Genesis 21:31

Gen 21:31 Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they sware both of them.

Ver. 31. They sware both of them.] Or, they were sworn. The Hebrew is passive ( נשׁבע). To show that an oath is not rashly to he undertaken, but by a kind of necessity imposed. It comes of a root that signifies to satisfy; because he, to whom we swear, must therewith be contented. An oath is an end of strife, saith the apostle. {Heb 6:16} The Greeks call it ορχος ψυασι ερχος, a hedge, which a man may not break.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Gen 21:31. Beer-sheba — That is, the well of the oath, or the well of the seven, (for the word equally signifies either,) alluding to the seven ewe- lambs which Abraham set by themselves and gave to Abimelech. Probably when a covenant was solemnly made and confirmed by an oath, seven lambs or sheep were wont to be offered.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Or, well of the oath, or of seven, meaning lambs.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 31. He called that place Beer-sheba] באר שבע Beer-shaba, literally, the well of swearing or of the oath, because they both sware there-mutually confirmed the covenant.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

31. Wherefore he called that place Beer-sheba. Moses has once already called the place by this name, but proleptically. Now, however, he declares when, and for what reason, the name was given; namely, because there both he and Abimelech had sworn; therefore I translate the term ‘the well of swearing.’ Others translate it ‘the well of seven.’ But Moses plainly derives the word from swearing; nor is it of any consequence that the pronunciation slightly varies from grammatical correctness, which in proper names is not very nicely observed. In fact, Moses does not restrict the etymology to the well, but comprises the whole covenant. I do not, however, deny that Moses might allude to the number seven

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(31) Beer-sheba.—That is, the well of seven, but with a covert allusion to the seven lambs having been used for the ratification of an oath. Robinson found the exact site in the Wady-es-Seba, with its name still preserved as Bir-es-Seba. There are there two wells of solid construction, the first twelve and a half feet in diameter; the other, situated about 200 yards to the south, much smaller, being only five feet in diameter. Both are lined with solid masonry, and reach down to never-failing springs in the rock. Around are stone troughs for watering the cattle, and the parapet of the larger well is worn into deep indentations, by the ropes used in drawing the water (Finn, Bye-ways in Palestine, p. 190).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

31. Beer-sheba] LXX φρέαρ ὁρκισμοῦ: the derivation here given is “because there they sware both of them.” The word in Heb. “they sware” (nishb‘u) is the reflexive form of the verb shaba‘. This derivation of Beer-sheba, as “the well of swearing,” is clearly not a complete explanation of the word. The correct derivation—“the well of seven”—is probably hinted at in Abraham’s pledge of the seven lambs. At Beer sheba, there were also “seven” wells, which can even now be identified. But there is a close connexion between the Heb. word “seven,” and the Heb. word “to swear”; and if, as seems probable, the Heb. nishba‘ “to swear” meant originally “to bind oneself by staking, or pledging, seven things,” we can see that the well of “seven” and the well of “swearing” were practically identical in significance.

Beer-sheba stood on the southernmost boundary of Palestine, at the edge of the desert, about 50 miles S.W. of Jerusalem. In later days it was famous as a sacred place of pilgrimage, Amo_5:5; Amo_8:14.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many days. Even many years, days being sometimes put for years; having entered into covenant with Abimelech, the king of the country, and settled a good correspondence with him, and having his friendship and good will, which commanded respect from his subjects, Abraham sojourned very quietly and comfortably for many years, chiefly at Beersheba; the Jewish writers say (a) he sojourned here twenty six years.

(a) Jarchi & Bereshit Rabba, sect. 54. fol. 48. 4.

