29 Abimelech said, “What does this mean? These seven sheep you’ve set aside.”

30 Abraham said, “It means that when you accept these seven sheep, you take it as proof that I dug this well, that it’s my well.”

31-32 That’s how the place got named Beersheba (the Oath-Well), because the two of them swore a covenant oath there. After they had made the covenant at Beersheba, Abimelech and his commander, Phicol, left and went back to Philistine territory.

Read full chapter

29 and Abimelek asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves?”

30 He replied, “Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness(A) that I dug this well.(B)

31 So that place was called Beersheba,[a](C) because the two men swore an oath(D) there.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 21:31 Beersheba can mean well of seven and well of the oath.