Preface: This chapter marks the passing of the spiritual baton from Abraham to Isaac, from one generation to the next generation. The chapter begins with Abraham and his servant, but it ends with Rebekah riding a camel into Isaac’s camp, to meet her husband-to-be for the first time.

Thomas Coke gives a brief description of this chapter: Abraham sends his eldest servant to his relations, to take a wife for his son Isaac. Rebekah meets the servant, who is hospitably entertained by Laban. She is delivered to him, and he returns with her, with all speed, to Isaac.

This should be the most extensive examination of Genesis 24 available, where you will be able to examine in depth every word of the original text.

Outline of Chapter 24:

Introduction

         vv.     1–9           Abraham’s Servant Makes a Vow to Find a Wife for Isaac from Abraham’s Family

         vv.    10–28         Abraham’s Servant Meets Rebekah, as an Answer to Prayer

         vv.    29–32         Abraham’s Servant is Invited to Stay with Rebekah’s Family

         vv.    33–49         Abraham’s Servant Tells Rebekah’s Family Why He is There

         vv.    50–60         Rebekah and Her Family Agree for Her to Marry Isaac, Abraham’s Son

         vv.    61–67         Rebekah Goes with Abraham’s Servant Back to Canaan to Meet Isaac

Addendum

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines:

         Preface               Preface

         Preface               Quotations

         Introduction         The Prequel of Genesis 24

         Introduction         The Principals of Genesis 24

         Introduction         The Places of Genesis 24

         Introduction         The Patriarchal Timeline for Genesis 24

         Introduction         Clarke’s Synopsis of Genesis 24

         Introduction         Arno Gaebelein's Chapter Outline

         Introduction         Scofield’s Typical Approach to Genesis 24

         Introduction         Chapter Updates

         v.       1              Abraham, a Friend of God (a graphic)

         v.       1              The Abbreviated Doctrine of Bârak^e

         v.       1              Communism, Socialism and the Gospel of Jesus Christ

         v.       1              Jesus the Socialist (a graphic)

         v.       1              Abraham’s Blessings

         v.       2              Abraham and his Servant (a graphic)

         v.       3              Words of man interlude

         v.       3              Various Royal Titles and Designations of God and How They are Used

         v.       3              The Doctrine of Racial Intermarriage

         v.       3              What is wrong with the Canaanites

         v.       4              Land of Birth or Land of Kindred?

         v.       4              Desalinization plants (graphic)

         v.       4              The 5 Divine Institutions

         v.       4              Ages of the Patriarchs Chart

         v.       6              Abraham’s reasoning about not letting Isaac leave the Land of Promise

         v.       7              Abraham’s logical conclusion, based upon the promises of God

         v.      10              Christianity Today on Abraham’s Anachronistic Camels

         v.      10              Map of Aram-naharaim

         v.      10              Map of Abraham’s Journeys

         v.      14              How does this prayer square with the will of God?

         v.      15              Terah’s Line (chart)

         v.      16              “Eliezer and Rebekah” by Gustave Doré (a graphic)

         v.      18              Rebekah at the Well by Michael Deas

         v.      20              Rebekah gives water to the servant’s camels (a graphic)

         v.      20              F. Hastings describes the scene

         v.      22              The servant places bracelets on the wrist of Rebekah (a graphic)

         v.      22              Clarke on Jewelry of the Bible

         v.      23              The Abbreviated Doctrine of Slavery

         v.      27              Blessing God

         v.      28              Where’s Mom? (A graphic)

         v.      35              Blessings for the Church Age Believer

         v.      38              Steven Cole’s four aspects of God’s wisdom for the choice of a mate

         v.      40              Wenstrom and Ballinger on the Function of Angels

         v.      48              The servant recounts his experience (a graphic)

         v.      50              Who is Bethuel—Really?

         v.      50              Keys to Determining the Proper Wife and Proper Husband

         v.      57              Rebekah and her consent to marriage

         v.      61              The Servant is a Type of Christ

         v.      62              Map of Southern Israel (Including Beer-lahai-roi, Gerar and Beersheba)

         v.      63              The Importance of Knowing the Word of God in the Old Testament

         v.      65              Rebekah’s Veil (a graphic)

         v.      67              The 3 Great Life Events of Isaac and What They Point to

         v.      67              The Culture of Genesis and the Bible

         Summary            Chapter Summary

         Summary            An Abbreviated Exegesis of Genesis 24

         Addendum          Why Genesis 24 is in the Word of God

         Addendum          What We Learn from Genesis 24

         Addendum          Josephus’ History of this Time Period

         Addendum          Edersheim Summarizes Genesis 24

         Addendum          A Complete Translation of Genesis 24

         Addendum          Doctrinal Teachers Who Have Taught Genesis 24

         Addendum          Word Cloud from a Reasonably Literal Paraphrase of Genesis 24

         Addendum          Word Cloud from Exegesis of Genesis 24

——————————

An Introduction to Genesis 24

I ntroduction: Genesis 24 is all about Abraham sending his servant back to Charan (Haran) to find a wife for his son Isaac. We have seen very little of Isaac’s life so far. Isaac was born (most of Genesis 21); there is some information about Ishmael, Isaac’s half-brother; there is a dispute over possession of a well (the latter portion of Genesis 21); God has Abraham offer up his son Isaac as a sacrifice (Genesis 22), and Sarah (Abraham’s wife and Isaac’s mother) dies (Genesis 23). So, nearly no time at all has been devoted to anything about Isaac’s adult life until now. There is almost no information in Genesis about Isaac as an adult.

It is quite fascinating that so many verses are given to this incident in Isaac’s life compared to the amount of text given to Isaac’s life overall. As I have asserted on many occasions, the book of Genesis was not written by Moses, but by those who actually experienced these incidents. No doubt Rebekah (Rebecca) was the most important aspect of Isaac’s life, after God and the promises to Abraham; therefore, it is not unreasonable that this should occupy a great deal of narrative.

Matthew Henry: We have here the making up of the marriage between Isaac and Rebekah. It is related very largely and particularly, even to the minute circumstances, which, we should think, might have been spared, while other things of great moment and mystery (as the story of Melchizedek) are related in few words.

Further, what we should gather here is how much God works behind the scenes. We have no idea what occurred that day, or how it came about that Rebekah (Rebecca), Isaac’s right women, was the one to come to Abraham’s servant and fulfill what he had requested to God in prayer—well, we have no idea, but, hopefully, in heaven, we will find out what occurred behind the scenes as well. How many young women came out to draw water from the fountain of water at that time of the day, just as Rebekah did? 20? 100? Yet she is the one with whom Abraham’s servant will meet and speak to. Where were the other women when Abraham’s servant comes to this place?

One of the things which is striking about this narrative is the repetition of the narrative as well as the point-of-view of this narrative. It seems as though most or all of this story is seen from the eyes of the servant of Abraham; but as it comes across as if this were a bedtime story (a bedtime story does not have to be fiction). What seems most likely to me is that this story was told to Jacob and Esau when they were infants and very young children, before they dropped off to sleep. The story-teller would have been Rebekah’s nurse or Rebekah or even Abraham’s servant.

