ABIMELECH, another king of Gerar, probably the son of the former, in the time of Isaac. During a famine Isaac sought refuge in this king's territories; and Rebekah's beauty induced her husband to employ the same subterfuge as his father had done in the case of Sarah; which deceit met with a similar rebuke from the king.
In that country, wells were of such vast importance, that the digging of them conferred a proprietary right to the soil not previously appropriated. During his sojourn there Abraham had dug wells, which were again cleared out by Isaac, who proceeded to cultivate the ground to which they gave him a right. This gave rise to disputes between the herdsmen of Isaac and Abimelech, which ended in the removal of the patriarch to Beersheba, where he concluded a treaty of amity with the king. (Gen. xxvi.)