Genesis 24:1-11

The Wife for Isaac

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.

[24:1]  ¹ tn Heb “days.”

[24:1]  ² tn Heb “Abraham.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.

[24:2]  ³ tn The Hebrew term זָקֵן (zaqen) may refer to the servant who is oldest in age or senior in authority (or both).

[24:2]  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.

[24:3]  ⁵ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose.

[24:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “because you must not take.”

[24:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “for to my country and my relatives you must go.”

[24:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “and take.”

[24:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “to go after me.”

[24:5]  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.

[24:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “guard yourself.”

[24:6]  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.

[24:7]  ¹³ tn Or “the land of my birth.”

[24:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying.”

[24:7]  ¹⁵ tn Or “his messenger.”

[24:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “before you and you will take.”

[24:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “ to go after you.”

[24:8]  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.

[24:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and he swore to him concerning this matter.”

[24:10]  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.

[24:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “and he arose and went.”

[24:10]  ²² tn The words “the region of” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[24:11]  ²³ tn Heb “well of water.”

[24:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “at the time of evening.”