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LXX Genesis

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 24

1 And Abraham was old, advanced in days, and the Lord blessed Abraham in all things. 2 And Abraham said to his servant the elder of his house, who had rule over all his possessions, Put your hand under my thigh, 3 and I will adjure you by the Lord the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that you do not take a wife for my son Isaac from the daughters of the Canaanites, with whom I dwell, in the midst of them. 4 But you shall go instead to my country, where I was born, and to my tribe, and you shall take from there a wife for my son Isaac. 5 And the servant said to him, Shall I carry back your son to the land from which you came forth, if perhaps the woman should not be willing to return with me to this land? 6 And Abraham said to him, Take heed to yourself that you do not carry my son back there. 7 The Lord the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, who took me out of my father's house, and out of the land from which I sprang, who spoke to me, and who swore to me, saying, I will give this land to you and to your seed, he shall send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife to my son Isaac from there. 8 And if the woman should not be willing to come with you into this land, you shall be clear from my oath, only do not carry my son there again. 9 And the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham, and swore to him concerning this matter. 10 And the servant took ten camels of his master's camels, and he took of all the goods of his master with him, and he arose and went into Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor. 11 And he rested his camels outside the city by the well of water toward evening, when young women go forth to draw water. 12 And he said, Lord God of my master Abraham, prosper my way before me today, and deal mercifully with my master Abraham. 13 Look! I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of those who inhabit the city come forth to draw water. 14 And it shall be, the virgin to whom I shall say, Incline your water-pot, that I may drink, and she shall say, Drink, and I will give your camels drink, until they shall have done drinking, even this one you have prepared for your servant Isaac, and by this I shall know that you have dealt mercifully with my master Abraham. 15 And it happened before he had done speaking in his mind, that look, Rebekah the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, and the same the brother of Abraham, came forth, having a water-pot on her shoulders. 16 And the virgin was very beautiful in appearance, she was a virgin, a man had not known her; and she went down to the well, and filled her water-pot, and came up. 17 And the servant ran up to meet her, and said, Give me a little water to drink out of your pitcher; 18 and she said, Drink, Sir; and she hastened, and let down the pitcher upon her arm, and gave him to drink, 19 till he ceased drinking. And she said, I will also draw water for your camels, till they shall all have drunk. 20 And she hastened, and emptied the water-pot into the trough, and ran to the well to draw again, and drew water for all the camels. 21 And the man took great notice of her, and remained silent to know whether the Lord had made his way prosperous or not. 22 And it happened when all the camels ceased drinking, that the man took golden ear-rings, each of a drachm weight, and he put two bracelets on her hands,⁠ their weight was ten pieces of gold. 23 And he asked her, and said, Whose daughter are you? Tell me if there is room for us to lodge with your father. 24 And she said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor. 25 And she said to him, We have both straw and much animal feed, and a place for resting. 26 And the man being well pleased, worshiped the Lord, 27 and said, Blessed be the Lord the God of my master Abraham, who has not allowed his righteousness to fail, nor his truth from my master, and the Lord has brought me prosperously to the house of the brother of my lord. 28 And the young woman ran and reported to the house of her mother according to these words. 29 And Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban; and Laban ran out to meet the man, to the well. 30 And it happened when he saw the ear-rings and the bracelets on the hands of his sister, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus the man spoke to me, that he went to the man, as he stood by the camels at the well. 31 And he said to him, Come in here, you blessed of the Lord, why do you stand outside, whereas I have prepared the house and a place for the camels? 32 And the man entered into the house, and unloaded the camels, and gave the camels straw and animal feed, and water to wash his feet, and the feet of the men that were with him. 33 And he set before them loaves to eat; but he said, I will not eat, until I have told my errand. And they said, Speak on. 34 And he said, I am a servant of Abraham; 35 and the Lord has blessed my master greatly, and he is exalted, and he has given him sheep, and calves, and silver, and gold, servants and servant-maids, camels, and donkeys. 36 And Sarah my master's wife bore one son to my master after he had grown old; and he gave him whatever he had. 37 And my master caused me to swear, saying, You shall not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I stay in their land. 38 But you shall go to the house of my father, and to my tribe, and you shall take from there a wife for my son. 39 And I said to my master, Perhaps the woman will not go with me. 40 And he said to me, The Lord to whom I have been acceptable in his presence, himself shall send out his angel with you, and shall prosper your journey, and you shall take a wife for my son of my tribe, and of the house of my father. 41 Then you will be clear from my curse, for whenever you shall have come to my tribe, and they shall not give her to you, then you shall be clear from my oath. 42 And having come this day to the well, I said, Lord God of my master Abraham, if you prosper my journey on which I am now going, 43 look, I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city come forth to draw water, and it shall be that the young woman to whom I shall say, Give me a little water to drink out of your pitcher, 44 and she shall say to me, You also drink, and I will draw water for your camels, this shall be the wife whom the Lord has prepared for his own servant Isaac; and hereby I will know that you have performed mercy with my master Abraham. 45 And it happened before I had done speaking in my mind, at once Rebekah came forth, having her pitcher on her shoulders; and she went down to the well, and drew water; and I said to her, Give me to drink. 46 And she hastened and let down her pitcher on her arm from her head, and said, Drink, and I will give your camels drink; and I drank, and she gave the camels drink. 47 And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter are you? and she said, I am daughter of Bethuel the son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him; and I put on her the ear-rings, and the bracelets on her hands. 48 And being well-pleased I worshiped the Lord, and I blessed the Lord the God of my master Abraham, who has prospered me in a true way, so that I should take the daughter of my master's brother for his son. 49 If then you will deal mercifully and justly with my lord, tell me, and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left. 50 And Laban and Bethuel answered and said, This matter has come forth from the Lord, we shall not be able to answer you bad or good. 51 Look, Rebekah is before you, take her and go away, and let her be wife to the son of your master, as the Lord has said. 52 And it happened when the servant of Abraham heard these words, he bowed himself to the Lord down to the earth. 53 And the servant having brought forth jewels of silver and gold and clothing, gave them to Rebekah, and gave gifts to her brother, and to her mother. 54 And both he and the men with him ate and drank and went to sleep. And he arose in the morning and said, Send me away, that I may go to my master. 55 And her brothers and her mother said, Let the virgin remain with us about ten days, and after that she shall depart. 56 But he said to them, Do not hinder me, for the Lord has prospered my journey for me; send me away, that I may depart to my master. 57 And they said, Let us call the young woman, and inquire at her mouth. 58 And they called Rebekah, and said to her, Will you go with this man? and she said, I will go. 59 So they sent forth Rebekah their sister, and her goods, and the servant of Abraham, and his attendants. 60 And they blessed Rebekah their sister, and said to her, You are our sister; become thousands of myriads, and let your seed possess the cities of their enemies. 61 And Rebekah rose up and her maidens, and they mounted the camels and went with the man; and the servant having taken up Rebekah, departed. 62 And Isaac went through the wilderness to the well of the vision, and he lived in the land toward the south. 63 And Isaac went forth into the plain toward evening to meditate; and having lifted up his eyes, he saw camels coming. 64 And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and saw Isaac; and she alighted briskly from the camel, 65 and said to the servant, Who is that man that walks in the plain to meet us? And the servant said, This is my master; and she took her veil and covered herself. 66 And the servant told Isaac all that he had done. 67 And Isaac went into the house of his mother, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted for Sarah his mother.

