בְּאֵר שֶׁ֫בַע

From the study of Amos 5:5

Range of meaning

Place name, 'well of seven' or 'well of the oath'. A town in the Negev at the southern edge of Judah ('from Dan to Beersheba').

Against the English

In English it is just a southern place name. The verb 'cross over' (ta'avoru) shows that northern Israelites had to leave their own kingdom and travel the whole length of Judah to get there, and many translations soften that into 'go' or 'journey'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 21:22–33 (Abraham's well and oath); Gen 26:23–33 (Isaac builds an altar); Gen 46:1 (Jacob sacrifices there before going down to Egypt). Amos 8:14 condemns those who swear 'As the way of Beersheba lives', apparently an oath by the pilgrimage route or by the god worshipped there. Archaeology at Tel Beersheba has turned up a large horned altar from the Iron Age, later taken apart, which fits a working cult place.

From the study of 2 Kings 12:1

Range of meaning

A place name, literally 'well of seven' or 'well of the oath'. Genesis connects it with both meanings: seven ewe lambs and an oath (Genesis 21:28–31; 26:33). It was Judah's southern frontier town, as in the phrase 'from Dan to Beersheba'.

Against the English

Translations print it as a name. The meaning of the name, and its sound-link with 'seven' (sheva) earlier in the verse and in 11:21, is lost in English.

Used elsewhere in the period

Identified with Tel Sheva or the nearby modern city. The Iron Age site was a fortified administrative town of Judah.