Bible Strands
Genesis 24:11
As evening approached, he made the camels kneel down near the well outside the town at the time when the women went out to draw water.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The servant of Abraham acts outside Nahor’s hometown as evening approaches and local women gather at the town well to draw water. He positions his camels near the well to observe their arrival.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיִּבְרֵךְ (va.yi-vrek) literally means “he made kneel” or “he caused to bow,” describing the physical positioning of the camels. The phrase אֶל־בְּאֵר הַמַּיִם (el-be'er ha-mayim) specifies the exact location as “to the well of water.”
The thread — The motif of travelers meeting women at a town well for water appears in 1 Samuel 9:11, Exodus 2:16, and John 4:7. These passages all use the well as a designated meeting point for divine or providential encounters.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to note the deliberate timing and location chosen by the servant to fulfill his mission. It presents a concrete moment of preparation where human action aligns with the anticipated arrival of specific individuals.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 9:11 And as they were climbing the hill to the city, they met some young women coming out to draw water and asked, “Is the seer here?”
- Exodus 2:16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock.
- John 4:7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
- Genesis 24:13 Here I am, standing beside the spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water.
- Genesis 33:13 But Jacob replied, “My lord knows that the children are frail, and I must care for sheep and cattle that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard for even a day, all the animals will die.
- Proverbs 12:10 A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are only cruelty.