Genesis 26:21

_AND THEY DIGGED ANOTHER WELL, AND STROVE FOR THAT ALSO: AND HE CALLED THE NAME OF IT SITNAH._ Sitnah, х_ SITNAAH_ (H7856)] - hatred, accusation. Wilton suggests that this well was dug in Wady esh-Shutein....

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....

Verse Genesis 26:21. _THEY DIGGED ANOTHER WELL_] Never did any man more implicitly follow the Divine command, _Resist not evil_, than Isaac; whenever he found that his work was likely to be a subject of strife and contention, he gave place, and rather chose to suffer wrong than to have his own peace of mind disturbed. Thus he overcame _evil_ with _good_....

- 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 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 name, and these men were of a diabolical spirit, envious, spiteful, and malicious....

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.

SITNAH. Hebrew opposition....

_Sitnah_ That is, _Enmity_. This name is connected with the same root as the word _satan_, "adversary"; cf. Numbers 20:22; 1 Samuel 29:4. It has been doubtfully identified with a modern name, _Wady-Sutem_....