In Genesis, Isaac's father, Abraham had been looking for a wife for his son Isaac. v. 1 (see Zech. This is clear from the fact that it references Aram—the eponymous ancestor of the Arameans—as the son of Kemuel and thus Nahor’s grandson and Betuel’s nepew. In addition to academic training, Zev holds ordination (yoreh yoreh) and advanced ordination (yadin yadin) from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (YCT) Rabbinical School. 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]. And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother. The text was likely added by a redactor for exactly this purpose. See, Hermann Gunkel, Genesis (trans. This was way before the United States government allowed women to vote or run for public office. Today we meet another figure with a prominent role in the history of God’s people. Rebecca and Isaac were one of the four couples that some believe are buried in the Cave of the Patriarchs, the other three being Adam and Eve, Abraha… The woman who had been Rebekah’s childhood nurse went along with her.. Then Isaac Married Rebekah and produced Esau and Jacob. In that genealogy, Aram is also the father of Uz, whereas in Gen 22, Uz is his father’s older brother. Mark E. Biddle; Mercer Library of Biblical Studies; Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1997 [German ed., 1910]), 317. 20 (see v. 14), ‘Zechariah, son of Iddo,’ Ezr. But in both J and P, Rebekah’s father lives among the Arameans, or is himself an Aramean, implying they were already a people![9]. 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). Later in Genesis, however, Nahor is presented as Laban’s father. Isaac himself was completely immersed in the study and in the service of G‑d.It was obvious to Abraham that he could not … [This article continues after… Betuel, Rebekah’s father, mysteriously appears and disappears in the negotiations over Rebekah’s marriage. TheTorah.com is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.We rely on the support of readers like you. It seems so cruel what Jacob did. Isaac & Rebekah: The Fairytale Romance. 22:23 —Betuel being the father of Rebekah. descendant, Laban being in reality son of Bethuel (xxviii. Her brother Laban came out to welcome the servant and invited him to stay with them. (Both commentaries were published the same year.) Please consider supporting TheTorah.com. For example, when the servant heads to Abraham’s home town, the text states that he was headed to “the city of Nahor” (v. 10), not the city of Betuel. Rabbi Zev Farber is a fellow at Project TABS and editor of TheTorah.com. Summary Abraham sends his servant to his relatives in Mesopotamia to find a wife for his son Isaac. Rebecca became the wife of Isaac, who was the promised son of Abraham and Sarah. While the Church traditionally recognizes the … Abraham, advanced in years and blessed with wealth, charges his servant with finding a wife from outside the local Canaanite families, for Isaac: After the servant asks what to do if the woman prefers that Isaac move to her land instead, Abraham warns the servant never to bring Isaac out of Canaan, but reassures him that the plan will work: Abraham’s reference to YHWH taking him out of his homeland, his birth place, and his father’s house harkens back to the first command Abraham received from YHWH in the opening of the Abraham narrative: Abraham does not name this homeland when speaking with the servant, but the text tells us soon after that the land is called Aram-naharayim: The city is here referred to incidentally, as the city of Nahor, who is Abraham’s brother. This (and the second answer of Nachmanides) explains why Jacob was so affected by her passing. In addition to these eight sons from Milcah, English Standard Version. // Javascript URL redirection Rebekah (Rebecca) was the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. Even when Rebekah was barren, Isaac stayed with her and prayed for her. You could say my mother's prayer was not answered. Israel, as we know it… He was Isaac’s cousin, and later he became Isaac’s brother-in-law after Rebecca’s marriage. The only important fact about Rebekah is that she is from Abraham’s family. Isaac relied on his father to select a bride for him when he was 40 years old. Hebrew-English Text I. Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah. Have you only one blessing, my father? script type="text/javascript"> | Dr. But why include her grandmother? Don’t miss the latest essays from TheTorah.com. Her mother gave birth to Freya, Finn, and Elijah in the Old World, but after Freya was sent away with Esther's sister Dahlia as payment for Esther's fertility spell (which was later covered up by Esther, who claimed Freya had died of the plague), Esther and Mikael were so devastated that … Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Previously, God promised Abraham He would be the father of a great nation and the only way to pass this down was through Abraham’s son, Isaac i. (Genesis 27:34)” You can almost hear his despair, can’t you? notes: This answer is problematic. Rebekah Her life, personality, and legacy is intricately and irretrievably woven within the fabric around the Bible’s most extraordinary men: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 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. 24 and 47, my suggestions agree with Yoreh’s. Rebekah (Heb. This is narrated when Jacob runs away to Laban’s city to escape Esau and goes to the well and speaks the local shepherds: In this text, not only is Laban’s father Nahor rather than Betuel,[4] but the name of the city is Haran, not Padan-aram. Esau was born first, and he was Isaac’s favorite son (Genesis 25:28). [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. from Hebrew University in Jewish History (biblical period focus). A Wife for Isaac: From Abraham’s Hometown or Family? Not only does she mention her father (Betuel), and her grandfather (Nahor), but even her grandmother (Milkah)! We rely on the support of readers like you. When the servant found Rebekah, he made the purpose of his visit known, and she ran and told her father’s household the news. (Gen 25:21) She then conceived twins. [7] 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. “Rebekah Ran to her “Mother’s Household”: Where Was her Father?”