Tafsiran Kejadian 26:33: Rashi, Chizkuni, Rashbam & Radak

שבעה [AND HE CALLED IT] SHIBAH (swearing), in allusion to the Covenant (cf. v.31; “And they swear” etc.).

על כן שם העיר באר שבע, “this is why the name of the town was B’eer sheva. If you were to question that that name for this well (site) had already been given to it by Avraham, so why does the Torah let us think that this was something new? We must understand the meaning of the verse as follows: Yitzchok named the well mentioned in verse 32 shivah, “seven,” because he had named the town B’eer sheva. Actually, originally the name was a reminder of the “oath” שבועה, not the “number” שבע. As to the question how Yitzchok could enter into a business arrangement with a pagan, the Talmud Avodah Zarah considers the prohibition based only on such deals leaving a wrong impression on other Jews, something that was not relevant as yet. This was also the reason that the Philistines came to Yitzchok there, as they wanted to renew the oath at the place it had been concluded originally. There is also the problem of Exodus 23,13 that “the name of an alien deity shall not cross your lips,” i.e. you must not be heard uttering it. [I have not understood how Yitzchok could have become guilty of this in this connection. Ed.]

על כן שם העיר באר שבע this was not the same Beer Sheva we read about in connection with Avraham. There were two towns called Beer Sheva, as we know from Kings I 19,3 ויבא באר שבע אשר ליהודה, “he came to Beer Sheva in Yehudah.” [If there had not been another Beer Sheva the additional words “which is in Yehudah” would have been unnecessary. Ed.]