Genesis 24:31

31 And he said, "Come, O blessed [one] of Yahweh. Why do you stand outside? Now I 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.

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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, and his name [was] Laban. And Laban ran out to the man toward the spring.

30 And when he saw the ring and the bracelets on the arms of his sister and heard the words of Rebekah his sister, [who] said, "Thus the man spoke to me," he went to the man. And behold, [he was] standing with the camels at the spring.

31 And he said, "Come, O blessed [one] of Yahweh. Why do you stand outside? Now I have prepared the house and a place for the camels."

32 And the man came to the house and unloaded the camels. And he gave straw and fodder to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who [were] with him.

33 {And food was placed before him} to eat. And he said, "I will not eat until {I have told my errand}." And he said, "Speak."