Genesis 26:22

Postquam reversus est Ishac, fodit puteos aquae, quos foderant in diebus Abraham patris sui: quia obturaverant eos Pelisthim mortuo Abraham: et vocavit eos nominibus secundum nomina, quibus vocaverat eos pater suus. 19. And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water. 19. Et foderunt servi Ishac in valle, et invenerunt ibi puteum aquae vivae. 20. And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him. 21. And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah. 22. And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land. 23. And he went up from thence to Beersheba. 23. Et ascendit inde in Beer-sebah. 24. And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake. 24. Et visus est ei Iehova necte ipsa, et dixit, Ego sum Deus Abraham patris tui: ne timeas, quia tecum sum, et benedicam tibi, et multiplicare faciam semen tuum propter Abraham servum meum. 25. And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac's servants digged a well. 25.

26:18-25 Isaac met with much opposition in digging wells. Two were called Contention and Hatred. See the nature of worldly things; they make quarrels, and are occasions of strife; and what is often the lot of the most quiet and peaceable; those who avoid striving, yet cannot avoid being striven with. And what a mercy it is to have plenty of water; to have it without striving for it! The more common this mercy is, the more reason to be thankful for it. At length Isaac digged a well, for which they strove not. Those that study to be quiet, seldom fail of being so. When men are false and unkind, still God is faithful and gracious; and his time to show himself so is, when we are most disappointed by men. The same night that Isaac came weary and uneasy to Beer-sheba, God brought comforts to his soul. Those may remove with comfort who are sure of God's presence.

And he removed from thence,.... A little further from their border, to cut off all pretence, and put a stop to all dispute and controversy for the future: and digged another well; in the place he removed to: and for that they strove not; it being at such a distance from their border, they could not have the face to claim any right to it: and 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, and the straits into which they were brought through the contention of the herdsmen of Gerar: and we shall be fruitful in the land; his flocks and his herds increase, having good pasturage and watering for them, and so he and his family be in prosperous circumstances.

22 . Rehoboth ] That is, Broad places , or, Room . LXX Εὐρυχωρία ; Lat. Latitudo . This has been identified by modern travellers with a place called. er-Ruḥaibeh , 20 miles S. W. of Beer-sheba, where there is a well. we shall be fruitful ] i.e. prosperous. Prosperity depended upon unhindered access to a supply of water. The same word is used as in Genesis 1:22 , Genesis 41:52 , Genesis 49:22 .

18-22. Isaac digged again the wells of water—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.

Verse 22. - And he removed from thence (yielding that too), and digged another well; and for that they strove not (perhaps as being beyond the boundaries of Gerar): and he called the name of it Reheboth ; - i.e. "Wide spaces" (hence "streets," Genesis 19:2 ); from רָחַב , to be or become broad; conjectured to have been situated in the Wady Ruhaibeh , about eight and a half hours to the south of Beersheba, where are still found a well named Bir-Rohebeh and ruins of a city of the same name (Robinson, vol. 1. p. 289; Thomson, 'Land and Book,' p. 558) - and he said, For now the Lord hath made room (literally, hath made a broad space ) for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land. CHAPTER 26:23-35 Genesis 26:22

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.

Reopening and Discovery of Wells. - In this valley Isaac dug open the old wells which had existed from Abraham's time, and gave them the old names. His people also dug three new wells. But Abimelech's people raised a contest about two of these; and for this reason Isaac called them Esek and Sitnah, strife and opposition. The third there was no dispute about; and 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." This well was probably not in the land of Gerar, as Isaac had removed thence, but in the Wady Ruhaibeh, the name of which is suggestive of Rehoboth, which stands at the point where the two roads from Gaza and Hebron meet, about 3 hours to the south of Elusa, 8 1/3 to the south of Beersheba, and where there are extensive ruins of the city of the same name upon the heights, also the remains of wells (Robinson, Pal. i. 289ff.; Strauss, Sinai and Golgotha); where too the name Sitnah seems to have been retained in the Wady Shutein, with ruins on the northern hills between Ruhaibeh and Khulasa (Elusa).

[Bible] 26:16. Insomuch that Abimelech himself said to Isaac: Depart from us, for thou art become much mightier than we. 26:17. So he departed, and came to the torrent of Gerara, to dwell there: 26:18. And he digged again other wells, which the servants of his father, Abraham, had digged, and which, after his death, the Philistines had of old stopped up: and he called them by the same names, by which his father before had called them. 26:19. And they digged in the torrent, and found living water: Torrent... That is, a channel where sometimes a torrent or violent stream had run. 26:20. But there also the herdsmen of Gerara strove against the herdsmen of Isaac, saying: It is our water. Wherefore he called the name of the well, on occasion of that which had happened, Calumny. 26:21. And they digged also another; and for that they quarrelled likewise, and he called the name of it, Enmity. 26:22. Going forward from thence, he digged another well, for which they contended not; therefore he called the name thereof, Latitude, saying: Now hath the Lord given us room, and made us to increase upon the earth. Latitude... That is, wideness, or room. 26:23. And he went up from that place to Bersabee, 26:24. Where the Lord appeared to him that same night, saying: I am the God of Abraham thy father, do not fear, for I am with thee: I will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake. 26:25. And he built there an altar: and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent; and commanded his servants to dig a well. 26:26. To which place when Abimelech, and Ochozath his friend, and Phicol chief captain of his soldiers, came from Gerara, 26:27. Isaac said to them: Why are ye come to me, a man whom you hate, and have thrust out from you? 26:28. And they answered: We saw that the Lord is with thee, and therefore we said: Let there be an oath between us, and let us make a covenant,