Genesis 21:22-34

International Standard Version

A Covenant with Abimelech

²² About that time, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, told Abraham, “God is with you in everything that you’re doing. ²³ Therefore swear an oath here by God that you won’t deal falsely with me, my sons, or my descendants. Just as I’ve dealt graciously with you, won’t you do so with me and with the land in which you live as a foreigner?”

²⁴ And Abraham replied, “I agree!” ²⁵ But then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had seized.

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

²⁷ So Abraham took sheep and oxen and presented them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant. ²⁸ Then Abraham set aside seven ewe lambs, ²⁹ so Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set aside?”

³⁰ He replied, “You are to accept from me these seven ewe lambs as a witness that I have dug this well.” ³¹ Therefore that place was called Beer-sheba, because the two of them swore an oath.^{[a] 32} So after they had made a covenant in Beer-sheba, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, left and returned to Philistine territory.

³³ Abraham^[b] planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord God Everlasting. ³⁴ After this, Abraham resided as a foreigner in Philistine territory for a long period of time.