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 24:22 and LXX Genesis 24:22

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

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Summary

Genesis 24 describes Abraham’s servant giving Rebekah a gold nose ring and two bracelets. The Greek Septuagint changes the nose ring to a pair of earrings, likely because nose rings were unfamiliar or unfashionable in the translator’s own time.

Passages

Genesis 24:22

Hebrew Bible
20 She quickly emptied her jug into the watering trough and ran back to the well to draw more water until she had drawn enough for all his camels. 21 Silently the man watched her with interest to determine if the Lord had made his journey successful or not. 22 After the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold wrist bracelets weighing ten shekels and gave them to her. 23 “Whose daughter are you?” he asked. “Tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?” 24 She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom Milcah bore to Nahor.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

LXX Genesis 24:22

Septuagint
20 And she hastened, and emptied the water-pot into the trough, and ran to the well to draw again, and drew water for all the camels. 21 And the man took great notice of her, and remained silent to know whether the Lord had made his way prosperous or not. 22 And it happened when all the camels ceased drinking, that the man took golden ear-rings, each of a drachm weight, and he put two bracelets on her hands, their weight was ten pieces of gold. 23 And he asked her, and said, Whose daughter are you? Tell me if there is room for us to lodge with your father. 24 And she said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Genesis

References

"... Similar interpretative strategy is sometimes evident in contexts where the Hebrew narrative depicts aspects of culture that were foreign to the translator and his original readers. An instance of this is found in Genesis 24:22, where the gifts that Abraham's servant gives to Rebekah are described ... In this verse, the form of the jewelry involved has undergone metamorphosis at the hands of the LXX translator. Thus the "nose-ring" weighing a 'half shekel' has become 'earrings' weighing a 'drachm' each. This adaptation was, of course, occasioned by the fact that nose-rings were not part of the fashion scene in third century B.C. Alexandria, and if earrings were to be the substitute in the Greek text, they should come in pairs ..."
Robert J. V. Hiebert, Translation Technique in the Septuagint of Genesis and its Implications for the NETS Version (International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies, Vol. 33, 2000), 76–93.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Genesis 24:22 and LXX Genesis 24:22

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