15
Allוְכָלthe wellsהַבְּאֵרֹתthatאֲשֶׁרthe servantsעַבְדֵיof his fatherאָבִיוhad dugחָפְרוּin the daysבִּימֵיof Abrahamאַבְרָהָםhis father,אָבִיוthe Philistinesפְּלִשְׁתִּיםhad stopped upסִתְּמוּםand filledוַיְמַלְאוּםwith dust.עָפָר
Genesis 26:15
Study it in the app“All the wells that the servants of his father had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped up and filled with dust.”
With the Hebrew beneath
Genesis 26:15, word by word
- the wellsבְּאֵרֹתbeerot
well
A deep hole dug in the ground to draw water.
Where else “beerot” appears- the servantsעַבְדֵיavde
servant
Someone who works for another, or a king's official.
Where else “avde” appears- of his fatherאָבִיavi
father
The man who begets a child and heads his household.
Where else “avi” appears- had dugחָפְרוּchafru
dig
To make a well or a pit in the ground.
Where else “chafru” appears- in the daysימֵיyme
time
Literally "the days": a period, an age, or the span of someone's life.
Where else “yme” appears- of Abrahamאַבְרָהָםavraham
Abraham
Abraham, the name God gave to Abram; it sounds like "father of a multitude" (Genesis 17:5). The father of the people of Israel, to whom God promised the land and blessing for all the families of the earth.
Where else “avraham” appears- the Philistinesפְּלִשְׁתִּיםpelishtim
Philistines
Philistines: a people that settled on the south-west coast of Canaan and was Israel's enemy in the days of the judges and of David.
Where else “pelishtim” appears- had stopped upסִתְּמוּsitmu
stop up
To plug wells or breaches.
Where else “sitmu” appears- and filledיְמַלְאוּyemalu
fill
To take up all the space of something, or to give someone all it can hold.
Where else “yemalu” appears- with dustעָפָרafar
dust
Dry, loose earth, fine as dust; God formed man from it.
Where else “afar” appears
The context
14He had flocks and herds and many servants, and the Philistines envied him.
15 · This verse (above)
16Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you have become much mightier than we.”
To study Genesis 26 in a group
1. What it says
What did YHWH promise Isaac, and what happened with the wells he dug (vv. 2-5, 18-22)?
2. What it means
What did Isaac say when he named the well Rehoboth, the one they did not quarrel over, and what does that show about his attitude (vv. 20-22)?
3. How I live it
How can you respond with peace the next time someone disputes something that is yours?