Genesis: 1a 1b 1c 1d 2a 2b 2c 2d 3 4a 4b 4c/5 6a 6b 7 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25a 25b 26a 26b 27 28a 28b 29 30a 30b 31a 31b/32a 32b 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44a 44b 45 46 47a 47b 48 49 50
The matrilocal law and the proscription of exogamy are explained in Genesis 2:24: "therefore shall a man leave his parents' house and cleave unto his wife." This is not our modern understanding of the grown-up boy now getting a mortgage for the marriage-home, but a matter of leaving the tribal territory altogether, and therefore becoming a member of the other tribe: Esav is Edom, as we will be told in Genesis 36:8. It is the husband who, so to speak, changes his name, joining the wife's tribe – as we discussed earlier in relation to Yitschak and Yishma-El, and will see later with Ya'akov and Esav. If Av-Raham let Yitschak marry a Kena'ani woman, there would be no descent except through Keturah's children, the nephew inheritance to which Lot was entitled having been annulled when they parted (see my note to Genesis 13:10 and 15:3. Therefore he seeks a wife within the tribe (Lot's daughters would have been better still, but Lot's departure has now rendered that exogamy as well). Ya'akov will similarly be refused permission to marry out (Genesis 27:46 and 28:1).
Whether this is all historical, or simply ideological for the time of the Redaction, we cannot know; what we can say is that the issue was of fundamental importance at the time of the Redaction. After rebuilding the walls of Yeru-Shala'im, Nechem-Yah returned to Paras (Persia); but then came back a second time as Governor, and was shocked by what he saw. Ezra had completed the Redaction of the Torah, and instituted the thrice-weekly readings in the market-place, but there was corruption among the priesthood, breaches of the Shabbat were commonplace, and (Nehemiah 13:23/24) "In those days also saw I the Jews that had married women of Ashdod, of Amon, and of Mo-Av: and their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak Yehudit, but only in the language of those people."
Whether this is all historical, or simply ideological for the time of the Redaction, we cannot know; what we can say is that the issue was of fundamental importance at the time of the Redaction. After rebuilding the walls of Yeru-Shala'im, Nechem-Yah returned to Paras (Persia); but then came back a second time as Governor, and was shocked by what he saw. Ezra had completed the Redaction of the Torah, and instituted the thrice-weekly readings in the market-place, but there was corruption among the priesthood, breaches of the Shabbat were commonplace, and (Nehemiah 13:23/24) "In those days also saw I the Jews that had married women of Ashdod, of Amon, and of Mo-Av: and their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak Yehudit, but only in the language of those people."
ELI-EZER: Tradition names him Eli-Ezer, though in fact the text never names him; he is once or twice "the man", but mostly "the servant" or "Av-Raham's servant". We assume that this is the same Eli-Ezer whom we encountered in Genesis 15:2, about whom Av-Raham worried "Lord YHVH, what will you give me, seeing that I go hence childless, and he that shall be possessor of my house is Eli-Ezer of Damascus?" But many years have gone by, and there is no reason to think the same man is still "zekan beito - the master of his house", or even that "zekan beito" means "master of his house" rather than simply one of the many bearded old men who make up the clan, or that Eli-Ezer was ever the "master of the house", which is a servant role, and not one that you would necessarily give to your legal heir, who might expect a less slavish existence... and who might not be too keen to take on this particular job, whose intended outcome is his personal dispossession as the heir of what is now a hugely wealthy sheikh. Nevertheless, tradition names him Eli-Ezer, and we have to be grateful that he did not inherit from Av-Raham or the tribe might well have disappeared from history very fast, for, as this chapter will demonstrate, he is an extremely dull and tedious and mediocre man.
Chapter 24, Verse 1: VE AV-RAHAM ZAKEN BA BA YAMIM VA YHVH BERACH ET AV-RAHAM BA KOL
וְאַבְרָהָם זָקֵן בָּא בַּיָּמִים וַיהוָה בֵּרַךְ אֶת אַבְרָהָם בַּכֹּל
KJ (King James translation): And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.
BN (BibleNet translation): And Av-Raham was old, well on in years ; and YHVH had blessed Av-Raham in all things.
Switch to YHVH.
Remember this verse when he marries Keturah later on, and fathers children on her by the dozen!
24:2: VA YOMER AV-RAHAM EL AVDO ZEKAN BEITO HA MOSHEL BE CHOL ASHER LO SIM NA YAD'CHA TACHAT YERECHI
וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְרָהָם אֶל עַבְדּוֹ זְקַן בֵּיתוֹ הַמֹּשֵׁל בְּכָל אֲשֶׁר לוֹ שִׂים נָא יָדְךָ תַּחַת יְרֵכִי
KJ: 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:
BN: And Av-Raham said to his servant, the steward of his house, who ruled over everything that he had, "Please, put your hand under my thigh.
The relationship is identical to that of Yoseph and Pharaoh, King and Royal Chamberlain, Sheikh and Chief Steward, (President and Secretary of State?).
Interesting double use of the word Zaken (זקן) = "old man" and Zekan (זקן) = "wise man"; etymologically they come in this order; and sociologically too: the inference, generally false, that men become wiser as they grow older, and that we should therefore respect the wisdom of our elders even if they have done nothing to prove they merit it.
This way of swearing an oath might get a man arrested today, but was the traditional equivalent of the hand-shake back in that epoch. It occurs frequently throughout the Tanach - for example Ya'akov also makes Yoseph swear in this way to bury him in the cave of Machpelah. The Rwala Bedou of Syria still maintain the practice: "under the thigh" being a euphemism for touching the sexual organ.
How best to understand it? Go back to the notes on the two meanings of Be'er Sheva, in chapter 21, verses 24 ff. We noted there that SHEVA means "an oath", with the verb LISHBO'A for swearing it; but also that Av-Raham's setting aside of seven ewe-lambs for sacrifice was connected to the sacred number of the deity, which is the number seven. Yehudit writes its numbers as letters, and seven is therefore the seventh letter of the alphabet, which is ZAYIN (ז). Not surprisingly, in a fertility cult, Zayin is also the Yehudit word for the male sexual organ. To swear an oath while touching is equivalent to grasping the horns on the altar, or holding up the crucifix, or placing one's hand on the cover of the Qu'ran.
Is there anything of this in what the angel does to Ya'akov at Penu-El (Genesis 32:26? It would make sense that he touches them in that way, not like a rugby player or American footballer cheating in the maul, but because there is about to be a blessing, and the incident was probably, originally, a ceremony of initiation and immolation as the sacred king: a swearing-in, as we would say today.
24:3: VE ASHBIY'ACHA BA YHVH ELOHEY HA SHEMAYIM VA ELOHEY HA ARETS ASHER LO TIKACH ISHAH LIVNI MI BENOT HA KENA'ANI ASHER ANOCHI YOSHEV BE KIRBO
וְאַשְׁבִּיעֲךָ בַּיהוָה אֱלֹהֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם וֵאלֹהֵי הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר לֹא תִקַּח אִשָּׁה לִבְנִי מִבְּנוֹת הַכְּנַעֲנִי אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי יוֹשֵׁב בְּקִרְבּוֹ
KJ: And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:
BN: "And I will ask you to swear in the name of YHVH, the god of the heavens and the god of the Earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Kena'ani, among whom I dwell.
Patrilocal marriage and tribalism. Yet it runs counter to Genesis 2:24.
Why would his "chamberlain" be the one who chooses a wife for Yitschak anyway? This is the first indication that it is indeed Eli-Ezer; because, if Av-Raham were to die, his heir would have guardianship of Yitschak, and we have been told that Eli-Ezer is that heir. Though it could as well be Eli-Ezer's successor, given how many years have passed since his last mention.
ASHBI'ACHA: Generally translated as "I will make you swear" but that feels too intensive; their relationship does not require force; the master instructs the servant and the servant obeys; he only needs to ask.
24:4: KI EL ARTSI VE EL MOLADETI TELECH VE LAKACHTA ISHAH LIVNI LE YITSCHAK
כִּי אֶל אַרְצִי וְאֶל מוֹלַדְתִּי תֵּלֵךְ וְלָקַחְתָּ אִשָּׁה לִבְנִי לְיִצְחָק
KJ: But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.
BN: "But you will go to my homeland, and to my kindred, and bring back a wife for my son, for Yitschak."
To which land is he sending him? Ur Kasdim? Or Charan, somewhat further north and under different sovereignty? This is the second time that he has been quite so explicit that Charan is his birthplace – MOLADETI, from the verb LEHIVALED = "to be born" - and not just his "country", as in "a stopping-place en route from Ur to Kena'an", which is how his story was presented in Genesis 11:31. He cannot have been born in both, so one is self-evidently incorrect.
24:5: VA YOMER ELAV HA EVED ULAI LO TO'VEH HA ISHAH LALECHET ACHARAI EL HA ARETS HA ZOT HE HASHEV ASHIV ET BINCHA EL HA ARETS ASHER YATSA'TA MI SHAM
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו הָעֶבֶד אוּלַי לֹא תֹאבֶה הָאִשָּׁה לָלֶכֶת אַחֲרַי אֶל הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת הֶהָשֵׁב אָשִׁיב אֶת בִּנְךָ אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יָצָאתָ מִשָּׁם
KJ: And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest?
BN: And the servant said to him, "What if the woman is unwilling to follow me to this land; is it your intention that I take your son back to the land from which you came?"
Once again the conflict between patrilocal and matrilocal marriage; Eli-Ezer's question implies that what Av-Raham wanted was not necessarily what other tribes practiced – including his own family in Charan! And we will see this to be the case when Ya'akov arrives there later.
Nonetheless, here are the origins of the Jewish taboo on exogamy, the Jewish obsession with endogamy. The woman joins the man's tribe, and the child belongs to the man. Today, on the contrary, the woman still joins the man's tribe/clan/family, but the child now belongs to her.
24:6: VA YOMER ELAV AV-RAHAM HISHAMER LECHA PEN TASHIV ET BENI SHAMA
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו אַבְרָהָם הִשָּׁמֶר לְךָ פֶּן תָּשִׁיב אֶת בְּנִי שָׁמָּה
KJ: And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again.
BN: And Av-Raham said to him, "Take care that you do not take my son back there...
This could not be more explicit; Av-Raham has left his land and does not want a return; patrilocal marriage is now the norm. The statement will carry more gravity when Rivkah (Rebecca) does indeed send Ya'akov back there, and for the returning exiles, reading this as a "new work", the statement will carry even more.
24:7: YHVH ELOHEY HA SHAMAYIM ASHER LEKACHANI MI BEIT AVI U ME ERETS MOLADETI VA ASHER DIBER LI VA ASHER NISHBA LI LEMOR LE ZAR'ACHA ETEN ET HA ARETS HA ZOT HU YISHLACH MAL'ACHO LEPHANEYCHA VE LAKACHTA ISHAH LIVNI MI SHAM
יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם אֲשֶׁר לְקָחַנִי מִבֵּית אָבִי וּמֵאֶרֶץ מוֹלַדְתִּי וַאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר לִי וַאֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע לִי לֵאמֹר לְזַרְעֲךָ אֶתֵּן אֶת הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת הוּא יִשְׁלַח מַלְאָכוֹ לְפָנֶיךָ וְלָקַחְתָּ אִשָּׁה לִבְנִי מִשָּׁם
KJ: The LORD God of heaven, which took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence.
BN: "YHVH, the god of the heavens, who took me from my father's house, and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me, and who made an oath to me, saying, 'to your descendants I will give this land'; he will send his angel before you, and you shall bring a wife for my son from there...
