Genesis 24:4-8

24:4 You must go instead to my country and to my relatives ¹  to find ²  a wife for my son Isaac.”

24:5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is not willing to come back with me ³  to this land? Must I then ⁴  take your son back to the land from which you came?”

24:6 “Be careful ⁵  never to take my son back there!” Abraham told him. ⁶  24:7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my relatives, ⁷  promised me with a solemn oath, ⁸  ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ He will send his angel ⁹  before you so that you may find ¹⁰  a wife for my son from there. 24:8 But if the woman is not willing to come back with you, ¹¹  you will be free ¹²  from this oath of mine. But you must not take my son back there!”

[24:4]  ¹ tn Heb “for to my country and my relatives you must go.”

[24:4]  ² tn Heb “and take.”

[24:5]  ³ tn Heb “to go after me.”

[24:5]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “guard yourself.”

[24:6]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Or “the land of my birth.”

[24:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying.”

[24:7]  ⁹ tn Or “his messenger.”

[24:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “before you and you will take.”

[24:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “ to go after you.”

[24:8]  ¹⁰ 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.