Genesis 26:33

33 So he called it Shibah, [a] and to this day the name of the city is Beersheba. [b]

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 got up early the next morning and swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.
32 On that same day, Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. “We have found water!” they told him.
33 So he called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the city is Beersheba.
34 When Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.
35 And they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Shibah can mean oath or seven.
  • [b]. Beersheba means well of seven or well of the oath.
The Berean Bible and Majority Bible texts are officially placed into the public domain