Genesis 24:1–67 Catholic Bible study Lesson 14

In the Beginning:
The Book of Genesis

Lesson 14 Isaac & Rebekah
the book of Genesis 24:1–67

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)*
New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE )*
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Rosarium Virginis Mariae (Rosary of the Virgin Mary)
ex libris (in our library)
glossary for the book of Genesis
cross references in the book of Genesis
next lesson: The Brothers Esau & Jacob

This material coordinates with Lesson 14 on pages 78–83 in the study book In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis.

“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.”—the book of Genesis 1:31—2:2

welcome to our in-depth study of the book of Genesis
We invite interested groups and individuals to check out the sample first lesson from this 28-lesson Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study. These online study pages link to free lesson videos, an online glossary, and a list of cross references in the biblical text. Other study aids include maps, charts, illustrations, additional commentary, and prayers based on the primary Scripture in each lesson. In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis has been granted an imprimatur and can be purchased from our website shop. If you have a Bible-related question or comment, click on one of the “ask us your question” or “what do you think” buttons on any online study page.

open with prayer
It’s always wise to begin any Bible study with prayer, whether reading the Scriptures alone or meeting with others in a discussion study group. You can pray using your own words or use one of the opening prayers on our website. We especially like the following:

Lord Jesus, you promised to send your Holy Spirit
to teach us all things.
As we read and study your word today,
allow it to touch our hearts and change our lives. Amen.

let’s review—the book of Genesis 22:1—23:30
Lesson 13 God Tests Abraham describes one of the most dramatic events in the Old Testament: God’s request that Abraham sacrifice his son Isaac. As horrifying as that sounds, Abraham is willing to comply, and this willingness is one of the most powerful demonstrations of faith in all of Scripture. Although it ends up that God doesn’t require Isaac’s death, the LORD does promise to reward Abraham with innumerable descendants through whom the inhabitants of the world will be blessed. When Abraham’s wife Sarah dies, Abraham goes to some effort to purchase land near Shechem where she can be buried in a cave. Thus he becomes the first Hebrew to own property in the Promised Land of Canaan.

map notes—a long way to find a wife
In the twenty-fourth chapter in the book of Genesis, Abraham sends his trusted servant to find a wife for Isaac. The map provides an idea of the distance the servant has to travel in order to locate a woman whom Abraham considers suitable to marry his son Isaac. This account leading to the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah can strike present-day readers as odd. Isaac certainly is old enough to find his own wife. Even if tradition at the time dictates that his marriage should be arranged by his parents, the question remains concerning what’s so objectionable about Isaac marrying a local woman. Click on the map (right) to enlarge it. The original map is on page 81 in the study book In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis.

an emphasis on racial purity (20:56)
In the overview for this lesson, Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps discusses how the story of a search for the right wife for Isaac highlights the importance of maintaining purity in the line of the patriarchs that God’s establishing through Abraham’s son. A number of present-day Christians might find the idea of so strong a dedication to preserving racial purity difficult to understand, and many would consider Abraham’s insistence on this as a priority to be downright offensive. Abraham’s actions are, however, in keeping with tradition of the time. The biblical emphasis seems to be on protecting the worship practices of the people that the LORD is calling his own—at least until they increase in number beyond the immediate family of Abraham and Isaac. The videos for this study are being redone and will be posted as they become available. The original videos will remain accessible until then.

The Scripture ranges for the videos that accompany this Catholic Bible study from Turning to God’s Word match the Scripture ranges for the sets of questions in In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis. You can follow along with the video overview as Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps discusses Lesson 14, “Isaac & Rebekah,” on pages 78–83 in the study book.

purity—you could look it up in our archives
By Jesus’ time, the focus on racial purity had turned legalistic. In the New Testament, Jesus takes the surprising position of disregarding religious laws concerning purity, a stance that indicates a willingness to address his message of salvation to non-Jews. Read Lost in Translation, an online column in which Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps helps readers connect with ideas expressed in the original languages of the Scriptures. New Lost in Translation entries are posted on Mondays, and past entries are archived on our website. Contact us if you’d like to receive Lost in Translation by email every week.

