Rebekah
was Isaac's wife, and the mother of Jacob and Esau. She was the daughter of
Bethuel. (22:23; 24:15,24,47) (Bethuel was the son of Abraham's brother Nahor.
This made Rebekah the daughter of Isaac's first cousin.)
Rebekah lived in the city of Nahor in the land of
Mesopotamia with her brother Laban. One day, Abraham's servant came to
Mesopotamia with ten camels. He had been sent by Abraham to find a non-Cananite
wife for Abraham's son, Isaac. In the evening, the servant stopped at a well
outside the city. This was the time of day when the women of the city came out
to draw water. He waited for a woman to come out. A woman did come out, Rebekah.
She was the daughter of Bethuel (which made her the daughter of Isaac's first
cousin), she was beautiful, and she was a virgin. She gave the servant and his
camels water to drink. Then she let him stay at Laban's house. The servant went
to Laban, and told him the purpose of his visit. Laban agreed to let the servant
take Rebekah to be Isaac's wife. Rebekah agreed to go. (24:1-61)
Isaac was staying at the well of Beer-lahai-roi. The
servant went to him there, and brought Rebekah to him. Rebekah became Isaac's
wife. (24:62-67) At the time, Isaac was 40 years old. (25:20)
At first Rebekah had trouble having children. But she
finally conceived twin sons. The twins struggled within her. But she gave birth
to Esau and Jacob. (25:21-26) As the boys grew, Esau became Isaac's favorite
son, while Jacob became Rebekah's. (25:27-28)
At a time of famine in the land, Isaac and Rebekah
decide to settle for a time elsewhere. They went to the city of Gerar, located
near the southern border of Canaan. Gerar was ruled by the Philistines, and
Abimelech was their king. Isaac was afraid that people would want Rebekah, and
would kill him to possess her. So he passed off Rebekah as his sister, rather
than his wife. Abimelech suspected that Rebekah was really Isaac's wife. He
confronted Isaac. Isaac confessed the truth. Abimelech warned the people of
Gerar that whomever touched Isaac or Rebekah would be put to death. (chapter 26)
Meanwhile, Isaac's oldest son Esau married two women,
Judith and Basemath. Both women were Hittites. Hittites were a subdivision of
the Canaanites, so Esau had married two Canaanite women. Isaac and Rebekah
didn't like this. (26:34-35)
Years later, Isaac was an old man, and was nearly
blind. He asked to see his oldest son, Esau, and give him the blessing of the
firstborn. First, Isaac sent Esau to catch some game over which to give him the
blessing. Esau left. (27:1-5)
Rebekah preferred Jacob over Esau. So while Esau was
gone, Rebekah told Jacob "Go to our flocks and pick out some game. I will
make him a dish that he likes. He is blind. Tell him that you are Esau, and he
will give you the blessing." Esau's hand was hairy, and Jacob's hand was
smooth. So Rebekah covered Jacob's hand with goatskin to fool Isaac. The ruse
worked. Isaac gave Jacob the blessing intended for Esau. When Esau returned with
the venison, he had to be content with a lesser blessing. (26:6-40)
Esau was mad that Jacob had tricked him out of the
blessing of the firstborn. He wanted to kill Jacob. Rebekah told Jacob "Get
away from here. Go to my brother Laban. He lives in the city of Haran, in
the area of Padanaram, in Mesopotamia. Stay with him until Esau's anger cools.
When it does, I will send for you." (27:41-45)
Rebekah told Isaac that she didn't like Hittite women,
and that she didn't want Jacob to marry a Hittite woman. (27:46)
When Rebekah died, she was buried in the cave of
Machpelah. (49:31)
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z