Genesis 26:27

Gen 26:27 And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?

Ver. 27. Wherefore come ye to me?] Here was his magnanimity and his modesty both, in expostulating the wrongs they had done unto him. He could not but be sensible of their discourtesies, though he dissembled them. A sheep feels the bite of a dog, as well as a swine, though she make no such noise. Isaac having now a fit opportunity, gives them the telling of it: and "how forcible are right words"! {Job 6:25} There is a real confutation of injuries: and we should consult, whether, in such a case, it be best to deal with the wrongdoers, at all, by words. God’s way is by works: and he must get an Isaac-like temperance and prudence, that thinks himself able to convince them by reason, and to set them down.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 27. Seeing ye hate me] He was justified in thinking thus, because if they did not injure him, they had connived at their servants doing it.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

27. And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me? Isaac not only expostulates concerning injuries received, but protests that in future he can have no confidence in them, since he had found in them a disposition so hostile to himself. This passage teaches us, that it is lawful for the faithful to complain of their enemies, in order, if possible, to recall them from their purpose of doing injury, and to restrain their force, frauds, and acts of injustice. For liberty is not inconsistent with patience: nor does God require of his own people, that they should silently digest every injury which may be inflicted upon them, but only that they should restrain their minds and hands from revenge. Now, if their minds are pure and well regulated, their tongues will not be virulent in reproaching the faults of others; but their sole purpose will be to restrain the wicked by a sense of shame from iniquity. For where there is no hope of profiting by complaints, it is better to cherish peace by silence; unless, perhaps, for the purpose of rendering those who delight themselves in wickedness inexcusable. We must, indeed, always beware, lest, from a desire of vengeance, our tongues break out in reproaches; and, as Solomon says, hatred stirreth up strifes. (Proverbs 10:12.)

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(27) Wherefore come ye to me?—Isaac’s return had brought matters to a crisis, and the king must now decide whether there was to be peace or war.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That thou wilt do us no hurt,.... Neither to our persons nor properties, to our kingdom and subjects, by invading our land, and seizing on our kingdom, all which was feared from Isaac's growing wealth and power:

as we have not touched thee; not done the least injury to him, to his person, family, and substance, but suffered him to go away with all he had untouched:

and as we have done unto thee, nothing but good; by royal authority, or by the command and direction of the king and his nobles; for as for the stopping up the wells his father's servants had dug, and the controversy that was about those in the vale, and the trouble Isaac had on that account, these things were not by the order of the king and council, and perhaps without their knowledge:

and have sent thee away in peace; no one being suffered to do any injury to him, or molest him in carrying off everything that belonged unto him:

thou art now blessed of the Lord; so it appeared by the prosperity he was attended with, and by the Lord's protection of him, and the constant and continual favours he was bestowing on him; and this induced Abimelech and his nobles to seek to cultivate friendship, and be on good terms with him. De Dieu gives a different sense of these words, and considers them in the form of an oath or imprecation,"if thou shouldest do us any hurt, seeing we have not touched thee, &c. be thou now accursed of the Lord,''taking the word used in a contrary sense, as in Job 1:5 Kg1 21:10.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

27. Wherefore come ye — Isaac receives them coldly, as well he might after their breach of an old treaty of peace with his father. But the king was anxious to be on friendly terms with Isaac, even though the latter was not welcome to settle in his land.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore WDm, contr, from Wdy; hm; what is taught?for what reason (cf. ti maqwn)come ye to me, seeing (literally, and) ye hate me, and have sent me away from you? While animadverting to the personal hostility to which he had been subjected, Isaac says nothing about the wells of which he had been deprived: a second point of difference between this and the preceding narrative of Abraham"s covenant with the Philistine king.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

ויאמר...ותשלחוני, the plural mode here indicates that at the time when Avimelech had expelled Yitzchok he had done so by following the advice of his ministers and notables. He had also said at that time “לך מעמנו,” Go from us!”

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.