And I came this day to the well, and said, Jehovah, God of my master Abraham, if now thou wilt prosper my way on which I go,
Abraham's servant stands in a stranger's house with his food untouched, retelling the day he reached the spring. At the heart of his report is a prayer, and it raises one question: what kind of praying gets an answer like this?
The servant repeats his prayer only because he refused to eat until he had told his story.
He came into the house, unharnessed the camels, and had straw and feed brought for them. They also brought water to wash his feet and the feet of those with him. But when food was set before him, he refused to eat until he told his story. This is not at all the usual way, especially in the East, and after such a long journey. His errand is all-absorbing. He would not allow his own comfort, or the customs of men, to come first or make way for what he had at heart. He was there for his master's sake. Word and oath bound him, as well as honour and love for his master's son.
His prayer hangs on a condition: if God is prospering his way. He leaves the outcome to God instead of steering it, and one writer notices a small detail at the well:
He clearly had no container to draw water with himself. Or he chose not to draw it himself, so that he could depend fully on God's guidance.
He was not seeking his own will, and that is why he could ask for something exact and expect it.
What sustains in prayer like singleness of eye? If it is our own will we are seeking, what confidence can we have? Here we find prayer that God answers to the letter. If Christ's interests are ours, how fully may we count on God glorifying His beloved Son! "Let her be the one whom You have appointed for Your servant Isaac." How blessed to be working towards an already predestined end!
He prays as "the God of my master Abraham" and introduces himself only as Abraham's servant. Writers see in this the pattern of a servant who disappears behind the one who sent him.
This pictures the mission of the Spirit: to find a bride for the risen Christ, the Father's heir, among the family of faith (Abraham's relatives). The story runs so long that it shows how much God's heart is taken up with it. It starts with the mission of the One who comes as a servant. We are never told the servant's name. He is content to speak only of his master. That is a striking lesson for everyone the Spirit of God works through.
That reading turns the servant's speech into a test we can apply to ourselves.
After a very short introduction he comes to the heart of the matter: Abraham's son, the heir of all things. "To him he has given all that he has" (v.36). Are you looking for evidence of the Spirit's working? Then look for hearts taken up with Christ.
In his retelling he adds that Rebekah appeared before he had finished speaking in his heart.
He did not have long to wait. "Before he had finished speaking," the young woman comes. He had asked freely; he had dared to be bold and detailed in what he asked. But this counting on God Himself is most pleasing to Him, even if unbelief calls it presumption. This was prayer of rare simplicity, of striking fitness, of complete confidence. The answer came at once. It pointed forward to the day when righteousness will reign, and the Lord will hear while His people are still speaking.
The servant prayed in his heart, and writers hold that up as a model. One writer asks the same about the prophet Elijah, sent to find one widow with no address given.
Did he speak to God in silent prayer, as Nehemiah did? (Neh. 2:4). This is a holy habit that we should all cultivate at every stage of our journey through the wilderness. (You will find a beautiful example of this in Gen. 24:42-48.)
- Errand first. He would not eat until he had spoken. His master's errand outranked his own hunger and the manners of the house.
- Prayer next. He asked God to prosper his way. He kept no way of forcing the result, so the guidance would be God's and not his own.
- A single eye. Prayer answered to the letter belongs to the one who is seeking his master's interests, not his own will.
- A nameless servant. He speaks only of his master and his master's son. Commentators call that the mark of the Spirit's own work: hearts taken up with Christ.
- A quick reply. The answer came before he finished speaking in his heart. Writers set that silent prayer before us as a habit for every stage of the journey.
behold, I stand by the well of water, and let it come to pass that the damsel who cometh forth to draw [water], and to whom I shall say, Give me, I pray thee, a little water out of thy pitcher to drink,
In this verse Abraham's servant is not at the well but standing in Rebekah's family home, repeating the prayer he had prayed there earlier that day. Why does Scripture give the same prayer twice, and what was the sign he asked for meant to prove?
The servant goes over the whole errand again in front of the bride's family. One writer sees the father's purpose for his son shining out in that retelling.
How striking is the way all the interest gathers on the trusty servant, and how taken up he is with caring for the father and the son! Here the whole ground is covered again in front of the bride's family. It brings out the father's purpose for the son as nowhere else in this book, or anywhere else of old. And it shows a devotion in the one sent to carry it out that is marked and exclusive.
