Sitnah

Sitnah (meaning hatred or opposition) was the second well dug by Isaac's servants after their expulsion from Gerar by the Philistines of that region. The herdsmen of Gerar quarreled over the first well (called Esek, meaning dispute) and also over Sitnah — so Isaac moved on and dug a third well, Rehoboth, over which there was no quarrel (Genesis 26:21). The sequence of the three wells — Dispute, Hatred, Wide Places — illustrates the narrative pattern of conflict and resolution characteristic of Isaac's sojourn. The wells of Isaac were important landmarks in the Negeb, and the tradition of their naming preserved early memories of territorial disputes between the patriarchs and the Philistines.