Daily Bread

The Treaty at Beersheba

²² At that time Abimelek^(A) and Phicol the commander of his forces^(B) said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do.^{(C) 23} Now swear^(D) to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants.^(E) Show to me and the country where you now reside as a foreigner the same kindness I have shown to you.”^(F)

²⁴ Abraham said, “I swear it.”

²⁵ Then Abraham complained to Abimelek about a well of water that Abimelek’s servants had seized.^{(G) 26} But Abimelek said, “I don’t know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I heard about it only today.”

²⁷ So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelek, and the two men made a treaty.^{(H) 28} Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock, ²⁹ and Abimelek asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves?”

³⁰ He replied, “Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness^(I) that I dug this well.^(J)”

³¹ So that place was called Beersheba,^[a](K) because the two men swore an oath^(L) there.

³² After the treaty^(M) had been made at Beersheba,^(N) Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces^(O) returned to the land of the Philistines.^{(P) 33} Abraham planted a tamarisk tree^(Q) in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord,^(R) the Eternal God.^{(S) 34} And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines^(T) for a long time.