Genesis 24:31

31 And he said, "1Come in, 2blessed of the LORD! Why do you stand outside since 3I 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 Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban; 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, "Come in, blessed of the LORD ! Why do you stand outside since I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels?"
32 So the man entered the house. Then Laban 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."

Cross References 3

  • 1. Genesis 29:13
  • 2. Genesis 26:29; Ruth 3:10; Psalms 115:15
  • 3. Genesis 18:3-5; Genesis 19:2, 3
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