Rebekah at the Well

Abraham, Isaac’s father, had decided to take Rebekah, the granddaughter of his brother Nahor, as a wife for his son Isaac, who was then about forty years old. So he sent the oldest of his servants to arrange the betrothal, after first binding him with the strongest pledges of his faithfulness. The pledges were given in this way: each put his hand under the other’s thigh, and then they called on God as witness of what was to be done. Abraham also sent gifts to the people there, of a kind that was prized because such things were seldom or never seen in that country. [a]

The servant was a long time getting there. Crossing Mesopotamia takes a long time, and travel there is hard: in winter because of the deep mud, in summer for lack of water, and besides that because of the robberies committed there, which travelers can avoid only by taking precautions beforehand. Still, the servant reached Haran. In the outskirts he met a large number of young women going for water. So he prayed to God that Rebekah, whom Abraham had sent him to betroth to his son, might be found among them, if it was God’s will that this marriage should take place; and that she might be made known to him by this sign: while the others refused him water to drink, she would give it to him.

With this in mind he went to the well and asked the young women to give him some water to drink. The others refused, claiming they needed it all at home and could spare none for him, for the water was hard to come by. But one of the group scolded them for their rudeness to the stranger, and said, “What will you ever share with anybody, when you have not even given the man some water?” Then she offered him water kindly. [d]

Now he began to hope that his great errand would succeed. But still wanting to know the truth, he praised her for her generosity and good nature in not hesitating to give enough water to those who needed it, even though drawing it cost her some trouble. He asked who her parents were and congratulated them on such a daughter. “And may you be married,” he said, “to their satisfaction, into the family of a good husband, and bear him lawful children.” She did not disdain to answer his questions, but told him about her family. “They call me Rebekah,” she said. “My father was Bethuel, but he is dead. Laban is my brother; he and my mother take care of all our family’s affairs, and he is the guardian of my virginity.”

When the servant heard this, he was very glad at what had happened and at what he had been told, seeing that God had so plainly guided his journey. He brought out a necklace and some other ornaments thought proper for unmarried girls to wear, and gave them to her as thanks and as a reward for her kindness in giving him water to drink, saying it was only right that she should have them, since she had been so much more obliging than all the rest. He also asked to stay with them, since night was coming on and left him no time to travel farther. Since he was carrying costly ornaments for women, he said there was no one he could more safely entrust them to than people he had tested for himself; and from the virtue he found in her, he thought he could guess at the kindness of her mother and brother, and that they would not be displeased. He would not be a burden, he said, but would pay for his lodging and spend his own money. She replied that he guessed right about her parents’ kindness, but protested that he should think them so stingy as to take money; he would have everything free. But she said she would first tell her brother Laban, and if he gave her permission, she would bring him in.

As soon as this was settled, she brought the stranger in. Laban’s servants brought in the camels and took care of them, and Laban himself brought him in to supper. After supper he spoke to Laban and to the girl’s mother, addressing himself to her: “Abraham is the son of Terah and a relative of yours, for Nahor, the grandfather of these children, was Abraham’s brother by both father and mother. That is why he has sent me to you: he wants to take this girl as a wife for his son. He is his lawful son, and he is being brought up as his only heir. He could have had the most fortunate of all the women of that country for him, but he would not let his son marry any of them. Out of regard for his own relatives, he wanted him to make his match here, and I would not have you despise his affection and wishes. For it was by God’s good pleasure that everything else on my journey turned out as it did, and that by it I came upon your daughter and your house. When I was near the city, I saw a great many young women coming to a well, and I prayed that I might meet this girl, and so it has happened. So confirm this marriage, whose betrothal has already been made by a sign from God, and show the respect you have for Abraham, who sent me with such great concern, by giving your consent to this girl’s marriage.” At this they understood it to be the will of God. They gladly approved the offer and sent their daughter, as was asked. So Isaac married her, the inheritance having now come to him, for Keturah’s children had gone off to their own distant homes.