Abraham has gotten old, 140 years old, and he is now concerned about a wife for his son and the continuation of his lineage (seed). He calls to his head servant, the one who is in charge of all that he owns (most probably Eliezer [Gen. 15:2] but this is not specified in this text), and requests from him to arrange a marriage for his son Isaac. This would seem like a normal request to the head servant from a master if it was only to arrange a wedding party but the request was to actually find a wife for his son (Gen. 24:1-4).

The request of Abraham to his servant for a bride is further complicated by geography. Abraham told his servant to make sure he does not take a woman from among the Canaanites but to go to the land of Abraham’s birth and take a woman from there and bring her back to this new land that God promised to give to Abraham and his seed. Abraham warned his servant that he should not take his son back to that land but only bring the woman from there to his son Isaac in the land of Canaan, the future Promised Land.  To illustrate the seriousness of this matter to his servant, Abraham commanded his servant to place his hand under his thigh and swear to him to do as he has instructed him.

Why does Abraham command his servant to place his hand underneath his thigh?

Why does Abraham make this very intimate request of his servant?

The Hebrew word for the word translated “thigh” here is “ירך” pronounced “yarech” and literally means the inner thigh, hip, or the loins of a person. This is the same word used of the place that the angel touched Jacob when he wrestled with him until daybreak. The angel touched him in his inner thigh (כף ירך – “kaf yarech” the socket of his thigh) which caused Jacob to walk with a limp (Gen. 32:25. Hosea 12:4).

At the end of Jacob’s life, before his death, Jacob asks Joseph to swear to him to not bury him in Egypt but rather in the Land of his fathers, the Promised Land (Gen. 47:29-31). Jacob had Joseph make this promise in the same manner that Abraham requested from his servant, to place his hand underneath his thigh (Gen. 47:29).

This same word is also used to speak of the loins of Jacob: “All the souls belonging to Jacob that came to Egypt, who came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons wives, all the souls were 66” (Gen. 46:26).

The use of this word “yarech” seems to always be directly connected to the promises of God for both the people and the land of Israel. Abraham used “yarech” in relation to finding a wife for Isaac and for them to remain in the Land. The angel touched Jacob in the “yarech” and changed his name to Israel. Jacob had Joseph place his hand under Jacob’s “yarech” to swear to return his body to the land of Israel. And this same word is used for the very loins of Jacob.

What’s the point? What is the significance of the word “yarech?”

Abraham had been walking with God now for at least 65 years. Abraham had seen the hand of God do so many wonders and miracles. God had been speaking with and making promises to Abraham all along the way. Abraham knew that his life was blessed beyond measure and that God had a special plan for Isaac, his seed, who came from his very loins (yarech) and Abraham desired to see God’s plan continue in the proper way as long as he had breath in his lungs. Just as Sara was God’s appointed wife for Abraham, God had a particular woman for Isaac.

Abraham had a faith in God that had been tested through these 65 years and he now believed without a shadow of a doubt that God will perform every word that He has spoken. In replying to the uncertainty of his servant in being able to fulfil this task, Abraham responded: “The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give this land,’ He will send His angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there” (Gen. 24:7).

Abraham was now fully convinced of those words that seemed impossible 65 years earlier (Gen. 12:1-7) and knew with absolute certainty that God would finish that which He had started in his own life. God promised to bless the seed of Abraham from his own loins (yarech) and this symbolic placing of his servant’s hand underneath his thigh (loins) reminded Abraham that God is faithful. It was from this unshakable place of faith in God that Abraham sent his servant to take a wife for his son from the land of his birth.

How is our faith in God? Do we have faith like Abraham?

I often wondered how Abraham was considered a man of such great faith when he obviously wavered along the way and struggled to understand all the details. However, as we see in this week’s Torah Portion, Abraham believed God along the way and came to a place of such certainty that nothing would move him. Abraham grew into a man of great faith.

The Bible tells us that “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). Let us live by faith!

Shabbat Shalom!

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Torah Portion: Gen. 23:1 – Gen. 25:18

Hafatara: 1 Kings 1:1-31

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