But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing water,
Parallel translations
- WEB Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.
- KJV And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.
- BSB Then Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of fresh water there.
- NKJV Also Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there.
- NLT Isaac’s servants also dug in the Gerar Valley and discovered a well of fresh water.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Isaac's servants dig and discover a well of fresh, flowing water.
Overview
Finding 'springing' (living) water in a dry land is a mark of God's provision for Isaac. The phrase recalls the biblical imagery of living water that points ahead to Christ, who offers the water of eternal life (John 4). Even Isaac's daily needs are met by a faithful, providing God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- John 4:10–11Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
- John 7:38He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water.”
- Song 4:15a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, flowing streams from Lebanon.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 26:19 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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