Genesis 26:15

26:15 So the Philistines took dirt and filled up ¹  all the wells that his father’s servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham.

Genesis 26:18

26:18 Isaac reopened ²  the wells that had been dug ³  back in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up ⁴  after Abraham died. Isaac ⁵  gave these wells ⁶  the same names his father had given them. ⁷ 

Genesis 26:2

26:2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; ⁸  settle down in the land that I will point out to you. ⁹ 

Genesis 32:4

32:4 He commanded them, “This is what you must say to my lord Esau: ‘This is what your servant ¹⁰  Jacob says: I have been staying with Laban until now.

¹ tn Heb “and the Philistines stopped them up and filled them with dirt.”

² tn Heb “he returned and dug,” meaning “he dug again” or “he reopened.”

³ tn Heb “that they dug.” Since the subject is indefinite, the verb is translated as passive.

⁴ tn Heb “and the Philistines had stopped them up.” This clause explains why Isaac had to reopen them.

⁵ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the wells) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Heb “called names to them according to the names that his father called them.”

³ sn Do not go down to Egypt. The words echo Gen 12:10, which reports that “Abram went down to Egypt,” but state the opposite.

⁴ tn Heb “say to you.”

⁴ sn Your servant. The narrative recounts Jacob’s groveling in fear before Esau as he calls his brother his “lord,” as if to minimize what had been done twenty years ago.