Isaac & Rebecca.

[Sam_777]

How old was Rebecca when Isaac married her?

I’m asking because Muslims are happy with wikipedia source and trying to cover Muhammed’s marriage of 6 years old Aisha by saying Rebecca was 3 years old!

I have searched the Internet and I couldn’t find any reliable source for that! it seems a myth to me!

 

[Zundrah]

How old was Rebecca when Isaac married her?

I’m asking because Muslims are happy with wikipedia source and trying to cover Muhammed’s marriage of 6 years old Aisha by saying Rebecca was 3 years old!

I have searched the Internet and I couldn’t find any reliable source for that! it seems a myth to me!

I wouldn’t be surprised if she was very young, since it was old times when it happened. But 3? We’ll never know.

 

[jakasaki]

If you read the Bible regarding Rebecca, she sure as heck doesn’t sound to be 3 years old or anything like that.

In Genesis 24 is the first mention of Rebecca. I’m posting verse(s) 15 through 31. After reading these Sam, please tell me if you think this is a description and behavior of a child.

15Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. 16The girl was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever lain with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.

17The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”

18“Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.

19After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking.” 20So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. 21Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful.

22When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a bekad and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels.e 23Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”

24She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor.” 25And she added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night.”

26Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord, 27saying, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”

28The girl ran and told her mother’s household about these things. 29Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring. 30As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and had heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring. 31“Come, you who are blessed by the Lord,” he said. “Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.”

 

[Zundrah]

If you read the Bible regarding Rebecca, she sure as heck doesn’t sound to be 3 years old or anything like that.

In Genesis 24 is the first mention of Rebecca. I’m posting verse(s) 15 through 31. After reading these Sam, please tell me if you think this is a description and behavior of a child.

15Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. 16The girl was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever lain with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.

17The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”

18“Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.

19After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking.” 20So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. 21Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful.

22When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a bekad and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels.e 23Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”

24She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor.” 25And she added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night.”

26Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord, 27saying, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”

28The girl ran and told her mother’s household about these things. 29Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring. 30As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and had heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring. 31“Come, you who are blessed by the Lord,” he said. “Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.”

It does say girl rather than woman. Is that an indication? What age do you think the writers would change from saying “girl” to “woman”?

 

[jakasaki]

It does say girl rather than woman. Is that an indication? What age do you think the writers would change from saying “girl” to “woman”?

Yeah, I get what you are questioning Zundrah, but it’s not a 3 year old or a 5 or a 9.

She could have been a teenager.

 

[jakasaki]

This here is from the wiki page.

According to the traditional counting cited by Rashi, Isaac was thirty-seven years old at the time of the Binding of Isaac, and news of Rebecca’s birth reached Abraham immediately after that event.

Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebecca, making Rebecca three years old at the time of her marriage.

Let’s say all of this is true.

Isaac being 40 what will marrying Rebecca at 3 years old do for him.

She cannot cook for him, she cannot tend the fields, she cannot produce children for him.

 

[1ke]

What age do you think the writers would change from saying “girl” to “woman”?

Marriage, probably. Alma is typically a word that means girl/virgin. Like “Miss” in English refers to an unmarried female no matter her age.

 

[Gorgias]

It does say girl rather than woman. Is that an indication? What age do you think the writers would change from saying “girl” to “woman”?

I’m not sure we can draw that conclusion – it may just be a translator’s preference.

Here are some of the words used to describe females in this chapter:

v13: θυγατέρες (daughter)
v14: παρθένος (virgin, maiden)
v15: γυναικος (wife, woman) (this is the “wife of Nachor” reference)
v16: παρθένος (remember this verse!!)
v28: παῖς (child, servant)

Alright, so as we sort through this, we see that there are many words used here, and the translator doesn’t make one-to-one translations of them: rather, the translator is trying to make sense of what the words say, and use them in a way that conveys meaning to us.

In v15, we have “daughter of Bethuel … wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor”, but in the Greek, there’s no “daughter” there – although there’s the reference that she was given birth out of (the house of) Bethuel. There is the word for “wife” (γυναικος, which also means “woman”).

In v16, the translation gives “The girl was very beautiful, a virgin” (in the Douay-Rheims, it’s “an exceedingly comely maid, and a most beautiful virgin”). But in the Greek, we see no such distinction: the phrase is “ἡ δὲ παρθένος ἦν καλὴ τῇ ὄψει σφόδρα παρθένος”. If you notice, it’s the same word, both times! Now, both “maiden” and “virgin” are acceptable translations of παρθένος, so there’s no problem there. But, in our 21st century understanding, a “maiden” (or “virgin”) isn’t the same thing as a “girl”. So, to our ears, it can be kind of misleading to see the word “girl” used here.

One last note: in v28, we see the word παῖς used. This word is used to show a relationship – child to its parent, or servant to his master. Note that, in the context of this sentence, Rebecca (for the first time) is in her mother’s house – that is, for the first time in this narrative, she’s in the context of being a “daughter”. So, I’m not certain that it’s fair to use this verse to assert the “child” translation (in a chronological sense).

Hope that helps!

G.

 

[Nita]

15Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. … She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.
…
19After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking.” 20So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels.

That would have been some very oversized, muscular 3 year old!!! Those jars weren’t mayonnaise jars. And what 3 year old (even a 6 year old) could draw enough water on her own to satisfy the thirst of 10 camels (vs 10). Can you imagine how many trips that would have taken with a jar small enough to fit on a 3 yr old’s shoulder and light enough in weight when filled for her to lift up and down.

1. ."Who is the man yonder, …,? The servant said, “It is my master,” So she (Rebekah) took her veil and covered herself.

Wonder how old girls were before they veiled their faces.

 

[Zundrah]

Wonder how old girls were before they veiled their faces.

That starts at a very young age I believe.

 

[Nita]

That starts at a very young age I believe.

In Islam, puberty seems to be the more standard age. I did hit a site that said currently even younger girls (9-10 yrs) have started to wear scarves/veils. Of course, Islam was not present back in Isaac’s days. For some reason, in the pagan culture Rebekah was part of, I would expect a less strict concern than that of the Islamic culture. Just my opinion.

 

[Sam_777]

In Genesis 24 is the first mention of Rebecca. I’m posting verse(s) 15 through 31. After reading these Sam, please tell me if you think this is a description and behavior of a child.

Yes there is no mention of that in the Bible nor the CCC nor any other Christian source that I have searched, and as “Nita” have mentioned about the heavy jars and veiling the face! there is no way that can be applied to a 3 years old girl!