Rebekah רִבְקָה
📋
Matriarch | Oracle Recipient
Profile Depth:
Major: 4 chapters
Overview
Tags: Matriarch Oracle Recipient Divine Interlocutor Mother of Nations Agent of Deception
Summary: Rebekah, chosen through divine providence at a well, becomes Isaac's wife and mother of the twins Esau and Jacob. She receives a direct oracle from God about her sons' destinies, making her unique among the matriarchs. Her active role in securing Jacob's blessing through deception drives the narrative of covenant succession.
Theological Significance: Rebekah serves as the human agent ensuring divine election proceeds according to the oracle, demonstrating the complex interplay between divine sovereignty and human agency in redemptive history.
Narrative Journey
Betrothal at the Well (Gen 24):
Rebekah demonstrates hospitality by watering Abraham's servant and his camels, unknowingly fulfilling the servant's prayer sign. Her eager acceptance of the marriage proposal shows divine providence at work.
Infertility & Prayer (Gen 25:21–22):
Like Sarah before her, Rebekah is barren. Isaac prays for her, and she conceives twins who struggle within her womb, prompting her to seek the Lord.
Divine Oracle (Gen 25:23):
God tells Rebekah directly: "Two nations are in your womb... the older will serve the younger." This oracle shapes all her subsequent actions.
Birth of Twins (Gen 25:24–28):
Esau emerges first, red and hairy; Jacob follows, grasping his heel. Parental favoritism divides the family: Isaac loves Esau, Rebekah loves Jacob.
Deception of Isaac (Gen 27):
Overhearing Isaac's plan to bless Esau, Rebekah orchestrates Jacob's impersonation. She dresses Jacob in Esau's "desirable clothes" (same Hebrew word as Eden's "desirable" fruit) and covers him with goat skins so he appears hairy like his brother—Jacob literally disguises himself as an animal to deceive, directly paralleling the serpent in Eden. Jacob fears his "smoothness" will reveal him as a deceiver (the Hebrew for "smooth" connects to "trickster"). Rebekah takes any curse upon herself, and the scheme succeeds.
Jacob's Exile (Gen 27:42–28:5):
Learning of Esau's murderous intent, Rebekah sends Jacob to her brother Laban, using the excuse of finding a proper wife. She never sees Jacob again.
Pattern Recognition: Rebekah's journey moves from passive recipient of providence to active agent of divine will, though through morally ambiguous means.
Literary Context & Structure
📚 Position in Book
Bridge between Abraham and Jacob cycles; central to covenant transmission
🔄 Literary Patterns
Well-betrothal type scene; barren matriarch motif; deception cycle; animal disguise echoes Eden serpent
🎭 Character Function
Divine agent; schemer; protector; oracle bearer; orchestrator of serpent-like deception
✍️ Narrative Techniques
Hearing/overhearing motif; voice deception; "smooth" = trickster wordplay; "desirable" clothes echo Eden fruit
Major Chiastic Structure (Genesis 27)
A Isaac calls Esau to receive blessing (1-4)
B Rebekah overhears and schemes (5-17)
C Jacob approaches Isaac disguised (18-25)
CENTER: "The voice is Jacob's but the hands are Esau's" (22)
C′ Jacob receives the blessing (26-29)
B′ Esau discovers the deception (30-40)
A′ Rebekah sends Jacob away to preserve blessing (41-45)
Literary Significance
The chiastic center highlights the theme of identity confusion and deception through sensory perception - voice versus touch - reflecting the deeper theological tension between appearance and reality, human schemes and divine will.
Major Theological Themes
🌱 Divine Sovereignty
God's choice precedes birth; election operates independently of human merit
⚖️ Providence and Human Agency
Divine will accomplished through morally complex human actions
💡 Faith and Manipulation
Tension between trusting God's promise and ensuring its fulfillment
🔥 Oracle and Action
Direct divine communication shapes human behavior
🕊️ Maternal Authority
Mother as covenant guardian and theological actor
👑 Blessing Transmission
Covenant promises flow through unexpected channels
Ancient Near Eastern Context & Biblical Distinctives
📜 ANE Parallels
- Marriage Negotiations: Family-arranged betrothal with bride price customs
- Oracle Tradition: Women as recipients of divine messages regarding offspring
- Primogeniture: Cultural expectation of firstborn privilege
⚡ Biblical Distinctives
- Divine Reversal: Younger over older contradicts cultural norms
- Female Agency: Woman actively shapes covenant succession
- Moral Ambiguity: Deception serves divine purposes
Creation, Fall & Redemption Patterns
🌍 Eden Echoes / Creation Themes
- Well as source of life (Eden's rivers)
- Marriage completing divine image
- Fruitfulness through divine intervention
- God clothing humans with animal skins (Gen 3:21) inverted
🍎 Fall Patterns
- Jacob disguised as animal (goat skins) = serpent appearing as animal to deceive
- Taking "desirable" clothes echoes taking "desirable" fruit
- Jacob's "smoothness" reveals him as deceiver (Hebrew wordplay)
- Voice deception: "listen to my voice" echoes wrong voice in Eden
- Family division from favoritism
Redemption Through Crisis:
God works through Rebekah's morally questionable actions to ensure His redemptive plan proceeds. The narrative presents Jacob as a new serpent figure—disguising himself as an animal to deceive—yet God transforms even this deception into the means of covenant fulfillment, showing divine sovereignty over human failure.