This story has many of the characteristics that we would expect to find in a bedtime story. It is fairly simple. It is long enough so that the children would drop off to sleep long before the story is over. The story could be adapted for a family gathering, where it could be expanded upon. And a great deal of this story is repetitive. This is a very different style of writing than we find in previous chapters or in later chapters. For this reason, this narrative is unique in the book of Genesis.

In my estimation, this narrative is either spoken by the servant who is at the center of this narrative, or it is based upon his account of this story. It would not surprise me that this servant also repeated this story on several occasions—this story could have been spoken at family gatherings or, as I suggested, given as a bedtime story for Jacob and Esau, the twins which Rebekah will bear to Isaac.

I have always enjoyed hearing my mother tell me how she met my father; and this story would have been very important emotionally to Jacob and Esau (the sons that Rebekah would bear to Isaac).

This chapter is not an analogy or a parable, but a true story. There is nothing in this chapter to make us doubt the veracity of this narrative.

History recorded in the Bible is so very different from the history which most men record. Most of our historical records of this era are about kings and kingdom and wars and territory taken. There are other kinds of mundane records from this era, but that is record keeping (deeds, business transactions) and not history. An historian of this era might look at the presidency of Barack Obama, and how he managed to win a second term of office, and how he had the hearts of most of the press, and how he accomplished almost nothing legislatively, after his second year in office, but that he continued to be probably one of the most effectual presidents in the history of the United States. But that is not necessarily the true story. The true story of what is happening in America might be better seen from the perspective of Charley Brown, who has a family. He has taken his family to church on occasion, but doctrine is not being taught in their church. His wife, Lucy Van Pelt (she kept her own last name) has a career of her own. She is dedicated to her family; but she is equally dedicated to her career. His son, Chucky Brown, graduates from college with a mountain of student loans with few opportunities before him. His daughter Charlene Brown is pregnant at age 17, does not marry the father, and moves out after many arguments with her family, and is supported by government section 8 payments to a crappy apartment complex. These people all voted for Obama because he promised Charley hope and change. He said a lot of good things about women and the Republicans had a war on women, so Lucy voted for him. Chucky has this mound of student debt and Obama keeps telling him that is terrible and he will see what he can do about it. So Chucky voted for him. And Charlene got an Obama phone, so she voted for him. So the true history of America is better seen in the Brown-Pelt family. What has happened to them is just as instructive—if not more so—when it comes to the mood and thinking of the country.

The Bible focuses on Abraham (Genesis 11–12) and follows him, because God is working through Abraham. One of the most amazing historical incidents up to this point in time—the offering of Isaac—was only seen by two people. No one else knew what was going on—not even the servants who accompanies Abraham and Isaac. Yet this is a pivotal event in human history. The Word of God recognizes it. The Word of God focuses on and teaches that which is important.

This reminds me of a quotation from the Little Prince: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." It is what you don’t see that is often much more important than what you see. And Paul writes: So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2Corinthians 4:18; HCSB) In case you do not know immediately what these things our, let me offer you 3 unseen things which are far more important than anything else to you today: God (and His essence); your soul; the Angelic Conflict. In this life, we will never see any of this. We might see the readings of an electroencephalogram, but we are not looking at our souls—just some physical manifestations of our souls. Therefore, we do not focus on what is seen, but [we focus] upon what is unseen. What we see is is temporary, but what we do not see is eternal. (2Corinthians 4:18)

God knows upon what we ought to focus. He knows where the light ought to be shined. We may think that the history of this United States is steered by Barack Hussein Obama; but God focuses upon the Brown family, and what happens in their family is the key to the direction of the United States.

My point is, most of the narrative of Scripture focuses upon things that, if it were up to man, would be ignored. Who cares about this Abraham fellow? Who cares that he wants to get a wife for his son. Aren’t these people just successful shepherds and ranchers? Why are we looking at a history of their lives? Why don’t we focus on the Pharaoh of Egypt? Isn’t he far more important than this itinerant shepherd who is near the end of his life? That is how man thinks. God sees that which is important. As a result, millions of people today know who Abraham is. Not even a fraction of these people could tell you who the Pharaoh of Egypt was at this time; in fact, not even a fraction of these people could tell you who is in charge of Egypt today.

This is why you need to think like God thinks; you need to focus upon the things of God. God’s plan is about the greatest things of life—but His plan often eludes the elite (1Corinthians 1:26 Matthew 11:25). God focuses on that which is important; something that we do not always see if our thinking is not aligned with His.

Some believers have a tendency to want to see or do the really big thing. They want to talk in front of 10,000 people or be on a Christian television station or pastor a mega-church or give the gospel to 40,000 people. Those who are confused may want to heal people or speak in tongues. However, there are a lot of small things that God wants done; there is a lot of faithfulness in small things that God wants to see. This chapter is an example of such an event. We all know about the exodus and the Israelites walking in between the piled up waters of the Sea of Reeds—and this seems amazing and spectacular. But, did you know that God gives as much space and discussion to this faithful servant leading additional servants on a trip to Haran, in order to find a wife for Isaac—more, in fact. In order for the plan of God to move forward, Isaac must have a wife and he must then have a son. God’s plan does not advance without those two things. This only happens because of one very faithful servant; a man who trusts and loves Abraham’s God.

The information which is found in this verse leads me to believe that Isaac (or his son Jacob) wrote this down. In Genesis 25:7–8 we have the death of Abraham, which means Abraham did not write that. For some reason, people have trouble with the end of Deuteronomy where Moses' death is recorded. It is very simple: there has been throughout the recording of the early portion of the Bible a continuous narrative that one generation would pick up where the previous left off. Joshua finished the last chapter of Deuteronomy and began his own book; here Isaac has picked up where Abraham left off. It is very likely that Abraham left off writing with the death of Sarah and Isaac began with the advent of his marriage. His marriage would be quite important to him and would record every detail, just as the death of Sarah would be very important to Abraham; which is why he recorded every bit of information regarding that.

The Patriarchal Timeline for Genesis 24

It would be instructive to understand the ages of these patriarchs. Abraham is 140 at this time and he will live to 175, meaning that he will be alive through 35 years of the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah (although there is no interaction between them all recorded). Isaac and Rebekah will have children when Isaac is around age 60—twins Jacob and Esau. Therefore, Abraham will die around the 14^th or 15^th birthday of these twins. Again, no interaction between these families is recorded in Scripture. Interestingly enough, when Jacob returns to the Land of Promise as an adult with his wives and mistresses, he will meet Esau; but there will only be one verse which suggests that Jacob saw his father Isaac again. Once we begin to focus on the next generation, the previous generation is set aside. Abraham will be mentioned briefly in Genesis 25, but he is clearly no longer the focus of the History of the Patriarchs. Briefly, we will focus upon Isaac, and then we will focus upon Jacob. When we change focus to the next generation, the previous generation is only referred to incidentally.

