Rebekah: An Extensive Study of People in the Bible

Rebekah means to captivate.

The second (after Sarah) of the matriarchs in the ancestor stories of Genesis, Rebekah is one of the most prominent women—in terms of her active role and her control of events—in the Hebrew Bible. Her life, personality, and legacy is intricately and irretrievably woven within the fabric around the Bible’s most extraordinary men: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Rebekah’s birthplace was Haran, a notable village in Mesopotamia, located in what is now northeastern Turkey, around 2066-1886 B.C. This was a time of significant cultural and architectural achievements, including the construction of Egypt’s Middle Kingdom pyramids. The era saw advancements in weaponry, with bronze and tin forging, and the resurgence of urban life, marked by palace buildings and inter-village power struggles. Rebekah’s homeland was characterized by its rich craftsmanship, extensive trade networks, and unfortunately, prevalent pagan worship and polytheism.

In Genesis 24, Abraham sends a trusted servant to Mesopotamia to find a wife for Isaac from their family. The servant meets Rebekah at a well, where she shows kindness to him and his camels, securing her place as Isaac’s chosen bride. This well scene highlights Rebekah’s beauty and virtues, showcasing her character. The cousin marriage between Rebekah and Isaac emphasizes the importance of their lineage.
After meeting the servant at the well, Rebekah goes home, agrees to the marriage arrangement, and departs to meet Isaac. She appears to have a say in the decision to leave her family. Upon seeing Isaac, she dismounts her camel and veils herself, a gesture indicating her soon-to-be betrothed status and possibly her independence.
After 20 years of marriage, Rebekah remains childless, prompting Isaac to pray for her conception. God answers, and Rebekah becomes pregnant with twins. The two boys constantly fought with each other inside her womb. It hurt her body so much that she wanted a way out. Genesis 25: 22-23 reads, 22 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.

23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. This oracle foreshadows the tensions that will characterize the relationship between her sons, Jacob and Esau.

Esau was born first, and he was Isaac’s favorite son (Genesis 25:28). The younger Jacob was Rebekah’s favorite. As the firstborn, Esau was due the birthright, but Rebekah helped Jacob deceive Isaac so that the blessing would fall to the younger son instead of to the elder (Genesis 27:1–40).

When Esau discovered Jacob and Rebekah’s deceit, he planned to kill Jacob. Rebekah devised a plan to help save her favorite son, but it again involved deceiving her husband, Isaac. Rebekah made up an excuse to send Jacob to her brother, Laban, to look for a wife for himself (Genesis 27:41–46). Deceit was apparently a family trait.

Rebekah’s marriage to Isaac was the result of God’s providence, her pregnancy was an answer to prayer, and the lives of her sons fulfilled prophecy. Rebekah’s choice to lie and deceive her husband is an example of how wrongdoing in human beings does not thwart the plans of God and how God can ultimately bring about His will, through His mercy and wisdom, despite our sin,Genesis 50:20.

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Thank each and everyone who reads my in-depth studies of people in the Bible. I have learned a lot so far and look forward to learning more! I hope to have you back for the next one. I try to post people studies on Tuesdays and Thursdays but that is tentative. God bless!

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Sources:
•https://www.gotquestions.org/Rebekah-in-the-Bible.html
•https://aleteia.org/2018/02/04/5-fast-facts-about-rebecca-the-wife-of-isaac
•https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/rebekah-bible

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