These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand: note that the narrative has thus far used the word seven in verses 28, 29, 30, all leading up to verse 31, where seven is to figure as one of the meanings of the name Beersheba. What Abraham says is really a request or a command to Abimelech to receive the lambs. This may be expressed as “You must take these lambs” or “I want you to take them as yours.” From my hand means “from me” in an emphatic sense, “from me personally.”

That you may be a witness for me that I dug this well is Abraham’s reply to Abimelech’s question in verse 29. We may reword this reply to say, for example, “Take these seven ewe lambs in order to remember that I am the one who dug this well,” “… when you take them, that is proof for everyone that I dug the well,” “by doing this you will declare openly that I made this well,” or “you receive them as yours, as a sign that this well is mine.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .