GOD’S ANCIENT PEOPLE GENESIS _ALUN OWEN_ CHAPTER 24 ABRAHAM’S SERVANT LOOKS FOR A WIFE FOR ISAAC V1 Abraham was an old man. He had lived for many years. The *Lord had always been very kind to Abraham. V2 Abraham’s oldest servant managed everything that Abraham had. Abraham said to him, ‘Put you... [ Continue Reading ]
The servant was probably Eliezer. (See Genesis 15:2.) ‘Put your hand under my leg.’ This was a sign of an important promise. (See Genesis 24:2.)... [ Continue Reading ]
Abraham did not want his son Isaac to marry a foreign woman. He wanted Isaac to marry a relative. (See the comment on Genesis 38:2.)... [ Continue Reading ]
When Abraham said ‘my country’, he meant west Mesopotamia. Abraham had lived there, in the city that was called Haran. (See Genesis 11:31.) Mesopotamia is the land that is between the river Tigris and the river Euphrates. Nowadays it is mostly in the countries Syria and Iraq. V5 The servant replied... [ Continue Reading ]
‘This country’ was *Canaan. ‘The country that you came from’ was the west part of Mesopotamia. In verse 4, Abraham called it ‘my country’.... [ Continue Reading ]
As in verse 5, ‘this country’ was *Canaan. God had made this promise on several occasions. (For the first occasion, see Genesis 12:7.) ‘He will send his *angel in front of you.’ Abraham did not mean that his servant would see an *angel. Abraham meant that God and his *angel would make the journey s... [ Continue Reading ]
He wanted to show that his master was wealthy. That is why he took so many camels. The valuable gifts were presents for the woman whom the servant chose. (See verse 53.) The camels carried the gifts and the camels were also presents. For ‘Mesopotamia’, see the comment on verse 4. The length of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Abraham had said to his servant, ‘Choose a wife for my son Isaac.’ (See verse 3.) And he had said, ‘Go to my family.’ (See verse 4.) The servant did not know how to choose. And he did not know how to find Abraham’s relatives. He might have asked one of the city’s inhabitants, ‘Where do Nahor’s famil... [ Continue Reading ]
Events happened fast. Rebekah came while the servant was still praying. Both people ran. (See verses 17 and 20.) Rebekah worked quickly. (See verses 18 and 20.) God had prepared so that things happened immediately.... [ Continue Reading ]
Rebekah gave a drink to Abraham’s servant. That was normal. But she also gave water to 10 camels. That was a big task because camels drink a lot of water. Rebekah lifted all the water from the well in her pot.... [ Continue Reading ]
Rebekah had offered to give water to the camels. That was the answer to the servant’s prayer. (See verse 14.) So the servant believed that Rebekah was the right wife for Isaac. But he was not sure. Rebekah had not yet said that she was a relative of Abraham. Therefore the servant still waited to hea... [ Continue Reading ]
The rings were gifts to Rebekah as Isaac’s bride. But Rebekah probably did not realise that at the time.... [ Continue Reading ]
Abraham’s servant said ‘we’. He meant himself and the men who were with him.... [ Continue Reading ]
Rebekah might have said, ‘My father is Bethuel. You must ask him.’ But instead, she invited Abraham’s servant to stay at Bethuel’s house.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘He gave honour to the *Lord.’ He had expected that he would have to search for Abraham’s relatives. And he did not know how to choose a wife for Isaac. But God answered his prayer immediately. So he thanked God aloud. Probably Rebekah heard what he said. V28 Then the young woman ran to her mother’... [ Continue Reading ]
The house is called ‘her mother’s house’ and it is not called ‘Bethuel’s house’. Also, the following verses tell us that Laban, Rebekah’s brother, gave a welcome to the visitors. Bethuel did not do that, although Bethuel was the head of the family. Probably Bethuel was unable to do things. Perhaps h... [ Continue Reading ]
This welcome was more than the welcome that one would give to a stranger. Rebekah had heard the servant mention Abraham. (See verse 27.) Rebekah had told Laban. (See verses 29-30.) And so, Laban knew that the servant came from his relative, Abraham. Therefore, he gave a special welcome to the servan... [ Continue Reading ]
Abraham’s servant told clearly all the good things that God had done. God made Abraham great and God made him rich. (See verse 35.) Abraham said that God would make the servant’s journey successful. (See verse 40.) God answered the servant’s prayer. (See verses 45-46.) And God brought the servant to... [ Continue Reading ]
Laban and Bethuel realised that God was working. They could not decide that Rebekah should marry Abraham’s son. And they could not decide that she should not marry him. They could not make the decision, because God had already made it. God had already decided that she should marry him. The only thin... [ Continue Reading ]
He bent himself down to praise God. He thanked God because God had brought him to the right place. And God had made his journey successful. When the morning came, they got up. Then Abraham’s servant said, ‘Send me back to my master.’ V55 Rebekah’s brother and her mother said, ‘Let the young woman s... [ Continue Reading ]
They had already agreed that Rebekah would go. But they asked Rebekah whether she would go immediately. Rebekah’s answer meant that she wanted to go. And it meant that she did not want to delay for several days.... [ Continue Reading ]
The nurse was called Deborah. (See Genesis 35:8.) V62 Meanwhile, Isaac had left Beer-lahai-roi and he was in the Negeb. V63 Isaac went out into the field in the evening in order to think quietly. Then he looked. And he saw that some camels were coming. V64–65 When Rebekah saw Isaac, she got down fr... [ Continue Reading ]
The Negeb is the southern part of the country that is called *Canaan.... [ Continue Reading ]
Rebekah hid her face from Isaac because they were not yet married. That was the custom. LORD ~ a lord is a person who has authority. ‘The Lord’ means God. It is a translation of God’s name. The Hebrews wrote God’s name as YHWH. We may write it as Yahweh. HEBREW ~ the Hebrew people were Abraham and h... [ Continue Reading ]