me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest?

6 And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again. 7 The LORD God of heaven, which took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, "Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence.

8 And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath only bring not my son thither again.

9 And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter.

10 ¶ And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand : and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.

11 And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time 'that women go out to draw water.

12 And he said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham.

13 Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water:

14 And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master.

15 And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, 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 well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.

17 And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.

3 Chap. 12. 7, and 13. 15. and 15. 18, and 26. 24. 4 Or, and. 7 Heb. good of countenance.

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18 And she said, Drink, my lord and she hasted, and 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 thy camels also, until they have done drinking.

20 And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.

21 And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not.

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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;

23 And said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee: is there room in thy father's house for us to lodge in?

24 And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor.

25 She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in.

26 And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the LORD.

27 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master's brethren.

28 And the damsel ran, and told them of her mother's house these things.

29 ¶ And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the well.

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, saying, Thus spake the man unto me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the well.

31 And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the LORD; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels.

32 And the man came into the house : and he ungirded his camels, and gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the men's feet that were with him.

33 And there was set meat before him to

5 Heb. that women which draw water go forth. 8 Or, jewel for the forehead,

6 Verse 43.

eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on.

34 And he said, I am Abraham's servant. 35 And the LORD hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses.

36 And Sarah my master's wife bare a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he hath.

37 And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell:

38 But thou shalt go unto my father's house, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my

son.

39 And I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman will not follow me.

40 And he said unto me, The LORD, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father's house :

41 Then shalt thou be clear from this my oath, when thou comest to my kindred; and if they give not thee one, thou shalt be clear from my oath.

42 And I came this day unto the well, and said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way which I go:

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;

44 And she say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman whom the LORD hath appointed out for my master's son.

45 And before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the well, and drew water: and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee.

46 And she made haste, and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: so I drank, and she made the camels drink also.

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 the earring upon her face, and the bracelets upon her hands.

48 And I bowed down my head, and worshipped the LORD, and blessed the LORD God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter unto his son.

49 And now if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left.

50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the LORD: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good.

51 Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the LORD hath spoken.

52 And it came to pass, that, when Abraham's servant heard their words, he worshipped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth.

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.

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55 And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go.

56 And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the LORD hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master.

57 And they said, We will call the damsel, and enquire at her mouth.

58 And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou 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, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.

61 And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.

62 ¶ And Isaac came from the way of the 13well Lahai-roi; for he dwelt in the south country.

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64 And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. 65 For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself.

66 And the servant told Isaac all 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.

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Verse 2.The eldest servant of his house.'-This may signify his oldest servant, or one who had been longest in his service, and enjoyed his greatest confidence. It is generally supposed that this servant was Eliezer of Damascus, named in xv. 2.

Put thy hand under my thigh.'-This action in the person taking an oath, is not elsewhere mentioned except where Jacob requires the same service from his son Joseph (ch. xlvii. 29); but Josephus says that the same usage was retained in his time. Mr. Harmer's illustration on this instance is perhaps rather far-fetched. He conceives that it is illustrated by the action of the Arabs, who, in swearing, place the left hand underneath, and the right hand over the Koran. The signification of the act has been variously understood.

4. Go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.'-The great anxiety of the patriarchs to secure the marriage of their sons to women of their own clan or family, is everywhere apparent, and is even indicated in the marked notice which is taken of marriages which took place against this regulation, as in the cases of Ishmael and Esau. Such a desire has always prevailed wherever the distinction of clans or tribes has been strongly defined, for the sake of keeping up the property, blood, and peculiar traditions of each separate tribe, and of compacting its union and influence; and these ordinary motives acquired increased intensity in the instance of the Hebrew patriarchs, in consequence of the general idolatry or superstition into which all the surrounding nations had fallen, and which alone would have sufficed to preclude intermarriages with them. This consideration, apart from any other, has always prevented the Jews from forming matrimonial connections with any but the daughters of Israel. Their Law forbade such marriages in the strictest manner; and we shall find instances of their being severely punished, and of the deep disgust which they inspired. They were neither to take the females of other nations, nor give their own females to them (Deut. vii. 3, 4); and the reason was, For they will turn away thy sons from following me.' While this principle inhibited marriages with other nations, there was another law which preserved the integrity of property in the respective tribes, by directing that daughters having any inheritance should not marry out of the tribe of their father. (Num. xxxvi.) 'So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe.' These principles, deduced from the subsequent laws of the Hebrews, afford the best explanation of the conduct of the patriarchs with regard to the marriages of their sons. Among the Bedouin Arabs there is no regulation precluding the intermarriages of different tribes; but, in practice, a man seldom takes a wife from any other tribe than his own; and still more rarely, although there is no national or religious difference, will a Bedouin give his daughter in marriage to the inhabitant of a town, or to a cultivator or artisan. Some tribes never do so: but others are rather less strict. So, as Ward informs us, among the Hindoos, the parents who find employment at a distance from their original homes, always marry their children in their own country and among their old acquaintance.

