Genesis 24:56

Gen 24:56 And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the LORD hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master.

Ver. 56. Hinder me not.] Say we so to Satan soliciting us to stay a while in our old courses and companies.

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.

Gen_24:56

Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way

The Christians hindrances

The Lord hath prospered our way.

He has provided means for our return to Him. He has awakened us from entire carelessness. He has bestowed upon us thus far all the comfort and peace which we have received, and enabled us to do all that we have done for Him. Our past prosperity is an unceasing encouragement to future effort, and may be employed as an answer to every hindrance. Under this view would I adopt the expression of our text.

I. It is the entreaty of an awakened sinner returning to the Lord. Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way. A new and living way of salvation invites him. But there are many adversaries. The worldly and careless around him scoff at his fears, and deride his apprehensions. They know not the terrors of an awakened conscience, and they can mock when fear cometh. Hinder me not, the persecuted penitent replies. I have seen enough of worldly cheerfulness and mirth. I have seen that the end of that laughter is bitterness. The sorrows of a sinners death-bed I will not try. The portion of the worldly shall not be mine. He offers me forgiveness, and I will embrace it.

II. The words of our text may be the prayer of the new convert to Christ--the Christian who has just experienced the new creating grace of God;hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way. The character of God appears to him full of glory, and shining in love. The great salvation which He has offered, seems worthy of all acceptation. His whole heart is arrested and occupied with the objects and excitements of this first love. But there are many hindrances surrounding this infantile state of grace. At one time he meets a sneer from some former companion in folly, at another, a false and unkind construction of the motives by which he is governed in his new determinations. The merely nominal Christian, the cold and carnally minded professor, hates him, as one who assumes a higher standard of religious character than he is pleased with. These various outward trials are severe.

III. But hindrances do not disappear, even when men become old in grace. Our text may, therefore, be the petition of the Christian who is established in the faith; hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way. Through the whole period of a mortal life, he not only dwells in a laud of enemies, but drags about with himself a weight which is painfully retarding. There arises often around him a cloud of darkness, which hides all his evidences of grace, and conceals the blessed witness which God has given him within himself. Momentary feelings of unbelief intrude themselves into his breast. Occasional coldness and torpidity spreads itself through the members of his spiritual man, threatening permanent paralysis and death. He obtains larger conceptions of the depravity of his own heart; and his soul often sickens over the views which are presented to him, as the Spirit of God carries him still farther into its recesses, and exposes to his observation greater abominations than he has seen before. Then does he exclaim in the language of our text, Hinder me not, for the Lord hath prospered my way. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy, though I fall, yet shall I rise again; and though I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. Sin has been pardoned; God has received, and is able to keep me. I have entered into a covenant with Him, from which I will never shrink, to walk before Him, and to be His for ever.

IV. Lastly, I may consider this as the demand of the faithful minister of the Gospel. Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way. This joy would be vastly increased were there none disposed to hinder his way, and to retard the progress of the word of God. (S. H. Tyng, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

56. to my master] The servant entreats that there should be no delay. He wishes to return with the bride to his master. Whether this is Abraham or Isaac, is not stated. But, judging from Gen_24:65, there is ground for the supposition that Isaac is intended.

Otherwise, the servant’s haste may be supposed to have been dictated by a knowledge of Abraham’s failing condition. If so, it is strange that there is no mention of Abraham on the return.

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.

And Rebekah arose, and her damsels,.... Her maids that were given her by her parents to wait upon her, as was usual in those times and countries:

and they rode upon the camels; that Abraham's servant had brought with him:

and followed the man; who rode before and directed the way; the sense is only, that she went along with him:

and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way; took her under his care, and to be the wife of his master's son, at the hands of her friends, and then set forward on his journey.

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

56. Hinder me not — The servant is too anxious to break the glad news of his success to his master.

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

Vers. 56-60. Still urging his suit for permission to depart, Laban and the mother of Rebekah proposed that the maiden should be left to decide a matter so important for her by her own inclinations. When consulted she expressed her readiness at once to accompany the venerable messenger to his distant home; and accordingly, without more delay, she was dismissed from her mother"s tent, attended by a faithful nurse (Gen_35:8) and enriched by the blessing of her pious relatives, who said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions (literally, our sister thou, become to thousands of myriads, i.e. let thy descendants be very numerous), and let thy seed possess the gate (vide Gen_22:17) of those which hate them.

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

he said

"Abraham's servant said"

to them

"to Rebekah's brother and mother"

Do not hinder me

"Do not delay me" or "Do not make me wait"

Yahweh has prospered my way

Here "way" stands for a journey. AT: "Yahweh has caused me to succeed in the purpose my journey" (See: Metonymy)

Send me on my way

"Allow me to leave"

translationWords

Yahweh

lord

Rebekah

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

ויאמר אליהם, seeing that it is clear that G’d has made my mission successful, do not cause me any delay of even a single day. אל תאחרו אותי, By delaying her departure you would be delaying my return home. שלחוני, let me depart with the girl, ואלכה לאדוני, and I will go to my master as he has commanded me in order to bring him a wife for his son. How could I possibly return empty-handed?

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.