Genesis 24:31

31 And he said to him, Come in hither, thou blessed of the Lord, why standest thou without, whereas I have prepared the house and a 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.

---

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 Rebecca had a brother whose name was Laban; and Laban ran out to meet the man, to the well.

30 And it came to pass when he saw the ear-rings and the bracelets on the hands of his sister, and when he heard the words of Rebecca his sister, saying, Thus the man spoke to me, that he went to the man, as he stood by the camels at the well.

31 And he said to him, Come in hither, thou blessed of the Lord, why standest thou without, whereas I have prepared the house and a place for the camels?

32 And the man entered into the house, and unloaded the camels, and gave the camels straw and provender, and water to wash his feet, and the feet of the men that were with him.

33 And he set before them loaves to eat; but he said, I will not eat, until I have told my errand. And he said, Speak on.