the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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Genesis 26:31
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In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace.
And they rose up early in the morning, and swore one to another. And Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them away, and they left in peace.
Early in the morning the men made a treaty with each other. Isaac sent them off; they separated on good terms.
And they rose betimes in the morning, and swore one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
They rose up some time in the morning, and swore one to another. Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
They got up early in the morning and swore oaths [pledging to do nothing but good to each other]; and Isaac sent them on their way and they left him in peace.
and sworen ech to other; and Isaac lefte hem peisibli in to her place.
and rise early in the morning, and swear one to another, and Isaac sendeth them away, and they go from him in peace.
And they got up early the next morning and swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.
Early the next morning Isaac and the others made a solemn agreement, then he let them go in peace.
The next morning, they got up early and swore to each other. Then Yitz'chak sent them on their way, and they left him peacefully.
And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
And early in the morning they took an oath one to the other: then Isaac sent them away and they went on their way in peace.
And they rose vp betymes in the mornyng, and sware one to another: And Isahac sent them away, and they departed from hym in peace.
And they rose early in the morning, and swore one to another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
And they rose up betimes in the morning, and swore one to another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
And they rose vp betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
They got up early in the morning and made promises to each other. Then Isaac sent them away, and they left him in peace.
In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths; and Isaac set them on their way, and they departed from him in peace.
and rose up early in the morning, and took an oath each man to his brother, so Isaac let them go, and they departed from him in peace.
And they rose vp betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: then Izhak let them go, and they departed from him in peace.
And they rose up in the early morning, and took oaths one with another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
Early next morning each man made his promise and sealed it with a vow. Isaac said good-bye to them, and they parted as friends.
Arising in the morning, they swore one to another: and Isaac sent them away peaceably to their own home.
In the morning they rose early and took oath with one another; and Isaac set them on their way, and they departed from him in peace.
And they arose in the morning, and swore each to his neighbour; and Isaac sent them forth, and they departed from him in safety.
And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
They got up early in the morning and swore an oath to each other. Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.
They rose up some time in the morning, and swore one to another. Yitzchak sent them away, and they departed from him in shalom.
And they arose early in the morning and each one swore to the other, and Isaac sent them away. And they left him in peace.
And they started up early at dawn, and each swore to his brother. And Isaac sent them away, and they left him in peace.
And on the morow they arose, and sware one to the other. And Isaac let them go, and they departed from him in peace.
In the morning they got up early and exchanged oaths; then Isaac sent them away, and they left him in peace.
Then they arose early in the morning and swore an oath with one another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
Early the next morning, they each took a solemn oath not to interfere with each other. Then Isaac sent them home again, and they left him in peace.
In the morning they arose early and exchanged oaths; then Isaac sent them away and they departed from him in peace.
In the morning they arose early, and each swore to the other; then Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
betimes: Genesis 19:2, Genesis 21:14, Genesis 22:3, Genesis 31:55
sware: Genesis 14:22, Genesis 21:23, Genesis 21:31, Genesis 21:32, Genesis 25:33, Genesis 31:44, 1 Samuel 14:24, 1 Samuel 20:3, 1 Samuel 20:16, 1 Samuel 20:17, 1 Samuel 30:15, Hebrews 6:16
Cross-References
But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I promise to the Lord , the God Most High, the one who made heaven and earth.
Early the next morning Abraham took some food and water and gave them to Hagar. She carried them and left with her boy. She left that place and wandered in the desert of Beersheba.
So make a promise to me here before God. Promise that you will be fair with me and with my children. Promise that you will be kind to me and this country where you have lived. Promise that you will be as kind to me as I have been to you."
In the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took Isaac and two servants with him. He cut the wood for the sacrifice. Then they went to the place where God told them to go.
But Jacob said, "First, promise me that you will give them to me." So Esau made an oath to him and sold his rights as the firstborn son to Jacob.
Abimelech said to Isaac, "Leave our country. You have become much more powerful than we are."
So Isaac left that place and camped near the little river of Gerar. He stayed there and lived.
Early the next morning each man made a promise and a vow. Then the men left in peace.
On that day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well they had dug. The servants said, "We found water in that well."
So I am ready to make an agreement with you. We will set up a pile of stones to show that we have an agreement."
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And they rose up betimes in the morning,.... Abimelech and his friends, in order to return home, and Isaac to take his leave of them, and both to make the covenant between them in form, and confirm it by an oath, for which the morning was the fitter time; when the mind is quite free and composed, and attentive to what is done, as so solemn a transaction should be performed with the utmost attention and seriousness:
and swore one to another; to live in amity and friendship, and not distress and disturb each other:
and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace; he took his leave of them in a friendly manner, and they departed well pleased with the reception they had met with, and the success they had had, having agreed on and settled articles of peace to mutual satisfaction.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
- The Events of Isaac’s Life
5. משׁמרת mı̂shmeret, “charge, ordinance.” מציה mı̂tsvâh, “command,” special order. חק choq, “decree, statute,” engraven on stone or metal. תירה tôrâh, “law,” doctrine, system of moral truth.
