Genesis 26:33

33 So he called it Shebah. Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to 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 Then they arose early in the morning and swore an oath with one another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
32 It came to pass the same day that Isaac's servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, "We have found water."
33 So he called it Shebah. Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.
34 When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.
35 And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Literally Oath or Seven
  • [b]. Literally Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.