Комментарий к Берешит 26:20

עשק means DISPUTE.

AND HE CALLED THE NAME OF THE WELL ESEK. Scripture gives a lengthy account of the matter of the wells when in the literal interpretation of the story there would seem to be no benefit nor any great honor to Isaac in that he and his father did the identical thing.¹⁷⁴Both Isaac and Abraham dug wells in the land of the Philistines. They did not quarrel with Abraham, but they did quarrel with Isaac. Thus, in the literal meaning of the story, there “is no great honor to Isaac.” However, there is a hidden matter involved here since Scripture’s purpose is to make known a future matter. A well of living water alludes to the House of G-d which the children of Isaac will build. This is why Scripture mentions a well of living waters, even as it says, A fountain of living waters, the Eternal.¹⁷⁵Jeremiah 17:13. From the context of Ramban’s language it would appear that he interprets the verse as if it said, A fountain of living waters, which is the house of the Eternal. He called the first well Esek (Contention), which is an allusion to the First House,¹⁷⁶The First Sanctuary, which was built by Solomon and destroyed by the Babylonians. concerning which the nations contended with us and instigated quarrels and wars with us until they destroyed it. The second well he called Sitnah (Enmity),¹⁷⁷Verse 21 here. a name harsher than the first. This alludes to the Second House,¹⁷⁸The Second Sanctuary, which was built by the Jews who returned from the Babylonian Captivity and which was destroyed by the Romans. which has indeed been referred to by this very name, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote ‘sitnah’¹⁷⁹Hatred, accusation. Thus the same word sitnah appears in connection with the Second Sanctuary. against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.¹⁸⁰Ezra 4:6. And during its entire existence they¹⁸¹Our historic enemies during the period of the Second Temple, signified in the chapter here by the Philistines. were a source of enmity unto us until they destroyed it and drove us from it into bitter exile. The third well he called Rechovoth (Spacious). This is a reference to the Future House, which will be speedily built in our days, and it will be done without quarrel and feud, and G-d will enlarge our borders, even as it says, And if the Eternal thy G-d enlarge thy border, as He hath sworn, etc.,¹⁸²Deuteronomy 19:8. which refers to the future. And concerning the Third House of the future it is written, Broader¹⁸³In Hebrew verachavah, from the same root as the name of the third well, Rechovoth. The connection between the third well and the Third Temple of the future, concerning which Ezekiel prophesied, is thus established. and winding about higher and higher.¹⁸⁴Ezekiel 41:7. [The concluding statement in the present narrative, concerning the naming of the third well], And we shall be fruitful in the land,¹⁸⁵Verse 22 here. signifies that all peoples will come to worship G-d with one consent.¹⁸⁶Zephaniah 3:9.

ויריבו לנו המים, as we explained in connection with Avraham and Avimelech (21,25), the quarrel was if the source of the water was part of the region of Gerar or part of the region of Beer Sheva. The old quarrel resurfaced now between the shepherds of Yitzchok and those of Gerar.

ויקרא שם הבאר עשק, “He named the well in question “strife.’” Nachmanides writes that the reason why the Torah devotes so much space to relating these incidents although at first glance they do not appear to contain any new kind of information, is, that although these verses do not contain new information on the surface, they do hint at hidden mystical connections. Torah is described in the parlance of the prophets as מקור מים חיים, “the source of truly life-giving water.” With the building of the Temples by Yitzchok’s descendants, the Torah became ever more firmly established among the nation, and though several Temples were subject to eventual destruction, the time will come when a permanent Temple will be erected, no longer subject to dispute and destruction, and at a time when G’d will expand the inheritance of the Jewish people, just as at Rechovot, Yitzchok felt that he had achieved the ability to expand.

They disputed with him... Rashi is telling us not to explain the word עשק as meaning “dispute.” Rather, it means an actual עסק (matter). I.e., it was a matter of dispute.

Dass das Brunnengraben etwas Erlaubtes, der Grund und Boden freies Gut und der Brunnen demjenigen gehörte, der ihn gegraben, dürfen wir bei einem Sohn Abrahams voraussetzen und finden dies überdies oben Kap.21, 30 bestätigt, da dort Abraham nur das offizielle Zugeständnis fordert, dass er den Brunnen gegraben. Überdies war es ein lebendiger Quell, den sie fanden, also aus der Tiefe springendes Wasser, von dem man nicht sagen konnte, dass es etwa einem andern entzogen wäre. Gleichwohl schikanierten sie, so recht in der Jahrhunderte herab gegen den Galuthjuden geübten Weise: den Brunnen hast du gegraben, das Loch gehört dir, aber das Wasser ist unser! — עשק kommt in תנ"ך nur dies einzige Mal an dieser Stelle vor. Im Nabbinischen ist עסק sehr gewöhnlich. מתעסק ,עסוק; sich mit etwas beschäftigen, עיסקא: iein Geschäft, und עסיקין ganz in dem Sinn wie hier: Rechtstitelstreitig- keiten. Die Wurzel scheint verwandt mit עשק ,הזק ,עזק אזק, die alle ein starkes Erfassen und Festhalten bedeuten. Daher dürfte עשק: etwas gewaltsam mit dem Geiste erfassen heißen, etwas chikanös zu erlangen suchen. עסק jedoch, rabbinisch, allgemein: die Erreichung eines Zweckes oder eines Gegenstandes mit dem ganzen Geiste erfassen, sich mit etwas beschäftigen.

לאמור לנו המים, saying: “the water is ours.” They argued that the water from the well had originally been flowing in the river that was theirs. They used the same argument with the second well Yitzchok’s servants brought in. When Yitzchok moved away further and again succeeded in bringing in a well, they did not argue about it [they finally realised that it was he who was blessed, and that he had not robbed them of anything (verse 22)].

כי התעשקו עמו means THEY ENGAGED WITH HIM about it in strife and DISPUTE.

ויקרא שם הבאר עשק, He gave it a name so that in the future when he would become more powerful than they, the shepherds of Gerar would not be able to claim the well as theirs without protest. The very name already foreshadowed that the claim to this well would be disputed. The meaning of the name עשק as describing dispute is known to us from our sages in Baba Kama 9 המוכר את השדה ויצאו עליה עשיקין, “if someone sells a field and a quarrel ensues concerning it.”