EXPOSITION
And Rebekah arose, and her damsels,—probably a company, at least two, though Laban afterwards only gave each of his daughters one (Genesis 29:24, Genesis 29:29)—and they rode upon camels (most likely those which Abraham's servant had brought), and followed the man (not in fear, but in hope): and the servant took (in the sense of undertook the charge of) Rebekah (who, in his eyes, would now he invested with additional charms, as his young master's intended bride), and went his way—returning by the road he came.
And (when the bridal train was nearing home) Isaac came from the way of the well Lahai-roi;—Hagar's well (Genesis 16:7, Genesis 16:14)—for he dwelt in the south country—on the Negeb (vide Genesis 12:9). Abraham may by this time have removed from Hebron; or, if Hebron be included in the south country, Isaac may have been only on a visit to Hagar's well (Lange).
And Isaac went out to meditate—לָשׂוּח; to think (LXX; Vulgate, Murphy, Kalisch); to pray (Onkelos, Samaritan, Kimchi, Luther, Keil); to lament (Knobel, Lange); doubtless to do all three, to commune with his heart and before God; not, however, about agricultural affairs, or the improvement of his property (Knobel), but concerning his deceased mother, whom he still mourned (Genesis 24:67), though chiefly, it is probable, anent the marriage he contemplated (Keil)—in the field at the eventide. Literally, at the turning of the evening (cf. Deuteronomy 23:12; and for corresponding phrase, "when the morning draws on," Exodus 14:27; Judges 19:26; Psalms 46:6). And he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming. The bride's first glimpse of her intended spouse being, with artless simplicity though with dramatic picturesqueness, described in similar terms.
And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw (literally, and she saw, though as yet she did not know that it was) Isaac, she lighted—literally, fell; the word signifying a hasty descent (cf. 1 Samuel 25:23; 2 Kings 5:21); κατεπήδησεν (LXX.); descended (Vulgate)—off the camel. "The behavior of Rebekah was such as modern etiquette requires".
For she had said (literally, and she said; not before, but after alighting) unto the servant (of Abraham), What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us?—Isaac having obviously hastened forward to give a welcome to his bride. On learning who it was she took a veil—"the cloak-like veil of Arabia" (Keil), which covers not merely the face, but, "like a kind of large wrapper, nearly the whole form, rendering it impossible to recognize the person" (Kalisch)—and covered herself. That married ladies did not always use the yell when traveling appears from the case of Sarah (Genesis 20:16); but that brides did not discover their faces to their intended husbands until after marriage may be inferred from the case of Leah (Genesis 29:23, Genesis 29:25). Thus modestly attired, she meekly yields herself to one whom she had never before seen, in the confident persuasion that so Jehovah willed.
And Isaac—receiving an account (Genesis 24:66) from his father's faithful ambassador of all things that he had done—brought her into his mother Sarah's tent (which must have been removed from Hebron as a precious relic of the family, if by this time they had changed their abode), and took Rebekah, and she became his wife—the primitive marriage ceremony consisting solely of a taking before witnesses (vide Ruth 4:13). And he loved her. And he had every reason; for, besides being beautiful and kindly and pious, she had for his sake performed a heroic act of self-sacrifice, and, better still, had been both selected for and bestowed upon him by his own and his father's God. And Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. Literally, after his mother; the word death not being in the original, "as if the Holy Spirit would not conclude this beautiful and joyful narrative with a note of sorrow" (Wordsworth).
HOMILETICS
A bride for the heir.-4. Rebekah and Isaac, or the wedding of the bride.
I. THE PENSIVE BRIDEGROOM.
1. Mourning for his mother. Isaac's meditation clearly includes this. Good mothers, when they die, should be deeply and affectionately sorrowed for by grateful and loving sons. A son who loves his mother living forgets not to lament her dead. The best testimonial of filial piety is to know that a son tenderly regards his mother while she lives, and cherishes her memory when she is gone.
2. Musing on his bride. This too the language will admit. Scarcely could the thought of Eliezer's mission be excluded from Isaac's mind. Doubtless he would often, during the interval of his absence, have his silent wonderings about its return with the God-provided spouse. Almost certainly too his prayers would ascend to heaven on her behalf. He who asks a wife from God is most likely to receive one, and he who frequently prays for the wife of his youth is most likely to love her when she comes. Note that Isaac's mournings and musings were in the field at eventide. While any place and time will suffice for heart exercises, some places and times are more suitable than others, and none more so than the solitude of nature and the darkening of eve.