ELOHEY HA SHAMAYIM (אלהי השמים): another way of calling him a "sky-god", but this is not the same YHVH that Av-Raham described to Eli-Ezer in verse 4, nor is it the broader YHVH TSEVA'OT of the major Prophets, who is the chief commander of the planets and stars, though probably not in the military sense of the link; see note above.
In what form will he send this angel? None is mentioned in the story afterwards. What is really being expressed is both Av-Raham's determination to find a wife and bring her to – Mamre, Chevron, Be'er Sheva, wherever we think he is at this point of the story; and also Av-Raham's continuing faith in the covenant. The angel here is a mere conviction of guardianship. If YHVH has promised him the land, and the descendants, it will need a wife, so YHVH will obviously provide the wife. It is beshert.
That, at least, is the theological position which the Redactor is imposing on the tale.
MOLADETI: Yet for a third time, Charan and not Ur is stated as his birthplace - and yes, there could be an argument that he could mean "homeland", as in "the place where I grew up", or "the place where my tribe is now settled", but that would be the expression of an ex-patriate with nostalgia, and not of a committed emigrant, wedded to his new home. No English or American Jew whose parents emigrated from Poland ever spoke of it as their "homeland", though they might well have called it "the land that my family came from". Such is the intensity of Av-Raham's statement here, and his determination that Yitschak will not go back - repeated again in the next verse - there is surely only one way that we can read it.
24:8: VE IM LO TO'VEH HA ISHAH LALECHET ACHAREYCHA VE NIKITA MI SHEVU'ATI ZOT RAK ET BENI LO TASHEV SHAMAH
וְאִם לֹא תֹאבֶה הָאִשָּׁה לָלֶכֶת אַחֲרֶיךָ וְנִקִּיתָ מִשְּׁבֻעָתִי זֹאת רַק אֶת בְּנִי לֹא תָשֵׁב שָׁמָּה
KJ: And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again.
BN: "And if the woman is unwilling to follow you, then you shall be clear of this my oath; only you will not take my son back there."
Is that a statement that, maybe, he isn't that certain after all, despite the covenant, the laughable annunciation and the laugh-stopping birth, the proof of Sedom, the Akeda? So maybe YHVH won't provide a wife, and if he doesn't, well that's beshert too (that of course is the beauty of beshert = "destiny"; like "cause and effect", whatever happens, good or bad, whether you wanted it or not, it's still beshert, a consequence of Yisra-Eli karma, written in the Book of Life, endorsement of your faith that there is a god and he is looking out for you – and most important of all: it absolves you of all human responsibility. How convenient!).
But this is not about Av-Raham's faith in the deity, it's a statement of the terms of the task he is giving Eli-Ezer. Av-Raham was told the details of his family in Genesis 22:22 ff; he knows how many girls of marriageable age there are, and understands the choice is limited. Whatever happens, the servant will be blameless, because the servant will have fulfilled his oath to the best of his ability. Which gives us an excellent exemplar of human responsibility, for those who prefer it to beshert.
Nor would he have been pleased, had he lived, to learn that his grandson did go back there.
24:9: VA YASEM HA EVED ET YADO TACHAT YERECH AV-RAHAM ADONAV VA YISHAVA LO AL HA DAVAR HA ZEH
וַיָּשֶׂם הָעֶבֶד אֶת יָדוֹ תַּחַת יֶרֶךְ אַבְרָהָם אֲדֹנָיו וַיִּשָּׁבַע לוֹ עַל הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה
KJ: And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter.
BN: And the servant put his hand under Av-Raham his master's thigh, and he made an oath to him concerning this matter.
End of second fragment; again there is no Pey (פ) or Samech (ס) break.
24:10: VA YIKACH HA EVED ASARAH GEMALIM MI GEMALEY ADONAV VA YELECH VE CHOL TUV ADONAV BE YADO VA YAKAM VA YELECH EL ARAM NAHARAYIM EL IR NACHOR
וַיִּקַּח הָעֶבֶד עֲשָׂרָה גְמַלִּים מִגְּמַלֵּי אֲדֹנָיו וַיֵּלֶךְ וְכָל טוּב אֲדֹנָיו בְּיָדוֹ וַיָּקָם וַיֵּלֶךְ אֶל אֲרַם נַהֲרַיִם אֶל עִיר נָחוֹר
KJ: And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.
BN: And the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed; with all manner of splendid gifts from his master'in his hand; so he arose, and went to Aram Naharayim, to the city of Nachor.
GEMALIM (גמלים): Camels. I have made the observation before, that camels are an anachronism in the Book of Genesis, but now I can add weight to the view, with support from two archaeologists, Erez Ben-Yosef and Lidar Sapir-Hen, who used radiocarbon dating to pinpoint the earliest known domesticated camels in Yisra-El to the last third of the 10th century BCE, around the time of King Shelomoh (Solomon). Read a full article about their work at the New York Times.
How do we read the remainder of the story, if we know that the camels are an anachronism? In the same way that we might regard a story that found, let us say, Bob Dylan, researching the imagery for "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" on the Internet - which he can't have done, because it hadn't been invented yet. It changes our reading of the report about his writing of the song; but the song itself is unaffected. So with this tale; simply replace "camels" with "donkeys", and recognise that other details may also be anachronistic, and that all of it, beyond the basic plot and characters, was written down, or even possibly "made up", almost a thousand years after the events. Those who still wish to see this as an historical event of perfect and unchallengeable literality, written down by YHVH and given to Mosheh in person on Mount Sinai, are free to follow any one of a hundred alternate commentaries to this one.
ARAM NAHARAYIM (ארם נהרים): the significance of this, is that the Aram confirms yet again Av-Raham's real origins. A-N is the land between the 2 rivers, Tigris and Euphrates, so it could in theory be Babylon; but generally A-N is reckoned to be the north around Ninveh (Nineveh) and Charan, close to today's Turkish border, and not the south beyond Baghdad (follow the Euphrates link for a map) - a distance of not less than five hundred miles. Av-Raham has told us three times that he did not come from Ur; this now makes four.
24:11: VA YAVRECH HA GEMALIM MI CHUTS LA IR EL BE'ER HA MAYIM LE ET EREV LE ET TSE'T HA SHO'AVOT
וַיַּבְרֵךְ הַגְּמַלִּים מִחוּץ לָעִיר אֶל בְּאֵר הַמָּיִם לְעֵת עֶרֶב לְעֵת צֵאת הַשֹּׁאֲבֹת
KJ: And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.
BN: And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the spring as evening was coming on, the time that the women go out to draw water.
VA YAVRECH (ויברך): interesting that the word for "kneeling" is the same as the word for a "blessing" - indeed, without the pointing, this could just as easily be Va Yevarech (ויברך); as with being knighted by Her Majesty, one kneels to receive a blessing (the technical term is "genuflection"). The point being that, as we shall see in the next verse, it isn't just the camels who are doing the kneeling - though the form of the Biblical world should have Eli-Ezer fully prostrate (and when he re-tells the story, in verse 48, he does indeed claim to have prostrated himself).
Why do all these stories happen around wells and springs and fountains? Partly it's sociological – the water-source was a key point in the daily life of the ancient world, and the one place women could congregate safely.
24:12: VA YOMER YHVH ELOHEY ADONI AV-RAHAM HAKREH NA LEPHANAI HA YOM VA ASEH CHESED IM ADONI AV-RAHAM
וַיֹּאמַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי אֲדֹנִי אַבְרָהָם הַקְרֵה נָא לְפָנַי הַיּוֹם וַעֲשֵׂה חֶסֶד עִם אֲדֹנִי אַבְרָהָם
KJ: And he said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham.
BN: And he said, "YHVH, the god of my master Av-Raham, send me, I implore you, good fortune this day, and show kindness to my master Av-Raham...
Confirmation that it is not his god but his master's; significant because Av-Raham has twice told us that Eli-Ezer will inherit if he dies without a son (and not either Lot or Yishma-El). What deity would be worshipped in the tribe, if Eli-Ezer did inherit? Presumably he would now insist on his gods - another reason why Av-Raham does not wish him to inherit.
But much more importantly, and overlooked by the Rabbis and commentators – this is the second instance in the Bible of what we would call a formal prayer (there are, of course, many kinds of prayer; this one comes into the category of "petition"). It makes for an interesting side-issue: why is this episode overlooked, when the sources of the three main daily services are all Biblical? Berachot 26b tells us that they were Genesis 19:27, which finds Av-Raham praying in the morning, Genesis 24:63, where Yitschak prays at dusk - and sees Eli-Ezer arriving home as he does so - and Genesis 28:10 ff, where Ya'akov prays at night; though other traditions simply reckon the three prayer services reflect the times at which sacrifice took place in the Temple, and the evening ceremony of cleaning at the close of day. Eli-Ezer offers up his prayer, according to the previous verse, "at the time of evening, the time that women go out to draw water", so surely it is just as precise as any of the others. Is it because he is not one of the patriarchs? Or even Beney Yisra-El? Or is it because his prayer is more a matter of superstition, touching wood so to speak before he engages with the shepherds, rather than the "meditation" ascribed to Yitschak in verse 63? Or is it because he does not really believe in the deity to whom he is praying? Lots of material for a good class discussion.
24:13: HINEH ANOCHI NITSAV AL EYN HA MAYIM U VENOT ANSHEY HA IR YOTS'OT LISHOV MAYIM
הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי נִצָּב עַל עֵין הַמָּיִם וּבְנוֹת אַנְשֵׁי הָעִיר יֹצְאֹת לִשְׁאֹב מָיִם
KJ: Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water:
BN: "Here I am, standing by the spring; and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.
EYN HA MAYIM: Not wishing - chas ve chalilah - to be pedantic, but two verses ago it was a BE'ER HA MAYIM. A BE'ER is a deep hole, dug into the ground, from which water is drawn out with a rope and bucket; a fountain is a natural pool of water, open above the earth, possibly in a cleft in the rocks. This is not anachronism, like the camels; this is simply shoddy editing.
24:14: VE HAYAH HA NA'ARA ASHER OMAR ELEYHA CHATI NA CHADECH VE ESHTEH VE AMRAH SHTEH VE GAM GEMALEYCHA ASHKEH OTAH HOCHACHTA LE AVDECHA LE YITSCHAK U VAH EDA KI ASITA CHESED IM ADONI
וְהָיָה הַנַּעֲרָ אֲשֶׁר אֹמַר אֵלֶיהָ הַטִּי נָא כַדֵּךְ וְאֶשְׁתֶּה וְאָמְרָה שְׁתֵה וְגַם גְּמַלֶּיךָ אַשְׁקֶה אֹתָהּ הֹכַחְתָּ לְעַבְדְּךָ לְיִצְחָק וּבָהּ אֵדַע כִּי עָשִׂיתָ חֶסֶד עִם אֲדֹנִי
KJ: And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she thatthou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master.
BN: "Then let it be that the young woman to whom I shall say, 'Please, dip your pitcher in the spring, so that I may drink'; and she shall say, 'Drink, and I will give your camels water also'; let the same be she who you have chosen for your servant, for Yitschak; and by this sign I will know that you intend to show kindness to my master."
NA'ARA: Why is there no Hey (ה) on the end, to render it feminine? The way it is written, it is neither gender - masculine would be NA'AR, without the Qamats underneath the Reysh (ר).
The same in verses 16, 28 and 57; all repeat NA'ARA without a Hey. Yet one more scribal error in the original? A question for SOPHERIM - those who take on the holy task of writing new Torah scrolls for use in synagogue: if you can see that these are obviously the errors of the human scribes and not of the divine novelist, why do you not simply make the correction?
