Genesis 24:15-61

Rebekah Is Chosen

15 ¹Before he had finished speaking, behold, ²Rebekah who was born to Bethuel the son of ³Milcah, the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor, came out with her jar on her shoulder.

16 The girl was ⁴very beautiful, a virgin, and no man had had relations with her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up.

17 Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, "⁵Please let me drink a little water from your jar."

18 ⁶She said, "Drink, my lord "; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink.

19 Now when she had finished giving him a drink, ⁷she said, "I will draw also for your camels until * they have finished drinking."

20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran back to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels.

21 ⁸Meanwhile, the man was gazing at her in silence, to know whether the LORD had made his journey successful or not.

22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a ⁹gold ring weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels in gold,

23 and said, "Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room for us to lodge in your father's house?"

24 She said to him, "¹⁰I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor."

25 Again she said to him, "We have plenty of both straw and feed, and room to lodge in."

26 Then the man ¹¹bowed low and worshiped the LORD.

27 He said, "¹²Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken ¹³His lovingkindness and His truth toward * my master; as for me, ¹⁴the LORD has guided me in the way to the house of my master's brothers."

28 Then ¹⁵the girl ran and told her mother's household about these things.

29 Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was ¹⁶Laban; and Laban ran outside to the man at the spring.

30 When he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister's wrists, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, "This is what the man said to me," he went to the man; and behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring.

31 And he said, "¹⁷Come in, ¹⁸blessed of the LORD! Why do you stand outside since ¹⁹I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels?"

32 So the man entered the house. Then ²⁰Laban unloaded the camels, and he gave straw and feed to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.

33 But when food was set before him to eat, he said, "I will not eat until * I have told my business." And he said, "Speak on."

34 So he said, "I am ²¹Abraham's servant.

35 "The LORD has greatly ²²blessed my master, so that he has become rich; and He has given him ²³flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and maids, and camels and donkeys.

36 "Now ²⁴Sarah my master's wife bore a son to my master in her old age, and ²⁵he has given him all that he has.

37 "²⁶My master made me swear, saying, 'You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live;

38 but you shall go to my father's house and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son.'

39 "²⁷I said to my master, 'Suppose the woman does not follow * me.'

40 "He said to me, '²⁸The LORD, before whom I have ²⁹walked, will send ³⁰His angel with you to make your journey successful, and you will take a wife for my son from my relatives and from my father's house;

41 ³¹then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my relatives; and if they do not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.'

42 "So ³²I came today to the spring, and said, 'O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, if now You will make my journey on which I go ³³successful;

43 behold, ³⁴I am standing by the spring, and may it be that the maiden who comes out to draw, and to whom I say, "³⁵Please let me drink a little water from your jar ";

44 and she will say to me, "You drink, and I will draw for your camels also "; let her be the woman whom the LORD has appointed for my master's son.'

45 "Before I had finished ³⁶speaking in my heart, behold, ³⁷Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder, and went down to the spring and drew, and ³⁸I said to her, 'Please let me drink.'

46 "She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder, and said, '³⁹Drink, and I will water your camels also '; so I drank, and she watered the camels also.

47 "⁴⁰Then I asked her, and said, 'Whose daughter are you?' And she said, 'The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him'; and I put the ⁴¹ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her wrists.

48 "And I ⁴²bowed low and worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, ⁴³who had guided me in the right way to take the daughter of my master's kinsman for his son.

49 "So now if you are going to ⁴⁴deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, let me know, that I may turn to the right hand or the left."

50 Then Laban and Bethuel replied, "⁴⁵The matter comes from the LORD; ⁴⁶so we cannot * speak to you bad or good.

51 "Here is Rebekah before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master's son, as the LORD has spoken."

52 When Abraham's servant heard their words, he ⁴⁷bowed himself to the ground before the LORD.

53 The servant brought out ⁴⁸articles of silver and articles of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother.

54 Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they arose in the morning, he said, "⁴⁹Send me away to my master."

55 But her brother and her mother said, "⁵⁰Let the girl stay with us a few days, say ten; afterward she may go."

56 He said to them, "Do not delay me, since ⁵¹the LORD has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master."

57 And they said, "We will call the girl and consult her wishes."

58 Then they called Rebekah and said to her, "Will you go with this man?" And she said, "I will go."

59 Thus they sent away their sister Rebekah and ⁵²her nurse with Abraham's servant and his men.

60 They blessed Rebekah and said to her, "May you, our sister, ⁵³Become thousands of ten thousands, And may ⁵⁴your descendants possess The gate of those who hate them."

