Rebekah

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

(snare). Wife of Isaac and mother of Jacob and Esau (Gen. 22:23; 24-28; 49:31²³And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother. (Genesis 22:23)
²³And said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee: is there room in thy father's house for us to lodge in? ²⁴And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor. ²⁵She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in. ²⁶And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the Lord. ²⁷And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren. ²⁸And the damsel ran, and told them of her mother's house these things. ²⁹And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the well. ³⁰And it came to pass, when he saw the earring and bracelets upon his sister's hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the well. ³¹And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels. ³²And the man came into the house: and he ungirded his camels, and gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the men's feet that were with him. ³³And there was set meat before him to eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on. ³⁴And he said, I am Abraham's servant. ³⁵And the Lord hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses. ³⁶And Sarah my master's wife bare a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he hath. ³⁷And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell: ³⁸But thou shalt go unto my father's house, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son. ³⁹And I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman will not follow me. ⁴⁰And he said unto me, The Lord, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father's house: ⁴¹Then shalt thou be clear from this my oath, when thou comest to my kindred; and if they give not thee one, thou shalt be clear from my oath. ⁴²And I came this day unto the well, and said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way which I go: ⁴³Behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass, that when the virgin cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink; ⁴⁴And she say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman whom the Lord hath appointed out for my master's son. ⁴⁵And before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the well, and drew water: and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee. ⁴⁶And she made haste, and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: so I drank, and she made the camels drink also. ⁴⁷And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bare unto him: and I put the earring upon her face, and the bracelets upon her hands. ⁴⁸And I bowed down my head, and worshipped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter unto his son. ⁴⁹And now if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me: and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left. ⁵⁰Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the Lord: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good. ⁵¹Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the Lord hath spoken. ⁵²And it came to pass, that, when Abraham's servant heard their words, he worshipped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. ⁵³And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things. ⁵⁴And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master. ⁵⁵And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go. ⁵⁶And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master. ⁵⁷And they said, We will call the damsel, and inquire at her mouth. ⁵⁸And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. ⁵⁹And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men. ⁶⁰And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them. ⁶¹And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way. ⁶²And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahai-roi; for he dwelt in the south country. ⁶³And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming. ⁶⁴And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. ⁶⁵For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself. ⁶⁶And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done. ⁶⁷And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. ¹Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. ²And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. ³And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim. ⁴And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. ⁵And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. ⁶But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country. ⁷And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years. ⁸Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people. ⁹And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre; ¹⁰The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife. ¹¹And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi. ¹²Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham: ¹³And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, ¹⁴And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa, ¹⁵Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah: ¹⁶These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations. ¹⁷And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people. ¹⁸And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: and he died in the presence of all his brethren. ¹⁹And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham begat Isaac: ²⁰And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan-aram, the sister to Laban the Syrian. ²¹And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. ²²And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the Lord. ²³And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. ²⁴And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. ²⁵And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. ²⁶And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them. ²⁷And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. ²⁸And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob. ²⁹And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: ³⁰And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. ³¹And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. ³²And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? ³³And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. ³⁴Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright. ¹And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. ²And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: ³Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; ⁴And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; ⁵Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. ⁶And Isaac dwelt in Gerar: ⁷And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon. ⁸And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife. ⁹And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her. ¹⁰And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us. ¹¹And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death. ¹²Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him. ¹³And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: ¹⁴For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him. ¹⁵For all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth. ¹⁶And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we. ¹⁷And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. ¹⁸And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them. ¹⁹And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water. ²⁰And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him. ²¹And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah. ²²And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land. ²³And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba. ²⁴And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake. ²⁵And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac's servants digged a well. ²⁶Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army. ²⁷And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you? ²⁸And they said, We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee; ²⁹That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now the blessed of the Lord. ³⁰And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink. ³¹And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. ³²And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water. ³³And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day. ³⁴And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite: ³⁵Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah. ¹And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I. ²And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death: ³Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison; ⁴And make me savory meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die. ⁵And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. ⁶And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying, ⁷Bring me venison, and make me savory meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the Lord before my death. ⁸Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee. ⁹Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savory meat for thy father, such as he loveth: ¹⁰And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death. ¹¹And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man: ¹²My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. ¹³And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them. ¹⁴And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savory meat, such as his father loved. ¹⁵And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son: ¹⁶And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck: ¹⁷And she gave the savory meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. ¹⁸And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son? ¹⁹And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy firstborn; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. ²⁰And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord thy God brought it to me. ²¹And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not. ²²And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. ²³And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands: so he blessed him. ²⁴And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am. ²⁵And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat: and he brought him wine, and he drank. ²⁶And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son. ²⁷And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed: ²⁸Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: ²⁹Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee. ³⁰And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. ³¹And he also had made savory meat, and brought it unto his father, and said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me. ³²And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau. ³³And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed. ³⁴And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father. ³⁵And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing. ³⁶And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? ³⁷And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son? ³⁸And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept. ³⁹And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above; ⁴⁰And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck. ⁴¹And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob. ⁴²And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee. ⁴³Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran; ⁴⁴And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother's fury turn away; ⁴⁵Until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of you both in one day? ⁴⁶And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me? ¹And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. ²Arise, go to Padan-aram, 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. ³And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; ⁴And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham. ⁵And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padan-aram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother. ⁶When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padan-aram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan; ⁷And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padan-aram; ⁸And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father; ⁹Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife. ¹⁰And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran. ¹¹And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. ¹²And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. ¹³And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; ¹⁴And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. ¹⁵And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. ¹⁶And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. ¹⁷And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. ¹⁸And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. ¹⁹And he called the name of that place Beth-el: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. ²⁰And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, ²¹So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God: ²²And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee. ¹Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east. (Genesis 24:23‑29:1)
³¹There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah. (Genesis 49:31)).

