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Genesis 26:16
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14 for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines aenvied him.  
15 Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells awhich his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth.  
16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for ayou are much mightier than we.”  
17 Then Isaac departed from there and1 pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.  
18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. aHe called them by the names which his father had called them.  
19 Also Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there.
20 But the herdsmen of Gerar aquarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well1 Esek, because they quarreled with him.  
21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name1 Sitnah.  
22 And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name1 Rehoboth, because he said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall abe fruitful in the land.”  
23 Then he went up from there to Beersheba.
24 And the Lord aappeared to him the same night and said, b“I am the God of your father Abraham; cdo not fear, for dI am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.”  
25 So he abuilt an altar there and bcalled on the name of the Lord, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.  
26 Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, aand Phichol the commander of his army.  
27 And Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, asince you hate me and have bsent me away from you?”  
28 But they said, “We have certainly seen that the Lord ais with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a1 covenant with you,  
29 that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we have done nothing to you but good and have sent you away in peace. aYou are now the blessed of the Lord.’ ”  
30 aSo he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.  
31 Then they arose early in the morning and aswore an oath with one another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.  
32 It came to pass the same day that Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.”
33 So he called it1 Shebah. aTherefore the name of the city is2 Beersheba to this day.  
34 aWhen Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.  
Commentaries:
Adam Clarke
<< Genesis 26:15   Genesis 26:17 >>


Genesis 26:16

Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we - This is the first instance on record of what was termed among the Greeks ostracism; i.e., the banishment of a person from the state, of whose power, influence, or riches, the people were jealous. There is a remarkable saying of Bacon on this subject, which seems to intimate that he had this very circumstance under his eye: "Public envy is an ostracism that eclipseth men when they grow too great." On this same principle Pharaoh oppressed the Israelites. The Philistines appear to have been jealous of Isaac' s growing prosperity, and to have considered it, not as a due reward of his industry and holiness, but as their individual loss, as though his gain was at their expense; therefore they resolved to drive him out, and take his well-cultivated ground, etc., to themselves, and compelled Abimelech to dismiss him, who gave this reason for it, atsamta mimmennu , Thou hast obtained much wealth among us, and my people are envious of thee. Is not this the better translation? for it can hardly be supposed that Isaac was "mightier" than the king of whole tribes.




Other Adam Clarke entries containing Genesis 26:16:

Job 11:18

 

<< Genesis 26:15   Genesis 26:17 >>

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