What Does Genesis 24:46 Mean in the King James?
And she made haste, and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: so I drank, and she made the camels drink also.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew distinguishes receiving a drink from giving drink: Rebekah’s answer turns one request into provision for the camels as well.
THE MEANING
A request for a drink becomes care extending to every thirsty body in view. Rebekah’s quickness and lowered pitcher make the welcome tangible, reaching beyond the traveler to the camels too.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The scene undoes the idea that care ends when the named request is met: the camels are included before anyone asks for them.
THE ROOT
אַשְׁקֶה
ʾašqeh
GROWS FROM
שקה
shaqah (שקה) means to water or give drink.
The traveler’s command, “Drink,” is שְׁתֵה (šətēh), from a different root, שתה; Rebekah’s “I will give drink” is אַשְׁקֶה (ʾašqeh), from שקה. Hebrew distinguishes receiving water from actively supplying it, and her offer extends that care to the camels.
ALSO GROWS
hišqāh: he gave drink; he watered
הִשְׁקָה
This causative form makes explicit the act Rebekah offers: providing water to another.
mašqeh: a drink or beverage; a cupbearer
מַשְׁקֶה
The same root names both what is drunk and the one who serves drink, holding provision and its delivery together.
וַתְּמַהֵר
wattəmahēr
GROWS FROM
מהר
mahar (מהר) means to hasten or act quickly.
“made haste” in this verse is wattəmahēr. The haste belongs to Rebekah’s response: she moves quickly from hearing the request to bringing water. The root keeps attention on the speed of the action that makes the offer real.
ALSO GROWS
mihēr: he hastened
מִהֵר
This verb shares the root and names the swift action behind Rebekah’s response.
məherāh: quickly; soon
מְהֵרָה
The related adverb shows how the root can describe the manner or timing of an action.
וַתּוֹרֶד
wattōred
GROWS FROM
ירד
yarad (ירד) means to descend or go down.
“let down” in this verse is wattōred. The pitcher’s descent is not just a change of position: it is the movement that brings water within reach. The related causative form can mean “bring down,” making the action’s effect visible in the scene.
ALSO GROWS
yārad: he descended; he went down
יָרַד
This is the basic verb of descent from which the pitcher’s lowering is formed.
hōrīd: he brought down; he lowered
הוֹרִיד
This causative form highlights an action that makes something descend, as Rebekah does with her pitcher.
THE PATTERN
A response to one need can open into provision that reaches a wider circle.
Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:THE THREAD
And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master.The same root שקה (shaqah), “to give drink,” appears in the servant’s request and in Rebekah’s offer. What he names as the sign becomes the action she performs, including the detail that her care reaches the camels.
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