Genesis 24:26

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

The man bowed his head, and worshiped Yahweh.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Highlights

1 first appearance in the Hebrew Bible

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וַיִּקֹּ֣ד

qâdad

H6915

“and · to bow down”

Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular

Appears 15× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears here

Full BDB Definition

Origin: a primitive root

TWOT: 1985

(Qal) to bow down

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

4: words
4: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is וַיִּקֹּ֣ד to bow down H6915 — appearing just 15 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

First appearance in Scripture

This word makes its first canonical appearance in the Hebrew Bible here:

וַיִּקֹּ֣ד to bow down H6915

Shared distinctive vocabulary

וַיִּקֹּ֣ד to bow down H6915 occurs in 15 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

2 verbs
2 nouns

Verb forms

וַיִּקֹּ֣ד Qal · Sequential Imperfect
וַיִּשְׁתַּ֖חוּ Hithpael · Sequential Imperfect

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 8 words from the Hebrew and 9 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 4 Hebrew tokens and 6 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Genesis 24:26 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Genesis 24:48 I bowed my head, and worshiped Yahweh, and blessed Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter for his son.
Genesis 24:52 It happened that when Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed himself down to the earth to Yahweh.
Exodus 4:31 The people believed, and when they heard that Yahweh had visited the children of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.
Exodus 12:27 that you shall say, 'It is the sacrifice of Yahweh's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians, and spared our houses.'" The people bowed their heads and worshiped.
Exodus 34:8 Moses hurried and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.
1 Chronicles 29:20 David said to all the assembly, Now bless Yahweh your God. All the assembly blessed Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshiped Yahweh, and the king.
2 Chronicles 20:18 Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before Yahweh, worshipping Yahweh.
2 Chronicles 29:30 Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praises to Yahweh with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. They sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped.

Nehemiah 8:6 and Ezra blessed Yahweh, the great God. All the people answered, Amen, Amen, with the lifting up of their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshiped Yahweh with their faces to the ground.
Psalms 22:29 All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, Even he who can't keep his soul alive.
Psalms 66:4 All the earth will worship you, And will sing to you; They will sing to your name." Selah.
Psalms 72:9 Those who dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him. His enemies shall lick the dust.
Psalms 95:6 Oh come, let's worship and bow down. Let's kneel before Yahweh, our Maker,
Micah 6:6 How shall I come before Yahweh, And bow myself before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, With calves a year old?
Philippians 2:10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,
Genesis 22:5 Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go yonder. We will worship, and come back to you.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Genesis 24:26 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וַיִּקֹּ֣ד הָאִ֔ישׁ וַיִּשְׁתַּ֖חוּ לַֽיהוָֽה

The man bowed his head, and worshiped Yahweh.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Genesis 24:26 Septuagint · lemma form

καί εὐδοκέω ὁ ἄνθρωπος προςκυνέω κύριος

And the man being well pleased, worshipped the Lord,

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וּכְרַע גַּבְרָא וּסְגִיד קֳדָם יְיָ

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Onkelos — Aramaic: “Onkelos Genesis” (public domain); “Onkelos Exodus” (public domain); “Onkelos Leviticus” (public domain); “Onkelos Numbers” (public domain); “Onkelos Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “J.W. Etheridge. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch. London: Longmans, Green, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וְגָחַן גַבְרָא וּסְגִיד קֳדָם יְיָ דְזַמִין קֳדָמוֹי אִתְּתָא מְהַגְנָא

And the man bowed and worshipped before the Lord, who had thus prepared before him a suitable wife.

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan — Aramaic: “Targum Jonathan on Genesis” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Exodus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Leviticus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Numbers” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, trans. J. W. Etheridge, London, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Genesis 24:26 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Gen 24:26 And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the LORD.

Ver. 26. And the man bowed down his head.] See how he relisheth of his master’s house, and showeth a gracious heart, ready to offer up a sacrifice of praise, wherever God shall please to set it up an altar. The same word in Greek (χαρις) signifieth, grace and thanks; to show, that as any man hath more grace, he is more grateful to God and man. It is observable also, that our Saviour sets these two together, - "the unthankful, and the evil"; "He is kind to the unthankful, and to the evil". {Luk 6:35}

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.

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Tyndale Open Resources

24:26 The servant bowed to the ground and worshiped the Lord for his loyal love and faithfulness in guiding him to the exact family he sought.

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 26. Bowed down his head, and worshipped] Two acts of adoration are mentioned here;

1. Bowing the head, יקד yikkod; and

2. Prostration upon the earth, וישתחו vaiyishtaehu.

The bowing of the head was to Rebekah, to return her thanks for her kind invitation. The prostration was to Jehovah, in gratitude for the success with which he had favoured him.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

John Calvin's Commentaries

26. And the man bowed down his head. When the servant of Abraham hears that he had alighted upon the daughter of Bethel, he is more and more elated with hope. Yet he does not exult, as profane men are wont to do, as if the occurrence were fortuitous; but he gives thanks to God, regarding it, as the result of Providence, that he had been thus opportunely led straight to the place he had wished. He does not, therefore, boast of his good fortune; but he declares that God had dealt kindly and faithfully with Abraham; or, in other words, that, for his own mercy’s sake, God had been faithful in fulfilling his promises. It is true that the same form of speech is applied to the persons present; just as it follows soon after in the same chapter, (Genesis 24:49,)

“If ye will deal kindly and truly with my master tell me.”

The language is, however, peculiarly suitable to the character of God, both because he gratuitously confers favors upon men, and is specially inclined to beneficence: and also, by never frustrating their hope, he proves himself to be faithful and true. This thanksgiving, therefore, teaches us always to have the providence of God before our eyes, in order that we may ascribe to him whatever happens prosperously to us.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

26. the man bowed his head] Cf. Gen_24:48, Gen_43:28 (J). Rebekah’s mention of her family had dispelled the servant’s last doubt; bowing his head he gives praise to Jehovah, the God of Abraham; cf. Gen_24:12.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

And the man bowed down his head,.... To show what a deep sense he had of the divine goodness, and in humble acknowledgment of the favours he had received in being thus providentially directed:

and worshipped the Lord; gave thanks unto him, that he had thus far prospered him, hoping and believing that things were in good forwardness, according to his master's mind and will.

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

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

Giving thanks to God for his marvellous assistance hitherto, and begging the continuance of his presence and blessing.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

unfoldingWord translationNotes

Door43 World Missions Community

the man

"the servant"

bowed down

This is a sign of humility before God. (See: Symbolic Action)

has not forsaken his covenant faithfulness and his trustworthiness toward my master

"has not stopped showing his covenant faithfulness and trustworthiness to my master." The abstract nouns "faithfulness" and "trustworthiness" can be stated as "to be faithful and trustworthy." AT: "has not stopped being faithful to his covenant and trustworthy toward my master" or "has not stopped being faithful and trustworthy to my master" (See: Abstract Nouns)

has not forsaken

This can be stated in positive form. AT: "continues to show" (See: Litotes)

my master's relatives

"my master's family" or "my master's clan"

translationWords

bow

worship

Yahweh

bless

lord

Abraham

forsake

covenant faithfulness

trust

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

Radak

Rabbi David Kimhi (Radak)

ויקוד, a bow somewhat more perfunctory than the one known as השתחויה. According to our sages the former means touching one’s face to the ground, whereas the latter involves prostrating one’s body and stretching out with the arms and legs. At any rate, the procedure was to symbolise his gratitude to G’d for having heard his prayer.

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.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Genesis, in the Pentateuch, opens this verse with 4 words (4 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is qâdad (“to bow down”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “to bow down” (qâdad) shape what this verse is saying?
The word “to bow down” first appears here in Scripture. What is being introduced at this debut?
Genesis 24:48 shares the word «to bow down» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
The verb «וַיִּקֹּ֣ד» is Qal Sequential Imperfect. How does its form color the action?
Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Tyndale Open Study Notes read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

1 word makes its first canonical appearance in Scripture here.
This verse counts 4 Hebrew ↔ 6 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 9 words in this verse.
4 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 4 words in this verse.