Abraham is getting old and frail and worried that his son will marry a local Canaanite. He has one of his slaves find a wife for his son Isaac. The slave goes to a water well in Mesopotamia when he knows the local women will be there, drawing water for the evening. He asks for a specific sign from the LORD and Rebekah, who happens to be there, waters all of the slave's camels, gives the slave water, and invites him to her family's home. Rebekah leaves with the slave to Isaac's place. Isaac and Rebekah sleep together and therefore, Rebekah becomes his wife.
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Discussion Points.
There are two references in this chapter (see the King James translation here) about making an oath:
24:2 And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh:
24:9 And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter.
This ancient practice is known as the "Yarek Oath," according to the work of the historian Dr. Rex Curry. It is based on some of the oldest descriptions of prayer (or oaths) in the Bible, which included the touching of testicles. Some people believe that the word "testament" or "testify" is based on this practice of touching testicles, but this has been disputed.
The bible is filled with conflicting instructions about swearing (in other words, making a vow or oath), as pointed out at the Skeptic's Annotated Bible. Nowadays, taking an oath does not mean touching someone's testicles but in the United States, means putting a hand on the bible.
For the religious who think it is wrong to take an oath, and for the non-believers in the Christian bible, Richard Dawkins has an interesting forum thread about this and how you can get around having to place your hand on a bible.
As two final points about this chapter of Genesis, we are once again shown that God endorses slavery. The slave who goes through all the trouble of getting a wife for Isaac is not even mentioned by name; yet, other lesser characters in the bible stories get named. Also, there is zero "dating period" before marriage. People just sleep together their first day and are married. For those who argue about "traditional marriage" that stems back to the bible, they ought to read this.
At least Isaac seems to have been grieving for Sarah, who had just died. The previous chapter doesn't seem to indicate that Abraham grieved at all — there was just a lot of discussion about how much he paid for a grave.
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