Genesis 24:1-4

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 24:1-9

Three things we may observe here concerning Abraham:? I. The care he took of a good son, to get him married, well married. It was high time to think of it now, for Isaac was about forty years old, and it had been customary with his ancestors to marry at thirty, or sooner, Gen. 11:14, 18, 22, 24. Abraham believed the promise of the building up of his family, and therefore did not make haste; not more haste than good speed. Two considerations moved him to think of it now (Gen. 24:1):?1. That he... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 24:1

And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age ,.... Being now one hundred and forty years of age, for as he was an hundred years old when Isaac was born, and Isaac was forty years of age when he married Rebekah, which was at this time, Abraham must be of the age mentioned, see Genesis 21:5 , and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things ; with all kind of blessings, with temporal and spiritual blessings; the former seems chiefly designed here, because of what follows; God had... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 24:2

And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house ,.... To Eliezer his servant, according to the Targum of Jonathan, and as is generally thought; and who may well be called an old servant, and his oldest servant, since he must have lived with him fifty years and upwards; one may trace him near sixty years in Abraham's family, and it is highly probable he lived much longer; he was his servant when he had the vision between the pieces, Genesis 15:2 ; and then he was the steward of his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 24:3

And I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of earth ,.... The Maker and possessor of heaven and earth, by whom Abraham used to swear whenever he did, and by whom only men should swear, see Genesis 14:22 . The Targum of Jonathan is,"I will make thee swear by the name of the Word of the Lord God,'which strengthens the sense given of the rite before observed: that thou wilt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell ;... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 24:4

But thou shalt go unto my country ,.... Not Canaan, which though his by promise, yet not in possession, but Mesopotamia, as appears from Genesis 24:10 ; which taken largely included the Chaldea, see Acts 7:2 , the country where Abraham was born, and from whence he came: and to my kindred ; the family of Nahor his brother, which now dwelt at Haran in Mesopotamia, called the city of Nahor, Genesis 24:10 ; see Genesis 29:4 ; of the increase of whose family Abraham had heard a few... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 24:1

And Abraham was old - He was now about one hundred and forty years of age, and consequently Isaac was forty, being born when his father was one hundred years old. See Genesis 21:5 ; Genesis 25:20 . read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 24:2

Eldest servant - As this eldest servant is stated to have been the ruler over all that he had, it is very likely that Eliezer is meant. See Genesis 15:2 , Genesis 15:3 . Put, I pray thee, thy hand - See note on Genesis 24:9 . read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 24:3

I will make thee swear - See note on Genesis 24:9 . Of the Canaanites - Because these had already been devoted to slavery, etc., and it would have been utterly inconsistent as well with prudence as with the design of God to have united the child and heir of the promise with one who was under a curse, though that curse might be considered to be only of a political nature. See the curse of Canaan, Genesis 9:25 ; (note). read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 24:4

My country - Mesopotamia, called here Abraham's country, because it was the place where the family of Haran, his brother, had settled; and where himself had remained a considerable time with his father Terah. In this family, as well as in that of Nahor, the true religion had been in some sort preserved, though afterwards considerably corrupted; see Genesis 31:19 . And take a wife unto my son - A young man in Bengal is precisely in the same circumstances as Isaac; he has nothing to do... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 24:1

Verse 1 1.And Abraham was old. (1) Moses passes onwards to the relation of Isaac’s marriage, because indeed Abraham, perceiving himself to be worn down by old age, would take care that his son should not marry a wife in the land of Canaan. In this place Moses expressly describes Abraham as an old man, in order that we may learn that he had been admonished, by his very age, to seek a wife for his son: for old age itself, which, at the most, is not far distant from death, ought to induce us so to... read more

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