Genesis 24:12-22

12 And he said, O Lord God of my master Abraam, prosper my way before me to day, and deal mercifully with my master Abraam.
13 Lo! I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of them that inhabit the city come forth to draw water.
14 And it shall be, the virgin to whomsoever I shall say, Incline thy water-pot, that I may drink, and she shall say, Drink thou, and I will give thy camels drink, until they shall have done drinking—even this one thou hast prepared for thy servant Isaac, and hereby shall I know that thou hast dealt mercifully with my master Abraam.
15 And it came to pass before he had done speaking in his mind, that behold, Rebecca the daughter of Bathuel, the son of Melcha, the wife of Nachor, and the brother of Abraam, came forth, having a water-pot on her shoulders.
16 And the virgin was very beautiful in appearance, she was a virgin, a man had not known her; and she went down to the well, and filled her water-pot, and came up.
17 And the servant ran up to meet her, and said, Give me a little water to drink out of thy pitcher;
18 and she said, Drink, Sir; and she hasted, and let down the pitcher upon her arm, and gave him to drink, till he ceased drinking.
19 And she said, I will also draw water for thy camels, till they shall all have drunk.
20 And she hasted, and emptied the water-pot into the trough, and ran to the well to draw again, and drew water for all the camels.
21 And the man took great notice of her, and remained silent to know whether the Lord had made his way prosperous or not.
22 And it came to pass when all the camels ceased drinking, that the man took golden ear-rings, each of a drachm weight, and he two bracelets on her hands, their weight was ten pieces of gold.

Genesis 24:12-22 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 24

This chapter shows Abraham's concern to get a suitable wife for his son Isaac, for which purpose he commits the affair into the hands of his eldest servant, and makes him swear that he will not take one from among the Canaanites, but out of his own country, and from among his own kindred, Ge 24:1-4; which his servant agreed to, after having the nature of his charge, and of the oath, explained to him, Ge 24:5-9; upon which he departed to Mesopotamia, and coming to the city of Nahor, and to a well near it, he prayed for success, and desired direction by a token, which was granted him, Ge 24:10-22; and inquiring of the damsel, who answered to the token, whose daughter she was, and whether they had room for him and his in their house; and an agreeable answer being returned, he gave thanks to God that had directed him, and had so far made his journey prosperous, Ge 24:23-27; the damsel acquainting her parents whom and what she met with at the well, a brother of her steps out, and invites the servant in, and makes him welcome, Ge 24:28-33; but before he would eat anything, he tells his errand he was come upon, at the instance of his master; how, he had prayed for direction, and was heard, and for which he had given thanks, Ge 24:34-48; and then treats with the relations of the damsel about her marriage to his master's son, to which they agreed, Ge 24:49-51; and after having blessed God, and given his presents he brought with him to the damsel, and her family, and ate and drank with them, was for departing the next morning, Ge 24:52-54; but the friends of the damsel being desirous of her stay with them some few days, and he urgent to be gone, the affair was referred to her, and she agreed to go with him directly, Ge 24:55-58; upon which they dismissed her with their blessing, Ge 24:59,60; who being met by Isaac in the way, was received and introduced into his mother's tent, and married by him, Ge 24:61-67.

Footnotes 1

The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.