24:1–9 The episode recounted here occurs shortly after Sarah’s death (cf. Gen. 24:67), by which time Abraham is about 138 years old, which certainly counts as being “well advanced in years” (v. 1). Likely it is his wife’s death that focuses Abraham’s attention on the need for Isaac to acquire a wife. The Lord’s promise of innumerable offspring could not be fulfilled without Isaac’s getting married and supplying an heir. In that culture marriage was the primary responsibility not of the man and woman concerned but of their families. It would presumably have been straightforward enough for Abraham to locate a wife for Isaac from the Hittites among whom he was dwelling as a sojourner and foreigner (23:4); through God’s blessing Abraham was wealthy (24:1), and his only son would have seemed an attractive match. That would be the route taken by Esau in the next generation (26:34).

Alternatively, Abraham could have journeyed back to Paddan-aram himself with the boy to search for a suitable bride. Yet it appears that his previous travels outside the Promised Land (e.g., Gen. 12:10–20) have convinced him of the folly of leaving the land that God has promised to give him. Those efforts to find human solutions to his problems have created more difficulties than they have removed. So Abraham devises a plan that allows him to remain with Isaac while sending a trusted representative to seek a suitable wife (24:3–4). If the Lord blesses the plan, the problem will be solved. If not, Abraham will trust the Lord to resolve it in his own way and time (vv. 5–8).

The trusted representative is described simply as “the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had” (v. 2). It is plausible that this is Eliezer of Damascus (cf. 15:2), the member of Abraham’s household who would have inherited had Abraham produced no offspring, but it is impossible to know for sure. Certainly he is a man who has walked with Abraham for a long time and shares his deep faith in the Lord. Abraham summons this man and makes him swear an oath by the Lord—not merely the more generic title “the God of heaven and the God of the earth”323—that he will not take a wife for Isaac from the Canaanite women but will go and find one from Abraham’s own family (24:3–4). The solemnity of the oath is reinforced by the symbolic gesture of placing his hand under Abraham’s “thigh” (Hb. yarek; v. 2; cf. 47:29), which seems likely to be a euphemism for the genitals (cf. 46:26; Ex. 1:5; Judg. 8:30, where offspring come from a person’s yarek),324 though the exact significance of this gesture remains obscure. The content of the oath is that the servant will under no circumstances permit Isaac to marry a Canaanite woman (Gen. 24:3), nor will he take Isaac back to Abraham’s family or land of origin (v. 6). Rather he must find a wife from there who is willing to come and join Isaac in the Land of Promise.

The reason for not taking a wife from the Canaanites is not mere prejudice on Abraham’s part. The current residents of the land are consistently portrayed as deeply sinful people whom it is the Lord’s purpose to dispossess through a holy people that he will create (cf. Gen. 13:13; 15:16; etc.). It is not that Abraham’s family is sin-free, any more than Abraham himself is. Rather, it has been chosen by God to provide the foundation of this new people through the Lord’s grace. Isaac, as the chosen son of the promise, therefore needs a wife who is equally chosen by God to be the bearer of the promise. Genesis 24:6–9 contains Abraham’s final recorded words: a clear confession of faith in God’s power and ability to provide the right wife for Isaac, just as he will fulfill his promise to give Isaac the land. The two promises of land and offspring are ultimately inseparable: a people needs somewhere to live, while a land needs occupants.

24:10–14 The servant goes on his way taking ten camels, which might have been a very unusual sight in those days,325 along with gifts to provide evidence of Abraham’s prosperity, and he journeys back from Canaan to Mesopotamia,326 to the “city of Nahor,” which is not just the place where Nahor himself lives but a city (or village) bearing his name (v. 10). Given Abraham’s awareness of the growth of Nahor’s family (22:20–24), this is the obvious place to go in looking for a family member suitable for marriage.

If someone were seeking to meet women in antiquity, a well was the ideal place to go (cf. Gen. 29:9–11; Ex. 2:15; John 4:6–7). Carrying water was women’s work and would typically involve trips to the well at least twice a day, in the morning and the evening. Wells were also places where one could glean information, such as the whereabouts and welfare of Nahor’s family (cf. Gen. 29:4–6). Abraham’s servant does not leave the encounter to chance, however. He prays that the Lord would grant him success in his search and thereby show “steadfast love” (Hb. khesed) to Abraham (24:12). Khesed often describes behavior that is fitting in a covenant context, so it is plausible that the servant specifically has in mind the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise to Abraham of offspring through Isaac (21:12).

The servant proposes a test whereby he will be able to identify the Lord’s choice of a wife for Isaac: when he approaches and asks for a drink, she will not only grant his request but offer to water his camels also (24:14). This is the first recorded prayer for guidance by an individual in Scripture. Superficially, this may look similar to Gideon’s fleece that he laid out before the Lord as a sign, asking first that the fleece would be wet with dew in the morning and the ground around it dry, and then (as confirmation) that the fleece would be dry and the ground wet (Judg. 6:36–40). However, the differences are as profound as the similarities: Gideon’s sign requires a supernatural work of God, while Abraham’s servant proposes a test of character, looking for a woman with a generous and hospitable spirit (cf. Prov. 31:10–31). It requires someone who is willing to go the extra mile in ministering to a stranger. After all, a few ounces of water would satisfy the thirst of Abraham’s servant, but his ten camels could consume many gallons of water, all of which the woman would have to draw from the well by hand.

24:15–28 The prayer of Abraham’s servant is answered almost before he has finished praying it: Rebekah arrives at the well carrying her water jar (Gen. 24:15). She fits all the usual requirements for a good wife: she is a young woman (Hb. naʿarah) who is not yet married and still under the authority of her father (betulah), and is a virgin (“Whom no man had known”; v. 16).327 As a bonus, Rebekah is described as being “very attractive” (v. 16). What is more, she passes the character test with flying colors, offering to water the servant’s camels as well as providing him with the water he requests for himself (vv. 18–19), a task that clearly takes some time (v. 20).

One more question remains to be answered. Abraham’s servant asks Rebekah to what family she belongs (v. 23), and he receives the welcome news that she is part of Abraham’s wider family: the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor and Milcah (v. 24). The specification of Bethuel’s mother is important, because Nahor also had children through a concubine (cf. 22:20–24). Only then does the servant permit himself a sigh of relief and of praise: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me in the way to the house of my master’s kinsmen” (24:27).328 For Isaac God has provided not merely a lamb but now also the perfect wife. Abraham’s faith in God’s provision is fully justified.

In verses 22–25 it appears that Abraham’s servant adorns Rebekah with gifts prior to learning her family, while in verse 47, in the servant’s reporting of events to Laban, the order is reversed and the servant confirms her family before giving her the gifts. The latter order would seem more logical; however, it may be that the servant is so awed and impressed by the apparently immediate answer to his prayer from the Lord that he gives Rebekah the gifts first, believing by faith that she is indeed the one even before she confirms her family. His subsequent prayer of thanksgiving would then be an affirmation that his faith has not been misplaced and that Rebekah’s appearing is indeed due to the Lord’s khesed (“faithful love”) to Abraham.

The jewelry with which Abraham’s servant adorns Rebekah is of significant value: the gold ring weighs a beqaʿ, a weight equivalent to half a shekel or one-fifth of an ounce (6 g), while the bracelets weigh ten shekels, or about 4 ounces (113 g) (Gen. 24:22). Verse 47 clarifies that the ring in question is a nose ring, not a ring for a finger or ear. These are extravagant gifts, far out of proportion to the service that Rebekah has rendered him, which must immediately have raised questions about his intentions. He has also asked about the possibility of accommodation for the night, and so Rebekah runs home to share the news with her mother’s household, apparently leaving Abraham’s servant by the well (v. 28; cf. v. 30). Calling it “her mother’s house” contrasts it with Isaac’s mother’s tent (v. 67), where she will live at the end of this chapter, and also underlines the near invisibility of her father, Bethuel, throughout the encounter.

24:29–48 At this point Laban, Rebekah’s brother, appears on the scene. Having seen his sister arrive home adorned with unexpected jewelry, he goes to investigate (vv. 29–30). The fact that Laban undertakes this role rather than Rebekah’s father, Bethuel, who is absent throughout this interaction apart from a brief mention in verse 50, suggests that Bethuel is likely elderly and frail. Laban seems more impressed by the gift than Rebekah was, which hints at the greed that he will demonstrate later in the story.329 Laban’s name (“White one”) has been connected with the moon cult, along with the names of others of Abraham’s family of origin (Terah, Sarai, Milcah), which fits with the perspective of Joshua 24:2, 14, that Abraham’s ancestors worshiped other gods. However, Laban addresses Abraham’s servant in Yahwistic terms (“blessed of the Lord”; Gen. 24:31) and warmly invites him into the house to receive the hospitality he has requested for himself and his camels.

Abraham’s servant himself takes care of getting the camels settled in their temporary accommodations (Gen. 24:32), perhaps because Laban’s servants are unsure of how to care for these exotic beasts. Water is also provided for Abraham’s servant and his attendants so that they can wash their feet and refresh themselves after their long journey (v. 32). However, before he settles down to eat with Laban, the servant wants to unburden himself of his commission so that he will not receive Laban’s hospitality under false pretenses (v. 33). He recounts the whole story, giving the Lord credit for blessing Abraham and Sarah with great wealth—flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, camels and donkeys—as well as one son, who stands to inherit the entire estate after Abraham’s death (v. 35). The importance of what has transpired, and especially the Lord’s part in the whole endeavor from beginning to end in directing him to Rebekah, is highlighted by the fact that the narrator repeats the entire story, almost word for word, rather than summarizing it. The effect on the reader, as well as on Laban, is to highlight the inevitability that Rebekah is indeed the one set apart by the Lord for this unique calling to be the wife of Isaac.