Barnes lays out the beginning of this chapter: Abraham is now a hundred and forty years of age, and Sarah has been three years dead. Isaac seems to have been of an easy, sedate turn of mind, and was not in circumstances to choose a partner for life such as his father would approve. The promise of a numerous offspring by the son of Sarah is before the mind of the patriarch. All these considerations impel him to look out for a suitable wife for his son, and the blessing of the Lord encourages him to proceed.

Bruce Goettsche summarizes this chapter: [This is the] story of the arranged marriage of Isaac and Rebekah. Abraham sends his trusted servant (perhaps Eliezar) back to the homeland of his family in Haran to get a wife for Isaac.

Matthew Henry: Marriages and funerals are the changes of families, and the common news among the inhabitants of the villages. In the foregoing chapter we had Abraham burying his wife, here we have him marrying his son. These stories concerning his family, with their minute circumstances, are largely related, while the histories of the kingdoms of the world then in being, with their revolutions, are buried in silence; for the Lord knows those that are his. The subjoining of Isaac's marriage to Sarah's funeral (with a particular reference to it in Genesis 24:67) shows us that as “one generation passes away another generation comes;” and thus the entail both of the human nature, and of the covenant, is preserved.

If you have gone through the book of Genesis before, you will note many similarities to this narrative and Jacob’s narrative when he went back east to find a woman for himself. However, there are many significant differences, which will be discussed in Genesis 29.

You will notice in this chapter a very different style of writing than we have seen before. It is very repetitive, with the same phrases and words often being used over and over again, without a thought to edit out much. This could signal that there is a different writer for this chapter of Genesis, than we have had before. The writer is very methodical and very detail oriented. Those are characteristics which are good to find in a servant.

Like many chapters of Scripture, this chapter abounds with cultural norms. Now many of them are buried and require some digging and discussion to recognize them. Culture is simply culture. Some cultural norms may be right; some may be wrong; and some may be neutral, with regards to the standards of God. Sometimes, the difference of cultures is startling, and other times, subtle. What the Bible does—and this is quite amazing—is it provides laws and guidance within a culture, but without requiring us to adhere to the cultural norms of that society. For instance, Rebekah will fetch the water for the servant’s camels, and this will require her to do a great deal of work. At no time does the servant say to her, “Please, dear, take a seat, and let me do the rest.” That does not mean that this is the standard that we should follow when dealing with our own women; nor does it mean that how we interact with women today is far superior to that time. These are simply cultural norms—and ones which are neither right or wrong.

This is a long and fairly repetitive chapter. That does not mean that it will be uninteresting. However, there will be a lot of narrative and not as many short doctrines or references as are generally found in the average chapter.

Because of the length of this chapter, I have made a conscious choice to have as few quotations as possible. I will quote other commentators, but not near as liberally as in the past. There will be exceptions to this. I always enjoy the style of J. Vernon McGee, so I will quote him on as many occasions are pertinent.

As in most previous examinations of entire chapters, there will be unique observations found here which are not found in any other commentary.

One of the fascinating aspects of Scripture—particularly revealed in this chapter—is the dramatic differences between our culture today and the culture of the people in Genesis. It would seem logical to the person who does not believe that the Bible is the Word of God that the vignettes found in the book of Genesis would be simply narratives from the past with little application to our life today. However, throughout Scripture, there is man, who is corrupt, and there is God Who is perfect. There may be a different cultural backdrop, but the fundamentals still apply. So, where we ought to expect, from human viewpoint, to read an interesting narrative of a culture from long ago, we continue to find clear areas of application to our lives today, further confirming to us that this truly is the Word of God.

There has been, however, an eagerness on the part of many commentators, to try to set up parallels between this chapter and the marriage of Jesus and the church. This is problematic to me simply because I don’t believe that God the Holy Spirit set up types in the Old Testament to reveal Church Age truth. However, I do think that it is reasonable to see parallels between this chapter and God’s relationship to nation Israel—and to His people the Jews.

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Abraham's Servant Makes a Vow to Find a Wife for Isaac from Abraham's Family

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:                       Note: I compare the Hebrew text to English translations of the Latin, Syriac and Greek texts, using the Douay-Rheims translation; George Lamsa’s translation, and Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton’s translation as revised and edited by Paul W. Esposito, respectively. I often update these texts with non-substantive changes (e.g., you for thou, etc.). I often use the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible instead of Brenton’s translation, because it updates the English text.

The Septuagint was the earliest known translation of a book (circa 200 b.c.). Since this translation was made before the textual criticism had been developed into a science and because different books appear to be translated by different men, the Greek translation can sometimes be very uneven.

When there are serious disparities between my translation and Brenton’s (or the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible), I look at the Greek text of the Septuagint (the LXX) to see if a substantive difference actually exists (and I reflect these changes in the English rendering of the Greek text). I use the Greek LXX with Strong’s numbers and morphology available for e-sword. The only problem with this resource (which is a problem for similar resources) is, there is no way to further explore Greek verbs which are not found in the New Testament. Although I usually quote the Complete Apostles’ Bible here, I have begun to make changes in the translation when their translation conflicts with the Greek and note what those changes are.

The Masoretic text is the Hebrew text with all of the vowels (vowel points) inserted (the original Hebrew text lacked vowels). We take the Masoretic text to be the text closest to the original. However, differences between the Masoretic text and the Greek, Latin and Syriac are worth noting and, once in a great while, represent a more accurate text possessed by those other ancient translators.

In general, the Latin text is an outstanding translation from the Hebrew text into Latin and very trustworthy (I say this as a non-Catholic). Unfortunately, I do not read Latin—apart from some very obvious words—so I am dependent upon the English translation of the Latin (principally, the Douay-Rheims translation).

Underlined words indicate differences in the text.

Bracketed portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls are words, letters and phrases lost in the scroll due to various types of damage. Underlined words or phrases are those in the Dead Sea Scrolls but not in the Masoretic text.

The Targum of Onkelos is actually the Pentateuchal Targumim, which are The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel. On the Pentateuch With The Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum From the Chaldee by J. W. Etheridge, M.A. Taken from http://targum.info/targumic-texts/pentateuchal-targumim/ and first published in 1862.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And Abraham has become old; he has gone in the days and Y^ehowah has blessed Abraham in the all.

Targum of Onkelos                And Abraham was old with days, and the Word of the Lord had blessed Abraham with every kind of blessing.

Latin Vulgate                          Now Abraham was old, and advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed him in all things.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    NOW Abraham was old and well advanced in years; and the LORD had blessed him in all things.

Septuagint (Greek)                And Abraham was old, advanced in days, and the Lord blessed Abraham in all things.

Significant differences:           The Hebrew he has gone in the days simply suggests that Abraham is advanced in years. The targum has an extra phrase.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           Isaac marries Rebekah

As the days went by and Abraham became older, the Lord blessed Abraham in every way.

Contemporary English V.       Abraham was now a very old man. The LORD had made him rich, and he was successful in everything he did.