10. Mesopotamia.'—The Hebrew name is Aram-Naharaim. Aram is the name for Syria, the several parts of which are denoted by different com

pound names, of which this is one. The word N seems to come from Dram, 'high,' and was applied more to a more extensive region than the Syria of the Greeks and Romans, seeing that it was extended to the Euphrates, and, therefore, also comprehended Mesopotamia, which is the part of the whole here denoted by the name of Aram-Naharaim, that is 'Syria of the two rivers.' This the Septuagint renders by Μεσοποταμία, which is merely a Greek compound of the same meaning, the country between the rivers.' These rivers are the Euphrates in the west, and the Tigris in the east. It is doubtful whether the Aram-Naharaim of Scripture designates the whole of the extensive tract enclosed by these rivers, or applies only to the northern part of it. The name recurs in Deut. xxiii. 4; Judg. iii. 8.

The city of Nahor,'-that is, Haran, where Nahor continued to reside.

11. He made his camels to kneel down.-As this immediately precedes an act of prayer on the part of Eliezer, uninformed persons are apt to conclude that this faithful servant of Abraham intended in some sort to make his camels participators in that act. But kneeling is not peculiarly an attitude of devotion in the East; and Eliezer himself did not kneel; for, even in his prayer, he describes himself as standing by the well. He merely intended to give the wearied camels a little rest, kneeling being the posture in which camels always repose.

The time that women go out to draw water.'-Water is usually drawn in the evening, and frequently in the cool of the morning also. Fetching water is one of the heaviest of the many heavy duties which devolve upon the females in the East, and one which the most sensibly impresses us with a sense of their degraded condition. The usage varies in different countries. Among the Arabs and other nomades, and also in many parts of India, it is the exclusive employment of the women, without distinction of rank; but, in Turkey and Persia, the poorer women only are subject to this servile employment, respectable families being supplied daily by men, who make the supplying of water a distinct business. The tents of the Bedouins are seldom pitched quite near to the well from which they obtain their water; and if the distance is not more than a mile, the men do not think it necessary that the water should be brought upon the camels; and, unless there are asses to be employed on this service, the women must go every evening, sometimes twice, and bring home at their backs large and heavy leathern bags full of water. The wells are the property of tribes or individuals, who are not always willing that caravans should take water from them; and, in that case, a girl is sometimes posted at the well, to exact presents from those who wish to have water. It is not likely that Abraham's servant travelled without a leathern bucket to draw water; and it is therefore probable that he abstained from watering his ten camels until he should have obtained permission. The women, when they are at the wells in the evening, are generally obliging to travellers, and ready to supply such water as they may require for themselves or their beasts. The women of towns in Turkey and Persia have seldom far to go, except under peculiar circumstances in the situation or soil of the place, or in the quality of its water. The character of their water-vessel depends much upon the distance they have to go. If rather

far, a skin will probably be preferred, as most convenient for carrying a good quantity; but if near, an earthen jar will often be chosen. The present well seems to have been quite near the town; and we concur in the translation which renders Rebekah's vessel a pitcher.' The word (79 kad) is different from that (non chemeth) rendered 'bottle' in the narrative of Hagar's expulsion; and is the same word used to describe the vessels in which Gideon's soldiers concealed their torches, and which they broke to produce a crashing and alarming noise. The women contrive to draw an enjoyment even out of this irksome duty, as it affords one of the best opportunities they have of meeting and talking together, and of displaying their finery to each other. They by no means appear to the worst advantage, as to dress, at the wells: and this circumstance shows that Abraham's servant might there, without any incongruity, invest Rebekah with the ornaments he had brought. To a traveller in the East, the best opportunities of making his observations on the females will occur in the evening at the wells. Eliezer was aware of this, and regarded the opportunity as favourable for his purpose. It appears that the unmarried females, even of towns, went unveiled, or only partially veiled, on ordinary occasions, in these early times. Now all go veiled; and the more extended use of the veil in modern times has probably, in one respect, operated favourably for the women, by exonerating those belonging to families in decent circumstances from the very heavy duty of fetching water, the proper management of the veil being scarcely compatible with the performance of this laborious office. Accordingly we find that this duty devolves more exclusively on the females, without distinction of rank, in those Asiatic countries or tribes where the women are not obliged to veil their faces, as in India, and among the Arabian and other nomade tribes. We have already noticed the Arabian usage. In consequence of the modifications which we venture to think that the extended use of the veil has produced among the inhabitants of towns west of the Indus, it is perhaps in India we are to look for the most precise parallels to the patriarchal customs. Accordingly we find that, in many parts of India, women of the first distinction draw water daily from the public wells. They always fetch it in earthen

