A Wife for Isaac

Abraham, now old, refuses to let his son Isaac marry a Canaanite woman. He makes his oldest servant swear to go and find a wife for Isaac in his homeland, among his own relatives. The servant sets out with ten camels for the city of Nahor in Mesopotamia. In the evening, by the well, he prays: let the young woman who gives him a drink and offers to water his camels too be the one God has chosen. He has not finished speaking when Rebekah comes out with her jar on her shoulder and does exactly that. She is the granddaughter of Nahor, Abraham’s brother! The servant gives her a gold ring and bracelets and bows down before the LORD. At the house of Bethuel and Laban, he tells the whole story; they acknowledge, “The thing proceedeth from the LORD.” When asked, Rebekah simply answers, “I will go.” One evening, Isaac, who has gone out to meditate in the field, sees the camels coming. He takes Rebekah as his wife, and he loves her.