What Does Genesis 24:43 Mean?
Behold, I stand beside the well of the waters; and it shall be, that when the young woman comes forth to draw the waters, and I say to her, Give me, I pray you, a little of the waters from your jar to drink.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass, that when the virgin cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink;THE KEY
The “well” is an עֵין (ʿein, “eye” or “spring”): an opening where hidden water comes within reach.
THE MEANING
You stand beside a source you did not create; what is held below can be drawn up and shared in the measure this moment needs. The request turns the source into an encounter, as provision already present moves from one person to another.
THE ROOT
עֵין
ʿein
GROWS FROM
עין
ʿayin
The word can name an eye and a spring or well, a source opening where water appears.
The Hebrew word for a spring or well is also the ordinary word for an eye. The place is pictured as an opening where what is hidden below appears, while the servant stands there watching for what emerges.
ALSO GROWS
ʿayin: Eye; the organ of sight.
עַיִן
The same word names the spring, letting the well carry the image of an opening that reveals what lies beneath.
maʿyan: Spring or fountain.
מַעְיָן
This related form names water flowing from a source, keeping the verse’s well connected to water emerging into reach.
לִשְׁאֹב
lishʾov
GROWS FROM
שאב
shaʾav
To draw water up from a source.
“draw” in this verse is lishʾov. The action is retrieval: water is drawn up from what is already there. The woman’s drawing brings the hidden source into a vessel, where it can be received and shared.
ALSO GROWS
shoʾev: One who draws water; a water-drawer.
שֹׁאֵב
The root names the person through the act of drawing, making her movement central to the scene.
sheʾivah: Drawing or extraction.
שְׁאִיבָה
This action noun emphasizes water being brought up from a source rather than made anew.
THE PATTERN
At wells, drawing water becomes a threshold where strangers meet and provision changes hands.
And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel, daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, that Jacob drew near and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well, and gave drink to the flock of Laban his mother's brother.And the shepherds came and drove them off, but Moses rose and delivered them, and watered their flock.A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, Give me a drink.THE THREAD
Behold, I stand here beside the well of the waters; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw the waters.Both verses use עֵין מַיִם (ʿein mayim, “well of water”), with עַיִן (ʿayin) also meaning “eye.” The earlier line names the place where the servant waits; the repeated phrase lets the well appear as an opening to what is hidden below.
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