Chapter Overview
This is another hugely inflated chapter. I’m really getting sick of these. Here’s the one sentence summary that literally misses nothing.
AbramHam sends a servant to get a wife for Isaac from the lands where AbramHam was born, and the servant does that.
Additional Thoughts
This is a loooonnngggg chapter. Because the author feels the need to repeat things way too much. I know this is based off of oral traditions and poetic language, but damn is it getting annoying.
Chapter 24: Camel Order Bride
AKA: The Longest Chapter So Far
AKA: How to annoy an annotator
- And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.
- And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh:
- And I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:
- But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.
- And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest?
- And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again.
- The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence.
- And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again.
- And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter.
- And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.
- And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.
- And he said O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham.
- Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water:
- And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master.
- And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.
- And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.
- And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.
- And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink.
- And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.
- And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.
- And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.
- And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold;
- And said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee: is there room in thy father’s house for us to lodge in?
- And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor.
- She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in.
- And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the Lord.
- And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren.
- And the damsel ran, and told them of her mother’s house these things.
- And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the well.
- And it came to pass, when he saw the earring and bracelets upon his sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the well.
- And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels.
- And the man came into the house: and he ungirded his camels, and gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the men’s feet that were with him.
- And there was set meat before him to eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on.
- And he said, I am Abraham’s servant.
- And the Lord hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses.
- And Sarah my master’s wife bare a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he hath.
- And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell:
- But thou shalt go unto my father’s house, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son.
- And I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman will not follow me.
- And he said unto me, The Lord, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father’s house:
- Then shalt thou be clear from this my oath, when thou comest to my kindred; and if they give not thee one, thou shalt be clear from my oath.
- And I came this day unto the well, and said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way which I go:
- Behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass, that when the virgin cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink;
- And she say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman whom the Lord hath appointed out for my master’s son.
- And before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the well, and drew water: and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee.
- And she made haste, and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: so I drank, and she made the camels drink also.
- And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, the daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bare unto him: and I put the earring upon her face, and the bracelets upon her hands.
- And I bowed down my head, and worshipped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master’s brother’s daughter unto his son.
- And now if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me: and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left.
- Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the Lord: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good.
- Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master’s son’s wife, as the Lord hath spoken.
- And it came to pass, that, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he worshipped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth.
- And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things.
- And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master.
- And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go.
- And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master.
- And they said, We will call the damsel, and enquire at her mouth.
- And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.
- And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant, and his men.
- And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.
- And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.
- And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahairoi; for he dwelt in the south country.
- And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming.
- And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel.
- For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself.
- And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done.
- And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
- Given that Sarah died at 127, I can only assume he’s about 140 by this point. Genesis 6:3 my foot.
- That sounds somewhat odd…
- Does he also swear by AbramHam’s genitals what with his hand being so near to them? Why doesn’t he want his son marrying a Canaanite either?
- AKA: Only an exotic woman from a far away place is worth presenting to my son.
- That’s a reasonable request. What person in their right mind would really leave their family, travel to another country, and marry a man they’ve never met?
- AKA: Here’s a non-specific threat for daring to question your master.
- This is a wonderful speech and all, but I wouldn’t be feeling too convinced if I were this servant here. This sounds like god is supposed to force the woman to fall in love through the use of an angel. What about free will?
- You’re free if you find no one, but god and his magic powers will ensure you suceed.
- And, apparently, fondled him slightly while he did so.
- Does this imply that everything AbramHam owned was 10 camels? Also, did Nahor, AbramHam’s brother, build a city since we last heard of him? Or is this just a city with the same name?
- So he chooses to have his camels go take a drink when there are pretty ladies about. Smooth.
- Apparently this god, who is not the slave’s god, but only of the slave’s master, would be expected to answer this.
- I imagine he’s ogling a few of the ladies as they walk by too.
- AKA: He’ll ask a random woman for some water, and she’ll give him enough for him and his camels. That sounds like something that any woman he asks would do.
