When was the Jewelry Given/2

When was the Jewelry Given?

Exegetical Approaches

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Overview

Jewelry Given First

The servant gave Rivka the jewelry before asking for her name, as per the narrator's account in Bereshit 24:22-23.

Sources: RashiBereshit 24:23Bereshit 24:47About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki, second approach in ChizkuniBereshit 24:22-23About R. Chizkiyah b. Manoach, R. Yosef ibn KaspiBereshit 24:23Tirat Kesef pp. 105-107About R. Yosef ibn Kaspi, MalbimBereshit 24:22About R. Meir Leibush Weiser, R. D"Z HoffmannBereshit 24:22Bereshit 24:47About R. D"Z Hoffmann

Why didn't the servant first ask for her name?

• Rashi explains that the servant was so confident that Hashem would make him succeed because of Avraham, that he did not even wait to ask who Rivka was before giving her the jewelry.
• On the other hand, Ibn Kaspi and the Malbim explain that it did not matter if the wife was from Avraham's family, and therefore he gave the jewelry first. According to them Avraham never asked that the wife would be from his family. See Wanted: A Wife for Yitzchak for more about this issue.
• Chizkuni explains that the jewelry was not given because the servant succeeded in his mission but rather to acquire a name of a generous person.
• AbarbanelBereshit 24About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel understands Rashi to be saying that the jewelry was actually given as a payment for Rivka's labor. This is also the approach taken by R. D"Z Hoffmann.

Reversal of the order in the servant's account – According to Rashi, the servant did not want Rivka's family to question why he gave her the jewelry before knowing who she was. Chizkuni, Ibn Kaspi, and R. D"Z Hoffmann explain that the servant wanted the family to think that he gave the jewelry only in honor of their family's name.¹

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Name Asked First

The servant asked for Rivka's identity before giving her the jewelry, as indicated by his own recounting of the events in Bereshit 24:47.

Sources: JosephusAntiquities 1:16:1-2About Josephus, R. Saadia GaonCommentary Bereshit 24:22Tafsir Bereshit 24:23About R. Saadia Gaon, RashbamBereshit 24:22About R. Shemuel b. Meir,² Ibn EzraBereshit 24:14About R. Avraham ibn Ezra, R. Yosef Bekhor ShorBereshit 24:22-23About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor,³ RadakBereshit 24:22About R. David Kimchi, RambanBereshit 24:22About R. Moshe Nachmanides, Tosafot ChulinChulin 95b s.v. כאליעזרAbout Ba'alei HaTosafot, Daat ZekeinimBereshit 24:22About Daat Zekeinim, RalbagBeiur HaMilot Bereshit 24:23Beiur Divrei HaParashah Bereshit 24:22Beiur Divrei HaParashah Bereshit 24:47, Akeidat YitzchakBereshit #22About R. Yitzchak Arama

The narrator's reversal of the order – Why is the story not written like it transpired?

• Rashbam suggests that the Torah did not want to interrupt the conversation between the servant and Rivka with the giving of the jewelry.⁴
• R. Yosef Bekhor Shor and many others after him⁵ explain that the servant took out the jewelry, then asked who she is, and then gave her the jewelry. This is based on the difference between "וַיִּקַּח הָאִישׁ" in Bereshit 24:22 which is talking about taking the jewelry and "וָאָשִׂם" in Bereshit 24:47 which is talking about giving the jewelry.
• Ralbag explains that the order was switched in order to show that the jewelry was given as a present for her kindness.

Requirements for Yitzchak's wife – Josephus, in his version of the story, says that the servant was sent to betroth specifically Rivka. Similarly, Ibn Ezra points out that Yitzchak's wife needed to be from Avraham's family, and thus he gave her the jewelry only after he asked for her identity.

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Simultaneity

The servant asked Rivka for her name at the same time as he gave her the jewelry.

Sources: ShadalBereshit 24:22About R. S.D. Luzzatto

The two verses – According to Shadal, the order of the verses does not matter since both can be correct.

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¹ Ibn Kaspi asserts that there was no problem with the servant switching the order, as the ends justified the means. He draws a parallel to Yaakov's deceptions.

² See Hadar ZekeinimBereshit 24:22About Hadar Zekeinim who explains Rashbam differently.

³ See Hadar ZekeinimBereshit 24:22About Hadar Zekeinim who explains R. Yosef Bekhor Shor differently.

⁴ Rashbam's answer does not explain why the giving of the jewelry could not have been recorded after the completion of the dialogue.

⁵ See Radak, Ramban, Daat Zekeinim, and Akeidat Yitzchak.