Abraham is old. His son Isaac needs a wife, but not from the daughters of Canaan — she must come from Abraham's own kin in Mesopotamia. He sends his chief servant on the most important errand in the covenant story so far. The servant prays at a well. A woman comes to draw water and offers to water his camels. Her name is Rebekah. The chapter is the longest in Genesis and one of the most carefully crafted — a masterwork of biblical narrative that shows providence working through the mundane details of hospitality, camels, and a servant's prayer.