Abimelech and Phichol Speak With Abraham at the WellBible World
21:27Genesis 21:27
And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant.
Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men together made a covenant. Here the word covenant means a mutual agreement, compact, or arrangement between people, not specifically a divine promise or a law. As an agreement between two parties, it is distinct from a promise called a covenant and from a law commanded as a covenant, such as the Ten Commandments and the covenant God made with Israel at Sinai, and its chapter is to be read alongside other covenant accounts. Because the word covenant has this broad application, any covenant said to be abolished must be identified by which kind of covenant it is.
The covenant concerned the well at Beer-sheba, and the name Beer-sheba, meaning well of the oath, commemorated their agreement. In making it Abraham and Abimelech acted as equal, independent rulers, entering a covenant of friendship confirmed with an oath. Abraham did not let a dispute over a well sever their friendship but addressed the wrong fairly while preserving peace, and the agreement sealed by the gift of sheep and oxen was respected throughout Abraham's life.
Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men together made a covenant. Here the word covenant means a mutual agreement, compact, or arrangement between people, not specifically a divine promise or a law. As an agreement between two parties, it is distinct from a promise called a covenant and from a law commanded as a covenant, such as the Ten Commandments and the covenant God made with Israel at Sinai, and its chapter is to be read alongside other covenant accounts. Because the word covenant has this broad application, any covenant said to be abolished must be identified by which kind of covenant it is.
The covenant concerned the well at Beer-sheba, and the name Beer-sheba, meaning well of the oath, commemorated their agreement. In making it Abraham and Abimelech acted as equal, independent rulers, entering a covenant of friendship confirmed with an oath. Abraham did not let a dispute over a well sever their friendship but addressed the wrong fairly while preserving peace, and the agreement sealed by the gift of sheep and oxen was respected throughout Abraham's life.