Genesis 24:13
in Genesis 24Here I am, standing beside the spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold, I am standing by the fountain of water; and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water:
KJV
Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water:
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This verse in Genesis 24
Commentary
6 notes on this verseBehold, I stand here by the well of water,.... Wishing, hoping, and expecting that something would turn out that would direct and instruct what further to do, and that would lead on to the business he came about: and the daughters of the men of the city came out to draw water; which was the usual custom in those parts about that time. So Homer speaks (w) of meeting a girl before the city υδρευουση, drawing or fetching water.
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.
This site's exposition
standing beside the spring
He stands beside the spring at the hour the daughters of the townspeople come to draw water. John Gill noted that drawing water was the usual custom of women in those parts, and that Homer tells of a traveller meeting a girl fetching water before a city. Moses meets his wife at a well in Exodus 2.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Observe how many things take place at waters, so that you too may be invited to come daily to the waters of the Word of God and stand by its wells, as also Rebekah used to do, of whom the Scripture says, "The virgin was very beautiful; a virgin, a man had not known her."
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
(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.
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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Rashi comments: “She is fit for him since she is charitable and worthy of admission into the house of Abraham.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִנֵּ֛ה | hineh | here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| אָנֹכִ֥י | ʾanokhi | I | H595 → | 359 times |
| נִצָּ֖ב | nitzav | [am] standing | H5324 → | 75 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | at | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| עֵ֣ין | ʾein | [the] spring of | H5869 → | 887 times |
| הַמָּ֑יִם | hamayim | the water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| וּבְנוֹת֙ | uvenot | and [the] daughters of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| אַנְשֵׁ֣י | ʾanshei | [the] people of | H582 → | 566 times |
| הָעִ֔יר | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| יֹצְאֹ֖ת | yotzeot | [are] coming out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| לִשְׁאֹ֥ב | lisho | to draw | H7579 → | 19 times |
| מָֽיִם׃ | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
הִנֵּ֛הhere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
אָנֹכִ֥יI
ʾanokhiH595 →359 times
נִצָּ֖ב[am] standing
nitzavH5324 →75 times
עַל־at
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
עֵ֣ין[the] spring of
ʾeinH5869 →887 times
הַמָּ֑יִםthe water
hamayimH4325 →581 times
וּבְנוֹת֙and [the] daughters of
uvenotH1323 →588 times
אַנְשֵׁ֣י[the] people of
ʾansheiH582 →566 times
הָעִ֔ירthe city
hairH5892 →1090 times
יֹצְאֹ֖ת[are] coming out
yotzeotH3318 →1067 times
לִשְׁאֹ֥בto draw
lishoH7579 →19 times
מָֽיִם׃water
mayimH4325 →581 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
Psalms 37:5Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will do it.
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:3
Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be achieved.
- 1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
- Philippians 4:6–7
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
- Matthew 6:25
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more…
- Psalms 55:22
Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.
- Proverbs 16:3
Through
Exodus 2:16Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock.
it leads to
- Genesis 24:11
As evening approached, he made the camels kneel down near the well outside the town at the time when the women went out to draw water.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Samuel 9:11
And as they were climbing the hill to the city, they met some young women coming out to draw water and asked, “Is the seer here?”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 3:1
Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
- Genesis 24:11
Where this verse is studied
About Genesis
This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 10.