But when food was set before him to eat, he said, “I will not eat until I have stated my business.” And he said, “Speak on.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told my message.” He said, “Speak on.”
- KJV And there was set meat before him to eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on.
- BSB Then a meal was set before the man, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told you what I came to say.” So Laban said, “Please speak.”
- NKJV Food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told about my errand.” And he said, “Speak on.”
- NLT Then food was served. But Abraham’s servant said, “I don’t want to eat until I have told you why I have come.” “All right,” Laban said, “tell us.”
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
The servant refuses to eat until he has told his message, and is invited to speak. His single-minded devotion to his task takes priority over his own comfort.
Overview
The servant places his master's business before his own needs, declining food until his message is delivered. His faithfulness and urgency model wholehearted commitment to one's God-given charge. Invited to speak, he will recount God's clear guidance to this household.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ps 132:3–5“Surely I will not come into the structure of my house, nor go up into my bed;
- Eph 6:5–8Servants, be obedient to those who according to the flesh are your masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as to Christ;
- 1 Tim 6:2Those who have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brothers, but rather let them serve them, because those who partake of the benefit are believing and beloved. Teach and exhort these things.
- John 4:31–34In the meanwhile, the disciples urged him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”
- Prov 22:29Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve kings. He won’t serve obscure men.
- John 4:14but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
- Eccl 9:10Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going.
- Job 23:12I haven’t gone back from the commandment of his lips. I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 24:33 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.