As story-telling, this is wonderfully romantic (and definitely better for the camels; somehow all this happening with donkeys would not be the same). As a further elucidation of the concept of beshert, this is hilarious - he has come to the watering place of a large community, at precisely "the time that women go out to draw water": a bit like going into a restaurant at happy-hour, and praying that someone will come to your table with a glass of water and a menu and offer to provide a meal: "Dear God, whichever girl is the one who comes to my table, let her be my waitress, and this will prove that you intended me to eat today." Amen.
And given how large a community it is (IR NACHOR in verse 10 means "the city of Nachor"; if it were a mere village it would be KFAR NACHOR), he might do better not just to pick the first girl he meets, but first ask if she is mishpucha (that's "family" in Yiddish), or even ask the shepherds to direct him towards the home of Nachor. Av-Raham sent him to make a family simcha after all, not to acquire a Russian bride from a dating app.
24:15: VA YEHI HU TEREM KILAH LEDABER VE HINEH RIVKAH YOTS'ET ASHER YULDAH LIV'TU-EL BEN MILKAH ESHET NACHOR ACHI AV-RAHAM VE CHADAH AL SHICHMA
וַיְהִי הוּא טֶרֶם כִּלָּה לְדַבֵּר וְהִנֵּה רִבְקָה יֹצֵאת אֲשֶׁר יֻלְּדָה לִבְתוּאֵל בֶּן מִלְכָּה אֵשֶׁת נָחוֹר אֲחִי אַבְרָהָם וְכַדָּהּ עַל שִׁכְמָהּ
KJ: And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.
BN: And it transpired that, even before he had finished speaking, that here was Rivkah coming out - she who was born to Betu-El ben Milkah, the wife of Nachor, Av-Raham's brother - with her pitcher on her shoulder.
Yay - beshert has come true. His prayer is answered.
Before we read on, let us do some remembering:
Genesis 11:26 told us that Terach lived 70 years, and begot Av-Ram, Nachor and Haran.
Genesis 17:1 told us that Av-Raham was 99 when Yitschak was conceived, and we know that he is now old enough to marry, so we have moved on at least another fifteen years, making him 114 (yes, but Sarah died, and she was 127 according to Genesis 23:1, and younger than Av-Raham, so now we have discalculia among the heavenly scribes as well as dyslexia), and Nachor perhaps a few years less, but likely not that many. Rivkah (Rebecca) is not more than 15, so at the very least she was born at the same time as Yitschak, who was the miracle child of Sarah and Av-Raham's old age, so implausible that the tale gives us three occasions when it was laughed at - yet apparently it happened here too, twice in the same family. Rivkah and her older brother Lavan are the children of Betu-El and an unnamed wife, Betu-El being the son of Milkah and Nachor, Av-Raham's brother and sister-in-law. I am a literary critic rather than a mathematician, but even I can see that Rivkah's parents must also have been in their considerable seniority when their children were born, and yet there is no commentary anywhere in time and space, as far as I am aware, that has ever pointed out this anomaly (sorry: this strange coincidence: this "mystery").
24:16: VE HA NA'ARA TOVAT MAR'EH ME'OD BETULAH VE ISH LO YEDA'AH VA TERED HA AYENAH VA TEMALE CHADAH VA TA'AL
וְהַנַּעֲרָ טֹבַת מַרְאֶה מְאֹד בְּתוּלָה וְאִישׁ לֹא יְדָעָהּ וַתֵּרֶד הָעַיְנָה וַתְּמַלֵּא כַדָּהּ וַתָּעַל
KJ: And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.
BN: And the young woman was very good-looking, a virgin - no man had known her - and she went down to the spring, and filled her pitcher, and came up.
BETULAH (בתולה) and BETU-EL (בתואל)- note the verbal link.
How does he know that she's a virgin? Kena'ani women were notoriously promiscuous before marriage, especially with the rites of Asherah. I ask, not out of irreverence or prurience, but because we learn about the ancient world through these stories, and in that world this is something that was apparently important to make clear from the outset of the story. Today we would consider it quite improper to comment on her beauty, let alone her virginity - one piece of "sexism" added to another. But then it mattered, and a romantic story could not have Rivkah hare-lipped or cleft-chinned, regardless of her character and her other talents, whatever they might be. Among the Beney Yisra-El, as among the Greeks and Arabs, virginity was mandatory in a bride, and beauty mandatory in a character from romance.
But how old actually was Rivkah, since her nurse was to accompany her to Kena'an? I said "not more than 15" above, but perhaps even that was over-stating the matter - Muhammad became betrothed to Aishah when she was only nine, and in this world there could be quite a time-lapse if necessary between Erusin (engagement or betrothal; also known as Kiddushin) and Nisu'in (formal marriage)... on the other hand, in verse 67, when Eli-Ezer brings her to Be'er Sheva, she literally climbs down from the camel, is introduced to her husband, and vanishes with him straight into the bridal suite.
Which suggests that, maybe, "nurse" might mean something different, in a cultic sense... let us cliff-hanger that one!
Nevertheless, note that the word for virgin is BETULAH; she will be described as an ALMAH in verse 43, and a distinction is being made, very emphatically here: as a NA'ARA she is BETULAH, a young woman of marriageable age, but not yet married, nor even betrothed. ALMAH is used here generically, to describe the young women of the town, who are likely to come into any one of those three categories. See my notes to verse 43.
HA AYENAH: Again it's a fountain, not a well.
24:17: VA YARATS HA EVED LIKRATAH VA YOMER HA GEMIYIYNI NA ME'AT MAYIM MI KADECH
וַיָּרָץ הָעֶבֶד לִקְרָאתָהּ וַיֹּאמֶר הַגְמִיאִינִי נָא מְעַט מַיִם מִכַּדֵּךְ
KJ: And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.
BN: And the servant ran to meet her, and said, "Please may I have a drink, a little water from your pitcher."
This too is sociologically interesting. We know from many anthropological studies around the world that it is traditional in such communities for the women to fetch the water from the well or spring or fountain; what this appears to imply is that men were actually prohibited from doing so. Why does it imply this? Because, if he was allowed to draw water, he did not need to take it from her pitcher, could even have done the gallant thing and offered to draw the water for her. Probably he couldn't draw without permission, either for himself or for her, but this seems to suggest that he was actually prohibited from drawing.
I know I'm being pedantic, but in verse 14, when he prayed to YHVH for this little adventure to go well, he used a very specific form of words, for what he would say to her, and for her reply, and declared that, these words being said in the reality, would be the sign. Would it not then have made sense to use those words, rather than these different ones? (What he says here is rather less forward than his imaginary version, lots of nervous pleases and May-I's, where the imaginary was quite impressively commanding).
24:18: VA TOMER SHETEH ADONI VA TEMAHER VA TORED KADAH AL YADAH VA TASHKEHU
וַתֹּאמֶר שְׁתֵה אֲדֹנִי וַתְּמַהֵר וַתֹּרֶד כַּדָּהּ עַל יָדָהּ וַתַּשְׁקֵהוּ
KJ: And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink.
BN: And she said, "Drink, my lord"; and she hurried to bring the pitcher down to her hand, and gave him drink.
24:19: VA TECHAL LEHASHKOTO VA TOMER GAM LIGMALEYCHA ESH'AV AD IM KILU LISHTOT
וַתְּכַל לְהַשְׁקֹתוֹ וַתֹּאמֶר גַּם לִגְמַלֶּיךָ אֶשְׁאָב עַד אִם כִּלּוּ לִשְׁתֹּת
KJ: And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.
BN: And when she had finished giving him drink, she said, "I will draw for your camels also, until they have done drinking."
Once again - endlessly repeated in the Genesis tales, the Greek concept of xenia-hospitality, so crucial to the civilisations of Asia Minor at that time.
24:20: VA TEMAHER VA TE'AR KADAH EL HA SHOKET VA TARATS OD EL HA BE'ER LISH'OV VA TISH'AV LE CHOL GEMALAV
וַתְּמַהֵר וַתְּעַר כַּדָּהּ אֶל הַשֹּׁקֶת וַתָּרָץ עוֹד אֶל הַבְּאֵר לִשְׁאֹב וַתִּשְׁאַב לְכָל גְּמַלָּיו
KJ: And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.
BN: And she hurried, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran down to the well to draw water again, and drew for all his camels.
EL HA BE'ER: And now it's a well again. And why does it matter? Some would say: because Prashker's looking for any tiny little hair or pin-head that he can seize upon and say, look, the Bible's full of contradictions, errors, implausibilities, and here he is now, scratching around the etymological dictionaries and the bracken, desperate to point out another. And no, I am not looking for them - but they are there. And it matters because... this holy book, authorship attributed to YHVH, or perhaps Elohim, himself, or even Himself, deemed perfect and immutable to a point of excommunicating people who contest it, regarded as having been given, in the form in which we have it now, to Mosheh on Mount Sinai, though it might have been Mount Chorev, this book which is responsible for three and a half thousand years of western civilisation, and a good deal of eastern too... our entire value system is rooted in faith that it is what it claims to be, and hundreds of millions of people live their lives accordingly. And yet, clearly, it isn't what it claims to be. It's a collection of pretty folk-tales, Creation and other mythological explanations of the workings of the Universe, fragments of liturgy, mis-remembered, reworked, and then written down hundreds of years later, re-edited a dozen times with ideological agendas driving each re-edit... And why go to every word, and every letter, to undertake this act of whistle-blowing? Because those who claim its validity do precisely that, in Gematria, Kabbala, Boustrophedon, Talmud, Bible Code, Drashah... So was it a well, or was it a spring? If something as simple as this can be – ambivalent; what then do we do with the more complex, and more crucial stuff? This is why they excommunicated Spinoza. This is why they burned Hobbes' "Leviathan".
24:21: VE HA ISH MISHTA'EH LAH MACHARISH LADA'AT HA HITSLIYACH YHVH DARKO IM LO
וְהָאִישׁ מִשְׁתָּאֵה לָהּ מַחֲרִישׁ לָדַעַת הַהִצְלִיחַ יְהוָה דַּרְכּוֹ אִם לֹא
KJ: And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not.
BN: And the man looked intensely at her; holding his peace, to know whether YHVH had made his journey prosperous or not.
24:22: VA YEHI KA ASHER KILU HA GEMALIM LISHTOT VA YIKACH HA ISH NEZEM ZAHAV BEKA MISHKALO U SHENEY TSEMIYDIM AL YADEYHA ASARAH ZAHAV MISHKALAM
וַיְהִי כַּאֲשֶׁר כִּלּוּ הַגְּמַלִּים לִשְׁתּוֹת וַיִּקַּח הָאִישׁ נֶזֶם זָהָב בֶּקַע מִשְׁקָלוֹ וּשְׁנֵי צְמִידִים עַל יָדֶיהָ עֲשָׂרָה זָהָב מִשְׁקָלָם
BN: And it came to pass, when the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden ring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold.
Fascinating piece of social history! A shekel weighs about half a euro-ounce, imperial. He appears to formalise the erusin even before he has met, let alone asked, the family. (And those women who like to buy their wrist-jewelery at Tiffany, and those goth-girls who like to put rings through their noses - not to mention other places - need to understand that these are the most ancient symbols of chattelhood, of subservience to the male, of bride-as-possession, of slavery. Women's libbers who burn their bras should throw aside their wrist and nose and finger jewelery first. What Eli-Ezer is doing here is staking his claim, the way a man at a cattle-market might put his mark on a prize heifer.
