Genesis 24:43 - Printer Friendly

ESV: behold, I am standing by the spring of water. Let the virgin who comes out to draw water, to whom I shall say, “Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,”

NIV: See, I am standing beside this spring. If a young woman comes out to draw water and I say to her, 'Please let me drink a little water from your jar,'

NASB: behold, I am standing by the spring, and may it be that the young unmarried woman who comes out to draw water, and to whom I say, 'Please let me drink a little water from your jar';

CSB: I am standing here at a spring. Let the young woman who comes out to draw water, and I say to her, 'Please let me drink a little water from your jug,'

NLT: See, I am standing here beside this spring. This is my request. When a young woman comes to draw water, I will say to her, 'Please give me a little drink of water from your jug.'

KJV: 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;

NKJV: behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass that when the virgin comes out to draw water, and I say to her, “Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink,”

Abraham's servant is describing to Rebekah and her family what he prayed to Abraham's God earlier that day when he arrived at the well outside of their town. He tells how he placed a kind of test on the Lord to find the right young woman; his choice of words here confirms that he is, as expected, seeking a "virgin" for Isaac. He will ask her to give him a little water to drink from her jar. If she responds in the way described in the following verse, the servant is asking the Lord to allow that young woman to be the one He has appointed for Isaac (Genesis 24:12–14).

As Rebekah listened to this story, the light must have begun to come on in her mind. She was the answer to the servant's prayer!

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.