NOTES for Gen 24:32-67

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³²And the man came into the house: and he ungirded his camels, and gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the men's feet that were with him.

³³And there was set meat before him to eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on.

³⁴And he said, I am Abraham's servant.

³⁵And the LORD hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses.

³⁶And Sarah my master's wife bare a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he hath.

³⁷And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell:

³⁸But thou shalt go unto my father's house, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son.

³⁹And I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman will not follow me.

⁴⁰And he said unto me, The LORD, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father's house:

⁴¹Then shalt thou be clear from this my oath, when thou comest to my kindred; and if they give not thee one, thou shalt be clear from my oath.

⁴²And I came this day unto the well, and said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way which I go;

⁴³Behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass, that when the virgin cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink;

⁴⁴And she say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman whom the LORD hath appointed out for my master's son.

⁴⁵And before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the well, and drew water: and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee.

⁴⁶And she made haste, and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: so I drank, and she made the camels drink also.

⁴⁷And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bare unto him: and I put the earring upon her face, and the bracelets upon her hands.

⁴⁸And I bowed down my head, and worshipped the LORD, and blessed the LORD God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter unto his son.

⁴⁹And now if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me: and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left.

⁵⁰Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the LORD: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good.

⁵¹Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the LORD hath spoken.

⁵²And it came to pass, that, when Abraham's servant heard their words, he worshipped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth.

⁵³And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things.

⁵⁴And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master.

⁵⁵And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go.

⁵⁶And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the LORD hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master.

⁵⁷And they said, We will call the damsel, and inquire at her mouth.

⁵⁸And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.

⁵⁹And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men.

⁶⁰And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.

⁶¹And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.

⁶²And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahai-roi; for he dwelt in the south country.

⁶³And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming.

⁶⁴And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel.

⁶⁵For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself.

⁶⁶And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done.

⁶⁷And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.

Abraham's servant does not drag the matter out; on the contrary, he tries to settle everything as quickly as possible. For the East, such an approach is more the exception: here every transaction and every agreement is reached and concluded without haste, and it certainly must be, as people in Russia say, "celebrated with drinks." And if in Russia deals are usually celebrated with drinks over one or two days, in the East it can sometimes take no less than a week. Indeed, a person has come from far away and will again go far away; the road is not short, so this person must be given a chance both to rest and to talk with people - in the steppe or the desert, what conversation is there...

In short, a guest was usually not allowed to leave earlier than after a week, whatever reason he had come for. All the more so here, where the reason is unusual: a wedding is involved. Not the wedding itself yet, of course, but the betrothal; still, this is an event that cannot simply be skipped. Meanwhile, Abraham's servant sets out already the next day. And Rebekah is ready to go with him.

Why is that? Was life bad in her parental home? It is hard to say. There is also another reason, a purely spiritual one. It comes down to a simple rule: when you leave, leave. Long farewells mean extra tears. This is not a question of sentimentality or harshness; it is a question of resolve. Often a person consciously or unconsciously very much wants to linger, slow down, postpone a decision that has already supposedly been made. In practice, however, this means that he is wavering, that the decision has been made and yet not quite made; and if, for example, something were now to prevent its fulfillment, deep down the person would even be glad, although he would most likely never say so out loud and would not even admit that gladness to himself. Readiness to act at once, as soon as a decision has been made, is resolve - one of the most valuable and necessary qualities of spiritual life. By leaving on the morning after the betrothal, Abraham's servant tests Rebekah for resolve - and she passes the test.

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For Gen 24:32-67