Genesis 26:33
in Genesis 26So he called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the city is Beersheba.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he called it Shibah: therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day.
KJV
And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beer–sheba unto this day.
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This verse in Genesis 26
Commentary
7 notes on this verse(Verse 32 and 33.) And the servants of Isaac came and told him about the well that they had dug, and they said to him, 'We have found water.' So he called it Shebah. I don't know how it is translated in the Septuagint: 'And the servants of Isaac came and told him about the well that they had dug, and they said to him, 'We have not found water.' So he called it Oath.' What is the etymology behind calling it Oath just because they did not find water?
This site's exposition
We have found water
on Genesis 26:32-33
His servants come the same day with word that they have found water. The oath and the well arrive together. He calls it Shibah, and the city keeps the name Beersheba, which his father had fixed on it at 21:31 after his own oath. The place is sworn over twice by two generations.
This site's exposition
So he called it Shibah
Adam Clarke thought this was Abraham's own well of 21:31, stopped by the Philistines and now reopened, with one letter added to its old name. Jerome records that the Septuagint had the servants report finding no water. He asked why a dry well would be named Oath.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
34 And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite: 35 Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah. Esau's foolish marriage--foolish, some think, in marrying two wives together, for which perhaps he is called a fornicator ( Heb. xii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And he called it Sheba,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
He called it Shebah - This was probably the same well which was called Beersheba in the time of Abraham, which the Philistines had filled up, and which the servants of Isaac had reopened. The same name is therefore given to it which it had before, with the addition of the emphatic letter ה he, by which its signification became extended, so that now it signified not merely an oath or full, but satisfaction and abundance.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Then Abimelech went to him--As there was a lapse of ninety years between the visit of Abraham and of Isaac, the Abimelech and Phichol spoken of must have been different persons' official titles. Here is another proof of the promise (Ge 12:2) being fulfilled, in an overture of peace being made to him by the king of Gerar.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקְרָ֥א | vaiyikra' | and he called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| אֹתָ֖הּ | ʾotah | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שִׁבְעָ֑ה | shivah | Shibah | H7656 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | there- | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כֵּ֤ן | ken | -fore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| שֵׁם־ | shem- | [the] name of | H8034 → | 864 times |
| הָעִיר֙ | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| בְּאֵ֣ר | beer | [is] Beer | H884 → | 68 times |
| שֶׁ֔בַע | sheva' | Sheba | H884 → | 68 times |
| עַ֖ד | ʾad | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| הַיּ֥וֹם | haiyom | the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַזֶּֽה׃ ס | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
וַיִּקְרָ֥אand he called
vaiyikra'H7121 →733 times
אֹתָ֖הּ<obj.> it
ʾotahH853 →10935 times
שִׁבְעָ֑הShibah
shivahH7656 →
עַל־there-
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כֵּ֤ן-fore
kenH3651 →771 times
שֵׁם־[the] name of
shem-H8034 →864 times
הָעִיר֙the city
hairH5892 →1090 times
בְּאֵ֣ר[is] Beer
beerH884 →68 times
שֶׁ֔בַעSheba
sheva'H884 →68 times
עַ֖דuntil
ʾadH5704 →1261 times
הַיּ֥וֹםthe day
haiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַזֶּֽה׃ ס<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 26:28“We can plainly see that the LORD has been with you,” they replied. “We recommend that there should now be an oath between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you
it leads to
- Genesis 21:22–23
At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do.
- Genesis 21:31–32
So that place was called Beersheba, because it was there that the two of them swore an oath.
- Isaiah 45:14
This is what the LORD says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, along with the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge…
- Joshua 3:7
Now the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you just as I was with Moses.
- Isaiah 61:9
Their descendants will be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the LORD has blessed.
- Genesis 21:22–23
Through
Genesis 21:31So that place was called Beersheba, because it was there that the two of them swore an oath.
it leads to
- Genesis 21:14
Early in the morning, Abraham got up, took bread and a skin of water, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her away with the boy. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of…
- Joshua 15:28
Hazar-shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah,
- 1 Kings 4:25
Throughout the days of Solomon, Judah and Israel dwelt securely from Dan to Beersheba, each man under his own vine and his own fig tree.
- Genesis 21:14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.