Bible Strands
Genesis 26:27
“Why have you come to me?” Isaac asked them. “You hated me and sent me away.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Isaac addresses Abimelech, Ahuzzath, and Phicol immediately after their arrival, questioning their purpose following his prior expulsion from their territory.
The words — The Hebrew מַדּ֖וּעַ (ma.Du.a') translates literally to "why?" and structures Isaac’s inquiry, while שְׂנֵאתֶ֣ם (se.ne.Tem) means "you hate," directly referencing the hostility that forced his departure.
The thread — Isaac’s statement recalls Genesis 26:16, where Abimelech commanded him to leave, and parallels the expulsion complaint in Judges 11:7.
Why it lands — The text records Isaac’s question before the Philistines reply in Genesis 26:28, requiring the reader to note the chronological gap between his accusation and their subsequent proposal of a covenant.
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 Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?
Cross-references
- Genesis 26:16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Depart from us, for you are much too powerful for us.”
- Judges 11:7 Jephthah replied to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and expel me from my father’s house? Why then have you come to me now, when you are in distress?”
- Genesis 26:14 He owned so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.
- Acts 7:9 Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him
- Acts 7:14 Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five in all.
- Acts 7:27 But the man who was abusing his neighbor pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?
- Acts 7:35 This Moses, whom they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ is the one whom God sent to be their ruler and redeemer through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
- Revelation 3:9 As for those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead, I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you.