Genesis 26:12

Then, Isaac sowed in that land,.... In the land of Gerar; after matters were settled between him and Abimelech, and he had ordered his servants to do him no hurt, he sowed wheat or barley, or some

Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him. Then Isaac sowed.

Isaac sowed in that land; either in the grounds which he had hired of the right owners, or in some grounds which lay neglected, and therefore were free to the first occupier; which was not strange in that age of the world, when the inhabitants of countries were not so numerous as afterward. An hundredfold, i.e. a hundred times as much as he sowed. The same degree of increase is intimated , and affirmed sometimes of other places by heathen writers; but then it was in a better soil and season than this was, for this was a time of famine or scarcity.

Genesis 26:12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.Ver. 12. Then Isaac sowed in that land.] In ground hired for his use, and managed by himself: for it was anciently a great commendation, saith Cicero, to be a good husbandman. M. Curius, after three triumphs, returned to the plough, and held it no disgrace; neither ever was there more plenty at Rome than then, saith Pliny; Quasi gauderet terra laureato vomere, et Aratore triumphali. This good husbandman in the text, sowing in that barren land, and in a time of famine too, hath a hundredfold increase; which is the utmost that our Saviour mentioneth in the parable of the sower; and in reference hereunto, he elsewhere assureth such as part with all for his sake and the gospel’ s, they "shall receive a hundredfold here, and eternal life hereafter". That which Herodotus and Pliny report of Babylon is beyond belief: that the land thereabouts returns two hundredfold increase. But grant it were true, yet he that is a good husband for his soul, sows in a better ground, and shall have a better return: for, "he that soweth to the Spirit, shall, of the Spirit, reap life everlasting." Only it is required, that he "be not weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not". We must not look to sow and reap all in a day, as he saith of the Hyperborean people far north; that they sow shortly after the sunrising, and reap before the sunset; because the whole half year is one continual day with them. We must "wait," with "the husbandman, for the precious fruit of the earth, and have long patience for it, until we receive the former and latter rain". And "be diligent" in the meanwhile, that when Christ comes, "we may be found of him in peace". Heaven will pay for all our pains and patience. "He which soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly; and he that soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully," even blessing upon blessing, as the word there (επευλογιαις) signifies: he "shall doubtless come again with joy, bringing his sheaves with him". Veteres siquem virum bonum colonum appellassent, amplissime laudasse exstimabant. - Cic. Dιηκοσιαμεντοπαραπαναποδιδοι. - Her., lib. i. - Plin., lib. vi. cap. 26. Heresbach., De Re Rustica.

(12) Isaac sowed in that land.—When Abraham planted a tamarisk-tree at Beer-sheba (Genesis 21:33) it showed that he regarded the place as a permanent residence, which it was worth his while to adorn, and to provide for its increasing pleasantness. Isaac and Jacob took a still further step in advance towards a settled life when they began to cultivate plots of ground. At first, however, Isaac did no more than the Bedaween do at present; for they often sow a piece of land, wait till the crop is ripe, and then resume their roving habits. Permanently to till the soil is with them a mark of inferiority (Genesis 25:16). But the tendency, both with Abraham and Isaac, had long been to remain in the region about Beer-sheba. Isaac had been driven thence by the famine, by which he had probably lost much of his cattle, and many even of his people. Apparently he was even so weakened thereby as to be no match for the Philistines of Gerar. His large harvest recouped him for his losses, and made him once more a prosperous man; and in due time Beer-sheba was again his home, and with settled habits agriculture was·sure to begin. An hundredfold.—The Heb. is, a hundred measures, but the word is unknown elsewhere, and the LXX. and Syriac read, a hundred of barley, measures being understood, as in Rth 3:15. Herodotus (Book i. 193) mentions two—and even three—hundredfold as possible in Babylonia; but our Lord seems to give one hundredfold as the extreme measure of productiveness in Palestine (Matthew 13:8). Such a return, like Isaac’s, would be rare and extraordinary.

Verse 12. Isaac sowed in that land] Being now perfectly free from the fear of evil, he betakes himself to agricultural and pastoral pursuits, in which he has the especial blessing of God, so that his property becomes greatly increased. A hundred-fold] מאה שערים, meah shearim, literally, "A hundred-fold of barley;" and so the Septuagint, εκατοστευουσανκριθην. Perhaps such a crop of this grain was a rare occurrence in Gerar. The words, however, may be taken in a general way, as signifying a very great increase; so they are used by our Lord in the parable of the sower.

12–17 (J). Isaac’s Prosperity 12. an hundredfold] Lit. “a hundred measures.” LXX ἑκατοστεύουσανκριθήν = “barley bearing a hundredfold,” mistaking the Hebrew word for “measure,” and confusing it with that for “barley.” So also the Syriac Pesh. “An hundredfold,” i.e. one hundred for one. Isaac’s agricultural pursuits offer a contrast to the roaming life of a nomad. But see, in Jacob’s career, Genesis 30:14, Genesis 37:7. blessed him] See Genesis 26:3, Genesis 24:1; Genesis 24:35.

12. Isaac sowed — He now added agriculture to the pursuits of nomadic life. Received — Hebrews, found. A hundredfold — Or, a hundred measures. Some (Sept., Syr.) read, ωׂ ?ςψιν, barley, instead of ωׁ ?ςψιν, measures, or fold.