Genesis 26:24 - Exposition

And the Lord appeared unto him the same night ( i . e . the night of his arrival at Beersheba), and said (in a dream or vision), I (the pronoun is emphatic) am the God (the Elohim) of Abraham thy father (the language is expressive not alone of the covenant relationship which subsisted between Jehovah and the patriarch while the latter lived, but also of the present continuance of that relationship, since Abraham, though dead, had not ceased to he): fear not (cf. Genesis 15:1 , in which the same encouraging admonition is addressed to Abraham after his battle with the kings), for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed —a repetition of promises already given to himself ( vide Genesis 26:3 , Genesis 26:4 )— for my servant Abraham's sake —a reason declaring God's gracious covenant, and not personal merit, to be the true source of blessing for Isaac.