for Genesis: Jacob to Joseph · Part 1 · Genesis 24–26
Finding a Wife for Isaac
8 Adventures40 min
What Happens in Part 1
Genesis 24 opens with Abraham, now old, sending his senior servant on an oath-bound errand: find a wife for Isaac from Abraham's own relatives, not from the local Canaanites. The servant travels to the city of Nahor and prays for a sign at the town well. Rebekah arrives, offers water to him and to all his camels, and the servant realizes she is the answer to his prayer — and Abraham's own relative. Her family agrees to let her go, Rebekah herself consents, and she travels back with the servant to marry Isaac. Genesis 25 records Abraham's death at a good old age; Isaac and Ishmael bury him beside Sarah. Rebekah, long childless, finally conceives twins who struggle inside her; the LORD tells her two nations are in her womb, and the older will serve the younger. Esau is born first, then Jacob, grasping his brother's heel. Esau grows into a skilled hunter; Jacob stays closer to the tents. One day, hungry from the field, Esau sells his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew, showing how little he valued it. Genesis 26 follows Isaac to Gerar during a famine, where he repeats his father's old mistake, telling people Rebekah is his sister; King Abimelech discovers the truth and protects them anyway. Isaac grows very wealthy, and the Philistines, envious, stop up the wells his father Abraham had dug. Isaac re-digs them, disputes over two of them, then digs a third without dispute. At Beersheba, the LORD repeats his covenant promise to Isaac, and Abimelech comes to make a formal peace treaty with him.
What We Will Learn
Section
What you will practice
Word Study
Words for promises, family standing, and blessing: oath, steadfast, birthright, despised, envied, covenant, reaped
Bible Study
How to follow a story built around a well and a prayer for a sign, and what a character's small choices reveal
Scripture Discovery
Real ancient marriage customs and how a family's wells were serious, defended property
Chapter Summary
Ch.
What happens
24
A Wife for Isaac — Abraham sends his servant to find a wife for Isaac among his own relatives. The servant prays for a sign at a well; Rebekah answers it exactly, and her family agrees to let her go. She travels back with the servant and marries Isaac.
25
Twins and a Birthright — Abraham dies and is buried beside Sarah. Rebekah bears twin sons, Esau and Jacob, who struggle even before birth; the LORD says the older will serve the younger. Esau later sells his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew.
26
Isaac at Gerar — During a famine, Isaac settles in Gerar, where he repeats Abraham's old mistake about Rebekah being his sister. He grows wealthy, re-digs his father's stopped-up wells, and eventually makes a peace treaty with Abimelech at Beersheba.
Part 1
Word Study
Study 7 key words from Genesis 24–26, then answer each question.
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💎 Treasure Wisdom · a true fact behind the storySealing a Marriage with Gifts
Word Study · Ancient CustomGenesis 24 describes the servant giving Rebekah jewelry, and later giving her family costly gifts before she leaves with him. This matches a real ancient marriage custom. In much of the ancient Near East, a groom's family gave the bride's family a formal gift, sometimes called a bride price, as part of a marriage agreement between two households, and the bride's own family often gave gifts back. Marriage contracts from the city of Nuzi describe careful arrangements of exactly this kind. Genesis 24 fits this pattern closely: gifts are given, the woman's family discusses and agrees, and only then does Rebekah herself consent to go.
oathn.Gen 24:9
A serious, sworn promise
“Abraham's servant swears an oath concerning how he will find Isaac a wife.”
steadfastadj.Gen 24:12
Faithful and unchanging, especially in love or loyalty
“The servant asks God to show steadfast love to his master Abraham.”
birthrightn.Gen 25:31
The special rights and inheritance belonging to the firstborn son
“Jacob asks Esau to sell him his birthright.”
despisedv.Gen 25:34
Looked down on or thought little of something
“Esau ate and drank and despised his birthright.”
enviedv.Gen 26:14
Felt jealous of what someone else has
“The Philistines envied Isaac because of his great wealth.”
covenantn.Gen 26:28
A solemn promise or agreement, especially one made with God
“Abimelech comes to Isaac to make a covenant of peace.”
reapedv.Gen 26:12
Gathered a harvest
“Isaac sowed in that land and reaped a hundred times as much.”
ⓘ The vocabulary words in this list are selected to help you understand and complete this workbook. Some may not appear word-for-word in your Bible.
