What Does Genesis 21:31 Mean in the King James?
Wherefore he called that place Beer-sheba; because there they sware both of them.
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
The name Beer-sheba holds both the oath and the seven lambs that witness it.
THE MEANING
A shared oath gives the well a name that carries their agreement forward. The Hebrew name echoes both “oath” and “seven,” linking the promise to the seven lambs set apart as its witness.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a spoken agreement vanishes when the conversation ends: here, the oath is carried forward in the name of the well.
THE ROOT
וַיִּשָּׁבְעוּ
vayyishav'u
GROWS FROM
שׁבע
The root sh-b-ʿ carries the sense “to swear an oath”; the same Hebrew root also gives the word for “seven.”
“sware” in this verse is vayyishav'u. English separates the oath from the number, but the Hebrew name Beer-sheba holds both together. The seven lambs witness the oath, so the place itself keeps their shared promise in view.
ALSO GROWS
shevu'ah: Oath
שְׁבוּעָה
This branch names the vow that both men make at the well.
sheva: Seven
שֶׁבַע
This branch echoes the seven ewe lambs offered as a witness just before the place is named.
THE PATTERN
A spoken oath is made durable through a witness that keeps the agreement present.
And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God.For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.THE THREAD
And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.The seven lambs are named as witnesses immediately before the place receives the name Beer-sheba. The Hebrew root שׁבע (sh-b-ʿ) links “seven” with “swear,” letting the lambs and the oath meet inside the name.
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