SCRIPTURAL SERIES. 
 
 AND REBEKAH 
 
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ISAAC AND REBEKAH. 
 
 BRAHAM, the 
 father of Isaac, was 
 born in the country 
 of Mesopotamia, which was a part of Syria, about three 
 thousand years before the birth of Christ. He lived for a 
 very long time in the land of his birth, among his own 
 kindred, and was possessed of great wealth in gold and 
 silver, and vast flocks of sheep and herds of cattle ; but, 
 what is better still, he was a good man, and God loved 
 him, because he walked in his ways. 
 
 Now when Abraham was somewhat advanced in years, 
 the Lord commanded him to leave his native place and go 
 to the land of Canaan, a fertile and beautiful country, now 
 called Palestine, or the Holy Land. And God promised 
 to give all that country to him and his posterity, that is, 
 to his children and their children after them, for all gene- 
 rations-; and God also told him that he should be the father 
 of many nations, that would be great and powerful in after 
 ines. But how was this to come to pass? for Abraham 
 
 1 neither son nor daughter ; however, he trusted in the 
 1 
 
his people, his flocks, and herds, 
 
 to the land of Canaan, where he settled, and in time became 
 lord of the whole country. 
 
 The people of those countries did not then live in houses, 
 but in tents, as the wandering Arabs do at the present 
 day; and thus Abraham lived in the midst of his people, 
 and was their ruler, their priest, and their judge; for there 
 was no king, therefore this was called the patriarchal form 
 of government, meaning the kind of authority that a father 
 lias over his children. Still Abraham had no son to inherit 
 his lands, which caused him much grief; for years passed 
 away, and he and his wife were both very old. 
 
 At length God appeared to him in a dream, and said, that 
 he was now about to send him a son, who was to be named 
 Isaac, and through whom, the promise lie had made to 
 Abraham, of his family's future greatness, was to be ful- 
 filled ; and so it came to pass ; for Isaac was the father of 
 * Jacob, who had twelve sons, and their families, in course 
 -of time, formed the twelve tribes of Israel, who divided; 
 
 ®the land of Canaan amongst them, and constitur ' ■ 1 -.j*s« 
 
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 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/isaacrebekahOOdean 
 
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Sarah his wife rejoiced greatly ^ 
 
 when Isaac was born ; and they had reason to take plea- 
 sure in him, for he was a child of an excellent disposition, 
 being brought up to reverence and obey his parents, and 
 to fear the Lord. He lived to the age of forty, without 
 being married, when his father was anxious that he should 
 have a wife from among his own family or kindred, and 
 not from those of a stranger; so he resolved to send to his 
 former country, where many of his relatives still resided, 
 to seek a damsel for his son's bride. 
 
 But Abraham's strong affection for his only child, made 
 him unwilling to let Isaac go by himself; so he commis- 
 sioned his steward, who was an old and faithful servant, to 
 go to Haran, the place of his birth, and select a wife for 
 his son from among the maidens of his own kindred ; and 
 he sent many presents to be given to the damsel and her 
 friends. Some of these were jewels and bridal dresses, 
 the latter being probably vests of rich silk, as such gar- 
 ments were always among the wedding clothes of a bride 
 ^opulent circumstances, who also wore a veil that covered 
 
customary, in the east, to send 
 presents on such occasions, and 
 
 indeed no one ever makes a visit without being provided 
 with some gift for the person to whom the visit is paid. 
 Even the poorest people follow this custom, as far as their 
 circumstances will allow, and when they go to see each 
 other, will carry with them a flower, an orange, or some 
 other trifle, to present to their friend. 
 
 But to return to our story. The steward set out on his 
 errand, attended by several of his master's servants, with 
 ten camels to carry provisions and water for the journey. 
 The camel is the most useful of all animals in the east, 
 since, without it, there would be no possibility of traversing 
 the sandy plains in those countries. 
 
