 | Toledot |  |
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| | 26:33 |
[Isaac] named the well Shibah. The city is therefore called Beer-sheba to this very day.
Vayikra otah Shiv'ah al-ken shem ha'ir Be'er Sheva ad hayom hazeh. |
| 26:34 |
When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.
Vayehi Esav ben-arba'im shanah vayikach ishah et-Yehudit bat-Be'eri haChiti ve'et-Bosemat bat-Eylon haChiti. |
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Commentary:
Shibah
Shivah in Hebrew. This is the masculine for seven, while Sheba (sheva) is the feminine. See note on Genesis 21:31. Some say that this was the well that Abraham dug in Beer-sheba (Genesis 21:25), which had been plugged up by the Philistines (Ramban), while others maintain that it was a new well (Rashbam).
| Beer-sheba
Abraham had given the name only to the well or the district (see Genesis 21:14), while Isaac gave it to the city that subsequently sprung up in the area (Radak). Moreover, Isaac's designation became the place's permanent name (Rabbi Menasheh ben Yisroel, Conciliator 48).
| forty years old
Emulating his father Isaac (Genesis 25:20; Bereshith Rabbah 65; Rashi).
| Judith
Yehudith in Hebrew, a name that subsequently became popular among Jews. Some say that Esau did not have any children by this Judith. Others identify her with Oholibamah in Genesis 36:2, (see Rashi ad loc.; Josephus, Antiquities 1:18:4).
| Beeri
The name is also found in Hosea 1:1.
| Hittite
See Genesis 10:15, 15:20, 23:5.
| Basemath
Some say that she was the Adah bath Elon in Genesis 36:2 (Ibn Ezra here, Rashi on Genesis 36:2. Also see Genesis 36:10, 13, 17). Some say that Esau's wives were from the land of Seir (Sefer HaYashar, p.73). The fathers of Esau's wives were great lords among the Canaanites (Radak; Josephus).
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