Beer-shebah - Fact Book

First, in plain English

From Dan to Beersheba meant all of Israel, top to bottom, and this was the bottom. It marked the southern edge of Judah's land and went first to Simeon. Genesis gives two separate stories for how it got its name.

Who this is

Beersheba marked the southern edge of Judah's territory, allotted first to Simeon before it came to define the phrase "from Dan to Beersheba," shorthand for the full length of Israel. Genesis gives two separate stories for how it got its name, one where Abraham and Abimelech swore an oath over seven ewe lambs, another where Isaac's servants struck water there a generation later. Tel Aviv University excavated the site from 1969 to 1975 and uncovered a fortified Iron Age city, giving the patriarchal stories a real settlement to sit against rather than just a name in the text.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915); Logos Factbook

The word

H884

Where it appears

Genesis 21:14
Genesis 21:31
Genesis 21:32
Genesis 21:33
Genesis 22:19
Genesis 26:23
Genesis 26:33
Genesis 28:10
Genesis 46:1
Genesis 46:5
Joshua 15:28
Joshua 19:2
Judges 20:1
1 Samuel 3:20
1 Samuel 8:2
2 Samuel 3:10
2 Samuel 17:11
2 Samuel 24:2
2 Samuel 24:7
2 Samuel 24:15
1 Kings 4:25
1 Kings 19:3
2 Kings 12:1
2 Kings 23:8
1 Chronicles 4:28
1 Chronicles 21:2
2 Chronicles 19:4
2 Chronicles 24:1
2 Chronicles 30:5
Nehemiah 11:27
Nehemiah 11:30
Amos 5:5
Amos 8:14