Genesis 24:50-61
New English Translation
50 Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “This is the Lord’s doing.[a] Our wishes are of no concern.[b] 51 Rebekah stands here before you. Take her and go so that she may become[c] the wife of your master’s son, just as the Lord has decided.”[d]
52 When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord. 53 Then he[e] brought out gold, silver jewelry, and clothing and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave valuable gifts to her brother and to her mother. 54 After this, he and the men who were with him ate a meal and stayed there overnight.[f]
When they got up in the morning, he said, “Let me leave now so I can return to my master.”[g] 55 But Rebekah’s[h] brother and her mother replied, “Let the girl stay with us a few more days, perhaps ten. Then she can go.” 56 But he said to them, “Don’t detain me—the Lord[i] has granted me success on my journey. Let me leave now so I may return[j] to my master.” 57 Then they said, “We’ll call the girl and find out what she wants to do.”[k] 58 So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Do you want[l] to go with this man?” She replied, “I want to go.”
59 So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, accompanied by her female attendant, with Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 They blessed Rebekah with these words:[m]
“Our sister, may you become the mother[n] of thousands of ten thousands!
May your descendants possess the strongholds[o] of their enemies.”
61 Then Rebekah and her female servants mounted the camels and rode away with[p] the man. So Abraham’s servant[q] took Rebekah and left.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Genesis 24:50 tn Heb “From the Lord the matter has gone out.”
- Genesis 24:50 tn Heb “We are not able to speak to you bad or good.” This means that Laban and Bethuel could not say one way or the other what they wanted, for they viewed it as God’s will.
- Genesis 24:51 tn Following the imperatives, the jussive with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
- Genesis 24:51 tn Heb “as the Lord has spoken.”
- Genesis 24:53 tn Heb “the servant”; the noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Genesis 24:54 tn Heb “And they ate and drank, he and the men who [were] with him and they spent the night.”
- Genesis 24:54 tn Heb “Send me away to my master.”
- Genesis 24:55 tn Heb “her”; the referent (Rebekah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Genesis 24:56 tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial, indicating a reason for the preceding request.
- Genesis 24:56 tn After the preceding imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
- Genesis 24:57 tn Heb “and we will ask her mouth.”
- Genesis 24:58 tn The imperfect verbal form here has a modal nuance, expressing desire.
- Genesis 24:60 tn Heb “and said to her.”
- Genesis 24:60 tn Heb “become thousands of ten thousands.”sn May you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands. The blessing expresses their prayer that she produce children and start a family line that will greatly increase (cf. Gen 17:16).
- Genesis 24:60 tn Heb “gate,” which here stands for a walled city. In an ancient Near Eastern city the gate complex was the main area of defense (hence the translation “stronghold”). A similar phrase occurs in Gen 22:17.
- Genesis 24:61 tn Heb “And she arose, Rebekah and her female servants, and they rode upon camels and went after.”
- Genesis 24:61 tn Heb “the servant”; the word “Abraham’s” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
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