Genesis 24:46

Genesis 24:46, in plain English

Rebekah immediately lowered her jar and offered not only to let him drink but to water his camels too—exactly what the servant had prayed for.

Why it's here

She didn't hesitate. She didn't ask questions or make excuses. She saw a stranger who was thirsty and tired from travel, and she responded with immediate generosity. The servant would have recognized this as the answer to his prayer unfolding right before him.

Who's speaking

Abraham's servant, continuing to recount the encounter

Where it sits in the story

This is the moment where divine guidance and human goodness converge. Rebekah has no idea she's about to become part of Abraham's family; she's just being kind. And God is working through her kindness to answer a prayer halfway across the world.

The scholarly reading

Rebekah immediately consented to his request and voluntarily offered to water his camels as well, fulfilling the servant's test exactly.

Language and setting

Her response—'Drink, and I will water your camels also' (eshkeh gam-gamalecha eshkeh)—matches the servant's criterion with precision. The *gam* ('also') indicates spontaneous generosity; she wasn't merely accommodating a request but exceeding it. Medieval commentators, especially Nahmanides, note that a young woman of means drawing water for animals demonstrates not just kindness but unusual industriousness and humility.

Voice

Abraham's servant, continuing his account

Significance

Rebekah's character becomes the visible expression of God's choice. The narrative demonstrates that divine election and human moral excellence are not in tension—they converge in the truly virtuous.

44and she replies, ‘Drink, and I will draw water for your camels as well,’ may she be the woman the LORD has appointed for my master’s son.

45And before I had finished praying in my heart, there was Rebekah coming out with her jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’

46She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels as well.’ So I drank, and she also watered the camels.

47Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’

48Then I bowed down and worshiped the LORD; and I blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who led me on the right road to take the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son.

Read all of Genesis 24 — A servant, a prayer, a woman at a well. One of the Bible's most beautiful stories of providence unfolds in the smallest details.