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And Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milcah bore these eight sons to Abraham’s brother Nahor.
Genesis 22:23 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.
  • KJV And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.
  • NKJV And Bethuel begot Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.
  • NASB and it was Bethuel who fathered Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.
  • NLT (Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.) In addition to these eight sons from Milcah,

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Bethuel becomes the father of Rebekah, named among Milcah's eight sons borne to Nahor. This singles out Rebekah, Isaac's future wife.

Overview

The genealogy reaches its goal by naming Rebekah, the woman through whom the covenant line will pass. Her introduction here, before chapter 24, signals God's providential preparation. The promised offspring will continue through this carefully noted lineage.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Gen 24:15Before the servant had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor.
  • Gen 24:51Rebekah is here before you. Take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, just as the LORD has decreed.”
  • Gen 28:2“Go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel, and take a wife from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.
  • Gen 28:5So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
  • Gen 24:24She replied, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor.”
  • Gen 24:47Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She replied, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists.
  • Gen 25:20and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean.
  • Gen 24:60And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands upon thousands. May your offspring possess the gates of their enemies.”
  • Gen 24:67And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah as his wife. And Isaac loved her and was comforted after his mother’s death.
  • Rom 9:10Not only that, but Rebecca’s children were conceived by one man, our father Isaac.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (7)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Genesis videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Genesis 22:23YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on GenesisMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.

How Genesis 22:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.