What Does Genesis 21:29 Mean in the King James?
And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
In Hebrew, “seven” and “swore” share the consonants שבע, and the next verse makes the oath explicit.
THE MEANING
The question asks the reader to notice that these seven ewe lambs are deliberately placed apart. The next verse identifies them as witnesses to Abraham’s claim over the well, and verse 31 links the seven with the oath sworn there.
THE ROOT
שֶׁבַע
sheva
GROWS FROM
שבע
sh-b-ʿ
The same three consonants appear in the Hebrew word for seven and the verb for swearing an oath; this passage itself makes the echo clear.
The lambs’ number carries an oath-shaped echo. The following verse names the place Beer-sheba because the two men swear there, tying the seven lambs to a public agreement.
ALSO GROWS
sheva: The number seven.
שֶׁבַע
This is the number of ewe lambs Abraham sets apart.
shavu: They swore or bound themselves by an oath.
שָׁבְעוּ
Genesis 21:31 uses this form to explain the name Beer-sheba.
shevuah: An oath or solemn pledge.
שְׁבוּעָה
The oath branch makes the seven lambs part of the agreement’s visible witness.
הִצַּבְתָּ
hitzavta
GROWS FROM
נצב
n-ṣ-b
To stand, station, or set in a position.
“set” in this verse is hitzavta. The verb suggests deliberate placement: Abraham stations the lambs so their separation can be seen. The root’s standing imagery sharpens the sense of a visible marker.
ALSO GROWS
matsebah: A standing stone or pillar.
מַצֵּבָה
It shares the root’s image of something deliberately set upright and visible.
hityatzev: To take a position or stand in place.
הִתְיַצֵּב
It echoes the act of establishing a clear position, as Abraham does with the lambs.
THE PATTERN
A visible sign gives an agreement or promise a form that can be recognized and remembered.
That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:THE THREAD
Wherefore he called that place Beer-sheba; because there they sware both of them.The consonants שבע appear in both sheva, “seven,” and shava, “swear,” and this verse explicitly connects the oath to the place-name Beer-sheba. The seven lambs make that oath visible as witness to Abraham’s claim over the well.
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