Comentario sobre Génesis 21:31

על כן...כי שם נשבעו, the word כי lacks the conjunctive letter ו in front. We find similar constructions with the missing conjunctive letter ו in Chabakuk 2,11 שמש ירח, instead of שמש וירח. Another such example is found in Exodus 1,2 ראובן שמעון instead of ראובן ושמעון. Had the letter ו not been missing, we would have clearly understood at first glance that both the oath and the seven sheep are referred to as a “package deal.” Naming a location was a very important step in laying claim to a region as one’s inalienable property.

שניהם, der künftige und der gegenwärtige Beherrscher reichten sich da die Hand und war dieses ganze Ereignis — die erste huldigende Anerkennung des künftigen abrahamitischen Volkes — wichtig genug, durch den Namen des Ortes den Nachkommen verewigt zu werden, zumal denselben dadurch zugleich der sie mit verpflichtende Eid des Ahns im Gedächtnis blieb.

על כן קרא למקום ההוא באר שבע, “this is why he called that place Beer Sheva.” The site had been known as such but now the town that would develop from that site bore the same name also, commencing in the time of Yitzchok. To the question how Avraham could possibly have made such a concession to Avimelech, our sages comment that we learn from here that one must not enter into a business partnership with a pagan, as eventually one will be forced to swear an oath involving uttering the deity believed in by one’s partner.