Genesis 24:59

Summary

The verse narrates that Rebekah's family sent her away, along with her nurse, Abraham's servant, and the servant's men. It marks the transition point where Rebekah departs from her household to journey with Abraham's servant.

Key words

• yeshalechu ("they sent away", H7971G) — piel stem, giving intensive/causative force to the sending, marking a decisive dismissal rather than a simple departure; narrative form continues the story sequence.
• achotam ("their sister", H0269) — feminine singular construct with 3rd person masculine plural suffix, meaning "sister of them," identifying Rebekah's relationship to those doing the sending.
• meniqtah ("her suckling-nurse", H3243I) — feminine singular construct with 3rd person feminine singular suffix, "nurse of her," designating a specific individual attached to Rebekah's household.
• eved ("servant of", H5650) — masculine singular construct, requires a following noun (here Avraham) to complete the phrase "servant of Abraham."
• anashav ("his men", H0582) — masculine plural construct with 3rd person masculine singular suffix, "men of him," referring to those accompanying the servant.

What the text says

The verse is built as a single sentence with one main verb, yeshalechu ("they sent away", H7971G), governing four objects joined by the conjunction ve ("and", H9002) and marked individually by the direct object particle 'et (H0853): Rebekah, her nurse, Abraham's servant, and his men. Each object noun after the first is in construct form — achotam, meniqtah, eved, anashav — meaning each depends grammatically on a following noun or suffix to complete its sense ("sister of them," "nurse of her," "servant of Abraham," "men of him"). This construct chaining allows the Hebrew to compactly list four distinct parties in a single clause without repeating the verb.

The piel stem of yeshalechu (H7971G) conveys an intensive or resultative sending, differing from the simple qal form of the same root; the grammar note describes it as narrative, continuing the sequence of actions already underway in the surrounding text. The unmarked 'et particles do not translate into English but structurally confirm that all four nouns are direct objects of the single verb.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew text has meniqtah ("her suckling-nurse", H3243I), and the Vulgate matches this with "nutricem illius" ("her nurse"). The Septuagint, however, renders this element as "τὰ ὑπάρχοντα αὐτῆς" ("her belongings" or "her possessions"), a divergence from both the Hebrew and the Vulgate, which specify a person (a nurse) rather than property.