1 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.
2 And Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his house, that ruled over all that he had, “You shall make a solemn oath by placing your hand under my thigh:
3 and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, where we dwell;
4 but you shall go to my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”
5 And the servant said to him, “What if the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land; must I bring your son again to the land from where you came?”
6 And Abraham said to him, “Beware that you must not take my son back to that land;
7 The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my nativity, and who spoke to me, and who swore to me, saying, ‘Unto your seed will I give this land;’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.
8 And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you shall be free from this oath; only shall you not bring my son there again.”
9 And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.
10 And the servant took ten camels, of the camels of his master, and departed, having his master's goods in hand; and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia[a], unto the town of Nahor.
11 And he made the camels to kneel down outside of town by the well of water at the time of evening, the time that women go out to draw water.
12 And he said, “O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, send me, I pray, good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham.
13 Behold, I am standing by the fountain of water; and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water;
14 and let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, ‘Let down your pitcher please, that I may drink;’ and she shall say, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels drink also;’ let the same be she that you have appointed for your servant Isaac; and thereby I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”
15 And before he had finished speaking, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.
16 And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her; and she went down to the fountain, and filled her pitcher, and came up.
17 And the servant ran to meet her, and said, “Give me to drink, I pray you, a little water from your pitcher.”
18 And she said, “Drink, my lord;” and she hastened to let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink.
19 And when she had done giving him drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have done drinking.”
20 And she hastened to empty her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw, and drew for all his camels.
21 And the man looked stedfastly on her, holding his peace, to know whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not.
22 And as the camels were done drinking, the man took a golden ring of [c]half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold,
23 and said, “Whose daughter are you? tell me, I pray you. Is there room in your father’s house for us to lodge in?”
24 And she said unto him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore unto Nahor.”
25 She then said to him, “We have a good store of straw and provender, and room enough to lodge you.”
26 And the man bowed his head, and worshipped the LORD.
27 And he said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his lovingkindness and his truth toward my master; as for me, the LORD has led me to the house of my master’s brethren.”
28 And the damsel ran, and told her mother’s house according to these words.
29 And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban; and Laban ran out to the man, unto the fountain.
30 And when he saw the ring, and the bracelets upon his sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, ‘Thus spake the man unto me;’ that he came to the man; as he was standing by the camels at the fountain.
31 And he said, “Come in, blessed of the LORD; why are you standing outside? For I have prepared the house, and room for the camels.”
32 And the man came into the house, and he ungirded the camels; and he gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men that were with him.
33 And there was set food before him to eat: but he said, “I will not eat, until I have told my story.” And he said, “Speak on.”
34 And he said, “I am Abraham’s servant.
35 And the LORD has blessed my master greatly; and he has become great; and he has given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and handmaids, and camels and donkeys.
36 And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and to him he has given all that he has.
37 And my master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell,
38 but you shall go to my father’s house, and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son.’
39 And I said to my master, ‘What if the woman will not follow me?’
40 And he said unto me, ‘The LORD, before whom I walk, will send his angel with you, and aid you; and you shall take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father’s house.
41 Then you shall be free of my oath, when you come to my kindred; and if they do not give her to you, you shall be free from my oath.’
42 And I came this day unto the fountain, and said, ‘O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, as you aid me in the way which I go,
43 behold, I am standing by the fountain of water; and let it come to pass that the maiden that comes forth to draw water, to whom I shall say, ‘Give me, please, a little water from your pitcher to drink;’
44 and she shall say to me, ‘Both you drink, and I will also draw water for your camels;’ let the same be the woman whom the LORD has given for my master’s son.
45 And before I had done speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the fountain, and drew: and I said unto her, ‘Let me drink, I pray you.’
46 And she made haste, and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels drink also.’ So I drank, and she made the camels drink also.
47 And I asked her, and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bare unto him;’ and I put the ring upon her nose, and the bracelets upon her hands.
48 And I bowed my head, and worshipped the LORD, and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the way to take my master’s brother’s daughter for his son.
