PCC Scroll: Women of the Bible - Rebekah

Name: Rebekah

Meaning: Loops of a rope

Scripture Reference: Genesis 22:20-23; 24 through 27; 49:31; Romans 9:10

Rebekah was the daughter of Bethuel, who was Abraham’s nephew. She was Isaac’s wife and mother of Jacob and Esau.

We first meet Rebekah at a well. She was described as very fair to look at. Rebekah appeared at the well after Abraham’s servant prayed to God to help him find Isaac a wife. He asked her for a drink of water for himself, and she gave him a drink of water. After she gave him a drink, she offered to give his camels a drink as well (which was the sign he had asked for). Then she took him to meet her family, and her brother offered the servant shelter. She agreed to leave her family and go with the servant to meet and marry Isaac.

Rebekah remained childless for many years. As Isaac’s wife, she played a role in fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham that he would be the father of many nations.  Finally, she conceived. During her pregnancy, Rebekah went to enquire of the Lord. From the Lord, she learned that she had two nations in her belly. She gave birth to twin sons, Jacob and Esau.

Rebekah played a key role in Jacob, the younger twin brother, receiving the blessing that should have gone to Esau. The Blessing meant the handing over of legal power to a successor. The person with the blessing would govern the tribe. Perhaps we can infer that Rebekah believed that the quiet, intelligent Jacob, whom she favored, would do a better job ruling the nation. The blessing was more valuable than any amount of property. Property was divided in equal shares between sons (daughters received theirs in the form of their dowry), but the eldest son got a double portion of his father’s blessing or inheritance. This was called the ‘birthright’ of the eldest and this blessing was more valuable than any amount of property. In the story of the pottage, Esau sold his right to the double portion and transferred this right to Jacob.

She had to send Jacob away because he deceived his father and took Esau’s birthright. Rebekah was left with Esau, the son she helped deceive, and daughter-in-laws that grieved her.

Is the story of Rebekah a story of a wife deceiving her dying husband, or is it a story of human nature in its good and bad? Rebekah’s story is one of a woman who was a leader that cared about the future. In her story, we see ambition, love, deception, and self-sacrifice.

Data Source: Women of the Bible