This story focuses upon these events in the life of Isaac as a patriarch and so legitimizes his descendants’ claim to these wells.

And Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of Abraham his father: Isaac dug may give the impression in some languages that Isaac alone did the digging. If that is the case, it may be necessary to say, for example, “Isaac had his men dig,” “Isaac ordered his men to dig.” Dug again means he reopened or restored the wells that had been filled in. Which had been dug … is translated by Revised Standard Version as a passive. The Hebrew has an active construction with a plural subject “they,” meaning Abraham and his men.

In the days of, which is the Hebrew text, is “the servants of” in some of the ancient versions, and so Bible de Jérusalem translates “which the servants of his father Abraham had dug.” “The servants of” occurs in the Hebrew text of verse 15 but not here in verse 18. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project regards the Hebrew in the days of as an {A} reading, and therefore this should be followed by translators. This expression means “when Abraham was alive.”

For the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: this information highlights the conflict over water that began in Abraham’s time. By closing wells it was possible to force herders to leave the area. For the wording of this clause see verse 15.

And he gave them the names which his father had given them: he is Isaac. It was common practice to give names to water wells or springs that recalled something of their history or the personal experience of their founder. We may translate, for example, “Isaac gave these wells the same names his father had given them” or “Isaac called them by the same names his father Abraham had called them.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .