ואברהם זקן בא בימים, “Avraham had become old, advanced in years.” The Torah writes this comment at this point in order to inform us that as a result of the death of Sarah, symptoms of old age suddenly became manifest in Avraham’s whole demeanour. This is also what the sages had in mind when they said” “a wife’s death primarily affects her husband.” True, the Torah had already described both Avraham and Sarah as זקנים באים בימים, “old, advanced in years” (18,11), the matter has been repeated because as a result of Sarah having become pregnant and given birth to Yitzchok both she and her husband had become rejuvenated. Avraham now reverted to being an old man. It is also possible to justify the mention of Avraham having become an old man at this point in view of what follows, i.e. his empowering Eliezer to choose a wife for his son Yitzchok, seeing G’d’s promise that he would die at an old age בשלום, i.e. having seen his major hopes fulfilled, this could not occur until Yitzchok had been married and had produced an heir. We know from Psalms 128,6 וראה בנים לבניך שלום על ישראל, “and live to see children of your children, peace be unto Israel,” that until one has been blessed with grandchildren one does not consider oneself as having died בשלום. He therefore had concluded that the time was overdue to see to it that Yitzchok would marry. The Torah testifies that Avraham considered himself as blessed in all areas of life, i.e. וה' ברך את אברהם בכול, although he was too old now to undertake a strenuous journey to Aram Naharayim. The word בא in our verse is to be understood as being in the past tense as in Genesis 27,35 בא אחיך במרמה, “your brother has already come, deviously, etc.”

וה' ברך את אברהם בכל, “and the Lord had blessed Avraham in every way; material wealth, property, long life, and all the things which man aspires to make his life enjoyable. The only thing missing in Avraham’s life were grandchildren who would become the heirs of his prominent stature. He therefore decided to take a hand in bringing this about.

שים נא ידך תחת ירכי, “please place your hand beneath my hip.” This was a request to swear an oath to his master by placing his hand on the site of the circumcision. Although in Jewish law, someone who needlessly touches his own or someone else’s male organ deserves to have that hand cut off, Avraham explained that in light of his having become an old man there was no chance that touching him there would result in the wasteful ejaculation of his semen. Ibn Ezra writes that in those days servants (slaves) used to place their hands under the hip of their master as a sign of obeisance. The master, by sitting on the servant’s hand signaled the fact that the servant had to do his bidding. The servant, by complying signaled his acknowledgment of his status.

ואשביעך, “so that I make you swear, etc.” Avraham anticipates Eliezer’s concern that no woman in her right mind would a follow someone’s servant to a distant country on the servant’s say so that he had been empowered to select her as a wife for the son of his master. Therefore, Avraham told Eliezer that he would give him irrevocable documents, oath-like, to prove to the girl’s family that if she were to come she would indeed become the wife of Avraham’s son Yitzchok. Eliezer would have the widest possible latitude in using his good judgment.

אשר לא תקח אשה לבני מבנות הכנעני, “that you will not take a wife for my son from among the girls who are of Canaanite origin.” Actually, Avraham should have made Yitzchok swear an oath that he would not marry a Canaanite girl. The reason Avraham did not proceed in this fashion was that he wanted to send someone to his family in Charan or thereabouts, but he wanted to make his servant swear that he would perform the task either while he, Avraham, was still alive, or if necessary, even after his death. To this end he had to make Eliezer take an oath anyway. Seeing that he made Eliezer swear there was no longer any need to make Yitzchok swear to the same effect. He knew that Yitzchok would not violate the wishes of his father in this matter. Alternatively, Avraham actually appointed Eliezer to be his executor, ordering him to see that Yitzchok would get married and restricting his choices only by excluding women of Canaanite descent. To make this point quite clear to the reader, the Torah added the words המושל בכל אשר לו, describing Eliezer as having complete power of attorney concerning the affairs of Avraham. Some commentators believe that that at the time in question Yitzchok was simply not at hand, a view supported by the Torah when it described the chance meeting of Yitzchok and Eliezer when the former just returned from the well named by Hagar באר לחי רואי, (compare both 24,18 and 16,14) According to a Midrash (Yalkut), Yitzchok returned from Gan Eden at that time where the wounds inflicted upon him by his father when he had been lying bound on the altar had been healed.

ואשביעך בה' אלוקי השמים ואלוקי הארץ, “I will make you swear in the name of the Lord of heaven and earth.” The simile was apt as marriages are made in heaven before they are consummated on earth.

אולי לא תאבה, “perhaps the woman does not want, etc.” He was referring to what might happen after he had located a girl he considered suitable as a future wife for Yitzchok.

