Genesis 24

Abraham sends a servant to find a wife for Isaac (vs. 1-9)—Abraham doesn’t want his son to marry among the pagans in Canaan; he prefer he marry among the pagans in his own family. I’m being a bit facetious, but not much. We will learn later that there was, indeed, some idol worship in the family, but that’s not surprising since Abraham’s father was a polytheist (Joshua 24:2). So the servant is sent to the city of Nahor (Abraham’s brother), which may have been the name of the city or simply the “city where Nahor lived.”

The servant’s prayer (vs. 10-14)—The unnamed servant arrives where sent, and stops at a well outside the city, at about the time the women of the city come out to draw water. He offers a unique prayer to God for the success of his mission. “Lord, let the woman who comes out to the well and gives me a drink, and also offers to water my camels, be the one whom You have selected for my master’s son.” And the Lord will answer his prayer…

The servant meets Rebekah (vs. 15-27)—Rebekah, as noted in chapter 22, was the granddaughter of Abraham’s brother, Nahor. She came out to draw water and met all the conditions Abraham’s servant had placed before the Lord. The servant, upon finding out who Rebekah is, believes that she is the one chosen. He doesn’t explain everything fully to the girl, but she’s impressed enough that she runs into town and tells her family.

The servant speaks to Rebekah’s family (vs. 28-49)—Rebekah’s brother, Laban, comes out to greet the man and invites him to dinner (the servant was going to spend the night with them anyway—Oriental hospitality again, vs. 23-25). This section of some 20 verses is pretty much a recounting of what has gone on earlier in the chapter—the servant’s mission, his prayer, Rebekah’s appearance. It’s largely a repeat.

An agreement is made (vs. 50-60)—It’s interesting that Rebekah didn’t appear to have much to say about whether she would go with Abraham’s servant or not. The decision seemed to be left in the hands of Laban and Bethuel (and this appears to a brother with the same name as the father, who must be dead). The brothers said, “Here is Rebekah before you; take her and go, and let her be your master's son's wife, as the LORD has spoken” (v. 51). Of course, arranged marriages were the custom of the day, in fact, have been the custom of most cultures down through history. And, for the most part, they seemed to have been very successful.

Rebekah meets Isaac (vs. 61-67)—Rebekah went with the servant, met Isaac (with modesty, “she took a veil and covered herself,” v. 65, another custom of the time), and “she became [Isaac’s] wife, and he loved her” (v. 67). A touching story, and Rebekah proves to be a pretty shrewd woman, as we shall see.