Genesis 26:18
◄  Genesis 26:18  ►
New International Version (©2011)
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.

New Living Translation (©2007)
He reopened the wells his father had dug, which the Philistines had filled in after Abraham's death. Isaac also restored the names Abraham had given them.

English Standard Version (©2001)
And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And he gave them the names that his father had given them.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the same names which his father had given them.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
Isaac reopened the water wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham and that the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. He gave them the same names his father had given them.

International Standard Version (©2012)
Isaac re-excavated some wells that his father had first dug during his lifetime, because the Philistines had filled them with sand after Abraham's death. Isaac renamed those wells with the same names that his father had called them.

NET Bible (©2006)
Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug back in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after Abraham died. Isaac gave these wells the same names his father had given them.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
He dug out the wells that had been dug during his father Abraham's lifetime. The Philistines had filled them in after Abraham's death. He gave them the same names that his father had given them.

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
And Isaac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

American King James Version
And Isaac dig again the wells of water, which they had dig in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

American Standard Version
And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father. For the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham. And he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he digged again other wells, which the servants of his father Abraham had digged, and which, after his death, the Palestines had of old stopped up: and he called them by the same names by which his father before had called them.

Darby Bible Translation
And Isaac dug again the wells of water that they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and that the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham; and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

English Revised Version
And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Isaac digged again the wells of water which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

World English Bible
Isaac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father. For the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham. He called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

Young's Literal Translation
and Isaac turneth back, and diggeth the wells of water which they digged in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines do stop after the death of Abraham, and he calleth to them names according to the names which his father called them.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

26:18-25 Isaac met with much opposition in digging wells. Two were called Contention and Hatred. See the nature of worldly things; they make quarrels, and are occasions of strife; and what is often the lot of the most quiet and peaceable; those who avoid striving, yet cannot avoid being striven with. And what a mercy it is to have plenty of water; to have it without striving for it! The more common this mercy is, the more reason to be thankful for it. At length Isaac digged a well, for which they strove not. Those that study to be quiet, seldom fail of being so. When men are false and unkind, still God is faithful and gracious; and his time to show himself so is, when we are most disappointed by men. The same night that Isaac came weary and uneasy to Beer-sheba, God brought comforts to his soul. Those may remove with comfort who are sure of God's presence.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 18. - And Isaac digged again - literally, returned and digged, i.e. re-dug (cf. 2 Kings 20:5) - the wells of water, which they (the servants of Abraham) had digged in the days Of Abraham his father; - from which it appears that Abraham had digged other wells besides that of Beersheba (Genesis 21:31) - for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: - which was a violation of the league into which Abimelech had entered with the patriarch (vide Genesis 21:23) - and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them - and with which Isaac was sufficiently acquainted.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father,.... This seems to refer to the same wells made mention of in Genesis 26:15, since it follows:

for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham; these were what Abraham's servants had dug, when he lived at Gerar, and which the Philistines durst not stop during his life; but when he was dead and particularly out of envy to Isaac his son, whom they observed to prosper much, they stopped them up, that he might have no benefit by them; for otherwise they would scarcely have stopped them, if he had not been upon the spot, but would have made use of them themselves. The opening of them again by Isaac seems to be done, as Jarchi observes, before he removed from Gerar to the valley, though it is here related; unless it can be thought that Abraham dwelt in the valley also, and had dug wells there, which the Philistines stopped up after his death, and Isaac opened when he came there; and if so one would think he should have had no occasion to have dug other new wells, as we find he afterwards did; besides, this seems to be out of the jurisdiction of the Philistines, and not in their power to have stopped them here; it seems therefore most probable that these were Abraham's wells at Gerar, and not in the valley. Origen (k) makes mention of wonderful wells being dug in the land of the Philistines by righteous men, meaning Abraham and Isaac; and particularly in Askelon which, according to some, is the same with Gerar; See Gill on Genesis 20:1,

and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them; which he did out of respect to his father, to preserve the memory of his name, as well as to make his title and claim to them the more dear and certain.

(k) Contr. Cels. l. 4. p. 193.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

18-22. Isaac digged again the wells of water—The naming of wells by Abraham, and the hereditary right of his family to the property, the change of the names by the Philistines to obliterate the traces of their origin, the restoration of the names by Isaac, and the contests between the respective shepherds to the exclusive possession of the water, are circumstances that occur among the natives in those regions as frequently in the present day as in the time of Isaac.

Genesis 26:18 Parallel Commentaries

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Isaac's Prosperity
…17And Isaac departed there, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelled there. 18And Isaac dig again the wells of water, which they had dig in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them. 19And Isaac's servants dig in the valley, and found there a well of springing water. …

Genesis 21:25 Then Abraham complained to Abimelek about a well of water that Abimelek's servants had seized.
Genesis 26:17 So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar, where he settled.
Genesis 26:19 Isaac's servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there.
2 Chronicles 26:10 He also built towers in the wilderness and dug many cisterns, because he had much livestock in the foothills and in the plain. He had people working his fields and vineyards in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil.