Bible Character Explorer
Patriarchs • c. 2000-1800 BC (approximate)
Rebekah
MatriarchChosen at a well in Genesis 24, Rebekah became Isaac's wife and the mother of Jacob and Esau, and her decisive faith shaped the covenant line.
"And I will give thee drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be the woman whom the LORD hath appointed out for my master's son."
Genesis 24:14 (KJV)
Overview
Rebekah appears first at a well in Genesis 24, where Abraham's servant prays for a sign to identify Isaac's God-appointed wife. Rebekah's immediate willingness to water ten camels, an exhausting task, marks her as the answer to that prayer. She leaves her family without hesitation to marry a man she has never met, trusting the servant's account of God's providence. As Isaac's wife she is loved deeply (Genesis 24:67) and later becomes the mother of twins, Esau and Jacob, after Isaac prays for her barrenness to be healed. When the twins struggle in her womb, she inquires of the LORD directly and receives a prophetic answer that the elder will serve the younger. Her later actions in securing Isaac's blessing for Jacob, though ethically troubling in method, are inseparable from her conviction that God's revealed word must stand.
Gospel Connection
Paul appeals directly to Rebekah's story in Romans 9:10-13 to show that God's purpose in election does not rest on human works but on his own calling. The line that continues through Jacob, chosen before either twin had done anything, points forward to a salvation that is by grace and promise rather than human achievement, fulfilled fully in Jesus Christ.
Discover More
See how this life points to Christ in the Gospel Connection section above.