Tag: Genesis 24

God Killed Bethuel

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According to the rabbis, God may have killed Bethuel.

Read Genesis 24 carefully. Follow Bethuel, the father of Rebekah, and see when he shows up, and when he stops showing up.

Isn’t it odd for Rebekah’s father to be so uninvolved with the important parts of the story?

While this doesn’t seem like a good reason to end a man’s life, there is a clue – something peculiar in the text that isn’t discernible in English. It relies on an odd spelling.

Before we get to Bethuel, look carefully at verse 33. The food was set “before him,” but Eliezer does not eat yet. He insists that he wants to tell his story.

Food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told about my errand.”
Genesis 24:33 (NKJV)

When Eliezer finished the story, look at how the Torah shows us Laban and Bethuel:

Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “The matter has come from the Lord; so we cannot speak to you bad or good. Here is Rebekah before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has spoken.”
Genesis 24:50-51 (NASB)

The wickedness of Laban: he speaks before his father.

The wickedness of both: they speak of Evil (ra) and Good (tov), reversing the order of God’s tree, bringing up Evil first.

And it’s only after this that everyone eats and then goes to sleep. The next the morning, Bethuel is nowhere to be seen, ever again.

Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they got up in the morning, he said, “Send me away to my master.” But her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman stay with us a few days, say ten; afterward she may go.”
Genesis 24:45-55 (NASB)

Strange.

So here are the conclusions: Bethuel has died; this is why Laban and Rebekah’s mom ask her to stay longer. She declines, and perhaps there is a spiritual lesson here about one who has discovered the promise of God: “Leave your father’s home, and go to a land I will show you.”

But… why did he die? What did he do, other than be possibly identified as a wicked man?

Let’s go back to verse 33:

Food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told about my errand.”
Genesis 24:33 (NKJV)

The phrase we read “when food was set before him” contains an anomaly. The “set before him” should be spelled וַיּוּשַׂ֤ם.

Vav, yod, vav, shin, mem.

But it is… “misspelled.” It is spelled ויישם.

Vav, yod, YOD, vav, shin, mem.

There’s an extra yod!

The pronunciation is the same, but the extra yod is there, staring back at the reader. And the rabbis say that when you add this extra yod, assume something extra was added to the story. To the food.

From this, they conclude that Bethuel POISONED the meal for Eliezer.

Who would receive the camels’-load of wealth if Eliezer died? Who would know what happened to him?

So when they all eat in verse 54, the angel from verse 7 is there, and he swaps the plates: Eliezer’s for Bethuel’s!

And that’s the teaching about Bethuel, the wicked father of Rebekah.

So perhaps Rebekah is called away from her earthly father, in order to join the house of a Heavenly Father.

A Daughter for Abraham

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There’s a teaching in the Midrash that says Abraham had a daughter, based on Genesis 24:1.

It is based on this word “bakol.”

It means “with everything.”

A certain rabbi considered this word bakol and concluded this: for a man to have everything, he can’t only have a son. He must also have a daughter; her name was Bakol.

This is figurative, but the root of the teaching is lovely.

One of the attributes of God is “All.” This is “kol” in Hebrew. It is this principle that God is both the foundation and creator of “all things,” captured here in Isaiah:

This is what the Lord says, He who is your Redeemer, and the One who formed you from the womb:

“I, the Lord, am the Maker of all things,
Stretching out the heavens by Myself
And spreading out the earth alone,
Isaiah 44:24 (NASB)

But we also read that all the earth benefits from bakol. It is because of bakol.

Moreover the profit of the land is for all; even the king is served from the field.
Ecclesiastes 5:9 (NKJV)

The literal rendering of this verse in Ecclesiastes is “the profit of the land is bakol.”

If creation itself and all the land in it is blessed by kol, and then we go back to the beginning of creation and see that God made us male and female and in God’s image, bakol must hint at both a son and a daughter.

But these same rabbis say that this doesn’t need to be understood literally. It is a picture.

But also… the story brings in Rebekah, who will be like a daughter to Abraham in this chapter.

