The Pulpit Commentary — Genesis — Section 345

EXPOSITION. Yer. 22.-And it oame to pass at that time, servants) because of a well of water, which -possibly in immediate sequence to the iu- Abimeleoh's servants had violently taken cident of the preceding chapter, but, "ac- away. 'fhe greatest possible injury of a cording to the common law of HebT<:w nar- material kind that could be done to a nornado ratire probably not long after the birth of chief was the e.bstre.ction of his water sup- ]saac': (Murphy)-that Abimelech-the king plies. Hence " the ownership of wells in of Gernr (eh. xx. 2; xxvi. 1, 16)-and Phi- Palestine was as jealously guarded as the chol-if the name be Shcmitic, "mouth of possession of a mine in our own" (Inglis). n11 " i. e. spokesman of all (Murphy), ruler Contests for wells II are now very common of' all (Gesenius) ; or "the distinguished" all over the country, but more especially in (Fiirst) ; believed to ha,e been a titular the southern deserts" (Thomson, ' Land ancl designation of the Philistine monarch's Book,' p. 559). !Tranel rizier or prime minister (Lange, Ver. 26.-And Abimelech said, I wot not 7 speaker's Commentary'), who was also- who hath done this thing. 'fhere is no the chief captain of his host (i. e. the Cllm • reason to question the sincerity of the Philis- mander-i.n-chief of his forces) spake unto tine monarch in disclaiming e.ll lmow ledge of Abraham (having come from Gerar for the the act of robbery committed by his servants. purpose), saying, God is with thee in all that Neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard thou doest-a conviction derived from his I of it, but to day. The prince rather com- former acquaintance with the patriarch (eh. plains that Abraham bad done him an in- xx.) his knowledge of Isaac's birth, and his justice. gen~ral observation of the patriarch's pros- Ver. 27.-And Abraham took sheep and perity. oxen, and gave them Ullto Abimelech. As Yer. 23.-Wow therefore swear D.D.to me the usual covenant presents (cf. 1 Kings xv. here by God-the verb to swear is derived 19; Isa. x.xx. 6; xxxix. I). And both of from the Hebrew numeral seven, inasmuch them made a covenant. .As already Mamre, as the septennary number was sacred, and Ancr, nnd Eshcol had formed a league with oaths were confirmed either by se"l"en sacri- the patriarch (-vide eh. xiv. 13). fices (eh. :c:i. 28) or by seven witnesses and Vers. 28-30.-And Abraham set seven pledges-that thou wilt not de~l falsely with ewe lambs of the 1lock by themselves (de- me,-literally, if thou shalt l-ie unt_o me [ a signing by another ~oven~nt to se_cnr~ him- common form of oath iu Hebrew, m which self against future mvas1on of hie nghts). the other member of the sentence ill for And Abimelech se.id unto Abraham, What emphasis left unexpressed (cf. _Ruth i.. 17, mean these seven ewe lambs which thou e.nd 'Vide eh. .xiv. 23). As e. pnnce, AblDle• hast set by themselves l And he said, For Jech was e.fraicl of Abraham's growing power; these seven ewe lambs she.It thou take of as a good man, he insures the safety o~ him- my hand that they may be a witness unto self and his dominions not by resorting to me -th;t this peculiar kind of oath neYer war but by forming an amicable treaty with occ~rs again in Old Testament history is no liis 'nei"hbour-nor with my son, nor with proof of the mythical cha.meter of the narra- my son?s son ;-11,ripµa 1tai ,,.,oµa (LXX.) ; tive (Bohlen) ; on the contrary, " that the posteri et stirps (Vulgate); . offsprrng and custom existed in primitive Hebrew times is progeny (KaliscL); kith and kin (:Murphy)- showu by the word l/~~~. which had e1Lrly but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee (vide eh. xx. 15), thou shalt passed into the language, and which would do nn.to me, and to the land wherein thou be inexpllcaule without the existence of such hast sojourned-the land being put for the a custom" (Hii.vernick)-that I have digged people (cf. Numb. xiv. 13). this well. Yer. 24.-A.nd Abraham se.id, I will swear. Ver. 31.-Wherefore he called that plac~ Only before concluding the agreement there Beer-sheba. I. e. "the well of the oath,' was a matter of a more personal character tf,piap op1t111µov (LXX., Gesenius, Fii~st, Lk,t required settlement. Rosenmiiller), or the well of the seven (Ke1)) 1 Ver. 25.-And Abraham reproved (liter• rather thau the seven wells (Lango) ; d1!1- ally, reaaoned wiih, and proved to ~h~ satisfac- covercd by Robinson in Bir-es-seba, in the tion of) Abimelech (who was, until mforme~, Wady-es-seb11, twelve miles to the south of ~utircly unacqnoiuted with the action of lus Ilclnon, with two deep wells of excellent rJIJ. XXJ. 22-31) THE nooK OF GEXESI~. 281