Genesis Vol 3.pdf - College Press

SOJOURN IN THE NEGEB 20:1-21:34
place; aizd they will slay we for my wife’s sake. 12 And
moreouer she is indeed ivy sister, the daughter of my
I father, but not the daiighfer of my mother; and she
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became my wife: 13 and it came to pass, wheii God caused
me to wander frow my father’s house, that I said unto
her, This is thy kindiiess which tho14 shalt show unto me:
at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is
my brother. 14 And Abiiizelech took shetp and oxen,
and men-servants and women-servants, and gave them
unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife. 1 Y And
AbZinelecb said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell
where it pleaseth thee. 16 And unto Sarah he said, Behold,
I have given thy brother a fhousaiid pieces of silver: behold,
it is for thee a covering of the eyes to all that are with
thee; and in respect of all thu art righted. 17 And
Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and
his wife, and his maid-servants; and they bare children.
18 For Jehovah had fast closed up all the wombs of the
house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
(1) The Negeb, vs. 1, “the dry,” largely waterless
area, which from its geographical position generally south
of Judea came to be known as “the south,” “the land of
the south,” etc. (cf. Gen. 10:19, 12:9, 26:l-6). (See
Nelson Glueck’s great work, Rivers in the Desert). The
northern boundary may be indicated by a line drawn
roughly from Gaza to Beersheba, thence east directly to the
Dead Sea. The southern boundary can be indicated by a
line drawn from the highlands of the Sinai peninsula to the
head of the Gulf of Aqabah at Eilat. (This, incidentally,
is the line where the political division is drawn today).
Significant economically were the copper ores in the east-
ern part of the Negeb and the commerce which resulted
in the Arabah. Control of this industry explains the wars
of Saul with the Amalekites and Edomites (1 Sam. 14:47
ff.) , the victories of David over the Edomites (1 Ki. 11 : 1 $
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