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22 At that time, Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his army spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do. 23 Now, therefore, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son. But according to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall do to me, and to the land in which you have lived as a foreigner.”

24 Abraham said, “I will swear.” 25 Abraham complained to Abimelech because of a water well, which Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away. 26 Abimelech said, “I don’t know who has done this thing. You didn’t tell me, and I didn’t hear of it until today.”

27 Abraham took sheep and cattle, and gave them to Abimelech. Those two made a covenant. 28 Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. 29 Abimelech said to Abraham, “What do these seven ewe lambs, which you have set by themselves, mean?”

30 He said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that it may be a witness to me, that I have dug this well.” 31 Therefore he called that place Beersheba,[a] because they both swore an oath there. 32 So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Abimelech rose up with Phicol, the captain of his army, and they returned into the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of Yahweh, the Everlasting God. 34 Abraham lived as a foreigner in the land of the Philistines many days.

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Footnotes

  1. 21:31 Beersheba can mean “well of the oath” or “well of seven”.

Covenant with Abimelech

22 Now it came about at that time that (A)Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “(B)God is with you in all that you do; 23 so now, (C)swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my descendants, but according to the kindness that I have shown to you, you shall show to me and to the land in which you have resided.” 24 Abraham said, “I swear it.” 25 But Abraham [a]complained to Abimelech because of the well of water which the servants of Abimelech (D)had seized. 26 And Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor did I hear of it [b]until today.”

27 So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and (E)the two of them made a covenant. 28 But Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. 29 Then Abimelech said to Abraham, “What do these seven ewe lambs mean, which you have set by themselves?” 30 He said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand so that it may be a (F)witness for me, that I dug this well.” 31 Therefore he called that place [c](G)Beersheba, because there the two of them took an oath. 32 So they made a covenant at Beersheba; and Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, got up and returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there (H)he called on the name of the Lord, the (I)Everlasting God. 34 And Abraham resided (J)in the land of the Philistines for many days.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 21:25 Lit rebuked
  2. Genesis 21:26 Lit except
  3. Genesis 21:31 I.e., well of an oath