24:23: VA YOMER BAT MI AT HAGIYDI NA LI HA YESH BEIT AVIYCH MAKOM LANU LALIN
וַיֹּאמֶר בַּת מִי אַתְּ הַגִּידִי נָא לִי הֲיֵשׁ בֵּית אָבִיךְ מָקוֹם לָנוּ לָלִין
KJ: And said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee: is there room in thy father's house for us to lodge in?
BN: And he asked, "Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please, is there room in your father's house for us to lodge?"
LANU (לנו): Us - because he hasn't travelled alone; verse 10 told us that he took ten camels, and we so were busy pointing out that they must have been donkeys` that we failed to comment that presumably they weren't just being taken along to sell at market, but were mounted by companions. And, logically, some wandering servant-of-a-Bedou travelling alone, even with that many camels/donkeys in tow, is not likely to come home with a significant bride; whereas the steward of a sheikh of the Negev - "Av-Ram ben Terach, remember him? Nachor's brother. Look how well he's done since he set off for, where was it, Egypt?" - travelling with a large entourage, and now we remember that phrase in verse 10 about: "having all goodly things of his master's in his hand"; and presumably the ten camel-riders are dressed to confirm their status as the household of a sheikh and not some gang of bandits looking for a girl to run away with and some shepherds they can rob en route; in fact, this must have looked very little different from the sight of Muhammad, two thousand years later, leading Khadīja bint Khuwaylid's camel-train towards Damascus. But what Rivkah sees as she goes out to fetch water, is Omar Sharif coming over the shrub-desert with a brotherhood of fellow-merchants, dressed in the finest silken cloth, silken bernous, jeweled daggers on their thighs – and any girl of marriageable age with limited prospects here in Charan is going to want to be the first one out there saying, "Can I fetch you water? And how about letting me water your camels too." It's beshert. Absolutely beshert!
24:24: VA TOMER ELAV BAT BETU-EL ANOCHI BEN MILKAH ASHER YALDAH LE NACHOR
וַתֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו בַּת בְּתוּאֵל אָנֹכִי בֶּן מִלְכָּה אֲשֶׁר יָלְדָה לְנָחוֹר
KJ: And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor.
BN: And she said to him, "I am the daughter of Betu-El ben Milkah, whom she bore to Nachor."
BEN MILKAH (בן-מלכה): Please go back and re-read this more carefully than you just did. The stuff we miss by carelessness, by not being sufficiently fastidious! Why is the mother's name given, where elsewhere it is always the father's? BETU-EL BEN NACHOR should be his name, and then (maybe) add who the mother was ("I am the daughter of Betu-El the son of Nachor, whom he fathered on Milkah"). But this infers that the child belongs to the mother, precisely the discussion we have been having over Yitschak and Yishma-El, or rather between Hagar and Sarah, and why Av-Raham has sent Eli-Ezer to bring back, specifically to bring back, a wife for Yitschak from his birthplace family. So again we are witnessing a switch from matrilocal to patrilocal marriage. Every other girl that Rivkah knows will have the husband come and live with her, joining her tribe, as we have seen Kayin and Yishma-El do, and we will see with Esav as well later.
24:25: VA TOMER ELAV GAM TEVEN GAM MISP'O RAV IMANU GAM MAKOM LALUN
וַתֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו גַּם תֶּבֶן גַּם מִסְפּוֹא רַב עִמָּנוּ גַּם מָקוֹם לָלוּן
KJ: She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in.
BN: And she said to him, "We have both straw and provender sufficient, and a place for guests."
This is known as HACHNASAT ORACHIM, the welcoming of guests, but normally it would be the paterfamilias, or perhaps the materfamilias, who makes the invitation, not the teenage virgin daughter. Or is that me being anachronistic too, reflecting the attitudes of our society and projecting them onto this one? After all, if one of the younger ladies in a Jane Austen novel were to make a similar offer...
24:26: VA YIKOD HA ISH VA YISHTACHU LA YHVH
וַיִּקֹּד הָאִישׁ וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ לַיהוָה
KJ: And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the LORD.
BN: And the man bowed his head and prostrated himself before YHVH.
Seeming to infer that he has fulfilled his mission. And perhaps he has: the nose-rings are on, after all.
End of third fragment; again no Pey (פ) or Samech (ס) break.
24:27: VA YOMER BARUCH YHVH ELOHEY ADONI AV-RAHAM ASHER LO AZAV CHASDO VA AMITO ME IM ADONI ANOCHI BA DERECH NACHANI YHVH BEIT ACHEY ADONI
וַיֹּאמֶר בָּרוּךְ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי אֲדֹנִי אַבְרָהָם אֲשֶׁר לֹא עָזַב חַסְדּוֹ וַאֲמִתּוֹ מֵעִם אֲדֹנִי אָנֹכִי בַּדֶּרֶךְ נָחַנִי יְהוָה בֵּית אֲחֵי אֲדֹנִי
KJ: And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master's brethren.
BN: And he said, "Blessed be YHVH, the god of my master Av-Raham, who has not forsaken his mercy and his truth towards my master; as for me, YHVH has led me in the way to the house of my master's brethren."
The second example of prayer: the first was supplication, petition, and used language that was spontaneous, context-driven. The second is more formulaic, and suggests the form of the liturgy we use today. However it is third person, not second person – Eli-Ezer does not say "Baruch atah YHVH – blessed are you, Lord", which is today's paradigm; he is speaking of someone else's god; as confirmed by the second part of the verse: "as for me".
24:28: VA TARATS HA NA'ARA VA TAGED LE VEIT IMAH KA DEVARIM HA ELEH
וַתָּרָץ הַנַּעֲרָ וַתַּגֵּד לְבֵית אִמָּהּ כַּדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה
KJ: And the damsel ran, and told them of her mother's house these things.
BN: And the young woman ran to tell everyone in her mother's house everything that had happened.
BEIT IMAH: But we are not in a Jane Austen novel, where the man is the head of the household (though in truth the woman runs the house); we are (or traditionally have always assumed we are) in a profoundly patriarchal world. And so, why BEIT IMAH (לבית אמה)? In every tale we read BEIT AVIV, or as it would be here BEIT AVIHA, and this regardless of whether it is dad's house or god's temple? This goes alongside Rivkah's naming of herself of BAT MILKAH. She is named for her mother, and she lives in her mother's house: we are in the realm of matriarchy. And this is the world from which Av-Raham came, and so we must go back and reconsider his relationship with Sarai/Sarah from this perspective; and we must read into his story the enormous social significance of the change that he appears to have incipited, because in his world, in Kena'an, everything is unquestionably patriarchal and patrilocal, in spite of the opposite happening in every tribe and group around him. Work for the anthropologists and archaeologists here: when did this change happen, and why, and what was its immediate as well as its long-term impact? But for us, as mere literary critics: can we now infer from this that Rivkah might not even have considered the possibility of leaving for, let alone be willing to go to, Av-Raham's tribe? Is she assuming that she is accepting a marriage-offer from a matchmaker-representative, and that the next stage will be the arrival of the boy chez elle?
It is also worth pointing out that this apparent matriarchy will not be present, at all, when Ya'akov arrives to "serve" his uncle Lavan twenty years from now - indeed that wll be a very decidedly patriarchal world, even to the extent that the white moon-goddess, Ha Lavanah, who in that world was also the goddess of the nearby snow-mountain Chermon, will have been completely masculinised into Lavan, Laban - see below.
Again the text gives NA'ARA and not NA'ARAH.
Note that DAVAR has mutliple meanings, which includes "word" and "speech", but can also mean rather more generally "things", which is clearly the intention here.
24:29: U LE RIVKAH ACH U SHEMO LAVAN VA YARATS LAVAN EL HA ISH HA CHUTSAH EL HA AYIN
וּלְרִבְקָה אָח וּשְׁמוֹ לָבָן וַיָּרָץ לָבָן אֶל הָאִישׁ הַחוּצָה אֶל הָעָיִן
KJ: And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the well.
BN: And Rivkah had a brother, and his name was Lavan; and Lavan ran out to the man, to the spring.
LAVAN (לבן): who seems to figure a little too much in the story, at the expense of his father Betu-El: is this because he's important to the Ya'akov story, or another piece of sociology to explore? Or is it simply that Betu-El is well over a hundred by this time, and no longer capable of managing affairs?
Ha Lavanah (הלבנה) being the moon, are we, at some earlier stage of this tale, in the realm of the Aramaic moon-god? Or even perhaps of the Beney Chet? This matters, because of Ephron ben Tsochar, whose father Tsochar, as we saw in the last chapter, also means "white", as possibly does EPHRON itself; but mostly because of the status of Lavan in the Ya'akov stories, where he is clearly the white moon-god of Mount Chermon (Mount Lebanon, whence his name) whom Ya'akov serves as sacred priest-king for two (possibly three, possibly part of a fourth even, before he fled) 7-year cycles.
24:30: VA YEHI KI RE'OT ET HA NEZEM VE ET HA TSEMIDIM AL YEDEY ACHOTO U CHE SHAM'O ET DIVREY RIVKAH ACHOTO LEMOR KOH DIBER ELAI HA ISH VA YAVO EL HA ISH VE HINEH OMED AL HA GEMALIM AL HA AYIN
וַיְהִי כִּרְאֹת אֶת הַנֶּזֶם וְאֶת הַצְּמִדִים עַל יְדֵי אֲחֹתוֹ וּכְשָׁמְעוֹ אֶת דִּבְרֵי רִבְקָה אֲחֹתוֹ לֵאמֹר כֹּה דִבֶּר אֵלַי הָאִישׁ וַיָּבֹא אֶל הָאִישׁ וְהִנֵּה עֹמֵד עַל הַגְּמַלִּים עַל הָעָיִן
KJ: And it came to pass, when he saw the earring and bracelets upon his sister's hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the well.
BN: And it came to pass, when he saw the ring, and the bracelets on his sister's hands, and when he heard the words of Rivkah his sister saying, "Thus spoke the man to me", that he came to the man, and found him standing with the camels by the spring.
The same really as the previous verse, only more detailed. From this we have a sense of Lavan wondering what is going on here: my sister went out to fetch water and came home betrothed in marriage; and nobody consulted? Nor does he question him: he welcomes him, and invites him home, and it turns out that he even found a moment to prepare the guest-rooms and clean out the camel-stables. Is it the ostentatious wealth or the lack of likely husbands?
24:31: VA YOMER BO BERUCH YHVH LAMAH TA'AMOD BACHUTS VE ANOCHI PINIYTI HA BAYIT U MAKOM LA GEMALIM
וַיֹּאמֶר בּוֹא בְּרוּךְ יְהוָה לָמָּה תַעֲמֹד בַּחוּץ וְאָנֹכִי פִּנִּיתִי הַבַּיִת וּמָקוֹם לַגְּמַלִּים
KJ: And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the LORD; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels.
BN: And he said, "Come in, Baruch ha Shem. Why are you standing outside? I have cleared the house, and made room for the camels."
(Mechon Mamre translation): And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the LORD; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels.
(Orthodox Jewish Bible translation): And he said, Come in, Baruch Hashem; why standest thou outside? for I have prepared the bais, and makom for the gemalim.
(Orthodox Jewish Bible translation): And he said, Come in, Baruch Hashem; why standest thou outside? for I have prepared the bais, and makom for the gemalim.
