²⁶Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces.^r ²⁷Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?^s”

²⁸They answered, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you;^t so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’—between us and you. Let us make a treaty^u with you ²⁹that you will do us no harm,^v just as we did not harm you but always treated you well and sent you away peacefully. And now you are blessed by the Lord.”^w

³⁰Isaac then made a feast^x for them, and they ate and drank. ³¹Early the next morning the men swore an oath^y to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went away peacefully.

³²That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well^z they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!” ³³He called it Shibah,^f and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba.^g^a

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Footnotes

fShibah can mean oath or seven.
gBeersheba can mean well of the oath and well of seven.

Cross references

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army, Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?” They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.” So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” He called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Now Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army. Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me? You hated me and sent me away from you.”

They replied, “We have clearly seen how the Lord has been with you. We think there should be an oath between two parties—between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you: You will not harm us, just as we have not harmed you but have done only what was good to you, sending you away in peace. You are now blessed by the Lord.”

So he prepared a banquet for them, and they ate and drank. They got up early in the morning and swore an oath to each other. Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace. On that same day Isaac’s servants came to tell him about the well they had dug, saying to him, “We have found water!” He called it Sheba. Therefore the name of the city is still Beer-sheba, today.

NLTNew Living Translation

One day King Abimelech came from Gerar with his adviser, Ahuzzath, and also Phicol, his army commander. “Why have you come here?” Isaac asked. “You obviously hate me, since you kicked me off your land.”

They replied, “We can plainly see that the Lord is with you. So we want to enter into a sworn treaty with you. Let’s make a covenant. Swear that you will not harm us, just as we have never troubled you. We have always treated you well, and we sent you away from us in peace. And now look how the Lord has blessed you!”

So Isaac prepared a covenant feast to celebrate the treaty, and they ate and drank together. Early the next morning, they each took a solemn oath not to interfere with each other. Then Isaac sent them home again, and they left him in peace.

That very day Isaac’s servants came and told him about a new well they had dug. “We’ve found water!” they exclaimed. So Isaac named the well Shibah (which means “oath”). And to this day the town that grew up there is called Beersheba (which means “well of the oath”).

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his friend and Phicol his army commander. And Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me? You hate me and sent me away from you.” And they said, “We see clearly that Yahweh has been with you, so we thought let there be an oath between us—between us and you—and let us make a covenant with you that you may not do us harm just as we have not touched you, but have only done good to you and sent you away in peace. You are now blessed by Yahweh.” So he made a meal for them, and they ate and drank. And they arose early in the morning and each one swore to the other, and Isaac sent them away. And they left him in peace. And it happened that on that same day the servants of Isaac came and told him about the well that they had dug. And they said, “We have found water!” And he called it Sheba. Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day.

KJV 1900King James Version

Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army. And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you? And they said, We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee; That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now the blessed of the Lord. And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink. And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water. And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day.

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