Easy English                          A wife for Isaac

Abraham was an old man. The *Lord had *blessed him in everything during all his long life.

Easy-to-Read Version            Abraham lived to be a very old man. The Lord blessed Abraham and everything that he did.

Good News Bible (TEV)         Abraham was now very old, and the LORD had blessed him in everything he did.

The Message                         Abraham was now an old man. GOD had blessed Abraham in every way.

New Life Bible                                                    Isaac And Rebekah

Now Abraham was old. He had lived many years. And the Lord had brought good to Abraham in every way.

New Living Translation           A Wife for Isaac

Abraham was now a very old man, and the Lord had blessed him in every way.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          By then, AbraHam was very old, and Jehovah had blest AbraHam in everything.

Beck’s American Translation Abraham was old and far along in years, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in every way.

Christian Community Bible     Eliezer finds a wife for Isaac

Abraham was now old and well on in years, and Yahweh had blessed him in every way.

God’s Word™                         By now Abraham was old, and the LORD had blessed him in every way.

International Standard V        Finding a Bride for Isaac

Now Abraham had grown old, was well advanced in age, and the LORD had blessed Abraham in every way.

NIRV                                      Abraham's Servant Finds a Wife for Isaac

By that time Abraham was very old. The Lord had blessed him in every way.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Ancient Roots Translinear      Abraham was-old. Yahweh blessed Abraham in all his coming days.

Bible in Basic English             Now Abraham was old and far on in years: and the Lord had given him everything in full measure.

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 The History of Isaac’s Marriage

Abraham however grew old, and advanced in years; and the Lord had prospered Abraham in everything.

HCSB                                     Abraham was now old, getting on in years, and the LORD had blessed him in everything.

NIV – UK                                Isaac and Rebekah

Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way.

Catholic Bibles (those having the imprimatur):

The Heritage Bible                 And Abraham was old, and advanced in days, and Jehovah had knelt down with goodness to Abraham in all things.

New American Bible              Abraham had now reached a ripe old age, and the LORD had blessed him in every way.

New American Bible (R.E.)    Isaac and Rebekah.

Abraham was old, having seen many days, and the LORD had blessed him in every way. [24:1-67] The story of Abraham and Sarah is drawing to a close. The promises of progeny (21:1-7) and land (chap. 23) have been fulfilled and Sarah has died (23:1-2). Abraham's last duty is to ensure that his son Isaac shares in the promises. Isaac must take a wife from his own people (vv. 3-7), so the promises may be fulfilled. The extraordinary length of this story and its development of a single theme contrast strikingly with the spare style of the preceding Abraham and Sarah stories. It points ahead to the Jacob and Joseph stories.

The length of the story is partly caused by its meticulous attention to the sign (vv. 12-14), its fulfillment (vv. 15-20), and the servant's retelling of sign and fulfillment to Rebekah's family to win their consent (vv. 34-49).

New Jerusalem Bible             By now Abraham was an old man, well on in years, and Yahweh had blessed Abraham in every way.

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

exeGeses companion Bible   YISCHAQ AND RIBQAH

And Abraham ages - well stricken in days:

and Yah Veh blesses Abraham in all:.

Green’s Literal Translation    And Abraham was old, going on in days, and Jehovah had blessed Abraham in all things.

Judaica Press Complete T.    And Abraham was old, advanced in days, and the Lord had blessed Abraham with everything.

Kaplan Translation                 A Wife for Isaac

Abraham was old, well advanced in years, and God had blessed Abraham with everything.

Expanded/Embellished Bibles:

Kretzmann’s Commentary    The Preparation for the Journey

And Abraham was old and well stricken in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. He was now one hundred and forty years old, and felt the coming on of the infirmities of old age. It was necessary for him to provide for Isaac's marriage before death should overtake him; moreover, the Messianic promise was to be preserved to his family through Isaac and his descendants. In all things the Lord had blessed Abraham, pouring out upon him both temporal and spiritual blessings.

Lexham English Bible            Isaac and Rebekah

Now Abraham [was] old, {advanced in age}, and Yahweh had blessed Abraham in everything.

NET Bible®                             The Wife for Isaac

Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years [Heb "days."], and the Lord had blessed him [Heb "Abraham." The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun ("he") for stylistic reasons.] in everything. When it comes to making an actual material change to the text, the NET Bible® is pretty good about indicating this. Since most of these corrections will be clear in the more literal translations below and within the Hebrew exegesis itself, I will not continue to list every NET Bible® footnote. Some of their notes will be reproduced in the exegesis of the chapter.

Translation for Translators                        Abraham sent a servant to Canaan to find a wife for Isaac

Abraham was now a very old man. Yahweh had blessed Abraham in many ways.

The Voice                               Abraham was now very old. He had seen many years come and go. The Eternal One had blessed his life in every imaginable way.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Concordant Literal Version    And Abraham is old, come to days. And Yahweh blesses Abraham in all things.

Context Group Version          And Abraham was old, [ and ] well stricken in age. And YHWH had esteemed Abraham in all things.

English Standard Version      Isaac and Rebekah

Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.

NASB                                     A Bride for Isaac

Now Abraham was old, advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in every way.

World English Bible                Abraham was old, and well stricken in age. Yahweh had blessed Abraham in all things.

Young’s Updated LT             And Abraham is old, he has entered into days, and Jehovah has blessed Abraham in all things.

The gist of this verse:          Abraham had become old and God has blessed him in all things.

Translation: Now Abraham had become old;...

This is something which few of us actually realize—we all grow old, even Abraham, who is beloved of God—called a friend of God, in fact. At a young age, the world is our oyster. There appear to be an endless realm of possibilities before us; however, as we grow older, these potential pathways become increasingly limited. This is not necessarily because we have squandered our lives in any way (although some of us do), but simply that there is a clock ticking and we have to determine what we will do with our limited time here on earth.

Leupold: Abraham's being old is referred to in connection with his choice of a wife for Isaac because his age reminds him of the need of delaying in this important matter no longer.

One of the doctrines which I have been meaning to investigate is the arc of man’s life, as we all go from birth to death over the period of 40–100 years, give or take. And every portion of our life is different. Abraham has come very nearly to the end of his. His wife passed in the previous chapter, when Abraham was age 137, but he will still live another 38 years. He will marry again and have children, but we will hear very little about Abraham’s life after Genesis 22–23.

Abraham is said to be old. Isaac will marry at age 40. The things which take place in this chapter of Genesis might take a year or two. So Abraham would be about 139 at this time and he will live to be 175.

Translation: ...he had advanced in years...

Abraham did not just grow old, but he advanced in years; he moved forward in years. Now, the idea ought to be as one grows older, one’s life becomes more purposeful, more directed, more focused. There are fewer things which we can do, but God still has a purpose for our lives.

The last times that we views Abraham, he first offered up his son Isaac to God [Genesis 22 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD)] and later Abraham negotiated with Hittites to purchase a grave site for Sarah. Since then, Abraham has aged considerably [Genesis 23 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD)].