BERUCH YHVH: Lovely translations these last two, and from Jewish translators noch, not Christian ones as you might expect, given that one cannot expect a Christian to be familiar with the nuances of Jewish culture, already. Two Yiddishisms in one sentence, to make my point. Today we would say "Baruch ha-Shem", because Jews have become superstitious (despite the prohibition of all forms of superstition) about saying the name YHVH, but this is what they should be saying: "So how's the wife". "She's well, Baruch YHVH". And how are your children doing... Likewise, Baruch YHVH". "Thank god", really. One can almost imagine him touching and kissing the mezuzah as he says it. I make no apologies for borrowing the idiom for my own translation. (Bais, incidentally, should be pronounced buy-iss).
Can we assume from the phrasing that, upon arrival at the well, or the spring as it is again given here, he took one look at the camels, the entourage, the richush, and then thought about the marriage-options of his virginal teenage sister, and set aside most, if not yet all his doubts and worries, and decided it would be good to invite this man for dinner? Would he have referred to his god as YHVH though (think of Rachel later on, stealing Lavan's teraphim: he was a worshipper of idols, a polytheist, not a follower of Av-Raham's religion at all); indeed, would he even known that name to use it?
24:32: VA YAVO HA ISH HA BAYETAH VA YEPHATACH HA GEMALIM VA YITEN TEVEN U MISP'O LA GEMALIM U MAYIM LIRCHOTS RAGLAV VE RAGLEY HA ANASHIM ASHER ITO
וַיָּבֹא הָאִישׁ הַבַּיְתָה וַיְפַתַּח הַגְּמַלִּים וַיִּתֵּן תֶּבֶן וּמִסְפּוֹא לַגְּמַלִּים וּמַיִם לִרְחֹץ רַגְלָיו וְרַגְלֵי הָאֲנָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר אִתּוֹ
KJ: And the man came into the house: and he ungirded his camels, and gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the men's feet that were with him.
BN: And the man came into the house, and he untied the camels, and he gave the camels straw and provender, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.
Clearly he is much more than just a mere EVED (עבד) or slave; he is an ambassador with a full retinue. And we knew this, from the opening verses. I point it out only because the word EVED is going to dominate the next four books of Torah, starting with AVADIM HAYINU BE MITSRAYIM - "we were slaves in Egypt". Today, when we think of slavery, we think of "old black Joe still pickin' cotton", and maybe we think of those nearly two million abducted teenage girls harvesting chocolate in the Ivory Coast, or undertaking other work of the same order on the same continent... but slavery in Egypt may have been feudal serfdom or vassaldom, voluntary indentured labouring, religious worship, or the status that Yoseph had, or Eli-Ezer here.
24:33: VA YIYSEM LEPHANAV LE'ECHOL VA YOMER LO OCHAL AD IM DIBARTI DEVARAI VA YOMER DABER
ויישֶׂם לְפָנָיו לֶאֱכֹל וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא אֹכַל עַד אִם דִּבַּרְתִּי דְּבָרָי וַיֹּאמֶר דַּבֵּר
KJ: And there was set meat before him to eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on.
BN: And food was set food before him to eat, but he said, "I will not eat, until I have told my errand". And he said, "Speak on."
The transliteration here gives VA YIYSEM, retaining the (redundant?) second Yud. It should really be VA YUSAM (וַיּוּשַׂם), in the Niphil or passive tense, with the second Yud an erroneous foreshortening of the Vav; and indeed, most Jewish texts (click here) add the alternative in parenthesis.
Again we need to ask, why is it LAVAN who is taking charge? And in his mother's house, noch! But where, I really mean, is Betu-El? Is he perhaps dead, and this why Lavan is in charge? No - he will be heard, alive, in verse 50.
24:34: VA YOMAR EVED AV-RAHAM ANOCHI
וַיֹּאמַר עֶבֶד אַבְרָהָם אָנֹכִי
KJ: And he said, I am Abraham's servant.
BN: And he said, "I am Av-Raham's servant...
Something else no other commentary has ever pointed out, as far as I am aware, because the commentators look at this as scripture, and not as literature: when Av-Raham left Charan, his name was still Av-Ram; unless there has been some contact that we haven't heard about, Lavan would not know who this Av-Raham was (maybe the travellers who told Av-Raham about Nachor's family at the end of the last chapter, also reported back before the start of this one? If so, Eli-Ezer wouldn't need to give the information that he does in the next few verses, or they would interrupt him to let him know they knew - no, this is another piece of sloppy editing by the heavenly proofreader).
24:35: VA YHVH BERACH ET ADONI ME'OD VA YIGDAL VA YITEN LO TSON U VAKAR VE CHESEPH VE ZAHAV VA AVADIM U SHEPHACHOT U GEMALIM VA CHAMORIM
וַיהוָה בֵּרַךְ אֶת אֲדֹנִי מְאֹד וַיִּגְדָּל וַיִּתֶּן לוֹ צֹאן וּבָקָר וְכֶסֶף וְזָהָב וַעֲבָדִם וּשְׁפָחֹת וּגְמַלִּים וַחֲמֹרִים
KJ: And the LORD hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses.
BN: "YHVH has bestowed great blessings on my master, so that he has become a great man; and he has given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and men-servants and maid-servants, and camels and asses.
24:36: VA TELED SARAH ESHET ADONI VEN LA ADONI ACHAREY ZIKNATAH VA YITEN LO ET KOL ASHER LO
24:36: VA TELED SARAH ESHET ADONI VEN LA ADONI ACHAREY ZIKNATAH VA YITEN LO ET KOL ASHER LO
וַתֵּלֶד שָׂרָה אֵשֶׁת אֲדֹנִי בֵן לַאדֹנִי אַחֲרֵי זִקְנָתָהּ וַיִּתֶּן לּוֹ אֶת כָּל אֲשֶׁר לוֹ
KJ: And Sarah my master's wife bare a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he hath.
BN: "And Sarah my master's wife bore a son to him when she was old; and he has given him everything he has.
Nor did they know her as Sarah; she was named Sarai when they left Charan. And he seems to be telling them about strangers, when they are actually close family. Milkah is Lot's sister (Genesis 11:27 and 29); Av-Ram and Nachor are brothers, and this man that Rivkah is about to leave to marry is her first cousin. We might expect Eli-Ezer to be constantly interrupted with questions. We might expect some excitement among the listeners. We might expect them to care less about the detail of his finding Rivkah than filling in the parts he doesn't: "are there other children? and how is Sarah coping with old age and motherhood? she's dead? when did she die? and any news of Lot? does he have children? are they married? Oi, he was living in Sedom when the volcano erupted. And he survived, baruch YHVH..." But all we get is this prolix and tedious narrative, recounting for a second time what has already been recounted.
24:37: VA YASHBI'ENI ADONI LEMOR LO TIKACH ISHAH LIVNI MI BENOT HA KENA'ANI ASHER ANOCHI YOSHEV BE ARTSO
וַיַּשְׁבִּעֵנִי אֲדֹנִי לֵאמֹר לֹא תִקַּח אִשָּׁה לִבְנִי מִבְּנוֹת הַכְּנַעֲנִי אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי יֹשֵׁב בְּאַרְצו
KJ: And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell:
BN: "So my master made me swear an oath, saying, You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Kena'ani, in whose land I dwell.
24:38: IM LO EL BEIT AVI TELECH VE EL MISHPACHTI VE LAKACHTA ISHAH LIVNI
אִם לֹא אֶל בֵּית אָבִי תֵּלֵךְ וְאֶל מִשְׁפַּחְתִּי וְלָקַחְתָּ אִשָּׁה לִבְנִי
KJ: But thou shalt go unto my father's house, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son.
BN: "But you shall go to my father's house, and to my kindred, and bring a wife for my son.
Some authors write stories in the hope of getting a 90-minute movie made from it; clearly the author of this tale had his heart set on a 6-part TV series. Lavan, please, or Betu-El, Milkah, somebody, express some recognition, break up this tedious narrative.
24:39: VA OMAR EL ADONI ULAY LO TELECH HA ISHAH ACHARAI
וָאֹמַר אֶל אֲדֹנִי אֻלַי לֹא תֵלֵךְ הָאִשָּׁה אַחֲרָי
KJ: And I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman will not follow me.
BN: "And I said to my master, What if the woman will not follow me?
He uses ISHAH = "woman" here, but previously it has been NA'ARA = "damsel". Is this diplomacy, tact, courtesy, or what? See verse 43.
This appears to suggest, very plainly indeed, that the girl's agreement was needed, even in an arranged marriage of this sort. Is that really the case? Is it an aspect of the matriarchythat ceased to apply when the patriarchy took over? See verses 51 and 57.
24:40: VA YOMER ELAI YHVH ASHER HIT'HALACHTI LEPHANAV YISHLACH MAL'ACHO ITACH VE HITSLI'ACH DARKECHA VE LAKACHTA ISHAH LIVNI MI MISHPACHTI U MI BEIT AVI
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָי יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר הִתְהַלַּכְתִּי לְפָנָיו יִשְׁלַח מַלְאָכוֹ אִתָּךְ וְהִצְלִיחַ דַּרְכֶּךָ וְלָקַחְתָּ אִשָּׁה לִבְנִי מִמִּשְׁפַּחְתִּי וּמִבֵּית אָבִי
KJ: And he said unto me, The LORD, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father's house:
BN: "And he said to me, 'YHVH, before whom I walk, will send his angel with you, and prosper your way; bring a wife for my son from my kindred, from my father's house...
Rivkah is Yitschak's first cousin once removed; the taboo laws given in Leviticus 18 and 20 permit such marriages.
24:41: AZ TINAKEH ME ALATI KI TAVO EL MISHPACHTI VE IM LO YITNU LACH VE HAYITAH NAKI ME ALATI
אָז תִּנָּקֶה מֵאָלָתִי כִּי תָבוֹא אֶל מִשְׁפַּחְתִּי וְאִם לֹא יִתְּנוּ לָךְ וְהָיִיתָ נָקִי מֵאָלָתִי
KJ: Then shalt thou be clear from this my oath, when thou comest to my kindred; and if they give not thee one, thou shalt be clear from my oath.
BN: "Then shall you be freed from my oath, when you come to my kindred; and if they do not give her to you, you shall be clear from my oath.
Odd that it is Av-Raham's oath, and not Eli-Ezer's. Note that Eli-Ezer is paraphrasing what Av-Raham instructed him, as well as the terms of the oath, rather than giving the verbatim. Why? It could just be that this is how real people tell their stories and the narrator is being true-to-life. It could be coincidental that the one piece he misses out is Av-Raham's twice-stated "whatever you do, my son does not go back to Charan, no matter what" (my paraphrase of verses 6 and 8).
24:42: VA AVO HA YOM EL HA AYIN VA OMAR YHVH ELOHEY ADONI AV-RAHAM IM YESHCHA NA MATSLIYACH DARKI ASHER ANOCHI HOLECH ALEYHA
וָאָבֹא הַיּוֹם אֶל הָעָיִן וָאֹמַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי אֲדֹנִי אַבְרָהָם אִם יֶשְׁךָ נָּא מַצְלִיחַ דַּרְכִּי אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי הֹלֵךְ עָלֶיהָ
KJ: 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:
BN: "And I came to the spring today, and said: YHVH, god of my master Av-Raham, if now you intend to make my mission successful.
Again the spring, not the well.
