Genesis 26:15-18

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.

26:16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave us and go elsewhere, ²  for you have become much more powerful ³  than we are.” 26:17 So Isaac left there and settled in the Gerar Valley. ⁴  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 

[26:15]  ¹ tn Heb “and the Philistines stopped them up and filled them with dirt.”

[26:16]  ² tn Heb “Go away from us.”

[26:16]  ³ sn You have become much more powerful. This explanation for the expulsion of Isaac from Philistine territory foreshadows the words used later by the Egyptians to justify their oppression of Israel (see Exod 1:9).

[26:17]  ³ tn Heb “and he camped in the valley of Gerar and he lived there.”

[26:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “he returned and dug,” meaning “he dug again” or “he reopened.”

[26:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “that they dug.” Since the subject is indefinite, the verb is translated as passive.

[26:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “and the Philistines had stopped them up.” This clause explains why Isaac had to reopen them.

[26:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the wells) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “called names to them according to the names that his father called them.”