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Gen_24:11-17
The family, it should be remembered, is that of Nahor, the brother of Abraham and Haran. Nahor had eight sons by his wife Milcah, the daughter of his deceased brother Haran. One of these sons was Bethuel, who had a son called Laban, and a daughter named Rebekah. Thus, through the late period of life at which Abraham became the father of Isaac, the branch of the family in Haran has gained one generation in advance of the emigrated branch. Indeed, as Nahor was considerably the elder brother of Abraham, it seems likely, that his son Bethuel was not much younger than Abraham himself. For, at this time, he appears to be a very old man, who, although named as living, leaves everything to the direction and management of his son.
The family has clearly become among the first, if not the very first, in the town of Haran; and Abraham’s servant could doubtless have proceeded to the house at once to declare his errand, if he had so pleased. But having arrived at the place, he first sought an interval for deliberation, and for prayer. His camels needed water; and having come to the well outside the town, he made them kneel down, in their posture of rest. The well was probably secured; but if not, and if he had the power, it would have been a great offence to the people of the place, to take the water before they came to draw it for their own use, and without their permission. Observing the evening shades begin to fall, he knew that some would soon be there to draw water. So he sat down meanwhile, to consider how he might best execute the commission with which he had been entrusted. He concluded to leave the direction of the matter in the hands of God. He prayed, therefore, that among the many damsels of the place, who would shortly come for water, the one who should respond, in the mode he indicated, to his application for drink, should be the lady intended for his master’s son. It is remarkable that he did not fix the sign upon the one who shall first offer her services, but upon the one who first willingly grants the service asked of her. In this he proceeds warily, conceiving, it would seem, that the maid shows no maidenly spirit who, unasked, tenders so slight a service as a drink of water at the well to an apparently wealthy stranger; and deeming, perhaps, that attentions so paid, might be an excuse for curiosity, and an evidence rather of officious forwardness, than of a well-natured disposition. In so plain a matter as that which lay before him, it may be doubted that this man was altogether right in thus appointing a sign to God, nor should we be wise to follow the example. There are peculiar circumstances in this case, however, which might well make a slave shrink from the responsibility of proceeding entirely upon his own judgment, in choosing a wife for his master’s son; and God, for Abraham’s sake, accepted the sign, and made it indicate the right person—the very same, so far as appears, who would have been obtained, had he gone straight to Bethuel’s house.
If such a mission were at all possible under our own system of manners, it would certainly not be among the girls gathered round the village pump, that the messenger would expect to find a match in all respects suitable for the son of his wealthy and well-born master. But in that age, when, as now in the same countries, the young females of the most honorable families discharge the commonest domestic offices, and to whom the fetching of water from the well outside the town, was a service in which peculiar pleasure was taken, from its enabling them to meet their companions; the servant knew that the young females whom he might shortly expect to see at that place, must include the very class from which his choice was to be made.
He had scarcely formed his resolution and uttered his prayer, when a very beautiful young damsel was seen advancing to the well, with her pitcher on her shoulder. The women now usually carry their water vessels on their heads, in western as well as in eastern Asia; but in India it is the privilege of females of high caste to carry their vessels on the shoulders, and if this should have been the case in the times which now engage our attention, the fact would be curious and interesting. As is frequently the case in the East, when the water does not lie deep in the well, there was here no apparatus for drawing up the water, but some steps led down to it, and those who came thither went down and filled their vessels. As the damsel he had noted came up with her full pitcher on her shoulder, the servant of Abraham ran to meet her, and said: “Let me sip, Note: Such, and not “drink,” is the meaning of the original word. I pray thee, a little water out of thy pitcher.” But she said promptly and kindly, “Drink [not sip], my lord;” and she hasted to let down her pitcher upon her hand, that he might quench his thirst. Had she stopped there, she had not become one of those who “did build the house of Israel.” But he had no sooner finished, than of her free and open-hearted bounty, she added, “I will also draw for thy camels, till they have done drinking;” and without awaiting his answer she proceeded to execute her intention. Now it is easy to offer that which costs us nothing. But this truly well-bred lady offers her trouble, her labor, to oblige a stranger. And, indeed, it was no slight labor to go up and down these steps, bearing each time a pitcher of water, which she emptied into the trough (frequently still found near such wells), until the camels had received enough. This was the very sign the man had appointed; and one more proper for his purpose—more becoming, could scarcely have been devised.
