Genesis 24:22 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Genesis 24:22
And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold;
a camel · definite article + noun, common both genders plural absolute
done
כִּלּ֤וּki.Lu
H3615
to end · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person common plural
drinking
לִשְׁתּ֔וֹתlish.Tot
H8354
to imbibe (literally or figuratively) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
man
הָאִישׁ֙ha.'Ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
took
וַיִּקַּ֤חvai.yi.Kach
H3947
to take (in the widest variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
golden
זָהָ֔בza.Hav
H2091
gold · noun, common masculine singular absolute
earring
נֶ֣זֶםNe.zem
H5141
a nose-ring · noun, common masculine singular construct
shekel
בֶּ֖קַעBe.ka'
H1235
a section (half) of ashekel · noun, common masculine singular absolute
weight
מִשְׁקָל֑וֹmish.ka.Lo
H4948
weight (numerically estimated) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
two
וּשְׁנֵ֤יu.she.Nei
H8147
two · conjunction + cardinal number, both genders dual construct
bracelets
צְמִידִים֙tze.mi.Dim
H6781
a bracelet or arm-clasp · noun, common masculine plural absolute
hands
יָדֶ֔יהָya.Dei.ha
H3027
a hand (the open one (indicating power · noun, common both genders dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
ten
עֲשָׂרָ֥ה'a.sa.Rah
H6235
ten (as an accumulation to the extent of the digits) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
weight
מִשְׁקָלָֽםmish.ka.Lam
H4948
weight (numerically estimated) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
gold
זָהָ֖בza.Hav
H2091
gold · noun, common masculine singular absolute
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
Ezekiel 16:11-12 I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.
Exodus 32:2-3 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring…
Genesis 23:15-16 My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.
Genesis 24:30 And it came to pass, when he saw the earring and bracelets upon his sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, sayin…
Genesis 24:47 And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bare unto him: and I put…
Jeremiah 2:32 Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
Esther 5:1 Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king’s house, over against t…
Isaiah 3:19-23 The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,
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…
the man took a golden earring, &c.--The ring was not for the ear, but the nose; the armlets, such as young women in Syria and Arabia still appear daily at wells decked in. They are worn from the elbow to the wrist, commonly made of silver, copper, brass, or horn.
Adam Clarke on Genesis 24:22
The man took a golden ear-ring - נזם זהב nezem zahab. That this could not be an ear-ring is very probable from its being in the singular number. The margin calls it a jewel for the forehead; but it most likely means a jewel for the nose, or nose-ring, which is in universal use through all parts of Arabia and Persia, particularly among young women. They are generally worn in the left nostril. The word is very properly translated επιρῥινιον, an ornament for the nose, by Symmachus.
Half a shekel - For the weight of a shekel, See note Gen 20:16.
And two bracelets - ושני צמידים usheney tsemidim. As tsemidim comes from צמד tsamad, to join or couple together, it may very properly mean bracelets, o…
And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking,.... Having had enough to abate their thirst and satisfy them, by means of Rebekah's drawing water for them:
that the man took a golden earring; out of his pocket, or out of a box or parcel that was upon the camels; it is in the margin of our Bibles, "a jewel for the forehead"; or, as some render it, a "nose jewel" (y); and so in Genesis 24:47, "an earring upon her face", or "nose"; and this was a jewel that hung from the forehead upon a lace or ribbon between the eyes down upon the nose; and such the daughters of Sion wore in later times, Isaiah 3:21; see Ezekiel 16:12; and nose jewels are still in use with the Levant Arabs, as Dr. Shaw…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 22.) And the man took a gold earring, its weight was two drachmas. Bace (), which is written here instead of drachma, is half an ounce. Secel (), which is inaccurately called a shekel in Latin, has a weight of one ounce.
For he also shows that he is familiar with virtues, so that each person may walk in the innocence of their heart, not mingling with earthly vices, and may tread an irreproachable path with an untainted mind, and may not open any place within themselves to corruption. Such was Isaac, as he awaited the arrival of Rebecca, preparing himself for spiritual union. For she came now endowed with heavenly mysteries: she came bringing with her great adornments of ear and hand; because she excels in hearing and works, the beauty of the Church, to which we rightly apply the verse: 'Be thou multiplied as the sand of the sea, and thy seed shall possess the gates of their enemies.' Therefore, O Church, adorned with this holy offspring, which thou hast gained from the enemy nations. But this can also be attributed to the soul, which governs the passions of the body and directs them to the duties of virtue, making conflicting movements obedient to itself. Therefore, just as the soul of the Patriarch saw the mystery of Christ and saw Rebecca coming with vessels of gold and silver, like the Church with the people of the nations, marveling at the beauty of the Word and His sacraments, it says: Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth (Song of Solomon 1:1). And Rebecca, seeing the true Isaac, that true joy, that true happiness, desires to kiss him.