1A serious, sworn promise is called an ___.Gen 24:9
2In Genesis 24, the servant asks God to show ‘steadfast’ love to Abraham, meaning a love that changes often.Gen 24:12
3Write your answer in the blank, then click Check.Gen 25:31
Word choices:birthrightcovenantoathenvied- some words will not be used
Jacob asks Esau to sell him his , the special share owed to the firstborn son.
4To look down on or think little of something is to ___ it.Gen 25:34
5In Genesis 26, the Philistines envied Isaac because his flocks and servants had grown so great.Gen 26:14
6In Genesis 26, Abimelech refuses to ever speak with Isaac again after learning Rebekah is his wife.Gen 26:28–31
7Write your answer in the blank, then click Check.Gen 26:12
Word choices:reapeddespisedbirthrightsteadfast- some words will not be used
Isaac sowed seed in that land and a hundred times as much in the same year.
Part 2
Understanding
Show you understood what happens in Genesis 24–26.
🪣
💎 Treasure Wisdom · a true fact behind the storyA Prayer Answered at a Well
Close Reading · A Test with a Clear AnswerBefore Rebekah ever appears, the servant prays for a very specific sign: he will ask a woman for a drink, and the right one will offer to water his camels too, without being asked. A careful reader notices that Rebekah's actions in the next few verses match this test exactly, detail for detail, rather than roughly. Genesis often signals that an answer to prayer is genuine by having the event line up precisely with what was requested, not just generally. Watching for that kind of exact match is one way a reader can tell the passage wants the coincidence noticed, not overlooked.
1What does Abraham's servant pray for as a sign at the well?Gen 24:12–14
2What does Rebekah do that answers the servant's prayer?Gen 24:18–20
3Why does Esau agree to sell his birthright to Jacob?Gen 25:29–34
4What does Isaac do when he settles again near Gerar?Gen 26:18
5Write the numbers 1–5 in the boxes to show the correct order across Genesis 24–26. Number 1 = what happens first.Gen 24–26
Rebekah travels back with the servant and marries Isaac.
Abraham's servant prays for a sign at the well in Nahor.
Abimelech comes to Isaac to make a covenant of peace.
Esau sells his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew.
The Philistines stop up the wells Abraham had dug.
6Rebekah's family discusses the servant's request before she leaves with him.Gen 24:50–58
7The LORD tells Rebekah that her older twin will rule over the younger one.Gen 25:23
Part 3
Literary Craft
Understanding HOW and WHY Genesis tells the story across Genesis 24–26.
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💎 Treasure Wisdom · a true fact behind the storyA Story Pattern Genesis Uses More Than Once
Literary Craft · Type-SceneA man travels, meets a woman at a well, and a marriage follows — this exact shape appears again later in Genesis, when Jacob meets Rachel at a well. Bible scholars call a repeated pattern like this a type-scene: a familiar shape of events that a writer can reuse, so that small differences between one telling and the next carry extra meaning. In Genesis 24, the pattern is not Isaac meeting Rebekah directly; a trusted servant meets her on Isaac's behalf, which says something about how carefully this particular marriage is being arranged. Recognizing a type-scene helps a reader notice what is genuinely new in a familiar shape, rather than missing it.
Type-scene
A recognizable pattern of events a writer reuses more than once, so small differences carry extra meaning. Meeting a future spouse at a well happens more than once in Genesis.
Exact fulfillment
When an event lines up precisely, detail for detail, with something asked or predicted earlier. Rebekah's actions match the servant's prayer exactly.
Foil
A character whose choices contrast with another character's, making each one clearer by comparison. Esau's quick trade of his birthright contrasts with how much weight Genesis gives that birthright elsewhere.
1What is a type-scene?Gen 24
2Fill in the blank with the correct word.Gen 24
Word choices:type-scenefulfillmentfoilcovenant- some words will not be used
A reused pattern of events, like meeting a spouse at a well, is called a .
3What makes Rebekah's actions at the well an example of exact fulfillment?Gen 24:15–20
4Jacob and Rachel later meet at a well too, echoing the pattern in Genesis 24.Gen 24
5Fill in the blank with the correct word.Gen 25
Word choices:foiltype-scenefulfillmentoath- some words will not be used
A character whose choices contrast with another's is called a .
6A foil is useful because it makes two characters seem completely identical.Gen 25
7How does Esau work as a foil in Genesis 25?Gen 25:29–34
Part 4
Wisdom
Four deeper challenges — no single-word recall. Read, weigh the evidence, and reason it out.
