Genesis 24:34 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So he said, "I am Abraham 's servant.

NIV: So he said, "I am Abraham’s servant.

NASB: So he said, 'I am Abraham’s servant.

CSB: "I am Abraham’s servant," he said.

NLT: I am Abraham’s servant,' he explained.

KJV: And he said, I am Abraham's servant.

NKJV: So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant.

Abraham's servant is convinced that God has chosen Rebekah to be Isaac's wife. Now sitting before her father and brother, the servant will tell the story of how he came to them and make his case for why they should accept this offer of marriage on her behalf.

He begins by revealing who he and his master are. He doesn't name himself—despite assumptions that this man is Eliezer (Genesis 15:2), he is never identified in this particular story. In fact, the servant never sees himself as central to the story, at all. This is not even about him. He represents Abraham. For the first time, he reveals to them that their relative Abraham, Nahor's own brother, is his master and the reason he is before them now.

Genesis 24:28–59 describes how Abraham's servant, confident he has found God's intended woman for Abraham's son, approaches Rebekah's family to ask for her hand in marriage to Isaac. After being welcomed into their household, the servant tells, in great detail, the story of how God has lead him to Rebekah and their home. Rebekah's father and brother quickly agree that they must allow this marriage to happen. After a bit of negotiation the next morning about when Rebekah will travel to Canaan, Rebekah agrees to leave that very day.

Abraham asks his most trusted servant to travel to his former homeland to find a wife for his son Isaac. Swearing to do so, the servant arrives at the city of Nahor and asks the Lord to show him which young women is appointed for Isaac. Finding Rebekah, the very granddaughter of Abraham's brother Nahor, the servant reveals the reason for his journey to her family. Her father Bethuel and brother Laban agree to allow Rebekah to travel to Canaan and marry Isaac, which she does.

Genesis 24 takes place a few years after Sarah has died. Abraham becomes urgent to find Isaac a wife, not among the women of Canaan, but from his own people back in Mesopotamia. His trusted servant, sent to accomplish this mission with the help of the Lord, eventually returns with Rebekah, the granddaughter of Abraham's own brother. Isaac is married to her at the age of 40. Abraham's death is recorded in the following chapter.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.

Accessed 11/21/2024 2:05:22 PM