Комментарий к Берешит 24:22

לאשתו BEKA (half a Shekel) — a symbol of the Shekels of the Israelites of which it is said (Exodus 38:26) “a Beka (half a Shekel) a head” (cf. Targum Jon).

AND THE MAN TOOK A GOLDEN RING… AND TWO BRACELETS UPON HER HANDS. This verse omits the deed for it should have said: “And the man took a golden ring and put it upon her nose¹²²So it says in Verse 47 here. and two bracelets upon her hands.” Therefore I say that the interpretation of the verse is as follows: And the man took a golden ring and two bracelets which would be upon her hands, and he said to her, Whose daughter art thou?¹²³Verse 23 here. And after she had told him, I am the daughter of Bethuel,¹²⁴Verse 24 here. he put the ring upon her nose and the bracelets upon her hands, as he told them.¹²⁵In Verse 47 here. He first asked her who she was, and then he gave her the presents. This interpretation differs from Rashi (in Verse 23) who says that after he had given her the presents, he asked her whose daughter she was, for he was confident that, on account of Abraham’s merit, G-d would make his journey successful. Later, however, in Verse 47, when he recounted the story, he changed the sequence of the two events so that they should not sense the inconsistency and say, “How could you give her anything when you did not know who she was?” Here, however, Scripture omits the actual giving, and similarly in many places.

ויקח האיש נזם זהב, one is entitled to assume that Eliezer first had asked her about whose family she belonged to (verse 23) The reason why things were not written in this order is in order not to interrupt the sequence of the story by questions and answers. This is why the Torah reported first about Eliezer giving Rivkah the jewelry.

When the camels had finished. He did not give her the jewelry immediately after she finished drawing the water because he was waiting to see if she would ask for remuneration.

על ידיה, on her hands. This means that the bracelets fitted her as if made to fit her specific measurements. Eliezer placed this jewelry on Rebeccah's hands as a sign of acknowledging G'd's personal guidance in his mission thus far.

ויהי...ויקח, “he took out the jewelry planning to give it to her after he had asked her the relevant questions. This is also how he describes the sequence of what occurred at the well when he relates the nature of his mission in Betuel’s home before eating the first course of the meal served (verse 46)

This is symbolic of the shekels of Israel, a בקע per head. Otherwise, why does it tell us, “Weighing half a shekel”? It was not a tremendous weight! The same is true for, “Weighing ten gold shekels.” Chazal interpreted “two bracelets” as they did because of the question: Why does it need to say “two”? [We always assume the minimum, and] the least number that the term “bracelets” could be referring to is two.

ויקח. Es steht noch nicht, dass er es ihr gegeben. In seiner Erzählung, Raw Hirsch on Genesis 24: 47, sagt er auch, dass er ihr dies Geschmeide erst, nachdem sie ihn mit ihrer Familie bekannt gemacht, gegeben habe. Allein er hielt es doch jetzt bereits für gut, es hervorzunehmen und etwas von dem Reichtum blicken zu lassen, den er bei sich führte. Er wollte ja jetzt auch um Aufnahme in das Haus bitten. Elieser kannte die Welt, jedenfalls die aramäische Welt, sonst wäre ihm ja גמילות חסד nicht als etwas so Charakteristisches und Charakterisierendes erschienen. Um Aufnahme für zehn Kamele und die dazu gehörigen Leute zu finden, dazu gehört nicht bloß eine abrahamitische Tochter, dazu gehört ein ganzes abrahamitisches Haus. Das Mädchen war eine Perle an Menschenfreundlichkeit, allein wer weiß, ob nicht in unedler Fassung. Jedenfalls hielt Elieser vor der Frage nach ihrem Hause und der Möglichkeit, dort Aufnahme zu finden, es nicht für überflüssig, etwas Geld blicken zu lassen. Wer weiß auch, ob Rebekka als zartfühlende Tochter, die den Geist ihres das Hausregiment führenden Bruders sehr wohl kannte, der schwerlich für eine Anzahl bloßer Knechte mit Kamelen ein freundliches Willkommen gehabt hätte, ihren Namen gesagt haben würde, wenn sie in Eliesers Händen nicht etwas hätte blinken gesehen, was, freilich nicht für sie, doch für den Genius ihres Hauses eine größere Anziehungskraft als die Gelegenheit auszuübender Menschenfreundlichkeit gehabt! Dass er bei der Erzählung im Hause ihrer Eltern diesen Umstand umging und einfach die Geschenke nach ihrer Auskunft über ihre Familie erscheinen lässt, ist wieder eine Feinheit, die überhaupt Eliesers Benehmen und Reden charakterisiert.

ויקח האיש נזם זהב, “the man (Eliezer) took out a golden nose ring, etc.;” The sage Rabbi Moshe, interprets this verse as its face value, understanding the words to mean that in preparation of events, Eliezer took out of his satchel jewelry which he would give to Rebecca if she would meet the conditions he had outlined, (and which she was of course quite unaware of). He then asked her about her family status, and when told that she was member of Avraham’s family he gave here the jewelry as a gift. The Torah abbreviated somewhat in its report of what happened, something that is not unusual. That this is so is clear from the sequence of events Eliezer described during the meal, when he filled in the words that have been omitted here. Even here, (contrary to the way some people interpret our verse) the Torah did not write that he gave her the jewelry before having established her family status.

ויקח האיש, literally: “the man took;” the reason why the Torah did not write simply: “the man gave, etc,” is that he searched among the jewelry he had with him the kind which was the appropriate size for someone her age. He would give it to her in the event she met the conditions Eliezer had made as the Torah had previously outlined.

ושני צמידים AND TWO BRACELETS (the word for bracelet signifies something joined or united) — a symbol of the two Tablets of stone, joined one to another (Genesis Rabbah 60:6).

בקע, a half shekel in weight. The word occurs in a similar meaning in Exodus 14,15 נטה ידך על הים ובקעהו, “incline your hand over the sea and divide it!”

ושני צמידים על ידיה, according to the size that fitted her wrists; this is similar to Exodus 28,22 ועשית עלי החושן שרשות גבלות, “you shall construct around it plaited chains of beaten gold,” or Exodus 25,11 ועשית עליו זר זהב, “you shall construct around it a golden border.” In each of these instances the measurements of the chains or border had to fit the pricipal artifact.

בקע, a half shekel. He placed it on her nose as mentioned in verse 46. Similarly, in sequence, he placed the other pieces of jewelry on her hands, bracelets

בקע משקלו, the word בקע means “split,” as we know from Exodus 14,16 ובקעהו, “and he split it;” (the waters of the sea of reeds) a half shekel each (for each arm).

עשרה זהב משקלם TEN SHEKELS OF GOLD WAS THEIR WEIGHT —a symbol of the Ten Commandments written on them (the Tablets) (Genesis Rabbah 60:6).

weighing ten pieces of gold (ten סלעים in weight according to Onkelos).