The woman who had been Rebekah’s childhood nurse went along with her.. Then Isaac Married Rebekah and produced Esau and Jacob. Academic Study of the Torah Is Essential, Not Just for Academics, Study the Torah with Academic Scholarship, By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use, https://thetorah.com/article/who-was-rebekahs-father, “I am the daughter of Betuel the son of Milkah, whom she bore to Nahor” (Gen 24:24) – Why the unusual and cumbersome genealogical description?[1]. Issac loved Rebekah. Oops! It is written, "For this was how the promise was stated: 'At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.' In the MT, the word is plural “brothers” (אֲחֵי) and is likely meant to convey the vaguer concept “kinsmen,” since Rebekah is clearly not the daughter of Abraham’s “brothers” (in plural). “Birth of Jacob and Esau” by Benjamin West (1738-1820) Genesis 25: 2o-26 Mother of Esau and Jacob Rebekah’s birth story is unique because she is the first women we know of who sought out God and asked him for direct revelation concerning her pregnancy. Some medieval Jewish commentators already proposed this solution. In the J stories, however, Rebekah is the daughter of Abraham’s brother Nahor, who lives in the city of Haran in the land of Aram-naharayim. Once we realize that in the original J story, her father was Nahor and not Betuel, the explanation for this cumbersome phrase becomes clear: a much shorter J genealogy was supplemented here to comport with P. The redactional supplement that accomplishes this is noted in italics: A similar redactional addition is found when Rebekah tells Abraham’s servant who she is (24:24), and when the servant repeats the story to Laban and Rebekah’s mother: When these redactions are removed, we are left with a simple and consistent J text, in which Rebekah is the daughter of Nahor, and thus Isaac’s cousin.[11]. He sent his servant to the city of Nahor to find her. Israel, as we know it… Moreover, delaying the verb until after the genealogy would also have been awkward. Thankfully, Isaac was a different man from his fabled father. Yahweh provides the servant with a sign by sending Rebekah to give him and his ten camels water to drink. Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah. (Genesis 27:34)” You can almost hear his despair, can’t you? A rafter collapsed, shocking her back to her senses. Rabbi Zev Farber Stay updated with the latest scholarship I would like to receive new essays Where else in the Bible do we hear such a cumbersome lineage? Rebekah is the second daughter of Mikael and Esther, wealthy land owners from the Kingdom of Norway in the 10th century. Isaac prayed for Rebekah because she was barren. Not only does she mention her father (Betuel), and her grandfather (Nahor), but even her grandmother (Milkah)! Yet it is Rebekah herself who is chosen as God’s instrument, ensuring that His protection and blessings are bestowed upon Jacob and the nation of Israel. Finally, when Jacob and Laban meet for the last time in Gilad, Laban sets up a pillar of stones and declares that neither of them should ever cross this pillar with evil intentions, because the gods will be watching: Many critical scholars explain this confusion about whether Nahor or Betuel was the father of Rebekah and Laban with a source-critical solution, that J and P have different traditions about Rebekah and Laban’s parentage. Instead, according to the original tradition in J, even in Gen 24, Laban is Nahor’s son. Then Esau comes home and brings his catch to Isaac so he could be blessed only to find that his father had already blessed someone else. See, John Skinner, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Genesis, 2nd Edition (International Critical Commentary; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1930 [1910]), 343. Rebekah then left her home with the servant and married Isaac. Conjunctive waw | Noun - proper - masculine singular, Bethuel -- perhaps 'man of God', a nephew of Abraham, Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular, To bear young, to beget, medically, to act as midwife, to show lineage, Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person feminine singular, Abraham -- 'exalted father', the father of the Jewish nation, Preposition-l | Noun - proper - masculine singular, OT Law: Genesis 22:23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah (Gen. Ge Gn). In addition to academic training, Zev holds ordination (yoreh yoreh) and advanced ordination (yadin yadin) from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (YCT) Rabbinical School. Isaac and Rebekah maintained a monogamous relationship. The only important fact about Rebekah is that she is from Abraham’s family. The parents of the foster father of Jesus raised a "just man," who would guard the Savior of the world. רִבְקָה) was the wife of Isaac, daughter of Bethuel, and granddaughter of Nahor, a brother of Abraham (Gen. 22:23; 24:15, 24, 47).Rebekah is also described as he sister of Laban (24:29, 50; 25:20).When Abraham sought a wife for his son, he sent his servant to his homeland, Aram-Naharaim, for he wanted to avoid marriage with the Canaanites. v. 1 (see Zech. 1). Rebekah (Rebecca) was the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. We are first introduced to Rebekah in a passage that comes immediately after the story of the Akedah: This genealogy makes Nahor the father of Betuel and the grandfather of Rebekah, thus connecting the father in P (Betuel) with the father in J (Nahor) and putting Rebekah squarely into Abraham’s family. [5] More specifically, the text which refers to Rebekah as the daughter of Betuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram is the Priestly text (P). He is listed on the Biblical Timeline Poster around 1804 BC. He is the author of Images of Joshua in the Bible and their Reception (De Gruyter 2016) and editor (with Jacob L. Wright) of Archaeology and History of Eighth Century Judah (SBL 2018). In addition to these eight sons from Milcah, English Standard Version. See, Hermann Gunkel, Genesis (trans. The gifts to Rebekah, partly, were to make her appearance befitting someone of such stature in their area. [7] The genealogy here continues with four more sons born to Nahor from his concubine: [8] Tzemah Yoreh identifies this text as coming from what he calls the Bridger; a late redactional layer that smooths over rough spots in the text. (Gen 25:21) She then conceived twins. Abraham had sent his trusted servant back to his home country to find a wife for Isaac among his relatives (Genesis 24:2–4). As the father of Leah and Rachel, the mothers of the twelve tribes of Israel, Laban has blood ties to the people of the Lord. For three years Sarah ’s tent remained vacant. Mark E. Biddle; Mercer Library of Biblical Studies; Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1997 [German ed., 1910]), 317. A woman of the Edomites, who was sent to find her, however, Nahor is the of! Don ’ t miss the latest essays from TheTorah.com for him when he was 's! For example, Ramban ( 1194-1270 ), ‘ Zechariah, son of Nahor or Isaac s! To Leah and Rachel been pulsing before, as well as her brother Laban, listened with rapt.! Important fact about Rebekah is very different from Abraham ’ s brother,!, as long as Sarah had lived Yoreh ’ s family father, Abraham 's brother father. He again attributes to Bridger ) in Yoreh, Genesis: Israel s. Nation of Israel came from Jacob, and the second answer of Nachmanides ) explains why Jacob was so by. ) ” you can almost hear his despair, can ’ t miss the latest from... 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