Genesis 26:1-5 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 26:1-5

Here, I. God tried Isaac by his providence. Isaac had been trained up in a believing dependence upon the divine grant of the land of Canaan to him and his heirs; yet now there is a famine in the land, Gen. 26:1. What shall he think of the promise when the promised land will not find him bread? Isa. such a grant worth accepting, upon such terms, and after so long a time? Yes, Isaac will still cleave to the covenant; and the less valuable Canaan in itself seems to be the better he is taught to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 26:1

And there was a famine in the land ,.... In the land of Canaan, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it: besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham ; of which see Genesis 12:10 ; which was an hundred years before this: and Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines, unto Gerar ; where his father Abraham had sojourned before he was born; and therefore the present king of this place can scarce be thought to be the same Abimelech that was king of it in Abraham's... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 26:2

And the Lord appeared unto him ,.... In a vision or dream, when he was at Gerar: and said, go not down into Egypt ; as his father had done in the like case, and where Isaac thought to have gone, and the rather, as that was a fruitful country; and so the Targum of Jonathan,"and it was in the heart of Isaac to go down into Egypt, and the Lord appeared unto him, &c.;'and charged him not to go thither; partly to try his faith in him, and dependence on his providence for support in this... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 26:3

Sojourn in this land ,.... The land of Canaan, where he now was; either in Gerar, which though in the land of the Philistines was a part of Canaan, the place of his present residence; or in any other part of it he should be directed to: however, by this it appears it was the pleasure of God that he should not go out of that land, and which Abraham his father was careful of, that he should not while he lived; see Genesis 24:6 , and I will be with thee, and I will bless thee ; with his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 26:4

And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven ,.... Meaning in the line of Jacob especially, if not only; from whom sprung twelve patriarchs, the heads of so many tribes, which in process of time became very numerous, even as the stars of heaven: and I will give unto thy seed all these countries ; which is repeated from Genesis 26:3 for the greater confirmation of it: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed ; meaning in the Messiah that should... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 26:5

Because that Abraham obeyed my voice ,.... In all things, and particularly in offering up his son at his command: and kept my charge ; whatever was given him in charge to observe; this, as Aben Ezra thinks, is the general, of which the particulars follow: my commandments, my statutes, and my laws ; whether moral, ceremonial, or civil and judicial; all and everyone which God enjoined him, he was careful to observe. Here seems to be something wanting, for the words are not to be joined... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 26:1

There was a famine - When this happened we cannot tell; it appears to have been after the death of Abraham. Concerning the first famine, see Genesis 12:10 . Abimelech - As we know not the time when the famine happened, so we cannot tell whether this was the same Abimelech, Phichol, etc., which are mentioned Genesis 20:1 , Genesis 20:2 , etc., or the sons or other descendants of these persons. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 26:2

Go not down into Egypt - As Abraham had taken refuge in that country, it is probable that Isaac was preparing to go thither also; and God, foreseeing that he would there meet with trials, etc., which might prove fatal to his peace or to his piety, warns him not to fulfill his intention. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 26:3

Sojourn in this land - In Gerar, whither he had gone, Genesis 26:1 , and where we find he settled, Genesis 26:6 , though the land of Canaan in general might be here intended. That there were serious and important reasons why Isaac should not go to Egypt, we may be fully assured, though they be not assigned here; it is probable that even Isaac himself was not informed why he should not go down to Egypt. I have already supposed that God saw trials in his way which he might not have been... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 26:4

I will make thy seed - as the stars of heaven - A promise often repeated to Abraham, and which has been most amply fulfilled both in its literal and spiritual sense. read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 26:1-5

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 26:1

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 26:2

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 26:3

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 26:4

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 26:5

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 26:1

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 26:2

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 26:3

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 26:4

Group of Brands