Genesis 26:1 Kommentar

In this chapter we have, I. Isaac in adversity, by reason of a famine in the land, which, 1. Obliges him to change his quarters (Gen 26:1). But, 2. God visits him with direction and comfort (Gen 26:2-5). 3. He foolishly denies his wife, being in distress and is reproved for it by Abimelech (Gen 26:6-11). II. Isaac in prosperity, by the blessing of God upon him (Gen 26:12-14). And, 1. The Philistines were envious at him (Gen 26:14-17). 2. He continued industrious in his business (Gen 26:18-23). 3. God appeared to him, and encouraged him, and he devoutly acknowledged God (Gen 26:24, Gen 26:25). 4. The Philistines, at length, made court to him, and made a covenant with him (Gen 26:26-33). 5. The disagreeable marriage of his son Esau was an alloy to the comfort of his prosperity (Gen 26:34, Gen 26:35).

Here, I. God tried Isaac by his providence. Isaac had been trained up in a believing dependence upon the divine grant of the land of Canaan to him and his heirs; yet now there is a famine in the land, Gen 26:1. What shall he think of the promise when the promised land will not find him bread? Is such a grant worth accepting, upon such terms, and after so long a time? Yes, Isaac will still cleave to the covenant; and the less valuable Canaan in itself seems to be the better he is taught to value it, 1. As a token of God's everlasting kindness to him; and, 2. As a type of heaven's everlasting blessedness. Note, The intrinsic worth of God's promises cannot be lessened in a believer's eye by any cross providences. II. He directed him under this trial by his word. Isaac finds himself straitened by the scarcity of provisions. Somewhere he must go for supply; it should seem, he set out for Egypt, whither his father went in the like strait, but he takes Gerar in his way, full of thoughts, no doubt, which way he had best steer his course, till God graciously appeared to him, and determined him, abundantly to his satisfaction. 1. God bade him stay where he was, and not go down into Egypt: Sojourn in this land, Gen 26:2, Gen 26:3. There was a famine in Jacob's days, and God bade him go down into Egypt (Gen 46:3, Gen 46:4), a famine in Isaac's days, and God bade him not to go down, a famine in Abraham's days, and God left him to his liberty, directing him neither way. This variety in the divine procedure (considering that Egypt was always a place of trial and exercise to God's people) some ground upon the different characters of these three patriarchs. Abraham was a man of very high attainments, and intimate communion with God; and to him all places and conditions were alike. Isaac was a very good man, but not cut out for hardship; therefore he is forbidden to go to Egypt. Jacob was inured to difficulties, strong and patient; and therefore he must go down into Egypt, that the trial of his faith might be to praise, and honour, and glory. Thus God proportions his people's trials to their strength. 2. He promised to be with him, and bless him, Gen 26:3. As we may go any where with comfort when God's blessing goes with us, so we may stay any where contentedly if that blessing rest upon us. 3. He renewed the covenant with him, which had so often been made with Abraham, repeating and ratifying the promises of the land of Canaan, a numerous issue, and the Messiah, Gen 26:3, Gen 26:4. Note, Those that must live by faith have need often to review, and repeat to themselves, the promises they are to live upon, especially when they are called to any instance of suffering or self-denial. 4. He recommended to him the good example of his father's obedience, as that which had preserved the entail of the covenant in his family (Gen 26:5): "Abraham obeyed my voice; do thou do so too, and the promise shall be sure to thee." Abraham's obedience is here celebrated, to his honour; for by it he obtained a good report both with God and men. A great variety of words is here used to express the divine will, to which Abraham was obedient (my voice, my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws), which may intimate that Abraham's obedience was universal; he obeyed the original laws of nature, the revealed laws of divine worship, particularly that of circumcision, and all the extraordinary precepts God gave him, as that of quitting his country, and that (which some think is more especially referred to) of the offering up of his son, which Isaac himself had reason enough to remember. Note, Those only shall have the benefit and comfort of God's covenant with their godly parents that tread in the steps of their obedience.

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 26 This chapter treats of Isaac's removal to Gerar, occasioned by a famine, Gen 26:1; of the Lord's appearance to him there, advising him to sojourn in that place, and not go down to Egypt; renewing the covenant he had made with Abraham, concerning giving that country to him and his seed, Gen 26:2; of what happened unto him at Gerar on account of his wife, Gen 26:7; of Isaac's great prosperity and success, which drew the envy of the Philistines upon him, Gen 26:12; of his departure from hence to the valley of Gerar, at the instance of Abimelech; and of the contentions between his herdsmen, and those of Gerar, about wells of water, which caused him to remove to Beersheba, Gen 26:16; of the Lord's appearance to him there, renewing the above promise to him, where he built an altar, pitched his tent, and his servants dug a well, Gen 26:24; of Abimelech's coming to him thither, and making a covenant with him, Gen 26:26; which place had its name from the oath then made, and the well there dug, Gen 26:32; and lastly, of the marriage of Esau, which was a great grief to Isaac and Rebekah, Gen 26:34.