24:43: HINEH ANOCHI NITSAV AL EYN HA MAYIM VE HAYAH HA ALMAH HA YOTS'ET LISH'OV VA AMARTI ELEYHA HASHKIYNI NA ME'AT MAYIM MI KADECH
הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי נִצָּב עַל עֵין הַמָּיִם וְהָיָה הָעַלְמָה הַיֹּצֵאת לִשְׁאֹב וְאָמַרְתִּי אֵלֶיהָ הַשְׁקִינִי נָא מְעַט מַיִם מִכַּדֵּךְ
KJ: 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;
BN: "'Here I stand, by the spring; and let it come to pass, that the maiden who comes out to draw water, to whom I shall say: Please, may I have a little water from your pitcher to drink...
ALMAH (העלמה): But he called her a NA'ARA in verse 14, and again in verse 39, and her father will call her a Na'ara in verse 55. What might be going on here is, I believe, Eli-Ezer testing the ground, wanting to find out her exact status, but without asking directly because then, if she is married or betrothed, his mission will be known by error - ruining the beshert completely. So he calls her an ISHAH, which infers a married woman who has already produced a child; and that gets pushed back. So he calls her an ALMAH, meaning a woman who is betrothed or married, but who has not yet produced a child; and that too gets pushed back. So he now knows that she is available for a marriage proposal, and he has not broken any social or religious conventions by direct enquiry.
ALMAH: the word will acquire rather important status in the Christian world, based not on this verse, but rather on Isaiah 7:14, where it is actually an announcement of the impending birth of future king Chizki-Yah (Hezekiah), though it became the key messianic prophecy - through the Greek, and consequently all Latin and other translations - in Christian dogma, providing the notion of the Virgin Mary, because the Greek word for a virgin (parthenos) is the same as that for a young girl - cultural differences in the same way that the age of consent in our world varies from 14 in Japan to 16 in England to 18 in the USA. But Yesha-Yahu (Isaiah), as here, uses Almah, not Betulah, and it is Betulah that means "a virgin", not Almah; cf Joel 1:8 for an example. Isaiah 7:14 notes that "הִנֵּה הָעַלְמָה הָרָה וְיֹלֶדֶת בֵּן - HINEH HA ALMAH HARAH VI'YLEDET BEN - Behold the young woman (ALMAH) shall conceive, and bear a son". ALMAH, not BETULAH.
The word appears in the plural (ALAMOT - עֲלָמוֹת)in Psalm 68:26 (25 in some Christian versions), where it refers to the "damsels playing upon timbrels" in the royal choir; Exodus 2:8 has Pharaoh's daughter calling what turns out to be Mir-Yam, Mosheh's sister, to look after the baby she has just found in the bulrushes: "and the maiden - HA ALMAH - went to fetch the child's mother". Song of Songs 1:3 notes that "thine ointments have a goodly fragrance; thy name is as ointment poured forth; therefore do the maidens (ALAMOT) love thee", while 6:8 describes "threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and maidens without number", all of which is highly sexual while still decidedly teen-age. Overall then we have the sense of a married teenage girl whose marriage has been consummated but who is not yet pregnant.
The male equivalent is ELEM, and signifies reaching puberty (1 Samuel 17:56 and 20:22, though 21 uses NA'AR, suggesting that one can be both.
24:44: VE AMRAH ELAI GAM ATAH SHETEH VE GAM LIGMALEYCHA ESH'AV HI HA ISHAH ASHER HOCHIYACH YHVH LE VEN ADONI
KJ: And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things.
If YHVH has prospered his way, and wants this to be successful, then presumably YHVH isn't going to mind him stopping for a day or two, and... but TheBibleNet is a secular work, and does not deal in matters of faith and theology. I leave this to those who do.
And still it's NA'ARA and not NA'ARAH. But are they asking if she wants to go at all, or if she if content to go immediately? This reads like the latter. The next verse is less clear; if anything, it feels more like the former.
NA'AROTEYHA: First her nanny, now her "damsels", plural. Clearly the Charan branch of the family isn't exactly living in impoverished circumstances either.
The ultimate "Hollywood moment": beautiful girl in princess mode, handsome prince in meditative mode, sunset, camels, desert sands, Juliet about to meet her Romeo...
VA TIPOL (ותפול): translated as "alighted", and usually camels kneel to let their passengers down; but literally it means that, seeing him, she fell off the camel! Why, because he was so ugly, or so handsome?
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Genesis: 1a 1b 1c 1d 2a 2b 2c 2d 3 4a 4b 4c/5 6a 6b 7 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25a 25b 26a 26b 27 28a 28b 29 30a 30b 31a 31b/32a 32b 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44a 44b 45 46 47a 47b 48 49 50
וְאָמְרָה אֵלַי גַּם אַתָּה שְׁתֵה וְגַם לִגְמַלֶּיךָ אֶשְׁאָב הִוא הָאִשָּׁה אֲשֶׁר הֹכִיחַ יְהוָה לְבֶן אֲדֹנִי
KJ: And she say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman whom the LORD hath appointed out for my master's son.
BN: "And she shall say to me, 'Drink, and I will also draw water for your camels'; let the same be the woman whom YHVH has appointed for my master's son.
Even he does not tell his own story accurately; so how can we expect accuracy from the rest of the Tanach?
24:45: ANI TEREM ACHALEH LEDABER EL LIBI VE HINEH RIVKAH YOTS'ET VE CHADAH AL SHICHMAH VA TERED HA AYENAH VA TISHAV VA OMAR ELEYHA HASHKIYNI NA
אֲנִי טֶרֶם אֲכַלֶּה לְדַבֵּר אֶל לִבִּי וְהִנֵּה רִבְקָה יֹצֵאת וְכַדָּהּ עַל שִׁכְמָהּ וַתֵּרֶד הָעַיְנָה וַתִּשְׁאָב וָאֹמַר אֵלֶיהָ הַשְׁקִינִי נָא
KJ: And before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the well, and drew water: and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee.
BN: And before I had done thinking these thoughts, behold, Rivkah came out with her pitcher on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring, and drew water. And I said to her: Please, give me a drink.
VA TERED HA AYENAH: Descent into a fountain clearly confirms it is not a well. Maybe a spring of natural water surrounded by rocks, so that climbing down is necessary to reach the pool, or the gap in the rock that the water is springing through, even perhaps a man-made collection-point.
She finally has a name.
24:46: VA TEMAHER VA TORED KADAH ME ALEYHA VA TOMER SHETEH VE GAM GEMALEYCHA ASHKEH VA ESHT VE GAM HA GEMALIM HISHKATAH
KJ: And she made haste, and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: so I drank, and she made the camels drink also.
BN: "And she hurried to take her pitcher down from her shoulder, and said, 'Drink, and I will give your camels drink as well'. So I drank, and she gave the camels to drink as well.
24:47: VA ESHAL OTAH VA OMAR BAT MI AT VA TOMER BAT BETU-EL BEN NACHOR ASHER YALDAH LO MILKAH. VA ASSIM HA NEZEM AL APAH, VE HA TSEMIDIM AL YADEYHA
KJ: And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter artthou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bare unto him: and I put the earring upon her face, and the bracelets upon her hands.
BN: "Then I questioned her. I said, 'Whose daughter are you?' And she said, 'The daughter of Betu-El ben Nachor, whom Milkah bore to him.' And I placed the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her hands.
Look again at verse 24. What he reports here is what we would have expected her to say, but it is not what she said. My notes there should be sufficient for here too.
24:48: VA EKOD VA ESHTACHAVEH LA YHVH VA AVARECH ET YHVH ELOHEY ADONI AV-RAHAM, ASHER HINCHANI BE DERECH EMET LAKACHAT ET BAT ACHI ADONI LI VENO
KJ: And I bowed down my head, and worshipped the LORD, and blessed the LORD God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter unto his son.
BN: "And I bowed my head, and prostrated myself before YHVH, and blessed YHVH, the god of my master Av-Raham, who had led me along the true path to bring my master's brother's daughter for his son.
VA ESHTACHAVEH: see my note to verse 11.
He is, however, being rather presumptuous. No one in the family has yet agreed this marriage. Or does Rivkah's acceptance of the chattel-gear suffice?
24:49: VE ATAH IM YESH'CHEM OSIM CHESED VE EMET ET ADONI HAGIYDU LI VE IM LO HAGIYDU LI VE EPHNEH AL YAMIN O AL SMOL
KJ: And now if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me: and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left.
BN: "And now, if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left."
24:50: VA YA'AN LAVAN U VETU-EL VA YOMRU ME YHVH YATSA HA DAVAR LO NUCHAL DABER ELEYCHA RA O TOV
KJ: Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the LORD: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good.
BN: Then Lavan and Betu-El answered and said, "This matter proceeds from YHVH; we cannot speak to you either bad or good."
Status questions here; why is Lavan answering before his father, or even with him? Disrespect, or again a prefiguring of the Ya'akov story which is to follow?
They too regard the matter as beshert; yet they did not worship YHVH.
24:51: HINEH RIVKAH LEPHANEYCHA KACH VA LECH U TEHI ISHAH LE VEN ADONEYCHA KA ASHER DIBER YHVH
24:46: VA TEMAHER VA TORED KADAH ME ALEYHA VA TOMER SHETEH VE GAM GEMALEYCHA ASHKEH VA ESHT VE GAM HA GEMALIM HISHKATAH
וַתְּמַהֵר וַתּוֹרֶד כַּדָּהּ מֵעָלֶיהָ וַתֹּאמֶר שְׁתֵה וְגַם גְּמַלֶּיךָ אַשְׁקֶה וָאֵשְׁתְּ וְגַם הַגְּמַלִּים הִשְׁקָתָה
KJ: And she made haste, and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: so I drank, and she made the camels drink also.
BN: "And she hurried to take her pitcher down from her shoulder, and said, 'Drink, and I will give your camels drink as well'. So I drank, and she gave the camels to drink as well.
24:47: VA ESHAL OTAH VA OMAR BAT MI AT VA TOMER BAT BETU-EL BEN NACHOR ASHER YALDAH LO MILKAH. VA ASSIM HA NEZEM AL APAH, VE HA TSEMIDIM AL YADEYHA
וָאֶשְׁאַל אֹתָהּ וָאֹמַר בַּת מִי אַתְּ וַתֹּאמֶר בַּת בְּתוּאֵל בֶּן נָחוֹר אֲשֶׁר יָלְדָה לּוֹ מִלְכָּה וָאָשִׂם הַנֶּזֶם עַל אַפָּהּ וְהַצְּמִידִים עַל יָדֶיהָ
BN: "Then I questioned her. I said, 'Whose daughter are you?' And she said, 'The daughter of Betu-El ben Nachor, whom Milkah bore to him.' And I placed the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her hands.
Look again at verse 24. What he reports here is what we would have expected her to say, but it is not what she said. My notes there should be sufficient for here too.
24:48: VA EKOD VA ESHTACHAVEH LA YHVH VA AVARECH ET YHVH ELOHEY ADONI AV-RAHAM, ASHER HINCHANI BE DERECH EMET LAKACHAT ET BAT ACHI ADONI LI VENO
וָאֶקֹּד וָאֶשְׁתַּחֲוֶה לַיהוָה וָאֲבָרֵךְ אֶת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי אֲדֹנִי אַבְרָהָם אֲשֶׁר הִנְחַנִי בְּדֶרֶךְ אֱמֶת לָקַחַת אֶת בַּת אֲחִי אֲדֹנִי לִבְנוֹ
KJ: And I bowed down my head, and worshipped the LORD, and blessed the LORD God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter unto his son.
BN: "And I bowed my head, and prostrated myself before YHVH, and blessed YHVH, the god of my master Av-Raham, who had led me along the true path to bring my master's brother's daughter for his son.
VA ESHTACHAVEH: see my note to verse 11.
