"He said to the chief (eldest, KJV) servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, 'Put your hand under my thigh. I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.' The servant asked him, 'What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?'

'Make sure that you do not take my son back there,' Abraham said. 'The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father's household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, "To your offspring I will give this land"- he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.'

So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter." Genesis 24:2-8


This strange manner of swearing an oath has been found also in the culture of the Babylonians.

Abraham's chief servant who is being referred to here was undoubtedly Eliezer (rf. Gen.15:2,3) At one time, when Abraham was childless, he was prepared to make Eliezer his heir.

The word thigh (Heb. yarek) is a euphemism; that is, a mild or indirect word that is substituted for one that is considered too harsh, blunt or offensive.

Without question, the servant's hand was placed beneath Abraham's sex organs.

Whether the placement of the hand had to do with the act of circumcision instituted by God, thereby giving a covenant solemnity to the oath, is not known.

Some have said that it had reference to the long-term effects of the servant's mission on Abraham's descendants, or that it symbolized that even his yet unborn children would avenge any violation of the oath. But these explanations don't fit Joseph's request to have have body taken out of Egypt and buried with his forefathers, where the same manner of oath was used (Gen.47:29)

Whatever the origin and basis, the requests in both instances AND the results of the fulfilled oaths denote that this manner of swearing and oath placed great importance and solemnity upon it.

Ever wondered why it is a 'testimony'?

/Bevin

I posted a word study on this subject a few months ago in the the thread "On Circumcision." There is a good deal more to this than the euphemisms we use today to skirt around the seeming indelicacies. It is very fundamental--as in, for example, Old Testament and New Testament, and more.

The thread I am referencing covered lots more than my word studies. What I have there is basically a sidebar to that anyway. But if you're interested in learning more, go have a look. The URL is:

http://www.clubadventist.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=
&Board=UBB2&Number=158048&Searchpage=1&Main=157552&Words=
circumcision+NormF&topic=&Search=true#Post158048

Paste the three lines together in the location field of your browser with no spaces anywhere along its length and then hit Go (Enter). Clicking on the first line only will just confuse your browser. I divided the address up trying to keep from making one of those awful overwide thread pages that come from containing excessively long string expressions. Sorry about the extra work that results.

If that doesn't work for you, do a search on my nick and the word "circumcision" in the subject. It was posted in February; include a reach far enough back in your search to include that date.

Regards,
Norm

*cough*tinyurl.com*cough*

Why was this so difficult? Direct Link to the Above

And, Bravus, I just can't resist...are you coughing because someone has been checking out your testimony??

I get so used to handcrafting my copy that I forget there are slicker ways sometimes. Kind of like forgetting how handy an automatic can be; I keep reaching for the clutch and shift knob. Thanks, Chrys.

Regards,
Norm

No problem. Many happy regards to you, too!

What is funny is that when I was reading this to my hubby, who was unfamiliar with the story, I read it to him in the KJV and the word does say, "thigh". He immediately "got it" and guessed correctly what was really happening

Then I wondered if this was a "guy thing", some kind of male bonding or something that makes more sense to them than to me

Sooo where would they place a womans hand? Or are women not allowed to testify?