Bible Strands
Genesis 26:33
So he called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the city is Beersheba.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — After Isaac’s servants report finding water in a newly dug well, Isaac names the location Shibah. This action follows the Philistines’ acknowledgment of God’s presence and their proposal of a sworn pact.
The words — שִׁבְעָ֑ה (shiv'ah) means Shibah or oath, and בְּאֵר (be'er) means well. Combined, they form Beersheba, directly encoding the treaty into the city’s identity.
The thread — The naming parallels Genesis 21:31, where Abraham names a site Beersheba after swearing an oath. The covenant context extends from Genesis 26:28, where the Philistines explicitly recommend establishing a sworn agreement.
Why it lands — The text records a historical naming practice that permanently ties a location to a specific agreement. It requires the reader to recognize how geographical names in Scripture preserve the memory of divine and human covenants.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beer–sheba unto this day.
Cross-references
- Genesis 21:31 So that place was called Beersheba, because it was there that the two of them swore an oath.
- Genesis 26:28 “We can plainly see that the LORD has been with you,” they replied. “We recommend that there should now be an oath between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you