Tag Archives: genesis 14

Commentary

Is Eliezer Abraham’s Servant in Genesis 24?

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Rebecca and Eliezer by Paolo Veronese, c1580 (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Who was the servant that Abraham sent away to find a bride for Isaac? The bible itself does not say, but out of habit I referred to him as Eliezer when I posted about the text on Facebook. Both Jewish and Christian sources agree that Eliezer, a man otherwise mentioned only once in Genesis 15, was the servant that Abraham entrusted the future of his line to.

This post is brought to you thanks to the generous help of Jeremy from Study With Jeremy. I’ve misplaced my copy of Genesis Rabbah and he was kind enough to delve into the original Hebrew to help bring this mystery to a satisfactory conclusion.

So, who was this Eliezer fellow anyway? Sounds like a great mystery! Read on for more.

Continue reading Is Eliezer Abraham’s Servant in Genesis 24? →

Commentary

Isaac at Moriah and the Temple Mount

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It’s no mystery that I love all the “begats” in the bible and I’ve built complex charts and relationship maps to tease out interesting details. (My family tree of every named individual in the Torah is completed, but I have to make it presentable and write up explanations for some of my choices.) I am now trying to pay more attention to the places in the bible and their connections.

Using my previous post on the Binding of Isaac as an example, the fact that Isaac lived at Beer-lahai-roi after his near-sacrifice deepens the text. Now, we as readers can connect that as where Hagar first met God and ponder its significance. While the book does not provide easy answers, we can ask new questions. Did he go there because it was hallowed ground? Was there a connection between him and Hagar or Ishmael at that spot? Could Isaac have gone there in search of God himself, as Hagar did when she ran away? There are no answers to these questions, but asking them brings us closer to Isaac and closer to the text.

As important as Beer-lahai-roi is, undoubtedly the most important place mentioned in the Binding of Isaac is Moriah, the region where he was to be offered to God. It may be the most important place in the while bible.

Read on for more.

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Commentary

Lech-Lecha – Abram: Warrior-King of Canaan

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I think I’m beginning to understand what Genesis is doing in these first few narratives about Abram: they are demonstrating that God’s decision to select his family was correct. Not only does he have an insanely beautiful wife – a woman that could clearly sail a thousand ships, if only there were ships in the deserts of Canaan – but he’s also a master warrior with a deep sense of family and clan loyalty.

The next section of the narrative depicts Abram – somewhat oddly, relative to the nomadic way that he was presented so far – as something of a masterful warrior, perhaps even a warrior king. And it does so by discussing his role in what amounted to the closest thing Genesis has to a World War.

The story goes something like this:

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