## Da'at Zekenim on Genesis Chapter 24

###### Da'at Zekenim on Genesis 24:1:1
[Da'at Zekenim on Genesis 24:1:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Da%27at%20Zekenim%20on%20Genesis/r/24:1:1)

**ברך את אברהם בכל.**בזכות הפרשת מעשר כד"א ויתן לו מעשר מכל:

**Daat Zekenim translated by Rb. Eliyahu Munk:**
ברך את אברהם בכל, “He blessed Avraham in all respects.” This was due to the merit he had acquired when tithing the loot of the war against the Kings with Kedorleomer and giving it to the “priest,” who was the King of Shalem. (Genesis 14,20)


###### Da'at Zekenim on Genesis 24:7:1
[Da'at Zekenim on Genesis 24:7:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Da%27at%20Zekenim%20on%20Genesis/r/24:7:1)

**אלהי השמים וגו'.**ולא אלהי הארץ כי באותה שעה לא נודע אלהותו לבריות. ומטעם זה ליכא מלכות בברכה ראשונה של שמונה עשרה דלא שייך לומר אלהי אברהם כי בפרק שהתחיל להיות אלהי אברהם עדיין לא היה על כל העולם:

**Daat Zekenim translated by Rb. Eliyahu Munk:**
אלוקי השמים, “the G–d in heaven, etc.;” we must note that Avraham did not, at this stage, describe G–d as also being the G–d acknowledged on earth. He described the situation as it was, i.e. that up until this time the G–d of Israel, or even the G–d of creation had not been acknowledged as such on earth. This fact is reflected in our central daily prayer the עמידה, consisting of 18 (+1) benedictions we do not refer to G–d as “King” in the opening benediction which describes Him as the G–d of Avraham and that of the other two patriarchs. [Whenever we recite a benediction before eating even a morsel or drinking a mouthful of water, we do add the fact that He is the King of the universe. Ed.] (Compare Sifrey on parshat Ha-azinu, section 313).


###### Da'at Zekenim on Genesis 24:8:1
[Da'at Zekenim on Genesis 24:8:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Da%27at%20Zekenim%20on%20Genesis/r/24:8:1)

**ונקית משבועתי זאת.**זאת משמע מיעוט לומר דמשבועה דכי אל ארצי ואל מולדתי תלך תהי נקי אבל משבועה דלא תקח אשה לבני לא תנקי ולפי זה צ"ל דענר אשכול וממרא לאו כנעניים היו:

**Daat Zekenim translated by Rb. Eliyahu Munk:**
ונקית משבועתי זאת, “you will be absolved from this oath I demand from you.” The apparently unnecessary word: “this,” is to warn Eliezer that the only part of the oath he will be absolved from if the woman refuses to leave her home, is Yitzchok must not go there to wed her. He would still be obligated to look for a suitable wife for Yitzchok. According to this interpretation, we must assume that the “friends” of Avraham, Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre, were not of Canaanitic descent.


###### Da'at Zekenim on Genesis 24:8:2
[Da'at Zekenim on Genesis 24:8:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Da%27at%20Zekenim%20on%20Genesis/r/24:8:2)

**רק את בני לא תשב שמה.**ואע"פ שמעולם לא בא לשם נופל נמי על יצחק לשון שיבה מפני אליעזר שהיה הולך עמו ולו יהיה שיבה גמורה שכבר היה לשם. וכן ברות המואביה השבה עם נעמי משדי מואב ואע"פ שרות לא היתה מעולם לשם קורא לה לשון שיבה מפני נעמי ההולכת עמה:

**Daat Zekenim translated by Rb. Eliyahu Munk:**
רק את בני לא תשב שמה, “as long as you do not bring my son back to the land from which I emigrated.” The words: “bring back”, is somewhat strange seeing that Yitzchok had never been in Charan, having been born in Canaan. Although Yitzchok had indeed never been in Charan, the term שיבה for “returning” is applicable to him because of Eliezer who had been going to the land of Canaan with Avraham and now as Yitzchok’s emissary (accepting tokens of marriage) While it is true that this was not a return in the full sense of the word, Eliezer had already been there with Avraham before the latter left Charan. We find a similar situation in Ruth 2,6, when Ruth is “returning” to the land of Israel with her mother-in-law Naomi, and although Ruth had never been there before, she too is described by one of Boaz’s hired hands as “returning” from the land of Moab. The reason why she was so described was that she was accompanying her mother-in-law who was definitely returning in the full sense of the word.


