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Genesis 26:15

in Genesis 26

So the Philistines took dirt and stopped up all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Now all the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped, and filled with earth.

KJV

For all the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.

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This verse in Genesis 26

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Origen of Alexandria

HOMILIES ON GENESIS 13.2 · Written before 253.

This Isaac, therefore, our Savior, when he has come into that valley of Gerar, first of all wishes to dig those wells that the servants of his father had dug; he wishes to renew the wells of the law, of course, and the prophets, which Philistines had filled with earth.Who are those who fill the wells with earth? Those, doubtless, who put an earthly and fleshly interpretation on the law and close up the spiritual and mystical interpretation so that neither do they themselves drink nor do they permit others to drink.

This site's exposition

all the wells that his father's servants had dug

on Genesis 26:15-18

The Philistines filled his father's wells with dirt after Abraham died. Stopping a well strikes at a dead man's work as much as at a living neighbour's water. Isaac reopens them and gives them back the names his father had given them. He recovers an inheritance that had been buried.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Origen of Alexandria

HOMILIES ON GENESIS 13.2 · Written before 253.

proposed

Isaac therefore digs also new wells; no, rather, Isaac's servants dig them. Isaac's servants are Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; his servants are Peter, James, Jude; the apostle Paul is Isaac's servant. These all dig the wells of the New Testament. But those who "mind earthly things" nor permit new things to be established nor old things to be cleansed also quarrel for these wells. They oppose the gospel wells; they resist the apostolic wells. And since they oppose in all things, since they quarrel in all things, it is said to them, "Since you have made yourselves unworthy of God's grace, henceforth now we go to the Gentiles."

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

For all the wells which his father's servants had digged, in the days of Abraham his father,.... For the watering of his flocks and herds, see Gen 21:25, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth; that they might be of no use; and this they did through envy to him, and is mentioned as a proof of it.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

This was spitefully done. Because they had not flocks of their own to water at these wells, they would not leave them for the use of others; so absurd a thing is malice. And it was perfidiously done, contrary to the covenant of friendship they had made with Abraham, ch. xxi.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

This was spitefully done. Because they had not flocks of their own to water at these wells, they would not leave them for the use of others; so absurd a thing is malice. And it was perfidiously done, contrary to the covenant of friendship they had made with Abraham, ch. xxi.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

For all the wells - the Philistines had stopped them - In such countries a good well was a great acquisition; and hence in predatory wars it was usual for either party to fill the wells with earth or sand, in order to distress the enemy. The filling up the wells in this case was a most unprincipled transaction, as they had pledged themselves to Abraham, by a solemn oath, not to injure each other in this or any other respect. See Gen 21:25-31.
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

all the wells which his father's servants had digged . . . the Philistines had stopped, &c.--The same base stratagem for annoying those against whom they have taken an umbrage is practiced still by choking the wells with sand or stones, or defiling them with putrid carcases.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

AND HE HAD POSSESSIONS OF FLOCKS, AND POSSESSIONS OF HERDS, AND A GREAT HOUSEHOLD, meaning she-asses and camels, he-asses, and men-servants and handmaids. Now Scripture mentions these but not silver and gold, as it says concerning Abraham, 167 Ibid.,:2.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Genesis 26:14:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

13 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְכָל־and all

    vekholH3605 →5413 times

  • הַבְּאֵרֹ֗תthe wells

    habeerotH875 →38 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֤רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • חָֽפְרוּ֙they had dug

    chaferuH2658 →22 times

  • עַבְדֵ֣י[the] servants of

    ʾavdeiH5650 →799 times

  • אָבִ֔יוfather his

    ʾavivH1 →1212 times

  • בִּימֵ֖יin [the] days of

    bimeiH3117 →2304 times

  • אַבְרָהָ֣םAbraham

    ʾavrahamH85 →175 times

  • אָבִ֑יוfather his

    ʾavivH1 →1212 times

  • סִתְּמ֣וּםthey stopped up them

    sitemumH5640 →

  • פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים[the] Philistines

    pelishtimH6430 →287 times

  • וַיְמַלְא֖וּםand they filled them

    vaymalumH4390 →249 times

  • עָפָֽר׃earth

    ʾafarH6083 →110 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

3 in all, six open

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Genesis 21:25

    But when Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized,

    it leads to

    • Genesis 26:15–22

      So the Philistines took dirt and stopped up all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham.

    • Genesis 29:8

      But they replied, “We cannot, until all the flocks have been gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water the sheep.”

    • Proverbs 27:5

      Better an open rebuke than love that is concealed.

    • Proverbs 25:9

      Argue your case with your neighbor without betraying another’s confidence,

    • Proverbs 17:10

      A rebuke cuts into a man of discernment deeper than a hundred lashes cut into a fool.

  • Through

    Genesis 21:30

    He replied, “You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand as my witness that I dug this well.”

    it leads to

    • Genesis 31:52

      This mound is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this mound to harm you, and you will not go past this mound and pillar to harm…

    • Genesis 31:44–48

      Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between you and me.”

    • Joshua 22:27–28

      Rather, let it be a witness between us and you and the generations to come, that we will worship the LORD in His presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings.’ Then in…

Where this verse is studied

About Genesis

The Tower of Babel, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563. Public domain.
The Tower of Babel, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563. Public domain.
Genesis: the study guide →Read Genesis 26 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 13.2.

Read on in Genesis 26 →