Genesis 26:19
Context26:19 When Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well with fresh flowing 1 water there,
Genesis 26:21
Context26:21 His servants 2 dug another well, but they quarreled over it too, so Isaac named it 3 Sitnah. 4
Genesis 26:18
Context26:18 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
Context21:30 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
Context26:15 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
Context26:32 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
Context26:22 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.”


[26:19] 1 tn Heb “living.” This expression refers to a well supplied by subterranean streams (see Song 4:15).
[26:21] 2 tn Heb “they”; the referent (Isaac’s servants) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:21] 3 tn Heb “and he called its name.” The referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:21] 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.
[26:18] 3 tn Heb “he returned and dug,” meaning “he dug again” or “he reopened.”
[26:18] 4 tn Heb “that they dug.” Since the subject is indefinite, the verb is translated as passive.
[26:18] 5 tn Heb “and the Philistines had stopped them up.” This clause explains why Isaac had to reopen them.
[26:18] 6 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:18] 7 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the wells) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:18] 8 tn Heb “called names to them according to the names that his father called them.”
[21:30] 4 tn Heb “that it be for me for a witness.”
[21:30] 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.
[26:15] 5 tn Heb “and the Philistines stopped them up and filled them with dirt.”
[26:32] 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.
[26:22] 7 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[26:22] 8 tn Heb “and he called its name.”
[26:22] 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.