. Esau cries out in anguish, “Bless me—me also, O my father! In fact, this awkward syntax is glossed over in many English translation (e.g., NJPS, NRSV), by putting the genealogy immediately after her name is mentioned. Where else in the Bible do we hear such a cumbersome lineage? No doubt Rebekah was now dead, and this old nurse, who had come with her into Canaan, (Genesis 24:59,) and had tarried with her while she lived, was, after her death, taken into Jacob’s family, … The younger Jacob was Rebekah’s favorite. THE REBEKAHS. window.location.replace(""); The inside of their cozy barn was ablaze. 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. Laban was also the father-in-law and uncle to Jacob through marriage to Leah and Rachel. Brother Schuyler Colfax, U.S. Vice President from 1869 to 1873, was the force behind the movement. E – Eleazar, Rebekah’s Father April 6, 2015 by diannegsagan 4 Comments In a continuation of the discussion about my book, Rebekah Redeemed, I’d like you to meet Rebekah’s father Eleazar. According to biblical tradition, Rebecca's father was Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram, also called Aram-Naharaim. Some other verses in this story also suggest that Nahor is the father of Laban and Rebekah. Imagine Eliezer telling his story as Rebekah’s father, Bethuel, as well as her brother Laban, listened with rapt attention. He told Esau that he wished to bestow his blessing upon him before he died. The yoke her father had hewn by hand as a boy was charred, hanging on a blackened beam. See his analysis of the revisions in this chapter (which he again attributes to Bridger) in Yoreh, Genesis, 204-211. 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. But in context of the entire book of Genesis, the motives of the two parents are quite different. Laban was the son of Bethuel and Milcah and brother to Rebecca. [11] The reference to Betuel in 24:50 is also likely redactional, and in any case, causes an enormous narrative problem. Although other suggestions have been floated with regard to J’s conception of Rebekah’s parentage, Gunkel and Skinner’s suggestion remains the most persuasive. Genesis 35:8. Rebekah first watered the camels of Abraham's servant who was sent to find a bride for his son Issac. It is only in the combined and redacted Pentateuch text that we find both traditions combined into one extensive and cumbersome genealogy in which Rebekah is both the daughter of Betuel, the granddaughter of Nahor and Milkah, and a cousin of Isaac. Rebekah later became the mother of Jacob and Esau … Romans 9:10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; These eight Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother. Genesis 28:2,5 Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother…, Genesis 24:51,60,67 Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the LORD hath spoken…. 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]. All of these texts agree that Betuel is the father of Rebekah and Laban. 5), and grandson of Nahor (xxii. [8], The list was probably not created out of whole cloth by the editor, but borrowed from somewhere else and adapted to its current context. It was the custom in those days for the father of the groom to give things of value to the family of the bride, but this was much more than the ordinary, mainly because of the great wealth of Abraham. Rebecca's brother was Laban the Aramean, and she was the granddaughter of Milcah and Nahor, the brother of Abraham. But Laban does not share Jacob’s faith (Gen. 29:1–30; 31:2), and not surprisingly, he gives God’s chosen man much grief. Rebekah is the second daughter of Mikael and Esther, wealthy land owners from the Kingdom of Norway in the 10th century. Their father did not know that Esau had sold his birthright to Jacob, so he asked Esau to go out into the fields and bring him some meat for supper. 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). 22). For example, Ramban (1194-1270), in his commentary (ad loc.) As he was praying, Rebekah came, gave the servant … Isaac and Rebekah maintained a monogamous relationship. Despite the awkward syntax, I am unconvinced that the entire genealogy was added here as it is important to the story. Bethuel was also related to Abraham through his parents Nahor and Milcah. Yahweh provides the servant with a sign by sending Rebekah to give him and his ten camels water to drink. Something went wrong while submitting the form. An Analysis of Lavan and Rebekah’s Genealogy,” TheTorah.com (2014). Deborah helped her stand strong and pious in the face of immorality and deprivation. Thus, it is understandable that the lineage would include her father and her grandfather, since the latter is Abraham’s brother. Rebekah was Isaac's wife and Jacob and Esau's mother. [4] Some critical biblical scholars solve this problem by suggesting that בן, “son of” in 29:5 really means “descendent of.” For example, the British scholar S. R. Driver (1846-1914), Regius Professor of Hebrew at Oxford, notes other cases where son, בן, means grandson: “Son.” i.e. Salvation by the promise of God is not according to man's works, but according to God's election. [5] More specifically, the text which refers to Rebekah as the daughter of Betuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram is the Priestly text (P). 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. [10] Yoreh suggests a slightly different redaction here, namely that the entire genealogy here was added later, noting that the genealogy comes awkwardly after the verb. Their arranged marriage is a fairytale of divine ordination. No mention is made of Betuel’s father or mother. The story of Isacc and Rebekah is very different from Abraham and Sarah. 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