Isaac and Rebekah: Narrative 'nesting' in Genesis 24

It is a remarkable thing about the book of Genesis that it tells universal history by means of particulars – the small details.

"And before he had finished speaking, out came Rebekah – who had been borne to Bethuel son of Milcah the wife of Nahor the brother of Abraham – and her water jar was upon her shoulder. Now the young woman was very beautiful, a virgin whom no man had known. And she went down to the well and filled her water jar and came up. Then the servant ran to meet her and said, ‘Let me gulp a little water from your water jar’, and she said ‘Drink, my lord’ then hastily brought her water jar down onto her hand and gave him a drink. And when she had finished giving him a drink she said, ‘For your camels too I will draw water until they’ve finished drinking" (Genesis 24v15-19).

Ordinary individuals, private persons, and their mundane movements, are vested with world-significance. A man barters for a field and cave in another man’s property and unbeknown to the seller he buys a share in the future world (Gen 23). An old man on his deathbed speaks to his twelve sons and in doing so fixes the future allegiance of nations to one of those sons (Gen 49). The goal here is to study how it does this, by turning to several examples from Genesis 24. It is a long and beautiful chapter all about the seeking and finding of a wife for Abraham’s son, Isaac.