What Does Genesis 24:53 Mean in the King James?
And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things.
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 verb for giving also means placing, so welcome becomes something tangible in Rebekah’s hands and her family’s.
THE MEANING
Welcome takes material form: silver, gold, clothing, and choice gifts are placed in Rebekah’s hands, then extended to her brother and mother. The giving reaches beyond one person and makes room for a bond to enter an entire household.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse loosens the belief that welcome is only spoken or felt; here, it also takes material form and reaches the whole household.
THE ROOT
וַיִּתֵּן
vayittēn
GROWS FROM
נתן
to give, set, or place
“gave” in this verse is vayittēn. This is a form of נָתַן (nātan), the root behind the action of giving. Its sense of placing lets you see generosity as something put into another’s hands, making welcome tangible for Rebekah and her household.
ALSO GROWS
mattān: A gift or present.
מַתָּן
The noun makes explicit that what is given can become a gift held by another.
mattānāh: A gift given to someone.
מַתָּנָה
This branch keeps the same movement from giving into the concrete thing received.
מִגְדָּנֹת
migdanot
GROWS FROM
מגד
choice or precious thing
“precious things” in this verse is migdanot. This rare word names the gifts as prized or choice. The wording adds a quality of worth to the silver, gold, and clothing, marking the household’s gifts as something selected and valued.
ALSO GROWS
meged: Something prized or choice.
מֶגֶד
It shares the root’s sense of what is valued.
megadim: Choice things, including precious produce.
מְגָדִים
This related form shows the word family can describe prized gifts and valuable abundance.
הָעֶבֶד
haʿeved
GROWS FROM
עבד
to work or serve
The same root holds servant, work, and service together. Here, abundance reaches Rebekah through someone acting in service, so the giving moves through service from one household toward another.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāvad: To work or serve.
עָבַד
This verb shares the root that names the servant’s role.
ʿavodah: Work, labor, or service.
עֲבֹדָה
This noun makes the shared idea of service visible beneath the word “servant.”
THE PATTERN
When abundance is given outward, it becomes a concrete form of welcome and shared provision.
A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.THE THREAD
And the LORD hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses.The same root נתן (nātan, “give, set, place”) names the giving here and the household’s receiving of abundance in the connected verse. What is received is placed onward into Rebekah’s hands and shared with her family.
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