1Engang var der alvorlig hungersnød i landet—ligesom det var tilfældet på Abrahams tid—og det betød, at Isak flyttede til Gerar, hvor filisterkongen Abimelek boede.2Herren havde nemlig åbenbaret sig for Isak og sagt til ham: „Rejs ikke til Egypten, men bosæt dig i det land, jeg giver dig besked om.3Du skal bo der en tid som fremmed, og jeg vil være med dig og velsigne dig. For jeg vil give dig og dine efterkommere disse landområder i eje—nøjagtig som jeg lovede din far Abraham.4Jeg vil gøre dine efterkommere talrige som himlens stjerner, og de skal tage alle disse lande i besiddelse. Desuden skal alle folkeslag på jorden opleve velsignelse gennem en af dine efterkommere.5Alt dette vil jeg gøre for Abrahams skyld—fordi han adlød mig. Han gjorde, hvad jeg bad ham om, og tog mine anvisninger alvorligt!”6Derfor bosatte Isak sig i Gerar.7Da mændene dér spurgte ham ud angående Rebekka, svarede han: „Hun er min søster!” Han var nemlig bange for at sige, at hun var hans kone. Han troede, at de så ville slå ham ihjel for at få fat i Rebekka. Hun var nemlig meget smuk.8Men nogen tid efter, da filisterkongen Abimelek tilfældigt kiggede ud ad vinduet, så han, at Isak kærtegnede sin kone Rebekka.9Da sendte Abimelek bud efter Isak og udbrød vredt: „Hun er jo din kone! Hvorfor i alverden påstod du, at hun var din søster?” „Fordi jeg var bange for at blive slået ihjel,” forsvarede Isak sig. „Jeg troede, at man ville dræbe mig for at få fat i hende.”10„Hvordan kunne du dog udsætte os for den risiko?” fortsatte Abimelek. „En af mine mænd kunne jo intetanende have taget hende og ligget med hende, og så havde du bragt skyld over os alle.”11Derpå udsendte Abimelek følgende erklæring: „Enhver, som rører denne mand eller hans kone, skal dø!”
Isak bliver nødt til at flytte lejren og kommer til Be’ersheba
12Samme år høstede Isak 100 fold af, hvad han havde sået der i landet, for Herren velsignede ham13og gjorde ham til en velstående mand, der blev rigere og rigere.14Han havde får og geder og kvæg i massevis—og desuden mange slaver. Det gjorde filistrene så misundelige,15at de fyldte jord i alle hans brønde—de brønde, som hans far Abrahams slaver havde gravet.16Kong Abimelek bad derfor Isak om at rejse væk. „Tag et andet sted hen!” sagde han. „Du er blevet os for rig og for stærk.”17Så rejste Isak væk derfra og slog sig ned i Gerars dal.18Han lod de brønde udgrave, som hans far Abrahams tjenere havde gravet, men som filistrene havde fyldt op efter Abrahams død—og han gav dem de samme navne, som hans far havde givet dem.19Under gravearbejdet i Gerars dal stødte Isaks tjenere på en kilde med rindende vand.20Men de lokale kvæghyrder skændtes med Isaks hyrder: „Det vand tilhører os!” sagde de. Isak kaldte kilden Esek[1] på grund af den strid, som opstod om den.21Isak satte sine folk til at grave en ny brønd et andet sted. Da de lokale hyrder også gjorde krav på den, kaldte han den Sitna.[2]22Så flyttede han også væk derfra og lod grave en ny brønd et nyt sted, og da de ikke skændtes om den, kaldte han den Rehobot[3] for—som han sagde: „Endelig har Herren givet os plads, så vi kan brede os i landet.”23Senere flyttede han sin lejr til Be’ersheba.24Samme nat, han kom dertil, åbenbarede Herren sig for ham og sagde: „Jeg er din far Abrahams Gud. Vær ikke bange! Jeg er med dig for at velsigne dig! Jeg vil gøre dig til et stort folk, sådan som jeg lovede Abraham, fordi han var lydig imod mig.”25Da byggede Isak et alter og tilbad Herren. Han slog lejr der, og hans slaver gravede en ny brønd.
Isaks pagt med Abimelek
26En dag kom kong Abimelek til Be’ersheba sammen med sin rådgiver Ahuzzat og sin hærfører Pikol.27„Hvorfor kommer I her?” spurgte Isak. „Det er næppe et venskabsbesøg, siden I jog mig bort.”28„Vi ser tydeligt, at Herren på en særlig måde er med dig,” svarede de. „Derfor har vi tænkt, at vi burde lave en aftale med hinanden,29sådan at du ikke vil gøre os fortræd, ligesom vi ikke har gjort dig fortræd, men kun har behandlet dig godt og ladet dig rejse i fred. Du er og bliver jo under Herrens særlige velsignelse.”30Da holdt Isak en stor fest for sine gæster, hvor de spiste og drak.31Næste morgen aflagde de højtidelige løfter, der skulle besegle fredsaftalen. Så tog Isak afsked med dem, og de skiltes i al fordragelighed.32Samme dag kom Isaks slaver hjem og fortalte, at de havde fundet vand i brønden, de havde gravet.33Derfor kaldte han brønden Shiba[4]—og byen, som blev grundlagt der, kaldte han Be’ersheba,[5] og det hedder den stadigvæk.
Esau tager sig to koner fra et ugudeligt folk
34Esau var 40 år gammel, da han giftede sig med en pige, der hed Judit og var datter af hittitten Be’eri. Han giftede sig også med Basemat, en datter af hittitten Elon.35Det var Isak og Rebekka meget skuffede over.
1Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines. (1.Mos 12,10; 1.Mos 20,2; 1.Mos 21,34)2And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. (1.Mos 12,1)3Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. (1.Mos 13,15; 1.Mos 20,1; 1.Mos 22,16; 1.Mos 28,15; Mika 7,20; Heb 11,9)4I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, (1.Mos 12,3; 1.Mos 15,5; 2.Mos 32,13)5because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” (1.Mos 22,18)
Isaac and Abimelech
6So Isaac settled in Gerar.7When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because she was attractive in appearance. (1.Mos 12,13; 1.Mos 20,2; 1.Mos 20,13; 1.Mos 24,16; Ord 29,25)8When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with[1] Rebekah his wife.9So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’”10Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” (1.Mos 20,9)11So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”12And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him, (1.Mos 24,1; 1.Mos 24,35; 1.Mos 26,3)13and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy.14He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him. (Præd 4,4)15(Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.) (1.Mos 21,30)16And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”17So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there.18And 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. (1.Mos 21,31)19But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water,20the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek,[2] because they contended with him. (1.Mos 21,25)21Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah.[3]22And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth,[4] saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”23From there he went up to Beersheba.24And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.” (1.Mos 15,1; 1.Mos 17,7; 1.Mos 21,22; 1.Mos 24,12; 1.Mos 28,13; 1.Mos 28,15; 1.Mos 31,3; 2.Mos 3,6; Salm 27,1)25So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well. (1.Mos 12,7; 1.Mos 13,18)26When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army, (1.Mos 21,22)27Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?” (1.Mos 26,16)28They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you,29that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.” (1.Mos 24,31)30So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.31In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. (1.Mos 21,31)32That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.”33He called it Shibah;[5] therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day. (1.Mos 21,31; 1.Mos 22,19)34When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, (1.Mos 28,9; 1.Mos 36,2)35and they made life bitter[6] for Isaac and Rebekah. (1.Mos 27,46)