Gen 21:33 | KD | STEP | Vers. 22-34. Abimelech’s Treaty with Abraham. — Through the divine blessing which visibly attended Abraham, the Philistine king Abimelech was induced to secure for himself and his descendants the friendship of a man so blessed; and for that purpose he went to Beersheba, with his captain Phicol , to conclude a treaty with him. Abraham was perfectly ready to agree to this; but first of all he complained to him about a well which Abimelech’s men had stolen, i.e. had unjustly appropriated to themselves. Abimelech replied that this act of violence had never been made known to him till that day, and as a matter of course commanded the well to be returned. After the settlement of this dispute the treaty was concluded, and Abraham presented the king with sheep and oxen, as a material pledge that he would reciprocate the kindness shown, and live in friendship with the king and his descendants. Out of this present he selected seven lambs and set them by them- selves ; and when Abimelech inquired what they were, he told him to take them from his hand, that they might be to him (Abraham) for a witness that he had digged the well. It was not to redeem the well, but to secure the well as his property against any fresh claims on the part of the Philistines, that the present was given ; and by the acceptance of it, Abraham’s right of possession was practically and solemnly acknowledged. — Ver. 31. From this circumstance, the place where it occurred received the name בְּאֵ֣ר שָׁ֑בַע, 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 שָׁ֑בַע in the sense of שָׁ֑ב֖עָה. The idea is rather the following : the place re- ceived 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 chap. 26:33). רשָׁ֑בַע 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 Bit es Seba, i.e. seven-well (not lion-well, as the Bedouins erroneously interpret it) : cf. Robinson’s Pal. i. pp. 300 sqq. — Ver. 33. Here Abraham planted a tamarisk and called upon the name of the Lord (vid. chap. iv. 26), the everlasting God. Jehovah is called the ever- lasting God, as the eternally true, with respect to the eternal covenant, which He established with Abraham (chap. xvii. 7). The planting of this long-lived tree, with its hard wood, and its long, narrow, thickly clustered, evergreen leaves, was to be a type of the ever-enduring grace of the faithful covenant God. — Ver. 34. Abraham sojourned a long time there in the Philistines’ land. There Isaac was probably born, and grew up to be a young man (xxii. 6), capable of carrying the wood for a sacrifice ; cf. xxii. 19. The expression “in the land of the Philistines” appears to be at variance with ver. 32, where Abimelech and Phicol are said to have returned to the land of the Philistines. But the discrepancy is easily reconciled, on the supposition that at that time the land of the Philistines had no fixed boundary, at all events, towards the desert. Beersheba did not belong to Gerar, the kingdom of Abimelech in the stricter sense ; but the Philistines extended their wanderings so far, and claimed the district as their own, as is evident from the fact that Abimelech’s people had taken the well from Abraham. On the other hand, Abraham with his numerous flocks would not confine him self to the Wady es Seba , but must have sought for pasture- ground in the whole surrounding country ; and as Abiraelech had given him full permission to dwell in his land (20:15), he would still, as heretofore, frequently come as far as Gerar, so that his dwelling at Beersheba (22:19) might be correctly described as sojourning (nomadizing) in the land of the Philistines.

‏ Genesis 21:33

Vers. 22-34. Abimelech’s Treaty with Abraham. — Through the divine blessing which visibly attended Abraham, the Philistine king Abimelech was induced to secure for himself and his descendants the friendship of a man so blessed; and for that purpose he went to Beersheba, with his captain Phicol, to conclude a treaty with him. Abraham was perfectly ready to agree to this; but first of all he complained to him about a well which Abimelech’s men had stolen, i.e. had unjustly appropriated to themselves. Abimelech replied that this act of violence had never been made known to him till that day, and as a matter of course commanded the well to be returned. After the settlement of this dispute the treaty was concluded, and Abraham presented the king with sheep and oxen, as a material pledge that he would reciprocate the kindness shown, and live in friendship with the king and his descendants. Out of this present he selected seven lambs and set them by them- selves ; and when Abimelech inquired what they were, he told him to take them from his hand, that they might be to him (Abraham) for a witness that he had digged the well. It was not to redeem the well, but to secure the well as his property against any fresh claims on the part of the Philistines, that the present was given ; and by the acceptance of it, Abraham’s right of possession was practically and solemnly acknowledged. — Ver. 31. From this circumstance, the place where it occurred received the name בְּאֵ֣ר שָׁ֑בַע, 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 שָׁ֑בַע in the sense of שָׁ֑ב֖עָה. The idea is rather the following : the place re- ceived 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 chap. 26:33). רשָׁ֑בַע 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 Bit es Seba, i.e. seven-well (not lion-well, as the Bedouins erroneously interpret it) : cf. Robinson’s Pal. i. pp. 300 sqq. — Ver. 33. Here Abraham planted a tamarisk and called upon the name of the Lord (vid. chap. iv. 26), the everlasting God. Jehovah is called the ever- lasting God, as the eternally true, with respect to the eternal covenant, which He established with Abraham (chap. xvii. 7). The planting of this long-lived tree, with its hard wood, and its long, narrow, thickly clustered, evergreen leaves, was to be a type of the ever-enduring grace of the faithful covenant God. — Ver. 34. Abraham sojourned a long time there in the Philistines’ land. There Isaac was probably born, and grew up to be a young man (xxii. 6), capable of carrying the wood for a sacrifice ; cf. xxii. 19. The expression “in the land of the Philistines” appears to be at variance with ver. 32, where Abimelech and Phicol are said to have returned to the land of the Philistines. But the discrepancy is easily reconciled, on the supposition that at that time the land of the Philistines had no fixed boundary, at all events, towards the desert. Beersheba did not belong to Gerar, the kingdom of Abimelech in the stricter sense ; but the Philistines extended their wanderings so far, and claimed the district as their own, as is evident from the fact that Abimelech’s people had taken the well from Abraham. On the other hand, Abraham with his numerous flocks would not confine him self to the Wady es Seba, but must have sought for pasture- ground in the whole surrounding country ; and as Abiraelech had given him full permission to dwell in his land (20:15), he would still, as heretofore, frequently come as far as Gerar, so that his dwelling at Beersheba (22:19) might be correctly described as sojourning (nomadizing) in the land of the Philistines.