Literary Devices – Bereshit 24/0

Literary Devices – Bereshit 24

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Character Titles

Hashem Throughout the chapter, Hashem is referred to by His proper name, Hashem. At times, though this name is accompanied by an epithet:

• י"י אֱלֹהֵי אֲדֹנִי אַבְרָהָם – The servant refers to Hashem as "the God of his master Avraham" when praying in verses 12 and 27 (and in the account of that prayer in verses 42 and 48). This might imply that the servant thinks of Hashem as Avraham's god specifically, perhaps because he only came to know Hashem through him.
• י״י אֱלֹהֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם וֵאלֹהֵי הָאָרֶץ – Avraham refers to Hashem in this manner in Bereshit 24:3 and 7, the only place in Torah where this appellation is used.¹  It is interesting that Avraham uses this term for Hashem when sending his servant to another part of the world to seek a wife for Yitzchak.  
• Commentaries – Commentators discuss why Avraham uses this name for Hashem. 
• Rashi maintains that it implies that when Avraham was in his homeland, Hashem was only God of the heavens for no one on earth recognized Him, but now Avraham has succeeded in spreading word of Hashem on earth. 
• Radak² suggest that this appellation is meant to convey to the servant that Hashem will hold him accountable for the fulfillment of his oath. 
• Ibn Ezra suggests that it implies that marriage partners on earth are determined in heaven. 

Avraham's Servant

¹ If one highlights the phrase ""י״י אֱלֹהֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם in the Mikraot Gedolot on Bereshit 24:3 and chooses search or concordance from the drop-down, one sees that the only occurrences of the phrase in Torah are in our chapter, though it appears four more times in Tanakh.

² See also Sforno and others.