Discovery BoxGenesis 24:22-44 
Context24:22 After the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka 1 and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels 2 and gave them to her. 3 24:23 “Whose daughter are you?” he asked. 4 “Tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”
24:24 She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom Milcah bore to Nahor. 5 24:25 We have plenty of straw and feed,” she added, 6 “and room for you 7 to spend the night.”
24:26 The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord, 24:27 saying “Praised be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his faithful love 8 for my master! The Lord has led me 9 to the house 10 of my master’s relatives!” 11
24:28 The young woman ran and told her mother’s household all about 12 these things. 24:29 (Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban.) 13 Laban rushed out to meet the man at the spring. 24:30 When he saw the bracelets on his sister’s wrists and the nose ring 14 and heard his sister Rebekah say, 15 “This is what the man said to me,” he went out to meet the man. There he was, standing 16 by the camels near the spring. 24:31 Laban said to him, 17 “Come, you who are blessed by the Lord! 18 Why are you standing out here when I have prepared 19 the house and a place for the camels?”
24:32 So Abraham’s servant 20 went to the house and unloaded 21 the camels. Straw and feed were given 22 to the camels, and water was provided so that he and the men who were with him could wash their feet. 23 24:33 When food was served, 24 he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I want to say.” 25 “Tell us,” Laban said. 26
24:34 “I am the servant of Abraham,” he began. 24:35 “The Lord has richly blessed my master and he has become very wealthy. 27 The Lord 28 has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. 24:36 My master’s wife Sarah bore a son to him 29 when she was old, 30 and my master 31 has given him everything he owns. 24:37 My master made me swear an oath. He said, ‘You must not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, 24:38 but you must go to the family of my father and to my relatives to find 32 a wife for my son.’ 24:39 But I said to my master, ‘What if the woman does not want to go 33 with me?’ 34 24:40 He answered, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked, 35 will send his angel with you. He will make your journey a success and you will find a wife for my son from among my relatives, from my father’s family. 24:41 You will be free from your oath 36 if you go to my relatives and they will not give her to you. Then you will be free from your oath.’ 24:42 When I came to the spring today, I prayed, ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you have decided to make my journey successful, 37 may events unfold as follows: 38 24:43 Here I am, standing by the spring. 39 When 40 the young woman goes out to draw water, I’ll say, “Give me a little water to drink from your jug.” 24:44 Then she will reply to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too.” May that woman be the one whom the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’
1 sn A beka weighed about 5-6 grams (0.2 ounce).
2 sn A shekel weighed about 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce) although weights varied locally, so these bracelets weighed about 4 ounces (115 grams).
3 tn The words “and gave them to her” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
4 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’” The order of the introductory clause has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
5 tn Heb “whom she bore to Nahor.” The referent (Milcah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn Heb “and she said, ‘We have plenty of both straw and feed.’” The order of the introductory clause has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
7 tn Heb The words “for you” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
8 tn Heb “his faithfulness and his commitment.”
9 tn Heb “As for me – in the way the
10 tn Here “house” is an adverbial accusative of termination.
11 tn Heb “brothers.”
12 tn Heb “according to.”
13 tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause introduces the audience to Laban, who will eventually play an important role in the unfolding story.
14 tn Heb “And it was when he saw the nose ring and the bracelets on the arms of his sister.” The word order is altered in the translation for the sake of clarity.
15 tn Heb “and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying.”
16 tn Heb “and look, he was standing.” The disjunctive clause with the participle following the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) invites the audience to view the scene through Laban’s eyes.
17 tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified and the words “to him” supplied in the translation for clarity.
18 sn Laban’s obsession with wealth is apparent; to him it represents how one is blessed by the
19 tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial.
20 tn Heb “the man”; the referent (Abraham’s servant) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
21 tn Some translations (e.g., NEB, NASB, NRSV) understand Laban to be the subject of this and the following verbs or take the subject of this and the following verbs as indefinite (referring to an unnamed servant; e.g., NAB, NIV).
22 tn Heb “and [one] gave.” The verb without an expressed subject may be translated as passive.
23 tn Heb “and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.”
24 tn Heb “and food was placed before him.”
25 tn Heb “my words.”
26 tc Some ancient textual witnesses have a plural verb, “and they said.”
tn Heb “and he said, ‘Speak.’” The referent (Laban) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
27 tn Heb “great.” In this context the statement refers primarily to Abraham’s material wealth, although reputation and influence are not excluded.
28 tn Heb “and he.” The referent (the
29 tn Heb “to my master.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “him” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
30 tn Heb “after her old age.”
31 tn Heb “and he.” The referent (the servant’s master, Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
32 tn Heb “but to the house of my father you must go and to my family and you must take a wife for my son.”
33 tn The imperfect is used here in a modal sense to indicate desire.
34 tn Heb “after me.”
35 tn The verb is the Hitpael of הָלַךְ (halakh), meaning “live one’s life” (see Gen 17:1). The statement may simply refer to serving the
36 tn Heb “my oath” (twice in this verse). From the Hebrew perspective the oath belonged to the person to whom it was sworn (Abraham), although in contemporary English an oath is typically viewed as belonging to the person who swears it (the servant).
37 tn Heb “if you are making successful my way on which I am going.”
38 tn The words “may events unfold as follows” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
39 tn Heb “the spring of water.”
40 tn Heb “and it will be.”
