The Romance
With Questions and Proposed Answers
Background and Printed Text: Genesis 24
Genesis 24:1 And Avraham (Father-Of-A-Crowd) is old. He came into days. And Yehovah blessed Avraham in all. 2And Avraham said unto his old slave of his house [unto his slave, an elder of his house], the ruler in all that is to him, “Put, pray, thine hand under my thigh. 3And I will make-thee-swear via Yehovah Gods of the heavens and Gods of the land that thou wilt not take a woman to my son from the daughters of the Canaanites that I am dwelling in their midst! 4For thou shalt go unto my land and unto my kindred. And thou shalt take a woman to my son, to He-Will-Laugh.”
5And the slave said unto him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to walk after me unto this land; returning, I will return thy son unto the land that thou didst exit from there?” 6And Avraham said unto him, “Guard to thee lest thou wilt return my son there! 7Yehovah Gods of the heavens Who took me from the house of my father, from the land of my kindred and Who spoke to me and Who swore to me to say, ‘I will give this land to thy seed,’ He will send His messenger to thy faces. And thou shalt take a woman to my son from there. 8And if the woman will not be willing to walk after thee, and thou shalt be innocent from this my vow. Only, thou shalt not return my son there!” 9And the slave put his hand under the thigh of Avraham his lords. And he vowed to him concerning this speaking.
10And the slave took ten camels from the camels of his lords. And he walked. And all the good of his lords is in his hand. And he arose. And he walked unto Syria Of-The-Two-Rivers, unto the city of Nahor.
11And he bowed the camels from outside to the city unto a well of the water at the time of evening, at the time of the exiting of the drawing-ones (feminine). 12And he said, “Yehovah Gods of my master Avraham, make-happen, na, to the faces of today. And do Grace with my lords Avraham. 13Behold, I am positioning upon the eye of the water. And daughters of the men of the city are exiting to draw water. 14And the youth (masculine) will be, that I will say unto her, ‘Incline, na, thy pitcher; and I have drunk!’ And she will say, ‘Drink! And I will water also thy camels!’—Thou hast reproved her for Thy slave, for He-Will-Laugh (Isaac). And I will know via her that Thou hast done Grace with my lords.” 15And he, he was before he finished to speak. And behold, Multiple-Pouring (Rebekah) is going-out, who was childed to They-Wasted-A-Mighty-One (Bethuel) son of Queen (Milcah) woman of Snorer (Nakhor) brother of Avraham. And her pitcher is upon her shoulder. 16And the youth [masculine] is very good [feminine] of appearance—ripe. And a man did not know her. And she descended the eye. And she filled her pitcher. And she ascended.
17And the slave ran to meet her. And he said, “I will swallow me, na, a little water from thy pitcher.” 18And she said, “Drink, my lord!” And she hurried. And she descended, her pitcher upon her hand. And she watered him. 19And she finished to water him. And she said, “I will also draw for thy camels until if they finished to drink!” 20And she hurried. And she uncovered her jar unto the water-trough. And she ran again unto the well to draw. And she drew to all his camels. 21And the man, devastating-himself to her, is hushing to know, Did Yehovah prosper his way, if not?
22And it was just as the camels finished to drink. And the man took a gold nose ring, split from his shekel, and two bracelets upon her hands, ten of gold from their shekel. 23And he said, “Whose daughter art thou? Tell, na, to me. Is there a house of thy father, a place for us to lodge?” 24And she said unto him, “I am the daughter of They-Wasted-A-Mighty-One (Bethuel) son of Queen (Milcah), whom she childed to Snorer (Nahor).” 25And she said unto him, “Also straw, also much provender is with us, also a place to lodge!” 26And the man bowed. And he worshipped to Yehovah.
27And he said, “Blessed is Yehovah Gods of my lords Avraham Who did not forsake His Grace and His Truth from with my lords. I am in the way—Yehovah guided me—the house of the brethren of my lord! 28And the youth ran. And she told to the house of her mother according to these words.
29And a brother is to Multiple-Pouring. And his name is White. And White ran unto the man outside, unto the eye. 30And he was when seeing the nose ring and the bracelets upon the hands of his sister and when his hearing the words of Multiple-Pouring his sister to say, “So the man spoke unto me!” And he came unto the man. And behold he stood by the camels by the eye. 31And he said, “Come, blessed of Yehovah! Why wilt thou stand outside? And I, I turned the house and a place for camels!” 32And the man came to the house. And he opened the camels. And he gave straw and provender to the camels and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who are with him.
33And he was put to his faces to eat. And he said, “I will not eat until if I spoke my words.” And he said, “Speak.” 34And he said, “I am the slave of Avraham. 35And Yehovah blessed my lords very much. And He made big. And He gave to him flock and herd and silver and gold and slaves and female-slaves and camels and asses. 36And Princess the woman of my lords childed a son to my lords after her old-age. And he gave to him all that is to him. 37And my lords made-me-swear to say, ‘Thou wilt not take a woman to my son from the daughters of the Canaanite whom I am living in his land, 38if not! Thou wilt walk unto the house of my father and unto my family, and thou wilt take a woman to my son.’ 39And I said unto my lords, ‘Perhaps the woman will not walk after me.’ 40And he said unto me, ‘Yehovah, Whom I have walked myself to His faces, will send His Messenger with thee. And He will prosper thy way. And thou shalt take a woman to my son from my family and from the house of my father. 41Then thou shalt be innocent from my oath when thou wilt come unto my family. And if they will not give to thee, and thou shalt be innocent from my oath.’ 42And I came today unto the eye. And I said, ‘Yehovah Gods of my lords Avraham, if there is Thee, na, prospering my way that I am walking upon her, 43behold I am positioned by the eye of the water. And he will be, the virgin who exits to draw, and I will say unto her, “Water me, na, a little water from thy pitcher,” 44and she will say unto me, “Also thou, drink-thou, and I will also draw to thy camels,” he is the woman that Yehovah reproved for the son of my lords.’ 45I—before I will finish to speak unto my heart, and behold Multiple-Pouring exits. And her pitcher is upon her shoulder. And she descended to the eye. And she drew. And I said unto her, ‘Water me, na.’ 46And she hurried. And she made-descend her pitcher from upon her. And she said, ‘Drink! And also I will water thy camels!’ And I drank, and also she watered the camels. 47And I asked her. And I said, ‘Daughter of whom are thou?’ And she said, ‘Daughter of They-Wasted-A-Mighty-One son of Snorer whom Queen childed to him.’ And I put the nose ring upon her nose and the bracelets upon her hands. 48And I bowed. And I worshipped to Yehovah Gods of my lords Avraham who guided me in the way of Truth to take the daughter of the brother of my lords to his son. 49And now, if there is your doing Grace and Truth with my lords, tell to me. And if not, tell to me. And I will turn upon the right or upon the left.”
50And White answered, and They-Wasted-A-Mighty-One. And they said, “The speech exited from Yehovah. We will not be able to speak unto thee bad or good. 51Behold, Multiple-Pouring is to thy faces. Take and walk. And she will be a woman to the son of thy lords just as Yehovah spoke.” 52And it was just as the slave of Avraham heard their words. And he worshipped landward to Yehovah.
53And the slave sent-out vessels of silver and vessels of gold and clothing. And he gave to Multiple-Pouring. And he gave noteworthies to her brothers and to her mother. 54And they ate and drank—he and the men who are with him. And they lodged. And they arose in the morning. And he said, “Send me to my lords.” 55And her brother said, and her mother, “The youth will dwell with us days or ten; she will walk afterward.” 56And he said unto them, “Do not delay me. And Yehovah prospered my way. Send me. And I have walked to my lords.” 57And they said, “We will call to the youth [masc.], and we have asked her with her mouth.” 58And they called to Multiple-Pouring. And they said unto her, “Wilt thou walk with this man?” And she said, “I will walk.” 59And they sent Multiple-Pouring their sister and her wet-nurse and the slave of Avraham and his men. 60And they blessed Multiple-Pouring. And they said to her, “Thou art our sister. Be to thousands of myriads. And thy seed has possessed the gate of his haters!” 61And Multiple-Pouring arose, and her youths [fem.]. And they chariot-rode upon the camels. And they walked after the man. And the slave took Multiple-Pouring. And he walked.
62And He-Will-Laugh came from the coming of The-Well-To-The-Lives-Of-My-Seer. And he is dwelling in the land of the Negev. 63And He-Will-Laugh went-out to meditate in the field to the turnings of the evening. And he lifted his eyes. And he saw. And behold, camels are coming. 64And Multiple-Pouring lifted her eyes. And she saw He-Will-Laugh. And she fell from upon the camel. 65And she said unto the slave, “Who is the man that is to this who is walking in the field to meet us?” And the slave said, “He is my lords.” And she took the scarf. And she covered herself.
66And the slave scrolled all the things that he did to He-Will-Laugh. 67And He-Will-Laugh brought her the Tentward of Princess his mother. And he took Multiple-Pouring. And she was to him for a woman. And he loved her. And He-Will-Laugh was consoled after his mother.
I. The Vow (verses 1-4)
We now see Avraham as a very old man. He “came into days,” having many days to his lives.
Yehovah blessed Avraham in everything, without exception.
Avraham now will obtain a wife for Isaac his son. He had to find the right wife for his son, however. Being so old, he needed to delegate [to appoint another as representative with full responsibility] this task to someone who could do it.
He had an elder slave who was over his house, responsible for and ruling over everything that occurred. Avraham completely trusted this slave. He assigned him to take a woman (get a wife) for Isaac. There was only one stipulation [condition, detail that must be part of an agreement]: the woman must not be from the daughters of the Canaanites, including the women among whom Avraham lived! This was so important to Avraham that he told his slave to vow via Yehovah Gods of the heavens and Gods of the land to not take a Canaanite woman for his son.
Avraham told his slave to go unto his land and unto his kindred, and take a woman to his son from there.
Questions
1. Isn’t sending a slave very risky, since the slave can easily run away? It would be very risky unless faithfulness, love and true caring were between the slavemaster and the slave. This slave was closer than a brother to Avraham. Avraham loved this man, and he loved Avraham. There was no risk.
2. Why didn’t Isaac find a wife for himself? Yehovah determined to use the events in the Bible so that all careful readers could understand many things about Yehovah, about Avraham, about this slave, about Isaac, and about this woman. Yehovah also showed that arranged marriages can work extremely well.
The Bible doesn’t show Isaac as trying to find a wife for himself, but it does show that he greatly desired a wife (later). Finding a good wife in that wild land would not have been easy.
3. Did Isaac agree with his papa’s decision to get a wife for him? The reader can only discover that later. Answer this question after reading what happened.
4. What if the slave didn’t want to go? If the slave had not desired to go, that slave would have been another person and not the slave mentioned in the Bible! The one in the Bible was willing to take responsibility for his slavemaster’s house, and was therefore willing to do this.
5. Why was the thigh the location where the slave had to place his hand (verse 2) when making the vow? The hand almost always pictures the works a person does, since hands are the first tools of doing work.
When we use the word progeny, we are speaking of offspring, descendents, children are born from anyone. Carefully think about the next verse:
Exodus 1:5 And all the souls that came out of the thigh of Jacob were seventy souls.
Therefore, the thigh pictures progeny: descendents, offspring. If the slave placed his hand under Avraham’s thigh then vowed, he would be vowing that his works will be for the progeny of Avraham, and thus he was vowing to Avraham and to his progeny!
6. What was wrong with a Canaanite woman? The races (including the Canaanites) that lived in that land were idolatrous, violent, wild, immoral (sexually doing whatever they pleased), and just a very bad bunch of folks. Avraham already knew that Yehovah did not desire a Canaanite woman in the lineage of Messiah (the very lineage that Avraham would produce) with one important exception: Rahab the whore! (You can read about her now to find why Yehovah placed her in the lineage of Messiah.)
7. Was Avraham racist against Canaanites? Yehovah was! He grew to hate them because of the terrible and disgusting things they did in order to please their idols and their lusts!
The only racism that is permissible is that which Yehovah directly commands. He later commanded the Israelis to annihilate the Canaanites. Racism that isn’t commanded is racism against Yehovah! For His image is built into every male and female in every race. Everyone of you has the image of God built into you. That is why Yehovah hates sin! For His image is smeared whenever anyone sins! Anyone who hates you because of your race hates Yehovah. And if you hate anyone because of his or her race, you hate Yehovah. If Yehovah commands the Israelis to destroy a race, however, refusing to do that is hatred of their own (the Israelis’) race!
8. Didn’t Yehovah love the Canaanites? Yehovah hated them because of their terribly cruel and vile actions. They used to burn their own babies alive on a superheated statue of their gods! They used to have sexual intercourse with their cattle. Yehovah gave them much time and warnings; they didn’t hearken. He finally commanded that they be wiped out. (The Israelis didn’t do it, and the Israelis were instead nearly killed by the Canaanites and the other races that were just as bad.)
Yehovah hates all workers of iniquity (those who love to be guilty of sin, and who want others to join them in sinning).
9. On the basis of the above answer, is it possible for a Canaanite to be saved? Not only is it possible, but it occurred. A heroic woman named Rahab was saved along with her family. She feared Yehovah the Gods of Israel, and He responded by saving her from being killed with the inhabitants of Jericho. He also gave her everlasing life.
10. What land is Avraham’s land (verse 4)? His land at that time was Syria! While he wasn’t Syrian by race, he was Syrian by culture.
11. Who are part of his kindred? He claimed the Syrians as his kindred. He was from another people: the Arphaxadis (pronounced Ar-Pock-Shodees), but they never became big or important. The Syrians instead became the main group. They are still there, by Israel:
Copyright Access Foundation, Zaine Ridling, Ph.D., Editor
(Find ‘Aram’ which is Syria at the top of this map.)
They are strong enemies of Israel at the present time. Their hatred for the Israelis has maintained violence in Israel with much bloodshed and death.
12. Why did the woman have to be from his own kindred? Of all the cultures in the area, the Syrian culture was the best culture to produce the People of Israel. Yehovah determined to use this culture for that purpose. Other cultures in the area had become very bad, loaded with terrible and violent idolatrous practices. Some cultures burned their babies alive to sacrifice to their gods!
II. The Release from the Vow (verses 5-9)
There was the possibility that a woman would not follow this slave to this land. He wanted to know if he should take Isaac back to the land from which Avraham originally came. Avraham’s reaction was swift and strong: “Guard to thee lest thou wilt return my son there!” Yehovah had taken Avraham from Chaldean (Iraqi) Ur, a great city that was also very idolatrous. Avraham knew that his son could never return there.
Yehovah took Avram from the house of his father. He took him from the land of his kindred. Yehovah spoke to him. He vowed to him to give this land to his seed!
Then Avraham guaranteed, “He will send His messenger to thy faces.” Avraham was a prophet, and he spoke infallibly (without the possibility of any error) regarding this.
Avraham’s slave must take a woman from Syria.
If the woman won’t be willing to come after him (to follow him), he will be innocent from breaking the vow.
Under no conditions is he to ever bring his son to that land.
The slave placed his hand under Avraham’s thigh and vowed concerning Avraham’s speech.
Questions
1. Why would a woman willingly follow a slave whom neither she nor her family knew? Women usually desired a husband. Life was much hard work. If a slave came to get her, the new husband would have help to do the work. She could tell much from the slave himself. If he loved his master, his master’s son would probably be a good husband.
Marriages were often arranged (parents found a husband/wife for their older children). These could be very good marriages. (They could also be terrible, but that didn’t happen as often as good arrangements.)
Very valuable items were sometimes given for the woman. Thus, the family seemed to be purchasing her. Yet, they were really investing in her (they would not tend to mistreat her after paying a very high price for her, since that would be wasting great valuables).
2. What would have happened if Isaac had returned back to that land? Yehovah had taken Avram out from there. Returning back to that land would have put its inhabitants, this slave and Isaac into great danger. Yehovah had already made a promise. Anyone set against Yehovah’s promise was set against Yehovah. That isn’t very smart.
Yehovah has a plan. That plan will take many centuries to fulfill. We are living right now at the early parts of human history. Far more years are ahead than have already been for humans. The ‘end of the world’ is many centuries away. Long before the end of this world, Yehovah’s plan will include all the people of Israel being born of God and Messiah Yeshua’s coming to reign over all the earth.
If the slave and Isaac had returned to the land from which Avram came, they would have been reversing Yehovah’s plan for Israel. They might have therefore been killed. Yehovah warned the slave through Avraham to not do this.
3. Would it have been wrong for Isaac to merely visit Syria to find a wife, with the condition that he would return to live in the land promised? (See verse 6.) Yes, it would have been wrong! Isaac must not return to that land.
Yehovah did not have plans to destroy or harm that land; Isaac’s wife would come from it. Jacob, Isaac’s son would later live in it—for a while. Yehovah determined to make a new race in another land: the race of Israel in the Land of Canaan. Even going to visit would have been wrong for Isaac, but not for this slave.
4. Why was the slave of Avraham able to go to the land of Syria without violating any command of God?
This slave belonged to Avraham, but was not taken from the other land in the same way Avraham was. Yehovah told Avraham to leave that land. Had Avraham returned, his future children and children’s children would have thought that returning was an option (a choice, a possibility). This way, they will know (if they read the text) that returning to live in Iraq or Syria is not right. While Jacob will live in Syria for a while to obtain a wife, he will then leave to come back to this land. He will go to live in Egypt, and he will die there. He will not be buried in Egypt, however; He will come back to the land promised to Avraham. Yehovah placed these texts in the Bible so that the Israelis can understand how important these things are to Him!
5. Why did Avraham call Yehovah ‘Yehovah Gods of the heavens’? This shows that He sees! He will send a messenger to the slaves faces (in front of the slave)! Therefore, the journey route that the slave takes will have another very important person ahead of the slave who will participate in this assignment!
6. Was Avram upset when Yehovah took him from the house of his father, from the land of his kindred? The text doesn’t show that he was upset. He was not young. This would upset a child, but it did not upset a grown adult who was a cowboy.
7. Verse 7 states, “I will give this land to thy seed.” Identify this seed:
Galatians 3:16 Now, the promises were made to Abraham and his seed. He doesn’t say, “and to seeds,” as of many, but, “and to thy seed,” as of one, who is Messiah!
Thus, the seed is Messiah Yeshua Himself. He will be the Owner of that Land later known as the Land of Israel, and known as the land of Canaan in this text.
8. Why didn’t Yehovah just give the land to Avraham since Avraham was already there? Yehovah’s promises are always for a time when the promises will not damage those to whom the promises are made. Avraham was a cowboy among other cowboys who depended on Him. He would have had to become a warlord, constantly fighting enemies for the land, and his offspring would have lost the land by sinning. (Yehovah did bring the Israelis into the land later, and they sinned and got thrown out.) Instead, Yehovah will give it to Avraham and Messiah Yeshua when the Israelis are ready to only do right!
9. What will the seed do with this land? The seed, who is Messiah Yeshua, will rule the entire planet from this land. He will be there and will be approachable. He will make the land very fruitful—producing excellent crops and fruits from all over the world. All cultures of the world will send representatives, and there will be singing from all cultures all day and night, singing the miraculous works of God. Jerusalem will be a tent city (with a few buildings) so that visitors can come and can enjoy the tents of Jacob and the beautiful scenery. Anyone who has questions about any text in the Bible will hear a perfect and clear answer from adults and from children. This is because of what the Seed will do with this land! Imagine living in a land where taking a bath or shower is swimming or standing under a waterfall, where going to bed is in a cozy tent where there are other very kind children, and where the view is looking out from the side of a tall mountain, where all animals are friendly, including lions, tigers and snakes, where there are trees and rocks to climb and clean, cold water to drink that comes straight out of rocks, where there are very good-tasting foods from all cultures of the world, where the stars at night are very bright and clear, where there are children from all over the world with their various forms of dressing, where you can ride gentle animals (horses, mules, asses, camels, etc.) at almost any time, where you can learn as if in school, but have new friends teach you and work with you… Imagine living in a land where you can meet a new friend, and stay in the tent with that friend without being in trouble or danger. That is what Messiah will do for that land.
10. Who is the messenger in verse 7? The word messenger is always the same as angel in the Bible. A messenger can be what we know as an angel, or it could be a person or even Yeshua Himself.
When I read a text, I always want to see whether a messenger is an angel, and person, or God Himself. I cannot tell at this point if the messenger is an angel or God, but I know it is one of those two.
11. Could this slave just take a woman? Wouldn’t she scream that she is being kidnapped? He won’t kidnap her; he will speak to her and to her family. They will arrange for her to go if she desires to go.
12. Would you like to have the assignment of finding a woman for a man who needs a wife? (Each student can answer this question.)
III. Loading Up the Camels (verse 10)
Avraham’s slave had freedom and responsibility to obtain and use whatever might be useful belonging to Avraham for this assignment. He had been proven faithful. He took ten camels (and the text later tells that he took men along also, and plenty of gold). He went on his errand.
Questions
1. Why did he take ten camels? He had to carry supplies. He also had to take enough goods and men to dissuade (convince another or others from doing something) bad guys from attacking. He also needed one camel for the woman!
2. How did he know where to go? Certain established trails led to different places. He knew the way to Syria, and this is the way he took. He didn’t know where to go beyond to the country of Syria.
3. Why does the text mention that he walked before it mentions that he arose? He walked the camels and the goods to a location to gather what he would need. He began to do his assignment right away.
4. Did he converse (speak) with the other men (unmentioned yet in the text) who went? The text doesn’t say. He told them enough so that they would prepare for the journey.
5. Who were these other men? They were either slaves, cowboys who would be beneficial (of good use) on the trip, or a combination of slaves and cowboys.
IV. The Impossible Sign (verses 11-16)
Women came to the well at this time of day to draw water. He caused the camels to kneel down there.
He then prayed to Yehovah the Gods of his master. The first part of his request was that the event would happen on this day. He did not desire to wait days to find a woman for his master’s son.
