Genesis 24:17

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

Genesis 24:17 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 24:17

And the servant ran to meet her
He did not stop her as she went to the well, but stayed till she had been there and filled her pitcher, and then he made all the haste he could to meet her, in order to have the sign and token answered he had requested, which could not be done until she returned: and said, let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher;
or taste a little of it, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; or suffer me to swallow a little of it; for it was not so much to quench his thirst that he asked for this, for he could have got, and perhaps had had water out of the well before this time, or however could easily have supplied himself; but this was done to try whether she was the person, and whether her conduct and carriage would answer the token. Josephus F24 says, he asked other virgins and they refused him, for which churlishness Rebekah rebuked them, and gave him water liberally.


FOOTNOTES:

F24 Antiqu. l. 1. c. 16. sect. 2.

Genesis 24:17 In-Context

15 Before he had finished speaking, there was Rebekah-daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor-coming with a jug on her shoulder.
16 Now the girl was very beautiful, a young woman who had not known a man intimately. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came up.
17 Then the servant ran to meet her and said, "Please let me have a little water from your jug."
18 She replied, "Drink, my lord." She quickly lowered her jug to her hand and gave him a drink.
19 When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, "I'll also draw water for your camels until they have had enough to drink."
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