and Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel.
Right after Abraham offers up Isaac, Scripture drops the drama and lists eight sons born to Nahor, Abraham's brother. Why pause here, and why does one name, Bethuel, matter more than the rest?
The report reaches Abraham once the trial is over. One writer draws a wider lesson from that timing:
Though Abraham had left his former house, his brother Nahor is not forgotten. When God blesses Israel He does not forget the Gentiles. After Abraham had all but offered Isaac up, 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).
The verse names eight sons, and the record then singles out the last one. The line that counts runs through Nahor's wife, not his concubine:
The closing verses of the chapter give us a short 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. We shall see in due time how closely this ties in with Isaac's future, carrying out the purpose of God.
His name comes back at every turn of the family story:
Son of Nahor, a Syrian, Abraham's brother, and father of Rebekah. Genesis 22:22-23; Genesis 24:15-47; Genesis 25:20; Genesis 28:2, 5.
The list explains nothing on the spot. Its purpose shows up two chapters later:
The closing verses of our chapter give us a little more genealogy. It is clearly there to introduce Rebekah. We are to hear of her in Genesis 24 as the bride of Isaac, who is now in type the risen seed.
The order of events is part of the teaching. Abraham offers Isaac and receives him back before anyone looks for a wife for him:
Notice carefully that the story of Isaac and Rebekah comes after the touching account of Abraham offering up Isaac and receiving him back "in a figure" (Hebrews 11:19) from the dead. This pictures the truth the New Testament insists on everywhere: there could be no church of God, no bride for Christ, apart from the sacrifice of our Lord on the cross. That sacrifice settled the whole question of sin, for God's glory and man's blessing.
Another writer traces the steps after the altar — the mother leaves the scene, then the bride arrives:
Take Rebekah. If Isaac is a type of Christ, received back "in figure" from the dead in Genesis 22 (Hebrews 11:19), how is it that we next find Sarah, the mother (Romans 9:5), passing away? Then Rebekah takes her place in Sarah's tent as bride of the risen heir. She is already one of the family. A special messenger calls her (as the Holy Spirit calls the Church) to cross the desert in his company and meet her Lord, whom she has not yet seen.
One writer expects the whole list to carry meaning: "The names of these descendants of Nahor will surely have some significance in illustrating God's work among Gentiles as a result of the sacrifice of His beloved Son" (L. M. Grant). A dictionary of Bible names gives what little is known:
Bethuel — Separated of God. … Chesed — meaning is unknown.
- Timing. The family news arrives after the altar. The sacrifice comes first, and everything else follows from it.
- Reach. The brother Abraham left behind is not forgotten. Writers see a hint here that Christ's offering gathers in more than one nation.
- Narrowing. The verse names eight sons, but the record fastens on Bethuel. The line runs through Nahor's wife Milcah, not his concubine.
- Purpose. Bethuel matters because of his daughter. The genealogy brings Rebekah into view for Genesis 24.
- Result. Isaac, received back as from the dead, is the risen heir who then receives a bride. Writers read the pattern like this: sacrifice, resurrection, then the calling of the Church.
(And Bethuel begot Rebecca.) These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother.
Genesis 22 does not end at the altar where Abraham offered Isaac. It ends with news from far away about Nahor, Abraham's brother: eight sons born to his wife Milcah. Then the list stops to name one granddaughter, Rebekah. Why does a family record close the greatest chapter in Abraham's life, and why is she the name that matters?
The family list is not a loose end. It is here to introduce one person before the story needs her.
The rest of the chapter (verses 20-24) needs no special notice now. It was meant to prepare the way for Rebekah, by showing how she was related to Abraham's family line, with a still closer tie in view.
The verse also fixes which branch of the family she comes from. Nahor had sons by a concubine as well, and the record is careful about the line it traces.
The closing verses of the chapter give us a short 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.
A wife for Isaac is never mentioned until Abraham has offered his son and received him back. Commentators read that order as deliberate.
The eastern story of how Rebekah was won to be Isaac's bride is thrilling. It is more wonderful still when we see in it a picture of Christ and His church, His bride. But notice this carefully. The story of Isaac and Rebekah comes after the moving account of Abraham offering up Isaac and receiving him back "in a figure" (Hebrews 11:19) from the dead. That pictures a truth the New Testament presses everywhere: there could be no church of God, no bride for Christ, apart from the sacrifice of our Lord on the cross, which settled the whole question of sin for God's glory and man's blessing.
Isaac does not travel to find his bride. A messenger goes for her, and she comes to him.
Take Rebekah. If Isaac is a picture of Christ, received back "in figure" from the dead in Genesis 22 (Hebrews 11:19), then look at what follows. Sarah the mother (Romans 9:5) passes away. Rebekah takes her place in Sarah's tent as the bride of the risen heir. She already belongs to the family, and a special messenger calls her — as the Holy Spirit calls the Church — to cross the desert with him and meet her Lord, whom she has never seen.
The verse records a birth, not a wedding. Rebekah is alive long before she knows anything about Isaac. One writer matches that gap to the Church's own start.
The birth of Rebekah illustrates the third great fact. This is Acts 2, the birthday of the Church, the Church called into life. Yet Rebekah does not yet know her position as Isaac's wife, nor her relationship with Isaac. The Church began at Pentecost, but Paul and John had still to write the letters that showed the Church what its position is and what its relationships are.
Abraham had left his relatives long before. News of them arrives just after the altar, and one writer draws a lesson from that timing.
Abraham had left his old home, yet his brother Nahor is not forgotten. When God blesses Israel He does not forget the nations outside it. After Abraham had all but offered up Isaac, news comes to him that Nahor has had children. This reminds us that Christ was offered not for the nation of Israel only, "but 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 Rebekah to our attention (v. 23).
One rule shaped the search for Isaac's wife. Rebekah qualifies because of the family she was born into.
Abraham then tells his servant that Isaac's bride is "not to be of the daughters of the Canaanites." She is to be from "my kindred," his own relatives. The Canaanites were under the curse and marked out for judgment. There can be no link between Christ in glory and a world under judgment. Isaac's bride was not to be a stranger, but someone who already belonged to Abraham's family.
- Prepared. The closing genealogy of Genesis 22 exists for one reason — to put Rebekah on the page before she is needed.
- After the altar. The bride appears only after Isaac comes back "in a figure" from the dead. The sacrifice comes first, always.
- Named line. She comes through Milcah the wife, not the concubine — the record is exact about the branch God is using.
- Kindred, not stranger. She already belonged to Abraham's family. That is why the servant could seek her, and not a daughter of Canaan.
- Wider reach. News comes from the relatives Abraham had left — a hint that what the altar secured reaches beyond one household.