Free Bible Commentary
“Genesis 24:62-67”
Categories: Genesis“Now Isaac had come from going to Beer-lahai-roi; for he was living in the Negev. Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming. Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from the camel. She said to the servant, ‘Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?’ And the servant said, ‘He is my master.’ Then she took her veil and covered herself. The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her; thus Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.”
---End of Scripture verses---
“Now Isaac had come from going to Beer-lahai-roi…” (verse 62) “According to 16:14, this is the name of a well situated in the Negeb. It was probably part of an oasis to which sheep-breeders seasonally repaired for water and pasturing. Isaac later settled there (25:11).” (Nahum Sarna) This was the place, “in the wilderness…on the way to Shur” (16:7) where the angel of the Lord visited the pregnant Hagar after she had run away from her barren “mistress,” Sarah because of the tension that had arisen between the two women. The name means, “Well of the Living One that Sees Me.” “The oasis round it became Isaac’s favourite residence (Genesis 25:11), and was in the neighbourhood of Beer-sheba, where Abraham was dwelling when Sarah died at Hebron (Genesis 23:2).” (Ellicott’s Commentary for English readers)
“Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening…” (verse 63) “To meditate – Many Jewish commentators translate to pray, and derive one of the three Jewish forms of prayer from this act of Isaac. But though the verb is rare, the substantive is used in Psalm 104:34 of religious meditation; and this sense well agrees with the whole character of the calm, peaceful Isaac, already marked out as the type of the Lamb dumb before His slayers (Genesis 22:7).” (Ellicott’s Commentary for English readers) The text does not reveal the nature of his ruminations. Maybe he went to reflect on memories of the beautiful mother that he dearly missed. Perhaps he was contemplating the success or failure of his servant’s mission to secure for him a wife. Or maybe He truly was convening with His Creator in solemn, solitary prayer. Perhaps all of these things and more.
I love the perceptual image that these verses paint in the mind of Isaac strolling through a field, deeply and silently in thought and prayer, as the sun was slowly setting in the sky. This is such serene and picturesque imagery and a blessed practice that is worthy of our appreciation and imitation. It was the frequent habit of Jesus to take time to separate himself from the throngs at evening and unite with His Father in isolated prayer. “In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.” (Mark 1:35). “It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.” (Luke 6:12) “But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.” (Luke 5:16) Please avail yourself of quality alone time with your loving Father. It refreshes the soul in a profound and singular way.
“And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming.” More captivating imagery. Isaac, the lonely bachelor moseying in the meadow at eventide being aroused from his contemplations by the distant sight of the caravan of camels that conveyed to him his beautiful bride-to-be. “Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted…” “The Hebrew text employs the identical phraseology for the actions of Isaac and Rebekah, thus conveying an impression of simultaneity. Their eyes met in instant recognition; each knew instinctively who the other was.” (Nahum Sarna) If that doesn’t send a bit of a chill up your spine and a touch of a thrill in your heart you need to be checked for a pulse!
“Then she took her veil and covered herself.” (verse 66) When Rebekah knew for certain that the man she had locked gazes with was her husband to be, she covered her face. “There is evidence…that the veiling of a bride was part of the marriage ceremony. In Akkadian the bride on her wedding day is called kallatu kutumtu ‘the veiled bride,’… The Middle Assyrian laws make the raising of a concubine to the status of a wife contingent upon her being veiled in the presence of the court. In light of all this, Rebekah’s veiling herself has both symbolic and socio-legal significance. It is an unspoken signal to Isaac that she is his bride.” (Nahum Sarna)
“Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her…” (verse 67) “By this act, Rebekah formally becomes the successor to Sarah the matriarch. The continuity is assured… The first reference to love in the Bible (22:2) concerned the tie between parent and child; this, the second, relates to the bond between husband and wife.” (Nahum Sarna) “Thus Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.” “Which was three years ago…and had made such impressions upon his spirit, that at times he was very sorrowful, and much distressed on that account; but now being blessed with so agreeable a yokefellow, his sorrow for his mother subsided, and he became cheerful and comfortable.” (Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible)
Please read Genesis 25:1-6 for tomorrow.
Have a blessed day!
- Louie Taylor
