Genesis 24 48

Genesis 24:48 kjv

And I bowed down my head, and worshipped the LORD, and blessed the LORD God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter unto his son.

Genesis 24:48 nkjv

And I bowed my head and worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the way of truth to take the daughter of my master's brother for his son.

Genesis 24:48 niv

and I bowed down and worshiped the LORD. I praised the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master's brother for his son.

Genesis 24:48 esv

Then I bowed my head and worshiped the LORD and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to take the daughter of my master's kinsman for his son.

Genesis 24:48 nlt

"Then I bowed low and worshiped the LORD. I praised the LORD, the God of my master, Abraham, because he had led me straight to my master's niece to be his son's wife.

Genesis 24 verses

Genesis 24 48 meaning

This verse expresses Eliezer's immediate and profound worship and gratitude to the Lord, recognizing Him as the God of Abraham. He gives thanks for the Lord's faithful guidance that directly led him to the exact kinswoman destined to be Isaac's wife, thereby fulfilling his mission and ensuring the continuity of the covenant line. It highlights a servant's keen spiritual perception and a direct acknowledgment of divine providence in specific, everyday affairs.

Genesis 24 48 Context

Genesis 24 recounts the mission of Abraham's oldest servant, Eliezer of Damascus, to find a wife for Isaac. Abraham, deeply committed to God's covenant promises, explicitly forbids Isaac from marrying a Canaanite woman, fearing defilement and assimilation. Instead, he sends Eliezer back to his homeland in Mesopotamia to secure a wife from his own extended family. The cultural context underscores the importance of endogamy (marriage within the family/tribe) to maintain purity of lineage and faith. Upon arriving, Eliezer presents his prayer for clear divine guidance at the well, asking for a specific sign to identify the woman chosen by God. Rebekah fulfills the exact sign.

This verse (Gen 24:48) is part of Eliezer's recounting of these events to Rebekah's family—Laban and Bethuel—to explain how he came to their doorstep. It follows his detailed narration of meeting Rebekah at the well (vv. 42-47), specifically the moment she offered water to his camels, the precise sign he had prayed for. His immediate reaction is bowing and worshipping God, confirming his spiritual attentiveness and recognizing the swift, unambiguous fulfillment of his request. This context demonstrates God's active involvement in specific details of human life, particularly those vital to the divine plan, contrasting sharply with the reliance on divination and idol worship prevalent in the surrounding pagan cultures of the time.

Genesis 24 48 Word analysis

• `And I bowed down`: Hebrew: וָאֶקֹּד (va'e'kōd). This verb signifies a bowing motion, often in reverence or submission. It's a physical act of homage, denoting humility and respect before a superior. In this context, it's a spontaneous gesture of profound reverence towards God.
• `my head`: Hebrew: רֹאשִׁי (ro'shī). Literally "my head," emphasizing a physical act of humility. This specific action, bowing the head, often precedes full prostration and denotes submission of intellect and will to God's sovereignty.
• `and worshiped`: Hebrew: וָאֶשְׁתַּחֲוֶה (va'esh'tah'ah'veh). This is a more comprehensive act of prostration than "bowed down." It implies falling face down to the ground, signifying profound reverence, adoration, and submission, often associated with prayer and homage to a deity. Eliezer's action demonstrates his sincere and overwhelming awe at God's clear intervention.
• `the Lord`: Hebrew: יְהוָה (YHWH), the tetragrammaton, the personal covenant name of God. This indicates that Eliezer is acknowledging the faithful, active God who reveals Himself and keeps His promises, distinct from general deities.
• `God of my master Abraham`: Hebrew: אֱלֹהֵי אֲדֹנִי אַבְרָהָם (Elohei Adonai Avraham). This emphasizes God's specific covenant relationship with Abraham. It ties God's current providential action directly to His promises and care for Abraham and his lineage, making the mission not just an errand but an act within the unfolding divine plan.
• `who had led me`: Hebrew: אֲשֶׁר הִנְחַנִי (asher hin'chanī). From the root נָחָה (nachah), meaning "to lead, guide, bring." This signifies active, personal divine guidance. It’s not a coincidental event but a directed path orchestrated by God Himself.
• `in the right way`: Hebrew: בְּדֶרֶךְ אֱמֶת (be'de'rekh e'met). Literally "in the way of truth" or "in the faithful way." "Truth" (אֱמֶת - emet) implies reliability, faithfulness, and accordance with reality or God's design. This means God guided him precisely, faithfully, and truly to the intended person and place, not leaving him to chance or error. It reflects God's trustworthiness and consistency in fulfilling His promises.
• `to take`: Hebrew: לָקַחַת (la'qa'ḥat). The infinitive form, meaning "to take, acquire, marry." This confirms the ultimate purpose of the guidance: the acquisition of Rebekah as Isaac's wife.
• `the daughter of my master’s brother`: Hebrew: בַּת־אֲחִי אֲדֹנִי (bat-achī adonī). A specific, accurate familial identification. This highlights the fulfillment of Abraham’s command to find a bride from his kindred, preventing assimilation with the Canaanites and preserving the covenant lineage.
• `for his son`: Hebrew: לִבְנוֹ (liv'nō). Refers directly to Isaac. The entire mission was to secure a partner for Isaac, ensuring the continuation of Abraham's seed through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed.

