The servant's journey and prayer.

Before CHRIST 1857.

b

ham.

C

Rebekah meeteth him.

CHRIST 1857.

b Chap. 12. 7.

15. 18. & 26. 4.

|| Or, and.

+ Heb.

that women which draw water go for th.

8 And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again.

9 And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that

matter.

10 And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.

11 And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.

12 And he said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and

thither, that is, into the country of Mesopotamia. Pyle.

10.-the servant took ten camels] What enables the shepherd to perform the long and toilsome journeys across Africa is the camel, emphatically called by the Arabs, "the ship of the desert." He seems to have been created for this very trade, endued with parts and qualities adapted to the office he is employed to discharge. The driest thistle, or the barest thorn, is all the food this useful quadruped requires; and even these, to save time, he eats while advancing on his journey, without stopping, or occasioning a moment of delay. As it is his lot to cross immense deserts, where no water is found, and countries not even moistened by the dew of heaven, he is endowed with the power of laying in at one watering-place a store, with which he supplies himself for many days to come. To contain this enormous quantity of fluid, nature has formed large cisterns within him, from which, once filled, he draws at pleasure the quantity he wants, and pours it into his stomach with the same effect as if he then drew it from a spring; and with this he travels patiently and vigorously, all day long, carrying a prodigious load through countries affected with poisonous winds, and parching and never-cooling sands. Bruce.

The common load of the Turkman camel is about 400 pounds on each side: but some will carry a much greater weight. The Arab camel seldom carries more than 250 pounds on each side. They go between two and three miles an hour. The dromedary is a high breed of the Arab camel: it ambles with more agility; and is capable of going as far in one day as the ordinary camels usually go in three or four. Dr. Russell.

11. — he made his camels to kneel down] When a camel is born, the breeders tie his fore feet under his belly, and a carpet over his back. Thus they teach him the habit of bending his knees to rest himself, or to be loaded or unloaded. Calmet.

13. Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water:

14 And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master.

15¶ And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.

c Ver. 43.

good of

16 And the damsel was † very fair + Heb. to look upon, a virgin, neither had countenance. any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.

17 And the servant ran to meet

- at the time of the evening, &c.] Dr. Shaw, having described the occupations of the Barbary women during the day, adds, To finish the day, "at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water," they have still to fit themselves out with a pitcher or a goat's skin and tying their sucking children behind them, go in this manner two or three miles to fetch water. Yet, in the midst of all these labours, the women will not lay aside any, of their ornaments: neither their nose-jewels, which are still used by the Levant Arabs; nor their bracelets, shackles, or ear-rings, which are all very cumbersome. Shaw.

15.

Dr.

Rebekah came out, &c.] Great was the simplicity of these early days, when persons of the best rank, and of the female sex too, did not disdain to be employed in such menial offices. Thus, in the following age, Jacob found his cousin Rachel watering her father's sheep; and several ages after that, the seven daughters of Jethro, who was a prince as well as a priest of Midian, kept their father's flocks, and used to draw water for the cattle. So well has Moses expressed that simplicity of manners, which we may observe in Homer, or Hesiod, or any of the most ancient writers. Stackhouse.

with her pitcher upon her shoulder.] "We came to a well at the foot of a hill, on which there is a village called Perè. The oxen raise the water by a bucket and rope; and the women carry the water in earthen jars up the hill, to water the plantations of tobacco." Bp. Pococke.

At the foot of the hill is what the monks call the well of Zabulon : the water is drawn by boys in leathern buckets, and carried in jars up the hill on women's heads. Bp. Pococke.

Laban entertaineth the servant,

Before CHRIST 1857.

|| Or, jewel for the forehead.

18 And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink.

19 And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.

20 And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.

21 And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not.

22 And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden || ear-ring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold ;

23 And said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee: is there room in thy father's house for us to lodge in?

24 And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor.

25 She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in.

26 And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the LORD.

27 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who hath not left 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 these things.

29 And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and La

for water." This account of the jars made use of by the Greek women of the island of Tenedos may, very naturally, be understood to be a modern but accurate comment on what is said concerning Rebekah's fetching water. Harmer.