###### Da'at Zekenim on Genesis 24:14:1
[Da'at Zekenim on Genesis 24:14:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Da%27at%20Zekenim%20on%20Genesis/r/24:14:1)

**ובה אדע.**פירש"י שהוא לשון תחנה וגו'. ותימ' לה"ר משה דאמרינן בעלמא שלשה שאלו שלא כהוגן וחשיב אליעזר עבד אברהם ולפירש"י לא שאל שלא כהוגן:

**Daat Zekenim translated by Rb. Eliyahu Munk:**
ובה אדע, “and through her (conduct) I will know, etc.” according to Rashi, this wording is a kind of plea by Eliezer. This presents an apparent conflict with a statement by Rabbi Sh’muel son of Nachmeni in the Talmud, tractate Taanit, folio 4, according to which the Bible names three people whose requests from G–d were considered as inappropriate, Eliezer’s request here being one of the three. When we examine Eliezer’s request, if a blind girl had performed the tasks he had requested as proof of her worthiness to become the wife of Yitzchok, he would have had to choose her. According to Rashi’s interpretation, there was nothing inappropriate in Eliezer’s request.


###### Da'at Zekenim on Genesis 24:22:1
[Da'at Zekenim on Genesis 24:22:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Da%27at%20Zekenim%20on%20Genesis/r/24:22:1)

**ויקח האיש נזם זהב.**החכם ר' משה דורש מקרא זה לפי פשוטו ויקח האיש נזם זהב ושני צמידים בידו לתת עליה אם תהיה הגונה ויאמר לה בת מי את וכשהגידה לו משפחתה אז נתנם לה והכתוב קצר דבריו כמו שמצינו בכמה מקומות. וכן מוכיח בספור דבריו דכתיב ואשאל ואחר ואשים. וגם כאן לא כתוב ויקח האיש נזם זהב ויתן על ידה:

**Daat Zekenim translated by Rb. Eliyahu Munk:**
ויקח האיש נזם זהב, “the man (Eliezer) took out a golden nose ring, etc.;” The sage Rabbi Moshe, interprets this verse as its face value, understanding the words to mean that in preparation of events, Eliezer took out of his satchel jewelry which he would give to Rebecca if she would meet the conditions he had outlined, (and which she was of course quite unaware of). He then asked her about her family status, and when told that she was member of Avraham’s family he gave here the jewelry as a gift. The Torah abbreviated somewhat in its report of what happened, something that is not unusual. That this is so is clear from the sequence of events Eliezer described during the meal, when he filled in the words that have been omitted here. Even here, (contrary to the way some people interpret our verse) the Torah did not write that he gave her the jewelry before having established her family status.


###### Da'at Zekenim on Genesis 24:39:1
[Da'at Zekenim on Genesis 24:39:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Da%27at%20Zekenim%20on%20Genesis/r/24:39:1)

**אלי לא תלך האשה.**פירש"י ז"ל שלכך כתיב אלי חסר וא"ו למדרש שהיתה בת לאליעזר וכו'. ותימה שגם ר' שלמה פי' על קרא דונקית משבועתי זאת ותקח אשה לבני מבנות ענר אשכול וממרא וגם הם כנעניים היו. וי"ל שבו נתקיימה כבר הקללה שהרי הוא עבד אבל הם לא היו עבדים. ועוד י"ל דזילא ביה מילתא טפי למשיא לבנו בת עבדו. ועוד אמרינן בב"ר אליעזר בנו של חם היה. ובפרקי ר' אליעזר אומר אליעזר עבד אברהם הוא עוג מלך הבשן והכי איתמר התם זקן ביתו של אברהם אבינו היה אליעזר וכתב עליו עבד עולם וכשגמל חסד עם יצחק הוציאו לחירות עולם ונתן לו הקב"ה שכרו בעולם הזה והעמידו מלך והוא עוג מלך הבשן וקשה שהרי עוג רשע היה ומשה הרגו ואליעזר היה צדיק וגם במס' סופרים חשיב ליה מתשעה שנכנסו בגן עדן מחיים ועל דבר זה נכנס כי כשהביא רבקה ולא מצא לה יצחק בתולים כמו שאפ' בע"ה היה חושדו שבא עליה ואמר לו כן תחיה ותכנס בגן עדן כמו שאתה נקי ממנה ונתקיים לו אותה ברכה ונכנס חי בגן עדן וצ"ל ששני עוג מלך הבשן היו אחד רשע שהרגו משה ואחד שהיה עבד ומלך וכשמלך נקרא שמו עוג כי כל מלכי הבשן נקראים עוג כמו שמצינו בכל מלכי מצרים שנקראין פרעה:

