Text -- Genesis 24:1-8 (NET)

The Wife for Isaac

24:1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed him in everything. 24:2 Abraham said to his servant, the senior one in his household who was in charge of everything he had, “Put your hand under my thigh 24:3 so that I may make you solemnly promise by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth: You must not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living. 24:4 You must go instead to my country and to my relatives to find a wife for my son Isaac.” 24:5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is not willing to come back with me to this land? Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” 24:6 “Be careful never to take my son back there!” Abraham told him. 24:7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my relatives, promised me with a solemn oath, ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ He will send his angel before you so that you may find a wife for my son from there. 24:8 But if the woman is not willing to come back with you, you will be free from this oath of mine. But you must not take my son back there!”

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Gen 24:1

¹ tn Heb “days.”

² tn Heb “Abraham.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.

NET Notes: Gen 24:2

¹ tn The Hebrew term זָקֵן (zaqen) may refer to the servant who is oldest in age or senior in authority (or both).

² sn Put your hand under my thigh. The taking of this oath had to do with the sanctity of the family and the continuation of the family line. See D. R. Freedman, “Put Your Hand Under My Thigh – the Patriarchal Oath,” BAR 2 (1976): 2-4, 42.

NET Notes: Gen 24:3

¹ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose.

² tn Heb “because you must not take.”

NET Notes: Gen 24:4

¹ tn Heb “for to my country and my relatives you must go.”

² tn Heb “and take.”

NET Notes: Gen 24:5

¹ tn Heb “to go after me.”

² tn In the Hebrew text the construction is emphatic; the infinitive absolute precedes the imperfect. However, it is difficult to reflect this emphasis in an English translation.

NET Notes: Gen 24:6

¹ tn Heb “guard yourself.”

² tn The introductory clause “And Abraham said to him” has been moved to the end of the opening sentence of direct discourse in the translation for stylistic reasons.

NET Notes: Gen 24:7

¹ tn Or “the land of my birth.”

² tn Heb “and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying.”

³ tn Or “his messenger.”

⁴ tn Heb “before you and you will take.”

NET Notes: Gen 24:8

¹ tn Heb “ to go after you.”

² sn You will be free. If the prospective bride was not willing to accompany the servant back to Canaan, the servant would be released from his oath to Abraham.