… Sarah cannot come in ch. 24. Searching straight back along side story, the fresh new site might be only to the father whom, early in the section, thought that he had been near to dying. It’s probable therefore your concluding phrase went: ‘Therefore Isaac are comfortable adopting the death of his father.’…
Gunkel’s option would be perhaps not enough, however. His disagreement one “in the event that servant concerns Isaac, Isaac informs him one his father has died from the meantime,” ignores that this new servant means Isaac because “their master” up until the a couple of got an opportunity to cam (v. 65), of which area, the fresh new servant don’t have recognized one to Abraham had passed away. Additionally, the newest observe on Isaac seeking morale for their mom’s demise connects however to Sarah death (ch. 23), meaning that there’s absolutely no justification in order to emend this new verse so you can “dad.”
A good Fragment from Lifestyle
I would suggest that to begin with it was Isaac, presumably on his own step, exactly who delivers regarding his slave to get your a wife. Thus, if the slave yields which have Rebecca, the guy presents their particular right to Isaac.
As i argue within my “Isaac ahead of He had been Abraham’s Young buck” (TheTorah 2020), Abraham had previously been a different patriarch, who served alone as “father” of the nation
An editor changed the majority of the narrative (vv. 1–52), one originally worried about Isaac simply, to provide Abraham as the one who cared for his son and you will arranged to own his wedding before their passing. Ergo, the man makes reference to “their learn Abraham” (vv. twelve, twenty seven, 42, 48) and that is named “Abraham’s slave” (vv. 34, 52), and far of your discussion is all about the fresh new servant selecting a beneficial spouse with the master’s young buck.
An excellent fragment of basic sort of the newest narrative is actually managed regarding v. 53, and that identifies the brand new servant’s present in order to Rebecca’s brother and you will mom, before the end of the narrative, with just some editorial glosses (vv. 59, and 67a).
Here, the brand new slave is regarded simply as the “the fresh slave” heta Spanska kvinnor or “the man” (vv. 53, 58, 61, 65 [twice], 66), that may exactly as be easily a regard to Isaac’s slave. Significantly more somewhat, starting with verse 54, we discover “brand new slave” talking with Rebecca’s mommy and you can cousin from the “my personal master” (vv. 54, 56) in the place of “my master Abraham” (such as vv. 12, twenty seven, 35–37, 39, 42, 48):
?????? ??:?? ????????? ??????? ?????? ????? ??????? ????? ?????????? ????????? ????????? ???????????? ????? ????????? ???????????. ??:?? ??????????? ???????????? ???? ????????????? ?????? ?????? ??????????? ??????????? ???????? ????????? ??????????? ????????. ??:?? ????????? ??????? ??? ?????????? ????? ???????? ????????? ????????? ???????????? ????????? ????????.
Gen The brand new servant presented objects of gold and silver, and clothing, and you will offered them to Rebecca; in which he provided presents to their own sis and her mother. He then additionally the men with your consumed and you will eaten, plus they invested the night. After they arose next early morning, he told you, “Offer myself leave to go to my learn.”… He believed to all of them, “Do not decrease me personally, given that YHWH makes my personal errand winning. Give me hop out that i may go back at my master.”
From here up until verse 65, the latest slave is apparently discussing Isaac as he claims “my master;” this is clear when he demonstrates to you to Rebecca exactly who the guy dealing with them was.
As to why was the storyline reworked to help make the initiative to your ‚s the reason and never Isaac’s? To begin with, the brand new Abraham and you may Isaac stories was indeed separate living, and you can were not connected: Isaac wasn’t Abraham’s young man. Meanwhile, Isaac along with his young man Jacob-the daddy off Israel-belonged to help you a multiple, independent, national lifestyle.