אלוקי השמים, “the Lord of the heavens.” In this verse Avraham did not refer to G’d as the “Lord of the earth,” according to Rashi, because when Avraham describes the state of mankind when he left Charan, G’d had not had a foothold on earth that could justify us in describing him as “the Lord of the earth.” Nachmanides says simply that the time frame described by Avraham in that verse refers to when he had resided outside the Holy Land, and we have a tradition that anyone residing outside the Holy Land is considered as if he did not have a G’d (protecting him individually)

אשר לקחני מבית אבי, “the One Who has taken me out of my father’s house, etc.” according to Rashi, the words מבית אבי refer to Charan, and the words מארץ מולדתי refer to Ur Casdim. Nachmanides considers this explanation flawed as if true, when Avraham instructed Eliezer to proceed to אל ארצי ואל מולדתי, he would in fact have instructed him to go to Ur Casdim, something Eliezer did not do. Avraham’s birthplace was Aram Naharayim and not Ur Casdim. G’d forbid that the seed of Avraham should become fused to a girl stemming from that region of the most blatant idolatry. Furthermore, why did Avraham call Charan ארצו, “his homeland,” when he did not even refer to the land of Canaan as “my homeland,” but described himself as a stranger there. He had lived in Canaan for over 60 years at that time, far longer than he and his father had stayed in Charan. Avraham’s birthplace had been Aram Naharayim, and this is where his family had resided from the earliest time. This is also how the matter is explained in Pirkey de Rabbi Eliezer, the most ancient of our Midrashic texts where we read: “and take a wife from my family.”

אשר לקחני מבית אבי, “Who has taken me from my father’s house;” the meaning of these words which sound as if Avraham had been removed from his father’s house against his will, is that it was G’d’s promise which had been instrumental in Avraham moving to a land where he had no family, to whose members he could marry off his son.

ואשר נשבע לי לאמור לזרעך אתן הארץ הזאת, “and Who has sworn to me; ‘to your descendants I will give this land, etc.” It is also written concerning the heir of Avraham :כי ביצחק יקרא לך זרע, “for your descendants will be named after Yitzchok,” so that it is quite clear that this G’d will send his angel with you to make your mission successful. Therefore I can tell you without reservation that under no circumstances are you to allow my son to move back there, seeing it was G’d Who had taken me away from there.

ונקית משבועתי זאת, “and you will be absolved from this oath to me.” According to Rashi, this implied that under the circumstances just described, Eliezer would be free to take one of the daughters of Oner, Eshkol, or Mamre, Avraham’s closest allies I the land of Canaan.. Nachmanides is appalled at the thought that Avraham would have given his consent for Yitzchok to marry a daughter of these Canaanites, the Torah having described Mamre specifically as an Emorite (Genesis 14,13). In fact, according to Bereshit Rabbah, the warning not to marry Canaanite girls was aimed especially at these girls of Oner Eshkol and Mamre as Avraham had specifically described himself as dwelling in their land. (quoting from Eliezer’s speech at the house of Bethuel). Therefore, Avraham’s warning was directed specifically at girls from Yitzchok’s immediate environment. Seeing that Avraham entertained covenantal relations with these three Emorites it would have seemed natural to reinforce such ties by intermarriage between these families. It is quite possible that Eliezer’s oath applied to all Canaanites, and that although Eliezer would be released from the part of the oath directing him to find a wife for Yitzchok from Avraham’s family, but he would not be released from the part forbidding him to select a Canaanite wife for him. This is why Avraha,m did not say (comprehensively) “you will then be released from your oath,” but משבועתי זאת, “from this (part) oath.” Eliezer had also threatened to “turn right or left,” he had not threatened to return to Canaan to look further. He could have had in mind either Ishmael, or the family of Lot.

וכל טוב אדוניו בידו, “with all the good things of his master in his hand.” Rashi explains that the word כל טוב refers to a document bequeathing all of Avraham’s wealth to his son Yitzchok. Although we already know (25,5) that Yitzchok had been appointed the sole heir, Avraham gave this document to Eliezer in order to encourage the family of the girl Eliezer would choose as Yitzchok’s bride to allow her to leave home and move to a distant land. Some commentators feel that when the servant (Eliezer) had sworn to his master, he took 10 camels and loaded them with all of Avraham’s portable treasures as he had been instructed to do just that Nachmanides explains the verse in line with the plain meaning of the text, i.e. that Eliezer took 10 of his master’s camels and loaded them with all the valuable chattels including exotic fruit which Avraham possessed.

