This chapter treats of Isaac's removal to Gerar, occasioned by a famine, Ge 26:1; of the Lord's appearance to him there, advising him to sojourn in that place, and not go down to Egypt; renewing the covenant he had made with Abraham, concerning giving that country to him and his seed, Ge 26:2; of what happened unto him at Gerar on account of his wife, Ge 26:7; of Isaac's great prosperity and success, which drew the envy of the Philistines upon him, Ge 26:12; of his departure from hence to the valley of Gerar, at the instance of Abimelech; and of the contentions between his herdsmen, and those of Gerar, about wells of water, which caused him to remove to Beersheba, Ge 26:16; of the Lord's appearance to him there, renewing the above promise to him, where he built an altar, pitched his tent, and his servants dug a well, Ge 26:24; of Abimelech's coming to him thither, and making a covenant with him, Ge 26:26; which place had its name from the oath then made, and the well there dug, Ge 26:32; and lastly, of the marriage of Esau, which was a great grief to Isaac and Rebekah, Ge 26:34.
Ver. 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 Ge 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 time; but it is highly probable that this Abimelech was the son of the former king, and that this was a common name to the kings of Gerar or the Philistines, as Pharaoh was to the kings of Egypt.
Isaac came to this place from Lahairoi, where he had dwelt many years, see Ge 24:62; which was at or near Beersheba, and was about eight miles from Gerar . Bunting's Travels, p.