Why did they call the new well that Yitzchak's shepherds dug, 'Shiv'ah'?
Rashi: On account of the covenant (which is incorporated in the Shevu'ah that they made - Refer to 26:31:3:1). 1
Moshav Zekenim, Seforno: Because it was the seventh well that they dug. 2
Why does the Torah write that they called the town ?Be'er-Sheva?, seeing as Avraham already called it 'Be'er-Shava'?
Ramban (in 26:32): Yitzchak's servants re-opened the same well that Avraham dug and which the Pelishtim stopped up together with the other wells that he dug. 1 He called the well Shiv'ah, and the city Be'er Sheva, like his father called them.
Seforno: Because Avraham called it by that name on account of the Shevu'ah, whereas Yitzchak also had in mind the seven wells (Refer to 26:33:1:2 and note) - as implied by the word 'Sheva' (with a ?Segol?). 2
Rashbam: This is not the same town as that of Avraham, since there are two towns that share that name. We find "Be'er Sheva Asher li'Yehudah" (Melachim I 19:3).3.
Moshav Zekenim: Its original name ceased after the P?lishtim plugged up the well, and Yitzchak renamed it when he opened it. If the name was due to the Shevu'ah, they should have called it ?Shevu'ah?. It must therefore have been because it was the seventh well. 3
Malbim: Avraham called only the location ?Be'er Sheva?; Yitzchak called also the city ?Be'er Sheva?.
Ha'amek Davar: After Avimelech and his nobles annulled the covenant, they changed its name, because it perpetuated their guilt. Now that they made a B?ris with a curse (it is unlikely that anyone would annul it), and they dug the seventh well, the name returned and remained. 4 It says here,
Ramban: Yitzchak called the town Be'er-Sheva due to the well. (He cites "Ki Sham Nishbe'u Sheneihem" ? in 21:33), which implies that Avraham named the city due to the oath. - PF)
The change of vowel is not a proof. 'Be'er Sheva' appears in thirty-three places in Tanach. Whenever the Neginah of 'Sheva' is an ?Esnachta? or ?Sof Pasuk?, it changes the ?Segol? into a ?Kamatz? ? and ?Sheva? becomes ?Shava?. (PF)
"Ki Sham Nishbe'u Sheneihem" (21:33) implies that Avraham named it Be'er Sheva due to the Shevu'ah! Perhaps it was also due to the seven sheep (21:28-30). In any case, the name Be'er Sheva was not appropriate after the well was stopped up. (PF)
Ha?amek Davar: Hence the Torah writes "al-Kein Shem ha'Ir," to teach us that it its name was not changed again, whereas above, in 21;31, it wrote "al-Kein Kara la?Makom ha?Hu ? ".
What are the connotations of "Ad ha'Yom ha'Zeh"?
Rashi (to Bereishis 22:14): It means until the time of whoever reads this Pasuk.
Here it connotes that Be'er Sheva is not in Eretz Pelishtim. Above, it says that Avraham lived in Eretz Pelishtim, and he was in Be'er Sheva!
Moshav Zekenim #1: It was in Eretz Pelishtim. Yitzchak was expelled only from Gerar, which is the primary Eretz Pelishtim. Afterwards, it says that he went to Nachal Gerar.
Moshav Zekenim #2: Actually, it is not in Eretz Pelishtim, just close to it. Be'er Sheva was in the southern extreme of Eretz Yisrael - "mi'Dan v'Ad Be'er Sheva" (Melachim I 5:5). The animals of Avraham and Yitzchak were in Eretz Pelishtim.