10. עשׂק ‛êśeq, ‘Eseq, “strife.”
21. שׂטנה śı̂ṭnâh, Sitnah, “opposition.”
22. רחבית rechobôt, Rechoboth, “room.”
26. אחזת 'ǎchuzat, Achuzzath, “possession.”
33. שׁבעה shı̂b‛âh, Shib’ah, “seven; oath.”
34. יהוּדית yehûdı̂yt, Jehudith, “praised.” בארי be'ērı̂y, Beeri, “of a well.” בשׂמת bāśemat, Basemath, “sweet smell.” אילן 'êylon, Elon, “oak.”
This chapter presents the leading events in the quiet life of Isaac. It is probable that Abraham was now dead. In that case, Esau and Jacob would be at least fifteen years of age when the following event occurred.
Genesis 26:1-5
Renewal of the promise to Isaac. “A famine in the land.” We left Isaac, after the death of Abraham, at Beer-lahai-roi Genesis 25:11. The preceding events have only brought us up to the same point of time. This well was in the land of the south Genesis 24:62. The present famine is distinguished from what occurred in the time of Abraham Genesis 12:10. The interval between them is at least a hundred years. The author of this, the ninth document, is, we find, acquainted with the seventh document; and the famine to which he refers is among the earliest events recorded in it. There is no reason to doubt, then, that he has the whole history of Abraham before his mind. “Unto Abimelek unto Gerar.” The Abimelek with whom Abraham had contact about eighty years before may have been the father of the present sovereign. Both Abimelek and Phikol seem to have been official names. Gerar Genesis 10:19 was apparently on the brook of Mizraim Numbers 34:5, the Wady el-Arish, or the Wady el-Khubarah, a northern affluent of the former, or in the interval between them. It is on the way to Egypt, and is the southern city of the Philistines, who probably came from Egypt Genesis 10:14. Isaac was drawing toward Egypt, when he came to Gerar.
Genesis 26:2-5
Isaac is now the heir, and therefore the holder, of the promise. Hence, the Lord enters into communication with him. First, the present difficulty is met. “Go not down into Mizraim,” the land of corn, even when other lands were barren. “Dwell in the land of which I shall tell thee.” This reminds us of the message to Abraham Genesis 12:1. The land here spoken of refers to “all these lands” mentioned in the following verses. “Sojourn in this land:” turn aside for the present, and take up thy temporary abode here. Next, the promise to Abraham is renewed with some variety of expression. “I will be with thee” Genesis 21:22, a notable and comprehensive promise, afterward embodied in the name Immanuel, “God with us. Unto thee and unto thy seed.” This was fulfilled to his seed in due time. All these lands, now parcelled out among several tribes. “And blessed in thy seed” Genesis 12:3; Genesis 22:18.
This is the great, universal promise to the whole human race through the seed of Abraham, twice explicitly announced to that patriarch. “All the nations.” In constancy of purpose the Lord contemplates, even in the special covenant with Abraham, the gathering in of the nations under the covenant with Noah and with Adam Genesis 9:9; Hosea 6:7. “Because Abraham hearkened to my voice,” in all the great moments of his life, especially in the last act of proceeding on the divine command to offer Isaac himself. Abraham, by the faith which flows from the new birth, was united with the Lord, his shield and exceeding great reward Genesis 15:1, with God Almighty, who quickened and strengthened him to walk before him and be perfect Genesis 17:1. The Lord his righteousness worketh in him, and his merit is reflected and reproduced in him Genesis 22:16, Genesis 22:18. Hence, the Lord reminds Isaac of the oath which he had heard at least fifty years before confirming the promise, and of the declaration then made that this oath of confirmation was sworn because Abraham had obeyed the voice of God. How deeply these words would penetrate into the soul of Isaac, the intended victim of that solemn day! But Abraham’s obedience was displayed in all the acts of his new life. He kept the charge of God, the special commission he had given him; his commandments, his express or occasional orders; his statutes, his stated prescriptions, graven on stone; his laws, the great doctrines of moral obligation. This is that unreserved obedience which flows from a living faith, and withstands the temptations of the flesh.
Genesis 26:6-11
Rebekah preserved from dishonor in Gerar. Gerar was probably a commercial town trading with Egypt, and therefore Isaac’s needs during the famine are here supplied. “The men of the place” were struck with the appearance of Rebekah, “because she was fair.” Isaac, in answer to their inquiries, pretends that she is his sister, feeling that his life was in peril, if she was known to be his wife. Rebekah was at this time not less than thirty-five years married, and had two sons upwards of fifteen years old. She was still however in the prime of life, and her sons were probably engaged in pastoral and other field pursuits. From the compact between Abraham and Sarah Genesis 20:13, and from this case of Isaac about eighty years after, it appears that this was a ready pretence with married people among strangers in those times of social insecurity.
