Genesis 24:43 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Genesis 24:43
Behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass, that when the virgin cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink;
to station · verb, niphal active participle, masculine singular absolute
well
עֵ֣ין'ein
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · noun, common feminine singular construct
water
הַמָּ֑יִםha.Ma.yim
H4325
water · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
virgin
הָֽעַלְמָה֙ha.'al.Mah
H5959
a lass (as veiled or private) · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
forth
הַיֹּצֵ֣אתhai.yo.Tzet
H3318
to go (causatively · definite article + verb, qal active participle, feminine singular absolute
draw
לִשְׁאֹ֔בlish.'O
H7579
to bale up water · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
say
וְאָמַרְתִּ֣יve.'a.mar.Ti
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
me
הַשְׁקִֽינִיhash.ki.ni-
H8248
to quaff · verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person feminine singular + pronominal suffix
little
מְעַטme.'at-
H4592
a little or few (often adverbial or compar.) · noun, common masculine singular construct
water
מַ֖יִםMa.yim
H4325
water · noun, common masculine plural absolute
pitcher
מִכַּדֵּֽךְmi.ka.Dekh
H3537
properly · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
drink
שָׁקָהshâqâh
H8248
to quaff
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 24:13-14 Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 24:29-53
We have here the making up of the marriage between Isaac and Rebekah. It is related very largely and particularly, even to the minute circumstances, which, we should think, might have been spared, while other things of great moment and mystery (as the story of Melchizedek) are related in few words. Thus God conceals that which is curious from the wise and prudent, reveals to babes that which is common and level to their capacity (Mat 11:25), and rules and saves the world by the foolishness of preaching, Co1 1:21. Thus also we are directed to take notice of God's providence in the little common occurrences of human life, and in them also to exercise our own prudence and other graces; for the…
the man came into the house, &c.--What a beautiful picture of piety, fidelity, and disinterestedness in a servant! He declined all attention to his own comforts till he had told his name and his errand.
Adam Clarke on Genesis 24:43
When the virgin - העלמה haalmah, from עלם alam, to hide, cover, or conceal; a pure virgin, a woman not uncovered, and in this respect still concealed from man. The same as בתולה bethulah, Gen 24:16, which, from the explanation there given, incontestably means a virgin in the proper sense of the word - a young woman, not that is covered or kept at home, the common gloss, but who was not uncovered in the delicate sense in which the Scripture uses this word. See this interpretation vindicated on Isa 7:14 (note).
John Gill on Genesis 24:43
Behold, I stand by the well of water, and it shall come to pass,.... See Gill on Genesis 24:14.
John Calvin on Genesis 24:33-49
I will not eat until I have told my errand [9] Moses begins to show by what means the parents of Rebekah were induced to give her in marriage to their nephew. That the servant, when food was set before him, should refuse to eat till he had completed his work is a proof of his diligence and fidelity; and it may with propriety be regarded as one of the benefits which God had vouchsafed to Abraham, that he should have a servant so faithful, and so intent upon his duty. Since, however, this was the reward of the holy discipline which Abraham maintained, we cannot wonder that very few such servants are to be found, seeing that everywhere they are so ill-governed.
Moreover, although the servant s…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 43.) Behold, I stand by the fountain of water, and the daughters of the city will come out to draw water. And there will be a maiden, to whom I will say, 'Give me a little water to drink from your jar,' etc. In Hebrew it is written: Behold, I stand by the fountain of water, and there will be a young girl who will come out to draw water. And I will say to her, 'Give me a little water to drink from your jar,' and so on. For the young girl, which in Greek is called νεανὶς, we also read Alma, which is found in Isaiah as well. For in that place where it is written in our books: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son (Isa. VII, 14), Aquila translated it as: Behold, a young maiden shall conceive, and bear. In Hebrew it is read: Behold, a young woman shall conceive, and bear. It should be noted that the word alma is never used except for a virgin, and it has an etymology, ἀπόκρυφος, which means hidden. For it is written in Job: Where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? And it will be hidden from the eyes of all living (Job 28:21). When we say 'it will be hidden,' in Hebrew it is expressed differently due to the declension of the word, it is said 'Naalma.' To what is this similar? Even though it is declined in the masculine gender, it is written in the books of Kings, spoken by Elisha to Gehazi: 'And the Lord has hidden it from me' (2 Kings 4:27). Therefore, Alma, which means hidden, that is, virgin, seems to me to be of greater praise than a virgin who is guarded with excessive diligence. For a virgin according to the Apostle can be a virgin in body, but not in spirit. However, a hidden virgin has the addition of virginity, so that she is both a virgin and hidden. And she who is hidden, according to the idiom of the Hebrew language, is consequently also a virgin; but she who is a virgin does not immediately follow that she is hidden. This same word is also read in Exodus about Mary, the sister of Moses, as a virgin (Exodus II, 8). Therefore, the Jews show somewhere in the Scriptures where Alma is mentioned, which signifies only a young girl and not a virgin; and we concede to them that what is said among us in Isaiah: Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, does not signify a hidden virgin, but rather a young girl already married.
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…
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,…
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.…
Covetousness · In giving Rebekah to be — In giving Rebekah to be
Rebekah (Rebecca) · Becomes — Becomes
Servants · Duties of, to masters: To be prudent in the management of their affairs — Duties of, to masters: To be prudent in the management of their affairs
Symbols And Similitudes · Offering water to drink — Offering water to drink
Water · Was used by Jews: As their principal beverage
As soon as Laban her brother had seen the splendid presents and heard her account, he hurried out to the stranger at the well, to bring him to the house with his attendants and animals, and to show to him the customary hospitality of the East. The fact that Laban addressed him as the blessed of Jehovah (Gen 24:31), may be explained from the words of the servant, who had called his master's God Jehovah. The servant discharged his commission before he partook of the food set before him (the Kethibh ויישׂם in Gen 24:33 is the imperf. Kal of ישׂם = שׂוּם); and commencing with his master's possessions and family affairs, he described with the greatest minuteness his search for a wife, and the suc…
The servant was not diverted from his mission; he insisted on telling his story before he would eat. He recounted his mission and acknowledged God’s providence in directing him to Rebekah before attending to his personal needs. The servant wanted everyone to know that this was God’s work, not a chance or humanly arranged meeting.
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).
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).
