Comentario sobre Génesis 24:15

והנה רבקה יוצאת אשר ילדה לבתואל‎, “and behold, here ‎Rivkah who had been born for Betuel was coming forth.” She ‎had been born for Betuel, due to beneficial, though indirect, ‎input by Avraham. Betuel was not the originator of Rivkah, but ‎merely a vessel used by G’d as an intermediary. [There is no other ‎verse in the Bible where the expression ‎אשר ילדה‎, “who she bore,” ‎is not connected to the mother who bore that child. Ed.] The ‎Torah alludes to Avraham’s role in that “birth” by using the ‎vowel kubutz, which implies “external influence.” The ‎reason why Eliezer immediately gave Rivkah jewelry even before ‎enquiring who she was, shows that he realized that her attribute ‎of ‎חסד‎ had revealed that she had much in common with his ‎master Avraham, and that there must be a biological link between ‎her and Avraham. This is also what Rashi had in mind when ‎he wrote: (verse 23) “after he had given her the bracelets, because ‎he was certain of his master Avraham’s merits.”‎

WHO WAS BORN TO BETHUEL THE SON OF MILCAH THE WIFE OF NAHOR, ABRAHAM’s BROTHER. Because Nahor also had children from his concubine Reumah,¹¹³Above, 22:24. they always described the lineage of Bethuel by saying that he was the son of Milcah who was the mistress of the household. And because the girl mentioned her father’s mother first, as it says, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah¹¹⁴Further, Verse 25. — for such was customary among the girls, analogous to the verse, And she told her mother’s house¹¹⁵Verse 28 here. — therefore Scripture mentions in the verse before us that he [Bethuel] was the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor. But the servant later said, And she said, The daughter of Bethuel Nahor’s son,¹¹⁶Verse 47 here. for he corrected the matter as is ethically proper. However, he did say, whom Milcah bore unto him,¹¹⁶Verse 47 here. in order to state that Bethuel was the son of the mistress and not the concubine.

טרם כלה, he had not yet finished. This is what Isaiah 65,24 had in mind when he said that G’d answers a prayer before it has been articulated.

טרם כלה לדנר, Before he had finished speaking, etc. This means that Eliezer was still addressing G'd when Rebeccah materialised. He realised immediately that she was slated to become Isaac's wife.

ויהי הוא, and here indeed he was gratified that the first girl whom he addressed met all the qualifications he had stipulated. Not only was she a member of Avraham’s family, but she was also physically attractive, revealed a number of character virtues immediately on acquaintance, and she was a virgin.