What he repeats is a prayer. He asked nothing for himself; every part of it served his master's purpose.
Does this case not vividly show what it means to pray "in the Holy Spirit"? This is prayer that is not merely for this or that. It runs with what is for the Son's glory, and with what the Father purposes to give.
He asked for a small thing: a drink of water from a jar. The answer he watched for would mark out the one already appointed.
We see that the unmistakable sign of the appointed bride will be that she is marked by grace. From the words of the prayer it is clear that the servant was not sent to select a bride for Isaac from the daughters of men, but to find the appointed bride, and that grace would be her characteristic mark.
The size of what he asked her to offer is easy to miss.
This would be no small task, for camels drink a great deal of water. No ordinary young lady would be willing to take on a job like this without any promise of payment. But no ordinary young lady was to be satisfactory for Isaac, just as today a Christian man should make sure that his intended wife is a willing-hearted believer.
The word translated "virgin" here is the same word used where a woman's son is promised as a sign — and there its meaning was disputed. One commentator weighs how the early Greek translations handled both places.
In that passage the context requires the sense of virgin with the utmost precision. There is no sign or wonder in a young married woman bearing a son. So the Septuagint — a version made before the dispute arose — rightly gives "the virgin" there, as it does in Genesis 24:43, while Aquila and Symmachus chose "young woman". But it is plain that even "young woman" cannot get rid of the truth intended in the context.
Commentators differ on what the well pictures. One takes the water as a figure of truth, and Rebekah's generous answer as the proof the servant looked for.
This unknown servant, a figure of the Holy Spirit, finds Rebekah by the well of water. The well is a constant figure of truth as a living reality for the soul. In keeping with this, and acting in the spirit of grace, Rebekah goes far beyond the servant's request. She gives him and his camels the refreshment they need with a lavish hand that holds nothing back. This is what showed the servant that she was the one suitable to be Isaac's bride, and worthy to be adorned with the ring and bracelets.
Another takes the well as a picture of the Spirit and of the word He uses. Notice when the gift is given:
Rebekah is met at the well, a fresh picture of the Spirit and of the word which He uses. There, at that first meeting, she receives the gift — a foretaste of everything she will receive later.
Notice where the servant's speech goes. He says little about himself and spends his words on his master's son.
After a very brief introduction he comes to the heart of the matter: Abraham's son, the heir of all things. "To him he has given all that he has." Are you looking for evidence of the Spirit's working? Then the thing to look for is hearts taken up with Christ.
- Sent. The servant speaks for someone else. His whole interest is his master's purpose for the son, and his prayer at the spring runs along that line.
- Sign. He asks for a token he could not arrange himself: a drink offered, then water drawn for ten camels unasked. Grace — giving beyond what was asked — was to mark the appointed bride.
- Sought. He was not choosing a wife. He was finding the one already appointed, so the sign identified her and did not select her.
- Said again. This verse is that prayer said aloud again in the family's hearing. The whole errand is covered a second time, so the people who must let Rebekah go hear it all.
- Son. Strip the speech down and little remains but the heir who has everything. Hearts taken up with Christ are the evidence that the same work goes on now.
and she shall say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels -- that she should be the woman whom Jehovah hath appointed for my master's son.
The servant has reached Rebekah's household. He will not eat until he has told his story. He repeats out loud the exact prayer he prayed at the well. Verse 44 is the heart of it: the young woman who offers water for the camels too is the one God has picked out for Isaac.
The wording matters. The servant does not ask God to help him choose well; he asks God to point out someone already chosen. The whole prayer turns on that difference.
His prayer shows that one aim fills his whole mind. He does not pray for himself; and though he mentions "the daughters of the men of the city," he does not pray for them. He prays that God will lead him to the one appointed for Isaac. Note that the servant is not there to pick a bride from the daughters of the men of the city and then make her fit for Isaac. He is there to find the one appointed for Isaac. And the sign that she is the appointed one will be that grace marks her… He will ask her to let him drink from her pitcher. If she not only says yes but offers to do more than he asks, that is the sign that the grace of God marks her. It shows there is a work of God in her, and that she is therefore of Isaac's kindred. For grace goes beyond our requests.
Abraham's one binding condition was family: the bride had to come from his own people. How he found that likeness is the striking part.