Genesis 26:8-11
Abimelek observes Isaac sporting with Rebekah as only husband and wife should, constrains him to confess that she is his wife, charges him with the impropriety of his conduct, and commands his people to refrain from harming either of them on pain of death. We see how insecure a female’s honor was in those days, if she was in a strange land, and had not a band of men to keep back the hand of violence. We perceive also that God mercifully protects his chosen ones from the perils which they bring upon themselves by the vain self-reliance and wicked policy of the old corrupt nature. This remnant of the old man we find in the believers of old, as in those of the present time, though it be different and far less excusable in its recent manifestations.
Genesis 26:12-16
The growing prosperity of Isaac. “And Isaac sowed in that land.” This does not imply a fixed property in the soil, but only an annual tenancy. “A hundred-fold.” The rates of increase vary from thirty to a hundred. Sixty-fold is very good, and was not unusual in Palestine. A hundred-fold was rare, and only in spots of extraordinary fertility. Babylonia, however, yielded two hundred and even three hundred-fold, according to Herodotus (I. 193). Thus, the Lord began to “bless him.” The amazing growth of the stranger’s wealth in flocks and herds and servants awakens the envy of the inhabitants. The digging of the well was an enterprise of great interest in rural affairs. It conferred a sort of ownership on the digger, especially in a country where water was precious. And in a primeval state of society the well was the scene of youthful maidens drawing water for domestic use, and of young men and sometimes maidens watering the bleating flocks and lowing herds, and therefore the gathering center of settled life. Hence, the envious Philistines were afraid that from a sojourner he would go on to be a settler, and acquire rights of property. They accordingly took the most effectual means of making his abiding place uncomfortable, when they stopped up the wells. At length the sovereign advised a separation, if he did not enjoin the departure of Isaac.
Genesis 26:17-22
Isaac retires, and sets about the digging of wells. He retreats from Gerar and its suburbs, and takes up his abode in the valley, or wady of Gerar. These wadys are the hollows in which brooks flow, and therefore the well-watered and fertile parts of the country. He digs again the old wells, and calls them by the old names. He commences the digging of new ones. For the first the herdmen of Gerar strive, claiming the water as their property. Isaac yields. He digs another; they strive, and he again yields. He now removes apparently into a distinct region, and digs a third well, for which there is no contest. This he calls Rehoboth, “room” - a name which appears to be preserved in Wady er-Ruhaibeh, near which is Wady esh-Shutein, corresponding to Sitnah. “For now the Lord hath made room for us.” Isaac’s homely realizing faith in a present and presiding Lord here comes out.
Genesis 26:23-25
Isaac now proceeds to Beer-sheba. “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. “In that night” - the night after his arrival, in a dream or vision. “I am the God of Abraham thy father.” Isaac is again and again reminded of the relation in which his father stood to God. That relation still subsists; for Abraham still lives with God, and is far nearer to him than he could be on earth. “The God of Abraham” is another name for Yahweh. “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.” “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. “Digged a well,” and thereby took possession of the soil at least for a time. We hear of this well again in the next passage.
Genesis 26:26-33
The treaty with Abimelek. This is an interview similar to what Abraham had with the king of Gerar; and its object is a renewal of the former league between the parties. Besides Phikol, the commander-in-chief, he is now accompanied by Ahuzzath, his privy counsellor. Isaac upbraids him with his unkindness in sending him away, and his inconsistency in again seeking a conference with him. “We clearly saw.” His prosperity was such as to be a manifest token of the Lord’s favor. Hence, they desired the security of a treaty with him by an oath of execration on the transgressor. “Do us no hurt.” The covenant is one-sided, as expressed by Abimelek. “As we have not touched thee.” This implies the other side of the covenant. “Thou art now blessed of Yahweh.” This explains the one-sidedness of the covenant. Isaac needed no guarantee from them, as the Lord was with him. Abimelek is familiar with the use of the name Yahweh. Isaac hospitably entertains and lodges the royal party, and on the morrow, after having sworn to the treaty, parts with them in peace. On the same day Isaac’s servants report concerning the well they had digged Genesis 26:25 that they had found water. This well he calls Sheba, “an oath,” and hence the town is called Beer-sheba, “the well of the oath.” Now the writer was aware that this place had received the same name on a former occasion Genesis 21:31. But a second well has now been dug in like circumstances in the same locality. This gives occasion for a new application of the name in the memories of the people. This is another illustration of the principle explained at Genesis 25:30. Two wells still exist at this place to attest the correctness of the record.
Gen 25:34-35
Esau at forty years of age forms matrimonial connections with the Hittites. Heth was the second son of Kenaan, and had settled in the hills about Hebron. Esau had got acquainted with this tribe in his hunting expeditions. From their names we learn that they spoke the same language with himself. They belonged to a family far gone in transgression and apostasy from God. The two wives chosen from such a stock were a source of great grief to the parents of Esau. The choice manifested his tolerance at least of the carnal, and his indifference to the spiritual.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Genesis 26:31. They rose up betimes — Early rising was general among the primitive inhabitants of the world, and this was one cause which contributed greatly to their health and longevity.
