Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they sware both of them.
Ver. 31. They sware both of them.] Or, they were sworn. The Hebrew is passive (נשׁבע). To show that an oath is not rashly to he undertaken, but by a kind of necessity imposed. It comes of a root that signifies to satisfy; because he, to whom we swear, must therewith be contented. An oath is an end of strife, saith the apostle. Heb 6:16 The Greeks call it ορχος ψυασι ερχος, a hedge, which a man may not break.