Meaning of REBECCA

"a rope with a slipknot", that is, a young woman of bewitching beauty.

She was the daughter of Bethuel. She went to get water from a source near the city of Nahor (Haran) in Mesopotamia. The servant sent by Abraham to find a wife for his son Isaac asked Rebekah to allow him to drink from her vessel.

The young woman gave him water; she also watered her camels. The servant thus realized that God was giving him the sign that he had asked for from her: the young woman was beautiful and generous. He immediately gave her magnificent presents, asking her name, and if her father would take him in.

Laban, Rebekah's brother, offered hospitality to Abraham's servant, who explained to Bethuel the purpose of his trip to Mesopotamia. He next asked for Rebekah's hand for Isaac; Bethuel and Laban accepted.

Rebekah, accompanied by her nurse, set out with the servant and his companions; she was Isaac's wife, and gave birth to the twins Esau and Jacob (Gen. 24:1-27).

Rebekah made the mistake of preferring Jacob to Esau. Despite the prophecy about the future preeminence of her favorite, she did not let God move the course of history, but instead pushed Jacob to obtain paternal blessing by deception (Gen. 25:28; 27: 1;28:5).

Rebekah died, surely, during Jacob's stay in Mesopotamia, and she was buried in the cave of Machpelah (Gen. 49:31).