Concise Bible Dictionary:

We adore God’s grace and condescension in presenting to us what most intimately concerns our interests, as well as His own glory, portion by portion, “here a little, and there a little,” so that notwithstanding our lowliness, yea, in our lowliness, we may enjoy communion with Him. “We know in part.” The lamb in Egypt, the Red Sea, and the Jordan, combinedly illustrate in type His blessed salvation. The shepherd, the diligent woman, and the father of Luke 15, give us the seal of the Godhead, that this salvation should be the portion of the lost, and His joy when it becomes so. The sacrifices also unfold to us even now the manifold glories of the cross of the Son of God. No one thing could serve as a perfect illustration of the truth, and no one person could manifest it, however devoted to God, save the One in whom all foreshadowings blend, and on whom the most attenuated rays of divine light converge, even Jesus, who is the Truth. Whatever of true zeal, love, devotedness to God, or glory according to God, is manifest in man down here, it is but the feeble reflection of what is in Him. Wherever there has been acquiescence in God’s evident arrangements, it but pointed forward to Him who lived “by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God.” We have two beautiful examples of such acquiescence in the subjects of this paper-Rebekah’s acceptance of God’s arrangements for Abraham’s son through his aged servant, as well as Abigail’s determined acknowledgment of David’s royalty, then seen only by faith. This enhances the circumstances recorded in Gen. 24 and 1 Sam. 25, and throws a beam of divine light upon both cases, enabling us to perceive in each a precious type of the Church.

It is our joy to own that when God would form a Bride for His Son, His love to Him is the pledge that she will worthily occupy the marvelous position to which she is called. We read of her “prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband,” as “having the glory of God;” and we are instructed that “He who hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God.” (2 Cor. 5) Even now “the body” on earth reflects the glory of the Head above. He says, “ I am glorified in them.” (Compare 1 John 4:17¹⁷Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. (1 John 4:17)) When therefore we consider an Isaac, or a David, typically, not only do we read in a Rebekah or an Abigail his natural complement, even as the Church is “the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 1:23²³Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians 1:23)); but we may justly expect to find something premonitory of the grace of Christ in themselves also, which we have seen to be the case. This makes a study of our subjects directly profitable to our souls. In a consideration of the moral features displayed in Rebekah’s history we find those doubtless which link her case with Abigail’s; but the former presents more the ardent zeal manifested at the opening of the wilderness journey; the latter, the intelligent apprehension of the supreme worth of the bride’s object, gained amid the vicissitudes of the journey, in immediate view of the close.

Abraham will not seek a wife for his son among the nations around him, upon whom the judgment of God rested because of their iniquity (Gen. 15:16-21¹⁶But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. ¹⁷And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. ¹⁸In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: ¹⁹The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, ²⁰And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, ²¹And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites. (Genesis 15:16‑21)), and whose destruction would be concurrent with the establishment of his seed in the glory which God had promised. God moreover had called him into a pilgrim-ship, away from country, kindred, and father’s house, which, as he realized the call, extended to “his household after him.” When therefore Abraham’s servant suggested the compromise, by which Isaac’s true place on earth would be ignored, to meet the contingency of the woman’s hesitation or dislike, to leave country, kindred, and father’s house, and to become a pilgrim with him, the servant receives reiterated caution that Isaac’s place on earth should be maintained at all cost. The standard should not be lowered under any circumstances. How many adopt the suggestion just referred to, and lower the gospel standard, to make grace palatable to those who naturally shrink from the claims of such glory as God offers, involving identification with the lowly Jesus in the scene of His rejection. How few work from the apostolic point of view, in which Christ’s glory is supreme, and the gospel the means of gathering “from among the nations a people for His name!” (Acts 15:14¹⁴Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. (Acts 15:14))

