Genesis 24:48

Summary

The servant of Abraham recounts, in first-person narrative, three consecutive actions: bowing low, prostrating himself, and blessing Yehovah, the God of his master Abraham, who had guided him on a "way of truth" to secure the granddaughter of Abraham's brother for Isaac.

Key words

• 'esh.ta.cha.Veh ("I bowed down", H7812) — hishtaphel form, denoting the physical act of prostration; paired with 'e.Kod ("I bowed low", H6915) in a doubled expression of the same bodily gesture.
• 'a.va.Rekh ("I blessed", H1288) — piel (intensive) form, marking an intensified or formal act of blessing, directed at Yah.weh ("Yehovah", H3068G) via the direct object marker 'et- (H0853).
• hin.Cha.ni ("he had led me", H5148 + H9030) — hiphil (causative) perfect, indicating a completed prior action: Yehovah caused the servant to be led, with the 1cs suffix -ni ("me") marking the recipient.
• De.rekh 'e.Met ("way of truth", H1870L + H0571H) — construct chain linking "way" to "truth," describing the nature of the guidance received.
• bat-'a.Chi ("daughter of the brother", H1323G + H0251H) — construct chain identifying the woman by her relation to Abraham's brother, further linked to 'a.do.N-i ("my master", H0113 + H9020).

What the text says

The verse opens with three verbs joined by the narrative va- ("and", H9001), each marking sequential completed action in the servant's speech: 'e.Kod ("I bowed low"), 'esh.ta.cha.Veh ("I bowed down"), and 'a.va.Rekh ("I blessed"). The first two verbs both describe physical prostration but use different verbal stems (qal and hishtaphel), producing a doubled emphasis on the gesture before the servant addresses Yehovah directly. The third verb, in the piel stem, shifts to the act of blessing, taking Yehovah as its object via the untranslated marker 'et- (H0853), followed by an epithet: 'e.lo.Hei 'a.do.N-i 'Av.ra.Ham ("the God of my master Abraham"), a chain of construct forms linking "God" to "master" to the name "Abraham."

The relative clause introduced by 'a.Sher ("who", H0834A) describes Yehovah's prior action using the hiphil perfect hin.Cha.ni ("he had led me"), a causative form indicating that the leading was caused by Yehovah and completed before the moment of speech. The phrase be.De.rekh 'e.Met ("in the way of truth") qualifies this leading. The purpose is expressed through the infinitive la.Ka.chat ("to take", H3947G), governing the object bat-'a.Chi 'a.do.N-i ("the daughter of the brother of my master"), destined li.v.N-o ("for his son").

Differences between versions

The LXX reads εὐδοκήσας ("having been well-pleased") before προσεκύνησα ("I worshiped"), differing from the Hebrew's doubled bowing verbs ('e.Kod / 'esh.ta.cha.Veh); it collapses the two Hebrew verbs into one act of worship preceded by a participle of approval not present in the Hebrew text. The LXX also inserts Τύριον before "the God," a term not corresponding to any Hebrew word in this verse. The Vulgate's pronusque adoravi ("and having bowed, I worshiped") similarly merges the two Hebrew bowing verbs into a single participial-plus-verb construction.