Genesis 24:12
in Genesis 24“O LORD, God of my master Abraham,” he prayed, “please grant me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he said, O Jehovah, the God of my master Abraham, send me, I pray thee, good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham.
KJV
And he said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham.
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This verse in Genesis 24
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(2.) He pleads God's covenant with his master Abraham: O God of my master Abraham, show kindness to him. Note, As the children of good parents, so the servants of good masters, have peculiar encouragement in the prayers they offer to God for prosperity and success.
This site's exposition
please grant me success today
on Genesis 24:12-14
This is the first prayer in Genesis that asks God for a sign of guidance, and the man asks nothing for himself. The sign tests work: watering ten camels after a long stage is hours at a stone trough. He asks God to show kindness to his master. The word behind kindness is hesed, the covenant word for steady loyal love.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"Lord," he says, "the God of my master Abraham, be my guide today, and have compassion on my master Abraham," as if to say, "Bring his wishes to effect, and conduct everything according to his intention." "Have compassion on my master Abraham": what does "have compassion" mean? Fulfill his desire. Then he said, "Lo, I am standing at the spring, and the daughters of the inhabitants of the city are coming out to draw water. Whichever maiden to whom I say, 'Lower your water jar that I may drink,' and she says, 'Drink and I shall water your camels till they all stop drinking'—let her be the one you have prepared for your servant Isaac, and in this I shall know that you have had compassion on my master Abraham." Note the servant's sagacity. He was aware of the patriarch's hospitality and the fact that the maiden destined to be brought there should have similar qualities to those of the good man. So, far from looking for any other indication, he was anxious to distinguish the maiden's hospitality from her attitude. He said, "If, in response to my request to her for water, she lowers her water jar and not only heeds my request but also gives evidence of the generosity of her own attitude by saying, 'I will water your camels as well,' she will have given me sufficient demonstration of the mildness of her manners by the offer of water."
Consider, in fact, I ask you, dearly beloved, how important it was that a tender maiden while drawing water not only did not decline the request but also took down the water jar from her shoulders and gave the petitioner his fill, stranger though he was and quite unknown to her. She gave water not only to him but also to all the camels, thus betraying by her behavior indications of her nobility of soul. Did she not realize that many, men included, often decline such requests? Why do I refer to the gift of water? Sometimes, when people holding torches are asked by those approaching them to wait a while so as to allow a lamp to be lit, they refuse even to do this, despite the fire's suffering no diminution even should those intending to light their torch be beyond count. In this case, on the contrary, a woman, a maiden, carrying a water jar on her shoulders, not only did not object to the request but even was more generous than the request in supplying the drink, hurrying of her own volition to water the camels as well.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
But when he has the desired success, he worships God, not the angel. Whatever benefit we have by the ministration of angels, all the glory must be given to the Lord of the angels, Rev. xxii.
And he said, O Lord God of my master Abraham,....
And he said, O Lord God of my master Abraham,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
And he said, O Lord God, etc. - “The conduct of this servant,” says Dr. Dodd, “appears no less pious than rational.
And he said, O Lord God, etc. - “The conduct of this servant,” says Dr. Dodd, “appears no less pious than rational.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּאמַ֓ר׀ | vaiyomar | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֗ה | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵי֙ | ʾelohei | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֲדֹנִ֣י | ʾadoni | master my | H113 → | 333 times |
| אַבְרָהָ֔ם | ʾavraham | Abraham | H85 → | 175 times |
| הַקְרֵה־ | hakreh- | make happen | H7136 → | 27 times |
| נָ֥א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| לְפָנַ֖י | lefanai | <to> before me | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| הַיּ֑וֹם | haiyom | this day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| וַעֲשֵׂה־ | vaaseh- | and do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| חֶ֕סֶד | chesed | covenant loyalty | H2617 → | 247 times |
| עִ֖ם | ʾim | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| אֲדֹנִ֥י | ʾadoni | master my | H113 → | 333 times |
| אַבְרָהָֽם׃ | ʾavraham | Abraham | H85 → | 175 times |
וַיֹּאמַ֓ר׀and he said
vaiyomarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֗הO Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵי֙[the] God of
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
אֲדֹנִ֣יmaster my
ʾadoniH113 →333 times
אַבְרָהָ֔םAbraham
ʾavrahamH85 →175 times
הַקְרֵה־make happen
hakreh-H7136 →27 times
נָ֥אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
לְפָנַ֖י<to> before me
lefanaiH6440 →2123 times
הַיּ֑וֹםthis day
haiyomH3117 →2304 times
וַעֲשֵׂה־and do
vaaseh-H6213 →2628 times
חֶ֕סֶדcovenant loyalty
chesedH2617 →247 times
עִ֖םwith
ʾimH5973 →1050 times
אֲדֹנִ֥יmaster my
ʾadoniH113 →333 times
אַבְרָהָֽם׃Abraham
ʾavrahamH85 →175 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 3:15God also told Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is My…
it leads to
- Genesis 17:7–8
I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
- Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
- Malachi 3:6
“Because I, the LORD, do not change, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.
- Hosea 12:5
the LORD is the God of Hosts— the LORD is His name of renown.
- Genesis 17:7–8
Through
Genesis 26:24and that night the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your…
it leads to
- Exodus 3:6
Then He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 15:1
After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
- Exodus 3:6
Through
Exodus 3:6Then He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to…
it leads to
- Luke 20:37
Even Moses demonstrates that the dead are raised, in the passage about the burning bush. For he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’
- Matthew 22:32
‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
- Luke 20:37
Where this verse is studied
About Genesis

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 48.14; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 48.15; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
