Beersheba appears to have been a favorite abode of both these patriarchs. After the digging of the well Abraham planted a "grove" (brx, E'slieV) as a place for the worship of Jehovah, such as constituted the temples of those early times; and here he lived until the sacrifice of Isaac; and for a long time afterward (xxi, 33 xxii, 1, 111). 'Ibis seems to imply the growth of the place into a considerable town. Here also Isaac was dwelling at the tim ■ of the transference of the birthright from Esau to Jacob (xxvi, 33; xxviii, 10), and from the patriarchal encampment round the wells ■ r hi- grandfather Jacob set forth on the journcv to Mesopotamia which changed the course of' liis whole
life. Jacob does ,„,t appear to have revisited the place ,mlil '"' "Bade it one of the stages of his journey down to Egypt, lie then halted there to oiler sacrifice to
1 of his father," doubtless under the sacred
grove of Abraham. From this time till the conquest <•■ the countrj we only catch a momentary glimpse of Beersheba in the lists of the "cities" in 'the extreme south oi Judah (xv. is, giVen to the tribe of Simeon LChr.iv,28). Samuel's sons were appointed deputy judges for the southernmost districts in Beer- Bheba(] Sam. viii, 2), its distance no doubl precluding • imongtbenumberofthe"holycities"(Sep1 ) to which he himself went in circuit every vear(vii 10)' By the times of the monarchy it had become recognised a the most southerly place ,,r ,i„. country. Its posi- tion, as the place of arrival and departure for the cara- vans trading between Palestine and the countries ).■-
"L'l
BEER-SHEBA
ing in that direction, would naturally lead to the for- mation of a town round the wells of the patriarchs, and the great Egyptian trade begun by Solomon must have increased its importance. Hither Joab's census ex- tended (2 Sam. xxiv, 7 ; 1 Chr. xxi, 2), and here Eli- jah bade farewell to his confidential servant (r"C^) before taking his journey across the desert to Sinai (1 Kings xix, 3). Erom Dan to Beersheba (Judg. xx, 1, etc.), or from Beersheba to Dan (1 Chr. xxi, 2; cornp. 2 Sam. xxiv, 2), now became the established formula for the whole of the Promised Land ; just as " from Geba to Beersheba" (2 Kings xxiii, 8), or " from Beersheba to Mount Ephraim" (2 Chr. xix, 4), was that for the southern kingdom after the disruption. After the return from the captivity the formula is narrowed still more, and becomes " from Beersheba to the Val- ley of Hinnom" (Neh. xi, 30). One of the wives of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Zibiah, mother of Joash, was a native of Beersheba (2 Kings xii, 1 ; 2 Chr. xxiv, 1). From the incidental references of Amos, we find that, like Bethel and Gilgal, the place was, in the time of Uzziah, the seat of an idolatrous worship, apparent- ly connected in some intimate manner with the north- ern kingdom (Amos v, 5; viii, 14). But the allusions are so slight that nothing can be gathered from them, except that, in the latter of the two passages quoted above, we have perhaps preserved a form of words or an adjuration used by the worshippers, "Live the 'way' of Beersheba!" After this, with the mere menticn that Beersheba and the villages round it (" daughters") were rcinhabited after the captivity (Neh. xi, 30), the name dies entirely out of the Bible records. In the New Testament it is not once mentioned ; nor is it referred to as then existing by any writer earlier than Eusebius and Jerome, in the fourth century, who describe it as a large village (Chiomnsi. icm/uj /ityiari), licus gremlin), and the seat of a Roman garrison. The latter clsc= where {Qwest, ad Gen. xvii, 30) calls it a " town" (op- pidum). In the centuries before and after the Mos- lem conquest it is mentioned among the episcopal cit- ies of Palestine (Reland, Palcest. p. G20), but none of its bishops are anywhere named. The site seems to have been almost forgotten (see Do Vitriaco, Gesta Dei per Francos, p. 1070) till the fourteenth century, when Sir John Maundeville, Rudolf dc Suchcm, and William da Baldensel recognised the name at a place which they passed on their route from Sinai to Hebron. It was then uninhabited, but some of the churches were still standing. From that time till the recent visit of Dr. Kobinson the place remained unvisited and unknown, except for the slight notice obtained by Seet- zen from the Arabs (Zach's Monatl. Corresp. xvii, 143). Dr. Kobinson gives a clear idea of the southernmost district of Palestine, in which is Beersheba, and with which the book of Genesis has connected so many in- teresting associations. Coming from the south, ho emerged from the desert by a long and gradual ascent over swelling hills scantily covered with grass. The summit of this ascent afforded a view over a broad bar- ren tract, bounded on the horizon by the mountains of Judah south of Hebron : " We now felt that the des- ert was at an end. Descending gradually, we came out upon an open undulating country; the shrubs ceased, or nearly so ; green grass was seen along the lesser water-courses, and almost greensward ; while the gentle hills, covered in ordinary seasons with grass and rich pasture, were now burnt over with drought. In three quarters of an hour we reached Wady es-Scba, a wide water-course or bed of a torrent, running here W.S.W., upon whose northern side, close upon the bank, arc two dee]) wells, still called Bir es-Seba, the ancient Beersheba. We had entered the borders of Palestine!" ( Researches, i, 301). There are at present on the spot two principal wells, and five smaller ones. The former, apparently the only ones seen by Robin- son, lie just a hundred yards apart, and are so placed as to be visible from a considerable distance (L'onar,