49 And now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me; that I may return and tell Abraham.”
50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “This comes from the LORD, we cannot say yes or no.
51 Behold, Rebekah is before you, take her and go, and let her be your master’s son’s wife, as the LORD has spoken.”
52 And it came to pass, that, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself down to the earth unto the LORD.
53 And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things.
54 And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, “Send me away unto my master.”
55 And her brother and her mother said, “Let her stay with us for a few more days, at the least ten; after that she will go.”
56 And he said to them, “Hinder me not, seeing that the LORD has led me in my journey; send me away that I may go to my master.”
57 And they said, “We will call the girl[a] and ask her.”
58 And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.”
59 And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant, and his men.
60 And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, “May our sister be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your seed possess the gate of their enemies.”
61 And Rebekah arose, and her handmaids[a], and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man; and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.
62 At the same time, Isaac was walking along the way to the well of the living and seeing[a]; for he dwelt in the Southern lands[b].
63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide; and he lifted up his eyes and saw there were camels coming.
64 And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she alighted from the camel.
65 And she said to the servant, “What man is this that walks in the field to meet us?” And the servant said, “It is my master;” and she took her veil, and covered herself.
66 And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.
67 And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
[10] Genesis 24:10 Mesopotamia: Syria of the two floods: to wit, of Tigris and Euphrates. (Hebrew Aram-naharaim, that is, Aram of the two rivers.)
[22] Hebrew a beka. See Ex. 38:26.
[57] h.לַֽנַּעֲרָ֑ (lan·na·‘ă·rā;) the girl, i.e. 'her' (KJV: Rebekah, DRA: the maid)
[61] h.וְנַעֲרֹתֶ֗יהָ (wə·na·‘ă·rō·ṯe·hā,) “and her servant girls” (KJV: her damsels, DRA: maids)
[62a] Beer-lahai-roi, the well of lahai-roi (living and seeing).
[62b] NET: the Negev; other: south country.
Selected commentary.
h.ברך את אברהם בכל [THE LORD HAD] BLESSED ABRAHAM IN ALL THINGS — The numerical value of the word בכל is equal to that of בן (a son) — suggesting that God had blessed Abraham with a son and since he had a son he had to find him a wife.
h.זקן ביתו THE ELDER OF HIS HOUSE — Because the noun is in the construct state the ק is punctuated with a Patach.
h.תחת ירכי UNDER MY THIGH — because whoever takes an oath must take in his hand some sacred object. such as a Scroll of the Law or Tefillin (Shevuot 38b). As circumcision was the first commandment given to him and became his only through much pain it was consequently dear to him and therefore he selected this as the object upon which to take the oath (Genesis Rabbah 59:8).
h.'ה אלהי השמים אשר לקחני מבית אבי THE LORD, GOD OF HEAVEN, WHO TOOK ME FROM MY FATHER'S HOUSE — Here he did not say “[The God of heaven] and the God of the earth”, whereas above (v. 3) he said, “And I will make thee swear etc. … [and the God of the earth]”. But, in effect, Abraham said to him: Now He is the God of heaven and the God of the earth, because I have made him (i. e. His Name) a familiar one in peoples’ mouths: but at the time when He took me from my father’s house He was God of heaven only and not God of the earth for people did not acknowledge Him and His Name was not commonly known on earth (Genesis Rabbah 59:7).
h.מבית אבי FROM MY FATHER S HOUSE — from Haran.
h.ומארץ מולדתי AND FROM THE LAND OF MY NATIVITY — from Ur-Kasdim.
h.ואשר דבר לי AND WHO SPOKE לי — The word לי means “in my interest”, just as (1 Kings 2:4) “which He spake concerning me (עלי)”. In the same way, in every case where לי or לו or להם follow after the verb דבר they must be explained in the sense of על “concerning” — and in the Targum they should be rendered by עלי or עלוהי or עליהון regarding me etc. — for with this verb דבר in the sense of speaking to a person, the expressions לי and לו and להם are not the appropriate ones, but אלי and אליו and אליהן, and their renderings in the Targum should be עמי and עמיה and עמהן i. e., to speak with me or him or them. In the case of the verb אמר, however, the expressions לי and לו and להם are the appropriate ones.
h.ואשר נשבע לי AND WHO SWORE UNTO ME at the Covenant between the Pieces (Genesis Rabbah 59:10).
h.'ונקית משבעתי וגו THEN SHALT THOU BE CLEAR FROM THIS MY OATH etc. — and take a wife for him from the daughters of Aner or Eshcol or Mamre.
h.רק את בני וגו ONLY [BRING NOT] MY SON [THITHER] etc. — The word רק narrows and limits (מעוט) the sense: it is only my son who may not go back there, but Jacob, my son’s son, in the end will go back there to find a wife (Genesis Rabbah 59:10).
h.מגמלי אדניו OF HIS MASTER’S CAMELS — These were distinguished from other camels by going out muzzled to avoid robbery — i.e. that they should not graze in other peoples’ fields (Genesis Rabbah 59:11).
h.וכל טוב אדניו בידו AND ALL THE GOODS OF HIS MASTER WERE IN HIS HAND — He wrote a deed of gift of all his possessions in favour of Isaac so that they would be eager to send him their daughter (Genesis Rabbah 59:11).
h.ארם נהרים MESOPOTAMIA (literally, ARAM OF THE TWO RIVERS) — it was situated between the two rivers, Euphrates and Tigris.
h.ויברך הגמלים means HE MADE THEM KNEEL (Genesis Rabbah 59:11).
h.אתה הכחת HER THOU HAST APPOINTED — She is fit for him since she will be charitable and will therefore be worthy of admission into the house of Abraham. The word הכחת means selected; old French approuvest; English thou hast selected.
h.ובה אדע This is a petition: “Let me know through her”.
h.כי עשית חסד THAT THOU HAST SHOWN KINDNESS — if she is of his family and a fit companion for him I shall know that thou hast shown kindness to my master.
h.וירץ העבד לקראתה AND THE SERVANT RAN TOWARDS HER — because he saw that the waters rose in the well when she approached it (Genesis Rabbah 60:5).
h.הגמיאיני נא GIVE ME TO DRINK, I PRAY THEE — the word means sipping; old French humer.
h.ותרד כדה SHE LET DOWN HER PITCHER from off her shoulder.
h.עד אם כלו literally, UNTIL THAT THEY HAVE FINISHED [DRINKING] — Here the word אם is used in the sense of אשר “that”. The words אם כלו the Targum renders by “That they have done enough drinking”. Though the verb כלה signifies to finish, to end, the Targum is right in translating it thus for this is the end of their drinking when they have drunk as much as they wanted (cf. Rashi on Genesis 43:2).
h.ותער AND SHE EMPTIED — It means “pouring out”. It occurs in this sense many times in the Mishna; e. g., (Avodah Zarah 72a), “He who pours (הטערה) from one vessel into another”, and we find it again in a similar sense in Biblical Hebrew: (Psalms 141:8) “O pour not out (תער) my soul”, and (Isaiah 53:12) “Because he poured forth (הערה) his soul unto death”
h.השקת THE TROUGH — a hollowed-out stone from which the camels drink.
h.משתאה WAS WONDERING — The word really has the idea of being waste and desolate, as (Isaiah 6:11) “Until cities be waste (שאו) and the land become utterly desolate תשאה.