Treasure in His Eyes

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Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban; and Laban ran outside to the man at the spring. When he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and when he heard the words of his sister Rebekah, saying, “This is what the man said to me,” he went to the man; and behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring.
Genesis 24:29-30 (NASB)

Perhaps Laben, too, is introduced as someone who is primarily motivated by treasure!

Run!

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There’s a lot of running in Genesis 24.

This Hebrew word רוּץ (rootz) means to run. The first two times this word appears in Genesis is when Abraham runs to serve the 3 men who visited him. He runs twice – once to meet them, and once to get a choice calf to cook for them.

In Genesis 24, we have the following:

v17: Eliezer runs to meet Rebekeh
v20: She runs to refill the water jugs
v28: She runs to tell her family
v29: Laben runs to meet Eliezer

Perhaps there’s a lesson here.

We spend a lot of time running FROM things that scare us or worry us. We are trying to outrun the things we fear.

But the people of God are given this example: Run to serve. Run to meet. Run to tell everyone the good news.

Run!

A Participant in the Story

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From “The Torah: A Women’s Commentary,” it’s noted that Rebekah takes on a very active role in the story. She is the one doing most of the things, starting in Genesis 24:18.

“Drink, my Lord”
She lowers her jar
She lets him drink
She offers to water the camels
Then she empties the jar
She runs back to the well
She draws for the camels

In verse 21, it says the servant stood silently and wondered.

After he adorns her with gold and asks her identity, she invites him to her family home
She makes the decision to go with the servant

All this to say that Rebekah is not a character that passively has things happen to her. She is a character that is actively involved as well.

She is a true participant in the story.

Spring Up, O Well!

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“I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me!
Makes the lame to walk and the blind to see!
Opens prison doors, sets the captives free!
I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me!”

You know this song, right?

Spring up, O well, (splish, splash) within my soul!
Spring up, O well, (splish, splash) and make me whole!
Spring up, O well, (splish, splash) and give to me
That life abundantly.

This phrase, “Spring up, O well…” do you know what it’s from?

It’s from Numbers 21:17:

Then Israel sang this song:
“Spring up, O well! Sing to it!”
Numbers 21:17 (NASB)

The children of Israel have just been attacked by the Canaanites, and after that, they got attacked by a bunch of venomous snakes, and God miraculously saved them by way of a bronze snake held high on a pole.

Then God leads them to water, and the children of Israel sing.

“Spring up, O well.”

What does it mean for the well to “spring up?” That would be water rising up from the well so you don’t have to struggle to get it, right? We’re supposed to see this as a miraculous event, that is so exciting it causes the people to sing.

In Genesis 24, when Rebekah first goes to fetch water for Eliezer and his camels, the text does something very odd in the way it describes how she gets the water.

Normally, you have to draw water from a well. And that’s what we see the SECOND time she goes to get water.

So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran back to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels.
Genesis 24:20 (NASB)

But the FIRST time she goes to get water, the text omits any mention of her DRAWING it.

The young woman was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had had relations with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up.
Genesis 24:16 (NASB)

From this, the rabbis say that the miraculous event that moved Eliezer to run towards her in the next verse was that the water in the well ROSE TO MEET Rebekah.

You might think this is silly, because you’ve forgotten that the account is meant to be full of strange and supernatural things. Consider: Moses will later set a staff in water to have it rise to form walls to allow Israel to pass through the sea.

So here is a teaching and a blessing:

“May the water you need rise to meet you when you need it.”

The Servant and the Man

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Genesis 24 does something very strange with Eliezer’s title throughout the text.

For the first 17 verses, Eliezer is only called הָעֶבֶד (ha-eved), or “the servant.”

But then from verses 22 to 32, Eliezer is called הָאִישׁ (ha-ish), or “the man”… seven times in a row.

He isn’t called “the servant” again until verse 53, after Laben and Bethuel agree to let Rebekah go… when Eliezer’s mission is accomplished.

The title change isn’t explained, but it’s quite noticable, even in the English.

