And the damsel [was] very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.
She was a virgin not only in title and show, but in truth, for no man had known her, i.e. corrupted her.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And the damsel [was] very fair to look upon,…. Of a good countenance and beautiful aspect: a virgin,
neither had any man known her; not only was reckoned a virgin, but was really one, pure and incorrupt:
and she went down to the well and filled her pitcher, and came up; by which it appears the well lay low, there was a descent unto it, and an ascent from it. Rebekah was very diligent and speedy in doing her work, she did not stay to look at strangers, or hold an idle conversation with other damsels that came thither on the same account; but, having filled her pitcher, was making the best of her way home.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(16) She went down to the well.The water, therefore, was reached by a flight of steps, the usual rule wherever the well was fed by a natural spring. Cisterns, on the contrary, supplied from the rains were narrower at the top than at the bottom.
Mr. Malan (Philosophy or Truth, p. 93), in an interesting account of his visit to this well, says that on going out from Haran in the evening to examine it, he found a group of women filling, no longer their pitchers, since the steps down which Rebekah went to fetch the water are now blocked up, but their water-skins by drawing water at the wells mouth. Everything around that well bears signs of age and of the wear of time; for as it is the only well of drinkable water there, it is much resorted to. Other wells are only for watering the flocks. There we find the troughs of various height for camels, for sheep and for goats, for kids and for lambs; there the women wear nose-rings and bracelets on their arms, some of gold or of silver, and others of brass, or even of glass.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. Went down to the well The water, perhaps, was reached, as is often the case, by a flight of steps . Hence the use of the terms going down and coming up .
‘And the young woman was very fair to look at, a virgin, nor had any man known her. And she went down to the spring and filled her pitcher, and came back up. And the servant ran to meet her and said, “Give me to drink, I beg you, a little water from your pitcher.” ’
The family of Terah appears to have produced beauties, although the description may have been partly polite.
“A virgin, nor had any man known her.” The description is interesting. The qualification seen as necessary suggests that the term for ‘virgin’ (bethulah) did not necessarily mean the same as we would mean today. Clearly a woman could be a bethulah and yet have had sexual experience. It means therefore a well behaved young woman of an age for sexual activity without any comment about her sexual experience or status. Thus the writer qualifies the word to exclude that as well. (In Lev 21:14 it excludes widows and divorcees and sacred prostitutes).
The steward moves quickly to intercept her as she come up from the spring and asks for a drink. But in his heart is an anticipatory excitement as he waits for how the woman will respond.
And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up. And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher. And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.
Was not that sweet promise of the gospel fulfilled to Rebekah, in the after stages of her life? Mat 10:42 .
Gen 24:16 And the damsel [was] very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.
Ver. 16. And the damsel was very fair. ] K , Fair and wise, as it was said of Aspasia Milesia. a Here beauty was not ill-bestowed, as a gold ring in a swine’s snout, but (as the history b reports of the Lady Jane Gray) adorned with all variety of moral virtues, as a clear sky with stars, as a princely diadem with jewels. Beauty is of itself very attractive, as the poet hath it. c For which cause, Heraclonas, the young emperor of Constantinople, being sent into banishment, together with Martina his mother, had his nose cut off, lest his beauty should move the people to pity. And Angli tanquam Angeli, said Gregory the Great, of the English boys presented to him. How much more when accompanied and accomplished with chastity, as in this damsel. d
A virgin, neither had any man known her. “Quae, quia non licuit, non facit, illa facit.” – Ovid.
And that of the orator, e Incesta est, et sine stupro, quae stuprum cupit. The Romans cashiered a vestal virgin for uttering this verse –
“Foelices nuptae! moriar, nisi nubere dulce est.”
The strumpet when she eats stolen bread, hath such dexterity in wiping her lips, that not the least crumb shall be seen to her shame. So that Solomon shows it to be as hard to find it out, “As the way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon a rock, the way of a ship in the sea, and the way of a man with a maid,” Pro 30:18-20 that is a close and chaste virgin; one that should be chaste at least, as being kept close from the access of strangers.
Filled her pitcher, and came up. a Aelian, Var. Hist., lib. xii., cap. 1.
b Life of Edward VI., p. 176.
c O . – Bucholcer.
d A ab , quod ab veneratio. Sic castus quasi , ornatus.
e Senec., in Declama.
f Thucyd., lib. ii.
virgin. Hebrew. bethulah. Compare Gen 24:43. See note on Gen 24:43.
fair to look upon: Heb. good of countenance, Gen 26:7, Gen 39:6
known: Gen 4:1, Num 31:17, Num 31:18, Son 5:2
Reciprocal: Gen 29:17 – beautiful
24:16 And the damsel [was] very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she {i} went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.
(i) Here is declared that God hears the prayers of his own, and grants their requests.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes