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HEBREW: 884 ebv rab B@'er Sheba`
NAVE: Beer-sheba
EBD: Beersheba
Beeltethmus | Beelzebul | Beer | Beer Elim | Beer Lahai Roi | Beer Sheba | Beer, A Drink | Beera | Beerah | Beerelim | Beeri

Beer Sheba

In Bible versions:

Beer Sheba: NET
Beer-Sheba: AVS TEV
Beersheba: NIV NASB
Beer-sheba: NRSV
a famous well, its town and district in southern Judah

the well of an oath; the seventh well
NETBible Maps: Map11 A3 ; Map7 G5 ; Map8 D1 ; Map9 F3 ; OT2 B7 ; OT4 B7 ; OT5 B7 ; NT1 B7
Google Maps: Beersheba (31° 14´, 34° 50´)
Arts Topics: The Treaty at Beersheba


Strongs #0884: ebv rab B@'er Sheba`

Beer-sheba = "well of the sevenfold oath"

1) a city at the south edge of Israel

884 B'er Sheba` be-ayr' sheh'-bah

see HEBREW for 0875
see HEBREW for 07651
see HEBREW for 07650

Beersheba [EBD]


Beer-sheba [NAVE]

1. The most southern city of Palestine, Judg. 20:1.
Named by Abraham, who dwelt there, Gen. 21:31-33; 22:19.
The dwelling place of Isaac, Gen. 26:23.
Jacob went out from, toward Haran, Gen. 28:10.
Sacrifices offered at, by Jacob when journeying to Egypt, Gen. 46:1.
In the inheritance of Judah, Josh. 15:20, 28; 2 Sam. 24:7.
Afterward assigned to Simeon, Josh. 19:2, 9; 1 Chr. 4:28.
Two sons of Samuel were judges at, 1 Sam. 8:2.
Became a seat of idolatrous worship, Amos 5:5; 8:14.
2. Well of, belonged to Abraham and Isaac, Gen. 21:25, 26.
3. Wilderness of. Hagar miraculously sees a well in, Gen. 21:14-19.
An angel fed Elijah in, 1 Kin. 19:5, 7.




BEERSHEBA - be-er-she'-ba (be'er shebha`; Bersabee): Allotted originally to Simeon (Josh 19:2), one of "the uttermost cities of the tribe of the children of Judah" (Josh 15:28).

1. The Meaning of the Name:



2. A Sacred Shrine:

Beersheba was a sacred shrine. "Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of Yahweh, the Everlasting God" Gen (21:33). Theophanies occurred there to Hagar (21:17), to Isaac (26:24), to Jacob (46:2), and to Elijah (1 Ki 19:5). By Amos (5:5) it is classed with Bethel and Gilgal as one of the rival shrines to the pure worship of Yahweh, and in another place (8:14) he writes "They shall fall, and never rise up again," who sware, "As the way (i.e. cult) of Beersheba liveth." The two unworthy sons of Samuel were Judges in Beersheba (1 Sam 8:2) and Zibiah, mother of King Jehoash, was born there (2 Ki 12:1; 2 Ch 24:1).

3. Its Position:

Geographically Beersheba marked the southern limit of Judah, though theoretically this extended to the "river of Egypt" (Gen 15:18)--the modern Wady el`Avish--60 miles farther south. It was the extreme border of the cultivated land. From Dan to Beersheba (2 Sam 17:11, etc.) or from Beersheba to Dan (1 Ch 21:2; 2 Ch 30:5) were the proverbial expressions, though necessarily altered through the changed conditions in later years to "from Geba to Beer-sheba" (2 Ki 23:8) or "from Beer-sheba to the hill-country of Ephraim" (2 Ch 19:4).

4. Modern Beersheba:

Today Beersheba is Bir es-Seba` in the Wady es Seba`, 28 miles Southwest of Hebron on "the southern border of a vast rolling plain broken by the torrent beds of Wady Khalil and Wady Seba" (Robinson). The plain is treeless but is covered by verdure in the spring; it is dry and monotonous most of the year. Within the last few years this long-deserted spot--a wide stretch of shapeless ruins, the haunt of the lawless Bedouin--has been re-occupied; the Turks have stationed there an enlightened Kaimerkhan (subgovernor); government offices and shops have been built; wells have been cleared, and there is now an abundant water supply pumped even to the separate houses. Robinson (BW, XVII, 247 ff) has described how he found seven ancient wells there--probably still more will yet be found. The whole neighborhood is strewn with the ruins of the Byzantine city which once flourished there; it was an episcopal see. It is probable that the city of Old Testament times stood where Tell es Seba' now is, some 2 1/2 miles to the East; from the summit a commanding view can be obtained (PEF, III, 394, Sheet XXIV).

E. W. G. Masterman

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