The man was astonished that the matter had turned out so circumstantially as he had wished; but still, until he learned who the damsel was, he feared to think he had so soon been fully prosperous. However, as an acknowledgment of the attention he had received, and as an introduction to the inquiries he was about to make, the steward presented to her a nose-ring of gold—such as is still worn by the women of Arabia, and which, it is remarkable to observe, are among the ornaments presented to a bride on her betrothment. Nor was this all; for he also gave two golden bracelets, of much higher value than the nose-jewel. Such ornaments are still very generally used in the East—not on extraordinary occasions, but for every-day wear. Indeed, ornaments of this kind are, as fixed property, highly valued; and are much more sought after than articles of mere dress. It is not unusual to see a woman clad comparatively in rags, but adorned with bracelets, anklets, nose-rings, and other ornaments, worth many rich dresses. The bracelets are seldom gold; more frequently of silver; sometimes of amber or coral; while poor women content themselves with bracelets of silvered steel, of copper, or of brass. Several pairs are frequently worn on the arms at the same time, and it is not unusual to see the space between the wrist and elbow almost covered with them. The most ancient specimens are flat—as in the monuments of Egypt; but those now generally in use are round and bulky, like manacles, but are for the most part hollow, and therefore not heavy in proportion to their bulk. The bracelets presented by the servant to Rebekah appear to have weighed about five ounces of gold, and could not, therefore, have been worth less than twenty pounds—exclusive of the nose-ring, the value of which cannot be well estimated.
The servant then ventured to ask the maiden whose daughter she was, and whether there was room in her father’s house for him and his people to pass the night. With a glad heart he learned, that she was the daughter of the son of his master’s brother; and the damsel failed not to inform him, that there was ample room for his entertainment, and abundance of “straw and provender” for the camels. On this, the man saw that the Lord had indeed prospered him, and his first and most becoming act, was to bow down his head and prostrate himself before the Lord God of his master Abraham, who had led him in the right way to the house of his master’s kinsman. This he said aloud, as is usual throughout the East; and no sooner had the maiden, whose name was Rebekah, caught the purport of his words, than she sped off to make them known at home. On hearing this, her brother Laban repaired to the well, where Abraham’s servant still remained with the camels. Laban addressed him with the cordial words—“Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels.” So he followed him, and having seen the camels ungirded and fed, and the feet of himself and men having been refreshed with water, he was pressed to eat; but, mindful of the service on which he came, he declined to taste food until he had told his errand and received his answer. He recited all the circumstances from the commencement, and clearly indicated his opinion, that Rebekah was the damsel destined of God to become his young master’s wife. Bethuel and Laban were of the same opinion, and their answer expressed that conviction. “The thing hath proceeded of the Lord: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good. Behold, Rebekah is before thee. Take her and go; and let her be the wife of thy master’s son, as the Lord hath spoken.”
On hearing this, the pious servant again bent himself in thankfulness before the Lord, who had thus brought his mission to a successful close. Many precious things, “jewels of gold, and jewels of silver, and raiment,” he brought forth from his treasures, and presented to Rebekah, and to her brother and mother—the latter being probably of the nature of the dowry usually given for a daughter. With heart at ease, the servant and his men feasted themselves well that night; but, next morning, he declined to make any longer stay, and was at length suffered to depart, with Rebekah and her maidens mounted on camels.
It was an anxious moment to both the servant and Rebekah, when, as they approached the end of their journey, he saw Isaac in the distance. He had, in accordance with his quiet and contemplative character, gone “forth into the fields to meditate at eventide;” but when he looked up, and saw the camels coming, he hastened to meet them. Seeing him approaching, Rebekah put on her veil, which females usually assume in the presence of a stranger; but on hearing the servant say, “It is my master,” she alighted from her camel, in testimony of that respect which is still marked by the same action in the East. Having heard the particulars of the journey from the servant, Isaac conducted his fair cousin to the vacant tent of his mother, thereby installing her as the lady of the camp. She thus became his wife, and in her love he found comfort for the loss of his mother, which, until now, he had not for three rears ceased to mourn.