Messianic Trajectory & New Testament Connections
Election Before Birth:
The oracle about Jacob prefigures divine election independent of works (Rom 9:10-13)
Covenant Through the Younger:
Pattern of God choosing the unexpected continues to David and Christ
Mother of Israel:
Through Jacob, Rebekah becomes mother of the twelve tribes
📖 OT Connections
- Mal 1:2–3: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated"
- 1 Sam 16:7: God looks at heart, not appearance
- Gen 3:15: Woman's seed in covenant conflict
✨ NT Fulfillment
- Rom 9:10–13: Paul uses Rebekah's oracle for election doctrine
- Heb 11:20: Isaac's blessing by faith despite deception
- Matt 20:16: "Last will be first" echoes younger over older
Songs & Poetry
Family Blessing (Gen 24:60):
"Our sister, may you become thousands of ten thousands, and may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate them."
Liturgical Significance:
This poetic blessing functions as covenant poetry, paralleling Abrahamic promises (Gen 22:17) and establishing Rebekah as a matriarchal conduit of divine blessing. The military imagery ("possess the gate") anticipates Israel's conquest narrative.
Old Testament Intertext
| Reference | Connection & Significance |
|---|---|
| Gen 3:1-7 | Deception through voice and taking forbidden thing |
| Gen 24:10-67 | Well-meeting establishes betrothal type-scene |
| Gen 29:1-30 | Jacob experiences deception, poetic justice |
| Mal 1:2-3 | Oracle's fulfillment in nations' destinies |
New Testament Intertext
| Reference | Connection & Significance |
|---|---|
| Rom 9:10-13 | Election doctrine based on Rebekah's oracle |
| Heb 11:20 | Faith operating through flawed circumstances |
| Gal 4:28 | Children of promise versus flesh |
Related Profiles & Studies
→ Isaac (Husband) → Jacob (Son) → Esau (Son) → Sarah (Mother-in-law) → See All Women in the Bible
Application & Reflection
Personal
- Trusting God's promises versus manipulating outcomes
- Dangers of favoritism in families
- Hearing God's word and responding faithfully
Community
- God's sovereignty in church leadership selection
- Warning against partiality and division
- Female leadership in spiritual matters
Contemporary Challenge: Rebekah's story challenges us to examine how we balance trust in divine sovereignty with human responsibility, and whether our actions align with God's revealed will or our interpretation of it.
Study Questions
- How does the oracle in Gen 25:23 shape the reader's interpretation of the twins' destinies and Rebekah's actions?
- In what ways does Rebekah's initiative at the well mirror Abraham's servant's prayer and God's providence?
- Where is the line between faithful pragmatism and sinful deception in Genesis 27?
- How does Jacob's animal disguise (goat skins) parallel the serpent's deception in Eden? What does this suggest about the nature of deception?
- What is the significance of Jacob's "smoothness" revealing him as a deceiver? How does this Hebrew wordplay deepen our understanding?
- How do the "desirable clothes" of Esau connect to the "desirable fruit" of Eden? What pattern is being established?
- How does Rebekah's counsel to Jacob (27:8, 43–45) relate to wisdom/folly themes in the OT?
- How might NT discussions of election be illuminated by Rebekah's oracle (cf. Rom 9:10–12)?
Bibliography & Sources
Academic references for the study of Rebekah in Genesis 24-28
Bibliography & Sources
Academic references for the study of Rebekah in Genesis 24-28
Primary Sources
Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1997.
