Thematic Bible: Rebekah (rebecca)


Thematic Bible



Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram, and sister of Laban the Aramean.

Before he finished praying, Rebekah came with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor. The girl was a very attractive virgin. No man had ever had sexual intercourse with her. She went to the spring and filled her jar, and came back. The servant ran to meet her and said: Please give me a drink of water. read more.
Drink, my lord, she said. She quickly lowered her jar to her hand and gave him a drink. When she finished giving him a drink, she said: I will also keep drawing water for your camels until they have had enough to drink. She quickly emptied her jar into the water trough. Then she ran back to the well to draw more water. She drew enough for all his camels. The man quietly watched her to see whether or not Jehovah made his trip successful. When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a fifth of an ounce and two gold bracelets weighing four ounces. He said: Please tell me who your father is. Is there room in his house for my men and me to spend the night? My father is Bethuel son of Nahor and Milcah, she answered. There is plenty of straw and fodder at our house. There is also a place for you to stay. The man knelt down and worshiped Jehovah. He said: Praise Jehovah, the God of my master Abraham. He has faithfully kept his promise to my master. Jehovah has led me straight to my master's relatives. The young woman ran to her mother's house and told the entire story. Rebecca's brother was named Laban. He ran outside to go to the well where Abraham's servant was. Laban had seen the nose ring and the bracelets on his sister's arms and had heard her say what the man told her. He went to Abraham's servant, who was standing by his camels at the well, and said: Come home with me. You are a man Jehovah has blessed. Why are you standing out here? I have a room ready for you in my house. There is a place for your camels. The man went into the house. Laban unloaded the camels and gave them straw and fodder. Then he brought water for Abraham's servant and his men to wash their feet. Food was brought. The man said: I will not eat until I have said what I have to say. Laban responded: Go ahead and speak. I am the servant of Abraham, he began. Jehovah has greatly blessed my master and made him a rich man. He has given him flocks of sheep and goats, cattle, silver, gold, male and female slaves, camels, and donkeys. Sarah, my master's wife, did not have any children until she was very old. Then she had a son, and my master has given him everything. I solemnly promised my master I would do what he said. He told me: 'Do not choose a wife for my son from the women in this land of Canaan. Go back to the land where I was born and find a wife for my son from among my relatives.' I asked my master: 'What if the young woman refuses to come with me?' He said to me: 'Jehovah, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you to make your journey successful. You will take a wife for my son from my relatives and from my father's house. If my relatives do not give her to you, then you will be free from my oath.' I came to the spring today. I prayed to Jehovah: 'God of my master Abraham, if now you will make my journey successful, make it be that the maiden who comes out to draw, and to whom I say, Please let me drink a little water from your jar, And she will say to me, You drink, and I will draw for your camels also, let her be the woman whom Jehovah has appointed for my master's son.' Before I had finished speaking in my heart, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew, and I said to her, 'Please let me drink.' She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder, and said, 'Drink, and I will water your camels also'; so I drank, and she watered the camels also. Then I asked her: 'Whose daughter are you?' She said: 'The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him.' I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her wrists. I bowed low and worshiped Jehovah, and praised Jehovah, the God of my master Abraham. He guided me in the right way to take the daughter of my master's kinsman for his son. If you are going to deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. If not, let me know, that I may turn to the right hand or the left. Laban and Bethuel replied: The matter comes from Jehovah. We cannot speak to you bad or good. Here is Rebekah before you; take her and go. Let her be the wife of your master's son, as Jehovah has spoken. Abraham's servant heard their answer. Then he bowed down to Jehovah. The servant took out gold and silver jewelry and clothes and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave expensive presents to her brother and mother. He and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they got up in the morning, he said: Let me go back to my master. Her brother and mother replied: Let the girl stay with us ten days or so. After that she may go. He said: Do not make us stay. Jehovah has made my journey a success. Let me go back to my master. They answered: Let us call her and find out what she has to say. They called Rebecca and asked: Do you want to go with this man? Yes, she answered. They allowed Rebecca and her old family servant to go with Abraham's servant and his men. They gave Rebecca their blessing in these words: May you, sister, become the mother of millions! May your descendants conquer the cities of their enemies! Rebecca and her young women got ready. They mounted the camels to go with Abraham's servant, and they all started out. Isaac had come into the wilderness of The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me. He was staying in the southern part of Canaan. He went out in the early evening to take a walk in the fields. He saw camels coming. Rebecca saw Isaac and she got down from her camel She asked Abraham's servant: Who is that man walking toward us in the field? He is my master, the servant answered. So she took her veil (scarf) and covered her face. The servant told Isaac everything he had done. Isaac brought Rebecca into the tent that his mother Sarah had lived in. She became his wife. Isaac loved Rebecca. He was comforted for the loss of his mother.


