Genesis 26:18

Plain English Version

A long time before this, when Isaac’s father Abraham was alive, Abraham and his workers dug lots of water-holes in that place, and Abraham gave all those water-holes names. But then, after Abraham died, the Philistia people filled up all those water-holes with dirt, so nobody could get water from them. Now, when Isaac moved there, he got his workers to take the dirt out of those water-holes, so that everybody could get water again. And Isaac gave those water-holes the same names that Abraham gave them a long time before.

Cross References

Genesis 21:25

But then Abraham also complained to Abimelek. He said, “I’ve got a problem. Some of your workers took one of my water-holes, and then they stopped my workers from getting any water there.”

Genesis 21:30

Abraham said, “I want to give you these sheep as a special present. Take them. That’s how you can show people that you agree with me, that I dug that water-hole and that I own it.”

Genesis 21:31

From that time on, that place was called Beersheba. That name means water-hole where they made a promise. It was where Abraham and Abimelek made strong promises to each other.

Genesis 26:17

So Isaac and his family left Gerar, and they moved their camp to a place called the Valley of Gerar, and they lived in that place for a long time.

Genesis 26:19

One day, Isaac’s workers dug a new water-hole in the valley, and they found fresh running water in that hole.