Genesis 24:12 | 47
12
Again Abra ham bowed down be fore the people of the land 13 and he said to Ephron in their hear ing,“ Lis ten to me, if you will. I will pay the price of the field. Ac cept it from me so I can bury my dead there.”
14
Ephron an swered Abra ham, 15“ Lis ten to me, my lord; the land is worth four hun dred shek els a of sil ver, but what is that be tween you and me? Bury your dead.”
16
Abra ham agreed to Ephron’ s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hear ing of the Hit tites: four hun dred shek els of sil ver, ac cord ing to the weight cur rent among the mer chants.
17
So Ephron’ s field in Mach pe lah near Mamre— both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees with in the bor ders of the field— was deed ed
18 to Abra ham as his prop er ty in the pres ence of all the Hit tites who had come to the gate of the city. 19 Af ter ward Abra ham bur ied his wife Sar ah in the cave in the field of Mach pe lah near Mam re( which is at He bron) in the land of Ca naan. 20 So the field and the cave in it were deed ed to Abraham by the Hit tites as a buri al site.
Isaac and Rebekah
Abra ham was now very old, and the Lord
24 had blessed him in ev ery way. 2 He said to the sen ior ser vant in his house hold, the one in charge of all that he had,“ Put your hand un der my thigh. 3 I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heav en and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daugh ters of the Ca naan ites, among whom I am liv ing, 4 but will go to my coun try and my own rel a tives and get a wife for my son Isaac.”
5
The ser vant asked him,“ What if the wom an 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 heav en, who brought me out of my fa ther’ s household and my na tive land and who spoke to me and prom ised me on oath, say ing,‘ To your off spring b I will give this land’— he will send his an gel be fore you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. 8 If the wom an 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 of his mas ter Abra ham and swore an oath to him concern ing this mat ter.
10
Then the ser vant left, tak ing with him ten of his mas ter’ s cam els load ed with all kinds of good things from his mas ter. He set out for Aram Naha ra im c and made his way to the town of Na hor.
11
He had the cam els kneel down near the well out side the town; it was to ward eve ning, the time the wom en go out to draw wa ter.
12
Then he prayed,“ Lord, God of my mas ter Abra ham, make me suc cess ful to day, and show
a
15 That is, about 10 pounds or about 4.6 kilograms b
7 Or seed c
10 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia
23:15 four hundred shekels of silver This may have been a standard price— three texts from Ugarit( ancient Syria) give this amount as the purchase price for a piece of real estate. 23:16 according to the weight current among the merchants The shekel was not a coin at this time, but a unit of weight.
24:1 – 67 Abraham sends his servant back to his homeland to find a wife for Isaac, warning him not to take Isaac with him( vv. 1 – 9). The servant encounters Rebekah, the daughter of Abraham’ s nephew( his great niece; v. 15; compare 22:20 – 23). After explaining his mission to Rebekah’ s brother, Laban( vv. 34 – 49), Laban and Rebekah’ s father agree that Rebekah should marry Isaac( vv. 50 – 51). Rebekah agrees and returns with Abraham’ s servant( vv. 57 – 67).
24:2 Put your hand under my thigh Swearing oaths typically involved symbolic acts in the ancient Near East. See note on 47:29. 24:3 Canaanites This refers generally to all the inhabitants of Canaan, regardless of individual ethnicity( see 10:19). 24:4 my country and my own relatives In response to this command, the servant does not go to Ur where Abraham is originally from( see note on 11:28). Instead, he goes across the Euphrates( see v. 10) to the country of Nahor, Abraham’ s brother( see 11:27,29; compare 27:43).
24:5 – 8 The servant asks what to do if the woman is unwilling— perhaps Isaac should be taken across the river to Ur, where Abraham is originally from. Abraham refuses, letting the servant know that God would lead him to a woman via his angel and that Isaac should not leave the promised land for Abraham’ s homeland. Abraham nevertheless considers her refusal a possibility, so he informs the servant that his obligation will end once the woman is found and the marriage is offered.
24:6 you do not take my son back there Although the people to whom the servant was sent were Abraham’ s kin, Abraham did not want the son of Yahweh’ s covenant promises to leave the promised land. 24:7 send his angel before you Abraham’ s theology allowed for a refusal on the part of the woman whom God, through his angel, would select. 24:10 Aram Naharaim The Hebrew phrase used here aram naharayim does not occur anywhere else in the OT, though it is paralleled by Paddan Aram in 25:20. It is sometimes translated as Mesopotamia because it can be understood as“ Aram of the rivers” or“ Aram, the land between two rivers” and because the Septuagint( the ancient Greek translation of the OT) translates it as mesopotamia( Mesopotamia). town of Nahor A city associated with either( or both) Abraham’ s brother Nahor or Abraham’ s grandfather who had the same name, Nahor( see 11:24 – 27). 24:11 the time the women go out to draw water After the normal workday and its requirements have ended, in preparation for the evening meal.