Many believers of an advanced age spend much time in prayer. In some cases, their minds are going, but the one thing that many of them continue to have in their souls in a strong trust in God, as well as a great focus on His plan.

Peter Pett: This is a brief summary of Abraham's life which is now coming to its end. It deliberately emphasises that the future is now with Isaac. The blessings were now to begin on him.

Translation: ...and Y^ehowah has blessed Abraham in all things.

God is pleased with Abraham and God has called Abraham a friend (James 2:23). This appears to be a stage of spiritual growth that few of us will reach, but one which ought to be our focus as we grow older.

Throughout his life, God blessed Abraham. It is an amazing thing, but, of all historical figures, Abraham is perhaps the most well-known apart from Jesus Christ our Lord (and Moses). And bear in mind, he never laid down permanent stakes; he moved throughout the Canaan realm, and there were even times when he made some mistakes in his relationship with those he encountered. However, how many of you could name a king or a prime minister of that era—give or take 500 years on both sides of Abraham’s life—and be able to tell me more than 2 things about that world ruler?

Abraham, a Friend of God (a graphic); from WordPress, accessed December 17, 2014.

This ought to help focus you. Many of us want fame; many of us want to be known. We would love to ride through a new town and have dozens (or hundreds) of people recognize us and call out our name with respect or adoration. There are movies stars and politicians throughout history who have had that, and with this fleeting fame, they often have armed guards as well and crazy stalkers as well.

Yet, at the church that you attend, there might be 5 or 15 people who recognize you and 2 perhaps who even know your name. In your neighborhood there might be a like number of people; and at your work, perhaps a few more. But, our life is not about fleeting fame; it is not about being recognized in a restaurant, walking down a street, or when seated in a plane. We all have a purpose in this life (assuming that you are a believer in Jesus Christ)—one which is fairly well-defined if you know Bible doctrine—and that purpose goes on throughout our lives, and that purpose continues with Abraham, even at his advanced age. Furthermore, these things that we do can have permanent impact. If you have a little sense, then you have seen these odd names attached to a school where you attended, to a street or to a building—and you don’t know who these people were. In some rare cases, you may meet one or two of those people—old and grey and much of God’s life squeezed out of them—but, for the most part, those people who were important enough to have a street or a school named after them—they’re gone and you have no idea who or what they were. Fame is fleeting.

Abraham, a rich and successful rancher, is known to us today; however, in eternity, what he did throughout his life will be even better known and celebrated, as his life glorified God, and through him, was God’s purpose wrought on this earth.

This is what we ought to expect—there is the recognition that the world gives, and it is fleeting and rarely attain, as well as fraught with inherent problems. Then there is the recognition of God—that is eternal and real.

We studied Genesis 22 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD), and there are few things as amazing as the parallels between Abraham offering up his son and God offering up His Son. I don’t know that we find a greater single illustration of our Lord anywhere else, apart from Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53.

So there is no misunderstanding—let’s say that you would like to be like Abraham. You would like to have the impact that he had. In the Church Age, this is possible for any believer. All you need to positive volition toward the Word of God and authority orientation. Your attitude toward the Word of God and your ability to obey God’s direction in life will result in great spiritual impact. Every believer has all of the assets necessary to be an Abraham, a Moses, a Paul, a Billy Sunday or a Billy Graham. We may or may not be well-known in time—that depends upon God’s gift that we possess and our positive volition. But our impact can be great. Furthermore—and you may have a difficult time believing this—you may have one specific spiritual duty—say, to raise your one son in the Lord—and that may be very common in most people’s eyes—but that could be something could literally change history.

Application: I don’t know anything about Billy Graham’s parents or his life when young—but it is possible that even his mother or father, by their faithful service to God may be highly exalted in heaven over how they raised him.

Application: As an aside, you may think, “Well, dammit, I’m humble. I don’t need to be exalted.” When you glorify God, you are exalted. We want this—maybe not for the fame, but because this is God’s plan for our lives.

Application: But, back to the original point—we all have a plan designed specifically for us by God, and this plan may related to millions of people (as God’s plan for Billy Graham) or this plan may involve 1 or 2 other people in your life. You learn God’s plan by means of the Word of God and then you go with it. I would not be surprised if some people have only 1 or 2 people God wants them to witness to—but it is a job that no one else can do. And building up to this witness might take decades. Whatever it is, you just do it.

Everyone has different gifts and all of them are necessary.

Abraham built up to the point where he could do what God wanted him to do in Genesis 22; and it is possible that this servant of Abraham’s may have given Abraham a lifetime of dedicated service, so that Abraham could trust him with a mission this great.

Genesis 24:1 Now Abraham had become old; he had advanced in years and Y^ehowah has blessed Abraham in all things. (Kukis mostly literal translation)

Genesis 24:1 Now Abraham had grown old, but Jehovah has blessed Abraham in all things throughout his long life. (Kukis paraphrase)

Genesis 24:1 Now Abraham had grown old, but Jehovah has blessed Abraham in all things throughout his long life.

Abraham is the ideal for all Jews and all believers. He was faithful to God; he believed God; and he did what God asked him to do. God also blessed Abraham greatly.

Communism, Socialism and the Gospel of Jesus Christ: There are always Satanic and political forces at work, and, if you go to any website with far left leanings, they will both denigrate the Bible but they will very likely, at some point, speak of the rich young ruler, to whom Jesus said, “Sell everything, give the proceeds to the poor and follow Me.” Liberals only know a few passages of Scripture, and this is always one of them. They love that passage. Liberals seem to think that Jesus went around to rich guys all the time and told them to give away all that they had. To them, that is the central message of Jesus, and they attempt to parlay that into higher taxes for the rich, as if it is the government which represents the poor and as if that was the theme of Jesus ministry.

 

When it comes to Scripture, on many occasions, socialists and communists have found out that the approach, “The Bible is wrong and we are right” does not work very well. When they took this approach, they were stymied on many occasions. The people were not with them. So their other approach has been to co-op the Bible—find a few things in the Bible which appear to support their position, and push those things, as if they are central to the message of the Bible. When people do not know much about the Bible, but believe in it, this has the potential to sway them to some degree.

 

People who run such websites have no interest in Who Jesus is, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the cross, or anything like that. In fact, they will, out of the other side of their mouth, denigrate Scripture and some of the things which they find in the Bible.

 

Whereas, socialism and communism took power in the 20^th century through violent revolution, they found that it was hard to sell this ideology when their greatest leaders are also the greatest mass murderers from the 20^th century (Joseph Stalin and Mao Tse Tung). They have found that massive control by government can also be accomplished by democratic elections and piecemeal taking of power, by making promises to the largest number of people (the 99%; the middle class), which is very much a war of propaganda.

 

Christians are often the most difficult people to get on board with their utopian society, so this is done by distorting Scripture. I have been to many politically liberal websites where they can expound on Jesus and the rich young ruler and they can tell you how many times God talks about the poor in the Bible, and they can make a very compelling case that God is all about taking care of the poor. But the end game is to get more money and more power in the hands of a few autocrats, who, ostensibly, have the best interests of the poor at heart.

