Genesis 24:4

4 You must go back to the country where I was born and get a wife for my son Isaac from among my relatives."

Genesis 24:4 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 24:4

But thou shalt go unto my country
Not Canaan, which though his by promise, yet not in possession, but Mesopotamia, as appears from ( Genesis 24:10 ) ; which taken largely included the Chaldea, see ( Acts 7:2 ) , the country where Abraham was born, and from whence he came: and to my kindred;
the family of Nahor his brother, which now dwelt at Haran in Mesopotamia, called the city of Nahor, ( Genesis 24:10 ) ; see ( Genesis 29:4 Genesis 29:5 ) ; of the increase of whose family Abraham had heard a few years ago, ( Genesis 22:20-24 ) : and take a wife to my son Isaac;
from among them, who though they were not clear of superstition and idolatry, yet they worshipped the true God with their "idols"; and a woman taken out of such a family, and removed at a distance from it, it might be reasonably concluded would be brought off of those things, and adhere to the pure and undefiled religion; and the rather this family was chosen, not only because related to Abraham, but because it had sprung from Shem, who was blessed of God, and whose God the Lord was; nearness of kin was no objection and hinderance to such a marriage, the laws relating to marriage not being given till the time of Moses.

Genesis 24:4 In-Context

2 He said to his oldest servant, who was in charge of all that he had, "Place your hand between my thighs and make a vow.
3 I want you to make a vow in the name of the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not choose a wife for my son from the people here in Canaan.
4 You must go back to the country where I was born and get a wife for my son Isaac from among my relatives."
5 But the servant asked, "What if the young woman will not leave home to come with me to this land? Shall I send your son back to the land you came from?"
6 Abraham answered, "Make sure that you don't send my son back there!
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.