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Genesis 24:34

in Genesis 24

“I am Abraham’s servant,” he replied.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And he said, I am Abraham’s servant.

KJV

And he said, I am Abraham’s servant.

This verse in Genesis 24

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

He was welcome before, but we may suppose him doubly welcome when he said, I am Abraham's servant. Abraham's name, no doubt, was well known among them and respected, and we might suppose them not altogether ignorant of his state, for Abraham knew theirs, ch. xxii.

This site's exposition

I am Abraham's servant

on Genesis 24:34-36

He opens with his master's name and never gives his own. The chapter calls him the servant or the man from first to last, and the name Eliezer belongs to chapter 15. Origen read the errand as a picture of the church brought to Christ: a servant sent by a father to fetch a bride for the son, carrying the father's goods and speaking only of the son.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

John Chrysostom

HOMILIES ON GENESIS 48.21 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

See how the servant narrates everything to them with precision: "I am servant of that man Abraham," he says, "whom you know; so, learn that he enjoyed such blessing from the Lord of all as to arrive at great wealth." Then, to teach them the abundance of his wealth, he said, "Sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, camels and asses" came his way. Take heed, you people of wealth, you who acquire such and such acres of land day in and day out, building baths and walkways and splendid buildings—see in what lay the good man's riches: no property, no buildings, no empty display of luxury, but rather sheep and cattle, camels and asses, servants male and female. The text added in another place that they were all born in the household, so that you could learn how Abraham gained so many servants. "So this master of mine came into such great wealth and enjoyed great favor from on high; when he had reached old age Sarah bore him a son, and, having this only child, he has already made him heir of everything. He has given him everything he owned."

The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

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.

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Before I had done speaking in my heart - Which perhaps he mentions, lest it should be suspected that Rebekah had overheard his prayer, and designedly humoured it; no, saith he, I spake it in my heart, so that none heard it but God, to whom thoughts are words, and from him the answer came.
And he said, I am Abraham's servant. Not Abraham himself, this undeceived Laban, if he so thought, but a servant of his; which was enough to introduce his discourse, his master being a near relation of theirs, and well known to them by name, if not in person.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

He was welcome before, but we may suppose him doubly welcome when he said, I am Abraham's servant. Abraham's name, no doubt, was well known among them and respected, and we might suppose them not altogether ignorant of his state, for Abraham knew theirs, ch. xxii.

The words behind it

4 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיֹּאמַ֑רand he said

    vaiyomarH5595305 times

  • עֶ֥בֶד[am] [the] servant of

    ʾevedH5650799 times

  • אַבְרָהָ֖םAbraham

    ʾavrahamH85175 times

  • אָנֹֽכִי׃I

    ʾanokhiH595359 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Where this verse is studied

About Genesis

Eliezer and Rebekah at the Well — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Eliezer and Rebekah at the Well — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

This page draws on John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 48.21; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, Homilies on Genesis.