Genesis 24:8

Gen 24:8 And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again.

Ver. 8. Only bring not my son thither again.] This second time he lays charge on his servant not to do it. Better no wife, than displease God, than violate conscience. He purchaseth his pleasure at too dear a rate, that pays his honesty to get it. He hath less of the ballast, and more of the sail, makes more haste than good speed, that thus speeds himself.

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.

Hebrew, innocent.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

8. thou shalt be clear from this my oath] Cf. Gen_24:41. The word “clear” is used in the sense of “innocent,” or “guiltless,” as in Jos_2:17, “we will be guiltless of this thine oath.” “Clear” in this sense is old English. Cf. Shakespeare, Macb. i. 7, “… this Duncan … hath been so clear in his great office, that his virtues will plead like angels.”

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 if the woman will not be willing to follow thee,.... Or "but" if (m), which is said by Abraham, not as doubting she would be willing, of which he was satisfied, being persuaded that that God that had made him willing to leave his own country, and his father's house, would make her willing to do the like, and come and settle with his son in the land that God had given him; but this, and what follows, he said to make the mind of his servant easy, who had some doubt about it, or however was desirous of knowing how he must act should that be the case; and what it was he was to take an oath to do, and how far, and how far not, that would oblige him:

then thou shalt be clear from this my oath; which he enjoined his servant to take; the sense is, when he had done all he could to get the consent of the damsel, and her friends, to go with him and marry his master's son; and after all she could not be prevailed upon to come with him, then he was free from his oath, having done all that that obliged him to, and he not attempting to take one from any other quarter:

only bring not my son thither again; neither agree with the damsel and her parents, that he shall come to them, nor persuade him to comply with such terms.

(m) "sin autem", V. L.

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

Thou shalt be clear from the obligation of this oath, and from the penalties of the violation of it.

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

General Information:

Verse 8 is a continuation of the instructions Abraham gave his servant.

But if the woman is not willing to follow you

"But if the woman refuses to come with you." Abraham was answering the servant's question from Genesis 24:5. (See: Hypothetical Situations)

you will be free from this oath of mine

"you will be released from the oath you made to me." Not having to fulfill an oath is spoken of as if the person is free from an object to which he was bound. AT: "you will not have to do what you swore to me that you would do" (See: Metaphor)

put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master

This was to show that he would certainly do what he was swearing to do. (See: Symbolic Action)

swore to him

"made an oath to him"

concerning this matter

"concerning Abraham's request" or "that he would do what Abraham said"

translationWords

oath

servant

Abraham

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.

'ונקית משבעתי וגו THEN SHALT THOU BE CLEAR FROM THIS MY OATH etc. — and take a wife for him from the daughters of Aner or Eshcol or Mamre.

רק את בני וגו ONLY [BRING NOT] MY SON [THITHER] etc. — The word רק narrows and limits (מעוט) the sense: it is only my son who may not go back there, but Jacob, my son’s son, in the end will go back there to find a wife (Genesis Rabbah 59:10).

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.

THEN THOU SHALT BE CLEAR FROM THIS MY OATH. Abraham did not permit him to take a wife for Isaac from the daughters of Canaan, but he would be free [from the oath if Isaac were to do it on his own] and the Eternal do that which is good in His sight. But Rashi wrote, “And take a wife for him from the daughters of Aner, Eshkol or Mamre.” Now if they were Canaanites, far be it from him! And in truth they were of the seed of Canaan for Scripture says, Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshkol, and brother of Aner. And in Bereshith Rabbah, the Rabbis have said: “That thou shalt not take a wife, etc. He warned him against the daughters of Canaan, Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre.” For it was with reference to Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre that Abraham said, Among whom I dwell, since he did not dwell among all the Canaanites as they were many nations. But he warned him against these his confederates, and all the more against the others. But the verse, Then thou shalt be clear from this my oath, means that the servant would be free from the oath if Isaac would want to do it on his own, and Abraham relied on his knowledge that his righteous son Isaac would listen to his father and that he would beware of them and go instead to Ishmael or to Lot and the other nations.It is possible that from this my oath is a hint to that which he said, And thou shalt take a wife unto my son from there, since perhaps the oath was for everything, [meaning that the oath covered two points: a) that he should not take for him a wife from the daughters of Canaan, and b) that he should go to his family. In case they refused, he would be free from the second oath, while the first oath would always remain in effect]. Accordingly, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath does not allude to that which Abraham told him, Thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, [since he never freed him from this oath]. This explains the word zoth (this) — [thou shalt be clear from ‘this’ my oath — implying there was another oath from which he was not freed]. Therefore, the servant said, That I may turn to the right hand, or to the left, and he did not say, “I would return [to the land of Canaan,” since he was not freed from the oath not to take a wife from the daughters of Canaan].

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.

ואם לא, the meaning is clear.

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.