h.משתאה means he was astonished and perplexed, because he saw that what he had said was nearly successful only that he did not know whether she belonged to Abraham’s family or not. Do not be puzzled by the ת in the word משתאה for you will find no word (verb) whose first root letter is ש where, when it is used in the Hithpael, the ת of the Hithpael-prefix does not come between the first two letters of the root, as e.g. משתאה (here) and (Isaiah 59:15) משתולל of the same root as שולל, and (Isaiah 59:16) וישתומם of the same root as שממה and (Micha 6:16) “For the statutes of Omri are kept (וישתמר )” from the same root as וישמר —so, also, here משתאה is of the same root as תשאה. Now, just as you find the expression שמם (which really means waste and desolate) applied to a person who is perplexed and speechless (with amazement) and sunk in deep thought (about what is happening) — e. g., (Job [18]:20) “They that come after shall be astonished (נשמו) at his day”, and (Jeremiah 2:12) “Be astonished (שומו) ye heavens”, and (Daniel 4:16) “He was appalled אשתומם for a time” — so too you may explain the expression שאה (which also really means waste and desolate) in all its verbal or noun forms as referring to a person who is perplexed and sunk deep in thought. Onkelos translates it in the sense of lingering — “the man lingered” — i. e. he wailed, standing on one spot, to see “whether God had made his journey prosperous”. But one should not read in the Targum שתי in place of שהי, as the Targum of משתאה, (as evidently some versions of the Targum read), for the word משתאה certainly does not mean drinking, for א has no place in the Hebrew words which mean drinking root (שתה).
h.משתאה לה means he was wondering about her, just as the ל has the meaning “about” in (20:13) “Say of me (לי), he is my brother”, and (26:7) “And the men of the place asked about his wife.
h.לאשתו BEKA (half a Shekel) — a symbol of the Shekels of the Israelites of which it is said (Exodus 38:26) “a Beka (half a Shekel) a head” (cf. Targum Jon).
h.ושני צמידים AND TWO BRACELETS (the word for bracelet signifies something joined or united) — a symbol of the two Tablets of stone, joined one to another (Genesis Rabbah 60:6).
h.עשרה זהב משקלם TEN SHEKELS OF GOLD WAS THEIR WEIGHT —a symbol of the Ten Commandments written on them (the Tablets) (Genesis Rabbah 60:6).
h.ויאמר בת מי את AND HE SAID, WHOSE DAUGHTER ART THOU? — He asked her this after he had given her these presents, for he was confident that, on account of the merit of Abraham, the Holy One blessed be He, had made his journey successful.
h.ללין TO LODGE IN — the word means one night’s lodging. The word לין is a noun (of the same form as גיל ,שיר). She however said (Genesis 24:25) ללון (a verb, “to lodge” generally) meaning many nights’ lodging (Genesis Rabbah 60:6).
h.בת בתואל DAUGHTER OF BETHUEL — She answered his first question first and his last last (cf. Avot 5:9).
h.מספוא PROVENDER — All kinds of camels’ food is called מספוא e. g., straw and barley.
h.בדרך [I BEING] IN THE WAY — The way i.e. the designated way — the right way — that way which I really required. In the same manner wherever ב or ל or ה are prefixed to a word and are punctuated with a Patach, they speak of some object that is quite definite in sense, having been already mentioned in another passage, or of some object where it is quite clear and evident about what one is speaking.
h.לבית אמה [AND TOLD IT] TO THEM OF HER MOTHER’S HOUSE — It was customary for the women to have their own apartments to sit in at their work — and a daughter, of course, confides only in her mother (Genesis Rabbah 60:7).
h.וירץ AND HE RAN — Why did he run and what did he run for? (The next verse explains why). ויהי כראות הנזם AND IT CAME TO PASS WHEN HE SAW THE RING —he said, “This must be a rich man ״, and he had an eye to his money.
h.על הגמלים [HE WAS STANDING] BY THE CAMELS — to look after them. The phrase is the same as (18:8) “And he (Abraham) stood by them עומד עליהם”— to wait on them.
h.פניתי הבית I HAVE CLEARED THE HOUSE of idols (Genesis Rabbah 60:7).
h.ויפתח HE UNGIRDED — He removed their muzzles, for he had closed their mouths by them so that on the journey they might not graze in other peoples’ fields (Genesis Rabbah 60:8).
h.עד אם דברתי UNTIL THAT I HAVE SPOKEN — This is the same as עד אשר, so that you see that אם has the meaning of both אשר and כי, an example of the latter usage being (49:10) “Until that (עד כי) men come to Shiloh” (where עד כי is equivalent to עד אם in our verse). That is what our Sages, of blessed memory, have said (Rosh Hashanah 3a): The word כי is used in four meanings. One of these they say, is אי which is the Aramaic for the Hebrew word “im”.