- Now the reason comes out for why Bethuel was mentioned before. This means that Isaac will be marrying his second cousin.
- Generally speaking, men do find women fair to look on. I’m not sure why this specifically calls this out. How can he tell she’s a virgin just by looking at her?
- AKA: Pretending to be thirsty.
- And she, being kind, offers him a drink.
- She, being kind, realizes that the animals with this rando probably need some water too. As it’s not hard to get, she gets some.
- Seems like she tosses anything he didn’t drink into a trough for the camels, and then gets more?
- Given that this lady has only acted like a decent human being, it seems right to wonder.
- I presume that means they’re valuable?
- This wouldn’t raise any red flags at all. Nope, no siree. A random stranger asking a pretty girl where she lives. Just normal.
- She gives him the rundown anyways.
- Even still, would you want this rando to be staying with you?
- I assume he just falls down immediately after she says that.
- Is he saying this? Thinking this? While it’s a problem with a lot of this, how would the author have any idea what he said? Do we have any sources? Any references?
- I’d run away too, but to tell my parents to keep this crazy guy away at all costs.
- So this guy runs out to the well for some reason.
- This verse mangles time horribly. It’s not until the very end that you get told that Laban saw Rebekah get home and heard her tale that he runs out. Why have verse 29 before this?
- What evidence is he basing the phrase “blessed of the Lord” on? This random guys ravings to his sister? He is very accepting if so.
- So the servant shows up and washes Laban’s feet?
- What a responsible young man.
- duly noted.
- Sure, sure, give AbramHam credit. He really got most of his wealth from pimping his wife out to various kings and pharaohs with the whole “ShE’s My SiStEr!11!” deception.
- Get to the point already. A simple “AbramHam is looking for a woman to be his son’s wife” would suffice.
- They never do mention why this is so though. What’s wrong with the place that AbramHam lives in that he hates the people so much?
- Get to the point already.
- You are spending too much time on exposition.
- No angel has been present so far. This does literally nothing to drive the plot and fill up space in this book.
- I didn’t realize how good the authors of genesis are at filler.
- Especially since the author has added in over 10 worthless verses already.
- And he continues to add in more…. and more…. and more…
- And the author just keeps on writing!
- Seriously, cut to the point already.
- We already know all of this.
- Maybe a simple “And he relayed unto the family of Nahor all of his travels and all the AbramHam told him concerning the need to find a wife for Isaac, the son of AbramHam” would have sufficied?
- Because this is getting REALLY old.
Praise the lord for forcing people to fall in love! Maybe he subcontracted this one out to aphrodite. - AKA: Please tell me if this entire expedition is the result of a mad man’s delusion.
- AKA: Why should we know??
- They are VERY willing to just give Rebekah up. Would anyone today do something like this? She gets no say in it??
- In front of everyone again?
- So… he gives away AbramHams stuff as a form of a dowry I guess? Talk about buying a bride.
- Does he really need to be sent away? He doesn’t really report to these guys. Why not just pack up and leave like planned?
- Reasonable request… Give the poor girl some time to straighten things out.
- This guy REALLY wants to leave already. So much so that he doesn’t care how some girl he’s yoinking away feels.
- Somewhat reasonable I guess.
- But why? Why would she even want to leave? There’s literally no reason for her to do so. Plot demands it, I suppose
- So… how many people came on this journey? The “men” here seems to imply more than just the servant.
- This sounds like they somehow know of the covenant to AbramHam. Presumably he told them sometime?
- They just sent her with some guy they met a day before claiming to be from AbramHam. Just how trustworthy and gullible are these people?
- Oh look… another well. Apparently these things are being named all over the place
- How many camels though? If there’s more than 10, it’s probably a stampede.
- Jumps off the camel randomly
- Is this where arguments for things like the hijab were originally made from?
- See… this is exactly what verses 33-49 should have been.
- AKA: They get it on asap. Apparently getting some loving on is enough to help someone feel better about losing their mother. There’s also no indication that Rebekah love Isaac in return.