Thighs - Genesis 24: 1-9

24:1-3 - One thing that I haven’t considered until very recently, and impacts my evaluation of the Old Testament greatly, is that this isn’t a historical chronology of early Judaism, this isn’t a textbook of facts and events. It’s not like the Book of Mormon, with a clear theme and multiple writers with one single person overseeing it’s composition. The Old Testament is a narrative designed to convey a message to a specific audience at a specific time, so while I have follow up questions, it’s really about moving the reader through the account to see the whole picture. This is something I’ve struggled with because the whole book just seems so staggered, there isn’t a lot of follow through like what happened to who and when. Maybe it’s because I’m so much more familiar with the Book of Mormon where Mormon tells us “and Alma died,” etc that it’s just so hard for me to follow the OT. The lecturer on this chapter from the Torah Class podcast series notes that this is the point where the story shifts focus from Abraham to Isaac. Abraham had a dilemma, he lived in the desert with his 40 year old son and a promise from God to be the father of millions but the only prospect he had for his son in marriage was the local women who were Canaanites. This was a problem for several reasons, first with God’s promise that Abraham’s posterity would rule this land, it wouldn’t be a good idea to marry someone into the family that eventually was going to have her land taken over by her husband’s descendants. Second, Abraham knew exactly what it was like to live in a world that didn’t know or value the one true God, and considering the deep personal relationship that he had with God, he knew that bringing a non-believer into the family would probably significantly diminish Isaac’s chances and ability to perpetuate that belief and relationship. The decision on who to marry his son off to is complicated by religious factors, and ultimately decides that the best option for a wife would come from his own extended family. One would think that even with the limited options, Abraham would send Isaac up to his family to meet them and choose a wife from among those eligible, but instead he sends “his eldest servant” who is probably Eliezer of Damascus. Interestingly, it seems like Eliezer, being from Damascus, wasn’t a believer either, but we’ll see throughout this story that he demonstrates great faith and a relationship with God, so even though he can’t biologically be part of the Abrahamic covenant, he would absolutely be entitled to those blessings through his faith. Eliezer is introduced to this dilemma when Abraham says, “Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: and I will make thee swear by the Lord…that should shall not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell.” The lecturer confirmed something that I’ve always heard kind of whispered about, which is that the word “thigh” as translated into English is a euphemism in Hebrew meaning male genitalia, which the lecturer described as “weird and icky,” which is fair. He did give an interesting explanation saying, “It is in the male genitals that the sign of the covenant with Yahweh is carried: circumcision.” Remember just how significant the change in circumcision policy was after Jesus was resurrected, and how hard the Israelites were in fighting it, it would make sense that something as significant and meaningful as circumcision, referring to male genitals could indicate an unbreakable vow. But fortunately for us, the JST for that verse changes “thigh” to “hand,” so it was more of a hand shake than something more invasive. 24:4-9 - Abraham’s insistence to keeping Isaac home at all times is an interesting, and some of the reasons I can speculate is that the IM says that Isaac spent his whole like in an area less than 100 miles in diameter. This means that he wouldn’t know any life other than his own limited clan and his leadership position with in it. Maybe Abraham was worried that if exposed to the hustle and bustle life of the city Isaac would forsake the religious, secluded life he’d always had. In fact, Abraham had already seen that happen with his nephew Lot, who got sucked up in the drama of communities of people and had to not only be rescued by God and Abraham several times, but ultimately forsook a lot his spirituality in order to stay in that life. Maybe Abraham didn’t want Isaac to go back to the city where Abraham was almost sacrificed for his beliefs. All of Abraham’s family is there, so it would make sense that this is the same place that practiced human sacrifice as a religious control and he didn’t want his son exposed to that and possibly a victim. Maybe Abraham wasn’t welcome in that place and so his son going there might have caused some problems. We get a little bit of explanation as Abraham continues giving Eliezer his mission, saying, “The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence.” There was a big emphasis on his family not returning to the land that God had removed them from previously, but there also seems to have a revelation aspect about it, with a promise of divine intervention. I mean, with Isaac being 40 when he got married, there must have been a lot of discussion about his prospect of marriage for many years before they got to that point, so there being some heavenly assistance with the solution is appropriate. Eliezer makes the promise to Abraham “and sware to him concerning that matter.”