Bible Strands
Genesis 24:17
So the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me have a little water from your jar.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The servant of Abraham runs to meet Rebekah at the well the moment she finishes drawing water and surfaces from the spring. He speaks directly to her to request immediate hydration.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיָּרָץ (va.ya.rotz) translates literally as "and he ran," marking urgent movement. The imperative הַגְמִיאִינִי (hag.mi.i.ni) means "give to drink me," framing the request as an urgent need for sustenance.
The thread — The motif of a traveler requesting water from a woman at a spring reappears in John 4:7, where Jesus asks a Samaritan woman for a drink, and parallels Elijah’s request to a widow at a city gate in 1 Kings 17:10.
Why it lands — The text records a servant’s direct request for water at a specific moment of divine timing. It asks the reader to acknowledge how covenant fulfillment operates through immediate, unembellished human actions.
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 the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.
Cross-references
- John 4:7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
- Genesis 26:1 Now there was another famine in the land, subsequent to the one that had occurred in Abraham’s time. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.
- 1 Kings 17:10 So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow gathering sticks. Elijah called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, so that I may drink.”
- Isaiah 21:14 Bring water for the thirsty, O dwellers of Tema; meet the refugees with food.
- Isaiah 30:25 And from every high mountain and every raised hill, streams of water will flow in the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall.
- Isaiah 35:6 Then the lame will leap like a deer and the mute tongue will shout for joy. For waters will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.
- Isaiah 41:17 The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
- Isaiah 49:10 They will not hunger or thirst, nor will scorching heat or sun beat down on them. For He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.
- John 4:9 “You are a Jew,” said the woman. “How can You ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)