60 | Genesis 24:5
5 The ser vant asked him,“ What if the woman is un will ing to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the coun try you came from?”
6“ Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abra ham said. 7“ The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my fa ther’ s house hold and my na tive land and who spoke to me and prom ised me on oath, say ing,‘ To your off spring a q I will give this land’ r— he will send his an gel be fore you s so that you can get a wife for my son from there. 8 If the woman is un will ing to come back with you, then you will be re leased from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.” 9 So the ser vant put his hand un der the thigh t of his mas ter Abra ham and swore an oath to him con cern ing this mat ter.
10 Then the ser vant left, tak ing with him ten of his mas ter’ s cam els loaded with all kinds of good things from his mas ter. He set out for Aram Na ha raim b and made his way to the town of Na hor. 11 He had the cam els kneel down near the well u out side the town; it was to ward eve ning, the time the women go out to draw wa ter. v
12 Then he prayed,“ Lord, God of my mas ter Abra ham, w make me suc cess ful to day, and show kind ness to my mas ter Abra ham. 13 See, I am stand ing be side this spring, and the daugh ters of the towns peo ple are com ing out to draw wa ter. 14 May it be that when I say to a young wom an,‘ Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says,‘ Drink, and I’ ll wa ter your cam els too’— let her be the one you have cho sen for your ser vant Isaac. By this I will know x that you have shown kind ness to my mas ter.”
15 Be fore he had fin ished pray ing, y Rebekah z came out with her jar on her shoul der. She was the daugh ter of Be thuel son of Mil kah, a who was the wife of Abra ham’ s brother Nahor. b 16 The woman was very beautiful, c a vir gin; no man had ever slept with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again. 17 The ser vant hur ried to meet her and said,“ Please give me a lit tle wa ter from your jar.” 18“ Drink, d my lord,” she said, and quickly low ered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.
19 Af ter she had given him a drink, she said,“ I’ ll draw wa ter for your cam els too, e until they have had enough to drink.” 20 So she quickly emp tied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more wa ter, and drew enough for all his cam els. 21 Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful. f
22 When the cam els had fin ished drink ing, the man took out a gold nose ring g weighing a beka c and two gold brace lets weigh ing ten shek els. d 23 Then he asked,“ Whose daugh ter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your fa ther’ s house for us to spend the night?”
24 She an swered him,“ I am the daugh ter of Be thuel, the son that Mil kah bore to Nahor. h” 25 And she added,“ We have plenty of straw and fod der, as well as room for you to spend the night.”
26 Then the man bowed down and wor shiped the Lord, i 27 say ing,“ Praise be to the Lord, j the God of my mas ter Abra ham, who has not aban doned his kind ness and faith ful ness k to my mas ter. As for me, the Lord has led me on the jour ney l to the house of my mas ter’ s relatives.” m
28 The young wom an ran and told her moth er’ s house hold about these things. 29 Now Re bekah had a brother named La ban, n and he hur ried out to the man at the spring. 30 As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the brace lets on his sis ter’ s arms, and had heard Re bekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him stand ing by the cam els near the spring. 31“ Come, you who are blessed by the Lord,” o he said.“ Why are you stand ing out here? I have pre pared the house and a place for the cam els.”
24:7 q Gal 3:16 * r Ge 12:7; 13:15
s Ex 23:20, 23
24:9 t ver 2
24:11 u Ex 2:15 v ver 13; 1Sa 9:11
24:12 w ver 27, 42, 48; Ge 26:24; Ex 3:6, 15, 16
24:14 x Jdg 6:17, 37
24:15 y ver 45 z Ge 22:23 a Ge 22:20
b Ge 11:29
24:16 c Ge 26:7 24:18 d ver 14 24:19 e ver 14 24:21 f ver 12 24:22 g ver 47 24:24 h ver 15
24:26 i ver 48, 52; Ex 4:31
24:27 j Ex 18:10; Ru 4:14; 1Sa 25:32 k ver 49; Ge 32:10;
Ps 98:3 l ver 21 m ver 12, 48
24:29 n ver 4; Ge 29:5, 12, 13
24:31 o Ge 26:29; Ru 3:10; Ps 115:15 a 7 Or seed b 10 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia c 22 That is, about 1 / 5 ounce or about 5.7 grams d 22 That is, about 4 ounces or about 115 grams
24:9 put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham. By placing his hand there, the servant formally commits himself to fulfilling Abraham’ s instructions. Jacob later uses this ritual to ensure that Joseph will bury him in Canaan( 47:29 – 30). 24:10 camels. See note on 12:16. Aram Naharaim. Means“ Aram of the rivers”; see NIV text note. Ancient texts from Mari mention a town called Nakhur situated close to Harran( see 11:31). Nahor. The name of both Abraham’ s grandfather and brother( 11:25 – 27; 22:20). It is not unusual for individuals to be called after a place and vice versa. From Hebron to Harran is a journey of over 500 miles( 800 kilometers).
24:12 – 14 Like Abraham, the servant is a man of faith. He asks God to guide him to the woman who will become Isaac’ s wife. Common sense informs his prayer for divine help. He seeks a woman who will be both hospitable and hardworking; ten camels( v. 10) would require a considerable quantity of water. 24:15 – 16 The narrator’ s description of Rebekah creates a sense of expectation; she is both a relative of Abraham and an attractive, unmarried woman. She has also come to the well to collect water. 24:17 – 21 Rebekah does everything that the servant mentioned in his prayer.
24:24 – 27 When she identifies herself as the granddaughter of Nahor, Abraham’ s brother, the servant responds by worshiping God. Through divine guidance he has encountered Abraham’ s relatives. 24:29 After Rebekah rushes off to inform her family, her brother Laban comes to greet Abraham’ s servant. Laban’ s involvement( vv. 30 – 31,33,50,55 – 60) suggests that his father, Bethuel, is possibly old and frail. Bethuel is mentioned only once as an active participant in the events that unfold( v. 50). In marked contrast, there are several references to the involvement of Rebekah’ s mother( vv. 28,55,57 – 58).