Genesis 24:49, commentary and pictures

The verse belongs to the mission to find a wife for Isaac from Nahor's family, with the choice entrusted to God's guidance. Before pressing for an answer, the servant refused to eat until he had fully told his errand. That full telling included his prayer at the well and God's answer with all its circumstances, and the events that led him to Rebekah as signs that God had chosen her.

The verse itself is his press for a plain, honest, immediate yes or no from Rebekah's father and brother. He asks whether they will deal kindly and faithfully with his master by agreeing to Rebekah's marriage to Isaac. Their answer will determine whether he continues with this choice or seeks another way, so he will know whether to proceed with her or to turn to the right hand or to the left, to take her for Isaac or to look elsewhere. Their answer confirms the choice, as the family concludes the thing proceeds from the Lord and agrees to the marriage.

The surrounding account shows Abraham's care and arrangements in guiding Isaac toward a suitable marriage. It is thereby an example of parental responsibility to teach children to respect parental authority and to guide their affections toward suitable companions whom parents judge suitable. The same account is an example for children, especially those who profess to fear God. Isaac is presented as a God-fearing and obedient son who deferred to his father's judgment, trusted his father's experienced servant to choose, believed God would direct the choice, and approached marriage in the fear of God and prayer rather than making his own choice of a spouse without regard for his parents.