The servant goes forth, the bearer of glad tidings, and proves the truth of the scripture: “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” He “rolls his way upon the Lord, and He brings it to pass.” (Psa. 37:5⁵Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. (Psalm 37:5), marg) Forth comes Rebekah before he had done speaking, who brings him to her father’s house. He will not eat until he has told his errand, in which the glories of the heir, his separate place in the scene of his pilgrimage, and the uncompromising character of that pilgrimage, are set forth. He dwells upon the tokens by which the Lord God authenticated His servant Abraham’s messenger.

This being accepted, Rebekah receives from the messenger’s treasures (Matt. 13:52⁵²Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. (Matthew 13:52)), tokens of Isaac’s glory-a foretaste of what she is called to share. Her relations also profit through the overflowing abundance of the source which is henceforth to be at her command. It is worthy of notice that as yet she knows nothing of Isaac himself. She has not even heard his name. The parents see the advantage offered, but though appealed to, on the ground of God’s hand being so manifest in the whole matter, to let Rebekah go at once away, they hesitate, saying, “Let the damsel abide with us a few days” (a full year, marg). She however, like Paul in other days, “immediately, conferring not with flesh and blood,” says, “I will go.” She yields herself implicitly to that in which God’s hand is so plainly seen, and enters upon the vicissitudes of a dreary journey, leaving country, kindred, and father’s house for a land and circumstances yet unknown, except through belief in the message. Arrived at Gerah, though she has met Isaac, and learned his name from himself, she has not reached the termination of her pilgrimage. It now assumes a new and characteristic phase, in which Rebekah learns how much is still to be endured in fellowship with Isaac, and how much he is to her in the midst of it all. Thus we have typified in her the commencement of the Church’s wilderness journey, the start for and with Christ of a new-born soul. Such zeal? Everything laid aside and counted dead weight in the ardor of first love. It was so with early Christians.

They “took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, knowing that in heaven they had a better and an enduring substance.” “All for Him content to leave.”

Turning now to 1 Sam. 25, Rebekah’s pilgrimage passed on to her children in a manner too truly sorrowful, and they had not as yet entered into rest, God saying in David, “To-day... for if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day.” But in David, a man after His own heart, God offers rest to His people. Abigail owns David as God’s anointed, whose soul should be “bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord God,” realizes what God was offering to Israel, if they would hear his voice, and thus morally reaches the end of the journey upon which Rebekah entered. Historically, we know, Israel did not then attain to God’s rest. The rest remains, and will be secured through mercy to Israel in the blessed ante-type. Meantime God’s king is in rejection. Dark times have fallen upon David since the women of Israel sang, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” Hunted as a partridge on the mountains, with but few followers, those whom distress, poverty, and bitterness of soul (22: 2, marg) had gathered around him, God takes occasion by these circumstances to test Israel, and to gather out a company, who should. receive a distinguished place in the coming glory with their leader, and amongst these we find Abigail. Wherever faith exists, the trials which test it but manifest its character to the glory of God. (Compare Deut. 33:8,9⁸And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah; ⁹Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant. (Deuteronomy 33:8‑9)) Abigail’s faith is equal to the test. Nabal, though her husband, fails altogether. His heart is set upon present advantage, and this blinds him, alike to David’s glory, and Saul’s already twice-revealed rejection. (13:14; 15: 23-31) To him accordingly Saul, who heads his line of things, is supreme, and David perhaps a servant broken away from his master! David’s place tests everything, as indeed one might expect in so striking a type of the Blessed One whom Simeon (Luke 2) speaks of as a “sign that shall be spoken against, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed,” the sword piercing through even Mary’s own soul, according to Heb. 4:12,13¹²For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. ¹³Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. (Hebrews 4:12‑13). Not alone is faith manifested; it is measured also in all who come in contact with the rejected David- God’s standard. Hence we find, intermediate, as it were, between the Nabals and the Abigails, the Jonathans, who, though loving David as their own soul, fall short of the mark. David had wrought a great deliverance in Israel, in which God’s hand was evident, and Jonathan so appreciates it that he strips himself to do David honor, brings Saul’s wrath upon himself by shielding David according to the dictates of the love which bound them ‘together,’ holds sweet counsel with him in the wood (23: 16), but returns from that friendly conference to Saul’s house, and David to the hold in the wilderness! Why? The answer is unmistakable. “I know,” he says, “ that thou shalt be king over Israel,” but adds, “And I shall be next unto thee.” Here is Jonathan’s weak point-self is there. To argue his humility from the circumstances would doubtless be easy; but the character of the humility is what is now in question; for God’s king is in rejection. Love he certainly had, but not that which bid him to count all things but rubbish for the object of God’s choice; faith too, but not that which closed his eye upon the things that were seen and temporal. There was just enough self-love left to make him seek a place by-and-by, just enough of it to make him value the same now. He went back and died in company with Saul on mount Gilboa, losing both the future and the present! “Whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.” (Luke 9:24²⁴For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. (Luke 9:24)) “O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places!”

