Thematic Bible: The occasion of feuds


Thematic Bible



The Philistines stopped up all the wells that his father's slaves had dug in the days of his father Abraham, filling them with dirt. And Abimelech said to Isaac, "Leave us, for you are much too powerful for us." So Isaac left there, camped in the valley of Gerar, and lived there. read more.
Isaac reopened the water wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham and that the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. He gave them the same names his father had given them. Moreover, Isaac's slaves dug in the valley and found a well of spring water there. But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen and said, "The water is ours!" So he named the well Quarrel because they quarreled with him. Then they dug another well and quarreled over that one also, so he named it Hostility. He moved from there and dug another, and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Open Spaces and said, "For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land."

On that same day Isaac's slaves came to tell him about the well they had dug, saying to him, "We have found water!" He called it Oath. Therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba to this day.

But Abraham complained to Abimelech because of the water well that Abimelech's servants had seized. Abimelech replied, "I don't know who did this thing. You didn't report anything to me, so I hadn't heard about it until today." Then Abraham took sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant. read more.
But Abraham had set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock. And Abimelech said to Abraham, "Why have you set apart these seven ewe lambs?" He replied, "You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand so that this act will serve as my witness that I dug this well."

Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers.