Page:A critical and exegetical commentary on Genesis (1910).djvu/469

26-33. The treaty with Abimelech.—26. 'Aḥuzzath (v.i.) his friend] his confidential adviser, or 'vizier,'—an official title common in Egypt from an early period, and amongst the Ptolemies and Seleucids (1 Mac. 2¹⁸ 10⁶⁵; cf. 2 Sa. 16^16f., 1 Ki. 4⁵, 1 Ch. 27³³).—Pîkōl] see on 21²².—27. See vv. ^{14. 16}.—28. The (Hebrew characters) is properly the curse invoked on the violation of the covenant; (Hebrew characters) refers to the symbolic ceremony (not here described) by which it was ratified (see on 15^17f.).—29. Abimelech dictates the terms of the covenant: cf. 21²³.—30, 31. The common meal seems to be a feature of the covenant ceremony (cf. 31^53f.), though here the essential transaction takes place on the morning of the following day.—32, 33. The naming of the well (^25b). The peculiar form Šib`āh (v.i.) is perhaps chosen as a compromise between (Hebrew characters), 'oath' (as Gu. points), and (Hebrew characters), the actual name of the place.

It is possible to recognise in these imperfectly preserved legends a reflexion of historic or pre-historic relations between nomadic tribes of the Negeb (afterwards incorporated in Israel) and the settled population of Gerar. The ownership of certain wells was disputed by the two parties; others were the acknowledged possession of the Hebrew ancestors. In the oldest tradition (J^b) the original purpose of the covenant of Beersheba still appears: it was to put a stop to these disputes, and secure the right of Israel at least to the important sanctuary of Beersheba (21³⁰). In the later variations this connexion is lost sight

26. (Hebrew characters)] (for the ending, see Dri. Sam. 107) has sometimes been mistaken for the noun meaning 'possession' (17⁸), taken in the sense of a body holding together (see Ra. ad loc.); so T^O (Hebrew characters), 'company of his friends'; Jer. collegium amicorum ejus; Gr.-Ven. (Greek characters) (Greek characters) (Field).—(Hebrew characters)] a rare word for 'companion,' sodalis (Ju. 14^{11. 20} 15^{2. 6}, 2 Sa. 3⁸, Pr. 12²⁶ (?) 19⁷† ), whose use in the story of Samson suggested the (Greek characters) of G here.—28. (Hebrew characters)] need not be deleted (GSV, al.). The form (Hebrew characters) (42²³, Jos. 22³⁴, Ju. 11¹⁰, 2 Sa. 21⁷, Jer. 25¹⁶, Ezk. 10^{2. 6f.}† ) is always two-sided, and is here resolved into the commoner (Hebrew characters) . . . (Hebrew characters), exactly as 2 Sa. 21⁷. Hence in the first case "us" means all the parties to the covenant, in the second only the Philistine representatives.—29. (Hebrew characters)] On the [H], see G-K. § 75 hh.—(Hebrew characters)] [E] (Hebrew characters), G (Hebrew characters), a more natural order.—32. (Hebrew characters)] G strangely reads (Greek characters) [(Greek characters)].—33. (Hebrew characters)] GS better (Hebrew characters).—(Hebrew characters) ((Greek characters))] G (Greek characters); but Aq. Σ. (Greek characters), V Abundantiam, S (Syriac characters) ((Hebrew characters), Ezk. 16⁴⁹). In spite of the interchange of sibilants, one is tempted to agree with these authorities: Jerome pertinently asks: 'Quæ enim etymologia est, propterea vocari juramentum, quod aquam non (cf. G) invenissent?'—(Hebrew characters)] GS pr. (Hebrew characters).