WHAT DO YOU THINK about Abraham’s concern about sending Isaac to Mesopotamia?
In addition to desiring that Isaac marry into the right blood line, Abraham also appears determined to keep Isaac from going to Mesopotamia himself to find a wife.

? What reason can you think of that might explain why Abraham is so set against Isaac returning to the land from which Abraham came?
? According to Scripture, approximately how old is Isaac when Abraham sends a servant to find a bride for him?
? What’s suggested by the fact that the servant Abraham sends to arrange Isaac’s marriage is Abraham’s oldest and most trusted servant?
? Consider whether this servant might have motivation not to want to help secure a wife for his master’s favorite son.
? What behaviors of the servant indicate that Abraham’s trust isn’t misplaced?
? Consider whether the servant prays primarily out of respect for Abraham or primarily out of respect for Abraham’s God.
? Whom do you think that Abraham’s servant credits most with his success in finding a suitable wife for Isaac?

WHAT DO YOU THINK about this interesting discrepancy in the biblical text?
Careful readers will notice a slight discrepancy between what Abraham says to his servant in the book of Genesis 24:8 and the way that the servant relates those words to Rebekah’s brother Laban in the book of Genesis 24:41.

? How does the servant recast what Abraham actually said?
? Consider whether you think the change in Abraham’s words was intentional on the part of the servant.
? What might explain why the servant would intentionally change Abraham’s words?
? What might such a change in wording indicate about the different ways in which women are regarded by Abraham and by Laban?

a related video—do you know the difference between meditation & contemplation? (40:44)
Even if you’re a veteran of Catholic Bible studies, we encourage you to watch an explanation of the practical benefits of approaching The Bible as the Living Word of God. This 40-minute video is distilled from a talk that Turning to God’s Word author Matthew Phelps gave at a summer Bible-study retreat at Conception Abbey in Conception, Missouri. In this video, Matthew looks at how viewing Scripture as a living document can help us to develop a more intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. There are real benefits in setting aside what we think we know about Scripture to approach the Bible with the goal of learning what new things God is saying to us. Matthew examines the principles of lectio divina, the traditional Catholic approach to reading and praying with Scripture that’s foundational for all Turning to God’s Word Bible studies.

the best Catholic commentary about Scripture
To find out more about how Church teaching is supported by Scripture passages in In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis, check out the Index of Citations in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Links to the primary Scripture passages in the lesson (Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition [RSVCE*]) and relevant paragraphs in the Catechism are provided here. Not every passage in the biblical text for this Catholic study is referenced in a Catechism paragraph, however, including the passage in this lesson from the book of Genesis 24:1–67.

ways our glossary might prove helpful
In addition to providing extra information about geographical locations, our glossary also points out persons or places mentioned in the biblical text under more than one name or more than one spelling. If you can remember a name but aren’t sure in which lesson it shows up, you can find it in the glossary, which lists every proper noun that appears in the biblical text for every lesson in In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis.

to learn more, read more Scripture
If you’re having difficulty with a particular passage of Scripture, it can be helpful to read the relevant cross references—but looking these up can take time. To make that easier, we’ve compiled the cross references from the Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition (RSV2CE)—the translation that we reprint in our study books. A link to that list can be found at the top of every online study page; the list features links to cross references in the primary biblical text in the study book In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis.

don’t forget about our indexes & extra online material
If you’re trying to locate information about a specific Scripture passage, you can look it up in the index at the back of the study book or sample lesson. If you want to find a particular commentary, you can look up its title in the topics index. To learn more about another book of the Bible for which there’s a Turning to God’s Word study, visit the online study directories to read the commentaries and watch any accompanying videos. Finally, if you have a question or would like to make a comment about any of our studies, you can use one of the “ask us your question” or “what do you think” buttons to email our authors.

ex libris—Church documents & books about religious topics
Link to magisterial documents referred to in our Bible studies at ex libris—magisterial documents. This listing includes significant recent encyclicals as well as a number of historical Church documents. Recommended books related to Scripture study can be found at ex libris—main bookshelf.

