Orta autem fame super terram post eam sterilitatem, quæ acciderat in diebus Abraham, abiit Isaac ad Abimelech regem Palæstinorum in Gerara.

And when a famine came in the land, after that barrenness which had happened in the days of Abraham, Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Palestines to Gerara.

When a famine came upon the land again, like the famine which had visited it in Abraham’s time, Isaac was for leaving it; and he had reached the court of Abimelech, king of the Philistines, in Gerara,

Apparuitque ei Dominus, et ait: Ne descendas in Ægyptum, sed quiesce in terra quam dixero tibi,

And the Lord appeared to him and said: Go not down into Egypt, but stay in the land that I shall tell thee.

when the Lord appeared to him and said, No, do not take refuge in Egypt; thou art to remain in the land of my choice.

et peregrinare in ea: eroque tecum, et benedicam tibi: tibi enim et semini tuo dabo universas regiones has, complens juramentum quod spopondi Abraham patri tuo.

And sojourn in it, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee: for to thee and to thy seed I will give all these countries, to fulfill the oath which I swore to Abraham thy father.

Dwell in that land, though it be alien soil, and I will be with thee and bless thee; I mean to give all this land to thee and to thy race after thee, in fulfilment of the oath I took to thy father Abraham.

Et multiplicabo semen tuum sicut stellas cæli: daboque posteris tuis universas regiones has: et benedicentur in semine tuo omnes gentes terræ,

And I will multiply thy seed like the stars of heaven: and I will give to thy posterity all these countries: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.

I will make that race plentiful as the stars in heaven, and grant the whole of this land to thy descendants; in thy posterity all the nations of the world shall find a blessing.

eo quod obedierit Abraham voci meæ, et custodierit præcepta et mandata mea, et cæremonias legesque servaverit.

Because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my precepts and commandments, and observed my ceremonies and laws.

Such reward shall Abraham have for obeying me, for keeping every command and charge I gave him, following observance and decree of mine.

Mansit itaque Isaac in Geraris.

So Isaac abode in Gerara.

So Isaac remained where he was, at Gerara.

Qui cum interrogaretur a viris loci illius super uxore sua, respondit: Soror mea est: timuerat enim confiteri quod sibi esset sociata conjugio, reputans ne forte interficerent eum propter illius pulchritudinem.

And when he was asked by the men of that place, concerning his wife, he answered: She is my sister; for he was afraid to confess that she was his wife, thinking lest perhaps they would kill him because of her beauty.

And now, when certain of the inhabitants asked him about his wife, he told them, She is my sister; he was afraid to own that she was his wedded wife, thinking they might be tempted by her beauty to kill him.

Cumque pertransissent dies plurimi, et ibidem moraretur, prospiciens Abimelech rex Palæstinorum per fenestram, vidit eum jocantem cum Rebecca uxore sua.

And when very many days were passed, and he abode there, Abimelech king of the Palestines looking out through a window, saw him playing with Rebecca his wife.

And one day, when he had already spent a long time in the country, the Philistine king, Abimelech, looked out of a window and saw Isaac and his wife in dalliance together.

Et accersito eo, ait: Perspicuum est quod uxor tua sit: cur mentitus es eam sororem tuam esse? Respondit: Timui ne morerer propter eam.

And calling for him, he said: It is evident she is thy wife: why didst thou feign her to be thy sister? He answered: I feared lest I should die for her sake.

Whereupon he summoned him, and said, It is plain enough, now, that she is thy wife, why didst thou pretend she was thy sister? I was afraid, he answered, that she might be the cause of my death.

Dixitque Abimelech: Quare imposuisti nobis? potuit coire quispiam de populo cum uxore tua, et induxeras super nos grande peccatum. Præcepitque omni populo, dicens:

And Abimelech said: Why hast thou deceived us? Some man of the people might have lain with thy wife, and thou hadst brought upon us a great sin. And he commanded all the people, saying:

What is this trick thou hast played on us? said Abimelech. One of my people might easily have dishonoured thy wife, and so thou wouldst have led us into grievous guilt. Then he issued his command to all his people,

Qui tetigerit hominis hujus uxorem, morte morietur.

