Genesis 26:19
in Genesis 26Then Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of fresh water there.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.
KJV
And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.
⋯
This verse in Genesis 26
Commentary
6 notes on this verseFor Abraham dug wells and Isaac too—that is, the mighty patriarchs—and Jacob also, as we find in the Gospel, as if they were fountains of the human race, and specifically fountains of faith and devotion. For what is a well of living water but a depth of profound instruction? On this account Hagar saw the angel by a well and Jacob found his wife Rachel by a well; Moses too earned the first rewards of his future marriage beside a well.
This site's exposition
found a well of fresh water there
on Genesis 26:19-22
Three wells carry three names that track the quarrel: Esek, where they contended with him, Sitnah, and Rehoboth. Isaac moves on each time and digs again, and the room he finally gets is given to him. At Rehoboth he says the LORD has made room for us. Jerome notes that the word behind Sitnah is the word behind the name Satan.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
For who is able worthily to explain either the mysteries of such great wells or of those things that are related to have been done for the wells, unless we invoke the Father of the living Word and he should deign to put the word in our mouth so that we may be able to draw a little "living water" for you who thirst from those wells which are so copious and numerous?There are, therefore, wells that the servants of Abraham dug, but the Philistines had filled these with earth. Isaac therefore undertakes first to clear these wells. The Philistines hate water; they love earth. Isaac loves water; he is always seeking wells; he cleans old wells, he opens new ones. Consider our Isaac, who "has been offered as a sacrifice for us," coming into the valley of Gerar, which means "wall" or "hedge." [He is] coming, I say, that "he might destroy the middle wall of hedge, the enmities, in his flesh." [He is] coming to remove the wall that is between us and the heavenly virtues, that he might make "both one" and carry back to the mountains "on his shoulder" the lamb which had strayed and restore it to the other "ninety-nine which had not strayed."
(Verse 19) And the servants of Isaac dug in the valley of Gerar and found there a well of living water. And for this valley, a stream was written; for never is a well of living water found in the valley.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And Isaac's servants digged in the valley,.... In the valley of Gerar, as the Septuagint version expresses it: and found there a well of springing water; or "living water" (l), which continually flows, as Aben Ezra rightly interprets it: hence this phrase is used of the perpetual and ever living graces of the Spirit of God, Joh 4:10. (l) מים חיים "aquarum viventium", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A well of springing water - באר מים חיים beer mayim chaiyim, A well of living waters. This is the oriental phrase for a spring, and this is its meaning both in the Old and New Testaments: Lev 14:5, Lev 14:50; Lev 15:30; Num 19:17; Son 4:15. See also Joh 4:10-14; Joh 7:38; Rev 21:6; Rev 22:1. And by these scriptures we find that an unfailing spring was an emblem of the graces and influences of the Spirit of God.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּחְפְּר֥וּ | vaiyachperu | and they dug | H2658 → | 22 times |
| עַבְדֵֽי־ | ʾavdei- | [the] servants of | H5650 → | 799 times |
| יִצְחָ֖ק | yitzchak | Isaac | H3327 → | 108 times |
| בַּנָּ֑חַל | banachal | in the wadi | H5158 → | 141 times |
| וַיִּ֨מְצְאוּ־ | vaiyimtzeu- | and they found | H4672 → | 455 times |
| שָׁ֔ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| בְּאֵ֖ר | beer | a well of | H875 → | 38 times |
| מַ֥יִם | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| חַיִּֽים׃ | chaiyim | living | H2416 → | 498 times |
וַיַּחְפְּר֥וּand they dug
vaiyachperuH2658 →22 times
עַבְדֵֽי־[the] servants of
ʾavdei-H5650 →799 times
יִצְחָ֖קIsaac
yitzchakH3327 →108 times
בַּנָּ֑חַלin the wadi
banachalH5158 →141 times
וַיִּ֨מְצְאוּ־and they found
vaiyimtzeu-H4672 →455 times
שָׁ֔םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
בְּאֵ֖רa well of
beerH875 →38 times
מַ֥יִםwater
mayimH4325 →581 times
חַיִּֽים׃living
chaiyimH2416 →498 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 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
John 7:38Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’”
it leads to
- John 4:14
But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- John 4:10
Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 44:3
For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.
- Isaiah 58:11
The LORD will always guide you; He will satisfy you in a sun-scorched land and strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
- Isaiah 12:3
With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation,
- John 4:14
Through
Song of Solomon 4:15You are a garden spring, a well of fresh water flowing down from Lebanon.
it leads to
- John 7:38
Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’”
- Jeremiah 2:13
“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
- Psalms 36:8–9
They feast on the abundance of Your house, and You give them drink from Your river of delights.
- John 7:38
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, On Isaac and the Soul, Chapter 4, Sections 21-22; Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 13.1-2.