Genesis 24:2-3

24:2 Abraham said to his servant, the senior one ¹  in his household who was in charge of everything he had, “Put your hand under my thigh ²  24:3 so that I may make you solemnly promise ³  by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth: You must not acquire ⁴  a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living.

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.

³ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose.

⁴ tn Heb “because you must not take.”