Kejadian 24:2-5

24:2 Abraham said to his servant, the senior one ¹  in his household who was in charge of everything he had, “Put your hand under my thigh ²  24:3 so that I may make you solemnly promise ³  by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth: You must not acquire ⁴  a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living. 24:4 You must go instead to my country and to my relatives ⁵  to find ⁶  a wife for my son Isaac.”

24:5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is not willing to come back with me ⁷  to this land? Must I then ⁸  take your son back to the land from which you came?”

Kejadian 24:58-67

24:58 So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Do you want ⁹  to go with this man?” She replied, “I want to go.”

24:59 So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, accompanied by her female attendant, with Abraham’s servant and his men. 24:60 They blessed Rebekah with these words: ¹⁰ 

“Our sister, may you become the mother ¹¹  of thousands of ten thousands!

May your descendants possess the strongholds ¹²  of their enemies.”

24:61 Then Rebekah and her female servants mounted the camels and rode away with ¹³  the man. So Abraham’s servant ¹⁴  took Rebekah and left.

24:62 Now ¹⁵  Isaac came from ¹⁶  Beer Lahai Roi, ¹⁷  for ¹⁸  he was living in the Negev. ¹⁹  24:63 He ²⁰  went out to relax ²¹  in the field in the early evening. ²²  Then he looked up ²³  and saw that ²⁴  there were camels approaching. 24:64 Rebekah looked up ²⁵  and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel 24:65 and asked ²⁶  Abraham’s servant, ²⁷  “Who is that man walking in the field toward us?” “That is my master,” the servant replied. ²⁸  So she took her veil and covered herself.

24:66 The servant told Isaac everything that had happened. 24:67 Then Isaac brought Rebekah ²⁹  into his mother Sarah’s tent. He took her ³⁰  as his wife and loved her. ³¹  So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death. ³² 

[24:2]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term זָקֵן (zaqen) may refer to the servant who is oldest in age or senior in authority (or both).

[24:2]  ² sn Put your hand under my thigh. The taking of this oath had to do with the sanctity of the family and the continuation of the family line. See D. R. Freedman, “Put Your Hand Under My Thigh – the Patriarchal Oath,” BAR 2 (1976): 2-4, 42.

[24:3]  ³ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose.

[24:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “because you must not take.”

[24:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “for to my country and my relatives you must go.”

[24:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “and take.”

[24:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “to go after me.”

[24:5]  ⁸ tn In the Hebrew text the construction is emphatic; the infinitive absolute precedes the imperfect. However, it is difficult to reflect this emphasis in an English translation.

[24:58]  ⁹ tn The imperfect verbal form here has a modal nuance, expressing desire.

[24:60]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and said to her.”

[24:60]  ¹¹ tn Heb “become thousands of ten thousands.”

[24:60]  sn May you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands. The blessing expresses their prayer that she produce children and start a family line that will greatly increase (cf. Gen 17:16).

[24:60]  ¹² tn Heb “gate,” which here stands for a walled city. In an ancient Near Eastern city the gate complex was the main area of defense (hence the translation “stronghold”). A similar phrase occurs in Gen 22:17.

[24:61]  ¹³ tn Heb “And she arose, Rebekah and her female servants, and they rode upon camels and went after.”

[24:61]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the servant”; the word “Abraham’s” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[24:62]  ¹⁵ tn The disjunctive clause switches the audience’s attention to Isaac and signals a new episode in the story.

[24:62]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “from the way of.”

[24:62]  ¹⁷ sn The Hebrew name Beer Lahai Roi (בְּאֵר לַחַי רֹאִי, bÿ’er lakhay ro’i) means “The well of the Living One who sees me.” See Gen 16:14.

[24:62]  ¹⁸ tn This disjunctive clause is explanatory.

[24:62]  ¹⁹ tn Or “the South [country].”

[24:62]  sn Negev is the name for the southern desert region in the land of Canaan.

[24:63]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Isaac”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[24:63]  ²¹ tn The meaning of this Hebrew term is uncertain (cf. NASB, NIV “to meditate”; NRSV “to walk”).

[24:63]  ²² tn Heb “at the turning of the evening.”

[24:63]  ²³ tn Heb “And he lifted up his eyes.” This idiom emphasizes the careful look Isaac had at the approaching caravan.

[24:63]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and look.” The clause introduced by the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) invites the audience to view the scene through Isaac’s eyes.

[24:64]  ²⁵ tn Heb “lifted up her eyes.”

[24:65]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and she said to.”

[24:65]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the servant.” The word “Abraham’s” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[24:65]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and the servant said.” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[24:67]  ²⁹ tn Heb “her”; the referent has been specified here in the translation for clarity.

[24:67]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Rebekah”; here the proper name was replaced by the pronoun (“her”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[24:67]  ³¹ tn Heb “and he took Rebekah and she became his wife and he loved her.”

[24:67]  ³² tn Heb “after his mother.” This must refer to Sarah’s death.