Genesis 24:31

31 And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the LORD; why dost thou stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and the place for the camels.

Genesis 24:31 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 24:31

And he said, come in, thou blessed of the Lord
Both with temporal and spiritual blessings; he concluded he was blessed with the former by the presents he had made to his sister, and by the men that attended him, and the number of camels that were with him; and with the latter by his devotion, his worshipping of God, and thankfulness to him, which Rebekah had observed and related: some Jewish writers say {h}, he thought he was Abraham, and therefore gave him this title and this invitation to come into the house: wherefore standest thou without?
this he said either as reproving him that he did not follow his sister upon her invitation, or rather as pressing him to make no more delay: for I have prepared the house:
swept it clean, or ordered it to be so, as the word ^F9 signifies; had fitted and furnished it with everything convenient for him and those with him: Jonathan and Jarchi interpret it of purging the house from idols and strange worship, which he knew would be offensive to Abraham, or any that belonged to him; but the former sense is best: and room for the camels;
he had ordered the stable to be cleansed also, and everything provided there fit for the camels; so that some time elapsed between Rebekah's return home and Laban's coming to the well, though no doubt everything was done with as much dispatch as possible.

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 Bereshit Rabba, sect. 60. fol. 52. 4. Targ. Jon. in loc.
F9 (ytygp) "repurgavi", Drusius; "verri", Schmidt.

Genesis 24:31 In-Context

29 And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban; and Laban ran out unto the man to the fountain.

30 And it came to pass when he saw the pendant and the bracelets upon his sister’s hands, she said, Thus spoke the man unto me; then he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the fountain.

31 And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the LORD; why dost thou stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and the place for the camels.

32 Then the man came into the house, and Laban ungirded his camels and gave straw and fodder for the camels and water to wash his feet and the men’s feet that were with him.

33 And they set food before him to eat, but he said, I will not eat until I have told my errand. And he said unto him, Speak on.