h.ויתן לו את כל אשר לו AND HE HATH GIVEN TO HIM ALL THAT HE HATH — he showed them the deed of gift.
h.לא תקח אשה לבני מבנות הכנעני THOU SHALT NOT TAKE A WIFE FOR MY SON FROM THE DAUGHTERS OF THE CANAANITES if you do not first go to my father’s house and to my family that thou mayest take a wife to my son and she will not be willing to follow you.
h.אלי לא תלך האשה PERADVENTURE THE WOMAN WILL NOT FOLLOW ME —The word אולי perhaps is written without ו so that it may be read אֵלַי unto me. Eliezer had a daughter and he was endeavouring to find some reason why Abraham should say that he must appeal to him (Eliezer) that he should give his daughter in marriage to Isaac. Abraham said to him, “My son is blessed and you are subject to a curse. One who is under a curse cannot unite with one who is blessed” (Genesis Rabbah 59:9).
h.ואבא היום AND I CAME THIS DAY — Today I started on my journey and today I have arrived here. Hence we may infer that the earth (the road) shrunk for him (i. e. that the journey was shortened in a miraculous manner) (Sanhedrin 95a). R. Acha said: The ordinary conversation of the patriarchs' servants is more pleasing to God than even the Torah (religious discourse) of their children, for the chapter of Eliezer (the account of his journey) is repeated in the Torah (i. e. it is written once as a narrative and again repeated as part of the conversation of the patriarch’s servant) whereas many important principles of the Law are derived only from slight indications given in the Text (Genesis Rabbah 60:8).
h.גם אתה DRINK THOU ALSO — Her use of the word גם, also suggests that she intended to include the men who accompanied him.
h.הכיח means selected and designated. So, too, wherever this word (the Hiphil of יכח) occurs in the Scriptures it signifies “making something clear”.
h.טרם אכלה means I WAS NOT YET FINISHING. Similarly in the case of every word that expresses an action contemporaneous with another Scripture sometimes uses the past tense — so that it might have written here טרם כִּלִיתִי — and sometimes it uses the future tense. Examples are: (Job I. 5) “For Job was saying (אמר)” — here it is past tense and (ib.) “Thus was Job doing (יעשה)” — here it is future tense. But the meaning of both of them is contemporaneous action: “for Job was saying (whilst he sacrificed) “Perhaps my sons have sinned etc.“ “and he was doing this” (whenever his sons feasted).
h.ואשאל…ואשם AND I ASKED HER … AND I PUT THE RING — He changed the order of proceedings for in fact he had first given the presents and afterwards questioned her. But he did this in order that they should not catch him by his own words and say, “How could you give her anything when you did not yet know who she was!”
h.על ימין TO THE RIGHT HAND — to take a wife of the daughters of Ishmael.
h.על שמאל TO THE LEFT — to take a wife of the daughters of Lot who dwelt at the left of Abraham (Genesis Rabbah 60:9).
h.ויען לבן ובתואל THEN LABAN AND BETHUEL ANSWERED — He (Laban) was a wicked person and so rushed in to answer before his father.
h.לא נוכל דבר אליך WE CANNOT SPEAK UNTO THEE — refusing this proposition either by answering you with unpleasant words (i. e. a flat refusal) or by giving you a reasoned reply, for it is evident that the matter proceedeth from the Lord since, according to your statement, He brought her and you together.
h.וישתחו ארצה HE PROSTRATED HIMSELF — From this we may learn that we should thank God for good news (Genesis Rabbah 60:6).
h.ומגדנות PRECIOUS THINGS — it has the same meaning as מגדים (cf. Song 7:14) “precious fruits״, for he had brought with him various kinds of fruit from the land of Israel (Genesis Rabbah 60:11).
h.וילינו AND LODGED OVER NIGHT — wherever the root לין occurs in Scripture it signifies staying for only one night.
h.ויאמר אחיה ואמה AND HER BROTHER AND HER MOTHER SAID — But where was Bethuel? He wished to prevent the marriage therefore an angel came and killed him (Genesis Rabbah 60:12).
