Gênesis 26

Ambrose of Milan · Comentário Patrístico (catena)

Gênesis 26:19

For Abraham dug wells and Isaac too—that is, the mighty patriarchs—and Jacob also, as we find in the Gospel, as if they were fountains of the human race, and specifically fountains of faith and devotion. For what is a well of living water but a depth of profound instruction? On this account Hagar saw the angel by a well and Jacob found his wife Rachel by a well; Moses too earned the first rewards of his future marriage beside a well. Therefore Isaac undertook to open wells out of a depth of vision and in good order, so that the water of his well might first wash and strengthen the reasoning faculty of the soul and its eye, to make its sight clearer. — On Isaac and the Soul, Chapter 4, Sections 21-22

Gênesis 26:22

Now Isaac reopened many wells that his father had dug, but strangers had filled them after the death of his father Abraham. Beyond the others he dug the following wells: one in the valley of Gerar, and he found there a well of living water; and the shepherds of Gerar disputed with Isaac's shepherds, because they claimed the water of this well as their own, and he called its name "Injustice." And he dug another well over which a quarrel arose, and he called it "Enmity." And he dug a third well, over which no dispute began among the shepherds, and he called it "Room Enough." He also dug a well and did not find water in it and called that well "Well of the Oath." Would anyone reading of these things consider that those works were earthly rather than spiritual? — On Isaac and the Soul, Chapter 4, Sections 20-21

Gênesis 26:30

Let us imitate Isaac's goodness; let us imitate his purity. Isaac was certainly a good and virtuous man, devoted to God and faithful to his wife. He did not return evil for evil. He yielded to those who drove him out, but he received them again when they were sorry, being neither harsh to insolence nor obdurate to kindness. When he went away from others, he fled to avoid strife. When he received them again, he readily forgave them, and he was exceptionally kind when he pardoned. Men sought to associate with him, and he added a delightful feast. — On the Decease of His Brother Satyrus, Book 2, Section 99