Genesis 24:42 - Printer Friendly

ESV: “I came today to the spring and said, ‘O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, if now you are prospering the way that I go,

NIV: When I came to the spring today, I said, 'LORD, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come.

NASB: So I came today to the spring, and said, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, if now You will make my journey on which I have been going successful;

CSB: "Today when I came to the spring, I prayed: Lord, God of my master Abraham, if only you will make my journey successful!

NLT: So today when I came to the spring, I prayed this prayer: ‘O Lord, God of my master, Abraham, please give me success on this mission.

KJV: 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:

NKJV: “And this day I came to the well and said, ‘O Lord God of my master Abraham, if You will now prosper the way in which I go,

In the previous verses, the servant described to Rebekah and her family how Abraham had commissioned him to swear to travel to the land of Abraham's people and attempt to find a wife for Abraham's son Isaac (Genesis 24:3–4).

Now the servant moves on to the part of the story that happened earlier that day. He begins by describing his prayer to God upon arriving at the spring/well outside their city (Genesis 24:12–14). He tells them of praying to the God of his master Abraham. This was the God he had already given credit for blessing Abraham with wealth and making him a great man.

This verse begins the specific request the servant made of the Lord. It concludes in the following two verses.

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 4/27/2024 11:51:50 AM