h.ימים (literally, days) means a year — just as (Leviticus 25:29) “For a whole year (ימים) shall he have the right of redemption” — for the custom was to give a maiden twelve months to provide herself with a trousseau (literally, ornaments) (Genesis Rabbah 60:12).
h.או עשור OR TEN — i. e. ten months. But if you say that it does really mean “days” (“a few days”, and that it does not mean a year) I reply that it is not usual for people who make a request to ask for a little and to say “If you do not agree to this, then give us even more” (Ketubot 57b).
h.ונשאלה את פיה AND ASK HER MOUTH — From this we may infer that a woman should not be given in marriage except with her own consent (Genesis Rabbah 60:12).
h.ותאמר אלך AND SHE SAID, I WILL GO — of my own accord even though you do not consent (Genesis Rabbah 60:12).
h.את היי לאלפי רבבה MAYEST THOU BECOME THOUSANDS OF MYRIADS — May you and your seed receive that blessing which was promised to Abraham on Mount Moriah, (Genesis 22:17) “I will greatly multiply thy seed … [and let thy seed possess the gates of their enemies]”. May it be God’s will that that seed may proceed from you and not from another woman”.
h.מבוא באר לחי ראי HE HAD JUST COME FROM THE WELL LACHAI-ROI— For he had gone there to bring Hagar back to Abraham that he might take her again as his wife (Genesis Rabbah 60:14).
h.יושב בארץ הנגב FOR HE DWELT IN THE LAND OF THE SOUTH, near to that well, as it is said, (Genesis 20:1) “And Abraham journeyed from thence towards the land of the South and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur”, and the well was there, as is said, (Genesis 16:14) “behold it is between Kadesh and Bered’’.
h.לשוח TO MEDITATE — this means “to pray” (Genesis Rabbah 60:14), as we find (Psalms 102:1) “[A prayer of the afflicted …] when he poureth forth his plaint.
h.ותרא את יצחק AND SHE SAW ISAAC — She saw his lordly appearance and gazed at him in astonishment (Genesis Rabbah 60:15).
h.ותפל SHE ALIGHTED (literally, she fell) — She let herself slide towards the ground; as the Targum renders it וארכינת —she inclined herself towards the earth, but did not actually reach the ground. Similarly in (Genesis 24:14) “let down thy pitcher, I pray thee”, the word הטי let down, Onkelos translates by ארכיני “incline”, and (Psalm [18]:10) “He bowed (ויט) the heavens” he translates by וארכין which means “He bent them towards the ground”. A similar idea is (Psalms 37:24) “Though he fall (יפול) he shall not be utterly cast down” which is as much as to say, “though he bends himself towards the earth yet he shall not touch the ground (i. e. shall not fall entirely)” (Genesis Rabbah 60:15).
h.ותתכס AND [SHE] COVERED HERSELF — This has a passive meaning (she was covered); it is like (35:8) ותקבר “and she was buried”, and (1 Samuel 4:18) ותשבר “and [his neck] was broken”.
h.ויספר העבד AND THE SERVANT RELATED — He reported to him the miracles that had been wrought for him — how the earth had shrunk for him, and how Rebecca was ready for him in response to his prayer (Genesis Rabbah 60:15).
h.האהלה שרה אמו INTO HIS MOTHER SARAH’S TENT — He brought her into the tent and she became exactly like his mother Sarah — that is to say, the words signify as much as, [And he brought her into the tent] and, behold, she was Sarah, his mother). For whilst Sarah was living, a light had been burning in the tent from one Sabbath eve to the next, there was always a blessing in the dough (a miraculous increase) and a cloud was always hanging over the tent (as a divine protection), but since her death all these had stopped. However, when Rebecca came, they reappeared” (Genesis Rabbah 60:16).
h.אחרי אמו [AND ISAAC WAS COMFORTED] AFTER HIS MOTHER’S DEATH — It is natural that whilst a man’s mother is living he is wrapped up in her, but when she dies he finds comfort in his wife (Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 32).