ויהי הוא טרם כלה לדבר, “and it was before he had finished speaking, etc.” We need to understand the need for the apparently extraneous word הוא in this verse. All the Torah had to write to tell us that Rivkah appeared before Eliezer had completed his prayer was ויהי ככלותו לדברו, “as soon as he had finished speaking, etc.” Actually, the word הוא in this verse is not a personal pronoun, i.e. “he,” but a name of G-d. (compare Genesis 19,33 where we encountered this word in that context) We have numerous examples of the word הוא being a reference to a name of G-d, such as Psalms 100, 3 הוא עשנו ולו אנחנו, “He has made us and we belong to Him;” Numbers 18,23 ועבד הלוי הוא, ”and the Levite will serve G-d, etc.;” the word הוא in that verse means that Eliezer enjoyed G-d’s special assistance in his mission by means of the angel concerning whom Avraham had prayed to G-d that He should make Eliezer’s mission successful (verse 7).The angel, was at hand already before Eliezer had completed praying and he arranged for Rivkah to be the maiden whom Eliezer would address first with his request for water. This is why the Torah wrote: והנה רבקה יוצאת, “and here Rivkah was already in the process of coming out, etc.” The word והנה means that what follows was the result of a special arrangement, invitation. If the servant immediately ran towards her (verse 17) it was because he had noticed the water of the well rising to meet Rivkah on her descent. This is what our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 60,5 have derived from the wording in our verses here.
At that moment Eliezer already understood what Avraham had meant when he had said to him that G-d would send His angel ahead. This is also what he related once he was in Bethuel’s house when he told the family that Avraham had assured him already before he set out on his journey that G-d would send His angel ahead and that he would succeed (verse 40). In view of this it is easy to understand that from the moment that Eliezer had become aware that the angel was supporting him the Torah refers to him no longer as עבד, servant, but as איש, a man of stature. Up until then we read about וישם העבד, “the servant placed;” ויקח העבד, “the servant took;” וירץ העבד, “the servant ran.” From this point on the Torah keeps referring to Eliezer as האיש until he leaves the house of Bethuel with Rivkah. The expressionהאיש is applied to the angel Gavriel in Daniel 9,21. It is also applied to the angel who told Joseph that his brothers had moved away from Shechem, (Genesis 37,17) and that they had been overheard as planning to move to Dothan. In other words, as of the time the angel joined Eliezer in his quest, he himself assumed the role of the angel in an executive manner.
The words והאיש משתאה לה (verse 21) which appear to be somewhat problematical if we assume Eliezer and the angel to have become as one, must be understood as “he was waiting for her;” he did so as he had become aware that his mission was about to be crowned with success. Having done so, the Torah from now on refers to him constantly as האיש, such as when we read (verse 22) ויקח האש, or (verse 26) ויקוד האיש, or (verse 30) כה דבר אלי האיש, etc. When, a little while later, Lavan and Bethuel gave their consent for Eliezer to take Rivkah (verse 51) and they said הנה רבקה לפניך קח ולך, “here Rivkah is in your presence, take her and go,” at which point Eliezer’s mission had been completed, the Torah reverts to describe Eliezer as עבד instead of as האיש. In verse 53 when Eliezer is reported as sharing out gifts, as well as in every subsequent move of his, the Torah speaks of העבד, “the servant,” seeing that the angel’s assistance was no longer required for that part of his activity. Avraham’s prayer which invoked the assistance of an angel had been answered in full.
If you were to ask that when Lavan and his mother asked Rivkah if she were willing to go עם האיש הזה, “with this man,” and this occurred only in verse 58, after verse 51 which we described as the point at which Eliezer’s mission had basically been completed, the answer is simple. The words reported in verse 58 were not spoken by the Torah but by Lavan and his mother. They certainly were not bound by the considerations we described before. How could they be expected to refer to someone as “this slave,” when the person in question was distributing lavish gifts to every member of their household, not to mention to Rivkah herself? Would it not have been a gross insult to their sister to ask her is she were willing to leave her parental home in order to travel to a distant land “with this slave?”
Concerning verse 61 in which both Rivkah and her maids are reported as traveling אחרי האיש, which appears to contradict the explanation I have offered that Eliezer had reverted to being an עבד the moment consent had been obtained for her to become Yitzchak’s bride, this wording was chosen by the Torah in honour of Rivkah. It would not have looked respectful if she had been described as riding “behind the slave.”
Another approach to the words והאיש משתאה לה. It is an allusion to the angel who had tarried and waited at the well until the arrival there of Rivkah. From that moment on Eliezer took over the task of the angel; hence he is referred to as האיש from that moment on. Support for this theory is found in the text near the end of the episode where the Torah said (verse 61) “they walked behind האיש, “and the עבד took Rivkah and he went.” This verse makes it crystal clear that the subjects איש and עבד respectively could not have been one and the same.

He had not yet finished speaking. Hashem arranged that the moment he finished speaking, Rivkah would appear. In fact, this was the first time she ever visited the well because her father had many servants to send. And behold. The word “behold” emphasizes that it was a surprising event.

Voller konnte Abrahams Wunsch wohl kaum in Erfüllung gehen. Bethuel war in doppelter Weise mit ihm verwandt. Bethuels Vater war Abrahams Bruder, seine Mutter Abrahams Brudertochter und zugleich Saras Schwester. In diesem Berichte tritt eigentümlich Milka, Rebekkas Großmutter, hervor, ebenso in Rebekkas Antwort; von Rebekkas Mutter wird geschwiegen. Sie, die Mutter, scheint nicht von abrahamitischer Familie und auch nicht von abrahamitischem Geiste gewesen zu sein. Es scheint, in Rebekka lebte der Geist der Großmutter weiter, die Mutter sah wohl ihr geistiges Ebenbild im Sohne. Der Verfolg der Erzählung lässt erkennen, dass beide, Mutter und Sohn, das Regiment im Hause führten, der — abrahamitisch gesinnte — Bethuel aber, — wahrscheinlich als ein alter gutmütiger "Jude", der nicht so am Gelde klebte, — bei Seite geschoben war.

אשר ילדה לבתואל בן מלכה, he was not a son of Re-umah the concubine. [if the Torah had not wanted to make this point, it could simply have written Betuel, son of Nachor.]

טרם כלה לדבר, while he was still formulating his prayer, G’d was already setting in motion the answer to his prayer as soon or even before he had articulated all of it. (compare Isaiah 65,24).

רבקה יוצאת, Rebeccah was coming out. G'd timed her appearance to coincide exactly with Eliezer's prayer so that he would not meet another girl by mistake while Rebeccah, who had been born to Bethuel, was the intended mate for Isaac. I have explained this in connection with 22,20 where the Torah mentions that Abraham had received word of her birth.