Genesis 24:16

24:16 Now the young woman was very beautiful. She was a virgin; no man had ever had sexual relations with her. ¹  She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came back up.

Genesis 24:61

24:61 Then Rebekah and her female servants mounted the camels and rode away with ²  the man. So Abraham’s servant ³  took Rebekah and left.

Genesis 34:12

34:12 You can make the bride price and the gift I must bring very expensive, ⁴  and I’ll give ⁵  whatever you ask ⁶  of me. Just give me the young woman as my wife!”

[24:16]  ¹ 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.

[24:61]  ² tn Heb “And she arose, Rebekah and her female servants, and they rode upon camels and went after.”

[24:61]  ³ tn Heb “the servant”; the word “Abraham’s” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[34:12]  ³ tn Heb “Make very great upon me the bride price and gift.” The imperatives are used in a rhetorical manner. Shechem’s point is that he will pay the price, no matter how expensive it might be.

[34:12]  ⁴ tn The cohortative expresses Shechem’s resolve to have Dinah as his wife.

[34:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “say.”