Tafsiran Kejadian 26:2: Rashi, Ramban, Kli Yakar & Sforno

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.

“Dwell in the land which I will tell you.” And immediately afterward He said, “Sojourn in this land,” so what is meant by “which I will tell you,” which implies that after some time He will tell him which land to dwell in, when immediately and forthwith He told him which land it is? This is a puzzling verse. What seems most likely to me is that He prevented him from going outside the Land [of Israel] because there, there is no place for the Divine Presence to be revealed. Therefore, He would not be able to speak to him there prophetically according to the needs of the moment. For this reason, [God said] “dwell in the land where My Divine Presence is revealed, and there I will tell you whenever I wish to communicate some prophetic message to you.” This explains why He first said “dwell [shkhon] in the land” and afterward said “sojourn [gur] in the land,” because “shkhon” implies more of a permanent residence than “gur” which is an expression of temporary dwelling. This is because from the perspective of acquiring spiritual perfection in this land, you shall dwell in it as a permanent resident, but from the perspective of acquiring physical blessings, you shall be in it as a temporary resident. This is what is meant by “sojourn in this land,” etc., because everything mentioned afterward speaks of physical promises. This is also what is meant by “I am a stranger [ger] and a resident [toshav] among you” — a stranger from one perspective and a resident from another perspective.