And there was a famine in the land,.... In the land of Canaan, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it: besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham; of which see Gen 12:10; which was an hundred years before this: and Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines, unto Gerar; where his father Abraham had sojourned before he was born; and therefore the present king of this place can scarce be thought to be the same Abimelech that was king of it in Abraham's time; but it is highly probable that this Abimelech was the son of the former king, and that this was a common name to the kings of Gerar or the Philistines, as Pharaoh was to the kings of Egypt. Isaac came to this place from Lahairoi, where he had dwelt many years, see Gen 24:62; which was at or near Beersheba, and was about eight miles from Gerar (a). (a) Bunting's Travels, p. 70.

In case you might think he was talking about that previous famine, accordingly he added, “besides the famine in the patriarch’s time,” that is to say, another similar famine beset the land in Isaac’s time as in his father’s time. The scarcity of the necessities of life threw everyone into great apprehension, compelled them to leave their own home and travel to those places where it was possible to find an abundance of resources.Hence this good man too, on seeing the famine, “took the journey,” the text says, “to visit Abimelech in Gerar.” This was where Abraham came too, you remember, after his return from Egypt.

A famine in the land obliges Isaac to leave Beer-sheba and go to Gerar, v. 1. God appears to him, and warns him not to go to Egypt, v. 2. Renews the promises to him which he had made to his father Abraham, vv. 3-5. Isaac dwells at Gerar, v. 6. Being questioned concerning Rebekah, and fearing to lose his life on her account, he calls her his sister, v. 7. Abimelech the king discovers, by certain familiarities which he had noticed between Isaac and Rebekah, that she was his wife, v. 8. Calls Isaac and reproaches him for his insincerity, vv. 9, 10. He gives a strict command to all his people not to molest either Isaac or his wife, v. 11. Isaac applies himself to husbandry and breeding of cattle, and has a great increase, vv. 12-14. Is envied by the Philistines, who stop up the wells he had dug, v. 15. Is desired by Abimelech to remove, v. 16. He obeys, and fixes his tent in the valley of Gerar, v. 17. Opens the wells dug in the days of Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up, v. 18. Digs the well, Eze 19:1-14, 20; and the well Sitnah, Eze 20:21; and the well Rehoboth, Eze 20:22. Returns to Beer-sheba, Eze 20:23. God appears to him, and renews his promises, Eze 20:24. He builds an altar there, pitches his tent, and digs a well, Eze 20:25. Abimelech, Ahuzzath, and Phichol, visit him, Eze 20:26. Isaac accuses them of unkindness, Eze 20:27. They beg him to make a covenant with them, Eze 20:28, Eze 20:29. He makes them a feast, and they bind themselves to each other by an oath, Eze 20:30, Eze 20:31. The well dug by Isaac's servants (Gen 26:25) called Shebah, Gen 26:33. Esau, at forty years of age, marries two wives of the Hittites, Gen 26:34, at which Isaac and Rebekah are grieved, Gen 26:35.

There was a famine - When this happened we cannot tell; it appears to have been after the death of Abraham. Concerning the first famine, see Gen 12:10. Abimelech - As we know not the time when the famine happened, so we cannot tell whether this was the same Abimelech, Phichol, etc., which are mentioned Gen 20:1, Gen 20:2, etc., or the sons or other descendants of these persons.

SOJOURN IN GERAR. (Gen. 26:1-35) And there was a famine in the land . . . And Isaac went unto . . . Gerar--The pressure of famine in Canaan forced Isaac with his family and flocks to migrate into the land of the Philistines, where he was exposed to personal danger, as his father had been on account of his wife's beauty; but through the seasonable interposition of Providence, he was preserved (Psa 105:14-15).

Renewal of the Promise. - A famine "in the land" (i.e., Canaan, to which he had therefore returned from Hagar's well; Gen 25:11), compelled Isaac to leave Canaan, as it had done Abraham before. Abraham went to Egypt, where his wife was exposed to danger, from which she could only be rescued by the direct interposition of God. Isaac also intended to go there, but on the way, viz., in Gerar, he received instruction through a divine manifestation that he was to remain there. As he was the seed to whom the land of Canaan was promised, he was directed not to leave it. To this end Jehovah assured him of the fulfilment of all the promises made to Abraham on oath, with express reference to His oath (Gen 22:16) to him and to his posterity, and on account of Abraham's obedience of faith. The only peculiarity in the words is the plural, "all these lands." This plural refers to all the lands or territories of the different Canaanitish tribes, mentioned in Gen 15:19-21, like the different divisions of the kingdom of Israel or Judah in Ch1 13:2; Ch2 11:23. האל; an antique form of האלּה occurring only in the Pentateuch. The piety of Abraham is described in words that indicate a perfect obedience to all the commands of God, and therefore frequently recur among the legal expressions of a later date. יהוה משׁמרת שׁמר "to take care of Jehovah's care," i.e., to observe Jehovah, His persons, and His will, Mishmereth, reverence, observance, care, is more closely defined by "commandments, statutes, laws," to denote constant obedience to all the revelations and instructions of God.