Genesis 26

Genesis · Chapter 26

Genesis 26:8

1And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.2And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:3Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;4And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;5Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.6And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:7And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.8And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.9And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.10And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.11And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.12Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.13And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:14For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.15For 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.16And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.17And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.18And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.19And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.20And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac’s herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him.21And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.22And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.23And he went up from thence to Beersheba.24And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake.25And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well.26Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.27And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?28And they said, We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;29That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now the blessed of the LORD.30And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.31And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.32And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water.33And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day.34And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite:35Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
8And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.

In context

Who is speaking and to whom, what is happening, when and where, and why it matters, each with its sources. Coming with the context cards.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
and it wasוַיְהִ֗יvay-HIH1961
to be

הָיָה (ha.yah) 1) to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out 1a) (Qal) 1a1) --- 1a1a) to happen, fall out, occur, take place, come about, come to pass 1a1b) to come about, come to pass 1a2) to come into being, become 1a2a) to arise, appear, come 1a2b) to become 1a2b1) to become 1a2b2) to become like 1a2b3) to be instituted, be established 1a3) to be 1a3a) to exist, be in existence 1a3b) to abide, remain, continue (with word of place or time) 1a3c) to stand, lie, be in, be at, be situated (with word of locality) 1a3d) to accompany, be with 1b) (Niphal) …

thatכִּ֣יkiH3588A
for

כִּי (ki) 1) that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since 1a) that 1a1) yea, indeed 1b) when (of time) 1b1) when, if, though (with a concessive force) 1c) because, since (causal connection) 1d) but (after negative) 1e) that if, for if, indeed if, for though, but if 1f) but rather, but 1g) except that 1h) only, nevertheless 1i) surely 1j) that is 1k) but if 1l) for though 1m) forasmuch as, for therefore

they had become longאָֽרְכוּ־'a-re-khu-H0748
to prolong

אָרַךְ (a.rakh) 1) to be long, prolong 1a) (Qal) to be long 1b) (Hiphil) 1b1) to prolong (days) 1b2) to make long (tent cords) 1b3) to grow long, continue long Aramaic equivalent: a.rakh (אֲרִיךְ "be proper" H0749)

thereשָׁם֙shamH8033G
there

שָׁם (sham) 1) there, thither 1a) there 1b) thither (after verbs of motion) 1c) from there, thence 1d) then (as an adverb of time) Aramaic equivalent: tam.mah (תַּמָּה "there" H8536)

the daysהַיָּמִ֔יםhai-ya-MIMH3117G
day

יוֹם (yom) : day/when/time/period 1) day, time, year 1a) day (as opposed to night) 1b) day (24 hour period) 1b1) as defined by evening and morning in Genesis 1 1b2) as a division of time 1b2a) a working day, a day's journey 1c) days, lifetime (pl.) 1d) time, period (general) 1e) year 1f) temporal references 1f1) today 1f2) yesterday 1f3) tomorrow

and he looked downוַיַּשְׁקֵ֗ףvai-yash-KEFH8259
to look

שָׁקַף (sha.qaph) 1) to overlook, look down or out, overhang, look out and down 1a) (Niphal) to lean over (and look), look down 1b) (Hiphil) to look down, look down upon

Abimelechאֲבִימֶ֙לֶךְ֙'a-vi-ME-lekhH0040G
Abimelech

אֲבִימֶ֫לֶךְ (a.vi.me.lekh) A man living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Gen.20.2 § Abimelech = "Melek is father" or "my father is king" 1) king of Gerar in Abraham's time 2) king of Gath in David's time; maybe title of Philistine kings 3) son of Gideon by a concubine 4) priest, son of Abiathar

[the] king ofמֶ֣לֶךְME-lekhH4428G
king

מֶ֫לֶךְ (me.lekh) 1) king Aramaic equivalent: me.lekh (מֶ֫לֶךְ "king" H4430)

[the] Philistinesפְּלִשְׁתִּ֔יםpe-lish-TIMH6430G
Philistine

פְּלִשְׁתִּי (pe.lish.ti) Philistine = "immigrants" an inhabitant of Philistia; descendants of Mizraim who immigrated from Caphtor (Crete?) to the western seacoast of Canaan Another spelling of pe.le.shet (פְּלֶ֫שֶׁת "Philistia" H6429)

throughבְּעַ֖דbe-'ADH1157
about/through/for

בַּ֫עַד (be.ad) 1) behind, through, round about, on behalf of, away from, about 1a) through (of action) 1b) behind (with verbs of shutting) 1c) about (with verbs of fencing) 1d) on behalf of (metaph. especially with Hithpael)

the windowהַֽחַלּ֑וֹןha-cha-LONH2474
window

חַלּוֹן (chal.lon) window (piercing of the wall)

and he sawוַיַּ֗רְאvai-YAR'H7200G
to see: see

רָאָה (ra.ah) : see/show 1) to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to see 1a2) to see, perceive 1a3) to see, have vision 1a4) to look at, see, regard, look after, see after, learn about, observe, watch, look upon, look out, find out 1a5) to see, observe, consider, look at, give attention to, discern, distinguish 1a6) to look at, gaze at 1a7) to provide, choose 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to appear, present oneself 1b2) to be seen 1b3) to be visible 1c) (Pual) to be seen 1d) (Hiphil) 1d1) to cause to see, show 1d2) to cause to look intently at, behold, cause to gaze at 1e) (Hophal) …

and there!וְהִנֵּ֤הve-hi-NEHH2009
behold

הִנֵּה (hin.neh) behold, lo, see, if

Isaacיִצְחָק֙yitz-CHAKH3327
Isaac

יִצְחָק (yits.chaq) A man living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Gen.17.19; son of: Abraham (H0085) and Sarah (H8283); half-brother of: Ishmael (H3458), Zimran (H2175), Jokshan (H3370), Medan (H4091), Midian (H4080), Ishbak (H3435) and Shuah (H7744); married to Rebekah (H7259); father of: Esau (H6215) and Israel (H3478) § Isaac = "he laughs" son of Abraham by Sarah his wife and father of Jacob and Esau

[was] playingמְצַחֵ֔קme-tza-CHEKH6711
to laugh

צָחַק (tsa.chaq) 1) to laugh, mock, play 1a) (Qal) to laugh 1b) (Piel) 1b1) to jest 1b2) to sport, play, make sport, toy with, make a toy of

withאֵ֖ת'etH0854
with

אֵת (et) 1) with, near, together with 1a) with, together with 1b) with (of relationship) 1c) near (of place) 1d) with (poss.) 1e) from...with, from (with other prep)

Rebekahרִבְקָ֥הriv-KAHH7259
Rebekah

רִבְקָה (riv.qah) A woman living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Gen.22.23; daughter of: Bethuel (H1328A); sister of: Laban (H3837A); married to Isaac (H3327); mother of: Esau (H6215) and Israel (H3478) Also named: Rhebekka (Ῥεβέκκα "Rebekah" G4479) § Rebekah = "ensnarer" daughter of Bethuel, sister of Laban, wife of Isaac, and mother of Esau and Jacob

wife hisאִשְׁתּֽוֹ׃'ish-TOH0802H
woman

אִשָּׁה (ish.shah) : woman 1) woman, wife, female 1a) woman (opposite of man) 1b) wife (woman married to a man) 1c) female (of animals) 1d) each, every (pronoun)

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.