He is, however, being rather presumptuous. No one in the family has yet agreed this marriage. Or does Rivkah's acceptance of the chattel-gear suffice?
24:49: VE ATAH IM YESH'CHEM OSIM CHESED VE EMET ET ADONI HAGIYDU LI VE IM LO HAGIYDU LI VE EPHNEH AL YAMIN O AL SMOL
וְעַתָּה אִם יֶשְׁכֶם עֹשִׂים חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת אֶת אֲדֹנִי הַגִּידוּ לִי וְאִם לֹא הַגִּידוּ לִי וְאֶפְנֶה עַל יָמִין אוֹ עַל שְׂמֹאל
KJ: And now if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me: and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left.
BN: "And now, if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left."
24:50: VA YA'AN LAVAN U VETU-EL VA YOMRU ME YHVH YATSA HA DAVAR LO NUCHAL DABER ELEYCHA RA O TOV
וַיַּעַן לָבָן וּבְתוּאֵל וַיֹּאמְרוּ מֵיְהוָה יָצָא הַדָּבָר לֹא נוּכַל דַּבֵּר אֵלֶיךָ רַע אוֹ טוֹב
KJ: Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the LORD: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good.
BN: Then Lavan and Betu-El answered and said, "This matter proceeds from YHVH; we cannot speak to you either bad or good."
Status questions here; why is Lavan answering before his father, or even with him? Disrespect, or again a prefiguring of the Ya'akov story which is to follow?
They too regard the matter as beshert; yet they did not worship YHVH.
24:51: HINEH RIVKAH LEPHANEYCHA KACH VA LECH U TEHI ISHAH LE VEN ADONEYCHA KA ASHER DIBER YHVH
הִנֵּה רִבְקָה לְפָנֶיךָ קַח וָלֵךְ וּתְהִי אִשָּׁה לְבֶן אֲדֹנֶיךָ כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְהוָה
KJ: Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the LORD hath spoken.
BN: "Rivkah is standing here before you. Take her, and go, and let her be your master's son's wife, as YHVH has spoken."
In verse 39 I asked whether Rivkah had any say in this matter, or whether her acceptance of the chattel-rings meant that she had already said yes. Here, Eli-Ezer asks for the girl, and her brother and father say yes, without asking her. But, again, perhaps they understand that she has already said yes. "What if she will not follow me?" gets asked several times in this chapter, so we have to assume the latter; but that it also needed the endorsement of the family.
But, coming from our culture and not theirs, there are also other questions tha need to be asked, and surprise that they are not. "How do we know that you are who you claim to be, and not some slave-trafficker or international pimp, lying to us in order to abduct our daughter into the chocolate-fields of Mali or the vice-dens of Soho?" And even if they are convinced that he is genuinely Abe's envoy, this is their 14 year old daughter-sister-grandchild, and they must know that, after she departs, they will be very unlikely to see each other again in this life. If she agrees to go, this is about to be a very poignant moment (see verse 55).
But, coming from our culture and not theirs, there are also other questions tha need to be asked, and surprise that they are not. "How do we know that you are who you claim to be, and not some slave-trafficker or international pimp, lying to us in order to abduct our daughter into the chocolate-fields of Mali or the vice-dens of Soho?" And even if they are convinced that he is genuinely Abe's envoy, this is their 14 year old daughter-sister-grandchild, and they must know that, after she departs, they will be very unlikely to see each other again in this life. If she agrees to go, this is about to be a very poignant moment (see verse 55).
24:52: VA YEHI KA ASHER SHAMA EVED AV-RAHAM ET DIVREYHEM VA YISHTACHU ARTSAH LA YHVH
וַיְהִי כַּאֲשֶׁר שָׁמַע עֶבֶד אַבְרָהָם אֶת דִּבְרֵיהֶם וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ אַרְצָה לַיהוָה
KJ: And it came to pass, that, when Abraham's servant heard their words, he worshipped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth.
BN: And so it was that, when Av-Raham's servant heard their words, he prostrated himself on the ground to YHVH.
He does a great deal of prostration before YHVH. We have the strong sense that he is scared that he will fail in his mission.
End of fourth fragment; again no Pey or Samech break.
24:53: VA YOTS'E HA EVED KELEY CHESEPH U CHELEY ZAHAV U VEGADIM VA YITEN LE RIVKAH U MIGDANOT NATAN LE ACHIYHAH U LE IMAH
וַיּוֹצֵא הָעֶבֶד כְּלֵי כֶסֶף וּכְלֵי זָהָב וּבְגָדִים וַיִּתֵּן לְרִבְקָה וּמִגְדָּנֹת נָתַן לְאָחִיהָ וּלְאִמָּהּ
KJ: And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things.
BN: And the servant brought out jewelery of silver, and jewelery of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rivkah; he also gave precious gifts to her brother and to her mother.
This is known as the MOHAR (מוהר), and it is the equivalent of a bride-price; effectively Av-Raham is purchasing her in exchange for goods. How far is all this the theatrical formalities of a Bedou marriage ceremony, and how much merely an account of what took place?
ACHIYHAH: why a gift for the brother but not the father?
KELEY CHESEPH: TheBibleNet leaves out all hyphens in the Yehudit text, because they were a late addition and the primary goal is to seek out and understand the nearest we can get to an original text; on this occasion, however, I need to ask why, in all Jewish versions since the Yehudit replaced the paleo-Hebrew with the alphabet in use in this text, why are the KELEY CHESEPH hyphenated but not the CHELEY ZAHAV (example here)? If you are going to add the hyphens, please do it systematically and consistently.
24:54: VA YO'CHLU VA YISHTU HU VE HA ANASHIM ASHER IMO VA YALIYNU VA YAKUMU VA BOKER VA YOMER SHALCHUNI LA ADONI
וַיֹּאכְלוּ וַיִּשְׁתּוּ הוּא וְהָאֲנָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר עִמּוֹ וַיָּלִינוּ וַיָּקוּמוּ בַבֹּקֶר וַיֹּאמֶר שַׁלְּחֻנִי לַאדֹנִי
KJ: And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master.
BN: And they ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and they stayed there that night. And they got up up in the morning, and he said, "Send me away to my master".
This is a bit like the way some people buy shoes. Go out in the car. Stop in the first store you see. Find a pair that's near enough the colour and size you're looking for. Try them on. If they fit, pay for them, throw away the box, go home. Job done. In much this manner has Eli-Ezer obtained a wife for Yitschak. The next verse somewhat humanises this.
24:55: VA YOMER ACHIYHA VE IMAH TESHEV HA NA'AR ITANU YAMIM OR ASOR ACHAR TELECH
וַיֹּאמֶר אָחִיהָ וְאִמָּהּ תֵּשֵׁב הַנַּעֲרָ אִתָּנוּ יָמִים אוֹ עָשׂוֹר אַחַר תֵּלֵךְ
KJ: And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go.
BN: And her brother and her mother said: "Let the girl stay with us a few days, at least ten; after that she shall go."
ASOR (עשור): an Egyptian ten-day week (a decan is the official name for it)! An interesting figure of speech this. (A pictorial explanation of the Egyptian calendar can be found here.)
Yet again it's Lavan who speaks, not Betu-El; though Milkah gets a secondary word in. Again it’s NA'ARA and not NA'ARAH.
But this, though it sounds like a mere sentimentality, this is the key factor in matrilocal marriage, and why it mattered among nomadic tribes, when sedentary tribes became patrilocal. "Let her stay ten days" so that we can enjoy our very last time ever with her, because, once she leaves, in this world where women do not travel except to go for marriage, her departure might just as well be in a coffin as on a camel; whereas, if the man moved here, he can still travel, he can roam, manage his flocks and herds, trade, go to war, as Av-Raham appears to have roamed between Be'er Sheva and Mamre and Chevron, while Sarah was stationery.
24:56: VA YOMER AL'EHEM AL TA'ACHARU OTI VA YHVH HITSLIYACH DARKI SHALCHUNI VE ELCHAH LA ADONI
וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם אַל תְּאַחֲרוּ אֹתִי וַיהוָה הִצְלִיחַ דַּרְכִּי שַׁלְּחוּנִי וְאֵלְכָה לַאדֹנִי
KJ: And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the LORD hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master.
BN: And he said to them, "Do not delay me, seeing that YHVH has prospered my way. Send me away, that I may go to my master."
If YHVH has prospered his way, and wants this to be successful, then presumably YHVH isn't going to mind him stopping for a day or two, and... but TheBibleNet is a secular work, and does not deal in matters of faith and theology. I leave this to those who do.
24:57: VA YOMRU NIKRA LA NA'ARA VE NISH'ALAH ET PIHA
וַיֹּאמְרוּ נִקְרָא לַנַּעֲרָ וְנִשְׁאֲלָה אֶת פִּיהָ
KJ: And they said, We will call the damsel, and enquire at her mouth.
BN: And they said, "Let's call the girl , and see what she wants to do."
And still it's NA'ARA and not NA'ARAH. But are they asking if she wants to go at all, or if she if content to go immediately? This reads like the latter. The next verse is less clear; if anything, it feels more like the former.
24:58: VA YIKRE'U LE RIVKAH VA YOMRU ELEYHA HA TELCHI IM HA ISH HA ZEH VA TOMER ELECH
וַיִּקְרְאוּ לְרִבְקָה וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלֶיהָ הֲתֵלְכִי עִם הָאִישׁ הַזֶּה וַתֹּאמֶר אֵלֵךְ
KJ: And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.
BN: And they called Rivkah and said to her, "Will you go with this man?" And she said, "I will go."
We must presume that the whole of the above is simply the normal ritual that everyone had to go through; again we appear to have a precedent for the requiring of the girl's consent. Or is merely the matter of the ten days; and by allowing the rings to be put on her, has she already accepted the marriage?
24:59: VA YESHALCHU ET RIVKAH ACHOTAM VE ET MENIKTAH VE ET EVED AV-RAHAM VE ET ANASHAV
וַיְשַׁלְּחוּ אֶת רִבְקָה אֲחֹתָם וְאֶת מֵנִקְתָּהּ וְאֶת עֶבֶד אַבְרָהָם וְאֶת אֲנָשָׁיו
KJ: And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men.
BN: And they sent away Rivkah their sister, and her nurse, and Av-Raham's servant, and his men.
VA YESHALCHU: Looks like they didn't get their ten days.
ACHOTAM (אחתם): why Achotam? She may be Lavan's sister, but to the rest she is a daughter, cousin, niece, etc. Is ACHOT being used here in the same broad manner as BEN elsewhere, to mean "kinswoman"?
ACHOTAM (אחתם): why Achotam? She may be Lavan's sister, but to the rest she is a daughter, cousin, niece, etc. Is ACHOT being used here in the same broad manner as BEN elsewhere, to mean "kinswoman"?
MENIKTAH (מנקתה): from the root YANAK (here in the Hiphil or Causative form), meaning "to suck"; the word occurs many times in the Tanach, always with the identical meaning: a wet-nurse (cf Genesis 21:7, Exodus 2:7, Job 3:12... ). Clearly Rivkah has long ago been weaned, so the presence of her wet-nurse cannot be taken literally; presumably the woman stayed on in some sort of nanny or governess or companion role. However...
Genesis 35:8 tells us she was called Devorah (Deborah); and the Dictionary of Names has much more to say about her.
