1 Now a famine came upon the land besides the earlier famine that had occurred in Abraham {Avraham: patriarchal ancestor}, and Isaac {Yitschak: covenant heir} went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.
2 Then the LORD {YHWH, Faithful Guide} appeared to him and said, "You must not go down to Egypt; live {shekhon: settle with purpose} in the land that I will direct you to."
3 Stay as a sojourner in this land, and I {YHWH, Faithful Companion} will be with you and will bless you; for I will give all these lands {aratsot: promised territories} to you and to your descendants, and I will confirm the oath I swore to Abraham your father.
4 I {YHWH, Faithful Promise Keeper} will make your descendants {zera: covenant seed} many, like the stars in the heavens; and I will give all these lands to your descendants, and in your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed.
5 This is because Abraham obeyed {shama: responsive listening} My voice and guarded My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My instructions {torot: guiding teachings}.
6 So Isaac {yitskhaq: joyful covenant heir} established his home in Gerar {bigrar: Philistine border town}.
7 When the men of that place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid {yare: deeply fearful} to say, “She is my wife,” thinking, “The men of this place may kill me because of Rebekah, since she is beautiful {tovat mar’eh: excellent in appearance}.”
8 After he had been there many days, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out through the window {hachallon: elevated opening} and saw that Isaac was showing playful affection {metsahek: demonstrating intimacy} toward Rebekah his wife.
9 Then Abimelech {Avimelekh: Philistine king} summoned Isaac and said, “Surely she is your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘I might die because of her {aleyha: because of her}.’”
10 Abimelech said, “What have you done to us? Almost {kimat: almost happened} one of the people would have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt {asham: serious guilt} upon us.”
11 So Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man {ish: individual person} or his wife will surely be put to death {mot: certain death}.”
12 And Isaac sowed in that land, and in that same year he reaped a hundredfold {shearim: extraordinary return}; and the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Blesser} blessed him.
13 The man{ish: notable individual} grew in stature, and he kept increasing{gadal: increase in status} more and more, until he became exceedingly great.
14 He had livestock {mikneh: acquired animals}—flocks and herds—and a great number of servants {avuddah: organized laborers}; and the Philistines envied him.
15 The Philistines stopped up {sitemum: deliberately obstructed} every well {beerot: vital water sources} that his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they filled them with earth.
16 Abimelech said to Isaac, “Move on {lekh: depart from area} from us, for you have become too strong {atsamta: exceedingly mighty} for us.”
17 Isaac {yitschaq: covenant heir} left from there and camped in the valley {nachal: seasonal stream valley} of Gerar, and he settled there.
18 Isaac {yitschaq: Covenant Heir} returned and dug again the wells of water {beerot hamayim: vital water sources} that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after Abraham died; and he called them by the names his father had given them.
19 And the servants of Isaac {Yitschak: laughter-linked patriarch} dug in the valley {nachal: seasonal ravine}, and they found there a well of living water.
20 And the shepherds of Gerar quarreled with the shepherds of Isaac, saying, “The water is ours {mayim: essential resource}!” So he named that well Esek, because they contended {hitasseku: engaged in strife} with him.
21 They dug another well, and they quarreled {vayarivu: intense dispute} over that one also; so he named it Sitnah {sitnah: hostile accusation}.
22 Then he moved on from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Rehoboth {rechovot: broad spaces}, saying, "For now the LORD {YHWH, Giver of Space} has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land."
23 From there he went up {alah: traveled upward} to Beersheba {beer sheva: oath well}.
24 That night the LORD {YHWH, Nighttime Reassurer} appeared to him and said, “I am the God {Elohei, Ancestral Protector} of Abraham your father. Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bless you and multiply your descendants because of Abraham My servant.”
25 And he built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD {YHWH, Honored In Worship}; he pitched his tent there, and the servants of Isaac dug a well {be’er: vital water source} there.
26 Abimelech {Avimelekh: regional ruler} came to him from Gerar, with Achuzzath {Achuzzat: trusted advisor} his companion, and Phicol the commander of his army.
27 And Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hated {sneitem: deep personal hostility} me and sent me away {vatteshallechuni: deliberate expulsion} from you?”
28 And they said, “We have surely seen {ra'o: emphatic seeing} that the LORD {YHWH, Evident Companion} has been with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us—between us and you—and let us cut a covenant with you.’”
29 That you will do us no harm {raah: damaging evil}, just as we have not touched you and have done only good to you and have sent you away in peace; now you are blessed by the LORD {YHWH, Faithful Blesser}.
30 So he set a feast {mishteh: ceremonial banquet} before them {lahem: honored guests}, and they ate and drank.
31 They rose early in the morning, and each man swore an oath to his brother. Then Isaac {Yitschaq: Covenant Heir} sent them away, and they departed from him in peace {shalom: restored relationship}.
32 On that day, Isaac’s servants {avdei: household workers} came and told him about the well {be’er: dug-out water source} they had dug, saying, “We have found water.”
33 He named it Shibah {shiv'ah: oath-and-seven reminder}; and for this reason the city {ha'ir: settled community} is called Beersheba to this day.
34 When Esau {Esav: Jacob’s elder brother} was forty years old, he took wives {ishah: formal marriage union}: Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.
35 And they became a bitterness {morat: piercing grief} of spirit {ruach: inner life} to Isaac and to Rebekah.