Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

As to the meaning of “Beersheba”, that is very relevant to the question of 
whether Abraham and Isaac are in Upper Galilee or in the Negev.  Most 
analysts would say that the name “Beersheba” could either mean “Well Seven” 
or “
Well Oath”.  “Beersheba” is B)R $B(.  $B( is “seven”.  $B( means “to 
swear an oath”.
 
Out of context, the more natural meaning of “Beersheba” would be “Well 
Seven”, referring to a place that, remarkably, had seven wells at that one 
locale.
 
1.  In modern times, dating back to the 19th century AD, there have been 
between 2 and 17 functioning wells at Beersheba in the Negev.  In a place 
like 
that, which obviously features multiple wells, there could easily have been 
a time when there were exactly 7 wells in operation, hence the name “Well 
Seven”.
 
By contrast, there is only a single well at Beersheba of Galilee.  There is 
no way that “Well Seven” would fit Beersheba of Galilee.
 
2.  It is noteworthy that each of Abraham and Isaac explicitly states that 
the name “Beersheba” at their locale means “Well Oath”, which implicitly 
denies that the name means “Well Seven”.  Genesis 21: 31;  26: 33
 
3.  When Jacob/“Israel” leads all the Hebrews from Canaan to Egypt, that 
large party naturally stops at the famous Beersheba in the Negev.  Genesis 
46: 1, 5.  Presumably there were about 7 functioning wells at Beersheba in 
the 
Negev at that time, hence the name Beersheba, meaning “Well Seven”.
 
Note that Jacob does  n-o-t  say anything along the lines of “Oh, so this 
is where my father and grandfather each dug a series of wells”.  That’s 
because Jacob is in the Negev Desert, whereas his ancestors had dug wells in 
far-away northwestern Upper Galilee.
 
Beersheba of the Negev is so far south, and in such an inhospitable clime 
(being the only place in the area with a decent supply of water), that the 
only reason for a Patriarch to be at or near Beersheba of the Negev is 
precisely in the context of stopping there as a way-station on the way to 
Egypt, 
which is what the Hebrews do in chapter 46 of Genesis.  It makes no sense at 
all for Abraham or Isaac to choose to sojourn for many, many years near 
Beersheba of the Negev.  By stark contrast, it would make all the sense in 
the 
world for Abraham and Isaac to choose to sojourn near Beersheba of Galilee:  
(i) there was little population in Upper Galilee in the Late Bronze Age 
except for cities on the northwest and east ends of Upper Galilee, meaning 
that 
the wonderful “rolling” hills of Galilee were open for the Patriarchs to 
sojourn there in tents;  (ii) Galilee is a great place for sheep and goats, 
and 
for occasional agriculture;  and (iii) if someone like Esau were of a mind 
to do big game hunting to provide tasty food for the family, then just 
southwest of Beersheba of Galilee was a huge, dense forest, teeming with 
animals 
like deer and wild boars, presumably being the best place for hunting in all 
of Canaan.  Just as Upper Galilee is absolutely ideal as a place for the 
Patriarchs to sojourn, just as surely the semi-arid area near Beersheba of 
the 
Negev makes no sense at all as a place for the Patriarchs to sojourn.
 
4.  The fact that each of the first two Patriarchs explicitly says that his 
Beersheba means “Well Oath” supports my view that their Beersheba is 
Beersheba of Galilee.  If either Abraham or Isaac had said that there were 
seven 
wells at their locale, then that would destroy my theory of the case, and 
establish Beersheba of the Negev as being the locale in question.  But on the 
contrary, each of Abraham and Isaac digs a series of wells, a day or so 
apart, with the final well being a single well located “up” at Beersheba.  
That 
fits Beersheba of Galilee perfectly, while not fitting Beersheba of the 
Negev at all.  With there being multiple wells functioning at all times in 
the 
Beersheba of the Negev, it would not make sense for a Patriarch to be 
greatly excited about digging yet another well at that locale.  
 
Nothing about the sequences in chapters 20-21 and 26 of Genesis makes any 
sense at all at the Beersheba of the Negev, whereas everything makes perfect 
sense, without exception, if the locale is Beersheba of Galilee.
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois