Genesis 24:12 | 47
12
Again Abra ham bowed down be fore the people of the land 13 and he said to Ephron in their hear ing , “ Lis ten to me , if you will . I will pay the price of the field . Ac cept it from me so I can bury my dead there .”
14
Ephron an swered Abra ham , 15 “ Lis ten to me , my lord ; the land is worth four hun dred shek els a of sil ver , but what is that be tween you and me ? Bury your dead .”
16
Abra ham agreed to Ephron ’ s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hear ing of the Hit tites : four hun dred shek els of sil ver , ac cord ing to the weight cur rent among the mer chants .
17
So Ephron ’ s field in Mach pe lah near Mamre — both the field and the cave in it , and all the trees with in the bor ders of the field — was deed ed
18 to Abra ham as his prop er ty in the pres ence of all the Hit tites who had come to the gate of the city . 19 Af ter ward Abra ham bur ied his wife Sar ah in the cave in the field of Mach pe lah near Mam re ( which is at He bron ) in the land of Ca naan . 20 So the field and the cave in it were deed ed to Abraham by the Hit tites as a buri al site .
Isaac and Rebekah
Abra ham was now very old , and the Lord
24 had blessed him in ev ery way . 2 He said to the sen ior ser vant in his house hold , the one in charge of all that he had , “ Put your hand un der my thigh . 3 I want you to swear by the Lord , the God of heav en and the God of earth , that you will not get a wife for my son from the daugh ters of the Ca naan ites , among whom I am liv ing , 4 but will go to my coun try and my own rel a tives and get a wife for my son Isaac .”
5
The ser vant asked him , “ What if the wom an is un will ing to come back with me to this land ? Shall I then take your son back to the coun try you came from ?”
6
“ Make sure that you do not take my son back there ,” Abra ham said . 7 “ The Lord , the God of heav en , who brought me out of my fa ther ’ s household and my na tive land and who spoke to me and prom ised me on oath , say ing , ‘ To your off spring b I will give this land ’ — he will send his an gel be fore you so that you can get a wife for my son from there . 8 If the wom an is un will ing to come back with you , then you will be re leased from this oath of mine . Only do not take my son back there .” 9 So the ser vant put his hand un der the thigh of his mas ter Abra ham and swore an oath to him concern ing this mat ter .
10
Then the ser vant left , tak ing with him ten of his mas ter ’ s cam els load ed with all kinds of good things from his mas ter . He set out for Aram Naha ra im c and made his way to the town of Na hor .
11
He had the cam els kneel down near the well out side the town ; it was to ward eve ning , the time the wom en go out to draw wa ter .
12
Then he prayed , “ Lord , God of my mas ter Abra ham , make me suc cess ful to day , and show
a
15 That is , about 10 pounds or about 4.6 kilograms b
7 Or seed c
10 That is , Northwest Mesopotamia
23:15 four hundred shekels of silver This may have been a standard price — three texts from Ugarit ( ancient Syria ) give this amount as the purchase price for a piece of real estate . 23:16 according to the weight current among the merchants The shekel was not a coin at this time , but a unit of weight .
24:1 – 67 Abraham sends his servant back to his homeland to find a wife for Isaac , warning him not to take Isaac with him ( vv . 1 – 9 ). The servant encounters Rebekah , the daughter of Abraham ’ s nephew ( his great niece ; v . 15 ; compare 22:20 – 23 ). After explaining his mission to Rebekah ’ s brother , Laban ( vv . 34 – 49 ), Laban and Rebekah ’ s father agree that Rebekah should marry Isaac ( vv . 50 – 51 ). Rebekah agrees and returns with Abraham ’ s servant ( vv . 57 – 67 ).
24:2 Put your hand under my thigh Swearing oaths typically involved symbolic acts in the ancient Near East . See note on 47:29 . 24:3 Canaanites This refers generally to all the inhabitants of Canaan , regardless of individual ethnicity ( see 10:19 ). 24:4 my country and my own relatives In response to this command , the servant does not go to Ur where Abraham is originally from ( see note on 11:28 ). Instead , he goes across the Euphrates ( see v . 10 ) to the country of Nahor , Abraham ’ s brother ( see 11:27,29 ; compare 27:43 ).
24:5 – 8 The servant asks what to do if the woman is unwilling — perhaps Isaac should be taken across the river to Ur , where Abraham is originally from . Abraham refuses , letting the servant know that God would lead him to a woman via his angel and that Isaac should not leave the promised land for Abraham ’ s homeland . Abraham nevertheless considers her refusal a possibility , so he informs the servant that his obligation will end once the woman is found and the marriage is offered .
24:6 you do not take my son back there Although the people to whom the servant was sent were Abraham ’ s kin , Abraham did not want the son of Yahweh ’ s covenant promises to leave the promised land . 24:7 send his angel before you Abraham ’ s theology allowed for a refusal on the part of the woman whom God , through his angel , would select . 24:10 Aram Naharaim The Hebrew phrase used here aram naharayim does not occur anywhere else in the OT , though it is paralleled by Paddan Aram in 25:20 . It is sometimes translated as Mesopotamia because it can be understood as “ Aram of the rivers ” or “ Aram , the land between two rivers ” and because the Septuagint ( the ancient Greek translation of the OT ) translates it as mesopotamia ( Mesopotamia ). town of Nahor A city associated with either ( or both ) Abraham ’ s brother Nahor or Abraham ’ s grandfather who had the same name , Nahor ( see 11:24 – 27 ). 24:11 the time the women go out to draw water After the normal workday and its requirements have ended , in preparation for the evening meal .