A Little Romance-Possibly

Derry L Matheson has a web page with much useful information and it is fun to read. He shared the insight below through his email list.

And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. Gen.24:64

"Some may find it interesting or maybe even a little romantic if they look at the common meaning of the word used when Rebekkah “lighted off” her camel at the sight of Isaac. The word as it appears in the Hebrew text is (lptv). This is the common word in Hebrew meaning “to fall”. (Root word is lpn or “he fell”.)

If the writer intended to indicate she simply “dismounted” the camel he would have used the Hebrew word that means “dismount” or “to descend or lower”: (dry). When it is spelled (lpt) it appears 21 times in the Old Testament. Nineteen times it is translated “fall or fell”. [See Ruth 2:10: The same word (lptv) is translated “then she fell”.] Only one time it is translated “lighted off” and the other time it is translated “present”.

So what did Rebekkah do? Did she “fall” off the camel at the sight of Isaac or did she “present” herself to Isaac after covering her face with a veil? I like to think she did both. Being a little romantic, I like to think she was so overcome by the sight of Isaac that she “fell” off her camel and then covered herself with her veil and “presented” herself to her future husband."

http://members.cox.net/derrymatheson/index.htm