²²At that time Abimelech, accompanied by Phicol the commander of his army,^g said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do.^h ²³Swear to me by God here and now, that you will not break an agreement with me or with my children and descendants. As I have been loyal to you, so you will be loyal to me and to the country where you are a resident alien.”

²⁴And Abraham said, “I swear it.” ²⁵But Abraham complained to Abimelech because of the well that Abimelech’s servants had seized.ⁱ

²⁶Abimelech replied, “I don’t know who did this thing. You didn’t report anything to me, so I hadn’t heard about it until today.”

²⁷Abraham took flocks and herds and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant.^j ²⁸Abraham separated seven ewe lambs from the flock. ²⁹And Abimelech said to Abraham, “Why have you separated these seven ewe lambs?”

³⁰He replied, “You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from me so that this act^A will serve as my witness that I dug this well.” ³¹Therefore that place was called Beer-sheba^B^k because it was there that the two of them swore an oath. ³²After they had made a covenant at Beer-sheba, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, left and returned to the land of the Philistines.

³³Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.^l

Read in Logos

Footnotes

A that it
B Well of the Oath, or Seven Wells

Cross references

g Gn 20:2; 26:1,26
h Gn 26:28
i Gn 26:15,18,20–22
j Gn 26:31
k Gn 26:33
l Ps 45:6; 48:14; 90:2; 93:2; Is 40:28; Jr 10:10; Rm 16:26; Heb 13:8