Bible Strands
Genesis 26:15
So the Philistines took dirt and stopped up all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the Philistines' actions toward Isaac immediately after noting their envy of his wealth (Genesis 26:14) and just before Abimelech orders him to depart (Genesis 26:16).
The words — חָפְרוּ (cha.fe.Ru) means "they had dug," and בּאֵרֹת (be.'e.Rot) translates to "wells," specifying the exact infrastructure the Philistines targeted.
The thread — This deliberate filling of wells repeats the pattern of Genesis 21:25, where Abraham protested the seizure of water sources, and mirrors the well-witness agreement recorded in Genesis 21:30.
Why it lands — The text states that the Philistines actively neutralized Isaac's inheritance by burying the wells Abraham's servants excavated, demonstrating that economic hostility requires physical action to force a political resolution.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For all the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.
Cross-references
- Genesis 21:30 He replied, “You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand as my witness that I dug this well.”
- Genesis 21:25 But when Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized,