A COMMENTARY ON GENESIS CHAPTER 24 DEALING WITH ABRAHAM IN HIS OLD AGE, AND HIS FINDING A WIFE FOR HIS SON ISAAC.

1. Genesis 24
INTRODUCTION
"Genesis chapter 24 is the longest chapter in Genesis containing 67 verses. It is the
longest single episode except for the flood that occupies 75 verses. It is the story of a
father and a son, a servant and a master, and a groom and a bride. The main
characters are Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah and the unnamed servant of Abraham.
Abraham is 140-years old and his son Isaac is 40. It is time for Abraham to find a
bride and time for Isaac to take a bride. The story ends with the unnamed servant
bringing Isaac a bride it was love at first sight."
A man on a plane sat down next to a beautiful young lady. She was the most
gorgeous woman he had ever seen. It was love at first sight. He struck up a
conversation with her, “Are you married?” “No,” she said. “Are you engaged?”
“No.” “Are you dating anyone?” “No.” “Why isn’t a beautiful woman like you not
dating?” She replied, “I am looking for a man with certain qualities." He asked,
"What kind of qualities are you looking for in a man?" She replied, "I like native
American Indians. I love their skin color and high cheekbones. I also like Jewish
men. Jewish men seem so brilliant and are financially successful. But I also like the
good ole boys from the south, their southern drawl and the way they treat a woman.
By the way, what’s your name?” He answered, “My name is Geronimo Berstein, but
my friends call me Bubba.”
1 Abraham was now old and well advanced in
years, and the LORD had blessed him in every
way.
1. Abraham was around 140 years old, and his son Isaac was 40. Abraham would go
on living until he was 175, but he was old 35 years before he died, and so he knew
what it was to live a long time as an old man. He, no doubt, could tell many stories
of aches and pains that come with a body that is getting old. The text says he was
blessed in every way, and this may mean that his health was so good that he did not
suffer the same problems that most old folks do. It may be an exaggeration,
however, to say he was blessed in every way, for he had no grandchildren yet, and
that was an essential blessing if he was to be the father of a multitude. Many parents
are waiting for the day they get the news that a grandchild is on the way. Abraham
has waited 40 years, and he has only one son, who for some reason has not even
found a steady girl, let alone gotten married. He had to wait 25 years to get this one
son, and now it is 40 more and still no grandson. Most married at 30 or younger,
and so he is a decade behind. This great nation God promised Abraham is really
getting a slow start, and it is remaining steady with a population of one. So finally
Abraham takes action to get the ball rolling on a bride for Isaac, and a grandson for

2. himself.
2 He said to the chief [1] servant in his household,
the one in charge of all that he had, "Put your
hand under my thigh.
1. This verse makes plain the way language changes due to the passage of time and
culture. Is an important leader in our nation said to one of his assistants, "Put your
hand under my thigh," he would soon be in the news as a pervert, and be the center
of a scandal. There is no sexual connection at all with the words of Abraham to his
chief servant. We are dealing here with a custom, rite, or oath, which gives
assurance that the orders of the master will be carried out to the letter. Abraham
did not want circumstances to alter his goal, and so his servant had to swear to do
just what he sent him to do, and not let anything or anyone persuade him to waver
from his assignment. It was an oath he would make to God, and so it would involve
betrayal of God himself, and not just Abraham to defy his promise and disobey it.
He would be a traitor to his master and his Lord by double-crossing Abraham and
getting a wife from the Canaanites for his son. The whole point of this is to stress
just how serious Abraham is about the bride of Isaac coming from his relatives and
not from the local people. One author wrote, "The privacy of the thigh made the
oath all the more solemn. Jacob made Joseph swear in the same way that he would
take his bones back to Canaan for burial (47:29). It is a practice akin to placing
one's hand on a Bible when one swears an oath."
2. Most agree that it is likely that this chief servant was Eliezer of Damascus, for
Abraham declared in 15:2 that he would be his heir. It says, "And Abram said, ‘O
Lord GOD, what wilt Thou give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is
Eliezer of Damascus?" He was the chief servant if he was going to inherit
everything, and so though it is not stated that this servant was Eliezer, it is a logical
assumption. And if it is true, it is all the more wonderful how effective he was in
bringing back just the kind of wife Abraham wanted for his son. This man who
might have inherited Abraham's fortune was doing all that was possible to
guarantee that he would never get it, by making sure that Isaac would, and that is
just what did happen. It can be assumed this man was greatly honored by Abraham
and Isaac and was rewarded with abundance. One author said, "The devotion of
this servant to his master and to his master’s God is one of the highlights of the
chapter. His piety, prayer life, and practical wisdom set a high standard for the
believer in any age." Another adds, "...he is faithfully seeking the welfare of the one
who displaced him as Abraham's heir. Like John the Baptist, he is as much as
saying, let me decrease and let him increase." He stands out as one of the great
minor characters of the Old Testament.

3. 3. Calvin was convinced that he was uncertain about the origin and meaning of this
strange request of Abraham, but he shares some of the speculations of others. He
wrote, "It is sufficiently obvious that this was a solemn form of swearing; but
whether Abraham had first introduced it, or whether he had received it from his
fathers, is unknown. The greater part of Jewish writers declare that Abraham was
the author of it; because, in their opinion, this ceremony is of the same force as if his
servant had sworn by the sanctity of the divine covenant, since circumcision was in
that part of his person. But Christian writers conceive that the hand was placed
under the thigh in honor of the blessed seed. Yet it may be that these earliest fathers
had something
different in view; and there are those among the Jews who assert that it was a token
of subjection, when the servant was sworn on the thigh of his master. The more
plausible opinion is, that the ancients in this manner swore by Christ; but because I
do not willingly follow uncertain conjectures, I leave the question undecided."
3 I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of
heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get
a wife for my son from the daughters of the
Canaanites, among whom I am living,
1. Abraham had a good relationship with the Canaanites among whom he lived
with, but he did not want his son to marry one of their daughters. They were idol
worshipers, and he knew the power of a woman to lead her husband into idolatry.
He assumed that he could die before his son found a wife, and so he had his servant
swear he would not take the easy route and find him a local bride. The Bible is clear
on the dangers.
Deuteronomy 7:3-4: "Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your
daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will
turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord's
anger will burn against you and quickly destroy you."
1 Kings 11:4: "As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other
gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God..." And this
was the wisest man who ever lived, save one. Young people don't tell us that
marrying an unbeliever will not have that effect on you when it brought
down even a man as wise as Solomon!
2. Abraham had no idea that he would live for another 35 years, for he was well
advanced in years the text says, and so he felt he could be near to the end of his life.
It was time to make sure that his son had a wife to carry on the family name and

4. begin the fulfillment of a great nation coming from his seed. He was like God the
Father who wanted to get a bride for his Son the Lord Jesus, and so he sent the Holy
Spirit into the world to persuade people to become that bride. Abraham sends his
most trusted servant back to the old world of his family to get a bride for his son
Isaac. The surprising thing is that he waited this long. He was to be the father of a
great nation, and yet he waits until his son is 40 before he seeks a mate for him. It
makes you wonder if Isaac was a slow learner and did not mature as fast as others.
The fact is that he is the least exciting of the patriarchs, and does no praiseworthy
deeds to speak of, and has the less space devoted to his life than any other. The way
Spurgeon writes of him would suggest he was too shy to try and get a wife for
himself. Spurgeon says, "Isaac was now forty years old, and had shown no sign of
marrying. He was of a quiet, gentle spirit, and needed a more active spirit to urge
him on. The death of Sarah had deprived him of the solace of his life, which he had
found in his mother, and had, no doubt, made him desire tender companionship."
Who knows how long he would have remained single had not his father hired a
servant to go find him a mate?
3. One pastor used this passage to make a strong point to youth and their parents to
take serious the dangers of marrying someone who is not a believer. He wrote,
"Think about what a marriage between a believer and an unbeliever means. One is
going to heaven the other is going to hell; one loves God the other hates him; one
loves his Word and law and seeks to live by them in all things, the other cares
nothing for such things. No wonder this should be such a sinister situation for
children growing up in the home, children who already have within them a tendency
to unbelief and disobedience that one of their own parents is enforcing in the most
powerful way possible -- as a parent in the home. It is one thing to fine oneself in
such a marriage, but to ask for it, to seek it, to choose it is an act of high treason to
the covenant of God. But, what it is also, is an act of betrayal of your children --
even your children yet to be born, and their children and their children's children.
This is no private sin. This is the most public sin imaginable. You are killing your
children and your descendants. By marrying a child of the Devil you are choosing
the Devil for your father-in-law and for your children's grandfather, when in the
covenant God has made you could have had and they could have had the God of
Abraham instead."
4. Dave Merck wonders about the aggressiveness of Abraham, and the passiveness
of Isaac in this whole issue of getting a wife. What he says on this matter suggests
that Abraham was eager to have a new wife himself, but he did not want to take that
step before he got his promised son married. Merck writes, "When we take into
account the fact that the entire chapter of Gen. 24 has to do with obtaining a wife
for a single, 40-year old Isaac, and then read the chapter with the eyes of a 20th C.
American, we are caused to raise the question, "Where is Isaac?" We don't see him
doing anything, it appears, until the very end of the chapter when Rebekah is, as it
were, delivered at his doorstep by the servant of Abraham. And when we look back
at the beginning of chapter 24, who is it that we find taking the initiative in the
matter of finding a wife for Isaac? It was the relatively new widower, Daddy

5. Abraham.
Could it be that the recent loss of his beloved wife, Sarah, and the pain of his
renewed, and even more acutely felt singleness, had made Father Abraham more
sensitive than ever before to the problem of his son's continued singleness.
Immediately following chapter 24, in 25:1, we find the account of Abraham
marrying another wife, so this need was obviously one acutely felt by this very
elderly, approximately 140 year old patriarch. But notice, Abraham did not merely
stop with being sensitive to the problem and struggles of singleness for his son. He
took concrete steps to alleviate the problem. He sent off his most trusted servant to
obtain a wife for Isaac from a source where he had reason to believe he would find
the most sympathy and willingness to help -- his larger family."
5. Merck makes a very practical point of this story by motivating parents to help
singles find a mate. He writes, "This is true in general regarding all of our children.
All parents should as much as possible and legitimate take a significant role in the
marriage of their children. This should be done in giving them counsel, usually in
giving (or not giving) permission to marry, and in other involvement in the marriage
arrangements. Parents especially should do what they can to bring their single,
marriageable children into contact with other singles whom they may legitimately
marry. This in a real, howbeit unusual, way was what Abraham was doing here
since there were no proper marriage prospects for Isaac where they lived."
Abraham established a patter for all Jewish fathers to come by this deed for his son.
Later on the rabbis said, "When a man got to heaven, God would ask him four
questions to determine whether he had faithfully carried out his parental
responsibilities toward his son. The questions are: First, did you provide your son
with an inheritance? Second, did you teach him a skill? Third, did you teach him
the Torah? And finally, did you provide for him a wife? These were the four gifts
that every father was to grant his son."
4 but will go to my country and my own relatives
and get a wife for my son Isaac."
1. Abraham wanted him to make an oath that he would make a 500 mile trip to get a
wife from his own family back in Haran. This shows that there was true faith in the
true God among his relatives, even though there is also some idolatry mixed with
their faith. It was the only place on earth that Abraham knew of where a wife of
true faith could be found. Abraham calls it his country because Mesopotamia is
where he was born and raised, and where he found his wife Sarah. The family
moved out of Ur with him and settled in Haran. He lived there for a while himself,
and his brother and his growing family were still there and that is where he wanted
his son to find his bride. In our day we prefer to look for a mate outside the family
of relatives, but in the ancient world it was a preference to find a mate within the
circle of relatives. Spurgeon wrote, "Therefore, with great anxiety, which is
indicated by his making his servant swear an oath of a most solemn kind, he gave

6. him the commission to go to the old family abode in Mesopotamia, and seek for
Isaac a bride from thence. Although that family was not all that could be desired,
yet it was the best he knew of; and as some heavenly light lingered there, he hoped
to find in that place the best wife for his son"
2. Adrian Rogers preached a sermon called The Romance of Redemption in which
he sees the finding of a bride for Isaac a romantic story illustrating the work of the
Holy Spirit finding a bride for Jesus. He said to his congregation, "Now, folks, I'm
going to say something reverently but it will startle you. Jesus Christ is incomplete
without his church. Jesus Christ is incomplete without his church. I am incomplete
without Joyce. Joyce fulfills me. Joyce completes me. It is not by happen-stance
that we call our husbands, our wives the other half or the better half. And uh, the
bible teaches that that uh, a, a wife or a husband is to complete their mate. Now, the
Lord Jesus Christ, I say it reverently, but I believe I say it scripturally, the Lord
Jesus Christ is not yet complete in this sense without his bride." I think we can all
agree that the story of salvation could never be complete without the picture we
have in the book of Revelation with the Bride and Jesus at the Marriage Supper of
the Lamb. The whole plan of redemption is really a romance story, and it is the love
story of all love stories, and like the best of them, it has a happy ending.
5 The servant asked him, "What if the woman is
unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall
I then take your son back to the country you came
from?"
1. This servant has lived long enough to know that the best laid plans do not always
work out as expected, and so he wonders what he should do if plan A does not pan
out. His suggestion of plan B being to take Isaac back with him was not acceptable
to Abraham. He insisted that his son never be taken out of the Promised Land, for
there was a risk that he would not come back, but settle outside this special land.
Abraham was not willing to take this risk, and so he insisted that Isaac never be
taken to his homeland to find a wife.
2. It is hard to believe that a woman would not want to marry a man as rich as
Isaac, with an inheritance that would make him even richer. But to add to that he
was a promised child who would bear a son himself who would be the seed of the 12
tribes of Israel, and the history of these sons would lead to the Messiah who would
bless the whole world and give eternal life to multitudes. This woman could be the
mother of this great line that leads to eternal values beyond the dreams of any other
women. But the fact is, she may be unwilling to make the sacrifices necessary to

7. leave her home and go to a land she does not know and to a man she does not know.
She would not grasp the full implications of her destiny, and so might choose to miss
the greatest opportunity of her life. It is always a possibility that people will turn
down the offers that God makes to them. Many do turn it down when they hear the
Gospel that offers forgiveness and eternal joy in heaven. They choose to stay put in
their lives that will end in death for the sake of just avoiding all change that they do
not understand.
6 "Make sure that you do not take my son back
there," Abraham said.
1. Isaac never left the Promised Land, because Abraham did everything necessary to
make sure he never had to. Those who make too big an issue out of the analogy of
Rebekah being the church and bride of Isaac, who is like Christ, often do not see
how the analogy breaks down here, for Christ did not stay in heaven, but came into
the world to seek his bride. Analogies that are not based on direct words of
Scripture, but are those made up by clever men, are often very weak in the details,
and this is a prime example. There are parallels, but there is also major weakness in
the analogy, and so it is not a God given analogy that is to be stated as what the
Scripture is actually teaching by this story. Isaac never left his home to go looking
for his bride, but Jesus did leave heaven to go, and not only look for his bride, but
die for her.
2. "Abraham knew that if Isaac went to Mesopotamia, he would most likely have
never come back to the promised land, and his offspring would have undoubtedly
fallen under the influence of the heathenism in Mesopotamia. Abraham did not
want Isaac wandering from the Promised Land. Abraham surely remembered how
he himself stumbled every time he wandered away from the Promised Land toward
Egypt, into the world (see Gen. 12:10ff; Gen. 20)."
7 "The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought
me out of my father's household and my native
land and who spoke to me and promised me on
oath, saying, `To your offspring [2] I will give this
land'--he will send his angel before you so that
you can get a wife for my son from there.
1. Abraham was completely confident that the Lord God of heaven would guide him
to find a wife for his son. God promised him offspring, and this could not happen

8. without a wife, and so God had to guide him to a suitable wife in order to keep his
promise. How he knew about the role of the angel is not stated, but somehow God
had communicated that he would give angelic guidance, which we see was clearly
the case in the amazing details of how he found Rebekah.
8 If the woman is unwilling to come back with
you, then you will be released from this oath of
mine. Only do not take my son back there."
1. Abraham is confident the angel will lead him to the right woman and that she will
come, but just in case she is unwilling, because God will not force her to obey his
leading, he releases his servant from any obligation to keep the oath. You do not
have to do what even the leading of God's angel cannot accomplish, but don't let
that lead you to take my son back there in a human attempt to succeed where the
angel fails. Basically, Abraham is saying, there is no back up plan, for I have
complete confidence that you will succeed by the help of God's angel, and if that
plan fails, there is no other plan. So don't worry about what if, for it has to work out
in the way God wills.
9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of
his master Abraham and swore an oath to him
concerning this matter.
1. The servant was willing to make this solemn oath now that he knew he was not
responsible to bring back the right mate for Isaac if she chooses not to go along with
the leading of God's angel. He could not swear to bring her back in this way if she
refused to come, and so he needed the assurance that Abraham gave him that he
was not under obligation in a case where he had no control. Now that he knew he
was free to respect her right to say no, he was ready to enter into the agreement and
swear to bring back the girl God would lead him to find.
10 Then the servant took ten of his master's
camels and left, taking with him all kinds of good
things from his master. He set out for Aram

9. Naharaim and made his way to the town of
Nahor.
1. He had a ten camel caravan loaded with all kinds of gifts that were needed to
make sure there was cooperation on the part of the family he would have to bargain
with to get a mate to come back with him. Girls were not cheap, and parents would
expect a good size dowry to risk sending their daughter so far away.
2. Morgan writes, "Large gifts were customary for betrothal negotiations of that
day, but a dowry of ten camels was exceptional. It speaks not only Abraham's great
wealth and generosity, but also of his commitment to finding the proper marriage
partner for his son. So this small convoy heads off to Haran ("the city of Nahor") in
northern Mesopotamia. The arduous journey of over four hundred and fifty miles is
hardly mentioned." Some say it was 500 miles away, and others 400, so he takes the
middle road and says 450. By camel this is a long trip any way you look at it.
11 He had the camels kneel down near the well
outside the town; it was toward evening, the time
the women go out to draw water.
1. We do not know if this servant had ever gone out to find anybody a wife before
this, but he has the smarts to know that the best place to find an ideal girl for a mate
was at the well on the edge of town. And he also knew that the time to be there is
toward evening, for this is when the women come to the well for their daily supply of
water. In other words, you have to know where the fish are biting to be a good
fisherman, and you have to know where the girls are gathered to be a good mate
finder. He did not have to pray about these things, for they were a matter of
common sense, and it was just a logical place to go at a logical time. God does not
have to give us all the answers, for many things are obvious, and we are to do our
part and follow the way that any reasonable person would take. The success of this
mission called for the cooperation of human intelligence and divine guidance. He did
his part to get to the right place, and he has done what human reason can do. Now
he knows he cannot go another step without the guidance of God, and so he goes to
prayer.
2. Gill comments, "Which these creatures are used to do when they are loaded and
unloaded, and also when they take rest, and it was for the sake of the latter they
were now made to kneel. It seems that this is what is not natural to them, but what
they are learned to do: it is said (r),"as soon as a camel is born they tie his four feet

10. under his belly, put a carpet over his back, and stones upon the borders of it, that he
may not be able to rise for twenty days together; thus they teach him the habit of
bending his knees to rest himself, or when he is to be loaded or unloaded this was
done."
3. Gill also writes, "Rauwolff (s) says, that near Haran, now called Orpha,"there is
a plentiful well still to this day (1575), called Abraham's well, the water of which
hath a more whitish troubledness than others. I have (says he) drank of it several
times, out of the conduit that runs from thence into the middle the great camp, and
it hath a peculiar pleasantness, and a pleasant sweetness in its taste.''
12 Then he prayed, "O LORD, God of my master
Abraham, give me success today, and show
kindness to my master Abraham.
1. One author speculates on how a younger servant may have dealt with this task he
was assigned, and he writes, "A younger servant would probably have gone about
this task in a very different manner. I can imagine him coming into town,
advertising the fact that he worked for a very wealthy foreigner with a handsome,
eligible son who was to be his only heir. His intention to find a bride would have
been publicized, and only one lucky girl was to be chosen. To select such a bride the
servant might have held a “Miss Mesopotamia” contest. Only those who were the
most beautiful and talented would be allowed to enter, and the winner would
become the wife of Isaac. How different was the methodology of this godly servant.
When his small caravan came to the “city of Nahor,” he immediately sought the will
and guidance of God in prayer."
2. The task was almost impossible for any man to achieve, for trying to find a girl
willing to travel back to a land so far away, and so primitive compared to the city
life she was used to, was highly unlikely of success. This servant knew the odds were
against him, and that is why he did not depend on human reason and planning. He
knew he needed divine guidance, and so he went to prayer immediately. He did not
waste days in trying some man made scheme to find the right girls of God's choice.
He went directly to God and sought the guidance only he could give.
3. Here is prayer for the providential guidance of God, which is probably the
prayer that should be most common in the life of the believer. Asking God’s help to
find His best should be our daily prayer. Here we have an example of a marriage
that was made in heaven, and this mate was chosen by God. To make this a
universal rule is without biblical basis. Isaac was himself a special child chosen for
the bloodline to the Messiah. Not all children are so chosen, and so not all have God

11. selected mates anymore than God selects all to be the chosen line.
13 See, I am standing beside this spring, and the
daughters of the townspeople are coming out to
draw water.
1. He talks to God as one who is looking on his life and actions. He gives God a
picture of what is happening around him as the daughters come for their daily
water. This servant has an intimacy with God that makes God his constant
companion, and he keeps God informed about his every move. God honors the man
who maintains this kind of intimate relationship with him, for it means he really
believes God is present in all of life, and that he cares about helping his children
achieve success in those goals that are a part of his overall plan. He is looking to find
a daughter who will play a major role in keeping the line going to the Messiah, and
he knows God wants this as much as Abraham does, and so he keeps God informed
concerning every detail.
2. Here is a man of God in the right place at the right time, and yet it could be
misinterpreted as a negative thing if one did not know his mission. If you saw some
stranger standing by the town well eyeing all the girls coming for water you might
be suspicious of his motive and be anxious to see him move on. There would be no
way to know he was seeking the guidance of God
14 May it be that when I say to a girl, `Please let
down your jar that I may have a drink,' and she
says, `Drink, and I'll water your camels too'--let
her be the one you have chosen for your servant
Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown
kindness to my master."
1. This is really specific prayer requests, and seldom will anyone be able to repeat
anything quite as marvelous as this, for he asked that the future encounter with a
girl have specific acts and words be produced in her in response to his request. He
found the ideal mate for Isaac by means of prayer. It should be that prayer plays a
vital role in the finding of any believer's mate, but let us note also that even the

12. perfect mate can sometimes be a pain. Later in life Rebekah deceived her husband
and helped Jacob get the blessing he meant to give to Esau. The right woman can
still do a man wrong, but if she is convinced it is the will of God to go against her
husband, then she is to be forgiven, for God does. The servant knew that any girl
who would be willing to give his camels water was one who would go the second mile
in pleasing her man, and that is just the kind of woman Isaac needed.
2. Boice writes, "How could the servant determine quickly which of the girls that
would soon be arriving would have the qualities necessary for Isaac? It would be
necessary for him to make the first approach toward conversation, and the
obvious thing would be for him to ask her for a drink of water from her pitcher.
However, almost any girl, out of common courtesy, would agree to such a
request as that, so that act alone would not be sufficient. If, however, she would
then, on her own initiative, offer to help in some further way, going a second
mile as it were, this would definitely be a good sign. Perhaps the most severe test
would be whether she was willing not only to give him some water, and perhaps
even his attendants, but also his ten camels. Surely, if she would do this, without
grumbling, it would go far toward proving that she was the kind of wife
Abraham was seeking for his son. Drawing enough water to satisfy the thirst of
ten large and tired camels would be a hard and wearisome task, to say the least.
He couldn't really ask a girl to do such a thing. Nevertheless, if she would do it
voluntarily, it would be a strong indication that she was the right one. [Boice,
GENESIS Vol. 2 p. 719, 720]
3. The problem with making this a prayer that you try to make as your model for
guidance is that it leads to making your own plan and then asking God to bless it. It
makes you the planner, and God is the servant that fulfills your dream. It is very
close to the genie who comes out of the bottle and gives you three wishes that he will
fulfill for you. This is also very much like putting out the fleece like Gideon did, and
these types of prayers are for real, but they are also risky and counting on them can
be a road to disaster. Just because God worked in specific lives in an unusual way
does not mean that he has established a pattern by which he is going to work in
every life. To assume that you can choose which girl or boy you should marry by
praying, "If this is your choice Lord, let them offer to buy me a diet coke instead of
a 7-up," you are being presumptuous, and risking making a very unwise choice
based on very insufficient information. This account shows the providence of God in
leading this servant to find the right girl for Isaac, but there is no promise given that
this is how God will lead all of his people to find a mate. Abraham was old and
could not make the trip, and he desperately needed God's special guidance for his
servant to succeed in this quest for the right girl. The servant did not have the time
to search the whole town and interview all available marriageable girls. He would
not know how to choose if he had the time or the know how to interview them.
Those circumstances do not happen in the lives of most people looking for a mate,
and so this is not a general pattern for the way God works.

13. 4. Calvin wrote, " But the method which he uses seems scarcely consistent
with the true rule of prayer. For, first, we know that no one prays
aright unless he subjects his own wishes to God. Wherefore there is
nothing more unsuitable than to prescribe anything, at our own will, to
God. Where, then, it may be asked, is the religion of the servant, who,
according to his own pleasure, imposes a law upon God? Secondly, there
ought to be nothing ambiguous in our prayers; and absolute certainty is
to be sought for only in the Word of God. Now, since the servant
prescribes to God what answer shall be given, he appears culpably to
depart from the suitable modesty of prayer; for although no promise had
been given him, he nevertheless desires to be made fully certain
respecting the whole affair. God, however, in hearkening to his wish,
proves, by the event, that it was acceptable to himself. Therefore we
must know, that although a special promise had not been made at the
moment, yet the servant was not praying rashly, nor according to the
lust of the flesh, but by the secret impulse of the Spirit."
5. Another author points out the close relationship this man had with God that is
revealed in his prayer life. He writes, "We have three such prayers of this good man
in this narrative. The prayer he prayed at the well in v. 12 which he mentions again
in v. 42 -- he had arrived at the well and was committing the opportunity to God.
The prayer of thanksgiving and worship after Rebecca behaved as she did at the
well, mentioned in v. 26 and again in v. 48. And, finally, the prayer of v. 52, the
thanksgiving he gave to God in the presence of Rebecca's family, between their
granting approval to the marriage and his bringing out the gifts to seal the
agreement. God was so much a Presence to this good man, God's nearness so real
and so constantly a matter of his thought and reflection, that it was the most natural
thing for him to turn his concerns and needs, even those of the moment, over to the
Almighty, and to honor his God for every happy development even in front of
others. The living God was too near to him for him to imagine that God was not
always and in everything the one with whom he had to do and the knowledge of
God's nearness was such a pleasure to Abraham's servant that it was natural for
him to see his life in terms of this being with God, walking with God, and his
communion and conversation with a present and interested heavenly Father."
15 Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came
out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the
daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the
wife of Abraham's brother Nahor.

14. 1. Here again we see the extremely unusual nature of God's involvement in the
answer to this prayer. The servant was not even done asking for guidance, and the
answer was there in front of him. He is still pleading for the right girl to appear, and
she has already appeared. This is one step up from instant, and it is pre-instant. It is
the response before the request is finished. Isa. 65:24 reveals God's sense of humor
in doing this sort of thing. It says, "It shall come to pass that before they call, I will
answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear." It would be like your little
boy kneeling beside his bed praying for that baseball glove he wants for Christmas,
and you hearing of it quickly grab the glove you bought and slipping it on the bed
before his face and watching as he finished his prayer and looks up. You delight
with him as he sees the very thing he longs for laying there even before he finished
his praying for it. He is thrilled and you are too, for your desire is to fulfill the
dream. That is what God is doing here, for he delights to meet the need of this
servant quickly.
2. Gill writes, "a daughter of Bethuel, which Bethuel was the eighth and last son of
Milcah, and who was the daughter of Haran and the wife of Nahor, both brothers to
Abraham: this is the genealogy of Rebekah, and for the sake of her is the account of
Nahor's family given, Gen_22:20."
16 The girl was very beautiful, a virgin; no man
had ever lain with her. She went down to the
spring, filled her jar and came up again.
1. The beauty of Rebekah is stressed because that is a major factor in the
attractiveness of the sexes. It says she was very beautiful, and that means she was a
"knockout." She had the kind of beauty that appealed to all men. There are many
different kinds of beauty, and some men find one woman beautiful that other men
do not see that way. There are women who have a beauty that all men agree is
beautiful, however, and that was the kind Rebekah had. When he brings her back
to Isaac he is going to want to see a girl who is attractive. The servant would be
failing to do his job if he did not find beauty in the girl he brought back. It was, of
course, a requirement that she had not lain with another man, for she was to be the
mother of the seed that would lead to the Messiah, and so not contaminated by any
outside influence.

15. 17 The servant hurried to meet her and said,
"Please give me a little water from your jar."
1. Rebekah was such an energetic girl doing her work so fast that he had to run to
catch up with her, or she could be off for home before he had a chance to see if she
might be the one. Sometimes we need to act fast or we lose the opportunity to do the
thing that leads to success. Had this servant not been alert and ready to run to meet
her, he could have missed the very one he came to find. Haste does not always mean
waste, and in some cases, as here, it means success. All he wanted was a sip of her
water, for he had already gotten his drink after his long journey, but he wanted to
test her willingness to share.
18 "Drink, my lord," she said, and quickly
lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a
drink.
1. Note, there is no hesitation, but she quickly lowers her jar to give him what he
requests. It is a key ingredient in this whole story that everything happens with
speed. God answers his prayer before he is even finished, and so God sets the pace.
This is followed by the servant hurrying to catch her, and then she being quick to
give him a drink. In verse 20 we see her quickly pouring her water into the trough
and then running back for more water. In verse 28 we see her making a dash for
home to share what has happened, and then in verse 29 Laban is rushing out to the
spring to meet this stranger. This whole story is in rapid motion for God is working
in top speed to get this mission accomplished. It is one of the paradox's of Scripture
that God sometimes works so slow that it drives us crazy, but at other times so fast
that it also drives us crazy. We hate to wait, and we also hate to be under stress in
having to move too fast, but one or the other are quite common when you are
seeking to do the will of God.
19 After she had given him a drink, she said, "I'll
draw water for your camels too, until they have
finished drinking."
1. Chuck Smith gives us a picture of what is happening here, with some details, as he
writes, "And she said, Drink, my lord: And she hurried, and let down her pitcher
upon her hand, and she gave him a drink. And when she had done giving him a

16. drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they are through
drinking. And she hurried, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again
to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. And the man wondering at
her held his peace (Gen 24:18-21), But don't you know his heart was pounding at
this point? Man, Lord, that's fast! She's so beautiful! As he watched her he thought,
"Oh, could this possibly be it?" And he just was holding his peace. He was wanting
to burst out, but he held back. And so, the next question,
As the camels were through drinking, he took a golden [it says] earring [literally, it's
a nose ring] of a half-shekel weight (Gen 24:22), Now, a half-shekel weight would be
about a quarter of an ounce. A shekel is about a half an ounce. So about a quarter-
ounce little nose ring and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold
[or about five ounces of gold]; And he said, whose daughter are you? (Gen 24:22-23)
Question number two. This is gonna be the clincher. Who's your father? Whose
daughter are you? I pray thee: let's see, is there room in your father's house for us
to dwell? And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah,
which she bore to Nahor. And she said moreover unto him, we have both straw and
food enough, and room to lodge in. And the man bowed down his head, and he
worshipped the LORD (Gen 24:23-26). Man, hit it right off the bat. She's one of
Abraham's relatives, and, you know, can it be? I'm sure that his heart was just
really filled with excitement and anticipation. And he worshipped the Lord.
2. Michael S Piazza wrote, "It would have been easy enough to have offered the
servant a sip of water and simply gone on about her business. He didn't ask her to
water his camels. He didn't offer to make it worth her while. He didn't threaten her
or cajole her. Rebekah offered to give more than was asked of her because of the
kind of person she was. She had gold in her soul and she wasn't satisfied letting it be
buried there. The generosity and passion with which she lived allowed the gold that
was within her to shine through. Thousands of years before Jesus taught about
going the second mile. Rebekah was already exemplifying a Christ-like spirit of
generosity. She was willing to do more than was required or reasonably expected.
That “more than” trait is so rare that it makes winners stand out in any area of life.
She gave 101%. Rebekah didn't water the camels because of what was in it for her,
but because of what was within her. She was a person who lived with generosity and
great passion."
3. Maclaren wrote, “ There was no miracle, no supernatural voice, no pillar of cloud
or fire, no hovering glory round the head of the village maiden. All the indications
were perfectly natural and trivial. A thousand girls had gone to the wells that day
all about Haran and done the very same things that Rebekah did. But the devout
man who had prayed for guidance, and was sure that he was getting it, was guided
by her most simple, commonplace act; and that is how we are usually to be guided.
God leaves a great deal to our common sense. His way of speaking to common sense
is by very common things. If any of us fancy that some glow at the heart, some
sudden flash as of inspiration, is the test of a divine commandment, we have yet to
learn the full meaning of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. For that Incarnation,
amongst all its other mighty influences, hallowed the commonest things of life and

17. turned them into ministers of God’s purposes. So remember, God’s guidance may
come to you through so insignificant a girl as Rebekah. It may come to you through
as commonplace an incident as tipping the water of a spring out of an earthen pot
into a stone trough. Nonetheless is it God’s guidance; and what we want is the eye to
see it. He will guide us by very common indications of His providence."
20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough,
ran back to the well to draw more water, and
drew enough for all his camels.
1. There are all kinds of conjectures about just how many gallons of water this took,
and how much energy it took to get the job done. All we know is, she was willing to
do a major task to express loving kindness to a stranger. It was above and beyond
what anyone could expect, and that is what made her stand out as an obvious choice
of God for Isaac. He needed a strong woman, for he appears not to be very strong
himself. She had to bring enough water to quench the thirst of ten camels, and that
would take a good number of trips.
2. We need to keep in mind that this servant had other men with him also, and they
appear not to lift a hand to help this young girl in doing this hard labor on their
behalf. It is not a pleasant picture of the males involved. They stand by and watch
this beautiful young girl haul jar after jar to water their camels and do not
volunteer to help. This was female work and they were not going to embarrass
themselves by giving her a hand. Notice, she ran back to the well, and as she was
running back and forth to get enough water for all 10 camels they sat and watched.
Even this godly servant of Abraham did not step in and carry at least one jar, and
so we see the sexism of the day where men would not do what it was a woman's
place to do. There is still a lot of this that goes on in the world today.
21 Without saying a word, the man watched her
closely to learn whether or not the LORD had
made his journey successful.
1. Clarke wrote, "The man, wondering at her, and he was so lost in wonder and
astonishment at her simplicity, innocence, and benevolence, that he permitted this
delicate female to draw water for ten camels, without ever attempting to afford her
any kind of assistance! I know not which to admire most, the benevolence and

18. condescension of Rebekah, or the cold and apparently stupid indifference of the
servant of Abraham. Surely they are both of an uncommon cast."
2. Calvin does not excuse his laziness and indifference to her hard labor, but he does
give him a break for his wavering faith here. He wrote, "And the man, wondering at
her, held his peace." This wondering of Abraham's servant, shows that he had some
doubt in his mind. He is silently inquiring within himself, whether God would
render his journey prosperous. Has he, then, no confidence concerning that divine
direction, of which he had received the sign or pledge? I answer, that
faith is never so absolutely perfect in the saints as to prevent the
occurrence of many doubts. There is, therefore, no absurdity in
supposing that the servant of Abraham, though committing himself
generally to the providence of God, yet wavers, and is agitated, amidst
a multiplicity of conflicting thoughts. Again, faith, although it
pacifies and calms the minds of the pious, so that they patiently wait
for God, still does not exonerate them from all care; because it is
necessary that patience itself should be exercised, by anxious
expectation, until the Lord fulfill what he has promised. But though
this hesitation of Abraham's servant was not free from fault, inasmuch
as it flowed from infirmity of faith; it is vet, on this account,
excusable, because he did not turn his eyes in another direction, but
only sought from the event a confirmation of his faith, that he might
perceive God to be present with him."
22 When the camels had finished drinking, the
man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka [4]
and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. [5]
1. This is the first and most mentioned ring in the Bible. In verse 30 it was this nose
ring that caught Laban's attention, and in verse 47 the servant says he put the ring
in her nose. This does sound improper for a stranger to do to a young girl, even if
there were other people all around the well, but it does not seem out of place to
Moses as he tells of it. The ring was a common piece of jewelry for both men and
women. Joseph had a ring fit for a king. Gen. 41:42 says, "Then Pharaoh took his
signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger. He dressed him in robes of
fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck." Expensive jewelry was a sign of
royalty, or of high society, just as it is today. It was an honor to wear the ring of the
king, and it was the highest reward that could be bestowed. Esther 8:2 says, "The
king took off his signet ring, which he had reclaimed from Haman, and presented it
to Mordecai. And Esther appointed him over Haman's estate."
2. The ring was also a means of encouragment as we read in Job 42:11. "All his
brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with

19. him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD
had brought upon him, and each one gave him a piece of silver [ Hebrew him a
kesitah ; a kesitah was a unit of money of unknown weight and value. ] and a gold
ring." We see it again in the story of the Prodigal's return in Luke 15:22, ""But the
father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring
on his finger and sandals on his feet." But a problem arises when the gold ring leads
people to discriminate and treat the man with such a ring in a way that he does not
treat the ring less man. This was the problem James deals with in James 2:2
following when he writes, "Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold
ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in."
3. It is the reality of abuse that leads to this text becoming an issue of controversy.
Up to this point the servant of Abraham seems to be without flaw, but now that he
draws out of his pocket a gold nose ring he sinks in the estimation of those who are
opposed to female jewelry. Calvin expresses the deep concern of those with this
hang-up as he writes, "The man took a golden earring." His adorning the damsel
with precious ornaments is a token of his confidence. For since it is evident by many
proofs that he was an honest and careful servant, he would not throw away without
discretion the treasures of his master. He knows, therefore, that these gifts will not
be ill bestowed; or, at least, relying on the goodness of God, he gives them, in faith,
as an earnest of future marriage. But it may be asked, Whether God approves
ornaments of this kind, which pertain not so much to neatness as to pomp? I
answer, that the things related in Scripture are not always proper to be imitated.
Whatever the Lord commands in general terms is to be accounted as an inflexible
rule of conduct; but to rely on particular examples is not only dangerous, but even
foolish and absurd.
Now we know how highly displeasing to God is not only pomp and ambition in
adorning the body, but all kind of luxury. In order to free the heart from inward
cupidity,
he condemns that immoderate and superfluous splendor, which contains
within itself many allurements to vice. Where, indeed, is pure sincerity
of heart found under splendid ornaments? Certainly all acknowledge this
virtue to be rare. It is not, however, for us expressly to forbid every
kind of ornament; yet because whatever exceeds the frugal use of such
things is tarnished with some degree of vanity; and more especially,
because the cupidity of women is, on this point, insatiable; not only
must moderation, but even abstinence, be cultivated as far as possible.
Further, ambition silently creeps in, so that the somewhat excessive
adorning of the person soon breaks out into disorder. With respect to
the earrings and bracelets of Rebekah, as I do not doubt that they were
those in use among the rich, so the uprightness of the age allowed them
to be sparingly and frugally used; and yet I do not excuse the fault.
This example, however, neither helps us, nor alleviates our guilt, if,
by such means, we excite and continually inflame those depraved lusts
which, even when all incentives are removed, it is excessively difficult

20. to restrain. The women who desire to shine in gold, seek in Rebekah a
pretext for their corruption. Why, therefore, do they not, in like
manner, conform to the same austere kind of life and rustic labour to
which she applied herself? But, as I have just said, they are deceived
who imagine that the examples of the saints can sanction them in
opposition to the common law of God. Should any one object that it is
abhorrent to the modesty of a virtuous and chaste maiden to receive
earrings and bracelets from a man who was a stranger, and whom she had
never before seen. In the first place, it may be, that Moses passes over
much conversation held on both sides, by which it is probable she was
induced to venture on the reception of them. It may also be, that he
relates first what was last in order. For it follows soon afterwards in
the context, that the servant of Abraham inquired whose daughter she
was. We must also take into account the simplicity of that age. Whence
does it arise that it was not disreputable for a maid to go alone out of
the city, unless that then the morals of mankind did not require so
severe a guard for the preservation of modesty? Indeed, it appears from
the context, that the ornaments were not given her for a dishonourable
purpose; but a portions is offered to the parents to facilitate the
contract for marriage. Interpreters are not agreed respecting the value
of the presents. Moses estimates the earrings at half a shekel, and the
bracelets at ten shekels. Jerome, instead of half a shekel, reads two
shekels. I conceive the genuine sense to be, that the bracelets were
worth ten shekels, and the frontal ornament or earrings worth half that
sum, or five shekels. For since nothing is added after the word "bekah,"
it has reference to the greater number. Otherwise here is no suitable
proportion between the bracelets and the ornaments for the head.
Moreover, if we take the shekel for four Attic drachms, the value is
trifling; therefore I think the weight of gold is indicated, which makes
the sum much greater than the piece of money called a shekel.
4. There is no escaping the facts of God's Word that God is not opposed to the
beauty of jewelry even though it can be abused. The misuse of something is not to
eliminate the proper use of it. In the following quote from Ezek. 16 we can read on
beyond this quote and see that Israel did go on to abuse the jewelry God gave her,
and she suffered judgment because of it, but the fact remains, God blest her with
this jewely, and it was a precious thing in his sight or he never would have done it.
Jewelry is not in itself a problem with God, but only the abuse of it. Ezek. 16:9-14 is
all the proof anyone needs who believes in God's own words. It says, "I bathed you
with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you. 10 I clothed
you with an embroidered dress and put leather sandals on you. I dressed you in fine
linen and covered you with costly garments. 11 I adorned you with jewelry: I put
bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, 12 and I put a ring on
your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 So you
were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric
and embroidered cloth. Your food was fine flour, honey and olive oil. You became
very beautiful and rose to be a queen. 14 And your fame spread among the nations

21. on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty
perfect, declares the Sovereign LORD."
5. There is a great deal to study if you really want to get into the subject of jewelry
in the Bible. Clarke gives some guidelines as to the various kinds and places to read
of them. He writes, "In different parts of the sacred writings there are allusions to
ornaments of various kinds still in use in different Asiatic countries. They are of
seven different sorts. 1. for the forehead; 2. for the nose; 3. for the ears; 4. for the
arms; 5. for the fingers; 6. for the neck and breast; 7. for the ankles. See ver. 22, 47;
also Ezek. xvi. 12; Prov. xi. 22; Isa. iii. 21; chap. xxxv. 4; Exod. xxxii. 2, 3; Job xlii.
11; Judg. viii. 24. The principal female ornaments are enumerated in the third
chapter of Isaiah, which are very nearly the same that are in use in Persia and India
to the present time."
23 Then he asked, "Whose daughter are you?
Please tell me, is there room in your father's house
for us to spend the night?"
1. By these questions he would be able to know quickly if she was the one, for he
would learn of her family and if she was from that of Abraham's relatives. He would
also know by the size of the house if it was a prosperous family, and this would also
be a clue as to the likelihood of her being the proper mate for Isaac.
24 She answered him, "I am the daughter of
Bethuel, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor."
1. Gill comments, "Which Milcah was the daughter of Haran, Abraham's elder
brother, and, as thought by many, sister to Sarah, Abraham's wife, see Gen_11:29,
which she bare unto Nahor; Abraham's brother; so that her father was Nahor's son,
not by his concubine Reumah, but by his lawful wife Milcah, which sets Rebekah's
descent in a true light, see Gen_22:20; whether she told her own name is not certain,
it may be, since the servant bade it, Gen_24:45.
25 And she added, "We have plenty of straw and
fodder, as well as room for you to spend the

22. night."
1. She answered both questions to his delight, for he heard just what he wanted to
hear. She was from the right family and was a girl used to the better things of life,
which was the kind of girl Isaac needed.
26 Then the man bowed down and worshiped the
LORD,
1. To worship, to praise, and to give thanks to God for his guidance are all much the
same, for they are all acknowledging God as the author of all your blessings.
2. He had experienced the fulfillment of two precious promises in the Old and New
Testaments. "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own
understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."
(Prov. 3:5-6, KJV) Again, hear this word of James in the New Testament, "If any of
you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth
not; and it shall be given him." (James 1:5, KJV).
27 saying, "Praise be to the LORD, the God of my
master Abraham, who has not abandoned his
kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for
me, the LORD has led me on the journey to the
house of my master's relatives."
1. He is overwhelmed with joy and gratitude for this marvelous demonstration of
the providence of God leading him in a way that was just short of a miracle. God
had led him right to the house of Abraham's relatives. It was like the star of
Bethlehem that led the wise men right to the house where the child Jesus was with
Mary and Joseph. This is very specific diving guidance where there is no doubt that
God is directly involved. This leads me to disagree with those who say all that
happens is God's directing the steps of all people. If this was the case then this
wondrous leading of God is no different than that of all of us in our everyday
journey in life. For something to be spectacular, as this providence in leading him to
the very girl and family he needed to find, then other events need to be less

23. providential and open to human folly and mistakes. There is no point in praying,
"Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," if in fact, all that happens is God's
will. This servant had the right spirit and the right commitment to find God's
choice, and the result is, he had the special providence of God working for him.
Once you say everything that happens is the will of God, you take away the wonder
of this special working of God in this servant’s life. It is special because it does not
happen all the time.
2. Maclaren could not write of this story what he did, if it was just commonplace
and routine in life. He wrote, "There is no more beautiful page, even amongst the
many lovely ones in these ancient stories, than this domestic idyll of the mission of
the faithful servant from far Canaan across the desert. The homely test by which he
would determine that the maiden should be pointed out to him, the glimpse of old-
world ways at the well, the gracious courtesy of the fair damsel, and the simple
devoutness of the speaker, who recognizes in what to others were trivial
commonplaces God’s guidance to the end which He had appointed, his recognition
of the divine hand moving beneath all the nothings and littlenesses of daily life—
may teach us much."
28 The girl ran and told her mother's household
about these things.
1. Clearly she was an energetic young woman, for after her running back and forth
to give water to the whole caravan she is again running home to tell her family
about what has happened.
2. Clarke writes, " Her mother's house] Some have conjectured from this that her
father Bethuel was dead; and the person called Bethuel, ver. 50, was a younger
brother. This is possible, but the mother's house might be mentioned were even the
father alive; for in Asiatic countries the women have apartments entirely separate
from those of the men, in which their little children and grown-up daughters reside
with them. This was probably the case here, though it is very likely that Bethuel was
dead, as the whole business appears to be conducted by Rebekah's brothers."
29 Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban,
and he hurried out to the man at the spring.

24. 1. This brother of Rebekah named Laban plays a major role in the life of Jacob
later on, but we see a hint of his material mindedness here in the way he looks on the
gifts of this stranger to his sister. Wikipedia gives us a brief look at his future role.
"Laban first appears in the story in Genesis 24:29-60, where he is impressed by the
gold jewelry given to his sister on behalf of Isaac, and plays a key part in arranging
their marriage.
Much later, Laban promises his younger daughter Rachel to Jacob (Rebekah's son)
in return for seven years' service, only to trick him into marrying his elder daughter
Leah instead. Jacob then serves another seven years in exchange for the right to also
marry his choice, Rachel, see Genesis 29.
Laban's flocks and fortunes increase under Jacob's skilled care, but there is much
further trickery between them. Six years after his promised service has ended,
Jacob, having prospered largely by proving more cunning than his father-in-law,
finally leaves. Laban pursues him, but they eventually part on good terms, see
Genesis 31."
30 As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the
bracelets on his sister's arms, and had heard
Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went
out to the man and found him standing by the
camels near the spring.
1. Laban has a nose for making a profit, and when he saw the nose ring he smelled a
potential for cash in his pocket. He was not going to wait for the man to come to
him, but he hurried out to the man. He did not want to let him get away, for he
appeared to be willing to pay for anything he received.
2. Scott Hoezee writes, "Her father, Bethuel and brother Laban take one look at the
small fortune in gold the girl is wearing and suddenly become very interested in this
stranger at the spring! Commentators note that it is quite probable that this family
had not heard of the God Yahweh. Abraham, after all, had been gone for decades
with no known contact with his extended family. But no sooner does the family see
the trinkets with which Rebekah has been showered and they get very religious very
quickly! Verse 30 says that the first thing Laban noticed was all the gold--his eyes
sparkled at the wealth of it all. Rebekah then mentions what the stranger had said,
including his song of praise to some God named "Yahweh." Laban then replies,
"Yahweh, did you say? Well, then, praise Yahweh! Invite this fellow into the
house!" After all, when opportunity knocks, you open the door!"

25. 31 "Come, you who are blessed by the LORD,"
he said. "Why are you standing out here? I have
prepared the house and a place for the camels."
1. Laban gives this stranger the royal treatment by complimenting him as blest of
the Lord, and then urging him to come to his house, which he has prepared for him
and his camels. He had just run out of the house, and so you know he did not do a
thing to prepare the house for guests. The women were back there hurrying up the
house cleaning to get ready for him, but he takes the credit, as many men do for the
hard work their wives do in preparing for guests.
32 So the man went to the house, and the camels
were unloaded. Straw and fodder were brought
for the camels, and water for him and his men to
wash their feet.
1. This was a major effort to get all prepared, for he had ten camels that needed to
be unloaded and then fed. The number of men with him is not noted, but it was
several and they had to be washed up to join the family for a meal. It was indeed a
great act of hospitality to take on this labor for strangers.
33 Then food was set before him, but he said, "I
will not eat until I have told you what I have to
say." "Then tell us," [Laban] said.
1. "The response of the family is interesting, for not the father, but the brother,
speaks first. We may conclude then, that Laban has the stronger position and a
definite function in the family equal to that of the father. Afterward, it was Laban
and the girl’s mother who received gifts. The Nuzu tablets throw light on the
arrangement. What is seen in Rebekah’s household is a fratriarchy or the exercise
of family authority in Hurrian society by which one son has jurisdiction over his

26. brothers and sisters. So Laban with his mother decides to put the matter of prompt
departure up to Rebekah (v. 58). This independence of action is also reflected in the
Nuzu documents concerning the wife of one Hurazzi who said, ‘With my consent my
brother Akkuleni gave me as wife to Hurazzi.’ This parallels the biblical incident as
to circumstances of the question to the bride, the decision by Laban to ask her, and
her answer. (Stigers, Genesis, p. 201.)"
2. Clarke wrote, "I will not eat until I have told] In Hindoostan it is not unusual for
a Brahmin to enter a house and sit down, and when meat is offered, refuse to eat till
he has obtained the object of his errand. Here is a servant who had his master's
interest more at heart than his own. He refuses to take even necessary refreshment
till he knows whether he is likely to accomplish the object of his journey. Did not
our blessed Lord allude to the conduct of Abraham's servant, John iv. x24: My meat
is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work?"
34 So he said, "I am Abraham's servant.
1. Now for a rerun of all we have already read and commented on. This is not
necessary for us, but it was for that family that had no idea of what the history was
that brought this man into their lives and home. They needed to know all of these
facts and details in order to make a decision about their daughter going with this
man.
2. The only author I found dealing with the why of all this repetition was Scott
Hoezee, and I quote a large portion of his message, for he gives us a better
understanding of why this repetition is here. He writes, "This evening for the sake
of time, I skipped over the shank of Genesis 24, partly because once Abraham's
servant settles down for dinner with Rebekah's family, he thoroughly recounts the
exact same story we read in the first 27 verses of this chapter. In fact, large portions
of the servant's speech are nearly word-for-word repetitions of what we already
read. The narrative pace here is leisurely. In fact, this is the single longest narrative
in the Book of Genesis. Why do you think that is?
Surely this is not the most important story in the book, so that cannot explain the
amount of space devoted to it. So why this protracted attention to so many details?
Maybe because God himself is in the details. Unlike other narratives earlier in
Genesis, God nowhere speaks in Genesis 24. The servant does not receive a heavenly
vision, is not told by God where to go. Likewise God's Spirit does not tip off Bethuel,
Laban, and Rebekah by telling them to be on the lookout for a certain stranger who
will soon be coming their way. As Walter Brueggemann notes, with the exception of
the servant's brief prayer in verses 12-15, this story is "secular" in the sense of being
the report of some very ordinary-sounding events. God is not reported as saying or
doing anything in particular, and yet throughout this chapter you have the feeling
that God is directing everything.

27. In retrospect the servant can see how this has all come together just so. Even before
he prayed his prayer at the spring, God had already brought him to just the right
place. Maybe that's why he takes the time so lovingly and thoughtfully to recount
every last detail to Rebekah's family over dinner. Maybe that is why the author of
Genesis likewise takes care to write it all out again. After all, would you have batted
an eye or sensed that something was missing from Genesis 24 if in verse 34, instead
of recounting the whole long story all over again, the text had said, "And so the
servant then told Bethuel and Laban the story of his journey."
It could have been left at that, right? As a reader, you don't need to review the
whole thing. You might even get impatient. Suppose you are reading a novel some
evening in which chapter 3 is the story of the main character's trip to Chicago one
weekend. You read about what hotel he stayed at, where he went out for dinner, the
stores he shopped at, and the particular display he saw at the Chicago Art Institute.
It might all be very interesting, but what would you think if you then went on to
chapter 4 only to find that this chapter was about how this same character came
back home to Grand Rapids and then told his roommate about the whole weekend,
once again repeating every last hotel, museum, and restaurant detail you had just
read in the previous chapter? You might get rather frustrated with this book. "Why
doesn't this author just get on with it?" you might say to yourself.
But the author of Genesis is making a vital point: even ordinary-sounding stories
such as the one the servant so carefully re-tells can be, and often are, full of God.
But if we rarefy this story, make it about just what happens when someone
important like Isaac is taking center stage, then we may miss that. This is about us,
too. Because listen: if you want to be a "spiritual person," then that spirituality is
going to be active not just on those rare mountaintop moments of life but in and
through the very mundane details of your day-to-day life. A while back I mentioned
the line from St. Teresa of Avila who once noted "Christ dwells among the pots and
pans." It was Teresa's way of saying that if we don't bump into Jesus in the run of a
typical day, we maybe won't run into him much at all.
Thomas Merton once tried to make a similar point when he observed that a spiritual
life is first and foremost just a life. If you want to be a holy or spiritual person, you
need to be a person first, and what's more you need to be the very specific person
God already created you to be. The "spiritual" part of being a Christian is not way
out there somewhere beyond the horizon waiting for you to arrive. It's here, it's
now.
I once heard a pastor say that once upon a time she lamented all of the
"distractions" that would come to her in the course of the average week. She was
trying to write sermons, prepare catechism lessons, and do other obviously
"spiritual" work but the phone kept ringing with people who had a question or a
comment on this or that. Someone was at the door, emails cried out to be answered,
and so forth and so on. But then one day she realized: these so-called "distractions"
were themselves a big part of ministry. If she couldn't be spiritual in and through
those times, then when would she be spiritual?"

28. 35 The LORD has blessed my master abundantly,
and he has become wealthy. He has given him
sheep and cattle, silver and gold, menservants and
maidservants, and camels and donkeys.
1. Someone wrote, "Having found the woman who should be Isaac’s wife, the
servant now had to convince the family that Abraham’s son Isaac was the right man
for Rebekah. The fact that Rebekah would need to move far away was an obstacle,
which must be overcome by strong argumentation. This delicate task was skillfully
handled by the servant. The urgency of his mission was indicated by his refusal to
eat until the purpose of his journey was explained.
First, the servant identified himself as a representative of Abraham, Bethuel’s uncle
(verse 34). This would have set aside many objections of these relatives, who were
concerned to protect the purity of Rebekah’s descendants. Then the success of
Abraham was reported. Abraham had not been foolish to leave Haran, for God had
prospered him greatly. By inference, this testified to Isaac’s ability to provide
abundantly for the needs of Rebekah, who was not living on a poverty level herself
(cf. verses 59, 61). Isaac was said to be the sole heir of Abraham’s wealth (verse
36)."
36 My master's wife Sarah has borne him a son in
her old age, and he has given him everything he
owns.
1. You can bet on it that Laban was wide-awake now. His sister could be married to
a man who will inherit a fortune. He just loved that bit of information, for he loved
wealth and would love to have wealthy relatives. This Isaac guy is looking pretty
good at this point. Any father or brother, however, would be happy to know that his
daughter or sister was going to marry a man with solid financial security, and so we
cannot be too hard on Laban, for it is a legitimate concern. Nobody wants his little
girl to marry into poverty. The servant does seem to be making it more enticing by
mentioning the old age factor, as if to say, it may not be long before Isaac has the
whole fortune in his own possession. Any woman who has a chance should jump at
getting a man like this as her husband.

29. 37 And my master made me swear an oath, and
said, `You must not get a wife for my son from the
daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live,
1. This whole section where the servant tells the family what his mission was in the
name of Abraham is repetition, and so there is little to say that has not already been
said.
38 but go to my father's family and to my own
clan, and get a wife for my son.'
1. Here is a strong compliment to the family, for he is saying we had no one at home
to be worthy of being Isaac's wife, but you folks are just the kind of people that can
provide a fit mate for him.
39 "Then I asked my master, `What if the woman
will not come back with me?'
40 "He replied, `The LORD, before whom I have
walked, will send his angel with you and make
your journey a success, so that you can get a wife
for my son from my own clan and from my
father's family.

30. 41 Then, when you go to my clan, you will be
released from my oath even if they refuse to give
her to you--you will be released from my oath.'
42 "When I came to the spring today, I said, `O
LORD, God of my master Abraham, if you will,
please grant success to the journey on which I
have come.
43 See, I am standing beside this spring; if a
maiden comes out to draw water and I say to her,
"Please let me drink a little water from your jar,"
44 and if she says to me, "Drink, and I'll draw
water for your camels too," let her be the one the
LORD has chosen for my master's son.'
45 "Before I finished praying in my heart,
Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder.
She went down to the spring and drew water, and
I said to her, `Please give me a drink.'

31. 1. Clarke writes, " Before I had done speaking in mine heart] So we find that the
whole of this prayer, so circumstantially related Genesis xxiv. 12-14, and again ver.
42-44, was mental, and heard only by that God to whom it was directed. It would
have been improper to have used public prayer on the occasion, as his servants
could have felt no particular interest in the accomplishment of his petitions, because
they were not concerned in them, having none of the responsibility of this mission."
2. Chuck Smith writes, "Now here to me is an interesting thing, and that is that God
hears the prayers of our heart. It isn't necessary that prayers be verbalized. So often
we think we haven't prayed if we haven't spoken out. But God knows the prayers of
your heart. The servant wasn't out there with hands raised saying "Now Lord, God
of my father, Abraham," you know. Had he been doing that, then all of the girls
around there thinking "oh, you know, look at the loot, you know, and everything
else. And they'd all be running to get water..... Jesus said go in your closet, shut the
door, your father that sees in secret will reward you openly. And prayer doesn't
have to be uttered."
46 "She quickly lowered her jar from her
shoulder and said, `Drink, and I'll water your
camels too.' So I drank, and she watered the
camels also.
1. An unknown author wrote, "One source I looked at said a camel can go three
days without water with little difficulty, and that it will drink 5 to 7 gallons of water
per day if available. If we assume that these camels had for some time been without
water, we probably can assume that they drank at least 3 gallons each at one time
here. That would be 30 gallons of water weighing 10gal. or a total of 300. If you have
ever carried a 5-gallon bucket of water, you know that Rebekah surely was not
carrying that much in a heavy earthen vessel on her shoulder. Most likely her water
jar held 2 or 3 gallons. Thus she would have had to make ten to fifteen trips in order
to satisfy these ten thirsty camels. Furthermore, verse 16 indicates that she had to go
down to the spring to fill her jar -- language which may mean that she descended
steps into a large hole to reach the water of the spring and then had to carry that
water up out of the hole. In fact, such springs with steps leading down to them have
been found in the Middle East. All in all, Rebekah here was asking for a lot of work.
And notice how she did it according to verse 20. "She quickly emptied her jar into
the trough, and ran back to the well to draw . . ." In this she fully fulfilled the sign
which Abraham's servant had asked of the Lord, and even went beyond it.
2. Leupold observes: “The condition imposed is unusually apt. Readiness to serve

32. embodies a number of other virtues: cheerfulness, courtesy, unselfishness, and
readiness to work. The amount of service required in this case would demand the
prerequisite of good health and strength. For camels are notorious for their capacity
to absorb water. The servant's stipulation was not for an ordinary favor easily
bestowed. The girl measuring up to this requirement would certainly be very
distinctly marked from all others by virtue of this accomplishment."
3. Matthew Henry writes "He desires that his master's wife might be a humble and
industrious woman, bred up to care and labor, and willing to put her hand to any
work that was to be done; and that she might be of a courteous disposition, and
charitable to strangers. When he came to seek a wife for his master, he did not go to
the playhouse or the park, and pray that he might meet one there, but to the well of
water, expecting to find one there well employed." It is clear that the goal was to
find a woman who could work hard and enjoy it as a service, for such a wife would
be of great benefit to any man.
47 "I asked her, `Whose daughter are you?' "She
said, `The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor,
whom Milcah bore to him.' "Then I put the ring
in her nose and the bracelets on her arms,
1. Young people will not want to read this verse, for it destroys their idea that a ring
in the nose is some kind of new fad invented by those who want to see the older
generation squirm with frustration at the crazy practices of the younger generation.
It was apparently an accepted custom to wear a nose ring thousands of years ago.
The bracelets on the arm are probably standard in every age and culture, for where
else can you wear a bracelet? But rings can go other places than the nose, and so you
wonder why anyone would ever come up with the idea. I am sure this servant of
Abraham was not the inverter of the idea, for it would be an offense to impose a new
custom like this if it was not already a common practice among young women.
48 and I bowed down and worshiped the LORD. I
praised the LORD, the God of my master
Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get
the granddaughter of my master's brother for his

33. son.
1. This servant knew that he had been directed by the providence of God to find the
one person that fit all that he desired for Isaac's bride. The chances of this
happening by chance are highly unlikely, and that is why he is praising God with all
his heard, for he knows this could not be happening without the clear guidance of
God. Good luck is what we call it in the secular language, but when we see it as the
direct leading of God, we call it providence. Providence differs from miracle in that
all is worked out by natural and normal means. Nothing has to happen that is
supernatural. It is just the right timing of persons and events coming together to
achieve a purpose that is prayed for by one seeking to do the will of God.
49 Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness
to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may
know which way to turn."
1. He wanted to know if they would be a blessing to Abraham in the light of all he
just told them, or if they would say no. He had to have an answer to know what his
next step should be. It seemed clear that Rebekah was God's choice, but he could
not force them to give her up. She was such an energetic worker that it would be a
loss for that home, and someone else would have to go get the water every day.
50 Laban and Bethuel answered, "This is from
the LORD; we can say nothing to you one way or
the other.
1. They were stunned by the amazing providence of God, and they knew God was in
this, but they could not say one way or the other about what choice Rebekah might
make, for it was hers to make and not their's. It is clear that God wants it, but she
still has to make the decision to go.
51 Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her

34. become the wife of your master's son, as the
LORD has directed."
1. They recognized the hand of God in the events he just told them, and they
consented to have Rebekah go and be the wife of Isaac.
52 When Abraham's servant heard what they
said, he bowed down to the ground before the
LORD.
1. This servant spent a lot of time on the ground because he was always being
overwhelmed with thankfulness because of how God was using him to achieve the
goal of Abraham. He is celebrating the benefits of being guided step by step, and he
cannot help but worship the God who is granting him such perfect success.
53 Then the servant brought out gold and silver
jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to
Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to her brother
and to her mother.
1. Now we are talking in a language that everyone can understand, for it is the
language of costly gifts. Who does not love getting costly gifts? It is Christmas and
birthday party all in one here as the servant begins to unpack his pack like an
ancient Santa. The whole family would stare in wide-eyed wonder at all the riches
he was pulling out before them. This is not a common event in the life of anyone
where a stranger comes into town and finds his way to your house and begins to
shower you with wealth beyond your wildest dreams. It was like the lottery, or the
sweepstakes in our day. You can just imagine the joy that was welling up within the
hearts of this family as they viewed with awe the abundance of the gifts.
2. Can't you just imagine how clever Abraham would be in packing up all these
gifts? He would put in one of the most elaborate and ornate wedding dresses any

35. young girl ever saw in her life. How must she and mom and brother felt when the
servant pulled up that one of a kind dress? They could just imagine their daughter,
or sister looking like the bride of the century in that gown. It would play a role in
their decision to send her so far away to marry a man she never met. The Bible is
realistic in that it recognizes that people have a need to benefit by relationships.
Why should this family send off a lovely daughter and sister to marry some
unknown guy 500 miles away, and why should she even give it a second thought?
Reward is a motivating factor. If we are going to come out way ahead in our
financial status by cooperation with this stranger, why not? It seemed like a logical
move to marry within the family, and there is so much to gain by it that it seems
foolish to turn down the opportunity. The point is, people do need to see the benefits
or rewards for doing what you want them to do. All we do as people has a motive,
and the number one motive is what is in it for me. The Gospel has the same appeal,
for it offers forgiveness of sin, and eternal life. Would there be many takers if the
Gospel just said trust Jesus as your Savior and maybe it will benefit you somewhere
down the line?
54 Then he and the men who were with him ate
and drank and spent the night there. When they
got up the next morning, he said, "Send me on my
way to my master."
1. Here we are made aware that this servant was not alone. Abraham had sent a
crew of men to go along to care for the many gifts that would be easily robbed by
the notorious dessert bandits if only one man was carrying all this loot. They had to
care for the camels except for the one time that Rebekah had done the job of getting
them water. The servant had these familiar men with him and so it was not a lonely
experience, but one of good fellowship as they ate and drank and had a good time
around the fire before they retired to their separate tents. The servant was anxious
to get back to Abraham and so the next morning he urged them to send him off. In
other words, my business is done here so let me go.
55 But her brother and her mother replied, "Let
the girl remain with us ten days or so; then you
may go."
1. We do not know the motive of mom and brother here, for it could be that they
just have a hard time letting go of this daughter and sister. On the other hand, they

