Sitnah
Sitnah is a location mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Negev in modern-day Israel. Known today as Sutnet er Ruheibeh. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Sitnah was the name Isaac gave to the second well his servants dug in the Valley of Gerar, as recorded in Genesis 26:21. The Hebrew name means "enmity" or "opposition," and Isaac so named it because the local Philistine herdsmen quarreled with his servants over it, just as they had quarreled over the first well, named Esek ("contention"). The episode reflects a broader pattern in the patriarchal narratives: Isaac, reaping a hundredfold harvest and growing exceedingly prosperous, provoked the envy of the Philistines, who stopped up his father Abraham's wells and finally asked him to leave. Rather than fighting, Isaac moved from place to place, digging new wells only to face further opposition. After Sitnah, Isaac moved yet again and dug a third well, this time without conflict, which he called Rehoboth ("room"), declaring that God had made room for them. The naming of Sitnah captures both the historical hostility between sojourning Israelites and resident peoples, and the theological message that God's people would ultimately find rest through patient endurance rather than armed confrontation.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Sitnah is identified tentatively with Sutnet er-Ruheibeh, a site in the northern Negev associated with the region of Gerar. The broader area around Beersheba and Gerar has been extensively excavated and surveyed, revealing a complex network of ancient wells, cisterns, and pastoral campsites spanning the Middle Bronze Age through the Iron Age — precisely the periods relevant to the patriarchal narratives. Tel Haror has been proposed as the site of ancient Gerar. The Negev's central importance as a pastoral zone made water sources perpetually contentious, lending historical plausibility to the biblical narrative. Ancient well complexes at sites like Tel Beersheba confirm the centrality of water rights in this region's social and political life during the second millennium BCE.
Verse Appearances (1)
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Sources: ISBE Encyclopedia · OpenBible Geocoding (CC BY) · Pleiades Gazetteer View all →