Genesis 24:31

31 Laban said, "Sir, you are welcome to come in; you don't have to stand outside. I have prepared the house for you and also a place for your 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 She had a brother named Laban, who ran out to Abraham's servant, who was still at the spring.
30 Laban had heard what she had said and had seen the ring and the bracelets on his sister's arms. So he ran out to the well, and there was the man standing by the camels at the spring.
31 Laban said, "Sir, you are welcome to come in; you don't have to stand outside. I have prepared the house for you and also a place for your camels."
32 So Abraham's servant went into the house. After Laban unloaded the camels and gave them straw and food, he gave water to Abraham's servant so he and the men with him could wash their feet.
33 Then Laban gave the servant food, but the servant said, "I will not eat until I have told you why I came." So Laban said, "Then tell us."
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.