2625). Among the sacra of that famous shrine there must
have been a sacred tamarisk believed to have been planted
by Abraham (see on 126). The planting of a sacred tree
is no more a contradictio in adjecto (Sta. in v. Gall, 47) than
the erecting of a sacred stone, or the digging of a sacred
well. The opinion (KS. Ho.) that the subj. is Isaac, and
that the v. should stand after 2625, rests on the incorrect assumption
that no stratum of J puts Abraham in connexion
with Beersheba.—'El 'Ôlâm] presumably the pre-Israelite
name of the local numen, here identified with Yahwe (Gu.:
see 1613). Canaanite analogies are (
Greek characters) (Eus.
Præp. Ev. i. 10, 13 ff.), and (Greek characters) (Damasc. Princ.
123).—34. The assumption that Beersheba was in Philistine
territory being incompatible with 32b, the v. must be an interpolation.—On
the historical background of these legends,
see after 2633.
Beersheba is the modern Bi'r-es-Seba´, in the heart of the Negeb,
some 28 miles SW from Hebron, and 25 SE from Umm el-Ǧerār. Its
importance as a religious centre in OT appears not only from its frequent
mention in the patriarchal history (2219 2623ff. 31ff. 2810 461ff.), but still
more from the fact that in the 8th cent. its oracle (cf. 2522) was resorted
to by pilgrims from the northern kingdom (Am. 55 814). V. Gall (44 ff.)
questions the opinion that it was originally a group of 7 wells, holding
that there was but one, whose name meant 'Well of the Oath.' But that
"among the Semites a special sanctity was attached to groups of seven
wells" is shown by Smith (RS2, 181 f.: cf. Nö. ARW, vii. 340 ff.); and
the existence of a plurality of wells at Bi'r es-Seba´ has never been disputed.
See Rob. BR, i. 204 ff.; Smith, HG, 284 f.; Robinson, Bibl. World,
xvii. (1901), 247 ff.; Gautier, ib. xviii. 49 ff.; Dri. ET, vii. (1896), 567 f.;
Joel and Amos2 (1901), p. 239 f.; Trumbull, ET, viii. 89.
Ch. XXII. The Sacrifice of Isaac (E and RJE).
The only incident in Abraham's life expressly characterised as a 'trial' of his faith is the one here narrated, where the patriarch proves his readiness to offer up his only son
(Hebrew characters), Ass. ašlu; 1 Sa. 226 3113 [in 1 Ch. 1012 (Hebrew characters)]†, in both cases probably
denoting a sacred tree. The word seems to have been strange to
Vns.: G (Greek characters), Aq. (Greek characters), Σ. (Greek characters), V nemus, etc. The substitution
of (Hebrew characters) proposed by Sta. (v.s.) is uncalled for, though see EB, 4892 f.—(Hebrew characters)]
[E] (Hebrew characters).—34 is wanting in TJ (ed. Ginsburger).
