Genesis 26:19

26:19 When Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well with fresh flowing ¹  water there,

Genesis 26:21

26:21 His servants ²  dug another well, but they quarreled over it too, so Isaac named it ³  Sitnah. ⁴ 

Genesis 26:18

26:18 Isaac reopened ⁵  the wells that had been dug ⁶  back in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up ⁷  after Abraham died. Isaac ⁸  gave these wells ⁹  the same names his father had given them. ¹⁰ 

Genesis 21:30

21:30 He replied, “You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof ¹¹  that I dug this well.” ¹² 

Genesis 26:15

26:15 So the Philistines took dirt and filled up ¹³  all the wells that his father’s servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham.

Genesis 26:32

26:32 That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. “We’ve found water,” they reported. ¹⁴ 

Genesis 26:22

26:22 Then he moved away from there and dug another well. They did not quarrel over it, so Isaac ¹⁵  named it ¹⁶  Rehoboth, ¹⁷  saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will prosper in the land.”

¹ tn Heb “living.” This expression refers to a well supplied by subterranean streams (see Song 4:15).

² tn Heb “they”; the referent (Isaac’s servants) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “and he called its name.” The referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ sn The name Sitnah (שִׂטְנָה, sitnah) is derived from a Hebrew verbal root meaning “to oppose; to be an adversary” (cf. Job 1:6). The name was a reminder that the digging of this well caused “opposition” from the Philistines.

³ tn Heb “he returned and dug,” meaning “he dug again” or “he reopened.”

⁴ tn Heb “that they dug.” Since the subject is indefinite, the verb is translated as passive.

⁵ tn Heb “and the Philistines had stopped them up.” This clause explains why Isaac had to reopen them.

⁶ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the wells) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸ tn Heb “called names to them according to the names that his father called them.”

⁴ tn Heb “that it be for me for a witness.”

⁵ sn This well. Since the king wanted a treaty to share in Abraham’s good fortune, Abraham used the treaty to secure ownership of and protection for the well he dug. It would be useless to make a treaty to live in this territory if he had no rights to the water. Abraham consented to the treaty, but added his rider to it.

⁵ tn Heb “and the Philistines stopped them up and filled them with dirt.”

⁶ tn Heb “and they said to him, ‘We have found water.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁷ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸ tn Heb “and he called its name.”

⁹ sn The name Rehoboth (רְהֹבוֹת, rehovot) is derived from a verbal root meaning “to make room.” The name was a reminder that God had made room for them. The story shows Isaac’s patience with the opposition; it also shows how God’s blessing outdistanced the men of Gerar. They could not stop it or seize it any longer.