Genesis 24:65

and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?” “It is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Rebekah asks her traveling servant to identify a man approaching in the field immediately after dismounting from her camel. The servant confirms the figure is her master, and Rebekah responds by taking her veil and covering herself.

The words — The Hebrew וַתּאמֶר (vattomer) translates literally as "and she said," while מִי הָאִישׁ הַזֶּה (mi ha'ish ha-zeh) means "who is this man." These terms frame her direct inquiry about the approaching figure.

The thread — The narrative action of veiling parallels later biblical instructions regarding women's head coverings (1 Timothy 2:9; 1 Corinthians 11:5, 10). These passages later develop the theological and communal significance of the gesture.

Why it lands — The text records a specific, immediate response to recognition before any theological application is made. Readers must first observe the narrative function of the veil in this encounter before deriving ethical or liturgical principles from it.

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

וַתֹּ֣אמֶרva./To.merand/ she said אֶל־'el-to הָעֶ֗בֶדha./'E.vedthe/ servant מִֽי־mi-who?הָאִ֤ישׁha./'Ish[is] the/ man הַלָּזֶה֙ha.la.Zehthis הַהֹלֵ֤ךְha./ho.Lekhwho/ is walking בַּשָּׂדֶה֙ba./sa.Dehin the/ field לִקְרָאתֵ֔נוּli/k.ra.Te./nuto/ meet/ us וַיֹּ֥אמֶרva/i.Yo.merand/ he said הָעֶ֖בֶדha./'E.vedthe/ servant ה֣וּאhu'it אֲדֹנִ֑י'a.do.N/i[is] master/ my וַתִּקַּ֥חva./ti.Kachand/ she took הַצָּעִ֖יףha./tza.'Ifthe/ veil וַתִּתְכָּֽס׃va./tit.Kasand/ she covered herself

King James Version

For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself.

Cross-references

1 Timothy 2:9 Likewise, I want the women to adorn themselves with respectable apparel, with modesty, and with self-control, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,
1 Corinthians 11:5 And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for it is just as if her head were shaved.
1 Corinthians 11:10 For this reason a woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels.
Genesis 20:16 And he said to Sarah, “See, I am giving your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is your vindication before all who are with you; you are completely cleared.”