The servant brought gold earrings and gold bracelets and gave them to Rebekah. Those gold earrings signify the divine words; the gold bracelets signify good works, because works are designated by the hands. Let us observe, brothers, how Christ also gave these gifts to the church. For this reason the servant brought gold earrings for adorning Rebekah's face, while Christ put into the church's ears divine words that are of greater value than all pearls. The servant put bracelets on Rebekah's wrists, while Christ put good works into the church's hands. Consider, dearly beloved, and rejoice, giving thanks to God because what was prefigured in them has been fulfilled in us by Christ's gift. Moreover, just as Rebekah could not have had the earrings or bracelets if Isaac had not sent them through his servant, so also the church could not have had divine words in her ears or good works in her hands if Christ by his grace and through his apostles had not conferred them. Furthermore, the fact that the girl, when asked by her parents whether she wished to go with the servant, replied, "I am going"—this we see clearly fulfilled in the church. There Rebekah's will is asked; here the church's will is sought. To Rebekah it is said, "Are you willing to go with this man?" And she replied, "I am going." To the church it is said, "Do you believe in Christ?" And it replies, "I do believe." Rebekah would not be led to Isaac if she did not say, "I am going"; neither would the church be joined to Christ if it did not say, "I believe."
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…
Bracelet — (1.) Anklets (Num. 31:50; 2 Sam. 1:10), and with reference to men. (2.) The rendering of a Hebrew word meaning fasteners, found in Gen. 24:22, 30, 47. (3.) In Isa. 3:19, the rendering of a Hebrew…
Commerce — From the time that men began to live in cities, trade, in some shape, must have been carried on to supply the town-dwellers with necessaries from foreign as well as native sources, for we find that…
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…
Forehead — The practice common among Oriental nations of colouring the forehead or impressing on it some distinctive mark as a sign of devotion to some deity is alluded to in Rev. 13:16, 17; 14:9; 17:5; 20:4.…
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…
Gold — (1.) Heb. zahab, so called from its yellow colour (Ex. 25:11; 1 Chr. 28:18; 2 Chr. 3:5). (2.) Heb. segor, from its compactness, or as being enclosed or treasured up; thus precious or “fine gold” (1…
Handicraft — (Acts 18:3; 19:25; Revelation 18:22) A trade was taught to ail the Jewish boys as a necessary part of their education. Even the greatest rabbis maintained themselves by trades (Delitzsch). Says Rabbi…
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…
The man took a golden ear-ring. His adorning the damsel with precious ornaments is a token of his confidence. For since it is evident by many proofs that he was an honest and careful servant, he would not throw away without discretion the treasures of his master. He knows, therefore, that these gifts will not be ill-bestowed; or, at least, relying on the goodness of God, he gives them, in faith, as an earnest of future marriage. But it may be asked, Whether God approves ornaments of this kind, which pertain not so much to neatness as to pomp? I answer, that the things related in Scripture are not always proper to be imitated. Whatever the Lord commands in general terms is to be accounted as…
After the watering of the camels was over, the man took a golden nose-ring of the weight of a beka, i.e., half a shekel (Exo 38:26), and two golden armlets of 10 shekels weight, and (as we find from Gen 24:30 and Gen 24:47) placed these ornaments upon her, not as a bridal gift, but in return for her kindness. He then asked her about her family, and whether there was room in her father's house for him and his attendants to pass the night there; and it was not trill after Rebekah had told him that she was the daughter of Bethuel, the nephew of Abraham, and had given a most cheerful assent to his second question, that he felt sure that this was the wife appointed by Jehovah for Isaac. He then f…
The servant showed his gratitude by giving the girl expensive jewelry.
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).
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
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,…
Nose-Jewel — (Genesis 24:22; Exodus 35:22) “earing;” (Isaiah 3:21; Ezekiel 16:12) “jewel on the forehead,” a ring of metal, sometimes of gold or silver, passed usually through the right nostril, and worn by way…
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.…
Presents · Things given as: Ornaments — Things given as: Ornaments
Rebekah (Rebecca) · Becomes — Becomes
Rings · Antiquity of — Antiquity of
Servants · Good — Exemplified: Eliezer — Good — Exemplified: Eliezer
Shekel · .Gold — .Gold
Weights · Mentioned in scripture: Bekah or half shekel — Mentioned in scripture: Bekah or half shekel
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).
