37 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Genesis 26 This chapter treats of Isaac's removal to Gerar, occasioned by a famine, Genesis 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, Genesis 26:2; of what happened...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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 Genesis 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...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
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, ver. 1. But, 2. God visits him with direction and comfort, ver. 2-5. 3. He foolishly denies his wife, being in distress and is reproved for it by Abimelech, ver. 6-11. II. Isaac in prosperity, by the blessing of God upon...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the Lord appeared unto him,.... In a vision or dream, when he was at Gerar: and said, go not down into Egypt; as his father had done in the like case, and where Isaac thought to have gone, and the rather, as that was a fruitful country; and so the Targum of Jonathan, "and it was in the heart of Isaac to go down into Egypt, and the Lord...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Sojourn in this land,.... The land of Canaan, where he now was; either in Gerar, which though in the land of the Philistines was a part of Canaan, the place of his present residence; or in any other part of it he should be directed to: however, by this it appears it was the pleasure of God that he should not go out of that land, and which Abraham...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven,.... Meaning in the line of Jacob especially, if not only; from whom sprung twelve patriarchs, the heads of so many tribes, which in process of time became very numerous, even as the stars of heaven: and I will give unto thy seed all these countries; which is repeated from Genesis 26:3...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Because that Abraham obeyed my voice,.... In all things, and particularly in offering up his son at his command: and kept my charge; whatever was given him in charge to observe; this, as Aben Ezra thinks, is the general, of which the particulars follow: my commandments, my statutes, and my laws; whether moral, ceremonial, or civil and judicial;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Isaac dwelt in Gerar. Continued there; in this he was obedient to the command and will of God.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the men of the place asked [him] of his wife,.... The inhabitants of Gerar inquired of Isaac who she was, whether she was his wife or not, or in what relation she stood in to him; this was not a mere civil inquiry, but what arose from the prevalence of lust in them towards her; and yet it was under some restraint, they being not so abandoned...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time,.... Perhaps some years: for though it is in the original, "when days were prolonged to him there" (b); yet days are sometimes put for years: that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window; in his own palace, near to which, in all likelihood, were the apartments that Isaac and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Abimelech called Isaac,.... Sent a messenger to desire him to come to him: and said, behold, of a surety she [is] thy wife: and then perhaps told him of what he had observed that passed between them; which was a clear proof that they must be man and wife, or he would never have took such liberties with her: and how saidst thou, she [is] my...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Abimelech said, what is this thou hast done unto us?.... By entertaining suspicions and jealousies of us as bad men, and by exposing us to the temptation of committing iniquity; why hast thou dealt thus with us, and what have we done, or is in our character, that thou shouldest act after this manner? one of the people might lightly have lien...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Abimelech charged all [his] people,.... All his subjects throughout his kingdom, and particularly the inhabitants of Gerar, and more especially his courtiers and servants about him: saying, he that toucheth this man or his wife; that does any injury to one either by words or deeds, or behaves immodestly to the other, or attempts to ravish her;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then, Isaac sowed in that land,.... In the land of Gerar; after matters were settled between him and Abimelech, and he had ordered his servants to do him no hurt, he sowed wheat or barley, or some such grain: and received in the same year an hundred fold; in which he sowed it, and which many take to be a year of famine; and so it was the more...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the man waxed great,.... In substance, as well as in honour and glory, among men; and went forward; in the world, and in the increase of worldly things: and grew until he became very great: as he must needs be, since Abraham his father left him all that he had, who was very rich in cattle, in gold and silver, and had been increasing ever...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds,.... Many flocks of sheep, and herds of cattle, of oxen, asses and camels, in which the riches of men in those times and countries chiefly lay: and great store of servants; to look after his flocks and herds, and fields; or "much husbandry" (f); Jarchi interprets it much tillage; as, much...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For all the wells which his father's servants had digged, in the days of Abraham his father,.... For the watering of his flocks and herds, see Genesis 21:25: the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth; that they might be of no use; and this they did through envy to him, and is mentioned as a proof of it.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Abimelech said unto Isaac, go from us,.... Which was either said by way of advice, consulting Isaac's good, and the peace of his own kingdom; or else by way of command, enjoining him to depart, having a secret envy to him himself, or at least was jealous of his growing power and wealth: for thou art much mightier than we; in riches or goods,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Isaac departed thence,.... At once, peaceably and quietly, though to his loss and disadvantage, without taking himself either to argument or arms, in favour of himself; 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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father,.... This seems to refer to the same wells made mention of in Genesis 26:15, since it follows, for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham; these were what Abraham's servants had dug, when he lived at Gerar, and which the...