Genesis 21:22-34--A Treaty with Abimelech

​A Treaty with Abimelech

22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do. 23 Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.” 24 And Abraham said, “I will swear.”

25 When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's servants had seized, 26 Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.” 27 So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant. 28 Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart. 29 And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 30 He said, “These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that this may be a witness for me that I dug this well.” 31 Therefore that place was called Beersheba, because there both of them swore an oath. 32 So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. 34 And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.

---

God had moved in the heart of Abimelech so that although he was a pagan king, he understood that God was doing something important in the life of Abraham and that he was a prophet of God and that as long as Abraham stopped lying to him, bad things couldn't happen to him if he was a friend of God's friend.  Remember that this is part of the Abrahamic covenant, though we don't know that Abimelech has any idea of it, that God would bless those who bless Abraham and his descendants, but He would curse those who curse Abraham and his descendants.  So, it seems like Abimelech has figured this out on his own and would like to be under the blessing and protection of God as well.

Before Abraham enters into the covenant with Abimelech, he wants the original boundary lines returned , as he doesn't want a peace accord where he possibly has given up land for peace--he knows that every piece of land that is part of the covenant belongs to him and his descendants.

Abimelech says this was done without his knowledge and that he had not heard of it until that day.  Abraham then cuts a covenant with him in a similar way that we say God cut a covenant with Abraham earlier.  He get sheep and oxen and probably cut them apart just like before, but seven ewe lambs were kept alive and given as a gift and a reminder that Abraham dug the well and it belonged to him and his people.

While this may seem like something silly to quibble over, water was a very precious recourse in the desert, especially for a herdsman with the size of flocks that Abraham had, and you would want someone taking over control of the water supply that you worked hard to dig down and tap into. 

Because of the covenant that happened there, this well and the city that would grow up around it would be named Beersheba, meaning either "well of the oath" or "well of seven," referring to the oath that was sworn there and the pledge of the seven ewe lambs that was given as part of the oath.  This will be an important place geographically and politically later in Israel's history and seemed to be the southernmost point of the what would be considered Israel as we see the phrase "From Dan to Beersheba" a few times where Dan was a city or province far to the north and Beersheba was in the southernmost territory.


And we see for what I believe is the firs time that Abimelech and his commander Phicol belong to the people group that would later be called the Philistines.  We will definitely continue to hear about this people group many times in the Old Testament as they will continue to oppress and attempt to conquer the land and the people of Israel.  They either had no knowledge of or no respect for this treaty between Abraham and Abimelech and did not have the same fear of the Lord that Abimelech did as the Philestines would come to worship other gods, specifically Dagon (their national god).  We'll also see Dagon appear as a central figure in the times of the judges and kings, as God will several times show these people that their gods are simply bind, mute, deaf idols who can do nothing and are totally subservient to Him and that He is the only true and living God.

We see again a marker placed to remember not only the covenant, but also the nature and character of God and God getting yet another name from Abraham--The Everlasting God.  This tree would be a marker for generations to come not only to remind them of the well and the covenant, but also of the character and the nature of the God that gave His blessing and protection to His people--a God whose covenant would be eternal, just like He is.