Bible Strands
Genesis 26:16
Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Depart from us, for you are much too powerful for us.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Abimelech commands Isaac to leave the region after the Philistines had filled in the wells dug by Abraham’s servants. The speech occurs at the moment Isaac is forced to relocate following the Philistines’ hostile actions.
The words — The verb עָצַֽמְתָּ ('a.tzam.ta) literally means "you have become powerful," describing Isaac’s expanding influence. The phrase מֵֽ/עִמָּ֔/נוּ (me./'i.Ma./nu) translates to "from with us," functioning as a direct imperative to depart.
The thread — The phrasing of a group becoming "too powerful for us" runs directly to Exodus 1:9, where Pharaoh states the Israelites have grown too numerous and powerful. Both passages employ the same Hebrew root עָצַם to frame a ruling power’s response to a rising demographic threat.
Why it lands — The text explicitly records a political expulsion driven by perceived threat rather than divine instruction. Interpreters infer that human institutions often yield to fear of growing influence, requiring the reader to distinguish between external pressure and God’s sovereign direction.
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
And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.
Cross-references
- Exodus 1:9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become too numerous and too powerful for us.