Commentary for Genesis 26:2

אל תרד מצרימה GO NOT DOWN INTO EGYPT — Because he thought of going down to Egypt as his father had gone down in time of famine. He said to him, “Do not go down to Egypt for you are a burnt-offering without blemish and residence outside the Holy Land is not befitting you” (Genesis Rabbah 64:3).

DWELL IN THE LAND WHICH I SHALL TELL THEE OF. It is incomprehensible that G-d should tell Isaac at one time, Dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of, [and in the following verse continue], Sojourn in this land,¹²²Verse 3 here. [and in both cases be referring to the same land]. Instead, its explanation is as follows: “Go not down into Egypt, and dwell all your days in the land which I shall tell you from time to time. At the bidding of G-d you should move, and at the bidding of G-d you should encamp,¹²³See Numbers 9:18. and right now, sojourn in this land, the land of the Philistines, for unto thee and unto thy seed I will give it, even as it is written, Counted to the Canaanites are the five lords of the Philistines.”¹²⁴Joshua 13:3.
It is possible that [the event referred to in the beginning of the verse], And the Lord appeared unto him, and said … dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of, happened earlier so that before Isaac left his place it was said to him, “Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of when you will be there. Now dwell in this land, the land of Canaan, which will comprise many peoples and many lands, for I now command that you should not leave it forever for all these lands will I give to thy seed.” Following this command, Isaac journeyed from his place because of the famine to go into all the lands of Canaan, to dwell in the land which He would tell him. And when he came to Gerar, He said to him, “Dwell here.” It was not necessary however for Scripture to detail this for it is known that Isaac would not transgress the command of G-d.¹²⁵Therefore, when Scripture wrote that Isaac was given the charge, Dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of, he left his place and went searching within the land of Canaan for a new home. When he finally reached Gerar he was told, Sojourn in this land. Thus Ramban explains that there was a lapse of [[illegible]] Verses 2 and 3. The original difficulty which Ramban mentions at the beginning of his comments on this verse is thus removed. A similar case of interpretation appears in the verse, Upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of,¹²⁶Above, 22:2. as I mentioned there.

אל תרד מצרימה, do not let the shortage of grass to feed your livestock be the cause of moving to Egypt. (as the sons of Yaakov claimed in 47,4 to explain why they had moved to Egypt.)

שכון בארץ אשר אמר אליך. "Dwell in the land I shall tell you to." This was a general directive to accept G'd's instructions where he was to take up residence even if it conflicted with his own wishes. G'd told him this in order to be able to reward him for obeying. G'd had done something similar when He told Abraham in 12,1 that he was to go to a place G'd would designate (in the future). Five verses later on G'd specified the land, i.e. "the land of Canaan," something He could have done immediately were it not for the fact that He wanted Abraham to accumulate merit for obeying His directive.

וירא, perhaps it had been part of Yitzchok’s plan to move all the way to Egypt as had done his father in similar circumstances, knowing that the food supply in Egypt was more abundant than that in any other country in the civilised world at the time. G’d appeared to him, meaning to dissuade him from carrying out such a plan, seeing that in the Land of the Philistines there was no famine at the time. In view of this, G’d said it would be better for him to reside there on a temporary basis than to move all the way south to Egypt. The Land of the Philistines is historically considered as part of the Land of Canaan as we have written in connection with 15,21 in reference to 15,18. G’d repeats this in verse 3 so that there could be no doubt about it [as some of us might have thought after considering that Avraham might have signed it away when he concluded his treaty with Avimelech at Beer Sheva. Ed.]

שכון בארץ אשר אומר אליך, “reside in the land which I will tell you about.” Nachmanides explains that the negative “do not go down to Egypt,” was not followed immediately by a directive to settle in Gerar, but that the words “reside in the land which I will tell you,” were a sort of hint that in due course G’d would give more specific instructions. In this respect Yitzchok’s experience paralleled that of his father, who also traveled through different parts of the Holy Land in order to have already established a presence there when the time would come for G’d’s promise to give the entire land to his descendants to be fulfilled. It goes without saying that Yitzchok complied with G’d’s directive until G’d eventually told him to settle in Gerar.

For you are a burnt-offering without blemish and being outside the [Holy] Land does not befit you. I.e., a burnt-offering is a kodshei kodoshim sacrifice and may not be taken outside the Temple Courtyard. Similarly, the Land of Israel is your “Temple Courtyard”; you may not go outside the Land.

Aus Raw Hirsch on Genesis 26: 3 ist ersichtlich, dass Jizchak die Absicht hatte, nach Mizrajim, der gewöhnlichen Zuflucht vor Hungersnot, zu gehen. Er ging zuerst zum Abimelech, dem Bundesgenossen seines Vaters, wie es scheint, um womöglich durch ihn Hülfe zu finden. Es war aber auch dort die Not. Da erschien ihm Gott mit der Weisung, keinen menschlichen Schutz zu suchen. Sein Acker sei die Pflege des Gottesgehorsams. שכון, wohne ruhig, ist mehr als גור und weniger als ישב. Wiederholt הארצות האל, gerade diese Länder, die du so wiederholt der Hungersnot erliegen siehst, gebe ich dir und deinen Nachkommen, damit, durch Befolgung meiner Gesetze, dort sich eine solche Blüte entfalte, dass dadurch alle Völker der Erde sich veranlaßt sehen werden, bei euch und in Befolgung eures Beispiels die Wege zu suchen und zu betreten, durch welche der Mensch Selbftschöpfer seines Segens wird.

שכון בארץ אשר אומר אליך, make huts for the shepherds and pens your livestock in the places which I will specify for you.

שכון בארץ אשר אמר אליך, in this verse the instruction is שכון, “make a permanent residence,” whereas in verse 3 the same instruction speaks of גור בארץ, “establish a temporary residence.” The commandment is reinforced that Yitzchok should not leave the Land of Canaan at that time or at any time in the future, the reason being

אשר אומר אליך, what I have said to your father is equally valid for you.