Genesis 24:11

11. He made his camels to kneel “A mode of expression taken from actual life . The action is literally kneeling, and this the camel is taught to do from its youth . The place is said to have been by a well of water, and this well was outside the city . In the East, where wells are scarce, and water indispensable, the existence of a well or fountain determines the site of a village . The people build near it, but prefer to have it outside of the city, to avoid the noise, dust, and confusion always occurring at it, and especially if the place is on the public highway. It is around the fountain that the thirsty traveller and the weary caravan assemble; and if you have become separated from your own company before arriving at a town, you need only inquire for the fountain, and there you will find them. It was perfectly natural, therefore, for Eliezer to halt at the well.

The time was evening, when women go out to draw water True to life again. At that hour the peasant returns home from his labour, and the women are busy preparing the evening meal, which is to be ready at sunset. Cool fresh water is then demanded, and, of course, there is a great concourse around the well. About great cities men often carry water, both on donkeys and on their own backs; but in the country, among the unsophisticated natives, women only go to the well or the fountain; and often, when travelling, have I seen long files of them going and returning with their pitchers ‘at the time when women go out to draw water.’” THOMSON, Land and Book, vol. ii, p. 404.