**Daat Zekenim translated by Rb. Eliyahu Munk:**
אלי לא תלך האשה אחרי, “perhaps the woman (that I chose) will not follow me. (to this land).” Rashi comments on this that it is remarkable that the word: ulay here is spelled without the letter ו after the first letter as we would have expected, and that this is a hint by Eliezer who had a daughter, that he secretly hoped that the refusal of a potential bride from Avraham’s family to move to the land of Canaan, might make his master Avraham willing to let her become Yitzchok’s wife. [Rashi bases himself on an interpretation by B’reshit Rabbah on why in the report of the conversation between Avraham and Eliezer on the same subject in 24,5 that letter ו is not missing. Ed.] It is difficult to understand why he did not write this comment already on verse eight in this chapter where Avraham had not excluded a marital union with the daughters of any of his three friends Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre, although they were Canaanites, and not slaves from Damascus, and Avraham had Eliezer released him from his oath in the event that a girl from Charan were to refuse to move to the land of Canaan. We must assume that Avraham had felt that the curse that rested on Canaan had already run its course, whereas the curse on Eliezer’s antecedents had not yet run its course, so that marriage into that family would be spiritually much more dangerous. B’reshit Rabbah 59,9, states specifically that Eliezer was a descendant of Cham, whose son Canaan Noach had cursed. In the book: Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer, chapter 15, Eliezer is identified with Og King of Bashan, whom the Israelites slew in a battle during their last year in the desert. [My edition of Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer does not have this, and my research of a lengthy article about Og by Dr Admiel Kosman of the Bar Ilan university, also does not bring any source for that statement. Ed.] According to our author, the following is the text in his edition of Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer. “Eliezer has been described as the most senior servant, and added that he was a servant for evermore. When he did Yitzchok a great favour by choosing a wonderful wife for him, Yitzchok freed him forever. G–d then rewarded Og by making him King of Bashan. If this is true, why did G–d order Moses to kill Og as a punishment for defending his country against invaders? According to Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer he was a perfectly righteous man! We also know from the Talmud, tractate Sofrim chapter 21, as well as from Derech Eretz zuttah, tractate Sotah, 1, that he was one of only nine people who immediately upon drawing their last breath had their souls transferred to the spiritual hereafter. This matter was discussed in connection with a tradition that when Yitzchok first joined Rivkah in the marital bed, and found that she was not a virgin, he suspected Eliezer as having been to blame for this. He said to him: “may you live as long and enter paradise as you are innocent of my accusation!” In light of all the above, we must assume that there had been two Kings called King of Bashan, one during Avraham’s lifetime and another during Moses’ lifetime. It was the former who was so righteous. Each one of these two persons, once crowned king, used the title King of Bashan, seeing that all of Bashan’s king were called Og, just as all of Egypt’s kings were called Pharaoh.


###### Da'at Zekenim on Genesis 24:55:1
[Da'at Zekenim on Genesis 24:55:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Da%27at%20Zekenim%20on%20Genesis/r/24:55:1)

**ויאמר אחיה ואמה.**פירש"י ובתואל רצה לעכב ובא מלאך והמיתו. ואע"ג דכתיב לעיל ויען לבן ובתואל צ"ל שרצה לחזור ולעכב הדבר. ד"א שבקשו להאכיל לאליעזר סם המות כדי שישאר להם הממון ובא גבריאל והחליף הקערה אשר בה סם המות ליתנה לאליעזר ונתנה לבתואל ומת:

**Daat Zekenim translated by Rb. Eliyahu Munk:**
ויאמר אחיה ואמה, “Her brother and mother said;” Rashi, noticing that Betuel, Rivkah’s father is not quoted as making a response to Eliezer, says that he actually wanted to prevent the marriage so that an angel was dispatched by G–d to kill him in order to prevent him from carrying out his objection. He says so although the Torah had quoted both Lavan and Betuel as agreeing to the match being made in heaven in verses 50-51. An alternate interpretation explaining Betuel’s “silence.” He had meant to poison Eliezer so as to prevent the marriage. An angel switched plates while Eliezer was speaking and when Betuel started eating he died from his own poison.