54 And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master.   55 And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go.   56 And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the LORD hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master.   57 And they said, We will call the damsel, and enquire at her mouth.   58 And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.   59 And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men.   60 And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.   61 And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.

      Rebekah is here taking leave of her father's house; and 1. Abraham's servant presses for a dismission. Though he and his company were very welcome, and very cheerful there, yet he said, Send me away (v. 54), and again, v. 56. He knew his master would expect him home with some impatience; he had business to do at home which wanted him, and therefore, as one that preferred his work before his pleasure, he was for hastening home. Note, Lingering and loitering no way become a wise and good man; when we have despatched our business abroad we must not delay our return to our business at home, nor be longer from it than needs must; for as a bird that wanders from her nest so is he that wanders from his place, Prov. xxvii. 8. 2. Rebekah's relations, from natural affection and according to the usual expression of kindness in that case, solicit for her stay some time among them, v. 55. They could not think of parting with her on a sudden, especially as she was about the remove so far off and it was not likely that they would ever see one another again: Let her stay a few days, at least ten, which makes it as reasonable a request as the reading in the margin seems to make it unreasonable, a year, or at least ten months. They had consented to the marriage, and yet were loth to part with her. Note, It is an instance of the vanity of this world that there is nothing in it so agreeable but it has its alloy. Nulla est sincera voluptas--There is no unmingled pleasure. They were pleased that they had matched a daughter of their family so well, and yet, when it came to the last, it was with great reluctance that they sent her away. 3. Rebekah herself determined the matter. To her they appealed, as it was fit they should (v. 57): Call the damsel (who had retired to her apartment with a modest silence) and enquire at her mouth. Note, As children ought not to marry without their parents' consent, so parents ought not to marry them without their own. Before the matter is resolved on, "Ask at the damsel's mouth;" she is a party principally concerned, and therefore ought to be principally consulted. Rebekah consented, not only to go, but to go immediately: I will go, v. 58. We may hope that the notice she had taken of the servant's piety and devotion gave her such an idea of the prevalence of religion and godliness in the family she was to go to made her desirous to hasten thither, and willing to forget her own people and her father's house, where religion had not so much the ascendant. 4. Hereupon she is sent away with Abraham's servant; not, we may suppose, the very next day after, but very quickly: her friends see that she has a good heart on it, and so they dismiss her, (1.) With suitable attendants--her nurse (v. 59), her damsels, v. 61. It seems, then, that when she went to the well for water it was not because she had not servants at command, but because she took a pleasure in works of humble industry. Now that she was going among strangers, it was fit she should take those with her with whom she was acquainted. Here is nothing said of her portion. Her personal merits were a portion in her, she needed none with her, nor did that ever come into the treaty of marriage. (2.) With hearty good wishes: They blessed Rebekah, v. 60. Note, When our relations are entering into a new condition, we ought by prayer to recommend them to the blessing and grace of God. Now that she was going to be a wife, they prayed that she might be a mother both of a numerous and of a victorious progeny. Perhaps Abraham's servant had told them of the promise God had lately made to his master, which it is likely, Abraham acquainted his household with, that God would multiply his seed as the stars of heaven, and that they should possess the gate of their enemies (ch. xxii. 17), to which promise they had an eye in this blessing, Be thou the mother of that seed.

      62 And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahai-roi; for he dwelt in the south country.   63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming.   64 And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel.   65 For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a veil, and covered herself.   66 And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done.   67 And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.

      Isaac and Rebekah are, at length, happily brought together. Observe,

      I. Isaac was well employed when he met Rebekah: He went out to meditate, or pray, in the field, at the even-tide, v. 62, 63. Some think he expected the return of his servants about this time, and went out on purpose to meet them. But, it should seem, he went out on another errand, to take the advantage of a silent evening and a solitary field for meditation and prayer, those divine exercises by which we converse with God and our own hearts. Note, 1. Holy souls love retirement. It will do us good to be often left alone, walking alone and sitting alone; and, if we have the art of improving solitude, we shall find we are never less alone than when alone. 2. Meditation and prayer ought to be both our business and our delight when we are alone; while we have a God, a Christ, and a heaven, to acquaint ourselves with, and to secure our interest in, we need not want matter either for meditation or prayer, which, if they go together, will mutually befriend each other. 3. Our walks in the field are then truly pleasant when in them we apply ourselves to meditation and prayer. We there have a free and open prospect of the heavens above us and the earth around us, and the host and riches of both, by the view of which we should be led to the contemplation of the Maker and owner of all. 4. The exercises of devotion should be the refreshment and entertainment of the evening, to relieve us from the fatigue occasioned by the care and business of the day, and to prepare us for the repose and sleep of the night. 5. Merciful providences are then doubly comfortable when they find us well employed and in the way of our duty. Some think Isaac was now praying for good success in this affair that was depending, and meditating upon that which was proper to encourage his hope in God concerning it; and now, when he sets himself, as it were, upon his watch-tower, to see what God would answer him, as the prophet (Hab. ii. 1), he sees the camels coming. Sometimes God sends in the mercy prayed for immediately, Acts xii. 12.

      II. Rebekah behaved herself very becomingly, when she met Isaac: understanding who he was, she alighted off her camel (v. 64), and took a veil, and covered herself (v. 65), in token of humility, modesty, and subjection. She did not reproach Isaac for not coming himself to fetch her, or, at least, to meet her a day's journey or two, did not complain of the tediousness of her journey, or the difficulty of leaving her relations, to come into a strange place; but, having seen Providence going before her in the affair, she accommodates herself with cheerfulness to her new relation. Those that by faith are espoused to Christ, and would be presented as chaste virgins to him, must, in conformity to his example, humble themselves, as Rebekah, who alighted when she saw Isaac on foot, and must put themselves into subjection to him who is their head (Eph. v. 24), as Rebekah, signifying it by the veil she put on, 1 Cor. xi. 10.

      III. They were brought together (probably after some further acquaintance), to their mutual comfort, v. 67. Observe here, 1. What an affectionate son he was to his mother: it was about three years since her death, and yet he was not, till now, comforted concerning it; the wound which that affliction gave to his tender spirit bled so long, and was never healed till God brought him into this new relation. Thus crosses and comforts are balances to each other (Eccl. vii. 14), and help to keep the scale even. 2. What an affectionate husband he was to his wife. Note, Those that have approved themselves well in one relation, it may be hoped, will do so in another: She became his wife, and he loved her; there was all the reason in the world why he should, for so ought men to love their wives even an themselves. The duty of the relation is then done, and the comfort of the relation is then enjoyed, when mutual love governs; for there the Lord commands the blessing.