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'''Beer Sheba''', '''Beersheba''' or '''Beʾer Sheva''' is a town in the south of [[Israel]] and has a population of 203,604 (2015).

'''Beer Sheba''', '''Beersheba''' or '''Beʾer Sheva''' (literally ''Well of the Seven Oaths'') is a town in the south of [[Israel]] and with a population of 203,604 (2015) it's the largest city in the [[Negev]] desert.

Beersheba is first mentioned as the site where Abraham, founder of the Jewish people, made a covenant with the Philistine king Abimelech of Gerar (Genesis 21). Isaac and Jacob, the other patriarchs, also lived there (Genesis 26, 28, 46). The name seems to be a Hebrew play on words—beʾer “well”; shevaʿ “oath,” or “seven” (referring to the seven lambs of Genesis 21)—though a Canaanite origin has also been suggested. Beersheba was at the southern edge of permanent agricultural cultivation in ancient Israel and represented the southern extremity of the country—hence the phrase “from Dan to Beersheba” (first used in Judges 20; Dan is in far northern Israel).<ref>https://www.britannica.com/place/Beersheba</ref>

Beersheba is first mentioned as the site where Abraham, founder of the Jewish people, made a covenant with the Philistine king Abimelech of Gerar (Genesis 21). Isaac and Jacob, the other patriarchs, also lived there (Genesis 26, 28, 46). The name seems to be a Hebrew play on words—beʾer “well”; shevaʿ “oath,” or “seven” (referring to the seven lambs of Genesis 21)—though a Canaanite origin has also been suggested. Beersheba was at the southern edge of permanent agricultural cultivation in ancient Israel and represented the southern extremity of the country—hence the phrase “from Dan to Beersheba” (first used in Judges 20; Dan is in far northern Israel).<ref>https://www.britannica.com/place/Beersheba</ref>