New Living Translation. 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. script>, Joshua Circumcises Israel in Response to Egypt's Scorn, The Mitzvah to Love God: Shadal's Polemic against the Philosophical Interpretation, Torat Emet: The Intertwined Tree of Torah and Wisdom. Where else in the Bible do we hear such a cumbersome lineage? The story of Isacc and Rebekah is very different from Abraham and Sarah. Bethuel the Syrian, Rebecca’s Father 1804 BC Bethuel the Syrian was the father of Laban and more importantly, Rebecca. Rebecca became the wife of Isaac, who was the promised son of Abraham and Sarah. All of these texts agree that Betuel is the father of Rebekah and Laban. 22). See Tzemah Yoreh, Genesis: Israel’s Origins (Kernel to Canon; Modern Scriptures, 2014), 188-189. Eliezer ’s Mission. The other place where the redactor made adjustments is in the story of the finding of Rebekah, which is from J and would originally have featured Nahor and not Betuel as her father. Dr. v. 1 (see Zech. The nation of Israel came from Jacob, and the line of Esau became the Edomites. He told them that Jehovah had blessed Abraham greatly in Canaan and that Abraham and Sarah had a son, Isaac, who was to inherit everything. Rebecca was the daughter of Bethuel, the great-niece of Abraham, and the sister of Laban. On September 20, 1851, I.O.O.F. (Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.) Deborah helped her stand strong and pious in the face of immorality and deprivation. 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…. Rebecca bore two sons, Esau and Jacob. Moreover, delaying the verb until after the genealogy would also have been awkward. 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. See, Hermann Gunkel, Genesis (trans. “Rebekah Ran to her “Mother’s Household”: Where Was her Father?”. When Rebecca was a young girl living in an immoral society with her deceitful father and brother, she had a support system. In the MT, the word is plural “brothers” (×Ö²×Öµ×) and is likely meant to convey the vaguer concept “kinsmen,” since Rebekah is clearly not the daughter of Abraham’s “brothers” (in plural). 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. Piles of the sweet-smelling hay, where Rebekah had hidden from her brothers on lazy fall afternoons, were engulfed by the roaring, ravenous flames. A Wife for Isaac: From Abraham’s Hometown or Family? This (and the second answer of Nachmanides) explains why Jacob was so affected by her passing. In this text, Betuel is not the son of Nahor or Isaac’s cousin.[6]. In that genealogy, Aram is also the father of Uz, whereas in Gen 22, Uz is his father’s older brother. Rebekah (Rebecca) was the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. This very detailed lineage in Genesis 24 contrasts starkly with the description of Rebekah’s family in Genesis 25: In this text, Rebekah is merely the daughter Betuel the Aramean and the sister of Laban. Even when Rebekah was barren, Isaac stayed with her and prayed for her. Rebekah is brought from her family to Isaac, who finds comfort in her after… window.location.replace(""); For three years Sarah ’s tent remained vacant. Later in Genesis, however, Nahor is presented as Laban’s father. The servant came to a well and prayed that the next young woman who came to the well and gave him water would be Isaac's wife. Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah. However, over time, she had the courage and strength from heaven to believe that "God in His great mercy decides what is best for each one." 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… Despite the awkward syntax, I am unconvinced that the entire genealogy was added here as it is important to the story. 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. [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. Thankfully, Isaac was a different man from his fabled father. [1] This piece is an expanded version of an older archived piece, “Was Betuel Lavan’s Father? 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. New International Version. Isaac and Rebekah maintained a monogamous relationship. Oops! No mention is made of Betuel’s father or mother. Isaac relied on his father to select a bride for him when he was 40 years old. 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, … | Dr. Rebekah was Isaac's wife and Jacob and Esau's mother. He told Esau that he wished to bestow his blessing upon him before he died. Rabbi Zev Farber Stay updated with the latest scholarship I would like to receive new essays This same lineage was also mentioned earlier when the text introduces the reader to Rebekah (v. 15), and is repeated by the servant when he retells this story (v. 47). Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died — It appears, on computation, that this event took place not less than a hundred and twenty-five years after Rebekah’s marriage with Isaac. Abraham was eager to have Isaac marry a woman of the character and stature of Sarah. Isaac prayed for Rebekah because she was barren. She was also the sister of Laban and the aunt of Jacob's future wives: Rachel and Leah. But even with the best medical care and over an hour of doctors trying everything possible, my father died. The younger Jacob was Rebekah’s favorite. The inside of their cozy barn was ablaze. Issac loved Rebekah. Rebekah later became the mother of Jacob and Esau … Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father… (Both commentaries were published the same year.) You could say my mother's prayer was not answered. Isaac himself was completely immersed in the study and in the service of G‑d.It was obvious to Abraham that he could not … Milkah bore these eight sons to Abraham's brother Nahor. Isaac & Rebekah: The Fairytale Romance. As he was praying, Rebekah came, gave the servant … Summary Abraham sends his servant to his relatives in Mesopotamia to find a wife for his son Isaac. Why this unusual and cumbersome introduction? Launched Shavuot 5773 / 2013 | Copyright © Project TABS, All Rights Reserved. The only important fact about Rebekah is that she is from Abraham’s family. Isaac's bride should be properly attired. And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother. Rabbi Zev Farber is a fellow at Project TABS and editor of TheTorah.com. became the first fraternity in the United States to accept women when it adopted the Degree of Rebekah. The yoke her father had hewn by hand as a boy was charred, hanging on a blackened beam. He sent his servant to the city of Nahor to find her. Something went wrong while submitting the form. See his analysis of the revisions in this chapter (which he again attributes to Bridger) in Yoreh, Genesis, 204-211. Not only does she mention her father (Betuel), and her grandfather (Nahor), but even her grandmother (Milkah)! Don’t miss the latest essays from TheTorah.com. 24 and 47, my suggestions agree with Yoreh’s. 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 Genesis, Isaac's father, Abraham had been looking for a wife for his son Isaac. from Hebrew University in Jewish History (biblical period focus). 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. He holds a Ph.D. from Emory University in Jewish Religious Cultures (Hebrew Bible focus) and an M.A. 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]. 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. Please support us. With regard to the editing of vv. 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. 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. Some other verses in this story also suggest that Nahor is the father of Laban and Rebekah. For almost twenty years she struggled with bareness and finally at… So in ‘Jehu, son of Nimshi,’ 2 K. ix. 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. An Analysis of Lavan and Rebekah’s Genealogy,” TheTorah.com (2014). Thus, it seems likely that the MT’s pointing is an attempt to avoid the implication that Rebekah is Nahor’s daughter. 1). [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. 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. 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 Rebecca's brother was Laban the Aramean, and she was the granddaughter of Milcah and Nahor, the brother of Abraham. 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]. In addition to these eight sons from Milcah, English Standard Version. 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. TheTorah.com is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.We rely on the support of readers like you. Yahweh provides the servant with a sign by sending Rebekah to give him and his ten camels water to drink. (NIV) Genesis 27:14-17 So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. Genesis 24:15,24,47 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…. Rebekah (Heb. Bethuel was also related to Abraham through his parents Nahor and Milcah. Bethuel (Hebrew: בְּתוּאֵל – Bəṯūʾēl, “house of God”), in the Hebrew Bible, was an Aramean man, the youngest son of Nahor and Milcah, the nephew of Abraham, and the father of Laban and Rebecca.. Bethuel was also a town in the territory of the tribe of Simeon, west of the Dead Sea. While the Church traditionally recognizes the … Their arranged marriage is a fairytale of divine ordination. This was way before the United States government allowed women to vote or run for public office. Thus, it is understandable that the lineage would include her father and her grandfather, since the latter is Abraham’s brother. Betuel is mentioned again in a similar way when Isaac sends Jacob off to marry one of Laban’s daughters: Again, we hear that Betuel is Rebekah’s father, but nothing about his being the son of Nahor or Milkah or related in any way to Isaac and Abraham. Rebekah is the second daughter of Mikael and Esther, wealthy land owners from the Kingdom of Norway in the 10th century. But why include her grandmother? Samuel R. Driver, The Book of Genesis with Introduction and Notes (London: Methuan, 1916), 269. Esau cries out in anguish, “Bless me—me also, O my father! Bethuel the Syrian was the granddaughter of Milcah and Nahor, Abraham 's brother the of. Holds a Ph.D. from Emory University in Jewish Religious who was rebekah's father? 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