24:1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years, 1 and the Lord had blessed him 2 in everything. 24:2 Abraham said to his servant, the senior one 3 in his household who was in charge of everything he had, “Put your hand under my thigh 4 24:3 so that I may make you solemnly promise 5 by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth: You must not acquire 6 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 7 to find 8 a wife for my son Isaac.”
24:5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is not willing to come back with me 9 to this land? Must I then 10 take your son back to the land from which you came?”
24:6 “Be careful 11 never to take my son back there!” Abraham told him. 12 24:7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my relatives, 13 promised me with a solemn oath, 14 ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ He will send his angel 15 before you so that you may find 16 a wife for my son from there. 24:8 But if the woman is not willing to come back with you, 17 you will be free 18 from this oath of mine. But you must not take my son back there!” 24:9 So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and gave his solemn promise he would carry out his wishes. 19
24:10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed with all kinds of gifts from his master at his disposal. 20 He journeyed 21 to the region of Aram Naharaim 22 and the city of Nahor. 24:11 He made the camels kneel down by the well 23 outside the city. It was evening, 24 the time when the women would go out to draw water. 24:12 He prayed, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, guide me today. 25 Be faithful 26 to my master Abraham. 24:13 Here I am, standing by the spring, 27 and the daughters of the people 28 who live in the town are coming out to draw water. 24:14 I will say to a young woman, ‘Please lower your jar so I may drink.’ May the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac reply, ‘Drink, and I’ll give your camels water too.’ 29 In this way I will know that you have been faithful to my master.” 30
24:15 Before he had finished praying, there came Rebekah 31 with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah (Milcah was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor). 32 24:16 Now the young woman was very beautiful. She was a virgin; no man had ever had sexual relations with her. 33 She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came back up. 24:17 Abraham’s servant 34 ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a sip of water from your jug.” 24:18 “Drink, my lord,” she replied, and quickly lowering 35 her jug to her hands, she gave him a drink. 24:19 When she had done so, 36 she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have drunk as much as they want.” 24:20 She quickly emptied 37 her jug into the watering trough and ran back to the well to draw more water until she had drawn enough for all his camels. 24:21 Silently the man watched her with interest to determine 38 if the Lord had made his journey successful 39 or not.
24:22 After the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka 40 and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels 41 and gave them to her. 42 24:23 “Whose daughter are you?” he asked. 43 “Tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”
24:24 She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom Milcah bore to Nahor. 44 24:25 We have plenty of straw and feed,” she added, 45 “and room for you 46 to spend the night.”
24:26 The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord, 24:27 saying “Praised be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his faithful love 47 for my master! The Lord has led me 48 to the house 49 of my master’s relatives!” 50
24:28 The young woman ran and told her mother’s household all about 51 these things. 24:29 (Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban.) 52 Laban rushed out to meet the man at the spring. 24:30 When he saw the bracelets on his sister’s wrists and the nose ring 53 and heard his sister Rebekah say, 54 “This is what the man said to me,” he went out to meet the man. There he was, standing 55 by the camels near the spring.
1 tn Heb “days.”
2 tn Heb “Abraham.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.
3 tn The Hebrew term זָקֵן (zaqen) may refer to the servant who is oldest in age or senior in authority (or both).
4 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.
5 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose.
6 tn Heb “because you must not take.”
7 tn Heb “for to my country and my relatives you must go.”
8 tn Heb “and take.”
9 tn Heb “to go after me.”
10 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.
11 tn Heb “guard yourself.”
12 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.
13 tn Or “the land of my birth.”
14 tn Heb “and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying.”
15 tn Or “his messenger.”
16 tn Heb “before you and you will take.”
17 tn Heb “ to go after you.”
18 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.
19 tn Heb “and he swore to him concerning this matter.”
20 tn Heb “and every good thing of his master was in his hand.” The disjunctive clause is circumstantial, explaining that he took all kinds of gifts to be used at his discretion.
21 tn Heb “and he arose and went.”
22 tn The words “the region of” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
23 tn Heb “well of water.”
24 tn Heb “at the time of evening.”
25 tn Heb “make it happen before me today.” Although a number of English translations understand this as a request for success in the task (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV) it is more likely that the servant is requesting an omen or sign from God (v. 14).
26 tn Heb “act in loyal love with” or “show kindness to.”
27 tn Heb “the spring of water.”
28 tn Heb “the men.”
29 sn I will also give your camels water. It would be an enormous test for a young woman to water ten camels. The idea is that such a woman would not only be industrious but hospitable and generous.
30 tn Heb “And let the young woman to whom I say, ‘Lower your jar that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink and I will also give your camels water,’ – her you have appointed for your servant, for Isaac, and by it I will know that you have acted in faithfulness with my master.”
31 tn Heb “Look, Rebekah was coming out!” Using the participle introduced with הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator dramatically transports the audience back into the event and invites them to see Rebekah through the servant’s eyes.
32 tn Heb “Look, Rebekah was coming out – [she] who was born to Bethuel, the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, the brother of Abraham – and her jug [was] on her shoulder.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
33 tn Heb “And the young woman was very good of appearance, a virgin, and a man she had not known.” Some argue that the Hebrew noun translated “virgin” (בְּתוּלָה, bÿtulah) is better understood in a general sense, “young woman” (see Joel 1:8, where the word appears to refer to one who is married). In this case the circumstantial clause (“and a man she had not known”) would be restrictive, rather than descriptive. If the term actually means “virgin,” one wonders why the circumstantial clause is necessary (see Judg 21:12 as well). Perhaps the repetition emphasizes her sexual purity as a prerequisite for her role as the mother of the covenant community.
34 tn Heb “and the servant.” The word “Abraham’s” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
35 tn Heb “and she hurried and lowered.”
36 tn Heb “when she had finished giving him a drink.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
37 tn Heb “and she hurried and emptied.”
38 tn Heb “to know.”
39 tn The Hebrew term צָלָה (tsalah), meaning “to make successful” in the Hiphil verbal stem, is a key term in the story (see vv. 40, 42, 56).
40 sn A beka weighed about 5-6 grams (0.2 ounce).
41 sn A shekel weighed about 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce) although weights varied locally, so these bracelets weighed about 4 ounces (115 grams).
42 tn The words “and gave them to her” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
43 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’” The order of the introductory clause has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
44 tn Heb “whom she bore to Nahor.” The referent (Milcah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
45 tn Heb “and she said, ‘We have plenty of both straw and feed.’” The order of the introductory clause has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
46 tn Heb The words “for you” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
47 tn Heb “his faithfulness and his commitment.”
48 tn Heb “As for me – in the way the
49 tn Here “house” is an adverbial accusative of termination.
50 tn Heb “brothers.”
51 tn Heb “according to.”
52 tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause introduces the audience to Laban, who will eventually play an important role in the unfolding story.
53 tn Heb “And it was when he saw the nose ring and the bracelets on the arms of his sister.” The word order is altered in the translation for the sake of clarity.
54 tn Heb “and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying.”
55 tn Heb “and look, he was standing.” The disjunctive clause with the participle following the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) invites the audience to view the scene through Laban’s eyes.