wondering how to pronounce some of these words?
The following link is to a reading from the New International Version (NIV) Bible. To listen, open the link and click on the audio icon above the printed text. Although not taken from the translations used in our study materials, the NIV reading provides an audio guide to pronunciation of words in this lesson’s primary biblical text. A close online version of the translation of the Bible used in Catholic liturgy in the United States as well as an audio guide for daily Mass readings for the current month can be found on the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

the book of Genesis 24:1–67 (NIV)

close with Bible-based prayer related to this lesson
Many of our Catholic study groups like to conclude their discussions with a prayer based on the scriptural focus of their lesson, and some participants include Scripture-specific prayer in their individual study. If you’re uncomfortable composing your own Bible-based prayers, you can follow our four easy steps. If you prefer, you can use the following prayer based on this lesson’s text from the book of Genesis.

O God, you long for us to approach our relationship with you
in the same spirit with which Abraham’s servant
approaches his relationship with his master.
Teach us to trust in your care and support
as we take steps to set aside our own self-interest
in order to be obedient to your will.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ,
who always obeyed his Father. Amen.

Lesson 15 The Brothers Esau & Jacob—the book of Genesis 25:1—26:35
Lesson 13 God Tests Abraham—the book of Genesis 22:1—23:20

you also may like our study of Scripture & the Rosary (digital only)
Scripture & the Rosary: New Testament Mysteries, Old Testament Parallels, a 26-lesson Catholic Bible study with an imprimatur, looks at the biblical foundations of the Rosary. The study includes lessons on Pope St. John Paul II’s Rosarium Virginis Mariae (Rosary of the Virgin Mary), the Apostles’ Creed, and the Luminous Mysteries as well as the original 15 Mysteries of the Rosary. Color photographs of stained glass windows depict key scenes in the lives of Jesus and Mary. Free digital lessons rotate throughout the year on our website.

start a Turning to God’s Word Bible study
Thank you for your interest in our study In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis. Information about beginning a Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study can be found at start a Bible study. Tami, Matthew, and I are available to answer questions and offer support. Contact us if you’d like to start a Turning to God’s Word study or have your schedule listed with other TtGW study groups on our website. —Jennifer

*There are seven deuterocanonical books in the Old Testament—the Books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, and First and Second Maccabees, as well as some passages in the Books of Esther and Daniel. Protestants usually refer to these works as “apocryphal,” a word that means “outside the (Protestant) canon” because they’re excluded from most Protestant Bibles. The word “deuterocanonical” means “second canon”; Catholics use that word to refer to any section of the Catholic Old Testament for which there are no extant, or existing, Hebrew manuscripts. All of the deuterocanonical books appear in the Septuagint, the earliest remaining versions of which date to the 1st century B.C. This Greek translation of the Old Testament was in common use by Jews at the time of Jesus. Learn more by reading How Do Catholic & Protestant Bibles Differ?

Turning to God’s Word printed Bible studies use the 2006 Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition (RSV2CE) translation for all Scripture references except those to the Psalms, which are taken from The Abbey Psalms and Canticles, prepared by the Benedictine monks of Conception Abbey and published in 2020 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). All Scripture links for the online study pages for In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis are to the 1966 Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE) translation. The New International Version (NIV) audio recordings follow the same chapter and verse numbering as the RSV Catholic translations, but the NIV translation doesn’t include the deuterocanonical books and passages.

The 1966 RSVCE uses archaic pronouns and verb forms such as “thee,” “thou,” “didst” in the Psalms and in direct quotations attributed to God. The 2006 RSV2CE replaces these with more accessible English. The few significant translation changes in the RSV2CE include rendering almah as “virgin” in the Book of Isaiah 7:14 and restoring the term “begotten” in the Gospel According to John 3:16.

Numbering varies for some passages in this Bible study. Turning to God’s Word studies (print and digital) follow the numbering in the Revised Standard Version Catholic translations (RSV2CE and RSVCE). Discrepancies in the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE) are noted in the Index of Scripture Citations in the study book and the online sample.

You can learn more about the Psalms by viewing a sample lesson from the Turning to God’s Word Catholic Bible study Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume I: Lauds & Vespers. The second part of that study, Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church—Volume II: Vigils, Day Prayer & Compline, is scheduled for publication in 2025. Some verse numbers may vary in different translations of the Psalms.