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. 28 And the damsel ran, and told them of her mother's house 29 these things. And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was 30 Laban and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the well. 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 31 well. And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the 32 house, and room for the camels. 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 33 men's feet that were with him. And there was set meat before : him to eat but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine 34 errand. And he said, Speak on. And he said, I am 35 Abraham's servant. 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 men-servants, and maid36 servants, and camels, and asses. And Sarah my master's wife bare a son to my master when she was old and unto 37 him hath he given all that he hath. And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the 38 daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell: but thou shalt go unto my father's house, and to my kindred, and take 39 a wife unto my son. And I said unto my master, Peradven40 ture the woman will not follow me. 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 41 of my kindred, and of my father's house: 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 42 oath. And I came this day unto the well, and said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my 43 way which I go: behold, I stand by the well of water; and it THE MARRIAGE ARRANGED.-28-53. Laban, hearing Rebekah's account, ran out unto the man, and he said, Come in, thou blessed of the Lord, a form of greeting to a stranger still in common use. There is no reason for saying that Laban's hospitality seems to have been no little stimulated by the sight of the earrings and the bracelets on his sister's hands." The sight of the earring (for there was but one) seems to be mentioned merely as confirming 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 44 of thy pitcher to drink; 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 45 son. 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 46 unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee. 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 47 made the camels drink also. And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? 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 48 hands. 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 49 brother's daughter unto his son. And now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me : and if not, tell me ; 50 that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left. Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the Lord: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good. 51 Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her 52 be thy master's son's wife, as the Lord hath spoken. And it came to pass, that, when Abraham's servant heard their words, 53 he worshipped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her 5 brother and to her mother precious things. 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 55 me away unto my master. And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least 56 ten; after that she shall go. And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way; send me his sister's account. The father Bethuel is in the background throughout. Lange truly observes that the steward urges motives from kindrea ; I am Abraham's servant; then the human interests, Abraham is become great (ver. 35), and finally the religious motive (vers. 37 and 42-48). These various considerations prevailed (ver. 50). THE BRIDE BROUGHT TO HER NEW HOME.-54-67. To Rebekah is left 57 away that I may go to my master. And they said, We will 58 call the damsel, and enquire at her mouth. And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? 59 And she said, I will go. And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let 61 thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them. And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man : and the servant took Rebekah, 62 and went his way. And Isaac came from the way of the well 63 Lahai-roi; for he dwelt in the south country. 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 64 coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw 65 Isaac, she lighted off the camel. 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 66 she took a veil, and covered herself. And the servant told 67 Isaac all things that he had done. 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. the final decision regarding her immediate departure. Her prompt answer I will go is characteristic. She throughout shows herself an active-minded and capable woman, though she fell into the vice of women of her character, scheming and management. When she saw Isaac she lighted off the camel, as a mark of respect. In Mohammedan countries Christians are obliged to dismount when they meet Muslims of rank. Thomson says it is common for women to dismount on the approach of men. She took a veil and covered herself, which may have been simply the dictate of modesty, or compliance with some custom of her race, that a bride should not be seen unveiled by her husband till the marriage was consummated. [Thus Ewald, in his Antiquities, p. 202, says: "According to the primitive custom of those countries, the characteristic token of a woman's being married or betrothed was wearing the veil, by which she became easily and purposely recognisable everywhere in public; but even when she met, or suspected the presence of, the man to whom she was betrothed, etiquette required that she should veil herself."] 1. In this chapter there are many subjects touched upon which are of interest to a class, e.g. the camel; the ornaments of savages and of civilised, inward beauty and outward adorning (1 Pet. iii. 1-5); different ways of arranging marriage, by purchase, by capture, etc.; ways by which men have tried to find out God's will regarding special circumstances, oracles, dreams, divining, augury, etc. CHAP. XXV. I Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name 2 was Keturah. And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and 3 Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were 4 Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim. And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abidah, and 5 Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. And 6 Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, 7 eastward, unto the east country. And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived, an hundred three2. Mention some particulars in which the steward showed himself an exemplary servant. 3. What lesson may youth learn from Isaac's quiet waiting till his 40th year? 4. What may be concluded regarding his character from other particulars mentioned in this chapter? 5. What may be gathered from this chapter regarding Rebekah's character? 6. Give samples of the kind of sign which men may ask of God, and of the kind they may not ask. 7. Stopford Brooke calls Isaac "the Wordsworth of the O. T."—what does he mean to indicate by this? ABRAHAM'S SONS BY KETURAH, HIS DEATH, AND ISAAC'S ABRAHAM'S SONS.-1-6. Then again Abraham took a wife, though called a wife here, she is called a concubine in 1 Chron. i. 32, and is evidently included among the "concubines' mentioned in ver. 6. Her children were not recognised as standing on the same level as Isaac, but were dismissed with gifts to prevent them from coming into collision with him. Abraham may, therefore, have taken her while Sarah was alive, although the whole strain of the previous narrative would lead us to suppose Abraham had no children of any kind until Hagar bore Ishmael. Against the idea that the children here mentioned were born after Sarah's death, or even after Isaac's birth, is the expression used in Rom. iv. 19 and Gen. xvii. 17. Zimran perhaps represents the Zamereni, a tribe in the interior of Arabia. Medan and Midian were closely related as tribes (cp. chap. xxxvii. 28, 36). The position of Midian is ascertained from Ex. ii. 15, iii. 1. Shuah is the tribe to which Bildad, Job's friend, belonged, and was therefore probably situated to the east of the Jordan. Sheba and Dedan are mentioned in chap. x. 7 as the sons of Raamah, and grandsons of Cush. So that in these tribes occupying the finest part of Arabia Felix, there was probably a mixture of Cushites and Shemites. The Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim have not been identified. Ephah, cp. Isa. lx. 6. ABRAHAM'S DEATH AND BURIAL.-7-10. He lived 175 years, consequently 8 score and fifteen years. Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; 9 and was gathered to his people. And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre ; To the field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: II there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife. And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi. at his death Isaac was 75, Jacob and Esau 15 years of age. Isaac and Ishmael buried him. Ishmael, therefore, still maintained friendly relations with the family, although more than 70 years had passed since his expulsion. CHAPTER XXV. 12-18.-ISHMAEL'S DESCENDANTS. 12 Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto 13 Abraham: and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the first-born of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, 14, 15 and Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa, Hadar, and Tema, 16 Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah: these are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; 17 twelve princes according to their nations. And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years and he gave up the ghost and died, and was gathered 18 unto his people. And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: and he died in the presence of all his brethren. In connection with this paragraph Kalisch cites the Arabian tradition which represents the population of Arabia as composed of three layers. The first inhabitants were the powerful and wealthy tribes of Ad, Thamud, and others; the first wave of immigrants were the descendants of Joktan, whose sons, Yarab and Jorham, became the founders of the principalities of Yemen and Hejaz, which to this day retain something of their old prestige. Finally came the sons of Ishmael, who partly intermarried with the original Arabs and partly settled by themselves. Kalisch supposes that the original popula tion is referred to in Gen. x. 7; the second layer in Gen. x. 26-29; and that the third layer is represented by the sons of Keturah and the Ishmaelites mentioned in this chapter. I |