🕳️
💎 Treasure Wisdom · a true fact behind the storyA Well Was Never Just a Hole in the Ground
Archaeology · Material LifeIn a dry land, a working well was valuable property, and Genesis treats it that way: it records who dug each well, who filled it in, and what each one was named. Genesis 26 has Isaac re-dig his father's wells and give them back their old names — in the story, naming a well is how a family says the well is theirs. The wells Isaac names “Contention” and “Enmity” before he finally reaches “Room” let a reader track a dispute the chapter never has to explain in so many words.
Read Genesis 24–26 in your Bible first. Notice the exact words of the servant's prayer at the well, and then watch how closely Rebekah's actions match it. In Genesis 25, pay attention to what the LORD tells Rebekah about her twins before they are even born, and then to what Esau actually says and does when he trades his birthright. Finally, in Genesis 26, follow the wells by name — which ones cause conflict, and which one finally does not — and notice how the chapter ends with a peace treaty rather than a fight.
Original passage written for this workbook — not a quotation from Scripture.
1Claim: “Genesis 24–26 shows that God's promises to Abraham continue through Isaac's family.” — choose the three details that best support it.Claim & Evidence
2Stated in Genesis 24–26, or Not stated there? Tap each detail to send it left or right.Sort into two
◄ Stated in Genesis 24–26Not stated there ►
3Match each first detail with the detail paired with it.Match the Pairs
Abraham's servant→
Rebekah→
Esau→
Isaac→
Abimelech→
4Fill both blanks to complete the reasoning.Build the Argument
The servant tests Rebekah with a very specific prayer instead of simply asking the first woman he meets , which shows that .
Part 5
World Discovery (SAT/TOEFL)
Reading passage · A Marriage Sealed with Gifts · Ancient Custom and Careful Evidence · practices the same reading-comprehension skills tested on the SAT and TOEFL: main idea, detail, vocabulary in context, inference and synthesis.
📖 Read the passage below (the highlighted words are tested), then answer the questions. Tap an answer to select it, tap again to confirm — you get one chance to change it before it's final.
Original passage written for this workbook — not a quotation from Scripture.
A Marriage Sealed with Gifts
In much of the ancient Near East, a marriage was not a private decision between just two people; it was an agreement between two households. A groom's family typically gave the bride's family a formal gift as part of the arrangement, sometimes called a bride price. The bride's family often gave gifts in return, and the bride herself was usually asked whether she agreed to go. Marriage contracts recovered from the ancient city of Nuzi describe exactly this kind of careful, multi-step arrangement, spelling out what each family would give. These documents show that such marriages were treated as serious legal agreements, not casual arrangements. A gift did not buy a wife the way a buyer purchases an object; scholars who study this custom across many cultures say it worked more like a formal seal on a new relationship between two families. A single set of contracts from one city cannot describe every wedding across the ancient Near East, but it does show that gifts, family agreement, and the bride's own consent were recognized, documented parts of how a marriage was properly made.
1What is the passage mostly about?SAT/TOEFL Reading · Main Idea
2Where do the marriage contracts mentioned in the passage come from?SAT/TOEFL Reading · Detail
3In this passage, “arrangement” most nearly means ___.SAT/TOEFL Reading · Vocabulary in Context
4What does the passage say a gift in this custom was NOT?SAT/TOEFL Reading · Detail
5Why might a bride's own consent have mattered in this custom?SAT/TOEFL Reading · Inference
6What kind of evidence does the passage rely on to make its point?SAT/TOEFL Reading · Evidence
7According to the passage, what can and cannot these contracts show?SAT/TOEFL Reading · Synthesis
Part 6
Writing
A print-only writing prompt — not part of your online score.
Writing Task — Part 1 “A Promise Kept Carefully”
In Genesis 24, Abraham's servant takes great care to find exactly the right wife for Isaac, praying for a clear sign before acting. Think of a time you or someone you know made an important choice carefully, checking for a clear sign or reason before deciding. What was the choice, and how did you know it was right? 4–6 sentences. End by saying how it turned out.
You can start with: “One time an important choice was made carefully was…”
Write your response on paper or in a notebook. This section is for print and take-home use; it is not scored online.
Part 1 Complete!
You finished Genesis 24–26 of Genesis: Jacob to Joseph.
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