All Sections
Genesis 24-28 for Hebrew text, wordplays (smooth/trickster), textual variants
Samaritan Pentateuch. Edited by August von Gall. Giessen: Töpelmann, 1918.
Literary Context
Textual variants in the deception narrative
Major Commentaries
Wenham, Gordon J. Genesis 16–50. Word Biblical Commentary 2. Dallas: Word Books, 1994.
Narrative Journey, Themes, Biblical Theology
Oracle interpretation, deception theology, Eden parallels, pp. 170-209
Hamilton, Victor P. The Book of Genesis: Chapters 18–50. NICOT. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995.
Overview, Themes, Literary Context
Providence and agency, maternal authority, chiastic structure, pp. 178-216
Sarna, Nahum M. Genesis. JPS Torah Commentary. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1989.
ANE Context, Etymology
Marriage customs, name etymology, oracle tradition, pp. 163-191
Alter, Robert. Genesis: Translation and Commentary. New York: Norton, 1996.
Literary Artistry
Animal disguise analysis, "desirable" clothes/fruit parallel, voice deception, pp. 110-142
Westermann, Claus. Genesis 12–36. Continental Commentary. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1985.
Literary Context, Biblical Theology
Form criticism, blessing transmission, pp. 384-434
Brueggemann, Walter. Genesis. Interpretation. Louisville: John Knox Press, 1982.
Themes, Application
Election theology, moral ambiguity, pp. 204-232
Moberly, R.W.L. The Theology of the Book of Genesis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Biblical Theology, Messianic Trajectory
Deception and divine will, covenant transmission, pp. 147-168
Literary & Narrative Analysis
Alter, Robert. The Art of Biblical Narrative. Revised edition. New York: Basic Books, 2011.
Literary Artistry
Betrothal type-scene, sensory deception, characterization techniques
Fokkelman, J.P. Narrative Art in Genesis. Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1991.
Literary Context, Major Chiasm
Genesis 27 structure, voice/hands dichotomy, pp. 97-118
Fishbane, Michael. Text and Texture: Close Readings of Selected Biblical Texts. New York: Schocken, 1979.
Literary Artistry, Biblical Theology
Eden echoes, serpent parallel in animal disguise, pp. 40-62
Theological & Thematic Studies
Levenson, Jon D. The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993.
Themes, Messianic Trajectory
Younger son preference, election theology, pp. 55-81
Turner, Laurence A. Announcements of Plot in Genesis. Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1990.
Narrative Journey, Themes
Oracle as plot driver, divine revelation to women, pp. 116-134
Biddle, Mark E. "The 'Endangered Ancestress' and Blessing for the Nations." JBL 109 (1990): 599-611.
Themes, ANE Context
Rebekah's role in covenant preservation
Bible Project Materials
Bible Project. Genesis Classroom Session 9: Rebekah's Plan to Deceive Isaac. Portland: Bible Project, 2020.
Literary Analysis, Themes, Biblical Theology
Eden parallels, animal disguise as serpent echo, visual theology
Rabbinic Commentary
Genesis Rabbah 63:6-7; 67:2. Translated by H. Freedman. London: Soncino Press, 1939.
Overview, Themes
Rebekah as prophetess, divine oracle interpretation
Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer. Chapter 32. Translated by Gerald Friedlander. New York: Hermon Press, 1965.
Songs
Family blessing interpretation, prophetic elements
Ancient Near Eastern Studies
Nuzi Tablets. "Inheritance and Adoption Texts." In ANET, edited by J.B. Pritchard, 219-220. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969.
ANE Context
Primogeniture customs, blessing traditions
Speiser, E.A. "The Wife-Sister Motif in the Patriarchal Narratives." In Biblical and Other Studies, edited by A. Altmann, 15-28. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1963.
ANE Context
Marriage customs, social status of matriarchs
Reference Works
Brown, Francis, S.R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs. The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon. Peabody: Hendrickson, 2014.
Etymology, Word Studies
רִבְקָה etymology, חָלָק (smooth) wordplay analysis
Jenni, Ernst and Claus Westermann, eds. Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament. 3 vols. Peabody: Hendrickson, 1997.
Word Studies, Themes
Oracle terminology, blessing vocabulary
Note on Sources:
This bibliography emphasizes Rebekah's unique role as oracle recipient and active agent in covenant transmission. Special attention is given to the sophisticated Eden parallels (animal disguise as serpent echo, "desirable" clothes/fruit parallel) and the moral complexity of ensuring divine election through deception.
Total Sources: 21 sources (appropriate for major 4-chapter character)
Citation Format: Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition