Genesis 24:17

Gen 24:17 And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.

Ver. 17. And the servant ran to meet her.] For although he was at the well before, praying, {Gen 24:13} yet, having stood at a distance till she had done drawing, he now ran to meet her. Though marriages are made in heaven, and a good wife must be sought of God, adhibenda tamen sunt media ordinaria et ordinata, yet due means must be used, &c.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the servant ran to meet her,.... He did not stop her as she went to the well, but stayed till she had been there and filled her pitcher, and then he made all the haste he could to meet her, in order to have the sign and token answered he had requested, which could not be done until she returned:

and said, let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher; or taste a little of it, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; or suffer me to swallow a little of it; for it was not so much to quench his thirst that he asked for this, for he could have got, and perhaps had had water out of the well before this time, or however could easily have supplied himself; but this was done to try whether she was the person, and whether her conduct and carriage would answer the token. Josephus (x) says, he asked other virgins and they refused him, for which churlishness Rebekah rebuked them, and gave him water liberally.

(x) Antiqu. l. 1. c. 16. sect. 2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

17. The servant ran — To him the fair young virgin appears all that he had desired and hoped to meet.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 17-19. And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher (a request which was at once complied with). And she said, Drink (and with the utmost politeness), my lord (and with cheerful animation): and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. "Rebekah"s address to the servant will be given you in the exact idiom by the first gentle Rebekah you ask water from; but I have never found any young lady so generous as this fair daughter of Bethuel" ("Thomson, Land and Book," p. 592). And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking thus proving that the kindly disposition within her bosom was "not simply the reflex of national customs, but the invisible sun beaming through her mind, and freely bringing forward the blossoms of sterling goodness" (Kalisch).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

to meet her

"to meet the young woman"

a little drink of water

"a little water"

pitcher

This is a medium-size jar made of clay used for holding and pouring liquids. See how you translated this in Genesis 24:14.

my master

"sir." Here the woman uses this term of respect to refer to the man, though she is not his slave.

she quickly let down her pitcher on her hand

"she quickly lowered her pitcher." She was carrying the pitcher on her shoulder. She had to lower it to get water for the servant.

translationWords

servant

lord

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

וירץ העבד לקראתה AND THE SERVANT RAN TOWARDS HER — because he saw that the waters rose in the well when she approached it (Genesis Rabbah 60:5).

הגמיאיני נא GIVE ME TO DRINK, I PRAY THEE — the word means sipping; old French humer.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

AND THE SERVANT RAN TO MEET HER. Rashi comments: “Because he saw that the waters rose in the well when she approached it.” In Bereshith Rabbah the Rabbis said, “And she filled her pitcher, and came up. All the women went down and filled their pitchers from the well. But this one, as the waters saw her they immediately rose. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to her, ‘You are a sign of blessing to your children.’” It would appear that the Rabbis derived this interpretation upon observing the language, And she filled her pitcher, and came up, for it does not say, “and she drew water and filled [the pitcher].” Now this miracle happened to her only the first time for afterwards it is written, and she drew. The servant, when recounting the day’s events to them, said: And she went down unto the well, and drew water. That was because he thought that perhaps they would not believe in the miracle.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

וירץ, seeing that he saw her beauty, plus the fact that his request seemed to have been answered so promptly, he ran towards her, relying on the fact that he had enjoyed a heavenly assist.

הגמיאני נא, the word has a similar meaning to השקיני, “give me to drink!”

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.