He that shall touch this man’s wife, shall surely be put to death.

If anyone touches this man’s wife, his life must pay for it.

Sevit autem Isaac in terra illa, et invenit in ipso anno centuplum: benedixitque ei Dominus.

And Isaac sowed in that land, and he found that same year a hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.

In this country, Isaac began growing crops; and in that first year they yielded a hundredfold; such was the Lord’s blessing on him.

Et locupletatus est homo, et ibat proficiens atque succrescens, donec magnus vehementer effectus est:

And the man was enriched, and he went on prospering and increasing, till he became exceeding great:

Thus he became rich, and went on prospering more and more, until he rose to great influence;

habuit quoque possessiones ovium et armentorum, et familiæ plurimum. Ob hoc invidentes ei Palæstini,

And he had possessions of sheep and of herds, and a very great family. Wherefore the Palestines envying him,

flocks of sheep were his, and herds of cattle, and a great retinue. And now the Philistines, out of envy,

omnes puteos, quos foderant servi patris illius Abraham, illo tempore obstruxerunt, implentes humo:

Stopped up at that time all the wells, that the servants of his father Abraham had digged, filling them up with earth:

stopped up all the wells which the servants of his father Abraham had dug there, filling them in with earth.

in tantum, ut ipse Abimelech diceret ad Isaac: Recede a nobis, quoniam potentior nobis factus es valde.

Insomuch that Abimelech himself said to Isaac: Depart from us, for thou art become much mightier than we.

At last Abimelech himself said to Isaac, Separate from us; thou hast become altogether too powerful for us.

Et ille discedens, ut veniret ad torrentem Geraræ, habitaretque ibi,

So he departed and came to the torrent of Gerara, to dwell there:

So he went to live in the valley of Gerara.

rursum fodit alios puteos, quos foderant servi patris sui Abraham, et quos, illo mortuo, olim obstruxerant Philisthiim: appellavitque eos eisdem nominibus quibus ante pater vocaverat.

And he digged again other wells, which the servants of his father Abraham had digged, and which, after his death, the Palestines had of old stopped up: and he called them by the same names by which his father before had called them.

Here he opened afresh other wells, dug by his father Abraham’s servants, and stopped up long since by the Philistines, when Abraham died; calling them by the old names his father had given them.

Foderuntque in torrente, et repererunt aquam vivam.

And they digged in the torrent, and found living water.

While they were thus digging in the valley, they came upon running water;

Sed et ibi jurgium fuit pastorum Geraræ adversus pastores Isaac, dicentium: Nostra est aqua, quam ob rem nomen putei ex eo, quod acciderat, vocavit Calumniam.

But there also the herdsmen of Gerara strove against the herdsmen of Isaac, saying: It is our water. Wherefore he called the name of the well, on occasion of that which had happened, Calumny.

but here, too, the herdsmen of Gerara disputed the rights of Isaac’s herdsmen, and claimed the water as their own. So he called the well, in memory of what had happened, the False Claim.

Foderunt autem et alium: et pro illo quoque rixati sunt, appellavitque eum Inimicitias.

And they digged also another; and for that they quarrelled likewise, and he called the name of it, Enmity.

Then they dug another, and this, too, was a cause of contention, so he called this well the Feud.

Profectus inde fodit alium puteum, pro quo non contenderunt: itaque vocavit nomen ejus Latitudo, dicens: Nunc dilatavit nos Dominus, et fecit crescere super terram.

Going forward from thence, he digged another well, for which they contended not: therefore he called the name thereof, Latitude, saying: Now hath the Lord given us room, and made us to increase upon the earth.

And at last, when he had gone further on and dug another well, over which they did not dispute with him, he called it Freedom; Now at last, he said, the Lord has given us freedom to spread over the land.

