Genesis 21:31

Summary

The verse explains the naming of the place Beer-sheba, stating that it was called this because two parties swore an oath there. The text links the place-name directly to the act of swearing, presenting an etiological explanation for the toponym.

Key words

• ka.Ra' ("he called", H7121H) — qal perfect, third person masculine singular; an unspecified "he" performs the naming, the subject is not explicit in this clause.
• ma.Kom ("place", H4725) — masculine singular noun, marked with the preposition la ("to the") plus the definite article, forming "to the place."
• be.'Er / Sha.va' ("Beer" / "Sheba", H0884) — proper name in two parts, functioning as a compound place-name, the direct object-equivalent of ka.Ra'.
• nish.be.'U ("they swore an oath", H7650) — niphal perfect, third person plural; the niphal stem here carries a reflexive/reciprocal sense, "swore to one another" or "took an oath."
• she.nei.Hem ("the two of them", H8147 + H9028) — dual construct form with pronominal suffix, explicitly marking exactly two participants in the oath.

What the text says

The verse opens with the causal connector 'al-Ken ("therefore"), linking this statement to a preceding event as its explanation. The verb ka.Ra' ("he called") is in the qal perfect, third masculine singular, but no explicit subject noun appears in this clause — the grammar leaves the agent of the naming grammatically unspecified within this segment, though the verb form indicates a singular male subject. The object of the naming is introduced by la + article + ma.Kom ("to the place"), followed by the demonstrative ha-Hu' ("that"), specifying which place is meant. The name itself, be.'Er Sha.va' ("Beer Sheba"), functions as the result of the naming act.

The second half of the verse gives the reason (ki, "for") for the name: sham ("there") anchors the event locatively, and nish.be.'U is a niphal perfect verb, which conveys a reflexive or reciprocal nuance — the action of swearing is directed between the parties rather than a simple active declaration. The subject of this verb is clarified by she.nei.Hem ("the two of them"), a dual construct noun with a possessive suffix, which explicitly counts the participants as two, without naming them individually in this verse.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the place-name as Φρέαρ ὁρκισμοῦ ("Well of the Oath"), a descriptive translation of the Hebrew name rather than a transliteration, differing from the Hebrew be.'Er Sha.va', which the Vulgate instead renders as the transliterated name "Bersabee." The Vulgate also uses uterque ("each of the two" / "both"), matching the dual sense of she.nei.Hem, while the LXX uses ἀμφότεροι ("both"), similarly preserving the two-party count found in the Hebrew grammar.