(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)
“He made them a feast, and they ate and drank. They rose up some time in the morning, and swore an oath to one another. Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. The same day, Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” He called it “Shibah”. Therefore the name of the city is “Beersheba” to this day.”
(Genesis 26:30-33)
Isaac treated them well. He gave them proper hospitality, something he had learned from his father Abraham (Genesis 18).
Isaac gave them what they wanted. The two parties swore and oath of peace one to the other. Isaac would not seek to supplant the king or to destroy the Philistines. Abimelech and his military leader wouldn’t seek to harass Isaac. They would co-exist in peace. It wasn’t a generational covenant like Abraham had made (Genesis 21:22-34). It was more of a renewing or recognition of what existed (or was supposed to exist) between the two sides already.
After the Philistines had left, Isaac’s servants reported that the well they had dug after Isaac worshipped God (Genesis 26:25) had produced. It was a good well. The waters were of a good quality. It appears as of it was the same well Abraham had dug and the Philistines had stopped up because Isaac named it the same name (Genesis 21:27-31; 26:31). This site was where both Abraham and Isaac swore oaths. Beersheba and Shibah mean the well of the oath or the well of seven, to swear (Abraham had given seven sheep for the well).
The sage Haamek Davar writes: ‘He made a feast for them. It is the way of the righteous to be easily appeased.’
The sage Radak writes: ‘ויעש להם משתה, in order to preserve the friendly atmosphere he prepared a feast for them and they ate and drank together. וישכימו..וישלחם, they rose early and he sent them off after accompanying them for the appropriate distance. ויהי ביום ההוא, before Avimelech and his entourage had departed. This was deliberately timed by G’d to demonstrate to Avimelech the extent of Yitzchok’s success so that they would remain in awe of him. ויקרא אותה שבעה, on account of the oath that Yitzchok and Avimelech had sworn there. Avraham had done the same. (21,31) Even though he had not named the well itself שבעה, he named the entire region Beer Sheva, both on account of the oath and on account of the seven sheep which had been the physical symbol of that oath. Both Avraham and Yitzchok named the event in the presence of Avimelech. As to the Torah writing: על כן שם העיר באר שבע, and we know that the place had been known by that name already since the days of Avraham, the Torah informs us that the name Avraham gave it might not have endured, but that this event now ensured that the name would be permanent. When a certain location commemorates two historic events both in the life of the father and that of the son, this will be remembered for far longer as everyone recognises that more than coincidence was the reason why the historic event which produced the name occurred precisely there.’
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