Rebekah

Overview

• Rebekah is the wife of Isaac and the mother of the twins Esau and Jacob. She was chosen as Isaac's bride at the well in Mesopotamia.
• Her discernment secured the covenant blessing for Jacob, through whom the promise to Abraham continued.

Her Story

Rebekah was the daughter of Bethuel and granddaughter of Abraham's brother Nahor (Genesis 22.23). When Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac, the servant prayed for a sign at the well of Nahor's city — that the right woman would offer to water his camels — and Rebekah came out, drew water, and offered it unbidden, fulfilling the sign (Genesis 24.1-27). Her family consented, and asked her own will; she answered, "I will go," and set out, receiving the blessing that her seed would "possess the gate of those who hate them" (Genesis 24.50-60). Meeting Isaac in the field at evening, she veiled herself, and Isaac brought her into his mother's tent and loved her (Genesis 24.61-67).

Rebekah was barren, but Isaac prayed, and she conceived; the children struggled within her, and the Lord told her, "Two nations are in your womb… and the elder shall serve the younger" (Genesis 25.21-23). So she bore Esau and Jacob (Genesis 25.24-26). Later, sojourning in Gerar, Isaac called her his sister for fear of the men there, until Abimelech discovered the truth (Genesis 26.6-11). Esau's Hittite wives were "a grief of mind" to her and Isaac (Genesis 26.34-35).

When Isaac, grown old and blind, resolved to bless Esau, Rebekah overheard, and moved to secure for Jacob the blessing she knew belonged to him: she prepared the food, dressed Jacob in Esau's garments and the skins of kids, and sent him in to his father (Genesis 27.5-17). When Esau's murderous anger flared, it was Rebekah who warned Jacob and sent him away to her brother Laban in Haran until his brother's fury should pass (Genesis 27.42-46). She is buried with Isaac in the cave of Machpelah, the tomb of the patriarchs (Genesis 49.31).

Sources

[^1]: Genesis 22.23; Genesis 24–Genesis 27; Genesis 49.31 — Rebekah at the well, the oracle of the two nations, and the securing of Jacob's blessing. Cf. OrthodoxWiki, Genesis (Outline).