61 Then Rebekah arose with her maids, and they mounted the camels and followed * the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.

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Genesis 24:15-61 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 24

This chapter shows Abraham's concern to get a suitable wife for his son Isaac, for which purpose he commits the affair into the hands of his eldest servant, and makes him swear that he will not take one from among the Canaanites, but out of his own country, and from among his own kindred, Ge 24:1-4; which his servant agreed to, after having the nature of his charge, and of the oath, explained to him, Ge 24:5-9; upon which he departed to Mesopotamia, and coming to the city of Nahor, and to a well near it, he prayed for success, and desired direction by a token, which was granted him, Ge 24:10-22; and inquiring of the damsel, who answered to the token, whose daughter she was, and whether they had room for him and his in their house; and an agreeable answer being returned, he gave thanks to God that had directed him, and had so far made his journey prosperous, Ge 24:23-27; the damsel acquainting her parents whom and what she met with at the well, a brother of her steps out, and invites the servant in, and makes him welcome, Ge 24:28-33; but before he would eat anything, he tells his errand he was come upon, at the instance of his master; how, he had prayed for direction, and was heard, and for which he had given thanks, Ge 24:34-48; and then treats with the relations of the damsel about her marriage to his master's son, to which they agreed, Ge 24:49-51; and after having blessed God, and given his presents he brought with him to the damsel, and her family, and ate and drank with them, was for departing the next morning, Ge 24:52-54; but the friends of the damsel being desirous of her stay with them some few days, and he urgent to be gone, the affair was referred to her, and she agreed to go with him directly, Ge 24:55-58; upon which they dismissed her with their blessing, Ge 24:59,60; who being met by Isaac in the way, was received and introduced into his mother's tent, and married by him, Ge 24:61-67.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 54

1. Genesis 24:45
2. Genesis 22:20, 23
3. Genesis 11:29
4. Genesis 12:11; Genesis 26:7; Genesis 29:17
5. John 4:7
6. Genesis 24:14, 46
7. Genesis 24:14
8. Gen 24:12-14, 27, 52
9. Genesis 24:47; Exodus 32:2, 3
10. Genesis 24:15
11. Genesis 24:48, 52; Exodus 4:31
12. Gen 24:12, 42, 48; Exodus 18:10; Ruth 4:14; 1 Samuel 25:32; 2 Samuel 18:28; Luke 1:68
13. Genesis 32:10; Psalms 98:3
14. Genesis 24:21, 48
15. Genesis 29:12
16. Genesis 29:5, 13
17. Genesis 29:13
18. Genesis 26:29; Ruth 3:10; Psalms 115:15
19. Genesis 18:3-5; Genesis 19:2, 3
20. Genesis 43:24; Judges 19:21
21. Genesis 24:2
22. Genesis 24:1
23. Genesis 13:2
24. Genesis 21:1-7
25. Genesis 25:5
26. Genesis 24:2-4
27. Genesis 24:5
28. Genesis 24:7
29. Genesis 5:22, 24; Genesis 17:1
30. Exodus 23:20
31. Genesis 24:8
32. Genesis 24:11, 12
33. Nehemiah 1:11
34. Genesis 24:13
35. Genesis 24:14
36. 1 Samuel 1:13
37. Genesis 24:15
38. Genesis 24:17
39. Genesis 24:18, 19
40. Genesis 24:23, 24
41. Ezekiel 16:11, 12
42. Genesis 24:26, 52
43. Genesis 24:27; Psalms 32:8; Psalms 48:14; Isaiah 48:17
44. Genesis 47:29; Joshua 2:14
45. Psalms 118:23; Mark 12:11
46. Genesis 31:24, 29
47. Genesis 24:26, 48
48. Genesis 24:10, 22; Exodus 3:22; Exodus 11:2; Exodus 12:35
49. Genesis 24:56, 59; Genesis 30:25
50. Judges 19:4
51. Genesis 24:40
52. Genesis 35:8
53. Genesis 17:16
54. Genesis 22:17

Footnotes 16

[a]. Lit "known"
[b]. Lit "keeping silent"
[c]. Lit "hands"
[d]. Lit "hands"
[e]. Lit "Thus the man"
[f]. Lit "he"
[g]. Lit "great"
[h]. Lit "after she was old"
[i]. Lit "dwell"
[j]. Lit "fountain of water"
[k]. Lit "hands"
[l]. Lit "brother"
[m]. Lit "show lovingkindness and truth"
[n]. Lit "to"
[o]. Lit "ask her mouth"
[p]. Lit "seed"