Khai•yei′ Sâr•âh′ 2nd Eve
Avᵊrâ•hâmꞋ Commissions His CEO To Find A Wife For Yi•tzᵊkhâqꞋ
 300x224.jpg "Put your hand under my thigh") |
| Give me a leg up ("Put your hand under my thigh") |
With the passing of days, when Avᵊrâ•hâmꞋ became aged and ä' had blessed him in everything, Avᵊrâ•hâmꞋ summoned Ël•i•ëzꞋër, whom he had appointed CEO over all of his operations. "Give me a leg up1 finding a wife for my son, Yi•tzᵊkhâqꞋ," Avᵊrâ•hâmꞋ asked him. "Swear by ä' Ël•oh•imꞋ of the heavens that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Kᵊna•an•imꞋ among whom I live. Instead, go back to my land2 and to my birth family to take a wife for Yi•tzᵊkhâqꞋ."
Then his CEO ask for clarification. "What if the woman declines to move here? Should I, then, move Yi•tzᵊkhâqꞋ back to Khâ•rânꞋ?"
 |
 Khâ•rânꞋ (Hellenized to "Haran") in modern southern Turkey, near the Syrian border. |
"Watch yourself that you do not take my son back there!" Avᵊrâ•hâmꞋ bristled. "If she declines to come back with you then you've done as I've asked and are absolved of your oath. But, in no case shall you take my son back there!"
So his CEO gave him a leg up as Avᵊrâ•hâmꞋ has asked and swore to handle the matter as Avᵊrâ•hâmꞋ had instructed.
Then the CEO selected 10 of Avᵊrâ•hâmꞋ's camels and all of the treasure that Avᵊrâ•hâmꞋ had allocated for for a bride and headed for Twin-Rivers A•ramꞋ, the city of Avᵊrâ•hâmꞋ's brother, Nâ•khorꞋ.
Selection Of Ri•vᵊq•âh
Avᵊrâ•hâmꞋ's CEO timed the arrival of his caravan to arrive at the outskirts of the city of Avᵊrâ•hâmꞋ's brother as the dusk of ërꞋëv approached — when he knew he'd encounter all of the young women of the city coming to the well to draw their family's next-day supply of water. He made the camels to kneel facing the well and prayed to ä', the Ël•oh•imꞋ of Avᵊrâ•hâmꞋ, that by discerning the woman who exhibited the highest standard of Middle Eastern hospitality and generosity to a visiting traveler of obvious means, he would be selecting the appropriate woman whom ä' had designated for Yi•tzᵊkhâqꞋ.
Before he had finished his prayer, a young woman appeared approaching the well with her pitcher on her shoulder. She was good-looking and her lack of a nose ring (or punctured nostril) and uncovered hair evidenced that she had never married. She descended to the spring, filled her pitcher and returned.
Avᵊrâ•hâmꞋ's CEO ran to meet her, saying, "Would you give me a little bit of water to drink, please?"
"Drink, a•don•iꞋ!" she replied, and quickly lowered her pitcher from her shoulder and poured water into a vessel for him to drink.
Moreover, she was not only hospitable, she was self-motivating, enterprising and industrious. When he had quenched his thirst, she said, "I will draw water for your camels as well; until their thirst has been satisfied." Then she rushed over to the camels and emptied the rest of the pitcher into the nearby trough. She made repeated trips to the spring to refill her pitcher, until the camels were all satisfied and she again had a pitcher for her family's needs the next day.
He stood gazing at her in astonishment at the fulfillment of his prayer and speechlessly impressed with her, biding his time until he might find out whether this girl would work out to be the woman whom ä' had designated for Yi•tzᵊkhâqꞋ.
He transferred, from one of the camels to a pocket in his robe, a gold ring weighing half a shëqꞋël and two bracelets for her hands totaling 10 shᵊqal•imꞋ of gold. Though it would have been immodest and insulting for a stranger to ask her name, he presented the ring and bracelets to her and properly asked a question to explore whether she was from a substantial family. "Whose daughter are you? Might your father have room for us to lodge?"
Knowing that Nâ•khorꞋ was a widely-known resident of the city, and without offering her first name, she replied, "I am Bat-Bᵊtu•eilꞋ Bën- Mi•lᵊk•âhꞋ — who was born to Nâ•khorꞋ. We have both fodder and straw for your animals and lodging."
Then Avᵊrâ•hâmꞋ's CEO went off to pray Mi•nᵊkh•âhꞋ and the young girl went home to relate the events to her mother's house.
Optional parental preparation:
- Note 1 – Lit. "Put your hand under my thigh." The way to help an elderly person onto a camel saddle (which lacks stirrups) is for the elderly person to put one leg as high as (s)he can on the saddle and a helper puts a hand behind the knee ("under the thigh"), pinning the leg in place on the saddle so that the rider can put weight on that leg to swing the other leg up and over, astride the camel. This Hebrew phrase parallels the English "Give me a leg up" or "Give me a hand" (with something).
- Note 2 – Khâ•rânꞋ (Hellenized to "Haran"), in Pa•danꞋ A•râmꞋ (cf. bᵊ-Reish•itꞋ 24.4, 10; 25.20; 28.5, 10; 29.4; 31.20, 24, 47) in what was northwestern Mesopotamia; , in modern southern Turkey, near the Syrian border
- Note 3 – Khâ•rânꞋ (Hellenized to "Haran") was also the city in which Nâ•khorꞋ, brother of Avᵊrâ•hâmꞋ, lived. Ergo, Avᵊrâ•hâmꞋ also referred to it as the city of Nâ•khorꞋ.
- Note 4 – Pa•danꞋ A•râmꞋ (Field / Plain of A•râmꞋ) was a region of (Aramaic-speaking) Aramaens in the area of northwestern Mesopotamia (today southern Iraq / northern Syria) between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Hence, it was also known as A•ramꞋ Na•har•aiꞋim (A•ramꞋ of pair-of-rivers). This was a trip of about 1,000km (650 mi.) – by camel caravan! The trip likely took close to 2 months, one-way.
Questions you might anticipate that your child might raise and be prepared to discuss:
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