48443 matching verse commentaries
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Isaac's servants digged in the valley,.... In the valley of Gerar, as the Septuagint version expresses it: and 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. (l) מים חיים...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen,.... About the well which was dug in the valley; and this shows it was near Gerar or at least was upon the border of the country, and so it was a disputable point to whom it belonged: saying, the water [is] ours; though the well was dug by Isaac's servants, yet they laid claim to the water,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they digged another well,.... That is, Isaac's servants: and strove for that also; the herdsmen of Gerar disputed their right to that also, and strove to get it from them: and 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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he went up from thence to Beersheba. From the place he last, removed unto Beersheba; the famine being over, he returns to the place where he and his rather formerly lived, Genesis 21:33.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the Lord appeared to him in the same night,.... The first night he came to Beersheba, in a dream or vision, in which the Lord was represented as speaking to him: and said, I [am] the God of Abraham thy father; though he was dead, he remembered the covenant he made with him, and the promises he made unto him: and besides, though Abraham was...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he builded an altar there,.... At Beersheba, where his father Abraham had planted a grove before, and very probably had built an altar also, though it might not be now standing, Genesis 21:33; and called upon the name of the Lord; and gave him thanks for all his mercies to him; for the care he had taken of him, and provision he had made for...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar,.... After Isaac was settled at Beersheba, and was still increasing in his family and substance, of which Abimelech very probably was informed; and fearing lest he should resent his being sent out of his country by him, and the ill treatment he met with afterwards from the herdmen of Gerar in the valley about...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Isaac said unto them, wherefore come ye to me,.... What is the meaning of this visit? what has brought you hither? it cannot be from affection and friendship to me: seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you? the latter he mentions as a proof of the former; they envied his prosperity, and hated him on that account, and therefore...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they said, we saw certainly that the Lord was with thee,.... Not only while he was among them, by the fruitfulness of the land he sowed, by the increase of his family, his flocks and herds, but also since he was gone from them, in the valley of Gerar, and now in Beersheba: and we said; one to another, assembled in privy council, in which this...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
That thou wilt do us no hurt,.... Neither to our persons nor properties, to our kingdom and subjects, by invading our land, and seizing on our kingdom, all which was feared from Isaac's growing wealth and power: as we have not touched thee; not done the least injury to him, to his person, family, and substance, but suffered him to go away with all...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he made them a feast,.... Made a feast like a king, for the king and his grandees; he treated them in a generous way, according to their dignity, and agreeable to his own disposition and substance: and they did eat and drink; freely, cheerfully, and in a friendly manner; for both having spoken their minds, they agreed to bury all former things...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...