Genesis 24:16 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Genesis 24:16
And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.
good (as an adjective) in the widest sense · adjective, feminine singular construct
upon
מַרְאֶה֙mar.'Eh
H4758
a view (the act of seeing) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
virgin
בְּתוּלָ֕הbe.tu.Lah
H1330
a virgin (from her privacy) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
man
וְאִ֖ישׁve.'Ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
known
יְדָעָ֑הּye.da.'Ah
H3045
to know (properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
down
וַתֵּ֣רֶדva.Te.red
H3381
to descend (literally · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
well
הָעַ֔יְנָהha.'Ay.nah
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute + directional suffix
filled
וַתְּמַלֵּ֥אva.te.ma.Le'
H4390
to fill or (intransitively) be full of · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
pitcher
כַדָּ֖הּkha.Dah
H3537
properly · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
up
וַתָּֽעַלva.Ta.'al
H5927
to ascend · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 26:7 And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men…
Genesis 4:1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.
Genesis 39:6 And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person,…
Numbers 31:17-18 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
Song of Solomon 5:2 I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: fo…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 24:10-28
Abraham's servant now begins to make a figure in this story; and, though he is not named, yet much is here recorded to his honour, and for an example to all servants, who shall be honoured if, by faithfully serving God and their masters, they adorn the doctrine of Christ (compare Pro 27:18 with Tit 2:10); for there is no respect of persons with God, Col 3:24, Col 3:25. A good servant that makes conscience of the duty of his place, and does it in the fear of God, though he make not a figure in the world nor have praise of men, yet shall be owned and accepted of God and have praise of him. Observe here,
I. How faithful Abraham's servant approved himself to his master. Having received his charg…
before he had done speaking . . . behold, Rebekah came out--As he anticipated, a young woman unveiled, as in pastoral regions, appeared with her pitcher on her shoulder. Her comely appearance, her affable manners, her obliging courtesy in going down the steps to fetch water not only to him but to pour it into the trough for his camels, afforded him the most agreeable surprise. She was the very person his imagination had pictured, and he proceeded to reward her civility.
Adam Clarke on Genesis 24:15
Behold, Rebekah came out - How admirably had the providence of God adapted every circumstance to the necessity of the case, and so as in the most punctual manner to answer the prayer which his servant had offered up!
John Gill on Genesis 24:16
And the damsel was very fair to look upon,.... Of a good countenance and beautiful aspect: a virgin:
neither had any man known her; not only was reckoned a virgin, but was really one, pure and incorrupt:
and she went down to the well and filled her pitcher, and came up; by which it appears the well lay low, there was a descent unto it, and an ascent from it. Rebekah was very diligent and speedy in doing her work, she did not stay to look at strangers, or hold an idle conversation with other damsels that came thither on the same account; but, having filled her pitcher, was making the best of her way home.
The Church Fathers
Therefore, Isaac is a true blessing, full of grace, and a source of joy. To this source, Rebecca came to fill her water jug. For the Scripture says that as she went down to the spring, she filled her jug and went up again (Gen. XXIV, 16). So she went down to the fountain of wisdom, whether the Church or the soul, to fill her entire vessel and to draw from the pure disciplines of wisdom that the Jews refused to draw from the flowing fountain. Who is this fountain, listen to the one saying: They have abandoned me, the fountain of living water (Jeremiah II, 13). To this fountain ran the thirsting soul of the prophets, as David also says: My soul thirsts for the living God (Psalm XLI, 3); so that it could quench its thirst with the richness of divine knowledge and wash away the blood of foolishness with the flow of spiritual waters.
