1 And 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.
Here we go again.
Since this lists only one previous famine, it really sounds like the two famine accounts under Abraham were really one event reported by two people.
2 And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, “Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:
3 “Sojourn 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 swore unto Abraham thy father;
4 “And 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;
5 “Because that Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”
God repeats His promise to Isaac. Once again God chooses a barren family to be the parents of multitudes greater in number than the stars of heaven.
The reason given for continuing this covenant is that Abraham had obeyed God. Our obedience to God brings blessings on future generations.
6 And Isaac lived in Gerar:
7 And 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.
When the Bible says that the sins of the father are visited on the sons (Numbers 14:18), it doesn’t mean that God condemns the sons to hell for their father’s sins, but that the consequences are generally felt by the next generation and the sons tend to commit the same sins their fathers do.
Here, as is normal, Isaac not only commits the same sin, he adds to it by lying. Rebekah was not his sister as he said (and as Sarah was to Abraham.) She was his second cousin.
8 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.
They were caught fooling around in a way brothers and sisters generally don’t. There is nothing wrong with married people enjoying each other, but it exposed their lie.
With the lifespans of the time, this may very well have been the same Abimelech Abraham dealt with. If so, he was likely suspicious and looking out for deception.
9 And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, “Behold, of a surety she is thy wife; and how said thou, She is my sister?” And Isaac said unto him, “Because I said, Lest I die for her.”
“Why’d you lie???”
“ ‘Cause she’s pretty and I was scared.”
10 And Abimelech said, “What is this thou have done unto us? One of the people might lightly have lain with thy wife, and thou should have brought guiltiness upon us.”
11 And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, “He that touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”
12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.
13 And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:
14 For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.
He started rich because he inherited the bulk of Abraham’s estate, but now he gets richer. This will cause trouble.
15 For all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.
There is fixing to be major problems over water issues.
16 And Abimelech said unto Isaac, “Go from us; for thou are much mightier than we.”
“You better go before we decide to go to war with each other.”
17 And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and lived 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 after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.
He repaired the damage done to his father’s work.
19 And Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.
20 And 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.
Esek means “Oppression.”
21 And they dug another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.
Sitnah means “Opposition” or “Accusation.”
22 And he removed from thence, and dug another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, “For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”
Rehoboth means “A People Has Enlarged.”
23 And he went up from there to Beersheba.
24 And 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.”
25 And he built an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac's servants dug a well.
26 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.
This king and his most important people come to visit Isaac.
Phichol is also listed as the captain of Abraham’s Abimelech, so this is likely the same men Abraham dealt with. That or the Philistines were really uncreative with names.
27 And Isaac said unto them, “Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?”
Someone had their feelings a bit hurt when they asked him to move earlier.
28 And they said, “We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee: and we said, ‘Let there be now an oath between us, even between us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;’
29 “That thou will 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 are now the blessed of the LORD.”
They wanted to make sure they were on good terms with Isaac. He was not a man they wanted as an enemy.
30 And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.
31 And they rose up betimes in the morning, and swore one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
Everything was set right and they remained on good terms.
32 And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had dug, and said unto him, “We have found water.”
33 And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day.
Beersheba means, “Well of the Oath.” This story explains the name of this city mentioned frequently in the Bible.
34 And 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:
35 Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.