הנה אנכי נצב על עין המים, “here I am standing at the well of water, etc.” He meant that at this site he could conduct the kind of experiment which should show him if his mission would be successful as he could examine any prospective girl regarding her personal virtues, such as her attitude to unknown strangers making uncalled for requests. His reasoning was that if a girl behaves in a modest manner at home this was a reflection on her mother, whereas if she behaved modestly away from home she displayed her own virtue thereby, and not fear of being reprimanded by her mother.

אותה הוכחת לעבדך ליצחק, “her You have designated for Your servant, for Yitzchok.” Rashi understands the word הוכחת here as meaning “suitable.” Eliezer meant that a girl who would not only agree to draw water for him, the stranger, but would volunteer to also water his camels (although he was an able-bodied man capable of doing this by himself) had proven a fit successor for Yitzchok’s mother Sarah. Nachmanides explains that the words אותה הוכחת וגו' are all still part of Eliezer’s prayer which started with the words הקרה נא, (verse 12) He would consider what appeared like a coincidence מקרה not as such but as a sign from G’d that this was indeed the girl he had been searching for. This sign would prove that G’d had shown an special kindness to his master. If the girl were to be a member of Avraham’s family, this would be an additional sign. If you were to object, pointing out that even non Jews are forbidden to practice any kind of witchcraft or reliance on omens, so that Eliezer’s having given the jewelry to Rivkah before she had told him whose family she belonged to, you would have to answer that he did not give her the bracelets and nose-ring until he knew whose family she belonged to. We have a rule that the Torah is not obligated to report events in their chronological order, hence the fact that here the Torah has chosen to report Eliezer as giving jewelry to Rivkah on the strength of her having helped him, even before reporting who she was, is not so surprising. Another approach could be the fact that actually the Torah describes Eliezer only as ויקח נזם זהב וגו', “He took a golden nose-ring, etc.,” i.e. it does not state that he had already handed over the jewelry or put it on her hands as we hear in verse 47 when the servant recounted his experiences at the well, when he describes this as something he had done after having identified her as a member of Avraham’s family. Maybe, at this stage he showed the jewelry to Rivkah and asked her about her family before giving it to her and placing the bracelets on her hands. The words על ידיה would then describe the function of the צמידים, the bracelets. A third possibility is that the whole question of ניחוש, reliance on magical devices, omens, subjective criteria, etc.’ to establish the truth of something, is not an issue either with Eliezer or with Yonathan, David’s friend. It is only when one bases one’s course of action exclusively on coincidences, magic formulas, etc., that one violates the Torah’s commandment not to do so. Eliezer used the criteria he had set himself to examine the character of the girl as a guideline, but not as determining the issue to the extent of abandoning his own evaluation as to her suitability. Similarly, Yonathan used the arrows to encourage the lad to search further not to determine David’s course of action a fateful course. (Samuel I chapter 20) Ibn Ezra wrote that many people are astounded at Eliezer’s conduct, considering it as inappropriate. He does not understand how these people’s minds work. After all, it is quite clear that if the first girl who had agreed to Eliezer’s request and beyond that had turned out not to be a member of Avraham’s family, he would look further.

בתולה ואיש לא ידעה, “a virgin, with whom no man had been intimate.” Rashi explains the apparent duplication to mean that no man had even had abnormal sexual relations with her. Besides, if she had been sexually violated while being younger than three years of age, her hymen would have regenerated itself and left no visible marks of such penetration.

וירץ העבד לקראתה, “the servant ran towards her.” He did so after witnessing that the waters in the well had risen in response to her approach. Our sages derive this from the wording of our verse ותמלא כדה ותעל, “she filled the jug and ascended.” There is no mention here of her having “drawn water,” ותשאב, something the Torah emphasis in verse 20 when she descended again in order to draw water for Eliezer’s camels. No miracle occurred in order to facilitate the watering of the camels. The first time the miracle occurred in order that Eliezer focus on the unusual speed with which this girl came up from the well, her jug already filled with water. Although, when Eliezer recounts the events at the table of Bethuel and Lavan he did not mention the miracle which had occurred, but described Rivkah as having drawn the water normally, (verse 45) he omitted mention of the miracle as he was afraid Lavan and Bethuel would not believe him and would consider his having fabricated that event in order to enhance his chances of obtaining their consent for Rivkah to travel back with him to the land of Canaan.