His request was that Yehovah would do grace with his master Avraham.
He then described his situation to Yehovah— “Behold, I am positioning upon the eye of the water. And daughters of the men of the city are exiting to draw water.”
Next, he set up a scenario (a description of events) that he desired Yehovah to finish: “And the youth will be, that I will say unto her, ‘Incline, na, thy pitcher; and I have drunk!’ And she will say, ‘Drink! And I will water also thy camels!’” He will ask a youth (a young girl, but in the masculine gender!) to incline (to tip it) a pitcher full of water down so that he could drink.
Then he described what she will reply: “Drink! And I will water also thy camels!”
If she did these things, the slave concluded that Yehovah reproved her for Yehovah’s slave, Isaac! He also concluded that Yehovah did Grace with Isaac.
The unnamed servant did not even have enough time to finish his request when a youth came along with her pitcher on her shoulder. She was beautiful, and she had completed puberty. She was ripe—that is, she was fully ready to bear children. No man had known her—she had never had sexual intercourse.
She “descended the eye” (she went down to the place where drinking water is at the surface). She filled her large pitcher (had it been small, she would not have needed to carry it on her shoulder) and ascended (came up).
Questions
1. Why did he bow the camels? The camels were loaded. This way, they could get the load off their feet (hooves) and rest for a while.
2. What are “drawing ones”? They are persons who come to draw water from the watering hole. These drawing ones are feminine in gender; they are women and girls.
Men usually didn’t come to draw water; they were busy with their occupations. Women came to draw, since keeping enough water was very important. They did not have pipes with water coming to their houses. They had to carry the water from the watering hole back to their houses. That could be several miles. The women also did the cooking, cleaning, washing, taking care of children, etc. without any electricity or running water. Women worked together; that made labor more enjoyable, and they could share tasks. Men also had to work very hard. Life was far more work than we usually have to do today in this country. There are many places where women still live and do work the way that they did it at this time in the Bible.
3. Why did they draw water at that time (in the evening)? Walking to the well in the summer sun was very uncomfortable. It was very hot. Drawing water in the evening was better, since it was cooler. They also needed the water for the next day, for the morning as well as throughout the day.
4. They exited from where? The women exited the city to come to the watering hole.
5. Why is ‘Gods’ plural (more than one) instead of singular (just one: ‘God’)? The Hebrew word Elohim means Gods, and refers to all the Gods there are. He is Gods over the land and Gods over the seas. He is Gods of the mountains and Gods of the heavens. He is Gods of crops and Gods of war. He is all the Gods. Thus, He is called Gods using the plural form.
6. What does na mean? The little Hebrew word na acts as a softener, removing any harsh sound of the statement being made.
Suppose that you said, “Come here!” Are you angry? Are you needing help? Are you ordering someone to do something? If the Hebrew word na is used, it means that the speaker is not demanding something, but is speaking with respect and gentleness. (Try using na with each other in this class.)
7. Why did he pray to “Yehovah Gods of my master Avraham” instead of praying to “Yehovah my Gods”? He was doing an errand on behalf of Avraham. Avraham told him that Yehovah would send His messenger before his faces. This was important to Avraham, and Avraham was important to Yehovah. Thus, he prayed to Yehovah Gods of Avraham, asking favor for Avraham, not for himself.
8. What does “to the faces of today” mean? That means while the faces (main parts) of today are present. (If they were behind, that would be yesterday or the day before, or any time in history. If they were in front, that would be in the future.)
9. What does Grace mean? Grace is a very strong burning eagerness toward or against a person that drives that person to take action. If someone is picking on your little sister or your older sister, and you feel very strong to help your sister, when you take action you are showing Grace.
10. What does a person or God do when doing Grace? The person can help with great desire, or the person can harm with great anger. In this case, the slave is asking Yehovah to help in a miraculous way for the sake of Avraham.
11. What is an “eye of the water,” and why is it called an eye? The eye of the water is a place on the ground where fresh water flows to the surface. It is called an eye because it ‘waters’ like someone’s eye. Your eye stays wet; it would be damaged if it became dry. Water is always supplied to it. That is the same for the water that enters this type of watering hole.
12. Why did the slave position himself upon the eye of the water? Did he get into the water? He didn’t get into the water, but was right by its edge. He positioned himself there because that is where the women would gather, and that is where the camels needed to be watered. They would not drink directly from the water, but water would be taken from the watering hole and placed into troughs (to keep the animals from polluting the water).
13. Why is the word youth masculine instead of feminine, when he is looking for a girl? Whenever a human is viewed as part of the entire human race, Biblical Hebrew will use the masculine form. The human race as a whole is masculine. It would be like referring to a girl as “this” or “that”: “That is the one who helped him.”
14. What would be so strange about her being willing to water the camels?
- The pitcher was quite heavy. They didn’t have lightweight plastics in those days. The pitchers were very large, and made of pottery. Filling it and carrying it required much work.
- The men were strangers. They were strong men, and could water their own animals. She didn’t have to volunteer.
- Giving water to one man was enough trouble. Placing water into water troughs for ten camels—she would have to send her vessel down into the well and bring it up a number of times for each camel to do this. (The humps of camels are filled with fat, not water. They can drink quite a bit, though.)
15. Why would Yehovah reprove her for Isaac? What does that mean? To reprove is to strongly correct. It normally means to tell off, to harshly correct. In this case, however, it doesn’t mean that she was abused or treated very badly, but instead was treated with great strictness so that she would be well-trained for her position. That type of harsh training seems bad while it occurs, but it produces very good and often life-saving character in those who are trained.
16. Why was Rebekah named Multiple Pouring? The texts don’t say why her parents named her that way. She proved herself by multiple pourings, however!
17. Why does the Bible describe her as ripe? This way, readers can know that she wasn’t under the proper age for having children. She was in no danger of becoming pregnant too early if she became a man’s wife.
18. What does “a man did not know her” mean? When two have sexual intercourse, they intimately know each other in ways that can be very beneficial (if they are married) or in ways that can really hurt each other (if they are not). Yehovah commanded the Israelis to not be involved in fornication (sexual intercourse without either one being married). He knew that fornication can easily lead to death.
Rebekah did not know a man. Therefore, Isaac would be her first sexual partner. Yehovah greatly approved of her.
V. The First Test (verses 17-21)
The slave ran to meet her. He did not greet her in any normal manner. His wording was different than what he proposed to God: “I will swallow me, na, a little water from thy pitcher.” She responded just as he had requested in his sign: “Drink, my lord!” She hurried, descended, got water, brought it up, and held the pitcher for this stranger while he drank! The text states that she watered him!
Then she said what no one would voluntarily say: “I will also draw for thy camels until if they finished to drink!” This is very tough work. It would make her late getting home. Yet, she did it as if she were gathering gold dust from the ground.
She drew water for all his camels while those men watched her work.
The man, the slave, was “devastating-himself to her”—he was overwhelming himself to know whether she was the right one or not. Yet, he was silent, hushing himself, desiring to know whether or not Yehovah prospered (made successful) his way or not!
Questions
1. Why didn’t the slave say, “May I have a little water from thy pitcher?” instead of what he said, “I will swallow me, na, a little water from thy pitcher”? In our languages and cultures, we ask permission for things. In Hebrew and the Biblical cultures, saying what a person desires to do, then waiting for the person to show willingness or not is the proper way to respond to each other.
2. What was she doing when she watered him? She had no cup. Therefore, she poured water from her pitcher either into her own hand or into his. Either way, it was a very gentle scene. (Try this outside. Get a large pitcher, and pour into another student’s hand—not enough to get the other person wet, but enough to fill the hand so that the other student can drink.)
3. How much water did she give him? She poured more water into her or his hand until he finished drinking. He may have taken quite a bit of water.
4. Why did she volunteer to water the camels when there were men who could have done that hot and tiresome work? This is a great mystery. Did she have a love for camels? Did she recognize these men as special in some way? Did she just like to volunteer? The text doesn’t say why she volunteered. She did, however, and she showed herself of excellent character!
5. What did she mean by “until if they finished to drink”? She would keep watering them until they stopped drinking even if they never finished. A large animal can drink quite a bit, and a camel is designed to take much water. (The humps are not for water storage; they are fat.)
6. Why did she hurry? It was as if she were eager to water them! The text doesn’t say why she hurried, but that also showed her willingness.
7. What does “she uncovered her jar” tell about her jar? Her jar had a lid. See if you can figure out what the jar’s shape was, since she obtained water from a fresh-water watering hole (rather than from a deep well).
8. What were the camels doing while she poured water for them? What would any animal do? The camels watched her. She was not one of their masters, but she was doing what they desired. They were smelling her, watching her, and learning who she was.
9. Why did the slave/man remain silent while she did all this? He didn’t want to interfere with her actions. Saying anything might cause her to stop. He remained silent to see if she was the one chosen by Yehovah.
10. Did Yehovah prosper his way? Read on to see. The slave didn’t decide yet, and readers should not either.
11. Why didn’t someone build a house by or over this watering hole so that the water would be available to that person without walking to it for great distances? Anyone who tried that would have to fight all who made use of that well. Folks who use open watering holes for drinking know better than to live by the water. Any human excrement (‘poop’, ‘doo-doo’, ‘crap’, etc.) or urine (‘pee’) that got into the water would poison all the water. That is why the camels did not drink directly from the water, but were given water in a watering trough. That way, they would not foul the water with their hooves or their mouths, and they would not urinate or defecate (release excrement) in or near the water. That water was life-giving; it was very important.
VI. Tokens and Identification (verses 22-26)
The camels finally finished and were satisfied. The slave then took a nose ring of gold and two gold bracelets, and he placed them on the youth.
The slave then asked a question that might normally be the first question: “Whose daughter art thou?” Before she could answer, He also added, “Tell, na, to me. Is there a house of thy father, a place for us to lodge?”
She immediately answered, identifying her father (Bethuel), her grandmother (Milcah) and her grandfather (Nahor). She then told him that there was enough straw and provender (dry food for livestock or other domestic animals; fodder such as hay or oats), and room to lodge. When the slave heard this, he bowed. And he prostrated to Yehovah.
Questions
1. What is a nose ring?
2. Why do folks wear nose rings? This is part of many cultures. It is an item of jewelry in some places. It is sometimes a symbol of a group. Nose rings can be placed into pierced holes in the nose, or they can be held by pressure.
3. What is a shekel? It is a weight of gold. Some estimated that the shekel weighed about 1/32 of a pound, or half an ounce. Gold is measured using a different type of ounce: the Troy ounce. There are 12 Troy ounces to a pound. Gold is selling for $910 a Troy ounce. I did some math to figure how much the gold nose ring would be worth in gold today: $910 X ½ X 12/16 = about $340. Add the cost of making it into a beautiful nose ring, and it would be worth about $375.
4. What is a gold nose ring split from a shekel? That is a shekel (coin) of gold that is split and shaped into a nose ring.
5. Who is his in “split from his shekel”? It is perhaps the man’s (slave’s) shekel. I couldn’t tell from the text.
6. Did the man put the nose ring on her nose? The text states, “took … upon her hands” as if he placed all three items upon her hands. He may have placed the nose ring in her nose.
7. How heavy were the gold bracelets? They were “ten of gold from their shekel,” ten shekels each.
8. How much would they be worth today? Since gold today is worth about $910 a Troy ounce, the math will look like this for both bracelets together:
$910 X 20 X 12/16 = about $13,800. Add the cost of the workmanship to make the beautiful, matching bracelets and the value will be about $14,500.
9. Why did he give her these very valuable items when he still wasn’t certain that she was the right person for his master’s son?
- She had proven herself willing to serve without being asked.
- She had given water to all the camels.
- She had been gracious to sojourners by giving water to a sojourner.
- He wanted her to know that his master had wealth.
- She had so far shown the symptoms of being the right woman for his master, though the slave still couldn’t be certain.
10. Did this slave do right by giving this woman he had just met such valuable items? He was crossing boundaries by doing this in any culture. She did not mind, and she did not protest. She did not even ask a question. While it was not common to place gold on a young lady unless a relationship had either been established or was about to be established, she was a relative of his master (see verse 27). Thus, his actions to her were not out of line.
11. Why did he ask, “Whose daughter art thou?” instead of a question like, “Who are your parents?” If her parents had died, the question, “Who are your parents” would have brought a very sad response from her, and would have brought sadness to her. “Whose daughter art thou?” is a far happier and kinder question, since it invites a happier response even if her father or mother had died. If her father or mother had died, she would have told her father’s and mother’s names, then the name of the man and woman who are now being her parents. Questions back then showed a great deal of sensitivity. They diligently tried to avoid awkward questions that led to embarrassment or sadness.
12. Why did he ask, “Is there a house of thy father, a place for us to lodge?” instead of a question like, “Does your father have a place for us to lodge”? Again, if her father were dead, that would have been a very sad question. The “house of thy father” could just as easily refer to a grandfather’s house. A wise person will learn to ask questions that show great sensitivity.
13. Why did she give more information about her family than what he asked? She knew that he might know one of her relatives even if he didn’t know another. He might have heard of Milcah or Nahor even if he didn’t know Bethuel. Folks tended to know each other far more often then than they do today since all news and events about persons were very important. They had each other rather than television, radio and cd/dvd players.
14. Was her telling them that they had straw and much provender wise? Was she offering it to them for free without asking her family? She was doing right in her culture. These travelers may have been violent men, but she would have known that very early. She could tell by the way they behaved that they were not violent, but were from someone who had much wealth.
15. Was she wise to volunteer to them a place to lodge without asking her family? She was wise. She would not have been wise doing that in our cultures. When guests came, family members had much extra work to do. Since she was one of the participants in work, she had the right to volunteer to give them lodging. Her family also had means to take guests, and she knew that. These guests would be welcome. They came with news from far away, and they were generous. She knew that her family would not lose by opening their home to them.
16. Why did he worship Yehovah? Did he see success at this point? Verse 27 tells why he worshipped. Yehovah guided him to the house of the brethren of Avraham. That alone was very good news.
VII. The Confession (verses 27-28)
The slave stated that Yehovah Gods of lord Avraham is blessed. He had not forsaken His Grace and His Truth by removing it from lord Avraham.
Avraham’s slave began recounting what he had observed: while he was in the way, Yehovah guided him to the house of his lord Avraham’s relatives!
Upon hearing this, the young girl ran. She quoted to her mother’s house what was said.
Questions
1. Was the slave praying in verse 27, or was he speaking to those around him? He is speaking to those around him. If he were praying to Yehovah, he would have used the first-person pronouns thou, thy and thee, like this: “Blessed art Thou, Yehovah Gods of my lords Avraham, Who did not forsake Thy Grace and Thy Truth from with my lords. I am in the way—Thou, Yehovah, guided me—the house of the brethren of my lord!”
