Genesis 24:49-67

2008.Mar.21 02:30

Wedding in Canaan…Sort of

Read Genesis 24:49-67 | Full Chapter

Now please tell me if you are willing to do the right thing for my master. Will you treat him fairly, or do I have to look for another young woman? Laban and Bethuel answered, "The LORD has done this. We have no choice in the matter. Take Rebekah with you; she can marry your master's son, just as the LORD has said."
(Genesis 24:49-51, CEV)

The servant has told his story, now it’s “deal or no deal” time. Looking at these arranged marriages is a bit odd (although I gave that a lot of thought at one point in my life and may regale you dear readers with some of it…later) insofar as neither Rebekah nor Isaac is at all involved at this point, but, hey, what are cultural shifts for? The response of Laban and Bethuel is that this is pretty clearly the will of Yahweh (or whatever they called him in those days), so who are they to so no? Knowing that Rebekah will be financially well off and married to a (someone distant at this point) relative is probably encouraging to them (and they get some money out of it, as well). I think their response is, well, sensible. They are responding to the apparent will of God, and checking that response with wisdom.

This precedes a second set of negotiations regarding when Rebekah and the servant will leave. Understandably, Rebekah’s dad and brother would like to have a few days to say good-bye. Also understandably, the servant wants to go home. Laban and Bethuel refer the question to Rebekah, who decides to head on. That’s a nice moment in an “old patriarchs deciding the destiny of others” story. And so, after a bit of preparation, off they go.

At that time Isaac was living in the southern part of Canaan near a place called "The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me." One evening he was walking out in the fields, when suddenly he saw a group of people approaching on camels. So he started toward them. Rebekah saw him coming; she got down from her camel, and asked, "Who is that man?" "He is my master Isaac," the servant answered. Then Rebekah covered her face with her veil. The servant told Isaac everything that had happened. Isaac took Rebekah into the tent where his mother had lived before she died, and Rebekah became his wife. He loved her and was comforted over the loss of his mother.
(Genesis 24:62-67, CEV)

Actually, I don’t know that I have anything to say on that point. It’s a nice feeling that Isaac and Rebekah seem to have sort of emotional connection from the first moment they see each other, but that’s just my spin on the reading. The point is that they do marry. Another point is the Yahweh did indeed make the servant’s journey successful, indeed working things far better than the servant probably anticipated.