 

And all of this is based upon a great lust for power and money in the hearts of some men. That will always be a part of politics and of government. They will talk about the poor, the middle class, about income inequality, global warming, but, when all is said and done, they simply want to convince a population that more money and more power needs to flow from the people to the government. This is why the solution to global warming is, more taxes and more government power. This is why the solution to poverty is, more taxes and more government power. And this is sold on television, in the movies, in newscasts, in newspapers, and, of course, in schools.

 

And why do they attack the rich? There are fewer rich; it is easy to make poor people jealous of their wealth; and money represents power and influence—and politicians want this power and influence. Most of them do not want to share it. They get some recalcitrant Christians onboard by convincing them, a socialist government is what Jesus would want.

 

Jesus the Socialist (a graphic) from WordPress, but found all over the internet, on nearly every liberal’s facebook page. Accessed December 17, 2014.

 

I realize that there are times when this examination of the Bible seems to be a little too political. Satan uses politics and Satan distorts Scripture. Most people only understand one side of Satan, this he is this vicious being who brings great harm to millions of people. But that is only one side of Satan. Satan would also like to establish “heaven on earth” (although that would not be how he would phrase it). Satan is a utopian. This is why there are so many ideologues who have this fantasy of establishing a perfect society (which is what socialism and communist are, besides being ideologies used to grab power and money). This ideal society is Satanic evil. Attempts to establish a human paradise is not of God, but of Satan. The Millennium, where Jesus rules, will feature perfect environment, but, more prominently, will feature perfect justice and righteousness. A utopian nation under Satan is not about justice and righteousness. It is all about power and control. It is not about removing income inequality—it is about removing the money (and therefore the power) of their political and social enemies (aka, those who will not go along with their programs).

 

Along these lines, see Liberalism, Conservatism and Christianity (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

You may wonder, where are you going with this? So, let’s go back to our narrative. Abraham is a very rich man and God never comes to him and says, “You know what, Abraham, you just have been blessed with too much material things; I need for you to sell your stuff and give it to the poor.” Abraham, because of his riches, was able to employ a huge staff of people—in the hundreds. Probably most of these men were slaves, but slavery in those days was much different than the slavery which we practiced in the United States (and different from how it is practiced in most places).

Slaves generally came from two places: extreme poverty, which required them to sell themselves into slavery (or their parents sold them into slavery); and from victories in war. When a country was conquered, sometimes its people would be taken in slavery (and sometimes they would be left in their land to pay tribute to those who conquered them).

At no time did God come to Abraham and say, “You make way too much money, and your slaves make only a small percentage of what you make. There is far too much of an income gap here. You need to spread your wealth around.” God never told Abraham that; and God never told that to any man who was wealthy and owned slaves (with the exception of the rich young ruler, but that is a whole different story with a very specific context, which is unknown to the liberals who speak of Jesus and the rich young ruler in reverent terms).

A part of what Abraham did was, he provided for his slaves. They had food, shelter and clothing provided, and this was his responsibility. I have seen liberals protest a variety of fast-food restaurants because they did not pay a living wage. In slavery, a good slave owner had to pay a living wage. He may not have paid his slaves, but he had to provide for all of their needs. That turns out to be, if my calculator is accurate, a living wage.

In this dispensation, we are slaves of Jesus Christ. As we grow spiritually and act as His slaves, then He is obligated to make certain that our basic necessities are provided for. We are all in full-time Christian service, and this may take a variety of forms (a believer is not confined to only being a preacher, an evangelist or a missionary); and God has promised to take care of our basic needs (however, this does not mean that we get to quit our jobs). God expects us to work. That is a part of what our lives are to be about.

What our lives are not supposed to be about? Socialism and encouraging socialism. Demonstration for social and economic justice—those are meaningless terms which only refer to some sort of socialistic state.

Psalm 112:1–3 Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in His commandments! His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. (ESV; capitalized) The Bible, in several places, speaks of wealth as a sign of blessing from God. This does not mean that every believer will become rich; but for some, this is a part of their blessing from God.

——————————

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so says Abraham unto his slave, elderly of his house, the one ruling in all that [was] to him: “Put, please, your hand under my thigh.

Targum of Onkelos                And Abraham said to Eliezer his servant, the senior of his house, who had rule over all his property, Put now thy hand upon the section of my circumcision.

Jerusalem targum                  And Abraham said to his servant, the ruler who had rule over all that was his, Put now thy hand under the thigh of my covenant.

Latin Vulgate                          And he said to the elder servant of his house, who was ruler over all he had: Put your hand under my thigh.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And Abraham called his eldest servant, the steward of his house, who was in charge of everything that he had; and he said to him, Put your hand under my girdle.

Septuagint (Greek)                And Abraham said to his servant the elder of his house, who had rule over all his possessions, Put your hand under my thigh,...

Significant differences:           The Jerusalem targum does not include the fact that Abraham’s slave is elderly of his household. The targum of Onkelos calls this man Eliezer.

The targum of Onkelos has Abraham’s servant putting his hand under Abraham’s “section of circumcision.” The Jerusalem targum adds of my covenant. The Syriac has girdle instead of thigh.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Contemporary English V.       One day, Abraham called in his most trusted servant and said to him, "Solemnly promise me...

Easy English                          Abraham's oldest servant had the responsibility for everything that Abraham had. Abraham said to him, `Put your hand under my *thigh.

Easy-to-Read Version            Abraham’s oldest servant was in charge of everything Abraham owned. Abraham called that servant to him and said, “Put your hand under my leg. This showed that this was a very important promise and that Abraham trusted his servant to keep it.

Good News Bible (TEV)         He said to his oldest servant, who was in charge of all that he had, "Place your hand between my thighs and make a vow.

New Berkeley Version           ...he said to the oldest servant in his household, who was in charge of all his property, “Kindly place your hand under my thigh,...

New Century Version             Abraham said to his oldest servant, who was in charge of everything he owned, "Put your hand under my leg. This showed that a person would keep the promise.

New Life Bible                        Abraham said to the oldest servant in his house and the one who took care of all that he owned, "Place your hand under my hip,... [and let your backbone slip]

New Living Translation           One day Abraham said to his oldest servant, the man in charge of his household, "Take an oath by putting your hand under my thigh.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          So AbraHam said to his servant (the elder of his house, who was in charge of all his possessions), 'Put your hand under my thigh,... Abraham was the patriarch of his tribe. This may be a KJV delicate way of alluding to what he was instructing his eldest servant to do. Which was for him to reach down and grasp his (Abraham's) lower manhood, then to swear an oath upon the seed of their tribe, that he would make every effort to adhere to the promise he was to make.

We find similar oath taking in the ancient courts of Rome, where a man was required to take hold of the aforementioned, with his right hand and swear an oath to tell the absolute truth before the court. The appropriate penalty for perjury was castration. It is from this practice that the word "testimony" derives, as the Latin root "testi" refers to the glans from which the seeds of life, and each man's future progeny/legacy, hails.