jars carried upon their heads. Sometimes two or three jars are thus carried at once, one upon the other, forming a pillar upon the bearer's head. As this necessarily requires the most perfect steadiness, the habit gives to the females a remarkably erect and stately air. It seems that it is a distinction to carry the jar on the shoulder; and Forbes, in his Oriental Memoirs, relates an anecdote of an intelligent native, who, when this highly interesting passage was read to him, inferred that Rebekah was of high caste,' from her carrying the pitcher on her shoulder (v. 15).

16. Went down to the well, and filled her pitcher.'-It would seem that this well had a descending stair. Such wells are not very common in the East, except in India, where they occur frequently enough. Chardin, as quoted by Harmer, is disposed to understand, that where steps to a well are mentioned, a reservoir of rain-water is always to be understood. Such reservoirs being seldom of the great depth of wells, it is convenient to have steps, so that the surface of the water may be reached by the hand as its quantity diminishes. All reservoirs have not, however, such steps, nor are all wells without them. The grand well at Cairo, in Egypt, called Joseph's Well,' has a descent of about one hundred and fifty feet, by a winding staircase six feet in width. It is, however, true that steps to wells occur but rarely in the East. Their greater frequency in India is probably because the Hindoos do not use leathern buckets to draw water, and their earthen vessels would be very liable to be broken if let down into wells by a rope. Neither Chardin nor any other traveller seems to have noticed the existence of steps to streams of running water in the East; yet, in Persia, we have ourselves sometimes obtained water from a covered stream, access to which was afforded by descending steps, protected by a vaulted superstructure of brick. We are therefore, upon the whole, disposed to decide less positively than Chardin, that the presentwell' could be nothing else than a reservoir of rain-water, although we must allow the probabilities to be in favour of his supposition.

20. Emptied her pitcher into the trough.'-Troughs of stone or wood are sometimes, but not often, found near wells in the East. When found, they are commonly at wells near towns, and, like the descending steps, are more

common in India than elsewhere. This also may arise from the prejudices of the Hindoos precluding the use of the leathers which the Arabs and travellers through deserts employ in watering their cattle at wells. As the cattle can seldom get direct access to the water in a well, they are usually supplied by the water being thrown into a sort of leathern trough used for the express purpose; but very commonly a simple skin is used, to which the necessary concavity is given by scraping a hollow in the sand over which it is placed, or by propping up the edges with sand, earth, or stones. What sort of trough is intended here, and in Exod. ii. 16, does not appear.

22. A golden earring of half a shekel weight.'-Our generally excellent translation sometimes renders manifest the painful difficulties in which the translators were occasionally involved, in consequence of the ignorance of Eastern countries which then generally prevailed, and which often left them in great doubt about the true renderings. Here we have a golden ear-ring,' that is, an odd ear-ring. This being felt as somewhat of an absurdity, the marginal rendering is, a jewel for the face; but again, in v. 47, it is, I put the earring upon her face,' which is

ARABIAN NOSE-RINGS.

rather a curious disposition of an ear-ring. The thing really intended seems to be a ring or jewel for the nose; but our translators, having no knowledge of such an ornament, which seemed to them to imply an absurdity, have carefully avoided the true idea everywhere except in Isaiah iii. 21, the translator of which portion of Scripture had probably gained some information, not possessed by the others, of this peculiarity of Oriental ornament. Yet all their care could not preclude an occasional allusion to it, as where Prov. xi. 22, could not but be rendered 'a jewel in a swine's snout.' The extensive use of nose-ornaments among the Arabian and other females of the East having now become known, modern translators render the present text 'nose-ring,' as is done in the Arabic and Persian versions. Such rings are generally of silver or gold, but sometimes of coral, mother-of-pearl, or even horn, according to the taste or means of the wearer. Chardin, who was professionally a jeweller, must have been conversant with this subject; and he says that the better sort of rings are set with a ruby between two pearls; we do not recollect, however, to have seen rubies in them; but the turquoise is common. This curious ornament varies considerably in size and thickness; but it is always circular, and is worn, not from the middle cartilage of the nose, but from the external cartilage of the left nostril, which is pierced for the purpose. We have also seen an ornament for the nose worn by the Koordish and Bedouin females, which has escaped the notice of illustrators of Scripture, but which we should prefer to consider as the 'nose-jewel,' when a ring is not expressly mentioned. It is a thin circular plate of gold, frequently a coin, little smaller than a half-a-crown piece, and in appearance not unlike the large fancy buttons which decorated the coats of a past generation. A turquoise is often set in the centre, over the pin by which the ornament is attached to the side of the nose, where its appearance is sufficiently striking, and always seemed to us much less pleasing than even that of the nose-ring.

