Genesis 26:23

26:23 From there Isaac ¹  went up to Beer Sheba.

Genesis 28:10

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

28:10 Meanwhile Jacob left Beer Sheba and set out for Haran.

Genesis 22:19

22:19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set out together ²  for Beer Sheba where Abraham stayed. ³ 

Genesis 21:31

21:31 That is why he named that place ⁴  Beer Sheba, ⁵  because the two of them swore ⁶  an oath there.

Genesis 21:33

21:33 Abraham ⁷  planted a tamarisk tree ⁸  in Beer Sheba. There he worshiped the Lord, ⁹  the eternal God.

Genesis 26:33

26:33 So he named it Shibah; ¹⁰  that is why the name of the city has been Beer Sheba ¹¹  to this day.

Genesis 21:32

21:32 So they made a treaty ¹²  at Beer Sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned ¹³  to the land of the Philistines. ¹⁴ 

Genesis 46:1

The Family of Jacob goes to Egypt

46:1 So Israel began his journey, taking with him all that he had. ¹⁵  When he came to Beer Sheba ¹⁶  he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

Genesis 46:5

46:5 Then Jacob started out ¹⁷  from Beer Sheba, and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little children, and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent along to transport him.

Genesis 10:28

10:28 Obal, ¹⁸  Abimael, ¹⁹  Sheba, ²⁰ 

Genesis 21:14

21:14 Early in the morning Abraham took ²¹  some food ²²  and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, ²³  and sent her away. So she went wandering ²⁴  aimlessly through the wilderness ²⁵  of Beer Sheba.

Genesis 10:7

10:7 The sons of Cush were Seba, ²⁶  Havilah, ²⁷  Sabtah, ²⁸  Raamah, ²⁹  and Sabteca. ³⁰  The sons of Raamah were Sheba ³¹  and Dedan. ³² 

Genesis 25:3

25:3 Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. ³³  The descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites.

[26:23]  ¹ tn Heb “and he went up from there”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:19]  ² tn Heb “and they arose and went together.”

[22:19]  ³ tn Heb “and Abraham stayed in Beer Sheba. This has been translated as a relative clause for stylistic reasons.

[21:31]  ³ tn Heb “that is why he called that place.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive, “that is why that place was called.”

[21:31]  ⁴ sn The name Beer Sheba (בְּאֵר שָׁבַע, bÿ’er shava’) means “well of the oath” or “well of the seven.” Both the verb “to swear” and the number “seven” have been used throughout the account. Now they are drawn in as part of the explanation of the significance of the name.

[21:31]  ⁵ sn The verb forms a wordplay with the name Beer Sheba.

[21:33]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:33]  ⁵ sn The planting of the tamarisk tree is a sign of Abraham’s intent to stay there for a long time, not a religious act. A growing tree in the Negev would be a lasting witness to God’s provision of water.

[21:33]  ⁶ tn Heb “he called there in the name of the Lord.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 4:26; 12:8; 13:4; 26:25). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116, 281.

[26:33]  ⁵ sn The name Shibah (שִׁבְעָה, shiv’ah) means (or at least sounds like) the word meaning “oath.” The name was a reminder of the oath sworn by Isaac and the Philistines to solidify their treaty.

[26:33]  ⁶ sn The name Beer Sheba (בְּאֵר שָׁבַע, bÿ’er shava’) means “well of an oath” or “well of seven.” According to Gen 21:31 Abraham gave Beer Sheba its name when he made a treaty with the Philistines. Because of the parallels between this earlier story and the account in 26:26-33, some scholars see chaps. 21 and 26 as two versions (or doublets) of one original story. However, if one takes the text as it stands, it appears that Isaac made a later treaty agreement with the people of the land that was similar to his father’s. Abraham dug a well at the site and named the place Beer Sheba; Isaac dug another well there and named the well Shibah. Later generations then associated the name Beer Sheba with Isaac, even though Abraham gave the place its name at an earlier time.

[21:32]  ⁶ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[21:32]  ⁷ tn Heb “arose and returned.”

[21:32]  ⁸ sn The Philistines mentioned here may not be ethnically related to those who lived in Palestine in the time of the judges and the united monarchy. See D. M. Howard, “Philistines,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 238.

[46:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “and Israel journeyed, and all that was his.”

[46:1]  ⁸ sn Beer Sheba. See Gen 21:31; 28:10.

[46:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “arose.”

[10:28]  ⁹ sn Obal was a name used for several localities in Yemen.

[10:28]  ¹⁰ sn The name Abimael is a genuine Sabean form which means “my father, truly, he is God.”

[10:28]  ¹¹ sn The descendants of Sheba lived in South Arabia, where the Joktanites were more powerful than the Hamites.

[21:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and Abraham rose up early in the morning and he took.”

[21:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.

[21:14]  ¹² tn Heb “He put upon her shoulder, and the boy [or perhaps, “and with the boy”], and he sent her away.” It is unclear how “and the boy” relates syntactically to what precedes. Perhaps the words should be rearranged and the text read, “and he put [them] on her shoulder and he gave to Hagar the boy.”

[21:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “she went and wandered.”

[21:14]  ¹⁴ tn Or “desert,” although for English readers this usually connotes a sandy desert like the Sahara rather than the arid wasteland of this region with its sparse vegetation.

[10:7]  ¹¹ sn The descendants of Seba settled in Upper Egypt along the Nile.

[10:7]  ¹² sn The Hebrew name Havilah apparently means “stretch of sand” (see HALOT 297 s.v. חֲוִילָה). Havilah’s descendants settled in eastern Arabia.

[10:7]  ¹³ sn The descendants of Sabtah settled near the western shore of the Persian Gulf in ancient Hadhramaut.

[10:7]  ¹⁴ sn The descendants of Raamah settled in southwest Arabia.

[10:7]  ¹⁵ sn The descendants of Sabteca settled in Samudake, east toward the Persian Gulf.

[10:7]  ¹⁶ sn Sheba became the name of a kingdom in southwest Arabia.

[10:7]  ¹⁷ sn The name Dedan is associated with àUla in northern Arabia.

[25:3]  ¹² sn The names Sheba and Dedan appear in Gen 10:7 as descendants of Ham through Cush and Raamah. Since these two names are usually interpreted to be place names, one plausible suggestion is that some of Abraham’s descendants lived in those regions and took names linked with it.