Loading
Loading
0 Chapters0 Books0 People0 Places
A famine drives Isaac to Gerar, where he runs the same risky deception his father once tried — and where his wells become the source of constant conflict with the Philistines.
When famine strikes Canaan, Isaac considers going to Egypt, but God tells him to stay — the covenant is for this land. So he settles in Gerar with the Philistines. Afraid the local men will kill him to take Rebekah, Isaac tells them she's his sister — the same dangerous deception his father Abraham had used a generation earlier. King Abimelech spots Isaac caressing Rebekah through a window and rebukes him sharply for the risk to the whole community. Isaac stays in Gerar anyway, and God blesses him so abundantly that the Philistines envy him and stop up his wells. Isaac digs again, naming the contested wells Esek ("contention") and Sitnah ("enmity") before finding one nobody disputes — Rehoboth ("room"). He eventually moves to Beersheba, where God appears to him again and where he and Abimelech swear a treaty.
hubExplore this event's connections in the Knowledge Graph
Share this event