Genesis 24:64 Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel
Sarah, Isaac’s mother, died three years before Isaac met and married Rebekah. Isaac was 40 years old at the time of this scripture. According to Jewish tradition, Rebekah was 14 when she married Isaac. Let that sink in a minute.
Genesis 24:65 and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?” “He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.
This knowledge sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole this morning. According to a very quick Google search, it was not unusual for older men to marry younger women in the Bible. Boaz and Ruth are cited as an example. Boaz is 80. Ruth is 40. But Rebekah is so young. That’s a sticking point for me.
Genesis 24:66 Then the servant told Isaac all he had done.
Precious Savior, It is so easy to judge according to the world’s moral compass. Rebekah is only 14, yet she marries Isaac, 40, and becomes “one of the most prominent women in the Bible.” I still don’t like the age gap. It’s seriously icky, yet it reminds me that 1. There were completely different cultural norms in Biblical times and 2. You can work all things for the good of those who love You, who are called according to Your purpose (Rom8:28). Thank You that Your ways are far beyond anything I can imagine (Is 55:8). Amen.
Genesis 24:67 Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
Have a blessed day.