Genesis 24 recounts the story of Abraham sending one of his servants to his father’s household in Haran to find a wife for Isaac. The servant determined that he would put a test to discern what woman the Lord has chosen for Isaac. He would ask for a drink from the well and whichever young woman not only offered him a drink, but also agreed to water his camels would be the one.
Many read this and conclude that the servant was putting a character test. Which woman was hospitable and kind would be the one. There seems to be nothing extraordinary to this test.
Oh contraire mi amigo!
Though it was indeed customary to offer a stranger water from the town well, it was by no means customary to offer to water his camels. After all, the servant had 10 of them (Gen 24:10). Seeing that a camel who has not had a drink for a few days can consume as much as 25 gallons of water, and that a common water jar, like the one Rebekah would have had, would hold approximately 3 gallons of water, this request is completely unreasonable. In order to water the camels also Rebekah would have had to draw water from this well 80-100 times!
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