מקום לנו ללין,”we have enough room to offer guests to stay overnight.” He meant “enough room to accommodate animals overnight?” She replied מקום לנו ללון, We have enough room to accommodate visiting strangers overnight. (including their beasts).” Although Eliezer had not enquired about fodder for his camels, she volunteered that all this was included in the invitation. He was not to think that he had to pay for it. She made it plain that her father would be offended if he offered to pay for the accommodation or the fodder.

בת בתואל אנכי בן מלכה אשר ילדה לנחור, “I am a daughter of Bethuel, who is a son of Milkah she had born for Nachor.” She was so explicit because Nachor also had a concubine named Re-umah, and she wanted it understood that her father was not the son of a concubine. It was the custom in those days to enumerate the father’s genealogy before that of the mother. When it came to other matters, girls tended to keep company and share intimacies with their mothers, as in verse 28 where Rivkah relates her encounter with Eliezer to her mother. [If she had not suddenly worn costly jewelry Lavan might not have become aware that something unusual had happened at the well. Ed.]

וירץ לבן, “Lavan ran;” some scholars ask what prompted Lavan to run to meet Eliezer even before he had seen the jewelry on the hands of his sister? They explain the sequence of what happened as follows: when Lavan realized that his sister took unusually long to return with her jug of water from the well, he ran to find out if anything had happened to her. He was afraid she might have been violated by some male. Instead of taking the normal route, he ran across orchards etc., in order to reach the well faster. When he did not find Rivkah at the well, seeing she was on the way home by her regular route, and had told her mother who had given her the jewelry, he returned home When Lavan on his return home not only heard the unlikely story of how Rivkah had come into possession of these trinkets, he turned back to confront the man she said had given her such precious gifts. There is no need for such a convoluted explanation. The words ויהי כראות את הנזם ואת הצמידים, “as soon as he saw the nose ring and the bracelets,” merely tell us the reason why וירץ לבן, “Lavan took off in a rush,” to meet this generous stranger.

ויבא האיש הביתה, “As soon as the man entered the house,” the man referred to was Eliezer.

ויפתח הגמלים ויתן תבן ומספוא לגמלים, “he untied the camels and provided them with fodder and straw to lie on.” Here the verse reverts to activities performed by Lavan who displayed concern for the well being of his guests and their beasts. Apparently, the camels had been tied to one another while they had been wandering. He also gave water for Eliezer and his men to wash their feet after what had been a lengthy journey.

אלי לא תלך, “maybe she is not willing to go, etc.” the word “perhaps,” אולי, is spelled here without the customary letter ו, which prompts Rashi to suggest that Eliezer had a daughter whom he would have liked to be married to Yitzchok.. Since he did not dare suggest this to Avraham, the first time the word אולי appears in this connection it is spelled in the ordinary manner; only now when Avraham was not present, and the whole matter was hanging in the balance, did the Torah hint to the reader about Eliezer’s secret aspirations.

ישלח מלאכו, “He will send His angel, etc.” Avraham had been referring to a specific angel, as in כי ילך מלאכי לפניך, “for My angel will travel in front of you” (Exodus 23,23) [where G’d speaks of an angel that will represent Him specifically during the conquest of the land of Canaan. Ed.] He did not refer to the angel described in Exodus 33,2 ושלחתי לפניך מלאך, “I will send an angel ahead of you.” [In that instance G’d’s benevolent providence had been reduced to a more indirect level, as evidenced by the absence of the suffix ו, “His” at the end of the word מלאך. Here the word מלאכו appears twice, indicating that there were two angels active to ensure the success of Eliezer’s mission. (compare 24,7) The first angel’s mission was to keep harm from befalling Eliezer and his men; the second angel was to ensure the arrival of the right girl at the right place at the right time.

והנה רבקה יוצאת, “and lo, Rivkah was coming out, etc.” Eliezer had heard while in Lavan’s house that the girl whom he had met was called Rivkah. Alternatively, she might have told him her personal name already while at the well.

ויוצא העבד כלי כסף וכלי זהב ובגדים ויתן לרבקה . “The servant unpacked silver and golden trinkets and garments, and gave all of them to Rivkah.” These she was to take with them back to the home of Yitzchok. To Rivkah’s brother and mother he only gave exotic fruit and other condiments. If he had handed the silver and golden trinkets to her family, they surely would have remained in their possession.

ויאמר אחיה תשב הנערה, “her brother said: let the girl stay here (for a while).” According to the plain meaning of the text, Rivkah’s father Bethuel was the one who had said: הנה רבקה לפניך קח ולך, “here is Rivkah at your command, take her and go.” When they heard this, Lavan and his mother said that she should not leave for a while, a year or at least ten months. Ibn Ezra claims that the ones who spoke were the ones who had received the gifts from Eliezer, whereas the father kept silent on the subject. It is possible that Lavan was a more prominent and distinguished person than his father, and this accounts for his speaking up first. This would be supported by the Torah writing ויען לבן ובתואל, instead of ויען בתואל ולבן.

