Rebekah

Rebekah is the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau, a woman of the ancestral narratives of Genesis whose story runs from the search for a wife for Isaac to her burial in the cave of Machpelah. The text identifies her as the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah and of Nahor, Abraham's brother, and thus a member of Abraham's extended family in the region of Paddan Aram; Genesis 25:20 calls her father "Bethuel the Syrian" and names her brother Laban (Genesis 24:15; 25:20). Genesis 24 introduces her at a well, drawing water with a pitcher on her shoulder, and the narrative turns on her generous offer to water the camels as well as the servant; she is then given silver, gold and clothing, sent away with her nurse, and blessed by her family with the words "may you be the mother of thousands of ten thousands" (Genesis 24:53, 59, 60). The chapter ends with Isaac bringing her into Sarah's tent, taking her as wife, loving her, and being comforted after his mother's death (Genesis 24:67).

Scripture records that Isaac was forty when he married her (Genesis 25:20), that she was barren until Isaac entreated Yahweh on her behalf and she conceived (Genesis 25:21), and that she was beautiful to look at — the stated reason Isaac gives for calling her his sister in Gerar out of fear for his life (Genesis 26:7). The text also notes that the Hittite women married into the family grieved the spirits of Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 26:35), a grief she voices directly: "I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth" (Genesis 27:46). Genesis 49:31 lists her among those buried in the cave of Machpelah, with Abraham and Sarah, Isaac, and Leah. In the New Testament, Paul names her once: "Rebekah also conceived by one, by our father Isaac" (Romans 9:10), citing her as a step in his argument about God's purpose in election.

Established scholarship offers no agreed etymology for the Hebrew name Rivqah, and the narrative does not explain it; her designation as an Aramean of Paddan Aram situates her within the northern kinship network the Genesis narratives describe rather than in Canaan.

Christian traditions read Rebekah differently. Patristic and later interpreters often treated the search for her as a type of the gathering of a bride for Christ, with the unnamed servant read as the Holy Spirit or as faithful witness, and Rebekah's response to the invitation as the free answer of faith; other readers keep to the plain narrative and see a family story of providence. Her role in Romans 9 is cited in Reformed teaching as evidence of God's sovereign electing purpose, while other traditions stress that the passage concerns God's calling of nations and covenant history rather than the eternal destiny of individuals. Jewish and Christian readers alike have disagreed over her counsel to Jacob in Genesis 27, some honoring her as a discerning protector of the chosen son and others judging the deception she urged; the text itself reports her words and actions without directly praising or condemning them.

AI-generated reference entry, grounded in the passages where this term appears — history and Scripture stated as such, interpretation labeled as interpretation. Not a substitute for the text itself.