1 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. |
2 And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: |
3 And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: |
4 But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. |
5 And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest? |
6 And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again. |
7 The LORD God of heaven, which took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence. |
8 And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again. |
9 And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter. |
10 And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor. |
11 And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water. |
12 And he said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham. |
13 Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water: |
14 And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master. |
15 And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. |
16 And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up. |
17 And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher. |
18 And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. |
19 And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking. |
20 And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. |
21 And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not. |
22 And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold; |
23 And said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee: is there room in thy father's house for us to lodge in? |
24 And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor. |
25 She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in. |
26 And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the LORD. |
27 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master's brethren. |
28 And the damsel ran, and told them of her mother's house these things. |
29 And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the well. |
30 And it came to pass, when he saw the earring and bracelets upon his sister's hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the well. |
31 And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the LORD; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels. |
24 The subjoining of Isaac's marriage to Sarah's funeral (with a particular reference to it, Gen 24:67.) shews us, that as one
generation passeth away, another generation comes; and thus the entail of human nature is preserved. Here is,
24:1 Abraham's pious care concerning his son was, that he should not marry with a daughter of Canaan, but with one of his kindred because he saw, the Canaanites were degenerating into great wickedness, and knew, that they were designed for ruin: would not marry his son among them, lest they should be either a snare to his soul, or, at least, a blot to his name. Yet he would not go himself among his kindred, lest he should be tempted to settle there: this caution is given, Gen 24:6, and repeated, Gen 24:8. Parents, in disposing of their children, should carefullyconsult their furtherance in the way to heaven.
24:2 His eldest servant - Probably Eliezer of Damascus, one whose conduct and affection he had had long experience of: he trusted him with this great affair, and not Isaac himself, because he would not have Isaac go at all into that country, but marry thither by proxy; and no proxy so fit as the steward of his house. This matter is settled between the master and the servant with a great deal of care and solemnity.The servant is bound by an oath to do his utmost to get a wife for Isaac among his relations, Gen 24:3-4. Abraham swears him to it, both for his own satisfaction, and for the engagement of his servant to all possible care and diligence. Thus God swears his servants to their work, that, having sworn, they may perform it.Swearing being an ordinance, not peculiar to the church, but common to mankind, is to be performed by such signs as are the common usages of our country.
24:7 God's angels are ministering spirits, sent forth, not only for the protection, but guidance of the heirs of promise, Heb 1:14.He shall send his angel before thee - And then thou shalt speed well.
24:11 He made his camels kneel down - Perhaps to unload them.
24:12 Send me good speed this day - We have leave to be particular in recommending our affairs to the care of Divine providence. Those that would have good speed must pray for it this day, in this affair. Thus we must, in all our ways acknowledge God.
24:14 Let it come to pass - He prays God, that be would please to make his way plain and clear before him, by the concurrence of minute circumstances in his favour. It is the comfort, as well as the belief, of a good man, that God's providence extends itself to the smallest occurrences, and admirably serves its own purposes by them. And it is our wisdom, in all our affairs, to follow providence. Yea, it is very desirable, and that which we may lawfully pray for, while, in the general, we set God's will before us as our rule, that he will, by hints of providence, direct us in the way of our duty, and give us indications what his mind is. Thus he guides his people with his eye, and leads them in a plain path.
24:15 And before he had done speaking, behold Rebekah came out - Who in all respects, answered the characters he wished for in the woman that was to be his master's wife, handsome and healthful, humble and industrious, courteous and obliging to a stranger. And providence so ordered it, that she did that which exactly answered his sign. She not only gave him drink, but, which was more than could have been expected, she offered her service to give his camels drink, which was the very sign he proposed. God, in his providence, doth sometimes wonderfully own the prayer of faith, and gratify the innocent desires of his praying people even in little things, that he may shew the extent of his care, and may encourage them at all times, to seek him, and trust in him; yet we must take heed of being over bold in prescribing to God, lest the event should weaken our faith rather than strengthen it. And the concurrence of providences, and their minute circumstances, for the furtherance of our success in any business, ought to be particularly observed with wonder and thankfulness to the glory of God.We have been wanting to ourselves both in duty and comfort, by neglecting to observe providence.
24:27 Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham - Observe here,
24:29 We have here the making up of the marriage between Isaac and Rebekah, related largely and particularly. Thus we are directed to take notice of God's providence in the little common occurrences of human life, and in them also to exercise our own prudence, and other graces: for the scripture was not intended only for the use of philosophers and statesmen, but to make us all wise and virtuous in the conduct of ourselves and families.
24:31 Come in thou blessed of the Lord - Perhaps, because they heard from Rebekah, of the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth, they concluded him a good man, and therefore blessed of the Lord.