Genesis 26:33

33 And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day.

Genesis 26:33 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 26:33

And he called it Sheba
Which, according to Jerom, signifies "fulness", as if it had its name from the abundance of water in it; but rather it signifies an "oath", and was so called from the oath, which he and Abimelech had just took to one another; and these circumstances meeting together, the taking of the oath, and the account of the well, therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day;
that is, the well of the oath: it had been so called by Abraham an hundred years ago or more; but now upon this occasion it was renewed and confirmed, and so continued until the times of Moses, and many ages after.

Genesis 26:33 In-Context

31 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.
32 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.
33 And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day.
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.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Shebah: That is, an oath
The King James Version is in the public domain.