Genesis 26:20

Summary

The herdsmen of Gerar dispute with Isaac's herdsmen over a well, claiming the water belongs to them. Isaac names the well "Esek" because of this quarrel, and the text uses two related verb roots to frame the naming as a direct consequence of the dispute.

Key words

• va-yyariyvu ("and they disputed", H7378) — qal narrative form of the verb, introducing the conflict as the next event in the story sequence.
• ro'ei ("herdsmen of", H7462B) — qal participle, masculine plural construct, used twice (for Gerar's men and for Isaac's men), literally "the ones tending [flocks] of."
• le'mor ("saying", H0559) — qal infinitive construct, introduces the direct speech that follows, a standard formula before quoted words.
• 'Esek ("Esek", H6230) — proper name given to the well, sharing its root with the verb describing the quarrel.
• hit'assequ ("they quarreled/contended", H6229) — hithpael perfect, reflexive/reciprocal form of the same root as the place name 'Esek, expressing completed mutual action ("they struggled with one another").

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative verb va-yyariyvu ("and they disputed", H7378), which sets the main action: a confrontation between two groups identified by the participle ro'ei ("herdsmen of", H7462B), each governed by a different proper name — Gerar (H1642) and Yitzchaq ("Isaac", H3327) — joined by the preposition 'im ("with", H5973A). This construction places the two groups symmetrically on either side of the preposition, mirroring the confrontation grammatically.

The quoted speech is introduced by the infinitive le'mor ("saying", H0559), followed by a short declarative clause: lanu ha-mayim ("the water [belongs] to us"), built from the preposition-plus-suffix la-nu ("to us") and the definite noun ha-mayim ("the water", H4325G). This is a minimal Hebrew clause with no verb "to be," relying purely on word order and the prepositional phrase to express possession.

The second half of the verse explains the naming of the well. The narrative verb va-yyiqra' ("and he called", H7121H) introduces shem ha-be'er 'Esek ("the name of the well, Esek"), followed by the causal particle ki ("for/because", H3588A) and the hithpael perfect hit'assequ ("they quarreled", H6229). This verb shares its consonantal root with the name 'Esek itself, so the Hebrew text creates a wordplay: the well is named after the very act of quarreling (hit'assequ) that occurred there — a connection visible only in the Hebrew root structure, not necessarily in translation.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the well's name as Ἀδικία ("injustice/wrong"), translating the sense of the dispute rather than transliterating 'Esek, and explains it with ἠδίκησαν ("they wronged/did injustice"), shifting the nuance from mutual "quarreling" to unilateral "wrongdoing." The Vulgate similarly translates the name as Calumniam ("false accusation/slander") rather than transliterating it, describing the cause as quod acciderat ("what had happened") without reproducing the root-wordplay found in the Hebrew between 'Esek and hit'assequ.