Beersheba
City · Beersheba → Beersheba, Israel
Abraham and Isaac dug wells and swore oaths here. It marked the southern edge of the land.
People
- Abraham
- Hagar
- Isaac
- Jacob
- Elijah
At a glance
- Realm
- Judah (the Negev)
- Role
- Well of the oath, southern edge of the land
- Peoples
- Israel
- First mention
- Genesis 21 (the oath)
The story
Beersheba lay at the edge of the dry Negev, the well of the oath, where Abraham dug a well and swore a covenant with Abimelech and planted a tamarisk, calling there on the everlasting God. From Dan to Beersheba became Israel’s way of naming the whole land, north to south.
In its wilderness Hagar wandered with Ishmael until God showed her a well of water, and here Isaac dug wells and met the LORD, and Jacob offered sacrifice on his way down into Egypt. To Beersheba the prophet Elijah fled from Jezebel before he went on into the wilderness toward Horeb.