There is certainly something special going on. Some wonder if “the angel” that Abraham referenced back in verse 7 is a clue – that Eliezer and the angle are… kind of one and the same, living out God’s divine purpose.

Daniel 9:21 calls the angel Gabriel “ha-ish” as well.

… while I was still speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering.
Daniel 9:21 (NASB)

Perhaps there is something deeper here that we are supposed to learn. This particular story has layers and layers of divine teaching.

I suspect this is a pivotal theological story.

Faithfulness or Foolishness

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There’s a fascinating and robust conversation in the Jewish commentaries about Eliezar, and whether or not his “test” (I’ll ask for water; she’ll offer to water my camels) is appropriate.

Look carefully Abraham’s oath requirement:

…but you will go to my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac.
Genesis 24:4 (NASB)

It’s clear from the text that Abraham’s intention is to find a wife from among his kinsman. From his “relatives.”

But when the servant goes to the well, he’s outside of town, where all manner of young single women can show up. He lays out his petition there.

…now may it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar so that I may drink,’ and who answers, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels also’—may she be the one whom You have appointed for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”
Genesis 24:14 (NASB)

The question the rabbis ask is this: Is this a demonstration of faithful trust that God will fulfill the oath to Abraham through his own desire to be obedient, or is this a foolish vow?

What if the woman wasn’t kin?

Depending on your view, the answer leads you to either believe that “testing” God like this is appropriate and faithful, or that it is definitely NOT appropriate, because foolish vows have dire consequences later in the text.

It’s a fascinating discussion.

The Women of the Wells

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Genesis 24 introduces us to the theme of the “woman at the well” in the Torah.

Rebekah is the first.
Rachel is next in Genesis 29.
Ziporrah is the third in Exodus 2.

Each encounter ends in marriage.

When John 4 describes the Samaritan woman at the well, there’s a tension we’re supposed to notice: she has been married FIVE times already, and it never worked out. This is brought out as glaring contrast to the joyful well-side encounters of the past. The circumstances with her past husbands are heartbreaking.

But then John describes a closeness that was inappropriate for the encounter unless Jesus and this woman were married. The disciples are shocked.

Perhaps that’s the entire point of this “woman at the well” story: What Jesus offered her is a closeness that we only find in marriage. He offers Living Water: a promise of forever.

Seeking Treasure

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When you think of the story of Abraham’s servant seeking a bride for Isaac, we tend to focus on Rebekah’s overwhelming service, which involved repeatedly drawing from a well in order to water 10 camels.

That’s special, but I don’t think “service” is the point.

Rebekah later becomes the mother of Jacob & Esau, and if you know the story (we’ll cover in greater detail later), you’ll know that Rebekah is a bit… tricky. I think we can even say she’s a little manipulative and self-serving in the story. That’s built into her character.

It seems odd that we should see her as being this almost angelic servant here in her introduction. I’ve heard multiple sermons outlining how much work she did out of the “goodness of her heart” to water the camels, but I’ve never heard a good explanation for why she did it. What was it about her, other than “just being a good person with a servant’s heart?”

Translation is part of the problem. In Genesis 24:10, most translations indicate the servant took SOME of Abraham’s goods with him. But the literal read, captured here by the NKJV, is “ALL OF HIS MASTER’S GOODS.”

He brought 10 camels and LOADED them.

Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, for all his master’s goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor.
Genesis 24:10 (NKJV)

When Rebekah shows up, she doesn’t just see some man with 10 thirsty camels. She sees… TREASURE! She’s a GOLD DIGGER!

But… aren’t we all? If somebody rolled up with a caravan of 10 Lamborghinis and asked for help filling up car #1, wouldn’t you be quick to offer to fill up the other 9 cars, too? Because… what if they like that you helped? What if they give you a big tip?

If the image is of God extending an invitation to us to join God’s household, doesn’t God “tempt” us with treasures as well?

If God’s treasures are heavenly promises – love, joy, peace, rest… are you not tempted? Wouldn’t you edge closer to water the camels, too?