In non-biblical writings that invoke the Hebrew Bible’s matriarchs — Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel and Leah — Sarah seems to get the most attention. Leah gets no respect: Heck, in the order in which these women are typically listed, she’s left for last, even though she is older than sister Rachel. And Rebekah? Her, I rarely see mentioned other than for a significant role in one episode in her son Jacob’s narrative. Then, she helped . . . er, coached Jacob into usurping his brother’s inheritance. But digging into her story, as told in Genesis, reveals an interesting woman caught between traditional expectations and a chance to find her voice.

This, then, is Rebekah’s story: After Sarah dies, Abraham decides it is time to find a wife for their son Isaac. Accordingly, Abraham sends his most trusted servant back to his family’s home to search out an appropriate candidate, admonishing him not to “take a wife for my son from the women of the Canaanites, among whom I am settled; rather, you are to go to my land and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son, for [Isaac].” (Genesis 24:3-4)

The servant loads ten camels with “all kinds of good things” that demonstrate Abraham’s wealth and travels to Aram-Naharaim, where Abraham’s brother, Nahor, lived. On reaching this settlement, the servant goes to the local well as the sun is setting, the time of day when women come out to draw water for their households and flocks. Once there, the servant soon meets a polite and hospitable “maiden [who] was exceedingly fair to look at, a nubile girl—no man had known her.” She offers water to both the stranger and his camels, whereupon the servant gifts her jewelry and asks about a place to stay the night.

This attractive and helpful woman turns out to be Rebekah, Nahor’s granddaughter, that is, Abraham’s grandniece and Isaac’s second cousin. Needless to say, the servant is welcomed into the household, where he explains his mission. Rebekah’s brother, Laban, and her father, Bethuel, promptly offer........

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