Genesis 24:17

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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Genesis 24:17 In-Context

15 Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out. She had a jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah. Milcah was the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor.

16 The young woman was very beautiful. She was a virgin. No man had made love to her. She went down to the spring. She filled her jar and came up again.

17 The servant hurried to meet her. He said, "Please give me a little water from your jar."

18 "Have a drink, sir," she said. She quickly lowered the jar to her hands. And she gave him a drink.

19 After she had given him a drink, she said, "I'll get water for your camels too. I'll keep doing it until they finish drinking."