Genesis 21

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:24

And Abraham said, I will swear. Sensible of the many favours he had received from Abimelech in times past, and was still indulged with, he very readily agreed to his proposal; and the rather, as he knew by the vision between the pieces, that it would be four hundred years before his posterity should be put into the possession of the land of Canaan; and therefore could take an oath that neither he, nor his son, nor his grandson, should be injured or dispossessed. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:25

And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water ,.... Before he swore and entered into covenant with him, he thought it advisable to inform him of an affair that had happened concerning a well of water, which in those hot and dry countries, as the southern parts of the land of Canaan were, was an affair of great importance; and to make complaint of the ill usage of Abimelech's servants with respect to it, and to reason with him about it, that the thing might be adjusted to mutual... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:26

And Abimelech said, I wot not who hath done this thing ,.... He pleads ignorance; he knew nothing of it before, nor now which of his servants had done it; intimating, that if he could know who it was, he should severely reprimand him for it: neither didst thou tell me : signifying that he was to blame he did not complain of it sooner; and at least he had no reason to blame him, since he had never informed him before of it, and therefore could not expect to be redressed: neither yet... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:27

And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech ,.... In gratitude for former favours he had received from him, in token of the friendship that subsisted between them, and for the confirmation of it; and to show that he was fully satisfied with Abimelech's answer to his complaint, as well as willing to enter into covenant by sacrifice, when such creatures were divided, and the covenanters passed between the pieces, for so it follows: and both of them made a covenant ; or,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:28

And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. Separate from the sheep and oxen he gave to Abimelech, and from those that were used in making the covenant. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:29

And Abimelech said unto Abraham ,.... Observing what he had done, and not knowing the design of it: what mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves ? he understood what the sheep and oxen were for, that they were presents to him, at least some of them, and the rest were for the solemnizing and ratifying the covenant between them; but what these were for he could not devise. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:30

And he said ,.... That is, Abraham replied to Abimelech: for these seven ewe lambs shall thou take of my hand ; as a present from him, to be retained as his own: that they may be a witness to me that I have digged this well : these were to be a testimony that the well that had been taken away from Abraham was one that he had dug, and was his property, and which Abimelech acknowledged by his acceptance of these seven lambs; and very probably Abraham received a note from the hand of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:31

Wherefore he called that place Beersheba ,.... Either Abraham or Abimelech, or both, called it so; or it may be read impersonally, "therefore the place was called Beersheba" F20 יקרא "vocatus", V. L. Calvin, Piscator. , for two reasons, one implied, the other expressed; one was, because of the seven lambs before mentioned; so the Targum of Jonathan,"and therefore he called the well the well of seven lambs;'"Beer" signifying a well, and "sheba" seven; the other, and which is more... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:32

Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba ,.... Which took its name from the oath annexed to the covenant there made; and which is observed for the sake of what follows, to show that when they finished their agreement, and the ceremony of it: then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol, the chief captain of his host ; from the place where they had been conversing and covenanting with Abraham: and they returned into the land of the Philistines ; from Beersheba, which was in the extreme border of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:33

And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba ,.... The Jewish writers F23 In T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 10. 1. are divided about the use of this grove, as Jarchi relates; one says it was for a paradise or orchard, to produce fruits out of it for travellers and for entertainment; another says it was for an inn to entertain strangers in; it rather was for a shade, to shelter from the sun in those sultry and hot countries; and perhaps for a religious use, and to be an oratory, as the following... read more

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:24

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:25

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:26

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:27

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:28

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:29

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:30

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:31

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:32

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 21:33

Verse of the Day

Daily Devotional

Group of Brands