Genesis 24:63

Early in the evening, Isaac went out to the field to meditate, and looking up, he saw the camels approaching.

BSB

Parallel translations

4 additional translations

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KJV

And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming.

ASV

And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, there were camels coming.

YLT

and Isaac goeth out to meditate in the field, at the turning of the evening, and he lifteth up his eyes, and looketh, and lo, camels are coming.

DBT

And Isaac had gone out to meditate in the fields toward the beginning of evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, camels were coming.

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Commentary voices

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Voices6

On this verse

He withdrew himself and cleansed himself from the vices of this world, elevating his soul like Isaac in the field, or (as others have it) walking freely.

Ambrose of Milan· On Isaac and the Soul, 397patristic

Related commentary

(Verses 62 and 63.) And he himself dwelt in the land of the south: and Isaac went forth to meditate in the field towards evening. The land of the south signifies Gerar, to which he had once been led by his father to be sacrificed. But when it says, And he went forth to meditate in the field, which in Greek is called ἀδολεσχῆσαι, in Hebrew it is read: And Isaac went forth to speak in the field, the evening already declining.

Jerome· Hebrew Questions on Genesis, 420patristic

And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at eventide,....

John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)reformed

Isaac went out to meditate - לשוח lasuach, to bend down the body, or the mind, or both. He was probably in deep thought, with his eyes fixed upon the ground. What the subject of his meditation was it is useless to inquire; he was a pious man, and could not be triflingly employed.

Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832evangelical

Merciful providences are then doubly comfortable, when they find us in the way of our duty: some think Isaac was now praying for good success in this affair, and meditating upon that which was proper to encourage his hope in God concerning it; and now when he sets himself, as it were, upon his watch-tower, to see what God would answer him, he sees the camels coming.

John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, 1765evangelical

Meditation and prayer ought to be both our business and our delight when we are alone; while we have a God, a Christ, and a heaven, to acquaint ourselves with, and to secure our interest in, we need not want matter either for meditation or prayer, which, if they go together, will mutually befriend each other.

Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan

Voices on this verse

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Rabbinic commentary

How the Hebraic tradition has read this verse — and Marcus Brown’s own reading of it.

Cross-references

10 linked verses

The verses this one reaches10

Psalms 119:15
I will meditate on Your precepts and regard Your ways.
Psalms 104:34
May my meditation be pleasing to Him, for I rejoice in the LORD.
Psalms 1:2
But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.
Joshua 1:8
This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in all you do.
Psalms 143:5–6
I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your works; I consider the work of Your hands.
Psalms 139:17–18
How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God, how vast is their sum!
Psalms 145:5
the glorious splendor of Your majesty. And I will meditate on Your wondrous works.
Psalms 119:27
Make clear to me the way of Your precepts; then I will meditate on Your wonders.
Psalms 119:48
I lift up my hands to Your commandments, which I love, and I meditate on Your statutes.
Psalms 77:11–12
I will remember the works of the LORD; yes, I will remember Your wonders of old.

Cross-references

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The quotation web

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Original language

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Around this verse

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

PersonPatriarchsIsaacThe son of promise and of laughter — bound on Moriah, the quiet inheritor of the covenant.

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

Genesis — The book of beginnings. Creation, fall, flood, covenant, election, providence — eleven generational seams stitch one unbroken story from heaven-and-earth to a coffin in Egypt.

Canon: Old Testament
Author: Moses — by traditional attribution; the book is the first of the Pentateuch
Date: Composed c. 15th–13th century BC; draws on older patriarchal sources (the toledoth framework is internal)

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Joshua 1:8
This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. For then you will prosper…
leads to
- Psalms 119:15
  I will meditate on Your precepts and regard Your ways.
- Psalms 19:14
  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
- Colossians 3:16
  Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to…
- Proverbs 3:1
  My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments;
- Deuteronomy 29:9
  So keep and follow the words of this covenant, that you may prosper in all you do.
Through
Psalms 1:2
But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.
leads to
- Joshua 1:8
  This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. For then you will prosper…
- Psalms 119:92
  If Your law had not been my delight, then I would have perished in my affliction.
- Psalms 119:11
  I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.

The whole web at once: see the Arc.

Where the connections lead

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Continue: Genesis 24 →