And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she also has borne sons to thy brother Nahor
After the altar on Moriah, news reaches Abraham from the family he left behind long ago. It reads like a footnote. But commentators say it is placed here on purpose, and they point to the last name on the list.
One writer treats these closing verses as groundwork for what follows:
The rest of the chapter (verses 20-24) was meant to prepare the way for Rebekah. It shows her relationship with Abraham's family line, with a still closer tie in view.
That "closer tie" is marriage: Rebekah is already a relative, and she will become the wife of Isaac.
Abraham had left that family long ago. One writer reads the timing of the news — right after the offering of Isaac — as meaningful:
Though Abraham had left his former house, yet his brother Nahor is not forgotten. When God blesses Israel He does not forget Gentiles. After Abraham had, in effect, offered up Isaac, news reaches him that Nahor has had children. This reminds us that the offering of Christ was not for the nation Israel only. It was also "to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad" (John 11:51-52). But the special reason for verses 20-23 is to bring Rebecca to our attention (v.23). She was to be the bride for Isaac — a picture of the Church united to Christ after His wonderful sacrifice.
One writer sets these chapters in a single sequence, running from the altar to a wedding:
Genesis 24 forms part of the last section of Abraham's history, beginning with Genesis 22 and ending with Genesis 25:10. The early part of his history shows the individual life of faith. This last section gives a full view of God's ways with the world through the different ages. In Genesis 22 Abraham offers up Isaac and, in picture, receives him back from the dead. This is a striking picture of the death and resurrection of Christ. After the offering up of Isaac, Genesis 23 tells of the death of Sarah… All of this pictures Israel being set aside for a time as the nation that held the promise, because of the death of Christ. In the call of Rebekah in Genesis 24, we have a picture of the call of the Church as the Bride of Christ, during the time that Israel is set aside.
Rebekah appears as one more name in Nahor's family. No one has told her anything, and she has never heard of Isaac. One writer makes that gap the lesson:
The third great fact is illustrated by the birth of Rebekah. This is Acts 2, the birthday of the Church — the Church called into life. Yet Rebekah does not know her position as Isaac's wife, or her relationship with Isaac. The church began at Pentecost, but Paul and John had not yet written the letters that would show the church its position and its relationships.
Nahor's family stayed behind in Mesopotamia. One writer describes what their comfortable life produced:
He and his wife stay in Mesopotamia, and they do well there. They have children; their goods and property increase. Their path through the world is easy and respectable. But they do not grow in the knowledge of God, and they give no witness to His name — or at best a small and unclear one.
Two generations later God's servant arrives at that same house to call one member out of it:
The ministry of Eliezer, God's servant as well as Abram's, came to Bethuel's house to draw Rebecca out of it. It set her on the very journey that the call of the God of glory had carried Abram two generations before… A respectable, religious family has to be stirred awake, and a fresh act of separation has to take place inside it.
One writer follows a later figure in Scripture back to a name in this list. He is a speaker who steps forward after four other men fall silent:
A fresh speaker appeared, and the way he is introduced shows that we are reading history and not a made-up story. He was descended from Buz, who was a nephew of Abraham, as Genesis 22:21 shows. In those early days after the flood, when population was small, the duplication of names would not be common.
- Sacrifice first. The news arrives only after Moriah. No one seeks the bride until the father has offered the son and received him back.
- Reach. God does not forget the brother left behind. The blessing won at the altar reaches past Abraham's line to those far off.
- Destination. The list runs through a whole family to reach one name: Rebekah, of Bethuel's house, the future wife of Isaac.
- Unaware. Rebekah enters the story long before anyone tells her of Isaac — called first, told later.
- Choice. Nahor's household did well without growing in the knowledge of God. One member still had to be called out of it, as Abraham once was.
Uz his first-born, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram,
Abraham comes down from the mountain where he offered Isaac, and news arrives from home: his brother Nahor has a growing family. The list of names looks like filler, but commentators find in it real history and preparation for what follows.
The news comes after the offering of Isaac, not before. One writer treats that order as part of the meaning, and points to the one name the whole list is heading for.
Although Abraham had left his former house, his brother Nahor is not forgotten. When God blesses Israel He does not forget Gentiles. After Abraham had, in effect, offered Isaac, news comes to him that Nahor has had children. This reminds us that the offering of Christ was not for the nation Israel only. It was also "to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad" (John 11:51-52). But the special reason for verses 20-23 is to bring Rebecca to our attention (v. 23). She was to be the bride for Isaac, a picture of the Church united to Christ after His wonderful sacrifice. The names of these descendants of Nahor will surely have some meaning, illustrating God's work among Gentiles as a result of the sacrifice of His beloved Son.
Some older translations spell the firstborn's name "Huz." That can make readers think of two different men, but there is only one.
Eldest son of Nahor and Milcah. Gen. 22:21. The name is really Uz, as it is given elsewhere.
The second son's name also surfaces outside the Bible, in ancient records from Assyria.
Son of Milcah and Nahor, Abraham's brother. Gen. 22:21. The name BAZU appears in the Assyrian inscriptions, and is thought to refer to the settlement of Buz in Northern Arabia.
The verse calls Kemuel the father of Aram. The same name marks a district in Mesopotamia — the place this family kept going back to for wives.
A farmed district in Mesopotamia. The city of Nahor stood there. Terah and his family moved there from Ur of the Chaldees, and Isaac and Jacob took their wives from there — Rebekah, Leah, and Rachel. The name is strictly Paddan-aram, meaning "table land of Aram."
This verse links Abraham's family to one of the speakers in the book of Job. Elihu is called "the Buzite." One writer traces that name back to Buz here — a man just outside the chosen family, yet close to it.
Elihu belonged to the family of Nahor, the brother of Abraham. He was not strictly one of the chosen family, but he was close to it, like Laban and others. He belonged to another branch.
That family link also tells us what kind of book Job is.
All four men in the argument had fallen silent. Then a new speaker appeared. He too is introduced in a way that shows we are reading history, not a made-up story. He came from Buz, a nephew of Abraham, as Genesis 22:21 shows. In those early days after the flood the population was small, so the same name would rarely belong to two people.
Nahor had children by his wife Milcah and children by his concubine Reumah. The line that matters runs through the wife.
The closing verses of the chapter give us a brief sketch of the line of Nahor, Abraham's brother. His son Bethuel was the father of Rebekah through Milcah the wife, not through Reumah the concubine. In due time we will see how closely this connects with Isaac's future, carrying out the purpose of God.
- Timing. The news reaches Abraham after the altar. The sacrifice comes first; the wider circle of blessing follows.
- Reach. Abraham left Nahor behind, but Nahor is not forgotten; those outside the chosen line are still in view.
- Names. "Huz" in older translations is simply Uz. Buz may be the BAZU of Assyrian records, a settlement in Northern Arabia.
- Cousins. Buz's line produced Elihu the Buzite, who speaks in Job. He was near the chosen family, not inside it. His family line marks Job as history, not fiction.
- Destination. The list narrows to Bethuel, then through Milcah to Rebekah — the bride for Isaac, and a picture of the Church joined to Christ after His sacrifice.