Greek link it rests on translated image, not shared lexeme (the Verifier returns no common Strong's), so it is offered as typological, not verbal.

Genesis 26:19 · John 4:10 · Jeremiah 2:13

The meek who inherit the earth widely-held

Maclaren names Isaac the first instance of the Christian type of excellence in the Old Testament, who obeyed the Sermon on the Mount millenniums before it was spoken. The Pulpit Commentary glosses v.17 with Matthew 5:5; 1 Peter 3:9. The yielding patriarch who will not meet violence with violence, and who at Rehoboth is enlarged by God rather than by force, foreshadows the One who was as a sheep before her shearers (Maclaren's own phrase) and who taught that the meek inherit the earth. This is a figural/moral typology argued from the commentary tradition; it is widely held, not a verbal or quotation claim, and the Sower-style cross-Testament image (Genesis 26:22 'fruitful in the land' → Matthew 5:5 'inherit the earth') cannot rest on shared Strong's numbers across the languages.

Genesis 26:17 · Genesis 26:22 · Matthew 5:5

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (c. 1905)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
Keil & Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1860s)
Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Bible (1706–14)
Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Several honesty notes specific to this unit. (1) The hundredfold (v.12). The Hebrew is literally a hundred measures (mê·’āh šə·‘ā·rîm); šə·‘ā·rîm (H8180) is rare and uncertain, and the LXX and Syriac read a hundred of barley, confusing the consonants. Ellicott, the Cambridge editors, and the Pulpit Commentary all flag the variant — the ⚙ literal above follows the Masoretic measures. (2) Well-name etymologies (vv.20–22). The names Esek, Sitnah, and Rehoboth are given with their Hebrew sense; these are the narrator's own folk-etymologies (the verbs ‘âsaq, śâṭan-root, râchab chime with the names), and the Cambridge editor frankly calls them popular tradition as to the origin of the names of wells. We report the sense without claiming a verified geography, though several voices locate them at Wady Ruhaibeh / Wady Shutein. (3) 'My servant' (v.24). Cambridge notes the LXX reads thy father for the Masoretic My servant; the ⚙ literal follows the Hebrew, and the title's rarity (only here in Genesis) is genuine. (4) Cross-Testament threads (hundredfold → Matthew 13; living water → John 4) are flagged or marked typological precisely because Hebrew and Greek cannot share a Strong's lexeme; their force is interpretive and traditional, not verbal. (5) The closing well of v.25 is dug with kârâh (H3738), not the chapter's usual châphar (H2658) — a real lexical shift the Cambridge editor observes; our literal preserves it. All parses follow the Berean/Strong's data in input.json and are not contradicted here.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)