Genesis 26:18-20

International Standard Version

Disputes over Water Rights

¹⁸ Isaac re-excavated some wells that his father had first dug during his lifetime, because the Philistines had filled them with sand^[a] after Abraham’s death. Isaac^[b] renamed those wells with the same names that his father had called them.

¹⁹ While Isaac’s servants were digging in the valley, they discovered a well with flowing water. ²⁰ But the herdsmen who lived in Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen. “The water is ours,” they said. As a result, Isaac named the well Esek,^[c] for they had fiercely disputed with him about it.