Introduction

Rebekah is a very interesting person in the grand scheme of her story. Like David she openly exhibits both positive and negtive traits. On the one hand, she is generous and polite—this is what leads Abraham's servant to select her as a bride for Isaac in the first place (Genesis 24). On the other hand, she plots to trick her husband into giving her favorite son the blessing (Genesis 27). Rebekah experiences a lot of the same troubles her mother-in-law Sarah does, but never would have gotten the chance to speak to her about those experiences. The life of Rebekah is covered in Genesis 24-28. She is alo mentioned in Romans 9:10.

Origin

Genealogy

Rebekah is the wife of Isaac, but she is also related to Isaac by blood. Rebekah is Abraham's great-neice—her grandfather was Abraham's brother. So, like Isaac, Rebekah was a Hebrew.

Name and Etymology

Rebekah means "ensnarer,"[1] which seems like a weird meaning for a name. To me, ensare has a negative connotation because it means to trap. The only action Rebekah takes that seem like entrapment is when she aids Jacob in tricking Isaac, essentially trapping Isaac into giving Jacob the blessing.

Questions

About the Passage

1. How old was Rebekah when she married Isaac?
2. Isaac loved Rebekah, did Rebekah love Issac?
3. How many came with her to Canaan?
4. Did she keep in touch with her family?
5. How did she know Laban was still there to send Jacob to him?
6. Did she have a choice in the matter (of marrying Isaac)?
7. Was she afraid to marry a man she never met?
8. How old was she when Jacob and Esau were born?
9. Was her favortism toward Jacob because of the prophecy?
10. Did she know Esau sold his birthright to Jacob? Did Isaac?
11. Was Esau mad at Rebekah for her part in deceiving Isaac?
12. Did either of them know of Rebekah's role in helping Jacob?
13. How old was Rebekah when she died?
14. Did she live to see Jacob and Esau reconcile?
15. How did she feel about Isaac's plan to conceal their relationship?
    • Was she aware of Sarah's experiences (both with barrenness and Abraham lying about their relationship)?
    • Did she struggle with obeying Isaac's wishes?
16. Why didn't she like Esau's wives?
17. Did she meet Jacob's wives? Did she like them?

If I Could Talk to Rebekah

There are two main "mysteries" (to me, that is) in Rebekah's story that I would focus on:

• Her arranged marriage to Isaac
• Her decision to help Jacob get the blessing

Rebekah left her home to marry a man none of them had met—how did they know could trust the servant? What if isaac didn't exist? What if he was cruel and abusive? We can assume they communicated through written letters back then, but to our knowledge there weren't phones or planes or even cars; these messages would have taken quite some time to be delivered and travel just as long. It seems very risky. Were things so different back then that this was not risky? How did she and her family know it would be OK? Did any of them ever regret this decision?

It is obvious that Isaac favors Esau and Rebekah favors Jacob, however, God promises the blessing to Jacob from the womb. Why wasn't Isaac going to obey God's prophecy? Why did Rebekah go behind Isaac's back to ensure the prophecy? Did she ever regret that decision? Before, during, and after, did she think that was how God wanted things to play out?

Phototheology

Phototheology is a way of learning the Bible taught by Ivor Myers.[2] I am employing this technique in my weekly Woman of God study journal. The following three prompts are the ones I drew from the card deck while studying Rebekah.

Use Bible software to understand definitions and commentary

I was curious about the value of the jewelry given to Rebekah (especiall since some denominations teach that wearing jewelry is a sin). Genesis 24:22 tells us she was give 1/2 shekel gold ring and 2 bracelets weighing 10 shekels of gold. I assumed that the 2 bracelets weighed 10 shekels together, not a piece. Using this information I did the following math:

• 1 shekel ≈ .0251 lbs
  • bracelets ≈ .251 lbs
  • ring ≈ .013 lbs
  • all together ≈ .264 lbs of gold ≈ 119.748 g
• 1 g of gold = $104.48 as of May 18, 2025
  • 119.748 g ≈ $12,511.27

So the servant gave Rebekah roughly $12k worth of jewelry before knowing what family she belonged to or if they would accept his proposal. Other random tidbits about the jewelry include the fact that the "ring" was probably a nose ring. Bible commentator David Guzik suggests the gift was a symbol of Abraham's generosity (and thus Isaac's).

During this day I also read a bunch of commentaries on whether Rebekah was doing God's will when she deceived Isaac into giving Jacob the birthright, or if she was in the wrong. I feel like the discussion on this topic could be it's own post, but I will say most commentators agree that Rebekah was doing her own thing and should have let God handle the situation.

How does the text relate to heaven?

Israel was supposed to be an image of heaven and Rebekah was chosen to be the mother of Israel. While parenting is a two way process and experience also plays a role in how we develop, we can assume some of Jacob's redeeming qualities came from Rebekah's teaching. These are the traits God desires for heaven:

• gratitude
• generosity
• hospitality
• willingness/consent
• faith/trust

Rebekah's story is primarily marriage, motherhood, and faith. Marriage doesn't exist in heaven which means there will be no new mothers in heaven. Her faith is likely the most relevant part of the story when thinking about what characteristics to expect in heaven. However, there are aspects of both marriage and motherhood that apply to the Kinggdom. We are told in Ephesians 5:22-27 that marriage is simply a mirror of the relationship between Christ and the Church. In addition the love and compassion that a mother shows her children is likely the love we will all show each other in heaven. Not to mention God is described as a Father (re: a parental figure) throughout scripture.

What symbols or types are or can be connected with the text?

Usually in scripture a woman is a symbol of the church. If we apply this to the text and think of Rebekah as a church, what do we notice?

• She is eager to lend a hand
• She is perceptive and goes above and beyond the call of duty (by watering the camels)
• She doesn't insert herself till asked
• She goes where she is called without hesitation
• She also falls short and takes matters in to her own hand when she should have let God deal with the issue

If Rebekah is the church, then the servant would be the Holy Spirit, Isaac would be the Messiah, and Abraham would be God the Father. God decided that the Messiah should have a bride and calls us to Him. The Holy Spirit is sent to the church after Christ's sacrifice to guide the bride (Church) back to the groom (Christ) and Father.

Journal Pages

Journal pages on Rebekah from May 14-20, 2025

References & Footnotes

1. "Strong's H7259. רִבְקָה". Blue Letter Bible; visited July 2025
2. Pastor Ivor Myers' Phototheology Game Deck