Genesis 26:18-20

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Genesis 26:18 tn Heb “he returned and dug,” meaning “he dug again” or “he reopened.”
2. Genesis 26:18 tn Heb “that they dug.” Since the subject is indefinite, the verb is translated as passive.
3. Genesis 26:18 tn Heb “and the Philistines had stopped them up.” This clause explains why Isaac had to reopen them.
4. Genesis 26:18 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5. Genesis 26:18 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the wells) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6. Genesis 26:18 tn Heb “called names to them according to the names that his father called them.”
7. Genesis 26:19 tn Heb “living.” This expression refers to a well supplied by subterranean streams (see Song 4:15).
8. Genesis 26:20 tn The Hebrew verb translated “quarreled” describes a conflict that often has legal ramifications.
9. Genesis 26:20 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10. Genesis 26:20 sn The name Esek means “argument” in Hebrew. The following causal clause explains that Isaac gave the well this name as a reminder of the conflict its discovery had created. In the Hebrew text there is a wordplay, for the name is derived from the verb translated “argued.”
11. Genesis 26:20 tn The words “about it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.