4. And I will make thy feed to multiply as the ftars of heaven, and will give unto thy feed all thefe

:

countries and in thy feed fhall all the nations of the earth be blessed:

5. Because that Abraham obey

5. Because: Ch.

ed my voice, and kept my charge, 22. 16. my commandments, my ftatutes, and my laws.

6. And Ifaac dwelt in Gerar.

6. In Gerar: Near to Beer-Sheba,ch..21,

33, 34.

7. And the men of the place asked him of his wife: and be faid, She is my fifter: for he feared to fay, She is my wife: left, faid he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah, because she was fair to look upon.

8. And it came to pass, when pass, when be had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and faw, and behold, Ifaac was fporting with Rebekah his wife.

8. Sporting: i.e. Ufing fuch familiarity as was not used between Brother and Sifter, but onely be

tween Husband and Wife, (v.9.)

9. And Abimelech called Ifaac, 9. Left I die for and faid, Behold, of a furety he is her: Ch. 12.9. 12. thy wife: and how faidft thou, She is my fifter? And Ifa. ac faid unto him, Because I said, Left I die for her.

10. And Abimelech said, What is this thou haft done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldeft

have brought guiltinefs upon us.

10. Guiltiness: The Hebrew word fignifies both Sin and Pnishment.

11. Toucheth: ie

Ufeth violence toward them. Touch ing fometimes implies violence, P.105 15. Jos. 9. 19. 12. Then

12. Then Ifaac fowed in that land, and received in the fame year an hundred fold: and the LORD blessed bim.

12. An hundred fold: i.e. An hundred for one; which is not to be wondred at, when we confi

der, that it follows, The Lord blessed him. 13. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew untill he became very great.

14. For he had poffeffion of flocks, and poffeffion of herds, and great Bore of fervants, and the Philiftines envied him.

14. Great store of Servants: Or, great Husbandry: i. e. All those things in plenty which belong to Til

lage and Husbandry, as well as great plenty of the Fruits of the Earth.

15. For all the wells which bis father's fervants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philiftines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.

15. Stopped them? This was the effect of their Envy, (v. 14.) and a great injury to Ifaac, (ch. 21. 25.) and great injuftice in the Philistines, ch. 21. 30, 31

16. And Abimelech faid unto Ifaat, Go from us :" for thou art much mightier than we.

17. And Ifaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.S 18. And Ifaac digged again the wells of water, which they had dig. ged in the days of Abraham his father: for the Philistines had ftop ped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father bad called them.

18. Digged again? He digged in thofe places where the and which the PhiWells were before liftines had stopped: This he did, rather than dig new ones, both because he was fure to find Water

there; and he had the best Title to them, they having already been in the poffeffion of Abraham his Father. Had called them: i. e. He reftored to them the Names by which

K

Albra

Abraham had called them, which Names had been difufed by the Philistines.

19. And Ifaac's fervants digged in the valley, and found there awell of Springing water.

19. Springing: Living in the Hebrew.

That water is fo call'd which is in motion.

20. Efek: i. o.

Contention.

20. And the herdmen of Gerar did ftrive with Ifaac's herdmen, faying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Efek, because they ftrove with him.

21. And they digged another well, and ftrove for that also: and

be called the name of it, Sitnah.

21. Sitnah: i. e.

Hatred.

22. Rehoboth: i. c.

Room.

22. And be removed from thence, and digged another well, and for that they ftrove not: and he called the name of it, Reboboth: and he faid, For now the LORD bath made room for us, and we shall be fruitfull in the land.

23. And he went up from thence to Beer-Sheba.

24. And the LORD appeared unto him the fame night, and faid, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will blefs thee, and multiply thy Abraham's fake.

25. And be builded an altar there, and called upon the Name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there and there Ifaac's fervants digged a well.

24. For I'am with

thee: For my word
Shall be thy help. So
the Chaldee..
feed for my fervant

25. Called upon, &c. Prayed, fays the Chal

dee.

26. Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and A buzzah one of his friends, and Phicbel the chief captain of his army.

27. And

27. And Ifaac faid unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, feeing ye bate me and have fent me away from you?

27. Seeing ye bate me: Compare Prov.

16. 7.

28. And they faid, we faw certainly that the LORD was with thee: and we faid, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee:

29. That thou wilt do us no burt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee no thing but good, and have fent thee away in peace: thou art now the bleed of the LORD.

29. That thou wilt do us no hurt: Thefe words contain the condition on Ifaac's part, for the avoiding the Curfe which the breach of this Cove

nant would expofe him to, (implied by the Oath or Curse, as the Greek renders it well, v. 28.), and upon prefumption of his performing his part, they may well be supposed to add, Thou art now the Blessed of the Lord.

30. And he made them a feaft,

and they did eat and drink.

30. They did eat and drink As they were wont to do

who entred into Covenants, ( ch. 31. 54.) Eating and drinking together was reputed a token of amity and friendship, Fofh.9. 14. Judg. 13. 23. Jer. 41.2.

31. And they rofe up betimes in the morning, and fware one to another: and Ifaac fent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

32. And it came to pass the fame day, that Ifaac's fervants came and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and faid unto him, We have found water.

33. And he called it Shebah : therefore the name of the city is Beer-fheba unto this day:

33. Beer-Sheba: Of the reafon of this

name. See the Note on ch.21.31. It is The Well was formerly But this Well was stop

here as the Name of the City.
fo called by Abraham, ch. 21. 31.
ped by the Philistines, and the Name of it would have been

K 2

loft.

loft. Ifaac, upon its being opened, restores to it its former Name, (v. 18.)

34. And Efau was fourty years old when he took to wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bafhemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

34.

He took to wife: He married without his Father's advice, (fays Jofephus,) and contrary to the direction of his Parents

and Superiors, (fee ch.24. 3. and 27.46. and 28. 1,6,8.) and it is exprefsly faid, that this occafioned a grief of mind unto Ifaac and Rebekah, (v.35.)

35. Which were a grief of mind unto Ifaac, and to Rebekah.

2245.

CHAP. XXVII.

The ARGUMENT.

Ifaac fendetb Efau for Venison, with the hope of receiving his bleffing. Jacob being directed and affifted by his mother, prevents his brother Efau, and obtains the bleffing. Efau returns to his father from hunting, with expectation of the bleffing. Ifaac refufeth to reverfe the bleffing which he had given to Jacob. Efau hates Jacob, and defigns his death. Jacob efcapes by bis mother's advice. She is grieved at the daughters of Heth.

1.

AND it came to pass, that

when Ifaac was old, and

bis eyes were dim, fo that he could 1760. not fee, he called Efau bis eldeft fon, and faid unto him, My fon: and be faid unto him, Behold, here

am I.

1.OLD: He was One hundred thirty thirty feven years old. fix, or, One hundred And that may be thus collected. He was at the birth of

at this time

Jacob fixty years old,

cb. 25. 26. Jacob was now at his going to Padan-Aram