Next: Genesis Chapter 22

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Bersabee. That is, the well of oath; (Challoner) or "the well of the seven;" meaning the seven ewe-lambs set apart. (Menochius) --- This precaution of Abraham, in giving seven lambs as a testimony that the well was dug by him, was not without reason. See chap. xxvi. 15. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Which name was communicated unto a city adjoining: of which see Gen 26:23; Jos 15:28; 2Sa 17:11; 24:2.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

31. Beer-sheba — Which means well of the oath, or, well of the seven, in allusion to the seven lambs by which Abraham here confirmed his covenant with Abimelech. In a broad valley, some twelve hours’ travel south of Hebron, Dr. Robinson discovered two deep wells, still called Bir es-Seba, probably the very same as those dug by the servants of Abraham and Isaac. Compare Gen_26:32. “These wells are some distance apart; they are circular, and stoned up with solid masonry. The larger one is twelve and a half feet in diameter and forty-four and a half feet deep to the surface of the water, sixteen feet of which, at the bottom, is excavated in the solid rock. The other well lies fifty-five rods W.S.W., and is five feet in diameter and forty-two feet deep. The water in both is pure and sweet, and in great abundance; the finest, indeed, we had found since leaving Sinai.” — ROBINSON, Biblical Researches, vol. i, p. 204. Such wells would be of the first importance to a great shepherd chief.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Wherefore he called that place Beersheba. Ie. "the well of the oath," frear oJrkismou (LXX, Gesenius, Furst, Rosenm or the well of the seven (Keil), rather than the seven wells (Lange); discovered by Robinson in Bir-es-seba, in the Wady-es-seba, twelve miles to the south of Hebron, with two deep wells of excellent water. "The great well has an internal diameter at the mouth of twelve feet six inches, or a circumference of nearly forty feet. The shaft is formed of excellent masonry to a great depth until it reaches the rock, and at this juncture a spring trickles perpetually. Around the mouth of the well is a circular course of masonry, topped by a circular parapet of about a foot high; and at a distance of ten or twelve feet are stone troughs placed in a concentric circle with the well, the sides of which have deep indentions made by the wear of ropes on the upper edges The second well, about 200 yards farther south, is not more than five feet in diameter, but is formed of equally good masonry, and furnishes equally good water" (vide "Byeways in Palestine," by James Finn, M.R.A.S., p. 190). Because there they aware both of them.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Beer-sheba - That is, the well of the oath, in remembrance of the covenant that they swear to, that they might be ever mindful of it.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

From this circumstance, the place where it occurred received the name שׁבע בּאר, i.e., seven-well, "because there they sware both of them." It does not follow from this note, that the writer interpreted the name "oath-well," and took שׁבע in the sense of שׁבעה. The idea is rather the following: the place received its name from the seven lambs, by which Abraham secured to himself possession of the well, because the treaty was sworn to on the basis of the agreement confirmed by the seven lambs. There is no mention of sacrifice, however, in connection with the treaty (see Gen 26:33). נשׁבּע to swear, lit., to seven one's self, not because in the oath the divine number 3 is combined with the world-number 4, but because, from the sacredness of the number 7, the real origin and ground of which are to be sought in the number 7 of the work of creation, seven things were generally chosen to give validity to an oath, as was the case, according to Herodotus (3, 8), with the Arabians among others. Beersheba was in the Wady es-Seba, the broad channel of a winter-torrent, 12 hours' journey to the south of Hebron on the road to Egypt and the Dead Sea, where there are still stones to be found, the relics of an ancient town, and two deep wells with excellent water, called Bir es Seba, i.e., seven-well (not lion-well, as the Bedouins erroneously interpret it): cf. Robinson's Pal. i. pp. 300ff.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

he called that place

"Abraham called that place"

Beersheba

Translators may add a footnote saying "Beersheba can mean either "well of the oath" or "well of seven."

they both

"Abraham and Abimelech"

Phicol

This is the name of a man. See how you translated this name in Genesis 21:22.

translationWords

Beersheba

oath

covenant

Abimelech

Philistines

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

על כן...כי שם נשבעו, the word כי lacks the conjunctive letter ו in front. We find similar constructions with the missing conjunctive letter ו in Chabakuk 2,11 שמש ירח, instead of שמש וירח. Another such example is found in Exodus 1,2 ראובן שמעון instead of ראובן ושמעון. Had the letter ו not been missing, we would have clearly understood at first glance that both the oath and the seven sheep are referred to as a “package deal.” Naming a location was a very important step in laying claim to a region as one’s inalienable property.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.