This is about fitness for the Bridegroom. It is not salvation, but fitness. The picture makes it plain. Abraham's steward had sworn to only one thing: kindred. You must be of His kindred. The flesh is not of Christ's kindred. It is very beautiful to see how he found out her kindred. How did he find it out? He asked the Lord that he might find her by her grace — the steward finds out her kindred by her grace. Many would have said, "I shall be very happy to give you a drink of water." But she says, "I will draw for your camels also." It was grace.
Notice what the servant did not come to do. His narrow errand is a picture of something larger.
He had only one thing before him. He had not come to make Bethuel's house rich, or to improve conditions in Mesopotamia. He came to take a bride for Isaac out of both. Here we see a striking type of the Holy Spirit and His mission. That mission is not to improve world conditions, but to take out of the Gentiles "a people for His Name" (Acts 15:14).
Rebekah was standing there while the servant repeated the sign. She had said those very words at the well hours earlier. She could match herself against the description without guessing.
How did Rebekah know she was the one Eliezer wanted for Isaac? She could have no doubt about it. She stood by as the servant (see verses 42-52) explained to Laban how he had prayed. He had asked the Lord to let him meet the "appointed" one at the well, and to know her by this sign: when he asked water for himself alone, she would not only say yes but offer water for the camels too. Now Rebekah knew that she matched the person he wanted, word for word. She had said and done just that. So she must be the one the servant was looking for.
Nothing here happens by chance, and nothing happens by force. God's choice and God's ordering of everyday events run on one track.
He was the father's servant, devoted to the son's honour. And God, in His covenant name, was before his heart from first to last… If election ruled in this way, God's merciful providence would control hearts and circumstances, as was clear throughout. This stirred up prayer, and the answer came at once. The young woman he wanted came before he had finished speaking in his heart. She met every test with the grace that belonged to her. She convinced him that she was none other than the woman whom Jehovah had appointed for his master's son.
- Appointed — The servant asks God to lead him to the woman already appointed, not to pick someone and then make her fit.
- Grace — The sign is grace: she offers more than the servant asked, which is how grace always behaves.
- Kindred — Family likeness was the one thing the servant had to find, and her grace revealed it.
- Errand — He tells this before he eats, because his single aim is not to make the household rich but to take a bride out of it.
- Assurance — Rebekah hears the sign repeated, knows her own words, and has no doubt that she is the one.
Before I ended speaking in my heart, behold, Rebecca came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder, and went down to the well, and drew [water]; and I said to her, Give me, I pray thee, to drink.
Abraham's servant is now in Rebekah's family home. He goes back over what happened at the spring and tells the story again to her family. Two details stand out — his prayer had been silent, made "in my heart," and the answer arrived before he had finished it.
The servant had asked God for a sign without saying a word out loud. One writer compares this to Nehemiah's silent prayer and calls it a habit to build.
Did he speak to God in silent prayer as Nehemiah did? (Neh. 2:4). This is a holy habit that we should all cultivate at every stage of our wilderness journey. (You will find a beautiful example of this godly practice in Gen. 24:42-48).
Another writer describes what that can feel like.
How often a person has felt deeply in his soul that God has heard his prayer, though he has not spoken a word, or even half a word. All at once he feels that the Lord has come in to answer.
The servant had asked for a very specific sign. One writer says that kind of bold trust pleases God rather than offending Him.
"Before he had finished speaking," the young woman comes. He had asked freely, and he had dared to set out in detail what he wanted. But God is most pleased when a man counts on Him like this, even if unbelief dares to call it presumptuous. It was prayer of rare simplicity, of striking fitness, of complete confidence. The answer came at once, and it pointed on to the day when righteousness will reign, and the Lord will hear while His people are still speaking.
The answer was not only fast. It matched every part of what he had asked for.
The answer came before he had finished speaking. Rebekah arrived and acted with all the grace he had specified... The answer was complete as well as immediate. She was of the right family and there was room in her father's house.
Chapter 24 tells the scene at the spring twice: once as it happened, and now again in the servant's own words. One writer notes where the second telling puts the attention.
Again, how striking is the way all the interest gathers on the trusty servant, and how taken up he is with caring for the father and the son! The whole ground is covered again before the bride's family. It brings out the father's purpose for his son as nowhere else in this book, or anywhere else in the old days. And the devotion of the man sent to carry it out is marked and undivided!