ויאמרו: נקרא לנערה, “They said: ‘let us call the girl herself and ask her.” This was a challenge to Eliezer who had represented her as already having agreed to come with him. Hence they asked her openly: “do you really want to go with this man?” Alternately, the question posed to Rivkah meant: “do you prefer to travel with this man, or would you prefer that one of us comes with you to the land of Canaan?” Her answer when she said; “I will go,” meant that she considered the man as trustworthy and that it would be unfair to delay him on account of the expensive jewelry she had already accepted from him.”

ויקח העבד את רבקה וילך, “The servant took Rivkah and he went.” The Torah here describes the servant’s desire to quickly complete his mission, after all the women had first accompanied Rivkah to the outskirts of the town, now Eliezer personally took over the task of watching over her to protect her against any possible mishap. Alternatively, seeing that the entire entourage of Rivkah and her family and friends had delayed the orderly departure as they had difficulty in parting from her, Eliezer now told the locals to turn back and let him get on with his task; i.e. ויקח, he now took matters in hand, etc. Ibn Ezra opines that the meaning of the apparently repeated mention of Eliezer taking Rivkah is that he personally walked along side her until they eventually met Yitzchok, and that he did not mind the inconvenience of walking (instead of riding on a camel).

ויצחק בא מבוא לחי רואי, “Yitzchok was just returning from having visited the well named E-lohay ro-I by the angel who had predicted Ishmael’s birth to Hagar.” According to Ibn Ezra מבוא is the name of a place which was also known as באר לחי רואי. Nachmanides explains that Yitzchok only now returned from the place known as באר לחי רואי. If the Torah had not added the word מבוא but had written בא מבאר לחי רואי, we would have thought that this was where Yitzchok resided permanently. By adding the word מבוא it becomes clear that Yitzchok at this point was on the way home to the city where he resided permanently. His stay at באר לחי רואי had been strictly temporary. It is possible that he would go there for the purpose of offering up prayers seeing that it had been at that location that he had seen the angel (when he lay bound) but that he had a permanent residence far more to the south of Moriah He had reached another town situated on the route to his home town, and there he went out towards evening to have a chat with a friend who lived there. While on route, he encountered Eliezer and Rivkah. And they walked all together to his home town.

לשוח בשדה, “to pray in the field.” The expression שיח means “prayer.” Although the sages have said that it is bad manners for someone to pray in the outdoors, this case was special seeing the location was Mount Moriah, as our sages are on record that Yitzchok referred to G’d as שדה, “field.” [the field being the source of all nutrition for man and beast on earth. Ed.] Alternately, what the sages disapproved of was prayer in the בקעה an open area frequented by travelers who would be a distraction to the person concentrating on his prayer. A שדה, an open field not frequented by people would not be a source of distraction, and offering one’s prayers there would be approved by the sages.

ותרא את יצחק ותפול מעל הגמל, “when she saw Yitzchok she fell from the camel.” Rashi, in common with Onkelos, understands this not as a “fall,” but that Rivkah slid down to the ground from her saddle in order to greet her husband to be not from a position above him, but by observing good manners.

The expression השמיטה used by Rashi means that she did not actually descend to the ground prostrating herself, but that she dutifully inclined her head in greeting. One of the parallel uses of the word quoted by Rashi is ויט שמים, “He inclined the heavens,” also translated by Onkelos with the same expression אתרכינת that he uses for the word ותפול in our verse here. Nachmanides disagrees with this approach by Rashi to the word הרכין used by Onkelos to describe what Rivkah did. He thinks, that just as elsewhere, that word merely means that she adjusted her posture so as to be able to face Yitzchok in a manner she deemed appropriate. In his view the word השמיטה would mean falling or sliding all the way to the ground. Rivkah avoided facing Yitzchok directly and turned somewhat sideways.

ותהי לו לאשה ויאהביה, “she became his wife and he loved her.” Onkelos supplies the reason why the Torah felt the need to write this line saying that when Yitzchok observed that Rivkah was a righteous woman like his mother Sarah he fell in love with her. Nachmanides writes that the reason that the Torah mentions Yitzchok’s loving Rivkah in one and the same breath as his finally comforting himself over the loss of his mother, was because Rivkah represented a replacement of all the virtues Sarah had possessed.