24:60: VA YEVARACHU ET RIVKAH VA YOMRU LAH ACHOTENU AT HAYIY LE ALPHEY REVAVAH VA YIYRASH ZAR'ECH ET SHA'AR SONAV
וַיְבָרֲכוּ אֶת רִבְקָה וַיֹּאמְרוּ לָהּ אֲחֹתֵנוּ אַתְּ הֲיִי לְאַלְפֵי רְבָבָה וְיִירַשׁ זַרְעֵךְ אֵת שַׁעַר שֹׂנְאָיו
KJ: And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.
BN: And they blessed Rivkah, and said to her, "Our sister, be the mother of myriads of myriads, and let your descendants possess the gates of those that hate them."
We have to hope they didn't mean it literally, or that really would expedite the consequence of the sin of Eden! The phrasing is presumably a standard platitude to be used on such occasions, the way one might curse a man by praying that the flies of a thousand camels inhabit his groin for ever. A kind of "she hecheyanu". And in fact we have come across something very like it previously - in Genesis 22:17.
But bearing this formula in mind, the words of the covenants take on a very different meaning.
24:61: VA TAKAM RIVKAH VE NA'AROTEYHA VA TIRKAVNAH AL HA GEMALIM VA TELACHNAH ACHAREY HA ISH VA YIKACH HA EVED ET RIVKAH VA YELECH
וַתָּקָם רִבְקָה וְנַעֲרֹתֶיהָ וַתִּרְכַּבְנָה עַל הַגְּמַלִּים וַתֵּלַכְנָה אַחֲרֵי הָאִישׁ וַיִּקַּח הָעֶבֶד אֶת רִבְקָה וַיֵּלַךְ
KJ: And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.
BN: And Rivkah rose, and her female companions, and they rode on the camels, and followed the man. And the servant took Rivkah, and went his way.
NA'AROTEYHA: First her nanny, now her "damsels", plural. Clearly the Charan branch of the family isn't exactly living in impoverished circumstances either.
What, then, did the men who accompanied him ride. Or do we now understand that Eli-Ezer was alone after all, but accompanied by nine unridden camels? Unlikely. Then did the women ride seated behind the men, arms clasped around them so they wouldn't fall off (as Aisha once rode, according to the Qur'an, and look at the trouble that caused!)? Unlikely. Then can we assume some kind of howdah, an awning that gives protection from the sun, strapped behind the rider? This is not just a Bedou girl riding off to marry; this is a princess with her retinue of ladies-in-waiting. What is then surprising is that no one else from the family goes with to attend the ceremony and use the opportunity to re-establish relations with Av-Raham, and get news of Lot.
Following means literally riding behind, as Moslem women to this day walk four paces behind their husbands.
24:62: VE YITSCHAK BA MI BO BE'ER LECHI RO'I VE HU YOSHEV BE ERETS HA NEGEV
וְיִצְחָק בָּא מִבּוֹא בְּאֵר לַחַי רֹאִי וְהוּא יוֹשֵׁב בְּאֶרֶץ הַנֶּגֶב
KJ: And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahairoi; for he dwelt in the south country.
BN: And Yitschak came up by way of Be'er Lechi Ro'i, for he was living in the land to the south.
BN: And Yitschak came up by way of Be'er Lechi Ro'i, for he was living in the land to the south.
MI BO: To here, or from here - the grammar makes this decidedly ambiguous? And why does it matter? Because this was Hagar's well, in the first of her flights from Sarah - and Yitschak is living at the second of them, Be'er Sheva? Textual error, or some deeper point being made about Yitschak now completing the process of becoming heir apparent, a final dig at the rejected Yishma-El? Or are these simply the two key geographical points, so mentioning them is inevitable? We understood that he was "living" in Be'er Sheva. But like his father he is still a nomad, who wanders with his sheep and cattle, going from well to well. What is going to be interesting is the apparent presence of his mother's tent, here in Be'er Lechi Ro'i, where she never lived, and of all places (of all places because of Shimshon, not just because of Hagar - Judges 15:9 ff) ! See below.
24:63: VA YETS'E YITSCHAK LASU'ACH BA SADEH LIPHNOT AREV VA YISA EYNAV VA YAR VE HINEH GEMALIM BA'IM
וַיֵּצֵא יִצְחָק לָשׂוּחַ בַּשָּׂדֶה לִפְנוֹת עָרֶב וַיִּשָּׂא עֵינָיו וַיַּרְא וְהִנֵּה גְמַלִּים בָּאִים
KJ: And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming.
BN: And Yitschak went out to meditate in the field as the evening approached; and he looked up, and saw, and behold there were camels coming.
LASU'ACH (לשוח): What precisely does "meditating" mean in this context; the Rabbis claim from Genesis 19:27 that Av-Rraham instituted Shacharit, the morning prayers, and from this verse that Yitschak instituted Minchah, the afternoon prayers which are not really afternoon prayers, but can be said at any time before the sun sets, so eventide just makes it; from Genesis 28:10 ff they get Ya'akov instituting Ma'ariv, the evening prayers, though actually there never were any evening prayers until after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, and then they were introduced as a memorial of what was not a prayer-service, but the ceremony of cleaning the Temple at the end of the day's sacrifices. And now let me ask again, what precisely does "meditating"mean in this context? The verb is not LEHITPALEL = "to pray"; it is LASU'ACH, a verb that does not appear anywhere else in the Tanach, and does not obviously connect to any other known word, but must be presumed to derive from the root SIYACH (שיח) = "conversation", a presumption I make because that is how the Septuagint chose to understand it. However, this does not infer "meditate", but more a group of young men gathering in the field at the end of the day to chat; and probably that is why the Rabbis went for Genesis 28:10 and not this verse as the source of Ma'ariv.
24:64: VA TISA RIVKAH ET EYNEYHA VA TER'E ET YITSCHAK VA TIPOL ME AL HA GAMAL
וַתִּשָּׂא רִבְקָה אֶת עֵינֶיהָ וַתֵּרֶא אֶת יִצְחָק וַתִּפֹּל מֵעַל הַגָּמָל
KJ: And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel.
BN: And Rivkah looked up, and when she saw Yitschak, she got down from the camel.
The ultimate "Hollywood moment": beautiful girl in princess mode, handsome prince in meditative mode, sunset, camels, desert sands, Juliet about to meet her Romeo...
VA TIPOL (ותפול): translated as "alighted", and usually camels kneel to let their passengers down; but literally it means that, seeing him, she fell off the camel! Why, because he was so ugly, or so handsome?
24:65: VA TOMER EL HA EVED MI HA ISH HA LAZEH HA HOLECH BA SADEH LIKRA'TENU VA YOMER HA EVED HU ADONI VA TIKACH HA TSA'IPH VA TITKAS
וַתֹּאמֶר אֶל הָעֶבֶד מִי הָאִישׁ הַלָּזֶה הַהֹלֵךְ בַּשָּׂדֶה לִקְרָאתֵנוּ וַיֹּאמֶר הָעֶבֶד הוּא אֲדֹנִי וַתִּקַּח הַצָּעִיף וַתִּתְכָּס
KJ: For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself.
BN: And she said to the servant, "Who is this man who is coming across the field towards us?" And the servant replied, "That is my master." And she took her veil, and covered herself.
HA LAZEH (הלזה): the best indication yet among many that this is a very ancient story, and probably a very ancient text that was being rescribed in the retelling - which may also explain why it is so long and so unedited. This grammatical formation disappeared from Yehudit quite early on, replaced by HA ZEH (הזה); as the fuller form of the definite article (HAL - הל) did likewise. The only other occurrence is in Genesis 37:19. The original LAMED (ל) was echoed in other pronouns and prepositions such as HA ELEH (האלא), which was rendered as HALAH ELU (הלא אלו).
HU ADONI (הוא אדני): which ought to mean it is Av-Raham who is coming, as well as Yitschak who is already there. But it is not Av-Raham; he is using the term generically: Yitschak is as much his master as is Av-Raham.
TSA'IPH (צעיף): Interesting sociologically that she only puts the veil on now. Is she nervous that Yitschak might not find her attractive and wants to appraise him first, and flirt a little maybe before she lets him see her? Or is this a religious requirement, like the burqa, which she has not bothered to fulfill until now?
24:66: VA YESAPER HA EVED LE YITSCHAK ET KOL HA DEVARIM ASHER ASAH
וַיְסַפֵּר הָעֶבֶד לְיִצְחָק אֵת כָּל הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה
KJ: And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done.
BN: And the servant told Yitschak all the things that he had done.
But mercifully he doesn't tell us, for we have already had them at great length, twice!
24:67: VA YEVI'EHA YITSCHAK HA OHELAH SARAH IMO VA YIKACH ET RIVKAH VA TEHI LO LE ISHAH VA YE'EHAVEHA VA YINACHEM YITSCHAK ACHAREY IMO
וַיְבִאֶהָ יִצְחָק הָאֹהֱלָה שָׂרָה אִמּוֹ וַיִּקַּח אֶת רִבְקָה וַתְּהִי לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה וַיֶּאֱהָבֶהָ וַיִּנָּחֵם יִצְחָק אַחֲרֵי אִמּוֹ
KJ: And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.
BN: And Yitschak brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rivkah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. And Yitschak was comforted after his mother’s death.
VA YIKACH (ויקח): no marriage ceremony, no Nisu'in (Kiddushin took place in Padan Aram with her family)? Or simply, unusually for this tale, the narrator has skipped it?
OHELAH SARAH (אהלה שרה): Remember that Sarah has died and been buried at Machpelah a while before this, so this is only his mother's tent by name, not actuality. So now we can ask, because it is very odd to have your honeymoon in your parents' bed: why do they consummate the marriage in Sarah's tent, and not in Yitschak's own? Surely, as a married man in a wealthy tribe, he does now have his own? Then does this mean that, in marrying her, he also becomes head of the tribe, and Sarah's Tent, which was also Av-Raham's tent, is now his? Or is he inheriting a priestly function, and Sarah's tent is not a tent so much as a holy tabernacle? Or is this a public ceremony in the shrine of the fertility goddess?
None of the above, I am afraid, though the latter two come close. We have suggested several times that Sarai and Sarah are simply dialect variations of the name Asherah, who is herself a variant form of Chavah, Inanna, Io, Eshet, Anat, Venus, Ishtar, Guinevere, Hera, Juno, Fricka, and many another mother-goddess; what has been lacking thus far is the evidence, let alone the proof; but now we have a crucial piece, because we know that the Tent of Asherah was the place in which the ritual marriage, and indeed the orgiastic rites connected with the fertility festivals, took place. The OHEL SARAH was not the tent in which Av-Raham's wife lived, but the equivalent of Mosheh’s Mishkan, the holy tent of the priestess; or what we would think of today, though we only have the roof left, as the chupah, the bridal canopy. "Taking her into Sarah's tent" in full describes the marriage ceremony; though it is true they would then have consummated the marriage in the tent as well, in honour of the fertility goddess, Asherah really, but in the Yehudit version Sarah.
VE EHAVEYHA (ואהבה): Ah, how quaint! A true Hollywood ending to our story - until we think ahead, to Rivkah's leading role in the plot to disinherit Esav, and get Ya'akov the blessing that belongs to his brother, and then smuggle him away before Yitschak cottons on or Esav comes home... not a lot of love for Yitschak by Rivkah in that tale!
YINACHEM (ינחם): This is also slightly strange, but actually impressive and significant. If Freud hasn't written an essay on the subject, he certainly ought to have done. The mummy's boy seeking replacement of the mother in the wife, employing marriage as a technique for overcoming bereavement. Worth a page or two. And then look a second time at the Esav-Ya'akov tale, and Rivkah's role there - Ya'akov too is very much the mummy's boy.
Pey break; end of fifth fragment; end of chapter 24.
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