Tafsiran Kejadian 24:21: Rashi, Chizkuni, Rashbam & Sforno

משתאה WAS WONDERING — The word really has the idea of being waste and desolate, as (Isaiah 6:11) “Until cities be waste (שאו) and the land become utterly desolate תשאה.

משתאה לה, although literally “at her,” the word לה here is to be understood as if the Torah had written: עליה, “about her.” We find a similar formulation in Numbers 23,23: כעת יאמר ליעקב ולישראל, “at that time it is reported about Israel, etc.”

והאיש משתאה, the word is derived from Isaiah 6,11 תשאה שממה, and the letter ת is similar to the letter ת in the word ישתבח which is derived from שבח, or the ת in the word וישתמר in the phrase וישתמר חוקות עמדי, which is derived from the root שמר, (compare Micah 6,16). Here the word משתאה means the same as משתומם, being amazed at this girl volunteering that she would also draw water for his camels. From these words of her he understood that G’d had heard his prayer. Commentators who understand the word משתאה as being related to שתייה, drink, are in error. Such an interpretation is impossible, seeing that the letter א in that word cannot be related to שתייה at all. Furthermore, Rivkah had not mentioned anything about watering the camels until after he himself had finished drinking already. At that point Eliezer began to wonder.

משתאה means he was astonished and perplexed, because he saw that what he had said was nearly successful only that he did not know whether she belonged to Abraham’s family or not. Do not be puzzled by the ת in the word משתאה for you will find no word (verb) whose first root letter is ש where, when it is used in the Hithpael, the ת of the Hithpael-prefix does not come between the first two letters of the root, as e.g. משתאה (here) and (Isaiah 59:15) משתולל of the same root as שולל, and (Isaiah 59:16) וישתומם of the same root as שממה and (Micha 6:16) “For the statutes of Omri are kept (וישתמר )” from the same root as וישמר —so, also, here משתאה is of the same root as תשאה. Now, just as you find the expression שמם (which really means waste and desolate) applied to a person who is perplexed and speechless (with amazement) and sunk in deep thought (about what is happening) — e. g., (Job 18:20) “They that come after shall be astonished (נשמו) at his day”, and (Jeremiah 2:12) “Be astonished (שומו) ye heavens”, and (Daniel 4:16) “He was appalled אשתומם for a time” — so too you may explain the expression שאה (which also really means waste and desolate) in all its verbal or noun forms as referring to a person who is perplexed and sunk deep in thought. Onkelos translates it in the sense of lingering — “the man lingered” — i. e. he wailed, standing on one spot, to see “whether God had made his journey prosperous”. But one should not read in the Targum שתי in place of שהי, as the Targum of משתאה, (as evidently some versions of the Targum read), for the word משתאה certainly does not mean drinking, for א has no place in the Hebrew words which mean drinking root (שתה).