2. What does bless mean in the Bible? The Hebrew word means to be ‘kneeled’. When blesses another in this way (there are other ways), the person being blessed will pictorally (in a picture) kneel in front of the one doing the blessing (like knights before a king). The person who blesses will then lay hands on the one being blessed and will speak, describing the blessing. In this case, who was being blessed?
3. How can Yehovah be blessed? Yehovah always is blessed when His creation does what He has designed and/or commanded it to do. When a person does what is right before Yehovah, that gives Him pleasure. It is as if that person laid hands on Yehovah and blessed Yehovah with that person’s works. This will be very important in the End Times during the Tribulation.
If any of you does what Yehovah has commanded you to do, and refuses to do what Yehovah has said it wrong, you are blessing Yehovah. He remembers.
There are two ways to bless another. One involves words: things said that are promises (of what the person will inherit, for example). Another way is just to do it (just give the person something of value, like an inheritance). They are both blessings in the way the Bible uses the word.
Every blessing that Yehovah gives to humans is always designed so that those humans can bless and benefit others.
4. What is Truth? It is always what is absolute (never changing, always the case) from a god’s perspective.
Different folks believe in many gods in this world. (Those gods don’t really exist, but those who believe in them think they do.) Whatever they claim that their gods see as always the case is what they will claim to be truth.
The same is true for Yehovah. Yehovah exists (if the Bible is true). He tells what is Truth. That is what is absolute from His perspective (His viewpoint). For example, from His viewpoint, using His Name for a false God is very bad. He is very angry when anyone does that.
Yeshua is the Truth (and is other things, too). Thus, Yeshua is absolute from Yehovah’s viewpoint. What Yeshua says, then, must also be Truth.
I ask this question: is lying always a sin according to Yehovah’s Truth? Lying to save innocent folks from the hands of guilty folks who will do them harm is righteous, not sin. Yehovah commanded the Israelis to not lie to each other. That was under the condition that the Israelis are all obeying the Teaching of Yehovah.
Any exception to the rule must be to benefit one who is innocent.
5. Does Yehovah ever forsake His Grace and His Truth? No. If He did, He would be forsaking Himself (Yeshua).
6. Does Yehovah ever forsake His Grace and His Truth from being with a person? He does withdraw and hide His Grace and His Truth from many. The People of Israel has not seen His Grace and His Truth in many cases because this people didn’t desire it. (This people will desire it later, and Yehovah will return it.) Israel (as a group) is blinded from seeing Truth and Grace because Israel as a group doesn’t desire it and doesn’t know that it would benefit. (Individual Israelis in a few cases have His Grace and Truth.)
7. What did he mean by “I am in the way”? This means that he is on the right path. He is travelling just as Avraham told him.
8. Why is “I am in the way—Yehovah guided me—the house of the brethren of my lord!” so broken in its wording? This slave was very excited. When a person who is excited tries to speak several thoughts at one time, disconnected sentence pieces can result. The Hebrew language portrayed this excitement.
9. Why did the youth run? She was very excited to find that this man was the slave of a very wealthy and gracious relative, and that he was so pleased to see her.
10. How did he know that Yehovah guided him? Many will claim to be guided by ‘the Lord.’ If you ask them for evidence, you will find that the evidence they will give will usually not be like the evidence this slave had.
His traveling to a foreign land, coming to a well he had never seen, meeting a girl who did what he asked Yehovah that she would do, and finding that she meets what Avraham said she must be are all things that at least showed that he was guided.
He still isn’t certain that his mission will be accomplished. He will not presume that it is finished until it is.
11. Why didn’t she stay to talk longer with him? Shouldn’t she have worried that he might move on? She is going quickly to her house to prepare for their lodging. She knew that they would not just travel on because of the very expensive gifts that they gave her. She figured that her home was their destination.
12. Shouldn’t she have felt funny running like that after he placed such valuable items on her? No. She was a very natural-reacting person.
13. Was she wise to talk to a stranger? She didn’t speak to just one stranger; she spoke to a camel caravan. He asked her for water. This could have been a trap. However, if they were minded to kidnap her, it would have been easy for them. Even today in Africa, camels are used for very rapid transportation and to grab folks. They are faster than horses.
We can’t tell from the text whether she was at the well alone (besides these men) or not. The times in which she lived were violent. Yet, she knew the culture of her area and the safety of the well. (Had others been kidnapped from her well, she would have only gone with others to it.)
What was wise in her time at her location would not necessarily be wise in another time or another location. She did what was wise, the Bible verifying her qualifications and actions.
14. Normally, the Bible refers to the house of one’s father. Why did this text refer to the house of her mother? I propose that this was a ‘girl’ issue. Her mother had helpers (perhaps slaves, perhaps other daughters). In any case, she was eager to report these things to those members of the house that were in her mother’s circle.
VIII. The Brother (verses 29-32)
Rebekah had left the man by the well while she ran home! While she announced what had happened, her brother, named Laban (meaning White) listened carefully. He then ran to meet this man at the well. When he saw the nose ring in his sister’s nose and the bracelets upon his sister’s hands, and when he heard what she said, that is when he ran. He was impressed!
Avraham’s slave stood by the camels at the well, waiting for what would happen next. Laban said, “Come, blessed of Yehovah.” Laban was a religious man. (That does not mean that he was Godly.)
He then offered the slave and his men good hospitality: “Why wilt thou stand outside? And I, I turned the house and a place for camels!”
The slave and the camel train went to the house. Laban ungirded his camels. And he gave straw and provender to the camels and water to wash the slave’s feet and the feet of the other men with him. He could serve too! A meal was prepared for the group.
Questions
1. Why would a child be named White? Children were named by some event or some noticeable trait (something that can characterize or describe) in the child. This child may have had white hair. The fields of grain may have been white for harvest. Guessing why is usually not beneficial, but it can be enjoyable to try.
2. What is the eye? That refers to the place where the water gathers to the surface of the ground.
3. Who is he in “And he was when seeing the nose ring and the baracelets…”? He refers to the event about to be described. Translators preferred to write, “And it came to pass.” That makes it sound like a fairy tale: “Once upon a time…” The Hebrew words are much better: “He was” (‘The event was’).
4. What impressed Laban so much that he ran to the men at the well? When he saw the nose ring and the bracelets, he was very impressed. When he heard Rebekah’s words, he was also very impressed. (Laban will later prove to be a man who does what he does for his own wealth.)
5. Laban said, “Come, blessed of Yehovah!” Did he have the right to declare the man blessed by Yehovah? He had no right to do this.
Laban is like so many religious folks today who say things like “God bless you” when they like what someone else said or did. Those words are arrogant. Who has the right to declare that God will bless someone else (unless God told that person to say that)? Most who say that are thinking that they are saying something like this: “May God bless you.” That sounds better and not so arrogant, but folks who say that often just received something from that person. They don’t identify which God should do the blessing. It sounds so ‘spiritual’. It isn’t.
Laban said, “Come, blessed of (by) Yehovah.” Did he know that the slave was blessed by Yehovah? He didn’t. Using those words makes him (Laban) sound spiritual (religious). Be wary of anyone who wants to sound religious by using many religious words and terms. The Saints in the Bible never did that. They didn’t need to sound religious. They feared Yehovah.
6. Laban said, “And I, I turned the house and a place for camels!” What was he telling this man? He was telling the slave and his men that he (Laban) did all the work to prepare the house for them. (Now, why would he take credit for doing that?)
7. What does “opened the camels” mean? The camels carried burdens. They needed to be removed so that the camels could graze and freely roam in a corral.
8. Why was washing feet so important? Sand in the area landed and stayed wherever perspiration gathered, especially in areas near the dusty sand. Feet of those who walked became caked with gritty sand. It is very uncomfortable and can hurt. Washing feet rinsed the sand off so that a person can rest.
(Later, in the End Times, some persons who are walking to escape from enemies will come into camps of Saints. The travelers will be so tired that they won’t have the energy to wash their own feet. Saints and other good guys will wash their feet for them. Yehovah will remember that they did this service.)
IX. Recounting the Events (verses 33-49)
Food was placed in front of the slave so that he could eat. He refused to eat until he told the purpose of his mission. Laban, not Rebekah’s father, was the spokesman for the family. Laban was young (because he ran to the well), and he was forward (meaning that he was direct, bold, presumptuous, as if he were a ranking member).
The slave started with his own identity in terms of Avraham: “I am the slave of Avraham.” His name is never given. He was there to represent Avraham, and that alone was the issue.
He knew that one’s ability to take care of a bride was of great importance in a potential marriage situation, so he named the Name of the God of his master and how much that God had blessed his master. “And Yehovah blessed my lords very much. And He made big. And He gave to him flock and herd and silver and gold and slaves and female-slaves and camels and asses.”
He then told of the miracle birth without being religious: “And Princess (Sarah) the woman of my lords childed a son to my lords after her old-age.”
He continued his build-up of the events: “And he gave to him all that is to him.” This son, then, would soon inherit everything that belonged to Avraham.
Avraham’s slave next described the vow and his mission. He was prohibited from taking a Canaanite wife for Avraham’s son. He was to go instead to Avraham’s father’s house and to his kindred. The slave told about his question, “Perhaps the woman will not walk after me—” and about Avraham’s reaction: “Yehovah, Whom I have walked myself to His faces, will send His Messenger with thee. And He will prosper thy way.” The slave laid out the conversation very accurately. He even told that he would be innocent from his oath if the family would not send the woman.
He next described how he came to the well, how he prayed, and what he described to Yehovah in his prayer. Rebekah perfectly responded to this quick prayer in every detail.
He told about his inquiry regarding Rebekah, and about his placing the nose ring upon her nose and the bracelets on her hands. And he concluded by saying, “And I bowed. And I worshipped to Yehovah Gods of my lords Avraham who guided me in the way of Truth to take the daughter of the brother of my lords to his son.”
Now came the most important issue to the slave of Avraham: “And now, if there is your doing Grace and Truth with my lords, tell to me.” He still didn’t know whether they would send her or whether she would go. So he said, “And if not, tell to me. And I will turn upon the right or upon the left.”
Questions
1. What does “he was put to his faces to eat” mean? The food was put directly in front of the slave so that he would eat.
2. Why was the slave unwilling to eat until he had spoken his words? He did not know whether he would be still welcome after telling his mission. He was very anxious to know whether Yehovah had prospered him for the sake of his master, or not. He didn’t want to give them a wrong impression of his mission. Their hospitality was very kind, and he want them to know why he was there.
3. Why isn’t the slave’s name mentioned? This slave is too important as a type (as a picture of someone or something else). Though this event is a very happy event, others who are not Jewish during the Tribulation will experience this very kind of leading from Yehovah as they take Israeli children (with others) to Mount Zion to save them from destruction. That event will be the opposite—filled with terrors, but will be accompanied by great miracles of Yehovah.
It is as if this slave is so important, that his name is withheld from this text.
4. Isn’t “Yehovah blessed my lords very much” a religious statement? It isn’t; it is an observation and a statement of faith.
5. Why did the slave give so many details? Giving these details was the only way that those hearing would understand the slave’s mission.
6. Who is this Messenger in verse 40? This Messenger is either Yeshua or the Spirit of Yeshua/Yehovah. Yeshua is normally the Messenger of Yehovah (the ‘Angel Yehovah’) in the Bible.
7. In verse 49, the slave says, “And now, if there is your doing Grace and Truth with my lords, tell to me.” What does doing Grace and Truth have to do with what they will be doing? If Grace is a fervent, burning zeal that causes someone to take action, and if Truth is what is absolute before Yehovah, this family will be showing their very strong zeal for Avraham by sending their daughter to his son for a wife. They will be showing Truth by actually sending her, not just keeping the gifts and enjoying the company, and keeping Rebekah from going with them.
8. What does “And I will turn upon the right or upon the left” mean? That means that the slave and his men will turn left or right instead of continuing on the same path to try to get Rebekah for a wife. They will take some other trail.
X. The Quick and Religious Response (verses 50-52)
Both Laban and Bethuel answered. From what they heard, their response was “The speech exited from Yehovah. We will not be able to speak unto thee bad or good.” Then they said, “Behold, Multiple-Pouring is to thy faces. Take and walk. And she will be a woman to the son of thy lords just as Yehovah spoke.” This was very good news to the slave. All sounded finalized. The slave again prostrated to the ground and worshipped Yehovah.
Questions
1. What does “The speech exited from Yehovah” mean? They are claiming that the speech and all its words are straight from Yehovah. That is the same as saying that it is prophecy.
2. Explain what they meant by “We will not be able to speak unto thee bad or good”: They claimed that they could not argue against the speech of Yehovah, and agreeing with it wasn’t even what they could do. If God said it, they would have to comply. (I don’t think that this is what they truly thought. See how they have a different view later.)
3. They expressed, “Behold, Multiple-Pouring is to thy faces. Take and walk. And she will be a woman to the son of thy lords just as Yehovah spoke.” Is this the way they truly felt? They will give some resistence later.
XI. The Joy and the Delay (verses 53-61)
The slave now gave more valuables Rebekah, her brothers and her mother. The slave and his men then partied with them. They spent the night.
The next morning, the slave told them to send him to his lords. Rebekah’s brother and mother said, “The youth will dwell with us days or ten; she will walk afterward.” This was not what the slave desired to hear. He said, “Do not delay me. And Yehovah prospered my way. Send me. And I have walked to my lords.”
They had a strategy: “We will call to the youth [masc.], and we have asked her with her mouth.” They did so, asking her, “Wilt thou walk with this man?” She responded, “I will walk.” There was no reason to delay.
They sent Rebekah their sister, her wet-nurse, the slave and his men.
They then blessed Rebekah. “Thou art our sister. Thou art our sister. Be to thousands of myriads. And thy seed has possessed the gate of his haters!”
Rebekah and her youths arose. They rode on the camels, following the man. The mission of the slave was nearly accomplished.
Questions
1. What three valuables are first mentioned, and why were they valuable? Vessels of silver, vessels of gold and clothing are mentioned. Vessels were very important since contains for liquids (like wine, alcohol and water) and items were not easily obtainable. Each one had to be handmade. Beautiful vessels of silver and gold made by craftsmen were excellent gifts.
Clothing was also valuable—far more than readers today would understand. A woman’s dress easily could be worth thousands of dollars if the threads were fine. No machines were available to make thread. Thus, thread had to be hand-spun using something akin to a spinningwheel. The thread then was hand-woven. Many days of work went into one fine piece of cloth. Making a dress easily took years. Since men and women wore loose garments with a belt, those garments were very valuable. One garment would be worth the price of a new car today. An ordinary shirt would have been worth hundreds of dollars. Thus, giving clothing was like giving gold.
