The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan adds a detail to the first quarrel in Gerar that changes the whole story. The plain text says only that the shepherds of Gerar fought Isaac's shepherds over a well. Pseudo-Jonathan goes further: "And it was the will of Heaven, and it dried. But when they returned to Izhak, it flowed" (Genesis 26:20).
The well, the Targum tells us, was not an ordinary well. It knew whom it belonged to. When the Philistines seized it, Heaven's will caused the water to dry. When it was returned to Isaac, it flowed again.
Esek — the well called Contention
Isaac named that well Esek, Contention, because they quarreled (etheseku) over it. The word-play is preserved in the Targum's Aramaic. But the name also captures something about the well's strange behavior: water that refuses to flow for thieves is water that testifies.
The rabbis loved this motif. Wells in the Torah often carry moral weight. Miriam's well in the wilderness fed Israel for forty years because of her merit. Jacob will meet Rachel at a well. The daughters of Jethro draw water for a stranger who turns out to be Moses. Wells are where covenant is tested.
The takeaway
Pseudo-Jonathan teaches that creation itself is not neutral. Land, water, and stone can carry the memory of who tilled them in righteousness. The well that flows for Isaac and dries for his enemies is a small lesson about a large idea: the world itself is a witness. What you steal may not serve you, and what you sanctify may be held for you until you return.