Ascendit autem ex illo loco in Bersabee,

And he went up from that place to Bersabee,

From there he went to Bersabee;

ubi apparuit ei Dominus in ipsa nocte, dicens: Ego sum Deus Abraham patris tui: noli timere, quia ego tecum sum: benedicam tibi, et multiplicabo semen tuum propter servum meum Abraham.

Where the Lord appeared to him that same night, saying: I am the God of Abraham thy father; do not fear, for I am with thee: I will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake.

and here, the same night, he had a vision of the Lord, who said to him, I am the God of thy father Abraham; fear nothing, I am with thee. I mean to bless thee, and give increase to thy posterity, in reward of Abraham’s true service.

Itaque ædificavit ibi altare: et invocato nomine Domini, extendit tabernaculum, præcepitque servis suis ut foderent puteum.

And he built there an altar: and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent: and commanded his servants to dig a well.

So he built an altar, and invoked the Lord’s name, and pitched his tent there, and bade his servants dig a well.

Ad quem locum cum venissent de Geraris Abimelech, et Ochozath amicus illius, et Phicol dux militum,

To which place when Abimelech, and Ochozath his friend, and Phicol chief captain of his soldiers came from Gerara,

When Abimelech came from Gerara to visit him there, with Ochozath, his counsellor, and Phicol, the commander of his army,

locutus est eis Isaac: Quid venistis ad me, hominem quem odistis, et expulistis a vobis?

Isaac said to them: Why are ye come to me, a man whom you hate, and have thrust out from you?

Isaac asked them, What means your visit? Here is a man you have treated as an enemy, and driven him away from you.

Qui responderunt: Vidimus tecum esse Dominum, et idcirco nos diximus: Sit juramentum inter nos, et ineamus fœdus,

And they answered: We saw that the Lord is with thee, and therefore we said: Let there be an oath between us, and let us make a covenant,

But they answered, We have seen how all this while the Lord is with thee; and our thought was, It is time there was an oath between us. Let us make a covenant

ut non facias nobis quidquam mali, sicut et nos nihil tuorum attigimus, nec fecimus quod te læderet: sed cum pace dimisimus auctum benedictione Domini.

That thou do us no harm, as we on our part have touched nothing of thine, nor have done any thing to hurt thee: but with peace have sent thee away increased with the blessing of the Lord.

that thou wilt do us no wrong; we never laid hands on thee, never did thee anything but good; we parted from thee peaceably, and the Lord’s blessing was thine.

Fecit ergo eis convivium, et post cibum et potum

And he made them a feast, and after they had eaten and drunk:

So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank with him;

surgentes mane, juraverunt sibi mutuo: dimisitque eos Isaac pacifice in locum suum.

Arising in the morning, they swore one to another: and Isaac sent them away peaceably to their own home.

then, when they rose up in the morning, they bound themselves by oath each to the other, and so Isaac took leave of them, and they went home in peace.

Ecce autem venerunt in ipso die servi Isaac annuntiantes ei de puteo, quem foderant, atque dicentes: Invenimus aquam.

And behold the same day the servants of Isaac came, telling him of a well which they had digged, and saying: We have found water.

It was on that very day that Isaac’s servants came to him and brought word of the latest well they had been digging; We have found water, they told him.

Unde appellavit eum Abundantiam: et nomen urbi impositum est Bersabee, usque in præsentem diem.

Whereupon he called it Abundance: and the name of the city was called Bersabee, even to this day.

So he called it Abundance; that is how the city came to be called Bersabee, as it is to this day.

Esau vero quadragenarius duxit uxores, Judith filiam Beeri Hethæi, et Basemath filiam Elon ejusdem loci:

And Esau being forty years old, married wives, Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hethite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon of the same place.

Esau, who was by this time forty years old, married two wives, Judith the daughter of Beëri, the Hethite, and Basemath, the daughter of another Hethite, Elon.

quæ ambæ offenderant animum Isaac et Rebeccæ.

And they both offended the mind of Isaac and Rebecca.

Both of these distressed the hearts of Isaac and Rebecca.