Of the three patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the least is
recorded about Isaac, not because he was any less important or
righteous (see Isaac's Faith And Obedience), but because he
lived in a more settled time between that of Abraham's coming to
the new land from Iraq (see On His Own Two Feet and Settlers and
Invaders From Iraq) and that of the establishment of the tribes
of Israel, the Children of Jacob, who found themselves in Egypt
in the centuries before the Exodus. Nevertheless, Isaac knew
times of good and bad. As happened in the time of his father
Abraham ("there was a famine in the land, besides the former
famine that was in the days of Abraham," Genesis 26:1 RSV),
famine forced Isaac to relocate for a while - and like his
father Abraham (Genesis 20:11; see also Abimelech), Isaac was
forced into a ruse regarding his wife. "So Isaac dwelt in Gerar.
Upon leaving Gerar, Isaac retraced his father Abraham's return
route and experienced some of the same property conflicts that
Abraham did in his time.