Genesis 24:2-14

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. 24:4 You must go instead to my country and to my relatives ⁵  to find ⁶  a wife for my son Isaac.”

24:5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is not willing to come back with me ⁷  to this land? Must I then ⁸  take your son back to the land from which you came?”

24:6 “Be careful ⁹  never to take my son back there!” Abraham told him. ¹⁰  24:7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my relatives, ¹¹  promised me with a solemn oath, ¹²  ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ He will send his angel ¹³  before you so that you may find ¹⁴  a wife for my son from there. 24:8 But if the woman is not willing to come back with you, ¹⁵  you will be free ¹⁶  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. ¹⁷ 

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. ¹⁸  He journeyed ¹⁹  to the region of Aram Naharaim ²⁰  and the city of Nahor. 24:11 He made the camels kneel down by the well ²¹  outside the city. It was evening, ²²  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. ²³  Be faithful ²⁴  to my master Abraham. 24:13 Here I am, standing by the spring, ²⁵  and the daughters of the people ²⁶  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.’ ²⁷  In this way I will know that you have been faithful to my master.” ²⁸ 

Genesis 24:27

24:27 saying “Praised be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his faithful love ²⁹  for my master! The Lord has led me ³⁰  to the house ³¹  of my master’s relatives!” ³² 

Genesis 24:35-49

24:35 “The Lord has richly blessed my master and he has become very wealthy. ³³  The Lord ³⁴  has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. 24:36 My master’s wife Sarah bore a son to him ³⁵  when she was old, ³⁶  and my master ³⁷  has given him everything he owns. 24:37 My master made me swear an oath. He said, ‘You must not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, 24:38 but you must go to the family of my father and to my relatives to find ³⁸  a wife for my son.’ 24:39 But I said to my master, ‘What if the woman does not want to go ³⁹  with me?’ ⁴⁰  24:40 He answered, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked, ⁴¹  will send his angel with you. He will make your journey a success and you will find a wife for my son from among my relatives, from my father’s family. 24:41 You will be free from your oath ⁴²  if you go to my relatives and they will not give her to you. Then you will be free from your oath.’ 24:42 When I came to the spring today, I prayed, ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you have decided to make my journey successful, ⁴³  may events unfold as follows: ⁴⁴  24:43 Here I am, standing by the spring. ⁴⁵  When ⁴⁶  the young woman goes out to draw water, I’ll say, “Give me a little water to drink from your jug.” 24:44 Then she will reply to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too.” May that woman be the one whom the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’

24:45 “Before I finished praying in my heart, ⁴⁷  along came Rebekah ⁴⁸  with her water jug on her shoulder! She went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’ 24:46 She quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll give your camels water too.’ So I drank, and she also gave the camels water. 24:47 Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She replied, ‘The daughter of Bethuel the son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to Nahor.’ ⁴⁹  I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her wrists. 24:48 Then I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right path to find the granddaughter ⁵⁰  of my master’s brother for his son. 24:49 Now, if you will show faithful love to my master, tell me. But if not, tell me as well, so that I may go on my way.” ⁵¹ 

[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).

[24:2]  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.

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

[24:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “because you must not take.”

[24:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “for to my country and my relatives you must go.”

[24:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “and take.”

[24:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “to go after me.”

[24:5]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “guard yourself.”

[24:6]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Or “the land of my birth.”

[24:7]  ¹² tn Heb “and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying.”

[24:7]  ¹³ tn Or “his messenger.”

[24:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “before you and you will take.”

[24:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “ to go after you.”

[24:8]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and he swore to him concerning this matter.”

[24:10]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and he arose and went.”

[24:10]  ²⁰ tn The words “the region of” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[24:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “well of water.”

[24:11]  ²² tn Heb “at the time of evening.”

[24:12]  ²³ 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).

[24:12]  ²⁴ tn Heb “act in loyal love with” or “show kindness to.”

[24:13]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the spring of water.”

[24:13]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the men.”

[24:14]  ²⁷ 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.

[24:14]  ²⁸ 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.”

[24:27]  ²⁹ tn Heb “his faithfulness and his commitment.”

[24:27]  ³⁰ tn Heb “As for me – in the way the Lord led me.”

[24:27]  ³¹ tn Here “house” is an adverbial accusative of termination.

[24:27]  ³² tn Heb “brothers.”

[24:35]  ³³ tn Heb “great.” In this context the statement refers primarily to Abraham’s material wealth, although reputation and influence are not excluded.

[24:35]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and he.” The referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:36]  ³⁵ tn Heb “to my master.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “him” in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[24:36]  ³⁶ tn Heb “after her old age.”

[24:36]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and he.” The referent (the servant’s master, Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:38]  ³⁸ tn Heb “but to the house of my father you must go and to my family and you must take a wife for my son.”

[24:39]  ³⁹ tn The imperfect is used here in a modal sense to indicate desire.

[24:39]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “after me.”

[24:40]  ⁴¹ tn The verb is the Hitpael of הָלַךְ (halakh), meaning “live one’s life” (see Gen 17:1). The statement may simply refer to serving the Lord or it may have a more positive moral connotation (“serve faithfully”).

[24:41]  ⁴² tn Heb “my oath” (twice in this verse). From the Hebrew perspective the oath belonged to the person to whom it was sworn (Abraham), although in contemporary English an oath is typically viewed as belonging to the person who swears it (the servant).

[24:42]  ⁴³ tn Heb “if you are making successful my way on which I am going.”

[24:42]  ⁴⁴ tn The words “may events unfold as follows” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[24:43]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “the spring of water.”

[24:43]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “and it will be.”

[24:45]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “As for me, before I finished speaking to my heart.” The adverb טֶרֶם (terem) indicates the verb is a preterite; the infinitive that follows is the direct object.

[24:45]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “Look, Rebekah was coming out.” As in 24:15, the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) is used here for dramatic effect.

[24:47]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “whom Milcah bore to him.” The referent (Nahor) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:48]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “daughter.” Rebekah was actually the granddaughter of Nahor, Abraham’s brother. One can either translate the Hebrew term בַּת (bat) as “daughter,” in which case the term אָח (’akh) must be translated more generally as “relative” rather than “brother” (cf. NASB, NRSV) or one can translate בַּת as “granddaughter,” in which case אָח may be translated “brother” (cf. NIV).

[24:49]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “and I will turn to the right or to the left.” The expression apparently means that Abraham’s servant will know where he should go if there is no further business here.