Nor was this written about her in vain. Yet it moves me, what is meant by what is said: "She was a virgin, a virgin, no man had known her," as though a virgin were anything other than one whom no man has touched. And what does the addition in the case of a virgin seem to mean, that it should be said that "no man had known her"? For is there some virgin whom a man has touched? I have already often said that in these things histories are not narrated, but mysteries are woven together. I think, therefore, that something of this sort is indicated here. Just as Christ is called the husband of the soul, to whom the soul is wedded when it comes to faith, so too there is that husband contrary to him, to whom the soul is wedded when it turns aside to faithlessness — that very one who is also called "the hostile man," when he "sows tares over the wheat." It is not enough, therefore, for the soul to be chaste in body; it is necessary that this most wicked husband also "has not known her." For it can happen that someone has virginity in the body and yet, knowing that most wicked husband the devil and receiving from him the darts of concupiscence in the heart, has lost the chastity of the soul. Because, therefore, Rebekah was a holy virgin in body and spirit, on that account it doubles her praise and says: "She was a virgin, no man had known her."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Abraham — Father of a multitude, son of Terah, named (Gen. 11:27) before his older brothers Nahor and Haran, because he was the heir of the promises. Till the age of seventy, Abram sojourned among his kindred…
Eliezer — God his help. (1.) “Of Damascus,” the “steward” (R.V., “possessor”) of Abraham’s house (Gen. 15:2, 3). It was probably he who headed the embassy sent by Abraham to the old home of his family in…
Gate — (1.) Of cities, as of Jerusalem (Jer. 37:13; Neh. 1:3; 2:3; 3:3), of Sodom (Gen. 19:1), of Gaza (Judg. 16:3). (2.) Of royal palaces (Neh. 2:8). (3.) Of the temple of Solomon (1 Kings 6:34, 35; 2…
Hivites — One of the original tribes scattered over Palestine, from Hermon to Gibeon in the south. The name is interpreted as “midlanders” or “villagers” (Gen. 10:17; 1 Chr. 1:15). They were probably a branch…
Isaac — Laughter. (1) Israel, or the kingdom of the ten tribes (Amos 7:9, 16). (2.) The only son of Abraham by Sarah. He was the longest lived of the three patriarchs (Gen. 21:1-3). He was circumcised when…
Laban — White. (1.) The son of Bethuel, who was the son of Nahor, Abraham’s brother. He lived at Haran in Mesopotamia. His sister Rebekah was Isaac’s wife (Gen. 24). Jacob, one of the sons of this marriage,…
Pitcher — A vessel for containing liquids. In the East pitchers were usually carried on the head or shoulders (Gen. 24:15-20; Judg. 7:16, 19; Mark 14:13).
Prayer — Is converse with God; the intercourse of the soul with God, not in contemplation or meditation, but in direct address to him. Prayer may be oral or mental, occasional or constant, ejaculatory or…
Rebekah — A noose, the daughter of Bethuel, and the wife of Isaac (Gen. 22:23; 24:67). The circumstances under which Abraham’s “steward” found her at the “city of Nahor,” in Padan-aram, are narrated in Gen.…
Well — (Heb. beer), to be distinguished from a fountain (Heb. ‘ain). A “beer” was a deep shaft, bored far under the rocky surface by the art of man, which contained water which percolated through the strata…
John Calvin on Genesis 24:15-20
Before he had done speaking. The sequel sufficiently demonstrates that his wish had not been foolishly conceived. For the quickness of the answer manifests the extraordinary indulgence of God, who does not suffer the man to be long harassed with anxiety. Rebekah had, indeed, left her house before he began to pray; but it must be maintained that the Lord, at whose disposal are both the moments of time and the ways of man, had so ordered it on both sides as to give clear manifestation of his Providence. For sometimes he keeps us the longer in suspense, till, wearied with praying, we may seem to have lost our labor; but in this affair, in order that his blessing might not seem doubtful, he sudd…
The servant then went, with ten camels and things of every description belonging to his master, into Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor, i.e., Haran, where Nahor dwelt (Gen 11:31, and Gen 12:4). On his arrival there, he made the camels kneel down, or rest, without the city by the well, "at the time of evening, the time at which the women come out to draw water," and at which, now as then, women and girls are in the habit of fetching the water required for the house (vid., Robinson's Palestine ii. 368ff.). He then prayed to Jehovah, the God of Abraham, "Let there come to meet me to-day," sc., the person desired, the object of my mission. He then fixed upon a sign connected with the custom of th…
The servant received a precise, immediate answer to his prayer for guidance.
Rashi on Genesis 24:16
בתולה A VIRGIN — from the place of her hymen.
ואיש לא ידעה AND A MAN DID NOT KNOW HER — not in its way (meaning, anally). Because the daughters of the nations would guard the place of their hymens, but abandon themselves from another place. It testifies about this one that she was clean from all [of this] (Genesis Rabbah 60:5).
Servants · Good — Exemplified: Eliezer — Good — Exemplified: Eliezer
Wells · At Haran — At Haran
Woman · Of distinction: Fair and graceful — Of distinction: Fair and graceful
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