Thus, as Abraham required his servant not to take hold of his (the servant's own) groin while making his pledge, but that of Abraham's, it symbolically stood for that of every member of their tribe. He was instilling in his servant the grave importance that Abraham himself invested in what was being demanded of his servant. It may be interpreted as implying Abraham was staking the future of his entire tribe on this one oath.

God’s Word™                         So Abraham said to the senior servant of his household who was in charge of all that he owned, "Take a solemn oath.

International Standard V        So Abraham instructed his servant, who was the oldest member of his household and in charge of everything he owned, "Make this solemn oath to me [Lit. Place your hand under my thigh; i.e., to make a solemn promise based on the sanctity of the family and commitment to the family line] as a promise to the LORD, the God of heaven and earth, that you won't acquire a wife for my son from the Canaanite women among whom I'm living. V. 3 is included for context.

NIRV                                      The best servant in his house was in charge of everything he had.

Abraham said to him, "Put your hand under my thigh.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Ancient Roots Translinear      Abraham said to the elder servant of his house, ruling all of his, "Please set your hand under my thigh.

Bible in Basic English             And Abraham said to his chief servant, the manager of all his property, Come now, put your hand under my leg:...

Complete Jewish Bible           Avraham said to the servant who had served him the longest, who was in charge of all he owned, "Put your hand under my thigh;...

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 Then Abraham said to his servant, the chief of his household, and steward over all he had:...

HCSB                                     Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his household who managed all he owned, "Place your hand under my thigh,...

NIV – UK                                He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, `Put your hand under my thigh.

Catholic Bibles (those having the imprimatur):

New American Bible              Abraham said to the senior servant of his household, who had charge of all his possessions: "Put your hand under my thigh,... Put your hand under my thigh: the symbolism of this act was apparently connected with the Hebrew concept of children issuing from their father's "thigh" (the literal meaning of "direct descendants" in 46:26; Ex 1:5). Perhaps the man who took such an oath was thought to bring the curse of sterility on himself if he did not fulfill his sworn promise. Jacob made Joseph swear in the same way (Gn 47:29). In both these instances, the oath was taken to carry out the last request of a man upon his death. Gn 47:29.

New Jerusalem Bible             Abraham said to the senior servant in his household, the steward of all his property, 'Place your hand under my thigh:...

Revised English Bible            Abraham said to the servant who had been longest in his service and was in charge of all he owned, ‘Give me your solemn oath:...

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

exeGeses companion Bible   ...and Abraham says to the elder servant of his house

who reigns over all he has,

Put, I pray you, your hand under my flank:...

Judaica Press Complete T.    And Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his house, who ruled over all that was his, "Please place your hand under my thigh.

Kaplan Translation                 He said to the senior servant [According to Talmudic tradition, this anonymous servant was Eliezer (Genesis 15:2; Targum Yonathan; Yoma28b; Rashi).] of his household, who was in charge of all that he owned, 'Place your hand under my thigh. This was a form often used for an oath; see Genesis 47:29. According to Biblical idiom, children issue from the 'thigh' of the father (Genesis 46:26, Exodus 1:5, Judges 8:30), and hence, it is a euphemism for the procreative organ. According to Talmudic tradition, the servant was to place his hand near (Saadia; cf. Abarbanel) the holy sign of the covenant, just as in later times an oath would be made on a Torah scroll (Shevuoth 38b; Targum Yonathan; Rashi). According to some, it was a sign of obedience (Ibn Ezra).

Expanded/Embellished Bibles:

The Amplified Bible                And Abraham said to the eldest servant of his house [Eliezer of Damascus], who ruled over all that he had, I beg of you, put your hand under my thigh;...

Kretzmann’s Commentary    And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, the senior servant in charge of his entire establishment, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, as that member of the body which symbolized posterity, in this case the promised seed, the promise and the hope of Abraham and Israel.

NET Bible®                             Abraham said to his servant, the senior one [The Hebrew term זָקֵן (zaqen) may refer to the servant who is oldest in age or senior in authority (or both).] in his household who was in charge of everything he had, "Put your hand under my thigh [The taking of this oath had to do with the sanctity of the family and the continuation of the family line. See D. R. Freedman, "Put Your Hand Under My Thigh — the Patriarchal Oath," BAR 2 (1976): 2-4, 42.] ^24:3 so that I may make you solemnly promise... A portion of v. 3 was added for context.

Translation for Translators     One day Abraham said to the chief servant of his household, the man who was in charge of all Abraham owned, "Put your hand between my thighs to solemnly promise you will do what I tell you.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Context Group Version          And Abraham said to his slave, the elder of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I beg of you, your hand under my thigh.

English Standard Version      And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, "Put your hand under my thigh,...

The Geneva Bible                  And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh [Which ceremony declared, the servants obedience towards his master, and the masters power over the servant.]:

Green’s Literal Translation    And Abraham said to his slave, oldest in his house, the one who governed in all that was to him, Please put your hand under my thigh.

NASB                                     Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he owned, "Please place your hand under my thigh,...

Young’s Updated LT             And Abraham says unto his servant, the eldest of his house, who is ruling over all that he has, “Put, I pray you, your hand under my thigh,...

The gist of this verse:          Abraham called for his longest-serving servant to come to him and take an oath.

Translation: Therefore, Abraham said to his slave,...

Abraham, along with many grace oriented believers, had slaves—not just one, but many. Slavery, for many people, was a way out of debt and/or a way out of bad economic circumstances. Remember that slave owners needed to pay their slaves a living wage. Otherwise, they were squandering the money used to pay for their slaves.

The Mosaic Law codified some practices of the day, which involved paying off your incurred debt by selling yourself into slavery, often to the person you are indebted to. Similarly, people who grew up without means—children of widows or orphans—often sold themselves into slavery in order to insure that they would be housed and fed.

For all intents and purposes, Abraham is the CEO of Abraham’s Ranching Enterprise; and this man who is referred to as a slave is the executive vice president. We do not know how Abraham acquired this man—whether purchased when in Egypt or at a later date—but like many men will intelligence and skills, this slave rose to the top of Abraham’s company. From a human standpoint, this is the highest ranking officer under Abraham and Isaac. And allow me to repeat this, so that you understand—this man is a slave, who, at some point in his life, was bought and sold, and is owned by Abraham. Relative to his time and place, he probably has a higher ranking than you or I, even though he was and still is, a slave.

In repeating this fact, I am not trying to justify all types of slavery; but I am saying that there are legitimate types of slavery and legitimate reasons to practice some types of slavery. This man is a slave, and he has greater power, authority, and responsibility than you or I have. So, no matter what your prejudices are, you ought to be able to concede that this man is not harmed by being a slave. He has risen to a higher position in life because he is a slave.

Later on in Genesis, Joseph (who will be Isaac’s grandson), will start as a slave in Egypt and become the prime minister of Egypt. And Joseph’s brothers were wrong to selling Joseph into slavery; and yet, it is because of his position as a slave that he gained so much power and authority.