Rebekah herself was standing there, listening to all of this.
How did Rebekah know she was the one Eliezer wanted for Isaac? She could have no doubt about it. She stood by as the servant explained to Laban how he had prayed (see vv. 42-52). He had asked the Lord to let him meet the "appointed" one at the well, and to know her by this sign: when he asked for water for himself alone, she would not only give him a drink but would offer water for the camels too. Now Rebekah knew that she matched this in every point. She had said and done just that, to the letter, so she must be the one the servant was looking for.
Some writers read the servant as a picture of the Holy Spirit. On that reading, his delight in retelling the son's riches is part of the picture.
He does not work for Himself. As the Father sent His Son to be glorified by Him, so did He send His Holy Spirit to glorify His Son... it is the Spirit's delight to own and proclaim the rights of the Son, as Eliezer found his delight in retelling the riches and dignities of Abraham's son.
Commentators who take the chapter as a picture also warn against squeezing meaning out of every small detail.
We do not have the very image of the reality behind the type, only its shadow. Now a shadow gives us very little in the way of detail... Once we accept this limit in the types, we will not strain to force meanings into small details of the person or incident that forms the type. That effort so often ends in what is fanciful and imaginary.
- Heart — The servant prayed in silence, and one writer holds that habit up as one to build at every stage of the journey.
- Speed — Rebekah appeared before he had finished asking, and the answer was complete as well as immediate.
- Retelling — The servant covers the whole ground a second time before the bride's family, and the interest falls on him, his master and his master's son.
- Recognition — Rebekah listened, matched the sign to what she had done, and knew the servant was looking for her.
- Restraint — Read the chapter as a shadow, not a full picture. Forcing every detail ends in imagination, not truth.
And she hasted and let down her pitcher from her [shoulder], and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also. And I drank; and she gave the camels drink also.
Abraham's servant sits in Bethuel's house with food in front of him, telling Rebekah's family what had just happened at the well. He repeats how he asked for a drink and how she watered his camels too — the exact sign he had asked God for.
The story is told a second time. One writer sees in this chapter a fullness found nowhere else in Scripture:
How striking it is that all the interest converges on the trusted servant, and that he is absorbed in caring for the father and the son! He goes over the whole ground again in front of the bride's family. This brings out the father's purpose for his son as nowhere else in this book, or anywhere else in ancient times. And it shows in the man sent to carry it out a devotion that is unmistakable and undivided! Where else in God's Word is there a picture that comes near to that personal presence and action of the Holy Spirit which marks the church?
Before Rebekah appeared, the servant had prayed for one exact response. He was watching for someone who would do more than he asked:
He will ask her to let him drink from her jar. If she not only gives him the drink, but offers more than he asks, that is the sign. She is marked by the grace of God. There is a work of God in her, and so she belongs to Isaac's family. For grace goes beyond what we ask (Matthew 5:38-42).
The same writer points out what the servant's job actually was:
These words make it clear that the servant was not sent to pick out a bride for Isaac from the daughters of men. He was sent to find the bride already appointed (v. 14).
Her offer sounds small. The work behind it was not:
She is not only willing to give Abraham's servant a drink. She also freely provides for his camels, without negotiating conditions or asking a price. That must have been hard work, given how much these animals can drink after a long journey. This is another sign that the church is marked by grace. Rebecca shows the same thing later, when the servant asks for room and she offers "plenty of both straw and fodder, and room to spare" for the night (v. 25).
The servant would not eat until he had told his story. One writer turns that into a rule for anyone who knows God's will:
Eliezer is taken up with this errand, so he does not accept the food offered to him. He does what he has to do. Here is one secret of the Christian's life. As soon as he knows God's will, he does his work and gives himself to it. He lets nothing delay it, not even the needs of his body. This is the effect and the sign of the Holy Spirit's work.
In Mesopotamia, the country he had travelled to, his report keeps one name in view and another out of view:
Eliezer shows the true marks of an evangelist. He always keeps the father's object in view. He is not there to improve Mesopotamia, but to bring away the bride, and to speak not of himself but of Isaac.
The retelling was not decoration. It produced a verdict from the family:
The servant had told them how great his master was — both father and son. Then he told them how God had opened and ordered his way. This was evidence that "the thing has come from the LORD," as both Laban and Bethuel recognized. So they agreed to let Rebekah go, and they left the final word to her, though they pleaded for delay.
