What Does Genesis 26:20 Mean in the King James?
And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac’s herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The well is named for the pressure around its water, so the source of life acquires the name of the conflict over who may reach it.
THE MEANING
A source can sustain life and still become a boundary when people claim it as their own. “The water is ours” turns access into contention, and the name Esek carries that contention forward.
THE ROOT
עֵשֶׂק
ʿEseq
GROWS FROM
ע־ש־ק
ʿ-š-q
To press upon, oppress, or defraud; in this passage, to contend.
“Esek” in this verse is ʿEseq. The well’s name comes from a root that also carries the force of oppression or defrauding. The word holds more than disagreement: it gives a name to the pressure surrounding access to the water.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāshaq: To oppress or defraud.
עָשַׁק
This branch reveals the sharper edge of a claim that makes access to a life-giving source contested.
ʿōsheq: Oppression or exploitation.
עֹשֶׁק
This related noun shows how the root can describe pressure imposed on someone, adding depth to the name Esek.
וַיָּרִיבוּ
wayyārîvû
GROWS FROM
ר־י־ב
r-y-b
To contend, dispute, or bring a case.
“strove” in this verse is wayyārîvû. The root can describe a dispute or legal case, making “The water is ours” a claim about right of access, not just a passing quarrel. The words themselves contest who may draw from the well.
ALSO GROWS
rîb: A dispute or legal case.
רִיב
This branch makes clear that the conflict turns on a claim being asserted.
merivah: Strife or quarrel.
מְרִיבָה
This branch connects the claim over water with the contention that marks the well.
יִצְחָק
Yitzḥaq
GROWS FROM
צ־ח־ק
ṣ-ḥ-q
To laugh; laughter.
Isaac’s Hebrew name carries laughter, while the well is named Esek, contention. The two names hold laughter and strife in the same scene, without the verse resolving their tension.
ALSO GROWS
ṣāḥaq: To laugh.
צָחַק
This verb carries the root behind Isaac’s name.
ṣəḥōq: Laughter.
צְחוֹק
This noun makes the name’s meaning audible beside the well named for contention.
THE PATTERN
When people claim a life-giving source as their possession, access to it becomes a point of conflict.
And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away.Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD?THE THREAD
And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.The well sequence moves from Esek, named for contention, to Rehoboth, whose name carries the sense of room or spaciousness. The later well opens a wider possibility without erasing the conflict that marked this one.
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