SHIBAH

(Shiʹbah) [seven].

A well that Isaac’s servants dug, or redug, at Beer-sheba. (Gen. 26:32, 33; compare 26:18.) They reported finding water there after concluding a covenant of peace with Abimelech the king of Gerar; hence, Isaac named the well “Shibah” (meaning “seven” and referring to an oath or statement sworn to by seven things). (Gen. 26:26-33) Abraham had similarly made a covenant with Abimelech (either this Philistine king or another having the same name or title). On that occasion Abimelech accepted seven female lambs from the patriarch in evidence of Abraham’s title to a controversial well, perhaps the same one that Isaac later named “Shibah.” By using “Shibah” (another form of the name “Sheba”), Isaac also apparently was preserving the name “Beer-sheba,” originally given to this place by Abraham.—Gen. 21:22-32; see BEER-SHEBA.