Genesis 25:2 | 49
46
“ She quick ly low ered her jar from her shoulder and said , ‘ Drink , and I ’ ll wa ter your cam els too .’ So I drank , and she wa tered the cam els also .
47
“ I asked her , ‘ Whose daugh ter are you ?’ “ She said , ‘ The daugh ter of Be thu el son of Nahor , whom Mil kah bore to him .’
“ Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms , 48 and I bowed down and worshiped the Lord . I praised the Lord , the God of my mas ter Abra ham , who had led me on the right road to get the grand daugh ter of my mas ter ’ s broth er for his son . 49 Now if you will show kind ness and faith ful ness to my mas ter , tell me ; and if not , tell me , so I may know which way to turn .”
50
La ban and Be thu el an swered , “ This is from the Lord ; we can say noth ing to you one way or the oth er . 51 Here is Re bek ah ; take her and go , and let her be come the wife of your mas ter ’ s son , as the Lord has di rect ed .”
52
When Abra ham ’ s ser vant heard what they said , he bowed down to the ground be fore the Lord . 53 Then the ser vant brought out gold and sil ver jew el ry and ar ti cles of cloth ing and gave them to Re bek ah ; he also gave cost ly gifts to her broth er and to her moth er . 54 Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night there .
When they got up the next morn ing , he said , “ Send me on my way to my mas ter .”
55
But her broth er and her moth er re plied , “ Let the young wom an re main with us ten days or so ; then you a may go .”
56
But he said to them , “ Do not de tain me , now that the Lord has grant ed suc cess to my jour ney . Send me on my way so I may go to my mas ter .”
57
Then they said , “ Let ’ s call the young wom an and ask her about it .” 58 So they called Re bek ah and asked her , “ Will you go with this man ?” “ I will go ,” she said .
59
So they sent their sis ter Re bek ah on her way , along with her nurse and Abra ham ’ s ser vant and his men . 60 And they blessed Re bek ah and said to her ,
“ Our sister , may you increase to thousands upon thousands ; may your offspring possess the cities of their enemies .”
61
Then Re bek ah and her at ten dants got ready and mount ed the cam els and went back with the man . So the ser vant took Re bek ah and left .
62
Now Isaac had come from Beer La hai Roi , for he was liv ing in the Ne gev . 63 He went out to the field one eve ning to med i tate , b and as he looked up , he saw cam els ap proach ing . 64 Re bek ah also looked up and saw Isaac . She got down from her cam el 65 and asked the ser vant , “ Who is that man in the field com ing to meet us ?”
“ He is my mas ter ,” the ser vant an swered . So she took her veil and cov ered her self .
66
Then the ser vant told Isaac all he had done .
67
Isaac brought her into the tent of his moth er Sar ah , and he mar ried Re bek ah . So she be came his wife , and he loved her ; and Isaac was com fort ed af ter his moth er ’ s death .
The Death of Abraham
25:1-4pp — 1Ch 1:32-33
Abra ham had tak en an oth er wife , whose
25 name was Ke tu rah . 2 She bore him Zimran , Jok shan , Me dan , Mid i an , Ish bak and Shu ah .
a
55 Or she uncertain . b
63 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is
24:50 Laban and Bethuel answered In the narrative that follows ( and all other OT references to it ), Rebekah ’ s father , Bethuel , says and does nothing in negotiations regarding Rebekah . Laban , her brother , handles everything — and his name appears before her father ’ s when the opposite is expected . Laban clearly has guardianship over his sister . When Rebekah goes to tell her family about the man she has met , she informs her mother ’ s household rather than her father ’ s ( v . 28 ). 24:53 costly gifts It is unclear whether these gifts are part of a bride price ( called elsewhere in Hebrew mohar ; see note on Ex 22:16 ) or are meant to show generosity . 24:55 ten days or so This may be a colloquialism for a long period of time — perhaps longer than a year . Ten days alone would not be a sufficient reason for the servant to protest the imposition . 24:62 Beer Lahai Roi The well where Hagar had a divine encounter ( see Ge 16:14 and note ). 24:65 my master The man Rebekah asked about is Isaac . Abraham ’ s servant refers to Isaac as his master because Isaac will inherit all of Abraham ’ s wealth , including his servants ( compare to 25:5 ). took her veil The story of the Egyptians witnessing Sarah ’ s beauty seems to indicate that Israelite women did not normally veil themselves ( 12:14 ). Veiling was , however , part of the marriage ceremony ( 29:23 – 25 ).
25:1 – 18 The Abraham narrative concludes with two genealogies ( see note on 5:1 ) bracketing the account of his death ( vv . 7 – 11 ). The first genealogy ( vv . 1 – 6 ) lists the sons Abraham has with another wife , Keturah . The second genealogy ( vv . 12 – 18 ) lists the descendants of Ishmael , Abraham ’ s son through Hagar ( his wife Sarah ’ s servant ). The names in these genealogies , like earlier genealogies in Genesis , seem to correspond to people groups and places . However , of the names in the list , only Midian and Ishbak can be identified with places or people groups with certainty .
25:1 had taken another wife Earlier Abraham ’ s age was once considered an obstacle to having children ( Ge 17:17 ; compare Heb 11:11 – 12 ); now he takes another wife and has six more children . Genesis 25:1 – 6 may be out of chronological sequence . First Chronicles 1:32 , which refers to Keturah as a concubine , favors this suggestion . Compare note on 25:12 – 15 . 25:2 Midian The term here refers to the land of Midian , which was in northwest Arabia , east of the Gulf of Aqaba . As a clan ( or confederacy of clans ), the Midianites were located in a widespread area from Midian to the northern borders of Egypt . Midianite traders purchased Joseph from his brothers ( Ge 37:25,28 ; compare Jdg 8:24 )