• `And I bowed down... and worshiped the Lord`: The repetition and distinct nature of these two actions (physical bowing of head then full prostration) signify Eliezer's immediate and overwhelming sense of awe and profound gratitude. It's not a casual thanks but deep, heartfelt adoration for God's manifest presence and specific answer to prayer.
• `God of my master Abraham`: This phrasing underscores the continuity of God's covenant faithfulness across generations. Eliezer sees God not just as a distant deity, but as the active, relational God tied to Abraham's promises, providing reassurance and purpose to the mission.
• `who had led me in the right way to take the daughter of my master’s brother for his son`: This entire phrase succinctly encapsulates divine sovereignty and meticulous providence. It describes God's direct, purposeful, and perfect guidance in the details of the mission, ensuring the precise outcome Abraham desired and that was necessary for the unfolding of salvation history through Isaac. The "right way" refers to the method (divine intervention) and the outcome (the correct spouse).

Genesis 24 48 Bonus section

Eliezer's humility in crediting God immediately, even before the entire mission was complete, highlights a key characteristic of a faithful servant. His worship, reiterated from earlier in the narrative (v. 26-27), demonstrates a lifestyle of thankfulness and dependence on God. This act of "finding the bride" by Abraham's faithful servant is often seen by theologians as a beautiful foreshadowing or type of Christ (Isaac's heir) and the Holy Spirit (the true Servant who finds and prepares the bride, the Church, for Christ). Just as Eliezer sought a bride from Abraham’s own family, God calls His chosen bride from amongst His spiritual kin. The specificity of God's guidance, down to the camel's drink, serves as a powerful reminder that God cares about every detail of our lives and orchestrates events to fulfill His perfect will. The careful arrangement of this marriage was paramount to God's redemptive plan, ensuring the Messianic line would be preserved according to His will, not human design or foreign influence.

Genesis 24 48 Commentary

Genesis 24:48 encapsulates Eliezer's profound piety and exemplary recognition of divine providence. His immediate response of bowing and worshiping upon finding Rebekah—the very woman who fulfilled his precisely worded prayer—is a testament to his spiritual perceptiveness. He does not attribute the success to chance or his own skill, but unhesitatingly to the Lord, whom he reveres as "the God of my master Abraham," thereby linking God's present faithfulness to His past covenant promises. This immediate worship demonstrates a heart attuned to God's workings, acknowledging that God actively guides and directs even the seemingly mundane details of life. The "right way" refers not only to the geographical path but to the moral and spiritual precision of God's leading, ensuring the mission aligned with God's ultimate purposes for Abraham's lineage and the unfolding of His redemptive plan. Eliezer’s response serves as a timeless model of how believers should respond to God's evident hand in their lives: with immediate gratitude, profound humility, and deep worship.