Genesis 26:15

_FOR ALL THE WELLS WHICH HIS FATHER'S SERVANTS HAD DIGGED IN THE DAYS OF ABRAHAM HIS FATHER, THE PHILISTINES HAD STOPPED THEM, AND FILLED THEM WITH EARTH._ Wells ... Philistines had stopped ... - the same base stratagem for annoying those against whom they have taken an umbrage is practiced still, by choking the wells with sand or stones, or defiling them with putrid carcasses....

12-17 God blessed Isaac. Be it observed, for the encouragement of poor tenants who occupy other people's lands, and are honest and industrious, that God blessed him with a great increase. The Philistines envied Isaac. It is an instance of the vanity of the world; for the more men have of it, the more they are envied, and exposed to censure and injury. Also of the corruption of nature; for that is an ill principle indeed, which makes men grieve at the good of others. They made Isaac go out of their country. That wisdom which is from above, will teach us to give up our right, and to draw back from contentions. If we are wrongfully driven from one place, the Lord will make room for us in another....

Verse Genesis 26:15. _FOR ALL THE WELLS - THE PHILISTINES HAD STOPPED THEM_] In such countries a good well was a great acquisition; and hence in predatory wars it was usual for either party to fill the wells with earth or sand, in order to distress the enemy. The filling up the wells in this case was a most unprincipled transaction, as they had pledged themselves to Abraham, by a solemn oath, not to injure each other in this or any other respect. See Genesis 21:25-1....

- 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 _r__e__chobôt_, Rechoboth, “room.” 26. אחזת...

EXPOSITION GENESIS 26:12 THEN ISAAC SOWED IN THAT LAND,—viz; Philistia. Though a distinct advance on the purely nomadic life pursued by Abraham, this did not imply fixed property in, or even permanent settlement on, the soil, "but only annual tenancy" thereof. Robinson (1. 77) mentions a colony of the Tawarah Arabs, about fifty families, living near Abu Zabel, in Egypt, who cultivated the soil and yet dwelt in tents. "The Biblical patriarchs were not mere Bedawin wanderers, like those who now occupy the Eastern deserts. They had large herds of cattle, which genuine Bedawins have not; they tilled the ground, which these robbers never do; and they accommodated themselves, without difficulty or reluctance, to town and city when necessary, which wild Arabs cannot endure"—AND RECEIVED IN THE SAME YEAR AN HUNDRED-FOLD—litera

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....

CHAPTER 26 ISAAC IN GERAR _ 1. The famine (Genesis 26:1)_ 2. Jehovah appears unto Isaac (Genesis 26:2) 3. Isaac in Gerar where he denies Rebekah (Genesis 26:6) 4. Isaac's prosperity and the digging of wells (Genesis 26:12) 5. Jehovah appears at Beersheba (Genesis 26:23) 6. Isaac and Abimelech (Genesis 26:26) 7. The wives of Esau ...

GENESIS 26. ISAAC AND THE PHILISTINES. Apart from Genesis 26:34 f. this chapter belongs to J. The original has been expanded in Genesis 26:1, and Genesis 26:15; Genesis 26:18 are harmonistic insertions. Apart from Genesis 26:12 the incidents are parallel to incidents recorded of Abraham. On the relation to the earlier adventures of Sarah in Egypt and Gerar, see Genesis 26:20 *. The incident is misplaced; obviously it is earlier than the birth of Esau and Jacob.

_his father's servants_ Cf. Genesis 21:25. _had stopped them_ Wells were of priceless value to large owners of cattle and sheep. The "Philistines" adopted the most malignant method of spiting the Hebrews, and of rendering their continued sojourn in the land impossible. See 2 Kings 3:25....

5. _Isaac's Successful Venture into Agriculture_ (Genesis 26:12-17). Besides planting trees, Abraham was to the end of his life a nomad, Isaac, however, begins to pursue agriculture along with his nomadic life: this venture causes commentators to classify him as a kind of semi-nomad, (The only other allusion to husbandry in the patriarchal history occur in Genesis 30:14; Genesis 37:7). Isaac is described as living in the city of Gerar itself. He tried his hand successfully at a season of farming and his yield was -a hundredfold,-' a statement worth recording because nomads are poor farmers as a rule. Isaac's experiment is an interesting example of a nomad beginning to settle down to semi nomadism. A recurring