In the beginning of our parsha the Torah recounts how there was a famine in the land of Canaan, and Yitzchak thought to go down to Egypt. However, Hashem appeared to him, telling him not to go there, but rather to stay in the land of Israel. Hashem then said:

גּוּר בָּאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת וְאֶהְיֶה עִמְּךָ וַאֲבָרְכֶךָּ כִּי לְךָ וּלְזַרְעֲךָ אֶתֵּן אֶת כׇּל הָאֲרָצֹת הָאֵל

Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and your offspring I will give all these lands.[1]

A simple question arises: Hashem had already given the land to Avraham and his descendants, which obviously included Yitzchak, as well as his descendants.[2] What then was the meaning of giving it again to Yitzchak and his descendants? It already belongs to them!

The Commentators: Clarifying the Gift

There are some commentators who answer that the re-giving to Yitzchak was in order to establish that it would be given only to him and his descendants, and not to the other children of Avraham, such as Yishmael. This same approach is taken to explain how we find the land being given a third time to Yaakov and his descendants, when he had his dream with the ladder on the way to Lavan's house.[3] There, too, it was to exclude Esav from the gift of the land that had been given to Yitzchak and his descendants.

According to this approach, there was no new act of giving contained in Hashem's words to Yitzchak and Yaakov; rather, it was simply a matter of clarification regarding the original gift of the land to Avraham.

Ben Melech: Reinforcing the Gift

However, the Ben Melech understands that these three messages to each of the Avos actually constituted three acts of giving, with each one adding a layer to the gift. We may ask: How can one give something that has already been given? The answer is that each giving further established the Jewish people's ownership of the land in a way that could never be revoked or undone.

In fact, this idea is contained in a verse that we say in Pesukei De'zimrah concerning the gift of the land to the Avos:

אֲשֶׁר כָּרַת אֶת אַבְרָהָם וּשְׁבוּעָתוֹ לְיִצְחָק. וַיַּעֲמִידֶהָ לְיַעֲקֹב לְחֹק לְיִשְׂרָאֵל בְּרִית עוֹלָם.

Who sealed a covenant [concerning it] with Avraham, and swore to Yitzchak, and established it for Yaakov as an immutable decree, for Yisrael as an everlasting covenant.[4]

We see that each of the Avos received the land in increasingly permanent ways:

1. To Avraham – it was given as part of a covenant. A covenant is binding, but it can be revoked if one of the sides violates its terms.
2. To Yitzchak – it was given with an oath. An oath is likewise binding, but can be annulled under extenuating circumstances.
3. To Yaakov – it was given as an immutable decree, with the result that the covenant was thereby established as an everlasting one which can never be revoked.

The idea here, as with many aspects pertaining to the future Jewish people, is that each of the subsequent Avos was drawing off the achievements and attainments of his forbears, further concretizing them and establishing them as an irrevocable part of our identity and destiny.

Three Acts of Acquisition

Developing this idea further, we see that each the Avos interacted with the land with increasingly significant modes of acquisition:

1. Avraham acquired the land via viewing it and walking through it, as described in Lech Lecha.[5]
2. Yitzchak acquired it to a greater degree by living his entire existence in the land and never leaving. Hence, in our verse, Hashem tells him to "dwell in the land," and then says, "for to you and your descendants I will give the land" i.e. as a result of you dwelling here.
3. Yaakov acquired the land to a greater level still, for the land was promised to him and his descendants while he was sleeping in the location of the Beis Hamikdash, which is the spiritual heart of the land of Israel.

The increasingly substantial nature of each acquiring act reflected the idea that the land itself was being acquired to a greater degree by each Av.

Parallel Developments: The Shechinah and the Avos

The Ben Melech proceeds to demonstrate that, alongside the increasing levels of the Avos' acquisition of the land, there were corresponding increasing levels of Hashem's connection with the Avos:

1. Avraham: Hashem's interaction with Avraham is consistently referred to in terms of "blessing", which is something that, in principle, can be bestowed from afar.
2. Yitzchak: In Hashem's words to Yitzchak in our verse, we find for the first time the words "I will be with you," which denotes a closer level of connection.
3. Yaakov: When Hashem appears to Yaakov in his dream, He likewise says "I will be with you," and then adds, "for I will not abandon you." Here, too, we see that the connection is not just more direct and intimate, but that it is irrevocable.

What is most interesting is that Hashem's words to Yaacov about being with him and not abandoning him were said when Yaacov was fleeing from the land of Israel toward Charan. This is the first expression we have of Hashem accompanying the Jewish people in their exile – Shechinta be'Galusa.

It thus emerges that our parshiyos describe three increasing levels of connection between the Avos and Hashem, which expressed themselves in ways that appear divergent, but are ultimately part of the very same idea:

1. In terms of their connection with the dwelling place of the Shechinah, i.e. the land of Israel.
2. In terms of their unbreakable connection with the Shechinah even while in exile outside the land of Israel, until their return.

[1] Bereishis 26:3.

[2] See ibid. 13:15.

[3] Ibid. 28:13.

[4] Divrei Hayamim I, 16:16-17.

[5] 13:17.