The Bible is very specific about slavery and how it ought to be handled and how some types of slavery are legitimate and some types are not. Man-stealing (the kind of slavery which was practiced to bring slaves to the southern states of the United States) is wrong; and the Bible says that it is wrong. However, some people, due to poverty, due to circumstances beyond their control, must sometimes sell themselves into slavery. Some people are conquered in war, and the Bible allows for them to be employed as slaves as a result.

Many commentators identify this servant as Eliezer, which is certainly a possibility. Eliezer is the man that Abraham believed would inherit all of his wealth, because he did not have a proper son at that time. You may recall Genesis 15:2, when Abraham complained to God: "O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" Eliezer would be a marvelous choice here, simply because his name means My God [is] a help; or God [is] help. So, this would be apropos. However, we do not know this for a fact, so I will continue to refer to Abraham’s servant as Abraham’s servant (or slave).

Abraham and his Servant (a graphic) from Biblical illustrations by Jim Padgett, courtesy of Sweet Publishing, Ft. Worth, TX, and Gospel Light, Ventura, CA. Copyright 1984 and accessed January 14, 2015.

Translation: ...the eldest of his house—the one who ruled over all that he had [lit., in all that {was} to him]:...

This slave is identified here. He is the oldest of the house, which could simply suggest the most senior in rank of all of Abraham’s slaves. You will note that this man had control over all that Abraham owned. So this was a man who Abraham trusted implicitly.

Many have assumed that this is Eliezer, whom Abraham spoke of in Genesis 15:2 But Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" Abram, speaking to God, did not see a son on the horizon, and asked God, “Who is my son? Eliezer of Damascus?” It was not unusual for a man of power or wealth to adopt a boy (or a young man)—even a slave—as his heir. Since Abram had no children in Genesis 15, he is asking God, “So, my heir is Eliezer?” As a result, many have assumed that this man was his oldest and most trusted slave.

There is a great deal of logic here—Eliezer was a young man close to Abraham—close enough to consider as his possible heir. The age would be right, as he would be younger than Abraham—young enough to be his heir at this time (not necessarily a youngster); and now old enough to be trusted with the finances of Abraham’s estate. However, there is nothing which confirms this for us.

Translation: ...“Please place your hand under my thigh.

This appears to be a way that men took oaths in those days. I do not know how far this was taken; one explanation was that this placed the hand where it could crush the testicles of the other man. If this is the case, then it involved a great deal of personal trust. This does not mean that we need a new way of taking oaths than shaking hands or signing contracts. This is simply something which was apparently done in those days. Whether that is the way that men took oaths in that day is not really clear. The word used here does mean thigh, inner thigh. Does it actually mean more than that? Despite these being possible meanings offered by BDB, we really do not know.

J. Vernon McGee: This is the way men took an oath in that day. They did not raise their right hands and put their left hands on a Bible. They didn't have a Bible to begin with, and frankly, I do not think it is necessary for anyone to put his hand on a Bible to swear that he is telling the truth. If he intends to lie, he will lie even if his hand is resting on a Bible. The method in that day was for a man to put his hand under the thigh of the man to whom he was going to make an oath. I think this servant was Eliezer. He was the head servant in the home of Abraham, and he had a son - remember that Abraham had called God's attention to that earlier (see Gen. 15:2-3).

Some writers have suggested that such a vow is related to one’s posterity. Rather than taking a vow on your mother’s head, you are taking a vow on your own children and their children.

Gill goes into great detail about alternate ways to understand this oath. I don’t really see a reason to repeat it here. This same custom is also to be found in Genesis 47:29. However, Scripture is filled with oaths without a reference to this sort of custom (Genesis 21:23 26:28–31 31:44–53 and many others).

In any case, this is a vow; and God is not suggesting that we do this when signing contracts with one another.

You will note how Abraham treated his most faithful servant. This man ruled over all that Abraham had. He controlled Abraham’s wealth and he was a faithful steward to Abraham. Because he had been faithful to Abraham in so many things, Abraham had given him great responsibilities.

Genesis 24:2 Therefore, Abraham said to his slave, the eldest of his house—the one who ruled over all that he had [lit., in all that {was} to him]: “Please place your hand under my thigh. (Kukis mostly literal translation)

Genesis 24:2 Therefore, Abraham said to his slave, the one who had the most responsibility over his estate: “Please place your hand under my thigh. (Kukis paraphrase)

Here, Abraham is going to give this servant (slave) one of the most solemn responsibilities of his life—he is going to send this servant out to find a wife for Isaac. There is no next generation unless Isaac has a wife.

This begins with the servant taking a vow to Abraham.

Before the servant does or says anything, Abraham will tell him what the entire oath is.

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Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And I bind you to an oath in Y^ehowah, Elohim of the [two] heavens, Elohim of the earth, that you will not take a woman for my son from daughters of the Canaanite, whom I am dwelling in his midst.

Targum of Onkelos                And swear to me in the name of the Word of the Lord God, whose habitation is in heaven on high, the God whose dominion is over the earth, that thou wilt not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Kenaanites among whom I dwell;...

Latin Vulgate                          That I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you take not a wife for my son, of the daughters of the Chanaanites, among whom I dwell.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you shall not take to my son a wife of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell;...

Septuagint (Greek)                ...and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that you take not a wife for my son Isaac from the daughters of the Canaanites, with whom I dwell, in the midst of them.

Significant differences:           The targum has swear to me as an imperative mood. The other writings are all in the indicative mood.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           By the Lord, God of heaven and earth, give me your word that you won't choose a wife for my son from the Canaanite women among whom I live.

Contemporary English V.       ...in the name of the LORD, who rules heaven and earth, that you won't choose a wife for my son Isaac from the people here in the land of Canaan.

Easy English                          Please make a very serious promise. And declare that the *Lord God of heaven and earth is your witness. I live among the *Canaanites. However, do not choose anyone among their daughters as my son's wife.

Easy-to-Read Version            Now I want you to make a promise to me. Promise to me before the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not allow my son to marry a girl from Canaan. We live among those people but don’t let him marry a Canaanite girl.

Good News Bible (TEV)         I want you to make a vow in the name of the LORD, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not choose a wife for my son from the people here in Canaan.

The Message                         ...and swear by GOD--God of Heaven, God of Earth--that you will not get a wife for my son from among the young women of the Canaanites here,...

New Century Version             Make a promise to me before the Lord, the God of heaven and earth. Don't get a wife for my son from the Canaanite girls who live around here.

New Life Bible                        ...and I will have you promise by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth. Promise that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, who live around me.

New Living Translation           Swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not allow my son to marry one of these local Canaanite women.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          ...because I want you to swear by Jehovah the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you won't take a woman for my son IsaAc from the daughters of the CanaAnites. these [people] among whom I am living.

God’s Word™                         I want you to swear by the LORD God of heaven and earth that you will not get my son a wife from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I'm living.

NIRV                                      The Lord is the God of heaven and the God of earth. I want you to make a promise with an oath in his name.