Genesis 26:17

_AND ISAAC DEPARTED THENCE, AND PITCHED HIS TENT IN THE VALLEY OF GERAR, AND DWELT THERE._ Isaac departed ... and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar - [Hebrew, _ NACHAL_ (H5158), a torrent and a torrent-bed, a wady; Septuagint, en tee pharangi Geraroon] The whole of the southern frontier of Palestine, called the Negeb or 'south country,' consisting of vast undulating plains, which extend between the hills of Judah and the desert of Sinai, were neutral ground, on the natural pastures of which the patriarchs fed their large flocks, before they had obtained a permanent abode. The valley of Gerar-now Wady el-Jerur-about 50 miles south of the city Gerar, is perhaps the remote extremity of that pasture land. That the Wady el-Jerur is not without its attractions as a place of resident and that its immediate neighbourhood, partly arable and party pastoral, was well adapted for an ancient s...

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....

- 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

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 disposition of Isaac: AND PITCHED HIS TENT IN THE VALLEY OF GERAR, AND DWELT THERE; at some distance from the city of Gerar, as Jarchi observes. Josephus g says it was not far from it; but how far is not certain; very probably it was not out of the country, though on the borders of it. Some render it, "the brook of Gerar" h, and interpret it, that he pitched his tent, and dwelt by it; and the word used does signify a brook as well as a valley; and there was a brook of Gerar, which Sozomen i makes mention of. g Antiqu. l. 1. c. 18. sect. 2. h בנחל גרר...

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.

_the valley of Gerar_ The word "valley" (_naḥal_) represents the bed of a stream, often dry during summer. Here, possibly, it is the _Wady Jerâr_, into which several other _wadies_open....

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

26:17 valley (c-11) Elsewhere 'torrent;' it is a valley in which a torrent runs. see ch. 32.23....