Genesis 24:1-3
‘Abraham was old, and well stricken in age…. The Lord had blessed Abraham in all things…. Abraham said to his eldest servant: “Swear by the Lord, the God of Heaven and the God of Earth, that you shall not take a wife to my son from the daughters of the Canaanites!”…. And he (the servant went and said to Abraham’s kin): “The Lord has blessed my master greatly…. He has become great. And He has given him flocks and herds and silver and gold and menservants and maidservants and camels and asses. And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old. And to him, he has given all that he has!”…. (The servant brought the bride to Isaac), and Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent and took Rebekah and she became his wife. And he
loved her. And Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.’ Genesis 24:1-3, 25-36,67.
Calvin commented: “Moses passes onward to…Isaac’s marriage. Because indeed Abraham, perceiving himself to be worn down by old age, would take care that his son should not marry a wife in the land of Canaan….
“Moses expressly describes Abraham as an old man, in order that we may learn that he had been admonished — by his very age — to seek a wife for his son. For old age itself which at the most is not far distant from death ought to induce us so to order the affairs of our family, that when we die — peace may be preserved among our posterity; the fear of the Lord may flourish; and rightly constituted order may prevail.
“The old age of Abraham was indeed yet green!…. But when he reckoned up his own years, he deemed it time to consult for the welfare of his son…. Abraham…fears lest, after his own death, the inhabitants of the land should captivate Isaac by their allurements…. Isaac himself, the heir and successor of Abraham, submitted…. It here appears what great veneration he cherished toward his father. Because Abraham, relying on Isaac’s obedience, confidently calls his servant to him.”
After journeying to Nahor the city of Abraham’s grandfather, there, “the servant…first commemorates Abraham’s riches so that they might not hesitate to connect their daughter with a husband so wealthy. He secondly explains that Isaac was born of his mother in her old age…, so that they might infer that he had been divinely appointed to this greatness and eminence….. In the third
place, he affirms that Isaac would be the sole heir of his father…. He thus modestly and suppliantly asks them to consent to the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah.”
Permission being given, the servant returned with Rebekah to Isaac. ‘And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent’…. Isaac was not compelled by the tyrannical command of his father to marry. But, after he had given his mind to her, he took her freely — and cordially gave her the assurance of conjugal fidelity.
‘And Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death’…. His grief for the death of his mother was now…assuaged.” Abraham was old and well stricken in age; but Isaac loved his wife Rebekah!