-Two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold.'-That is, about four ounces and a half, which seems an extraordinary weight for a pair of bracelets. But they are still worn as heavy, or indeed much heavier, in the Fast, resembling, as Chardin remarks, rather manacles

than bracelets. They are sometimes flat in shape, but more usually round or semicircular, taking a cubical form at the section where they open to admit the hand. They have no fastenings, but open and compress by their own elasticity alone; they are, in fact, enormous rings, which we have often seen not less than an inch in diameter; but their weight, although great, is not commensurate to their size, as they are usually hollow. The weight which a woman carries on her arms is, however, not to be estimated by that of a single pair of bracelets; for no woman who can possibly get more is contented with one pair. It is not unusual to see five or six bracelets on the same arm, covering it from the wrist nearly to the elbow. These, and their other ornaments, form the sole wealth of the bulk of the women; and they are anxious, on all occasions, to accumulate it, and loath to part with it; hence, on a comparatively poor woman, living and dressing meanly, it is not uncommon to see a considerable quantity of precious metal in the ornaments of her head-dress, and of her arms and ankles; and whatever ornaments she possesses are not treasured up to be produced on grand occasions, but are worn daily as parts of her ordinary costume. Thus she puts all her bracelets on her arms at once, all her anklets on her legs, and all her ear-rings in her ears. Such ornaments form her whole personal wealth, and on their value she rests her claim to permanent consideration. This is particularly the case with the Bedouin females, who are generally well supplied with all kinds of trinkets of personal ornament; for although the Arab cares little about his own dress, he is anxious to deck his wife as richly as possible, that honour may be reflected upon himself, and that his circumstances may be properly estimated. This use of ornaments on all occasions seems to explain why Eliezer placed the nose-ring at once upon the face of Rebekah, and the bracelets upon her hands, instead of giving them to her as things to be treasured up. The material of the bracelets is exceedingly various. Gold is necessarily rare; silver is the most common; but many that seemed to be silver we have found to be plated steel. Amber, coral, mother-ofpearl, and beads, are also used for bracelets, particularly for the upper part of the arm, for, whatever be the material of the others, it is usually desired that those on the wrists should be of silver. The poorer sort of women are, however, often obliged to content themselves with rings of copper, horn, common glass beads, and other articles of inferior description. Estimating the gold by its weight, nearly five ounces, Eliezer's present was, altogether, very valuable.

25. Straw and provender.'-The straw (12 teben; Arab, tibn) seems to have been cut straw,' to render it more portable. The Septuagint renders it by axupa, chaff, which is a name applied to straw after it has been cut fine by the use of a chaff-cutter. The 'provender' was, it would seem, a mixture of several kinds of fodder, cut-straw, barley, beans, etc., so combined as to render the whole palatable. The original word is NIDD mispo, which the Septuagint translates by xopтdoμara, which is a derivative from xópros, grass, and hence signifies fodder, of which herbage is the principal ingredient. Hay is not made in the East. Cattle continue at the present day to be fed with chopped straw mixed with barley. The common reader would suppose the 'straw' to be for litter; but straw is never so employed in the East, dung, dried and pounded, being used for that purpose.

33. I will not eat, until I have told mine errand.'-A striking illustration of this is furnished by Mr. Frazer, who, in his work, The Kuzzilbash, and its sequel, The Persian Adventurer, has noticed many Oriental usages which were but little known in this country. The Persian noble, Ishmael Khan, having occasion to claim the protection of an Affghaun chief, who was known to dislike the Persians, was advised to throw himself upon the protection of this formidable person, and claim his safe conduct as a boon of hospitality. In reply, Ishmael observed, 'I might take the sanctuary of his table: the Affghauns, I believe, regard it as sacredly as we Persians.' 'No,' replied he,