BERSABEE
518
BERSABEE
[desservants) of the lower clergy. The return of Ber-
ryer to the practice of his religious duties, under the
influence of his friend, Pere de Ravignan, S. J., was
the crowning reward of his fruitful activity in behalf
of the Church.
Berrj-er never ^Tote his discourses; he meditated before speaking. Even his apparent improvisations were deceptive — "The extempore speaker", he used to say, "has repeated the same thing to himself twenty or a hundred times." During the Restora- tion his lectures on eloquence at the "Society des Bonnes Etudes" were attended by such men as Montalembert and Lacordaire. He was admired by all for his sincerity and the absence of all oratorical artifice. There was something astounding in the suddenness with which, after a moment of apparent inattention, he was wont to crush his opponent's ar- gument. "If I could act as M. Berryer speaks!" said the actress Rachel, moved by his natural and spontaneous eloquence. On another occasion when Berryer was speaking against Jules Favre. the latter referred to him as "my sublime adversary".
Berryer, Di^cours parlementaires. 5 vols.; Plaidoyers, 4 vols. (Paris, 1S72-7S): C-vuviere. Berryer, sa vie judiciaire, 8€S discours (Marseilles, 1S71): Lecanuet, Berryer (Paris, 1892); L.icoMBE, Berryer, 3 vols. (Paris. 1894-95), the leading work on Berryer.
Georges Goy.\u.
Bersabee (yat;' "1N3), or Beersheb.\, a town on the southern extremity of Palestine, one of the most familiar geographical names of Holy Writ, known on account of its position and its connexion with several incidents in Hebrew historj'. Throughout most of that history, it was proverbially the extreme point to the south in the country; from "Dan to Bersabee" included the entire length of the comitry, from north to south (Jud., xx, 1, etc.; I Par., xxi, 2 "from Bersabee to Dan"); later, after the de- struction of the northern kingdom, the territory was sometimes described as extending " from Gabaa to Bersabee" (IV K., xxiii, 8), or "from Bersabee to Mount Ephraim" (II Par., xix, 4); and finally, after the exile, the place still remains as the southern- most point in the phrase "from Bersabee imto the valley of Ennom" (II Esdras, xi. 30). Milton has helped to fix the name and locality of the town in the minds of English readers by his reference To Beersaba. where the Holy Land Borders on Egypt and the .\rabian shore. Still, it was not exactly on the southern border, which was considered to run " along the ' river of Egj-pt ', the present Wady el-Arish, nearly 60 m. S. E. of Beer- sheba" (G. A. Smith); but there was little arable land beyond it, and it was practically the last stop- ping point in the country.
The name means, literally, "the well of seven", but Gen,, x.xi, 30, 31, and xxvi, 26-33, explain it as "the well of swearing". The former narrative, with its insistence on the "seven" (sheba') ewe-lambs, leads one to expect the name to be interpreted as "the well of seven", and inclines one to regard the other explanation as a gloss, or as evidence of the interweaving of another narrative; yet it may be "that the two explanations resolve themselves into one; for the Hebrew word 'to swear' {nishba\ the reflexive of the unused shaba') seems to mean properly (as it were) 'to seven-oneself ', i. e. to pledge oneself in some way by seven sacred things, so that if it be assumed that the ' seven lambs ' were used for this purpose, only one ceremony would be described in the passage" (Driver, Genesis, 215). Seven was regarded as a sacred number. Still. Driver prefers the explanation "well of .seven", that is, seven wells; but there is no evidence that there were ever seven wells in the vicinity. G. A. Smith inclines to the meaning, "well of the seven gods", but offers no proof to support it.
Each of the two narratives referred to has its own
accovmt of the occasion which gave rise to the name.
In the first, it was bestowed by Abraham, when, after
a conflict between his herdsmen and those of King
Abimelech as to the ownership of a well, he con-
cluded a covenant with the king, who was accom-
panied by his captain, Phicol. In the second, it was
bestowed many years later by Isaac when, after a
conflict between his herdsmen and those of King
Abimelech as to the ownership of a well, he con-
cluded a covenant with the king, who was accom-
panied by his captain, Phicol. Other points in the
two accounts are parallel also, though there are
many differences. The traditional opinion regards
them as narratives of two different series of events
which befell the two patriarchs, surprising in certain
details, perhaps, yet not remarkable for the essential
facts which are such as might easily recur. The
modern critical opinion considers that the same
tradition became attached to two different names
and was embodied in two different documents (the
Elohistic and the Jahvistic; see articles: Abr.\h.\m.
Genesis, Pent.\teuch). " Doubtless, historj' repeats
itself", says Prof. Sayce (Early Hebrew History. 64);
"disputes about the possession of wells in a desert-
land can frequently recur, and it is possible that two
kings of the same name may have followed one
another on the throne of Gerar. But what does not
seem very possible is that each of these kings should
have had a 'chief captain of his host' called by the
strange non-Semitic name of Phicol; that each of
them should have taken the wife of the patriarch,
believing her to be his sister; or that Beersheba
should twice have received the same name from the
oaths sworn over it." The differences of detail are
regarded by the upholders of the traditional opinion
as proofs that two distinct facts are related, and by
critics as variations that "would naturally arise from
the fluctuation of tradition". (Driver, Genesis, 25.'). )
Bersabee, the village that grew up around the
wells at this spot, is identified with the present
Bir es-Seba which is twenty-eight miles south-west
of Hebron, on the road to Egypt. The countrj'
surroimding it. known as the desert of Bersabee. is
a soil that is said to be naturally very fertile, needing
only irrigation to make it productive; the few cul-
tivated plots in the valley give "fine crops of wheat
and barley". In the spring, sheep, goats, and camels
find there a rich pasture land. Three wells may be
.seen there to-day, one of which, however, is dry.
The largest is believed to have been dug by Abraham
(Gen., xxi) and is at least very ancient. It is a
solidly constructed piece of masonry; about thirty-
eight feet deep; it still furnishes abundant sweet
water. The climate of Bersabee, though verj' hot.
is regarded as healthy. The highest altitude is
950 feet above the Mediterranean. At this day, the
desert presents a picture of the same pastoral, pa-
triarchal life that we see in Genesis (Conder, Palestine.
52-55). Bersabee, with the desert around, is the
cradle of the Hebrew race and connected with
memories of Agar and Ismael (Gen., xxi), of Abraham
(ib.), of Isaac (xxvi), of Jacob who was bom there,
and his sons (x.xviii, xlvi), of the sons of Samuel
(I K., viii, 2), of Elias (III K., iii), and of .\mos.
who denounced its idolatry (v, 5, viii, 14). It formed,
at first, part of the territory of Juda (Josue, xv, 28)
and later fell to the lot of Simeon (xix, 2). Its site
as a halting-place on the road to Egypt made it
well known to all. After the Exile, it again became
a centre for the Jews (II Esd., xi. 27), and in the days
of the empire had a Roman garrison. It was most
flourishing in the early Christian ages, when the
heniiits flocked there. For a time, it was an episcopal
see. Extensive ruins of dwellings and public edifices
mostly of Roman days, still remain.
Conder. Palestine (New York, s. d.); Idem, Tent Warl. (London, 1880); Driver, Genesis (New York, 1904); Legendri
