The Well of the Oath

22And it happened at that time that Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do.”

23Swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, or with my children, or with my descendants. According to the kindness that I have shown to you, you shall show to me and to the land where you have lived as a foreigner.

24And Abraham said, “I swear it.”

25Then Abraham reproved Abimelech about the well of water that Abimelech’s servants had seized.

26And Abimelech said, “I did not know who had done this thing. You also did not tell me, and I myself had not heard of it until today.”

27So Abraham took sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant.

28And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.

29And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What are these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart by themselves?”

30And he said, “You are to take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, so that it may serve as a witness for me that I dug this well.”

31Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because there the two of them swore an oath.

32So they made a covenant at Beer-sheba, and Abimelech rose up with Phicol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines.

33And he planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of Yahweh, the Everlasting God.

34And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for many days.