Abimelech and Phichol Speak With Abraham at the WellBible World
21:25Genesis 21:25
And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away.
Abraham reproved Abimelech because Abimelech's servants had seized by force a well of water belonging to Abraham. The dispute over the well formed part of the separation between Abraham and the Philistine king. The well at Beer-sheba was the subject of their covenant, and the name Beer-sheba, meaning well of the oath, commemorated their agreement. The covenant in this passage means a mutual agreement of friendship, confirmed by an oath, in which Abraham and Abimelech made mutual promises concerning the well and their relationship.
Elsewhere the same word covenant can refer to a promise or to a law, depending on its use. The covenant Abraham made with Abimelech was respected during Abraham's lifetime, but after his death the Philistines stopped the wells Abraham had dug by filling them with earth. The verse displays Abraham's meekness in dealing with a neighbor's wrong, in that he reproved rather than reproached Abimelech, showing that a small matter of difference should not break friendship but should be fairly reasoned and adjusted without violating friendship. The chapter containing the verse is an instance of unhappiness in Abraham's family associated with polygamy.
Abraham reproved Abimelech because Abimelech's servants had seized by force a well of water belonging to Abraham. The dispute over the well formed part of the separation between Abraham and the Philistine king. The well at Beer-sheba was the subject of their covenant, and the name Beer-sheba, meaning well of the oath, commemorated their agreement. The covenant in this passage means a mutual agreement of friendship, confirmed by an oath, in which Abraham and Abimelech made mutual promises concerning the well and their relationship.
Elsewhere the same word covenant can refer to a promise or to a law, depending on its use. The covenant Abraham made with Abimelech was respected during Abraham's lifetime, but after his death the Philistines stopped the wells Abraham had dug by filling them with earth. The verse displays Abraham's meekness in dealing with a neighbor's wrong, in that he reproved rather than reproached Abimelech, showing that a small matter of difference should not break friendship but should be fairly reasoned and adjusted without violating friendship. The chapter containing the verse is an instance of unhappiness in Abraham's family associated with polygamy.