II. THE VEILED BRIDE. Springing from her camel at the sight of her intended husband, "she took a veil and covered herself." The actions indicated—
1. Rebekah's politeness. Etiquette required both. It was satisfactory at least that Isaac was about to receive as his wife a lady, one acquainted with the gentle manners of the day. Refinement, while desirable in all, is specially beautiful in woman. Elegance of manners are only second to beauty of form in a bride.
2. Rebekah's modesty. Nothing can palliate immodesty in any, least of all in the gentler sex. Hence, not only should maidens be educated with the greatest possible attention to the cultivation of pure and delicate emotions, but nothing should ever tempt them to east aside that shield of maidenly reserve which is one of their surest protections in the midst of life's dangers and seductions.
III. THE PRIMITIVE WEDDING.
1. The giving of the bride. This we can suppose was performed by Eliezer, who, by his recital of "all things that he had done," practically certified that Rebekah was the maiden whom Jehovah had provided, and now in formal act handed over to him to be his wife.
2. The taking of the bride. "Isaac took Rebekah, i.e. publicly and solemnly accepted her in the presence of witnesses as his bride. Thus, without elaborate or expensive Ceremonial, Rebekah "became his wife."
3. The home-coming of the bride. "Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent," and thus installed her in the honors as well as invested her with the privileges of matron of his house.
IV. THE HAPPY HOME.
1. Isaac loved Rebekah. "So ought husbands to love their wives as their own bodies" (Ephesians 5:28). It is their duty; it ought to be their happiness; it certainly will prove their interest.
2. Rebekah comforted Isaac. So ought wives not merely "to reverence their husbands" (Ephesians 5:33), but to soothe their sorrows, cure their cares, and dispel their despondencies.
Learn—
1. That the son who sorrows for a mother will likely prove a husband that can love a wife.
2. That maidens' charms are most attractive when seen through a veil of modesty.
3. That those marriages are most auspicious which are made by God.
4. That those homes are happiest where husband and wife love and comfort one another.
HOMILIES BY F. HASTINGS
Isaac in the field.
"And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at eventide." Isaac was one of the less prominent among the patriarchs. He seems to have lacked energy of character, but there was great devoutness. His life was like a toned picture, lacking garish coloring, but having a depth of interest. Possibly the fact that an uplifted knife had once gleamed death upon him, and that he had so narrowly escaped, may have bad great influence in giving a sober tinge to his life. Not only so, but training by such a father as Abraham must have inculcated a ready obedience to God's will, and a constant desire to know that will. In the passage above we have—
I. A GODLY HABIT INDICATED. "Went out to meditate"—to pray. There is a great difference between reverie and meditation. The one is aimless dreaming, the other, thought tending to an object. Prayer is the thought expressed. Meditation is the "nurse of prayer." Meditation stirs up the spiritual fire within. It brings us nearer to the Divine. It should be cultivated as a habit rather than be left to spasmodic impulses.
II. A PLACE WELL ADAPTED TO PRAYER SELECTED. The field or open country, where we can get away from men, is the place for fellowship with God. A free prospect lets God's power be more plainly seen. It is an advantage to get out to sea, and, leaning over the bulwark of a vessel, to realize the width of the world, the vastness of the universe and greatness of God. We should seek some place where we can specially realize the presence and power of God. "Enter into thy closet" is a command which many find it difficult to obey. At school, in business houses, there is little or no provision for solitary meditation; but with a book in hand the believer may in spirit get alone with God.
III. THE TIME CHOSEN FOR PRAYER WAS MOST FITTING. Isaac went into the field at eventide. When the fret and toil of the day were over; when the sun was setting, glorified by crimson clouds, or shaded by the purplish haze; when the blossoms were closing, and flocks were being folded; when the moon was just showing, and the stars beginning to shine out; when a hush was over nature and entering into the soul—then Isaac sought to pray; then he sought to realize the certainty of the Divine promises and the faithfulness of the Divine performance. The time accorded well with his own feelings. He still mourned for his mother (Genesis 24:67). Sorrow makes solitude congenial. Moreover, he was anticipating a change of state. He knew his father had sent Eliezer to seek for him a wife from among his own kindred, and he may have been praying that God would send him a suitable partner for life. While he was praying the answer was approaching. By prayer Isaac was prepared also to bear with the selfishness and wrong-doing of others. In Genesis 26:1. we see how he avoided quarrelling with the Philistines. Gentleness made him great, and that gentleness was intensified by prayer.—H.