1 Now there was a famine in the land —besides the previous famine in Abraham's time —and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar.2 The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live.3 Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham.4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring "all nations on earth will be blessed, [^2]5 because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions."6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar.7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, "She is my sister," because he was afraid to say, "She is my wife." He thought, "The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful."8 When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelek king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.9 So Abimelek summoned Isaac and said, "She is really your wife! Why did you say, 'She is my sister'?" Isaac answered him, "Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her."10 Then Abimelek said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us."11 So Abimelek gave orders to all the people: "Anyone who harms this man or his wife shall surely be put to death."12 Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him.13 The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy.14 He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.15 So all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.16 Then Abimelek said to Isaac, "Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us."17 So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar, where he settled.18 Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.19 Isaac's servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there.20 But the herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac and said, "The water is ours!" So he named the well Esek, "because they disputed with him.21 Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. [^4]22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, "saying, "Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land."23 From there he went up to Beersheba.24 That night the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham."25 Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.26 Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces.27 Isaac asked them, "Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?"28 They answered, "We saw clearly that the LORD was with you; so we said, 'There ought to be a sworn agreement between us' —between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you29 that you will do us no harm, just as we did not harm you but always treated you well and sent you away peacefully. And now you are blessed by the LORD."30 Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank.31 Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went away peacefully.32 That day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, "We've found water!"33 He called it Shibah, "and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba. [^7]34 When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.35 They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

1 Orta autem fame super terram post eam sterilitatem, qu acciderat in diebus Abraham, abiit Isaac ad Abimelech regem Palstinorum in Gerara. 2 Apparuitque ei Dominus, et ait : Ne descendas in gyptum, sed quiesce in terra quam dixero tibi, 3 et peregrinare in ea : eroque tecum, et benedicam tibi : tibi enim et semini tuo dabo universas regiones has, complens juramentum quod spopondi Abraham patri tuo. 4 Et multiplicabo semen tuum sicut stellas cli : daboque posteris tuis universas regiones has : et benedicentur in semine tuo omnes gentes terr, 5 eo quod obedierit Abraham voci me, et custodierit prcepta et mandata mea, et cremonias legesque servaverit. 6 Mansit itaque Isaac in Geraris.7 Qui cum interrogaretur a viris loci illius super uxore sua, respondit : Soror mea est : timuerat enim confiteri quod sibi esset sociata conjugio, reputans ne forte interficerent eum propter illius pulchritudinem. 8 Cumque pertransissent dies plurimi, et ibidem moraretur, prospiciens Abimelech rex Palstinorum per fenestram, vidit eum jocantem cum Rebecca uxore sua. 9 Et accersito eo, ait : Perspicuum est quod uxor tua sit : cur mentitus es eam sororem tuam esse ? Respondit : Timui ne morerer propter eam. 10 Dixitque Abimelech : Quare imposuisti nobis ? potuit coire quispiam de populo cum uxore tua, et induxeras super nos grande peccatum. Prcepitque omni populo, dicens : 11 Qui tetigerit hominis hujus uxorem, morte morietur.12 Sevit autem Isaac in terra illa, et invenit in ipso anno centuplum : benedixitque ei Dominus. 13 Et locupletatus est homo, et ibat proficiens atque succrescens, donec magnus vehementer effectus est : 14 habuit quoque possessiones ovium et armentorum, et famili plurimum. Ob hoc invidentes ei Palstini, 15 omnes puteos, quos foderant servi patris illius Abraham, illo tempore obstruxerunt, implentes humo : 16 in tantum, ut ipse Abimelech diceret ad Isaac : Recede a nobis, quoniam potentior nobis factus es valde. 17 Et ille discedens, ut veniret ad torrentem Gerar, habitaretque ibi, 18 rursum fodit alios puteos, quos foderant servi patris sui Abraham, et quos, illo mortuo, olim obstruxerant Philisthiim : appellavitque eos eisdem nominibus quibus ante pater vocaverat. 19 Foderuntque in torrente, et repererunt aquam vivam. 20 Sed et ibi jurgium fuit pastorum Gerar adversus pastores Isaac, dicentium : Nostra est aqua, quam ob rem nomen putei ex eo, quod acciderat, vocavit Calumniam. 21 Foderunt autem et alium : et pro illo quoque rixati sunt, appellavitque eum Inimicitias. 22 Profectus inde fodit alium puteum, pro quo non contenderunt : itaque vocavit nomen ejus Latitudo, dicens : Nunc dilatavit nos Dominus, et fecit crescere super terram.23 Ascendit autem ex illo loco in Bersabee, 24 ubi apparuit ei Dominus in ipsa nocte, dicens : Ego sum Deus Abraham patris tui : noli timere, quia ego tecum sum : benedicam tibi, et multiplicabo semen tuum propter servum meum Abraham. 25 Itaque dificavit ibi altare : et invocato nomine Domini, extendit tabernaculum, prcepitque servis suis ut foderunt puteum. 26 Ad quem locum cum venissent de Geraris Abimelech, et Ochozath amicus illius, et Phico, dux militum, 27 locutus est eis Isaac : Quid venistis ad me, hominem quem odistis, et expulistis a vobis ? 28 Qui responderunt : Vidimus tecum esse Dominum, et idcirco nos diximus : Sit juramentum inter nos, et ineamus fdus, 29 ut non facias nobis quidquam mali, sicut et nos nihil tuorum attigimus, nec fecimus quod te lderet : sed cum pace dimisimus auctum benedictione Domini. 30 Fecit ergo eis convivium, et post cibum et potum 31 surgentes mane, juraverunt sibi mutuo : dimisitque eos Isaac pacifice in locum suum. 32 Ecce autem venerunt in ipso die servi Isaac annuntiantes ei de puteo, quem foderant, atque dicentes : Invenimus aquam. 33 Unde appellavit eum Abundantiam : et nomen urbi impositum est Bersabee, usque in prsentem diem. 34 Esau vero quadragenarius duxit uxores, Judith filiam Beeri Hethi, et Basemath filiam Elon ejusdem loci : 35 qu amb offenderant animum Isaac et Rebecc.