It is interesting to observe that in the poor, crippled Mephibosheth we discover the moral condition one would have looked for in the devoted Jonathan. Before the king he is but a “dead dog” confessed; and when David returns to Jerusalem upon the death of Absalom, he can say concerning the scheming Ziba, in respect of what might have been gain to him, “Let him take all, since my lord, the king, has returned again in peace.” Utterly devoid of self, his heart is a vacuum which naught but David can fill. But what it has cost the son of Jonathan to be brought to this-shorn of his patrimony, an exile, and helplessly crippled!

Abigail attained morally the level upon which Mephibosheth stood before David, but surpassed him even in this, that David was not then in power; he was still in rejection, yet her faith and devotedness shine out brilliantly in a day of persistent darkness for the object of her esteem. Abigail ministers to David; but more, she saw the divinely imparted dignity which rested upon him amid the sorrows of his outcast place, and meets him becomingly. To her Saul is but “a man” (v. 29), and so zealous is she for the reputation of David that she pleads with him on this ground in behalf of her unworthy husband, identifying herself with his iniquity; and she merely begs to be remembered of David “when he cometh into his kingdom.” This a crucified thief could do acceptably, and the becoming nature of his request from a despised and rejected Lord, manifests by contrast the ill savor of that which earned for James and John His just rebuke, and in which they morally stood alongside Jonathan. How different is the tenor of Psa. 1311 David received Abigail’s offering, hearkened to her voice, and accepted her person (v. 35); and when, in the Lord’s judgment, ten days subsequently, Nabal dies, David sent and communed with Abigail to take her to be his wife. She bows herself to the earth before his messengers, and utters the most perfect expression of a truly humble heart-” Let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord.” (Compare John 13:5,14⁵After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. (John 13:5)
¹⁴If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. (John 13:14)) She took Ham’s place (see Gal. 3:13¹³Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: (Galatians 3:13)), a consciously unworthy, self-emptied thing, in more than mere words too; for she manifests her unfeigned humility by submitting unhesitatingly to the word of David; “she hasted... and went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.”

Jezreel yielded David a second wife, according to verse 43, which evidently typifies the connection of Israel (the Jezreel or “seed of God,” sown to Him on the earth, Hos. 2:19-23¹⁹And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. ²⁰I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord. ²¹And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; ²²And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. ²³And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God. (Hosea 2:19‑23)) with Christ in a future day; also “betrothed” to Him “forever... in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies ... even in faithfulness.” She shall be brought unto the king in a raiment of needlework, wonderfully wrought doubtless, just as she, typified by Abigail, will be presented to the Lamb (Rev. 19:7,8⁷Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. ⁸And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. (Revelation 19:7‑8)) in a raiment suited to His eye. “To her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white... the righteousness of saints.” As the world will see her, it will be purely as an object of grace, “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband... having the glory of God.” But the blessed Lamb of God will delight to present unto Himself His Church, clad in a robe which bespeaks his own zealous and gracious care for her as she passes along through a defiling scene. He “loved the Church, and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that Ile might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.” How zealous we might be in this also, were our eye filled with the scene which terminates our present course-the marriage of the Lamb I Clad in righteousness then, and in view of that, walking as He walked now, aiming at present likeness to Him, knowing that we shall be like Him when He shall appear. What need hinder us adding, as it were, to the beauties of the bridal robe now, seeing that we find such a precious grouping of righteousness in Abigail-unfeigned humility, ready obedience, zeal for her lord’s reputation, becoming service rendered him, thorough contempt for Saul’s line of things, worthy prudence, and readiness to attribute to herself the shortcomings of others?

J. K.

Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew Words:

Number:

7259 (find all occurrences in KJV Bible)

Transliteration:

Ribqah

Phonic:

rib-kaw’

Meaning:

from an unused root probably meaning to clog by tying up the fetlock; fettering (by beauty); Ribkah, the wife of Isaac

KJV Usage:

Rebekah

Jackson’s Dictionary of Scripture Proper Names:

tying

Potts’ Bible Proper Names:

Fattened animal; fettering by beauty:―mother of Esau and Jacob [REBECCA], Gen. 22:23. {Animal saginatum}