Genesis 24:17

17 The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”

Genesis 24:17 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
17 And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.
English Standard Version (ESV)
17 Then the servant ran to meet her and said, "Please give me a little water to drink from your jar."
New Living Translation (NLT)
17 Running over to her, the servant said, “Please give me a little drink of water from your jug.”
The Message Bible (MSG)
17 The servant ran to meet her and said, "Please, can I have a sip of water from your jug?"
American Standard Version (ASV)
17 And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Give me to drink, I pray thee, a little water from thy pitcher.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
17 The servant ran to meet her and said, "Please give me a drink of water."
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
17 Then the servant ran to meet her and said, "Please let me have a little water from your jug."
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
17 The servant hurried to meet her. He said, "Please give me a little water from your jar."

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 praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor.
16 The woman was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever slept with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.
17 The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”
18 “Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.
19 After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough to drink.”

Cross References 1

  • 1. ver 45; 1 Kings 17:10; John 4:7
Scripture quoted by permission.  Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.  NIV®.  Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica.  All rights reserved worldwide.