Genesis 21:33

And [Abraham] planted a grove in Beersheba,.... The Jewish writers (w) are divided about the use of this grove, as Jarchi relates; one says it was for a paradise or orchard, to produce fruits out of

And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God. Abraham planted a grove - [Hebrew, 'eshel (H815)].

Abraham planted a grove, not so much for shade, which yet was pleasant and necessary in these hot regions, as for religious use, that he might retire thither from the noise of worldly business, and freely converse with his Maker. Which practice of his was afterwards abused to superstition and idolatry, for which reason groves were commanded to be cut down. See 16:21. Called there on the name of the Lord. He thankfully acknowledging God’ s great goodness in giving him the favour and friendship of so great and worthy a prince and neighbour.

Genesis 21:33 And [Abraham] planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.Ver. 33. Abraham planted a grove.] That he might have a private place for prayer and meditation. And thus he improved and employed that recent peace he had made with Ahimelech. Oh that God would once more try us, and trust us with the blessing of peace! How should we now prize it, and praise him for it! Bona a tergo formosissima .

(33) And Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba.—Heb., a tamarisk tree. Under a noble tree of this kind, which grows to a great size in hot countries, Saul held his court at Gibeah, and under another his bones were laid at Jabesh (1 Samuel 22:6; 1 Samuel 31:13). And called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God.—Heb., on the name of Jehovah, El ‘olam (comp. Genesis 4:26). In Genesis 14:22, Abraham claimed for Jehovah that he was El ‘elyon, the supreme God; in Genesis 17:1, Jehovah reveals Himself as El shaddai, the almighty God; and now Abraham claims for Him the attribute of eternity. As he advanced in holiness, Abraham also grew in knowledge of the manifold nature of the Deity, and we also more clearly understand why the Hebrews called God, not El, but Elohim. In the plural appellation all the Divine attributes were combined. El might be ‘elyon, or shaddai, or ‘olam; Elohim was all in one.

Verse 33. Abraham planted a grove] The original word אשל eshel has been variously translated a grove, a plantation, an orchard, a cultivated field, and an oak. From this word, says Mr. Parkhurst, may be derived the name of the famous asylum, opened by Romulus between two groves of oaks at Rome; (μεθοριονδυοινδρυμως, Dionys. Hal., lib. ii. c. 16:) and as Abraham, Genesis 21:33, agreeably, no doubt, to the institutes of the patriarchal religion, planted an oak in Beer-sheba, and called on the name of Jehovah, the everlasting God, (compare Genesis 12:8; Genesis 18:1), so we find that oaks were sacred among the idolaters also. Ye shall be ashamed of the OAKS ye have chosen, says Isaiah, Isaiah 1:29, to the idolatrous Israelites. And in Greece we meet in very early times with the oracle of Jupiter at the oaks of Dodona. Among the Greeks and Romans we have sacra Jovi quercus, the oak sacred to Jupiter, even to a proverb. And in Gaul and Britain we find the highest religious regard paid to the same tree and to its misletoe, under the direction of the Druids, that is, the oak prophets or priests, from the Celtic deru, and Greek δρυς, an oak. Few are ignorant that the misletoe is indeed a very extraordinary plant, not to be cultivated in the earth, but always growing on some other tree. "The druids," says Pliny, Nat. Hist., lib. xvii., c. 44, "hold nothing more sacred than the misletoe, and the tree on which it is produced, provided it be the oak. They make choice of groves of oak on this account, nor do they perform any of their sacred rites without the leaves of those trees; so that one may suppose that they are for this reason called, by a Greek etymology, Druids. And whatever misletoe grows on the oak they think is sent from heaven, and is a sign that God himself has chosen that tree. This however is very rarely found, but when discovered is treated with great ceremony. They call it by a name which signifies in their language the curer of all ills; and having duly prepared their feasts and sacrifices under the tree, they bring to it two white bulls, whose horns are then for the first time tied; the priest, dressed in a white robe, ascends the tree, and with a golden pruning hook cuts off the misletoe, which is received into a white sagum or sheet. Then they sacrifice the victims, praying that God would bless his own gift to those on whom he has bestowed it." It is impossible for a Christian to read this account without thinking of HIM who was the desire of all nations, of the man whose name was the BRANCH, who had indeed no father upon earth, but came down from heaven, was given to heal all our ills, and, after being cut off through the Divine counsel, was wrapped in fine linen and laid in the sepulchre for our sakes.

33. a tamarisk tree] The tamarix syriaca. The Heb. word κshel puzzled the versions; LXX ἄρουραν, Lat. nemus. Tradition probably connected a famous tamarisk, close to the seven sacred springs, with the site of the sanctuary of Beer-sheba; cf. Genesis 26:23-25. See, also, for “tamarisk tree,” 1 Samuel 22:6; 1 Samuel 31:13. the Everlasting God] Heb. El-Τlβm. See notes on Genesis 14:18, Genesis 17:1. “The God of Ages,” the name which Abraham here identifies in thought and worship with Jehovah. God does not change, though the defective knowledge of Him in early ages makes way in later time for the fuller Revelation to the Chosen Family.

33. Planted a grove — So the Vulgate. The Sept. has, a field; Chaldee, a garden; Syriac, a tree. But nearly all recent critics understand by àùׁ ?ì the tamarisk.