Genesis 26:16
in Genesis 26Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Depart from us, for you are much too powerful for us.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.
KJV
And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.
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This verse in Genesis 26
Commentary
6 notes on this verseGo from us; for thou art much mightier than we - This is the first instance on record of what was termed among the Greeks ostracism; i.e., the banishment of a person from the state, of whose power, influence, or riches, the people were jealous. There is a remarkable saying of Bacon on this subject, which seems to intimate that he had this very circumstance under his eye: “Public envy is an ostracism that eclipseth men when they grow too great.” On this same principle Pharaoh oppressed the Israelites.
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.
This site's exposition
you are much too powerful for us
Abimelech gives the reason: much too powerful for us. Adam Clarke called this the first recorded case of what the Greeks named ostracism, the banishing of a man whose power the people feared. He saw the same principle at work when Pharaoh oppressed the Israelites.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Consider the degree of evil of those inhabitants such as even to begrudge the good man water. Not even the king, despite his having so much wealth, could withstand the impulse of envy but said, "Depart from us, because you have become far too powerful for us." What terrible malice; why, in fact, are you driving the good man off? Surely Isaac caused your subjects no harm? Surely he did no wrong? But that is what envy is like: It does nothing out of calm reason. I mean, on seeing the good man enjoying such favor from the God of all, Abimelech should rather have respected him, should rather have shown him honor so as himself to win favor from on high because of the honor shown him. But instead of doing that, he even tried to drive him off, saying, "Depart from us, because you have become far too powerful for us."That is what envy is like, after all: It cannot simply accept others' success but instead regards the neighbor's prosperity as a disaster for itself and is devastated by the neighbor's good fortune. That is precisely what happened here: having authority over the whole city and holding everyone in his thrall, the king said to this nomad, this vagrant, wandering hither and yon, "Depart from us, because you have become far too powerful for us." Isaac really was more powerful, with help from above in every circumstance and protected by God's right hand.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Abimelech said unto Isaac, go from us,....
The king of Gerar began to look upon him with a jealous eye. Isaac's house was like a court, and his riches and retinue eclipsed Abimelech's; and therefore he must go further off.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֥אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲבִימֶ֖לֶךְ | ʾavimelekh | Abimelech | H40 → | 66 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יִצְחָ֑ק | yitzchak | Isaac | H3327 → | 108 times |
| לֵ֚ךְ | lekh | go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| מֵֽעִמָּ֔נוּ | meimanu | from with <the> us | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עָצַֽמְתָּ־ | ʾatzamta- | you have become [too] powerful | H6105 → | |
| מִמֶּ֖נּוּ | mimenu | for us | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| מְאֹֽד׃ | meod | much | H3966 → | 300 times |
וַיֹּ֥אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֲבִימֶ֖לֶךְAbimelech
ʾavimelekhH40 →66 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יִצְחָ֑קIsaac
yitzchakH3327 →108 times
לֵ֚ךְgo
lekhH1980 →1546 times
מֵֽעִמָּ֔נוּfrom with <the> us
meimanuH5973 →1050 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
עָצַֽמְתָּ־you have become [too] powerful
ʾatzamta-H6105 →
מִמֶּ֖נּוּfor us
mimenuH4480 →1188 times
מְאֹֽד׃much
meodH3966 →300 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach 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
Exodus 1:9“Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become too numerous and too powerful for us.
it leads to
- Psalms 105:24–25
And the LORD made His people very fruitful, more numerous than their foes,
- Ecclesiastes 4:4
I saw that all labor and success spring from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
- James 3:14–16
But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth.
- Proverbs 27:4
Wrath is cruel and anger is like a flood, but who can withstand jealousy?
- Numbers 22:4–5
So the Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will devour everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” Since Balak son of Zippor was king of…
- Psalms 105:24–25
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 52.6-7; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.