Attended by ten men,[285] mounted upon ten camels laden with jewels and
trinkets, Eliezer betook himself to Haran under the convoy of two
angels, the one appointed to keep guard over Eliezer, the other over
Rebekah.[286]
The journey to Haran took but a few hours, at evening of the same day
he reached there, because the earth hastened to meet him in a wonderful
way.[287] He made a halt at the well of water, and he prayed to God to
permit him to distinguish the wife appointed for Isaac among the
damsels that came to draw water, by this token, that she alone, and not
the others, would give him drink.[288] Strictly speaking, this wish of
his was unseemly, for suppose a bondwoman had given him water to
drink![289] But God granted his request. All the damsels said they
could not give him of their water, because they had to take it home.
Then appeared Rebekah, coming to the well contrary to her wont, for she
was the daughter of a king, Bethuel her father being king of Haran.
When Eliezer addressed his request for water to drink to this young
innocent child, not only was she ready to do his bidding, but she
rebuked the other maidens on account of their discourtesy to a
stranger.[290] Eliezer noticed, too, how the water rose up to her of
its own accord from the bottom of the well, so that she needed not to
exert herself to draw it. Having scrutinized her carefully, he felt
certain that she was the wife chosen for Isaac. He gave her a nose
ring, wherein was set a precious stone, half a shekel in weight,
foreshadowing the half-shekel which her descendants would once bring to
the sanctuary year by year. He gave her also two bracelets for her
hands, of ten shekels weight in gold, in token of the two tables of
stone and the Ten Commandments upon them.[291]
When Rebekah, bearing the jewels, came to her mother and to her brother
Laban, this one hastened to Eliezer in order to slay him and take
possession of his goods. Laban soon learnt that he would not be able to
do much harm to a giant like Eliezer. He met him at the moment when
Eliezer seized two camels and bore them across the stream.[292]
Besides, on account of Eliezer's close resemblance to Abraham, Laban
thought he saw Abraham before him, and he said: "Come in, thou blessed
of the Lord! It is not becoming that thou shouldst stand without, I
have cleansed my house of idols."[293]
But when Eliezer arrived at the house of Bethuel, they tried to kill
him with cunning. They set poisoned food before him. Luckily, he
refused to eat before he had discharged himself of his errand. While he
was telling his story, it was ordained by God that the dish intended
for him should come to stand in front of Bethuel, who ate of it and
died.[294]
Eliezer showed the document he had in which Abraham deeded all his
possessions to Isaac, and he made it known to the kindred of Abraham,
how deeply attached to them his master was, in spite of the long years
of separation.[295] Yet he let them know at the same time that Abraham
was not dependent wholly upon them. He might seek a wife for his son
among the daughters of Ishmael or Lot. At first the kindred of Abraham
consented to let Rebekah go with Eliezer, but as Bethuel had died in
the meantime, they did not want to give Rebekah in marriage without
consulting her. Besides, they deemed it proper that she should remain
at home at least during the week of mourning for her father.[296] But
Eliezer, seeing the angel wait for him, would brook no delay, and he
said, "The man who came with me and prospered my way, waits for me
without," and as Rebekah professed herself ready to go at once with
Eliezer, her mother and brother granted her wish and dismissed her with
their blessings.[297] But their blessings did not come from the bottom
of their hearts. Indeed, as a rule, the blessing of the impious is a
curse, wherefore Rebekah remained barren for years.
Eliezer's return to Canaan was as wonderful as his going to Haran had
been. A seventeen days' journey he accomplished in three hours. He left
Haran at noon, and he arrived at Hebron[299] at three o'clock in the
afternoon, the time for the Minhah Prayer, which had been introduced by
Isaac. He was in the posture of praying when Rebekah first laid eyes
upon him, wherefore she asked Eliezer what man this was. She saw he was
not an ordinary individual. She noticed the unusual beauty of Isaac,
and also that an angel accompanied him. Thus her question was not
dictated by mere curiosity.[300] At this moment she learnt through the
holy spirit, that she was destined to be the mother of the godless
Esau. Terror seized her at the knowledge, and, trembling, she fell from
the camel and inflicted an injury upon herself.[301]
After Isaac had heard the wonderful adventures of Eliezer, he took
Rebekah to the tent of his mother Sarah, and she showed herself worthy
to be her successor. The cloud appeared again that had been visible
over the tent during the life of Sarah, and had vanished at her death;
the light shone again in the tent of Rebekah that Sarah had kindled at
the coming in of the Sabbath, and that had burnt miraculously
throughout the week; the blessing returned with Rebekah that had
hovered over the dough kneaded by Sarah; and the gates of the tent were
opened for the needy, wide and spacious, as they had been during the
lifetime of Sarah.[302]
For three years Isaac had mourned for his mother, and he could find no
consolation in the academy of Shem and Eber, his abiding-place during
that period. But Rebekah comforted him after his mother's death,[303]
for she was the counterpart of Sarah in person and in spirit.[304]
As a reward for having executed to his full satisfaction the mission
with which he had charged him, Abraham set his bondman free.[305] The
curse resting upon Eliezer, as upon all the descendants of Canaan, was
transformed into a blessing, because he ministered unto Abraham
loyally.[306] Greatest reward of all, God found him worthy of entering
Paradise alive, a distinction that fell to the lot of very few.[307]