Genesis 21:28-34

28 And (then) Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock asides half.

29 And Abimelech said to him, What will these seven ewe lambs (mean) to themselves, which thou madest stand asides half? (And Abimelech said to him, What mean ye with these seven ewe lambs, which thou hast made to stand aside?)

30 And he said, Thou shalt take of mine hand seven ewe lambs, that those be into witnessing to me, for I digged this well. (And he said, Take thou these seven ewe lambs from me, and by accepting them, thou agreeth that I have dug this well.)

31 Therefore that place was called Beersheba, (that is, The Well of the Oath ,) for ever either swore there;

32 and they made bond of peace for the well of an oath. Forsooth Abimelech rose, and Phicol, the prince of his chivalry, and they turned again into the land of Palestines. (and so they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech, and Phicol, the ruler of his cavalry, arose, and they returned to the land of the Philistines.)

33 Soothly Abraham planted a wood in Beersheba, and inwardly called there (on) the name of [the] everlasting God;

34 and he was an earth-tiller, or a comeling, of the land of Palestines in many days. (and as a newcomer, he worked the soil in the land of the Philistines, for many days.)

Genesis 21:28-34 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 21

This chapter gives an account of the conception, birth, circumcision, and weaning of Isaac, Ge 21:1-8; of the mocking of Ishmael, and of the casting out of him and his mother from Abraham's house, at the request of Sarah, which, though grievous to Abraham, he complied with at the direction of God, Ge 21:9-13; of the provision Abraham made for their departure, and of the supply they met with in the wilderness from God, where Ishmael was brought up, and where he married, Ge 21:14-21; and of a covenant between Abraham and Abimelech, king of Gerar, Ge 21:22-32; and of Abraham's planting a grove, and calling on the name of the Lord, Ge 21:33; and the chapter is closed with this observation, that Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days, Ge 21:34.