One writer finds in the shape of that report a test anyone can apply:
The servant's report shows exactly how the Spirit works. After a very short introduction he comes to the heart of the matter: Abraham's son, the heir of all things — "to him he has given all that he has" (v. 36). Are you looking for evidence of the Spirit's working? Then the thing to look for is that hearts are being occupied with Christ.
- Prayer — The servant asked God for one exact answer at the well. The story he now retells is that prayer granted, point for point.
- Sign — The mark he watched for was simple: someone who gave more than he asked. Grace goes beyond what we ask.
- Appointed — He did not pick out a bride of his own choosing. He came to find the one already appointed, and grace was the evidence.
- Errand — He would not eat until he had told his errand. He spoke not of himself, but of the son to whom the father had given everything.
- Consent — The retold story did its work. The family saw that the whole thing had come from the LORD, and they let Rebekah go.
And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him. And I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her hands.
The servant is now in Bethuel's house, retelling the whole story to Rebekah's family. Here he reaches the question he asked at the well, and the gifts he gave once she answered. Why does Scripture make us hear the same events twice, and what do a ring and two bracelets have to do with us?
The servant's own retelling fills much of Genesis 24. One writer sees design in that repetition.
How striking is the fullness of interest that gathers on the trusted servant, and his absorption in caring for the father and the son! The story goes over the whole ground again before the bride's family. It brings out the father's purpose for the son as nowhere else in this book, or anywhere else of old. And it brings out devotion that is most marked and exclusive in the man who was sent to carry that purpose out! Where else in God's Word is there a picture this close to the personal presence and action of the Holy Spirit, which marks out the church?
Commentators read this chapter as a picture. Each person in it stands for someone in God's purpose.
Isaac was the beloved son of his father. In chapter 22 he passed through death in picture. He foreshadowed Christ, the risen heavenly Man. Abraham set out to secure a suitable wife for his son. That told out the Father's purpose that Christ also should have a wife, made suitable to Himself in every way. The nameless servant travelled far to carry out his master's will and bring Rebekah to his master's son. He set forth the mission of the Holy Spirit, who is now in the world, gathering out of it the bride of the Lamb.
Rebekah's kindness at the well was striking, but the servant still asked about her family. She names her father Bethuel, her grandfather Nahor, and her grandmother Milcah. He is listening for one thing — whether that family is Abraham's own.
What Rebekah said fit fully and clearly inside what Abraham required in the bride he sought for his son Isaac. No doubt her character shone out even in this brief meeting. It showed in love and humility, in genuine respect and quick service — a fitting daughter-in-law for Abraham, a pure and gentle wife for Isaac. Yet this was not everything the servant sought. He was true to the son's interests and to the words laid down by the father. "Whose daughter are you?" Was she of Abraham's kindred? Her answer was exactly what he sought.
Only after her answer does he put the jewellery on her. Older translations call the first ornament an earring, where the ESV has a ring on her nose. Either way, the gold sits where everyone can see it.
Some have suggested that the first gifts in verse 22 stand for the redemption we receive in Christ (Eph. 1:7), while those in verse 53 illustrate that Christ has given gifts to men (Eph. 4:8)... But those first gifts — the earring and bracelets — clearly marked Rebekah out and set her apart from all others. As has been said: "The hand and face bear witness to the work of grace."
The servant gave the gold long before Rebekah ever saw Isaac. That timing carries its own meaning.
The final decision had not yet come, but it was certain to come. So the servant gave Rebekah gifts. They were a foretaste of the wealth she was going to inherit as Isaac's wife... All this was also a seal on her betrothal to Isaac. So we may see here a picture of the Holy Spirit as both Seal and Pledge. The Seal secures us for the divine calling and purpose. The Pledge guarantees the inheritance that will yet be ours in full in the coming age.
The gifts are more than decoration. Another writer draws out what the ear and the hand mean.
These were the bridegroom's love gifts. It is good to think of our blessings in that way. But the earring and the bracelets have a further meaning. They remind us that our Bridegroom has secured our ears and our hands for Himself. He has our ears, so that He may pour into them the story of His love. He has our hands, so that we may prove our grateful love to Him by being diligent in His interests.
