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“Why have you come to me?” Isaac asked them. “You hated me and sent me away.”
Genesis 26:27 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me, and have sent me away from you?”
  • KJV And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?
  • NKJV And Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?”
  • NASB Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?”
  • NLT “Why have you come here?” Isaac asked. “You obviously hate me, since you kicked me off your land.”

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 questions why men who hated and expelled him have now come to him.

Overview

Isaac frankly names the prior hostility, asking the Philistines to explain their visit. His candor reflects honest dealing rather than pretended goodwill. The exchange highlights how God's blessing on Isaac has reversed the relationship, drawing his enemies to seek his favor.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 8

  • Gen 26:16Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Depart from us, for you are much too powerful for us.”
  • Judg 11:7Jephthah 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?”
  • Acts 7:9Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him
  • Rev 3:9Look at 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.
  • Gen 26:14He owned so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.
  • Acts 7:14Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five in all.
  • Acts 7:35This 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.
  • Acts 7:27But the man who was abusing his neighbor pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Genesis videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Genesis 26:27YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on GenesisMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 26:27 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.