 The steward at length arrived at the city in which his 
 master's kinsmen dwelt, and finding a well near the place, 
 he stopped at it to give the camels drink. It was evening, 
 
&I the city were coming out with their 
 pitchers to get water ; for in those 
 times the manners of the people were so simple, that the 
 daughters of the richest men fetched water from the wells 
 for the use of the family ; we therefore need not think it 
 strange that Abraham's servant should look among these 
 damsels for a suitable bride for his young master. But he 
 was afraid of trusting to his own judgment, so he prayed 
 to God to send him a sign, by which he might know how 
 to make his choice, saying, " Lord, I pray thee, 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 answer, ' Drink, and I will give thy camels 
 drink also;' — let the same be her that Thou hast ap- 
 pointed for Thy servant Isaac." 
 
 He had scarcely made an end to his prayer, when he 
 saw a beautiful young girl coming towards the well, with 
 
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her pitcher thrown over 
 her shoulder ; so he went to meet h 
 her, and asked her to give him a ^BR 
 little water to drink. She answered, with ready kindness, 
 "Drink, my lord; and I will draw water for thy camels, 
 also." Then the man thanked God in his heart for sending 
 him the sign he had prayed for; and said to himself, " This 
 is surely the maiden whom the Lord has appointed to be 
 the wife of my master's son." He then enquired what 
 was her name? and whose daughter she was? when, to 
 his great joy, he found she was Rebekah, the daughter 
 of Nabor, who was Abraham's brother. 
 
 By all these circumstances, we may see that the marriage 
 of Isaac and Rebekah was by the especial will of God, who 
 put it into the heart of the steward to pray for a sign by 
 which he might know on whom to fix his choice. 
 
 That wise and trusty servant then took from among the 
 presents he had brought, a pair of golden bracelets, weigh- 
 ing ten shekels, which was equal to five ounces ; and put 
 them on the arms of Rebekah ; and he also gave her a 
 golden ornament which, in the Bible, is called an ear-ring. 
 
 Rebekah ran to shew th^-presents to her brother Laban, 
 
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who immediately went to ^^w 
 invite the stranger to go home 
 with him, and offered him lodg- 
 ing and entertainment for himself, his men, and camels, 
 as long as he chose to remain there. The steward went 
 home with him, and a supper was presently prepared ; but 
 before he could eat, he made known his errand in that 
 country ; told how God had directed him to choose Rebe- 
 kah, in preference to any other damsel ; and asked her 
 mother and brother if they are willing to let her return 
 with him, to marry her cousin Isaac? to which they con- 
 sented ; for they saw that it was the will of God that this 
 marriage should take place, and they doubted not that 
 Isaac, like his father Abraham, was a good man. 
 
 The steward then presented the gifts he had brought, 
 after which he sat down to supper, feeling sure that he 
 had clone right, and that his master, Abraham, would be 
 pleased with him. 
 
 On the following morning, he requested leave to depart; 
 but the friends of Rebekah begged he would permit her to 
 stay with them a few days longer. However, he said it 
 was his duty to return as qujplrlv as possible; therefore, 
 
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 they agreed to let the 
 damsel decide for herself, whether 
 she would go or not; and she 
 consented to go. Then they objected no longer; and 
 Rebekah, taking an affectionate leave of her mother and 
 brother, set out with the trusty steward, accompanied by 
 her nurse, and several other female attendants. 
 
 One evening, as Isaac was watching in the fields, he saw 
 the camels returning, and women riding on them. He hast- 
 ened to meet them ; and, when Rebekah saw them coming, 
 she alighted from her camel, and put her veil over her, to 
 conceal her face, according to the custom of the maidens of 
 that country, at those times, and to this day. The steward 
 then related to Isaac all that had happened, at which he 
 was much pleased, and taking Rebekah by the hand, led 
 her to the tent, which had been the abode of Sarah, his 
 mother, who was long since dead. 
 
 They were married according to the Jewish customs, 
 with the blessings of their father Abraham, and lived very 
 happily together, for many years; and their sons were 
 Esau and Jacob, whose interesting history will be related 
 in another book. 
 
 8 
 

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