Genesis 21:34

21:34 So Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for quite some time. ¹ 

Genesis 10:14

10:14 Pathrusites, ²  Casluhites ³  (from whom the Philistines came), ⁴  and Caphtorites. ⁵ 

Genesis 26:14

26:14 He had ⁶  so many sheep ⁷  and cattle ⁸  and such a great household of servants that the Philistines became jealous ⁹  of him.

Genesis 21:32

21:32 So they made a treaty ¹⁰  at Beer Sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned ¹¹  to the land of the Philistines. ¹² 

Genesis 26:1

Isaac and Abimelech

26:1 There was a famine in the land, subsequent to the earlier famine that occurred ¹³  in the days of Abraham. ¹⁴  Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.

Genesis 26:15

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

Genesis 26:8

26:8 After Isaac ¹⁶  had been there a long time, ¹⁷  Abimelech king of the Philistines happened to look out a window and observed ¹⁸  Isaac caressing ¹⁹  his wife Rebekah.

Genesis 26:18

26:18 Isaac reopened ²⁰  the wells that had been dug ²¹  back in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up ²²  after Abraham died. Isaac ²³  gave these wells ²⁴  the same names his father had given them. ²⁵ 

[21:34]  ¹ tn Heb “many days.”

[10:14]  ² sn The Pathrusites are known in Egyptian as P-to-reshi; they resided in Upper Egypt.

[10:14]  ³ sn The Casluhites lived in Crete and eventually settled east of the Egyptian Delta, between Egypt and Canaan.

[10:14]  ⁴ tn Several commentators prefer to reverse the order of the words to put this clause after the next word, since the Philistines came from Crete (where the Caphtorites lived). But the table may suggest migration rather than lineage, and the Philistines, like the Israelites, came through the Nile Delta region of Egypt. For further discussion of the origin and migration of the Philistines, see D. M. Howard, “Philistines,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 232.

[10:14]  ⁵ sn The Caphtorites resided in Crete, but in Egyptian literature Caphtor refers to “the region beyond” the Mediterranean.

[26:14]  ³ tn Heb “and there was to him.”

[26:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “possessions of sheep.”

[26:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “possessions of cattle.”

[26:14]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew verb translated “became jealous” refers here to intense jealousy or envy that leads to hostile action (see v. 15).

[21:32]  ⁴ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[21:32]  ⁵ tn Heb “arose and returned.”

[21:32]  ⁶ sn The Philistines mentioned here may not be ethnically related to those who lived in Palestine in the time of the judges and the united monarchy. See D. M. Howard, “Philistines,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 238.

[26:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “in addition to the first famine which was.”

[26:1]  ⁶ sn This account is parallel to two similar stories about Abraham (see Gen 12:10-20; 20:1-18). Many scholars do not believe there were three similar incidents, only one that got borrowed and duplicated. Many regard the account about Isaac as the original, which then was attached to the more important person, Abraham, with supernatural elements being added. For a critique of such an approach, see R. Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, 47-62. It is more likely that the story illustrates the proverb “like father, like son” (see T. W. Mann, The Book of the Torah, 53). In typical human fashion the son follows his father’s example of lying to avoid problems. The appearance of similar events reported in a similar way underscores the fact that the blessing has now passed to Isaac, even if he fails as his father did.

[26:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “and the Philistines stopped them up and filled them with dirt.”

[26:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “and it happened when the days were long to him there.”

[26:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “look, Isaac.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the audience to view the scene through Abimelech’s eyes.

[26:8]  ¹⁰ tn Or “fondling.”

[26:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “he returned and dug,” meaning “he dug again” or “he reopened.”

[26:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “that they dug.” Since the subject is indefinite, the verb is translated as passive.

[26:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and the Philistines had stopped them up.” This clause explains why Isaac had to reopen them.

[26:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:18]  ¹² tn Heb “them”; the referent (the wells) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “called names to them according to the names that his father called them.”