- Sent. The servant crosses the desert on an errand that is not his own. He pictures the Spirit, sent into the world to gather a bride for the risen Son.
- Asked. "Whose daughter are you?" tests family, not charm. The bride must belong to the father's kindred before anything else follows.
- Adorned. Gold follows her answer: gifts that mark her out from everyone else and seal her as promised to a man she has not yet seen.
- Pledged. The jewellery is a foretaste, given in advance — a guarantee of an inheritance still to be entered.
- Claimed. The gold rests on face and hand. He claims our hearing for the story of His love, and our hands for His interests.
And I stooped, and bowed down before Jehovah; and I blessed Jehovah, God of my master Abraham, who has led me the right way to take my master's brother's daughter for his son.
In Bethuel's house, Abraham's servant retells his errand to Rebekah's family. The moment he picks out is not his own success. It is the moment he bowed down in worship at the well. His report raises two questions the chapter keeps circling. How does a person know that God is leading him? And what does the God of another man's covenant have to do with the one praying?
God answers the servant's prayer, and his first move is toward God Himself. One writer states it as a rule for anyone who walks with God.
Someone has rightly said that God is always the first thought of a person who walks with God. It was so long ago with the servant of Abraham. He had known God's clear guidance, and his first act was to worship the LORD.
What makes this verse different from the earlier account is that the servant now repeats the scene to an audience. The repetition is itself a signal.
Once he had heard Rebecca's answer, there was no doubt. God had indeed sent His angel to prepare the way and to lead Eliezer in the right way. His response is worship, at once. Scripture mentions this act of worship again in verse 48, so it was one of the important things that had happened.
The servant does not claim he found the way. He says God led him in it. Commentators tie that to where he stood when the leading came — inside the errand his master gave him.
It reminds us of Abraham's servant. Obedience placed him in the way, and then he says, "I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master's brothers." He was in the way — the path of obedience. The Lord could come into that path too and lead him on in it. No other path can He approve by His presence.
(That quotation uses an older translation. It means the servant was on the road God had appointed.)
In this verse the servant names God as his master's God, never as his own. Commentators differ here. One sees humility — a man who refuses to claim ground God had not given him.
Eliezer says, "O Lord God of my master Abraham." He does not say "my God." God had made the promises to Abraham, and He had revealed Himself as the God of Abraham. Here the servant shows himself in complete dependence. We find him in the path of promise. He does not lift himself up. He acts according to the counsels of God in complete dependence, and he claims nothing except where God had placed the blessing.
Another treats the same wording as the point where the picture breaks down.
The way he addresses God shows that his knowledge of God was second-hand. He knew Him as Abraham's God, not as his own. In this he falls short as a type.
The servant names Rebekah as the daughter of his master's kinsman. That was no lucky meeting on the road. He is pointing to a choice made before he set out.
If election ruled in this way, then God's mercy in providence would control hearts and circumstances — and that is what we see all through. This stirred up prayer, and the answer came at once. The young woman he was looking for came before he finished speaking in his heart. She met every test with the grace that suited her, and so convinced him that she was none other than the woman Jehovah had appointed for his master's son.
Readers have long taken this chapter on two levels at once. It is a picture of something later, and a working model of service.
We can look at Abraham's servant as a type and as an example. As a type, he clearly sets out the work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit came into this world after the death and resurrection of Christ, to gather out a bride for Christ and to bring her across the wilderness to the true Isaac. As an example, he shows what should always mark a servant of God… Only his master's instructions guide him; his own thoughts have no place or influence. And he acknowledges the Lord's guidance and intervention at every step.
Verse 48 is that acknowledgement. Rebekah's family asks him to explain himself, and his answer records God's leading, not his own skill.
- Obedience first. God led the servant because he was already on the road his master sent him down. Guidance meets a person inside the path of obedience, not outside it.
- Worship next. The answer to his prayer turned him at once to God. The first thought of someone walking with God is God Himself.
- Dependence throughout. He calls God "the God of my master Abraham," claiming nothing except where God had placed the blessing. Commentators differ on whether this shows humility or a limited, second-hand knowledge of God.
- Election behind it. The right way led to the appointed woman; prayer and providence were moving toward a choice already made.
- Testimony last. Asked to explain his errand, he retells the worship. His record is of God's leading, not his own success.