22. the man took &c.] The weight of these ornaments appear to us rather extraordinary; the ear-ring, or jewel for the face, weighed half a shekel, and the bracelets for her hands ten shekels, which, as Sir J. Chardin justly observes, is about five ounces. Upon which he tells us, "the women wear rings and bracelets of as great weight as this through all Asia, and even much heavier. They are rather manacles than bracelets.

30 And it came to pass, when he saw the ear-ring 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 well.

31 And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the LORD; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels.

32 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 men's feet that were with him.

33 And there was set meat before him to eat but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on.

34 And he said, I am Abraham's servant.

35 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 maid-servants, and camels, and asses.

36 And Sarah my master's wife bare a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he hath.

37 And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell:

38 But thou shalt go unto my father's house, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son.

39 And I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman will not follow me.

40 And he said unto me, The

Before CHRIST 1857.

There are some as large as the finger. The women wear several of them, one above another, in such a manner as sometimes to have the arm covered with them from the wrist to the elbow. Poor people wear as many of glass or horn. They hardly ever take them off: they are their riches." Harmer.

a golden ear-ring] It is the custom in almost all the East, for the women to wear rings in their noses, in the left nostril, which is bored low down in the middle. These rings are of gold; and have commonly two pearls and one ruby between, placed in the ring. I never saw a girl or young woman, in Arabia or in Persia, who did not wear a ring after this manner in

and meeteth Isaac.

Before CHRIST

1857.

f Chap. 16. 14. & 25.11.

I Or, to pray.

about 1853.

the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.

62 And Isaac came from the way of the 'well Lahai-roi; for he dwelt in the south country.

63 And Isaac went out to || meditate in the field at the even-tide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming.

64 And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel.

65 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 she took a vail, and covered herself.

66 And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done.

67 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.

:

shekels weight of gold." Abraham's servant also "brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah." Dr. Shaw.

65. — she took a vail,] The Eastern brides are wont to be vailed in a particular manner, when presented to the bridegroom. Those that give us an account of their customs at such times, take notice of their being vailed all over. Dr. Russell gives us this circumstance in his account of a Maronite wedding, which, he says, may serve as a specimen of all the rest, there being nothing materially different in the ceremonies of the different sects. I suppose that the vail, which Rebekah put on, was such an one as was appropriate to such a solemnity; and that she was presented to Isaac by her nurse and other female attendants in form. Harmer.

In the summer months, when the Moorish women retire to their country seats, they walk abroad with less caution and reservedness; and upon the approach of a stranger, let only their vails fall over their faces, as Rebekah may be supposed to have done upon the sight of Isaac. Dr. Shaw.

Chap. XXV. ver. 6. – - sons of the concubines,] Namely, of Hagar and Keturah: who were wives, but of an inferiour sort, according to the manner of those times

Before CHRIST

2 And a she bare him Zimram, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, about 1853. and Ishbak, and Shuah.

a 1 Chron. 1.

3 And Jokshan begat Sheba, and 32. Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim.

4 And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.

5¶ And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac.

6 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, eastward, unto the east country.

7 And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years.

8 Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.

9 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 ;

1822.

b Chap. 23.

16.

and countries. Keturah is expressly called his concubine, 1 Chron. i. 32, as she is called his wife, ver. 1 of this chapter. She was his concubine, because of a servile condition; but his wife, being married with covenants to provide for her and her children: though they were not to inherit his estate. Bp. Patrick.

gave gifts, &c.] Lest these sons should interfere with Isaac, in his inheritance of Canaan, as they grew up, Abraham portioned them off, and sent them away towards the East; where, settling in Arabia and Syria, they became in time heads of different nations: of which we have footsteps both in sacred and in profane history. Stackhouse.

8. Abraham-died] This is said by anticipation, to finish the story of Abraham; for Esau and Jacob were born fifteen years before he died. Bp. Patrick.

was gathered to his people.] He passed into the state of the dead, following his deceased ancestors. Bp. Kidder. See chap. xlix. 33.

Abraham, from the time of his call, became the great restorer and reviver both of natural and revealed religion to a corrupt world. By his sons, Isaac and Ishmael, and six more, and by his nephew Lot, he spread religion and virtue far and wide, their descendants being numerous as the stars of heaven, and growing up into many and