What Does Genesis 21:23 Mean?
Now therefore swear to me here by God, that you will not lie to me, nor to my son, nor to my son's son. But according to the faithful love I have done with you, you shall do with me, and with the land where you have sojourned.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son: but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned.THE KEY
The oath shares its Hebrew consonants with “seven,” and the chapter soon preserves that echo in the name Beer-sheba.
THE MEANING
Here, trust reaches beyond the two people speaking: the promise names a son and a grandson. It guards against deceit and binds future conduct to the faithful love already shown. Even the land where the other has stayed is included in the bond.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A promise concerns only the two people making it; this verse explicitly extends its reach to the son and grandson.
THE ROOT
הִשָּׁבְעָה
hiššāḇəʿāh
GROWS FROM
שבע
sh-b-ʿ
To swear an oath; the same consonants also appear in the word for seven.
The verb translated “swear” shares the consonants ש־ב־ע with שֶׁבַע (shevaʿ, seven). The chapter makes this sound-link vivid through seven ewe lambs and the name Beer-sheba, binding the oath to a mark that lasts.
ALSO GROWS
hiššāḇəʿāh: Swear; take an oath
הִשָּׁבְעָה
This is the oath requested in the verse, making the promise’s binding force explicit.
shevaʿ: Seven
שֶׁבַע
The seven ewe lambs in the surrounding scene echo the oath’s consonants and connect the promise to Beer-sheba.
תִּשְׁקֹר
tishqor
GROWS FROM
שקר
sh-q-r
Falsehood; to lie or deceive.
“lie” in this verse is tishqor. The request names the rupture the oath is meant to exclude: false dealing. The word reaches beyond a single interaction, since the promise guards the speaker, his son, and his grandson.
ALSO GROWS
sheqer: Falsehood; a lie
שֶׁקֶר
The noun makes clear that the verse is guarding against deception, not merely discourtesy.
shāqar: To lie or deal falsely
שָׁקַר
This verb is the action the oath is asked to rule out.
כַּחֶסֶד
ka-chesed
GROWS FROM
חסד
ḥ-s-d
Faithful love; loyal kindness.
“faithful love” in this verse is ka-chesed. The kindness named here is חֶסֶד (ḥesed), a durable, relational love. The request asks future conduct to answer a bond that has already been shown.
ALSO GROWS
ḥasadim: Acts of faithful love or kindness
חֲסָדִים
The plural form shows this love through the acts that sustain a relationship.
ḥasid: A faithful or devoted person
חָסִיד
This related word ties chesed to loyalty as a quality of a person, not just a pleasant gesture.
THE PATTERN
Durable trust joins truthful speech with faithful love that carries a bond across time.
Perceive therefore that the LORD your God is God, the steady God, who guards the covenant and faithful love for those who love him and guard his commands to a thousand generations.In whose eyes the despised one is spurned, yet he gives weight to those in awe of the LORD. He swears to his own harm, and does not shift.Therefore, taking off lying, speak truth, each one with his neighbor, for we are limbs of one another.THE THREAD
Therefore he called that place the well of the swearing, Beersheba, because there the two of them swore.The oath verb נִשְׁבְּעוּ (nishbeʿu, they swore) shares the consonants ש־ב־ע with שֶׁבַע (shevaʿ, seven). The seven ewe lambs in this scene make the sound-link visible, and the oath is preserved in the name Beer-sheba.
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