Abraham's brother Nahor had married Milcah, and Abraham was later told that they had eight sons. Uz was their firstborn. Buz was next. Then there was Kemuel who became the father of Aram. Their other five sons were Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel. read more.
Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These are the eight children Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother.


When Rebekah heard about Esau's plans to kill Jacob, she called her younger son, Jacob. She said: Your brother Esau is comforting himself by planning to kill you. Go quickly, my son. Run away to my brother Laban in Haran. Stay with him until your brother's anger cools down. read more.
When your brother's anger is gone and he has forgotten what you did to him, I will let you know. Then you may come back. Why should I lose both of you in one day? Rebekah said to Isaac: I cannot stand Hittite women! I would rather die than see Jacob marry one of them.


When Esau was forty he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. These two women brought a lot of grief to his parents, Isaac and Rebekah.


Isaac prayed to Jehovah for his wife because she was childless. Jehovah answered his prayer. His wife Rebekah became pregnant. She was going to have twins. Before they were born they struggled against each other in her womb. She said: Why should something like this happen to me? She asked Jehovah for an answer. Jehovah said: Two nations are within you. You will give birth to two rival peoples. One will be stronger than the other. The older will serve the younger. read more.
The time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to twin sons. The first one was reddish. His skin was like a hairy robe, so he was named Esau. The second one was born holding on tightly to the heel of Esau. He was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born. The boys grew up. Esau became a skilled hunter, a man who loved the outdoors. Jacob was an upright man who stayed at home. Isaac preferred Esau. This is because he enjoyed eating the animals Esau killed. Rebecca preferred Jacob.


Rebekah listened while Isaac was speaking to his son Esau. Esau went into the open country to hunt for some wild game to bring back. Rebekah said to her son Jacob: I have just heard your father speak to your brother Esau. He said: 'Bring me some wild game, and prepare a good-tasting meal for me to eat. Then I will bless you in the presence of Jehovah before I die.' read more.
Now listen to me, Son, and do what I tell you. Go to the flock and pick out two fat young goats. I will cook them and make some of that food your father likes so much. You take it to him to eat. Then he will give you his blessing before he dies. Jacob said to his mother: You know that Esau is a hairy man. I have smooth skin. Perhaps my father will touch me and find out that I am deceiving him. That way, I will bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing. His mother replied: Let any curse against you fall on me, my son. Just do as I say, and go and get the goats for me. So Jacob brought the meat to his mother. And she cooked the tasty food that his father liked. Then she took Esau's best clothes and dressed Jacob in them. She also covered the smooth part of his hands and neck with goatskins. She gave her son Jacob the good-tasting meal and the bread she had prepared. He went to his father and said: Father? Yes, he answered. Who are you, Son? Jacob answered: I am your older son Esau. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of the meat that I brought you. Then you can give me your blessing. Isaac said: How did you find it so quickly, son? Jacob answered: Jehovah your God helped me find it. Isaac said to Jacob: Please come closer. Let me touch you. Are you really Esau? Jacob went closer. His father touched him. He said: You sound like Jacob, but your hands feel hairy like Esau's. So Isaac blessed Jacob, thinking he was Esau. Isaac asked: Are you really my son Esau? Yes, I am, Jacob answered. So Isaac told him: Serve me the wild meat. I can give you my blessing. Jacob gave him some meat, and he ate it. He also gave him some wine, and he drank it. Then his father Isaac said to him: Come close, my son, and kiss me. He came close and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his garments. Then he blessed him and said: See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field Jehovah has blessed. May God give you of the dew of heaven, the fatness of the earth, and an abundance of grain and new wine. May peoples serve you. And nations bow down to you. Be master of your brothers. And may your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you. Blessed be those who bless you.


Isaac moved to Gerar. His wife Rebekah was very beautiful. He was afraid that someone might kill him to get her. So he told everyone that Rebekah was his sister. After Isaac had been there a long time, King Abimelech looked out a window and saw Isaac intimately laughing and caressing Rebekah. read more.
Abimelech called him in and said: Rebekah must be your wife! Why did you say she is your sister? I thought someone would kill me, Isaac answered. Do you know what you have done? Abimelech shouted. If someone had slept with her, you would have made our whole nation guilty! So Abimelech charged all the people, saying: He who touches this man or his wife will certainly be put to death.


Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried there. Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried there. I also buried Leah there.


Not only that, but Rebecca conceived by Isaac our father.