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Genesis 21:29

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Genesis 21:29 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?
Genesis 21:29 — American Standard Version

Context — Genesis 21

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
26And Abimelech said, I know not who hath done this thing. Neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but to-day.
27And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech. And they two made a covenant.
28And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
29And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?
30And he said, These seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that it may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.
31Wherefore he called that place Beer-sheba. Because there they sware both of them.
32So they made a covenant at Beer-sheba. And Abimelech rose up, and Phicol the captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And Abimelech said unto Abraham, etc.] Observing what he had done, and not knowing the design of it: what [mean] these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves? he understood what the sheep and oxen were for, that they were presents to him, at least some of them, and the rest were for the solemnizing and ratifying the covenant between them; but what these were for he could not devise.”
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Related study paths

Read Genesis 21 in contextBrowse Hebrew word studiesOpen this verse in the study reader

Sources and verification