36. may have been hoping for even more gifts now that they have agreed to the deal to
let her go. We know from future dealings with Jacob that Laban is a wheeler-dealer
who will take advantage of others if it pays off for him. He wants his cake and eat it
too, for he has the dowry now, and he wants to keep Rebekah around as long as
possible, for she was a good worker.
56 But he said to them, "Do not detain me, now
that the LORD has granted success to my
journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my
master."
1. He knew that Abraham and Isaac are back home praying for him to succeed in
his mission, and he does not want to keep them in anxiety any longer than necessary.
His job is completed in getting a wife for Isaac, but now he has a long journey to get
her back to him, and he is anxious to get on the trail. There are times when we have
to turn down hospitable requests because our priorities demand that we give up
something pleasant for ourselves to meet the requests of one we want to please most.
In this case the servant wanted to get home with the good news to Abraham, and see
the response of Isaac when he sees the girl of his dreams.
57 Then they said, "Let's call the girl and ask her
about it."
1. That was a clever thought. We are being asked to send our daughter and sister
with a stranger into a land far away that we have never seen, and to live a life that is
completely different and harder than what she is used to. Why don't we ask her if
this is something she would like to do? It was an obvious direction to go, but we
have to give them credit for not making this decision for her. The family did not
compel her to marry against her will, which was a common practice in that period
of history where parents made all the arrangements.
58 So they called Rebekah and asked her, "Will

37. you go with this man?" "I will go," she said.
1. Here we see that Rachel had a choice in this matter. It was not a decision that her
mother or brother made for her, even though they had input, but it was her own
free will decision to go and become the wife of a complete stranger in a land far far
away. This was a courageous decision for a young girl to make who had not likely
ever been anywhere far from home.
2. Spurgeon wrote, "She was expected to feel a love to one she had never seen. She
had only newly heard that there was such a person as Isaac, but yet she must love
him enough to leave her kindred, and go to a distant land. This could only be
because she recognized the will of Jehovah in the matter. Ah, my dear hearers! All
that we tell you is concerning things not seen as yet; and here is our difficulty. You
have eyes, and you want to see everything; you have hands, and you want to handle
everything; but there is one whom you cannot see as yet, who has won our love
because of what we believe concerning him. We can truly say of him, "Whom
having not seen, we love: in whom, though now we see him not, yet believing, we
rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." I know that you answer our request
thus: "You demand too much of us when you ask us to love a Christ we have never
seen." I can only answer, "It is even so: we do ask more of you than we expect to
receive." Unless God the Holy Ghost shall work a miracle of grace upon your
hearts, you will not be persuaded by us to quit your old associations, and join
yourselves to our beloved Lord. And yet, if you did come to him, and love him, he
would more than content you; for you would find in him rest unto your souls, and a
peace which passeth all understanding."
3. Rebekah was like an eastern woman living in the colonies who is challenged to
marry a pioneer and head into the West on a covered wagon to face a life of living
on the move, for Isaac moved from place to place with his father because their large
herds were in constant need of new feeding grounds. She was going from city-slicker
to rancher, and the changes would be a challenge, but she was the kind of woman
who could handle the challenge, for she was a strong woman who could keep up
with the men. She drew water for all of the camels and proved that she was
physically ready for the hard work ahead, and beside this, she had her servant girls
to help her carry the load.
59 So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way,
along with her nurse and Abraham's servant and
his men.

38. 1. The camel caravan was heading back to Abraham with a lot less precious jewels
and pretty garments, but with more people, for Rebekah had her nurse with her. In
Gen. 35:8 this nurse is named Deborah, and she became a faithful servant in the
family for the next two generations.
60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,
"Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon
thousands; may your offspring possess the gates
of their enemies."
1. She became the mother of two peoples-the Edomites and the Israelites, and that
did amount to thousands of thousands. And as to possessing the gates of their
enemies Gill writes, "..exercise dominion and authority over their enemies: let them
not only be numerous, but powerful and victorious, as both the nations were at
times, and especially the latter; and particularly this had its accomplishment in
Christ, who sprung from her in the line of Jacob, Mat_1:2; some respect seems to be
had to the promise made to Abraham, Gen_22:17; of which this family might have
knowledge from Abraham's servant, who might report not only how great his
master was, but what promises were made to him with respect to his posterity."
2. The Jews say she was about 14 years old at this time, and they were sending her
off to marry a 40-year-old man. It was common for an older man to marry a
younger woman, for this gave them more hope of having children.
61 Then Rebekah and her maids got ready and
mounted their camels and went back with the
man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.
1. The more you read the more people show up in this caravan of camels heading
back to Abraham and Isaac. Before we thought it was only the nurse of Rebekah

39. who went back with her, but now we read that her maids got ready and mounted
their camels. It does not tell us how many maids, but we can vision a fairly long line
of camels as these women and Abraham's servant headed back to his home. Each of
these women knew they were not coming back, and so you can just imagine all the
things they packed. The camels had their work cut out for them on this journey, for
it was a move, lock, stock and barrel of all that these women owned. Plus, Rebekah
had a lot of stuff besides that the servant had given to her. This was a major move.
Rebekah was now making the same journey that Abraham made when he first came
to the Promised Land. She was leaving her homeland just as he did, and going to
live in the land that would one day be given to the seed of Abraham, and she would
be the one to produce that seed.
62 Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for
he was living in the Negev.
1. "For the first time in the story, Isaac comes into view. He too is seen as coming
from a very significant place, a well associated with the birth of his stepbrother,
Ishmael. When God appeared to Hagar she named the well, Beer-lahai-roi, which
means the "well of the living one who sees me." From that sacred place of vision,
Isaac has taken an evening stroll. As providence would have it, he lifts his eyes over
the horizon and is given a "vision" of a distant convoy of camels."
63 He went out to the field one evening to
meditate, [8] and as he looked up, he saw camels
approaching.
1. Isaac knew that it would not be long before the servant returned with or without
a wife for him, and he had to deal with the reality that he would soon possibly be a
married man with a wife to care for. This would be one of the things he would be
giving some serious thought to, and who knows how many other things he would be
in meditation about? He was alone in the open field and it would seem that he was
out there to be the first to meet his new bride if she would show up this day. Possibly
he was out there every day for some time in hopes that this would be the day. Finally
that day came as he watched a caravan of camels coming toward him. Could this at
last be the answer to his prayer that the servant would return with a suitable wife
for him?
2. Someone gives us this description of how Hollywood might portray this meeting
of Isaac and Rebekah: "The last five verses of this chapter, 62-67, could probably be
produced by Hollywood into an award winning movie scene: Enter Isaac, a

40. ruggedly handsome yet surprisingly gentle man, walking slowly and meditatively
through a field just as the evening sun begins to set behind him in a vast array of
colors. The music swells as he looks up and sees camels approaching in the distance.
As the camera breaks from Isaac and focuses upon Rebekah, gracefully seated upon
a well-groomed and friendly camel, she also looks up and sees the silhouette of a
man against the setting sun. Knowing that this was her one true love coming to meet
her she elegantly dismounts and shyly covers herself with her veil. Isaac approaches,
their eyes meet for the first time yet was it the first time? Has he seen her
somewhere in a dream perhaps? He sweeps her into his arms and carriers her,
without strain, into his tent claiming her as his wife forever. The screen slowly dims
to black. Roll credits. Happily ever after, or at least until the children were born."
64 Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got
down from her camel
1. The modern translations are more accurate, but they miss the humor that is
generated by the King James Version. It says here that, "..when she saw Isaac, she
lighted off her camel." Those early translators had no idea what this would sound
like to the future generations in America where the Camels cigarettes would be so
popular, and so they were innocent in implying that Rebekah lit up her cigarette
when she saw her future husband coming.
65 and asked the servant, "Who is that man in
the field coming to meet us?" "He is my master,"
the servant answered. So she took her veil and
covered herself.
1. She is about to meet the man she came to marry. He was a total stranger to her,
and she felt shy at exposing herself right away to his vision. She was seen by the
servant unveiled, and so was not afraid to be seen of a man, but this man coming
toward her was the man to be her husband, and to keep him a little longer in
mystery she took her veil and covered herself. This in contrast to the modern girls
approach, which is to uncover and expose herself to attract the opposite sex. The veil
was a sign of chastity, modesty and subjection says Clarke. She was giving a
message to Isaac about the kind of woman she was, and this would be appealing to
him.

41. 66 Then the servant told Isaac all he had done.
1. This whole story was told again as Rebekah sat before him, and what an
appealing story it would be to Isaac as he sat listening and looking at this woman
who was so beautiful under that veil. He only heard from the servant what a beauty
she was, but he believed it and was anxious to see for himself. When the history of
finding her was over, he was ready to make his own history with her, and so he took
her to be his wife on the spot.
67 Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother
Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became
his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was
comforted after his mother's death.
1. This text makes it clear that Isaac was pretty much a mother's boy. It has been
about three years since his mother has died, and he is still in a state of grief. He
needs to move on, and that is why another woman needs to enter his life and become
the leading lady taking the place of Sarah. Rebekah was just the kind of woman
Isaac needed, for she was aggressive and not passive like him. One author looking at
the arrangements for her to leave her home and come to be the mate of Isaac sees a
reason for her being an aggressive woman. He writes, "I think if we go to Gen 24:15
we might see one reason that Rebekah was like this. Notice that the marriage
arrangements made by Abraham’s servant for Isaac and Rebekah are all made with
Laban. Why? Their father is not dead. Rebekah’s father, Bethuel, is only mentioned
in vs 15 as being the father and in verse 50 where he just acquiesces and gives
permission for Abraham’s servant to take Rebekah. All the negotiations were made
with Laban. I don’t think it is reading too much into the text to conclude that
Bethuel was an uninvolved father. We can see the results in Rebekah. She had no
advocate, so she took over and became a controlling woman. When she got married,
she took over her family."
2. It is true that Rebekah did not know Isaac, but she learned a great deal about him
from the servant sent to find him a wife. She had plenty of knowledge, and she was
not like the girl in the following conversation who was so desperate to marry. "The
story is this fellow was very nervous as he contemplated asking Miss Jones to marry
him. So he decided to ask her over the telephone. So he calls on the telephone.
And he says, "Is this Miss Jones?"
And she says, "Yes."