24:49–61 As Abraham’s servant’s retelling of events catches up with the present, the narrative tension rises, leading to the crucial question: Are Rebekah and her family willing to entrust her to this stranger to be taken to a faraway country and married to an unknown man, albeit one in her wider family? Abraham’s servant puts as much pressure on Laban as he can, implying that agreement is owed to Abraham as an act of khesed (“steadfast love”) and faithfulness (v. 49). Nevertheless, he acknowledges that Laban would be within his rights to refuse, in which case the servant would need to move on and try elsewhere, though the vagueness of his options (“turn to the right hand or the left”) reveals that he has no immediate alternative plan. It is possible that there are other daughters of Rebekah’s age in Nahor’s wider family, but in that case the prayer that Abraham’s servant prayed at the well would have been not so much unanswered as misleadingly answered by the Lord.

The reader can scarcely avoid agreeing with Laban and Bethuel’s assessment: “The thing has come from the Lord; we cannot speak to you bad or good” (v. 50).330 The transaction is approved, and it is agreed that Rebekah will return with Abraham’s servant to become Isaac’s wife (v. 51). The relief experienced by Abraham’s servant is palpable: when he hears their words of agreement, he bows low before the Lord, giving thanks for the divine guidance and sovereignty that have so evidently superintended the whole process from the moment he first arrived in Paddan-aram (v. 52). He then brings out rich gifts for Rebekah, as well as for her family, to celebrate the forthcoming union and fulfill the bride-price (v. 53). Then they eat and drink together to seal the relationship (v. 54).

The only complication in negotiations come over the timing of Rebekah’s departure (vv. 54–59). Abraham’s servant is understandably eager to get back on the road to his master and celebrate the Lord’s goodness (v. 54). After all, Abraham is old, and it is far from certain how much longer he will live (v. 1). But leaving Laban’s household is not simple; hospitality demands that certain protocols be followed (cf. 31:27), particularly since his departure entails Rebekah’s leaving her home forever. Laban seeks to detain him from going for a while, perhaps ten days or so (24:55; lit., “days or ten”; yamim ʾo ʿasor). In the end, when Abraham’s servant presses them, they put the question to Rebekah herself, allowing her to speak her own commitment of faith to accompany the visitor to his distant home. Her response is simple, just one word in Hebrew: ʾelek (“I will go!” v. 58).

Rebekah leaves Paddan-aram accompanied by her former nurse (v. 59) and an unspecified number of female servants, reflecting her social status (v. 61). Having been with her from childhood, the nurse would be almost a second mother to Rebekah and could be her chaperone as well as friend. Rebekah’s family sends her on her way with a blessing that echoes the Lord’s own blessing on Abraham:

    May you become

    thousands of ten thousands,

    and may your offspring possess

    the gates of those that hate him! (v. 60; cf. 22:17)

This is an expression of their faith and hers that God has called Isaac and Rebekah to be the channels of the promised Abrahamic blessing to the world.

24:62–67 The story closes with an account of Isaac and Rebekah’s first meeting. Isaac and Abraham are continuing their nomadic existence as “sojourners and foreigners,” moving from place to place with their flocks and herds, and are now in the Negeb, having visited Beer-lahai-roi, a well in that same region (24:62; cf. 16:14). It is fitting that he has been at a place named after the Lord’s watching over his people while that same providential care has been orchestrating the selection of his wife.

Their encounter takes place while Isaac is outside in the evening “meditating” (Hb. suakh; Gen. 24:63). This Hebrew word is obscure; some have suggested that it simply means walking, while others have connected it to a similar word for talking (siakh) and hence with “meditation” (Ps. 104:34). However, in most cases in which the verb is used of talking to God it has to do with complaining or bemoaning one’s situation (e.g., Pss. 55:3; 64:2) rather than pondering the existence and attributes of God—a sense that would also fit here. If so, perhaps Rebekah’s arrival is quite literally the answer to Isaac’s prayers. It is worth noting the fact that her arrival “comforted” Isaac, a verb describing relief from the circumstances that cause siakh.331

Isaac and Rebekah both “lifted up their eyes and saw” (Gen. 24:63–64), suggesting a simultaneous event. Rebekah dismounts from her camel in order to meet Isaac face to face rather than looking down on him from a great height, and she puts on her veil (v. 65). Women did not generally go around veiled in the ancient world; otherwise she would have already been wearing her veil. Veils were used for a variety of reasons in the ancient Near East but were associated particularly with betrothal and weddings.332 Indeed, the Akkadian word kallatu (Hb. kalla, “bride”; Song 4:11, 12; 5:1) is connected etymologically to kullulu, which means “to veil.” The veil was not simply a form of concealment in an ancient context; it often served as a pledge and sign of an exclusive relationship. So too here Rebekah’s veiling identifies her as Isaac’s bride.

The narrative concludes with Isaac’s marrying Rebekah and installing her as the “first lady” of the family by bringing her into the tent formerly belonging to his mother (Gen. 24:67). Although this is an arranged marriage, it is by no means a cold and formal relationship—it has, after all, been arranged by God himself! Isaac loves Rebekah and finds comfort in her after his mother’s death (v. 67), a wonderful testimony to the closeness of their friendship.