Rebekah: The Girl at the Well
22 November 2025 · 1 min read · Understanding the Bible
Rebekah's story begins with a servant's prayer at a well. Abraham's steward, sent to find a wife for Isaac, asked God for a sign: let the girl who offers water to me — and to my camels — be the one. Before he had done speaking, Rebekah came out with her pitcher.
And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.
Kindness as a compass
The sign the servant chose was character. Watering ten camels is hours of hard hauling for a stranger with no claim on you; Rebekah volunteered it. God's guidance pointed straight at practical kindness — it usually does.
Rebekah's decisiveness matches her kindness. Asked whether she will leave immediately for a land she has never seen to marry a man she has never met, her answer is two words: I will go. Abraham's own journey, echoed in a young woman's courage.
And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.
The rest of the story
Rebekah's later chapters are more tangled — favouritism between her sons, the deception over Isaac's blessing — and Scripture tells it straight. The girl of the well became a mother whose scheming split a family. The Bible's women are real, not varnished.
Her story teaches both edges: kindness and courage open doors that change history; and even well-started faith must keep choosing trust over manipulation. God worked through Rebekah — and, mercifully, through her mistakes.