2. What were the ‘noteworthies’ that the slave gave to Rebekah’s brothers and her mother? The text doesn’t say. Thus, we don’t know.
3. Did the slave give anything to her father? The text doesn’t mention him at this point. That was his daughter. What could be given to him?
4. Did folks do a lot of partying with alcohol and food back then? They often celebrated. Life was hard, and they enjoyed eating and drinking.
5. Doesn’t the Bible condemn drinking alcohol? The Bible never condemns this. It condemns drunkenness. That is quite different. A person who becomes adicted to alcohol is a drunk (no matter how sober the person appears to be). That is a sin before Yehovah. Drunkenness leads to many other sinful actions because the person loses inhibition (the ability to not do wrong things).
Alcohol is considered a blessing in the Bible. Anything that is a blessing can become no longer a blessing if the person becomes addicted to it. Many different medications are beneficial to man. When anyone becomes addicted to a medication so that the person’s life becomes centered around getting that medication (often at any cost), that person has gone into witchcraft and sorcery. Those are forms of idolatry.
Alcohol is always bad for those who have tendencies to become addicted to it and for those whose behaviors change so that they do wrong.
These folks partied using plenty of alcohol. They didn’t do wrong, and they didn’t become wild and evil.
6. Why did they spend another night? The best time to travel was early in the morning. Starting a trip in the evening didn’t make sense. Camp was hard to set up.
7. Why did the slave say, “Send me to my lords”? Just leaving a place without being sent was culturally improper. A guest would ask a host to send the guest. If the host refused, of course, the guest could leave, but refusing would also be rude.
8. How long is days or ten? It is from a few days to ten days, and it can be extended to months.
9. Why didn’t Rebekah’s papa speak up instead of her brother and her mother? Her father didn’t seem to play much of a role in these events. The text doesn’t explain why.
10. Why did they desire her to say for that length of time? The text doesn’t give their reasons for this, either. Their guests would be ‘paying’ guests, they knew. Rebekah could continue with her part of the housework. These are guesses. It could be that her mother would greatly miss her.
11. What was/were the reason/reasons the slave gave to not delay him? The only reason he gave wasn’t a reason! He said, “Yehovah prospered my way.” He was reminding them that they had said, “The speech exited from Yehovah. We will not be able to speak unto thee bad or good.”
12. When they called to the youth to give her answer, what were the brother and mother expecting? They said, “…we have asked her with her mouth” (meaning that they desired to hear it straight from her mouth). My impression is that they felt she would not consent to go with this stranger—at least not right away. She must have surprised them with her reply.
13. What is a wet nurse? This is a woman who breastfeeds a baby that isn’t her own. She often does much more than that, caring for the baby and sometimes even helping to rear her. This was the case with Rebekah.
In order for a woman to become a wet nurse, she normally has to have been recently pregnant so that her breasts were still giving milk.
14. Why would they send the wet nurse with her? This woman had always known and tended her, working with her. She was a slave. Her life was dedicated to Rebekah, and they very likely loved each other very much.
15. They said to Rebekah, “Be to thousands of myriads.” What must happen for that to occur? She would have to become the beginning of a race!
A myriad is a very large number! It isn’t a specific number, but it represents a very large number. Millions of persons would be a myriad of persons.
16. What does “And thy seed has possessed the gate of his haters” mean and imply? It implies the following:
- The seed is either the entire offspring or it is referring to a particular offspring. (Both are used in the Bible.)
- The offspring will have wars. The offspring will win at least one war, and will take over a city (or a number of cities) of enemies. That city (or cities) will have a city gate, so the offspring will possess the gate of that city (or cities). Thus, the enemies will become slaves of the offspring.
17. How many youths went with Rebekah? The text says youths. This can mean two, and it can mean more than two.
18. Were the youths slaves? Yes, they were slaves.
19. Did the youths get to ride the camels? Yes, they did.
XII. Isaac’s Dream Approaches (verses 62-65)
The scene switches to Isaac. He was coming from the way of the well that Hagar had named. He was in the very hot part of the land of Israel known as the Negev (south).
Isaac went to do some heavy thinking (meditating) at the time when the day turned to the evening. When he looked up, he could see the camels coming.
Rebekah also looked up, and she saw a man in the field. She came off the camel so quickly that the text describes that she fell off (landing on her feet, of course).
She said to the slave, “Who is the man that is to this who is walking in the field to meet us?” It was not dark yet. It was just approaching darkness. The slave responded, “He is my lords.” Rebekah understood this to be Isaac for whom she was brought.
Any man could look at her, but it was not proper in her culture for her future husband to see her. She had a scarf for this purpose, and she covered herself.
Questions
1. Why did he live in the south, a very hot place in Israel? That was where the grass for the herds and flocks could be found.
2. What good does meditating do? This is a very good way for a person to think about life, relationships, creation, the Creator, wisdom, justice, sense, and many other thoughts that most folks ignore. A person who meditates wisely can become very wise.
3. What is transcendental meditation, and how does it differ from what Isaac did? Transcendental Meditation, according to its main teacher Maharishi, is supposed to be “a path to God.” The technique has been described as “spiritual” and not religious. It is supposed to be a coping strategy for life. It is derived from a religion, and is therefore a way to teach that religion. The word transcendental comes from a word meaning to transcend or to rise above (a location, a problem, a situation in life). The inventer saw it as a way to rise above problems in life.
Isaac did not practice that kind of meditating. He thought about many things. That is a good way to figure out how to solve problems and mysteries, and how to do activities in a better way. Religious meditation is a good way to get stuck in religion, a way to be distracted from fearing Yehovah and from doing what He sees as wise.
4. What are the turnings of the evening? They are when the air turns cooler, the breezes increase, when the light becomes far less bright, when the evening and night animals begin stirring, when certain plant flowers open, etc.
5. How did Isaac know that the camels were coming to him? The camels were headed his way toward the evening. If they were going to camp, they would have already camped. They had a destination, and they were coming his way. It was the only reasonable conclusion.
6. Why did she cover herself? That was part of her cultural tradition. That is the source of the tradition of the veil at weddings.
XIII. The Happy Beginning (verses 66-67)
While Rebekah and Isaac waited, the slave gave the whole story once again. Then Isaac took this veiled woman into his mother Sarah’s tent. There was no other event or ceremony, no exchange of vows.
She became his wife. He loved her. Isaac was consoled now after the death of his mother.
1. What does scrolled mean? It has the same meaning when used with computers today! It means to tell or show a story or an event from the beginning to the end.
2. How old was Isaac when he married Rebekah?
Genesis 25:20 And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.
3. How does Isaac’s taking Rebekah into his mother’s tent differ from a man taking a woman and living with her (without marriage) today, even when it is with the consent of the other members of the family? Living together unmarried has no commitment. Either can leave. There is no divorce. This is also known in the Bible as fornication (if neither one is married to someone else). The Bible views fornication as sin. It views marriage as right.
Isaac was committed to Rebekah, and she to him before they saw each other. Arranged marriages are that way. They are marriages before the two see each other.
4. Since Isaac was consoled by Rebekah after his mother’s death, was Isaac a ‘mama’s boy’? No. He thought on his own and was an independent worker.
5. The text states that he loved her. Did she love him? She did! The text doesn’t have to state this directly. Future texts will show this.