Finding a Wife for Isaac — The Test at the Well and the Word "Metzahek"

Isaac at 40 — Why Was He Not Married?

After the death and burial of Sarah, Abraham's attention turns to his son Isaac. Isaac is 40 years old and not married. In the ancient world, that was very strange. Abraham, whose entire mission and every promise of God depends on Isaac carrying on the seed, is deeply worried.

This becomes Abraham's major concern. This is the son of God's promise — all of Abraham's blessings and mission is dependent on Isaac. So why is Isaac not married?

He is not married because of Ishmael, the son of the Egyptian servant of Sarah, Hagar. As a child, this first son Ishmael was afraid that Isaac will inherit Abraham, and he will be left out. So, Ishmael tried to destroy Isaac's manhood by having a homosexual relationship with Isaac. This is the reason that Sarah insisted to expel and kick out Ishmael and his mother Hagar. This idea comes from the Hebrew word "metzahek."

Here are the places in the book of Genesis that this word is used, and you can come to the right conclusions if you use your gray cells in the brain:

The context of this following text is Potiphar's wife trying to subdue Joseph, and now accusing him. The same word here is translated "mock":

Now it is clear why Sarah was so insistent on having Hagar and her son Ishmael immediately kicked out. And why she feared that Ishmael was intending to destroy Isaac so that he would not receive the inheritance of Abraham.

Eliezer's Mission — The Test at the Well

So Abraham sends Eliezer, his old and trusted servant, all the way up north to Haran in Syria to look for a wife for Isaac. This story is really a fascinating story and has many lessons to be learned, especially for the young men who are looking for a wife.

The old Eliezer was wise, and he devises a test. The test that Eliezer is devising for the young lady that he has to bring to Isaac is the following:

What did Eliezer want to examine in the young lady? Is she hospitable? Is she self-confident? Does she think ahead and examine the situation with foresight? Does she care about the animals, and not only for the human beings? Is she willing to work extra to show her generosity, and not ask for money or reward for doing the extra work for a stranger? Does the young lady have enough respect for her family not to make such important decisions on her own, but take the issue before her family? And she was sure enough of her status in the family that she was not shy or fearful to bring an old stranger home to meet her family.

These are some very important principles for anyone who has children and daughters that are ready for marriage, or growing up to become young ladies or young men.

Rebekah — The Girl Who Passed Every Test

The first girl Eliezer meets at the well passes the test completely. He found Rebekah, who was less than half the age of Isaac. This is why, according to the Hebrew text, when she saw Isaac the first time she actually fell off the camel. Falling from a camel is not an easy fall! The English NKJV wrote

but the Hebrew tells a different story. The rest of Rebecca and Isaac's life reflect this difference in their age, and the way that Rebecca manipulated Isaac for the rest of his life.

She is also from the right family — from Sarah's own family, a granddaughter of Laban, the brother of Sarah. Eliezer recognizes that God has guided his steps to the exact right person, and he completes the negotiation with Laban to bring Rebekah back to Isaac in the land of Canaan.

It is worth pausing on the phrase that Eliezer uses when he addresses Laban and presses him to release Rebekah. He says:

This phrase in the Hebrew text is "Chesed v'Emet" — Grace and Truth. This is actually the first time that it appears in the Bible, here in our portion of Chayei Sarah, in Genesis 24:49. It will go on to appear at least 20 times in the psalms, in the historical writings, and in the proverbs — and it will ultimately find its fullest expression in Yeshua, of whom John writes: