I. Name

In the Old Testament, the divine name ʾĒl ʿôlām is attested in Gen. 21.33, i.e. in the conclusion of the story of Abraham’s encounter with the Philistine king Abimelek in Beersheba (Gen. 21.20–34). After having attested—by the token of seven ewe lambs—that he himself has dug the well of Beersheba (vv 28–30) and after the conclusion of a covenant with Abimelek and the departure of his visitor (vv 22–24, 27, 32), Abraham plants a tamarisk (ʾešel) in Beersheba and invokes the name of yhwh ʾēl ʿôlam. The t…