The Prayer of Eleazar
When he grew old, says the Holy Book, and “was advanced in days” (b’a bayamim), Abraham thought the time had come for his son to take a wife. Isaac was nearly forty now, and, since the death of his mother, Sarah, some years past, there had been no matron in the house (Gen. 24). On the other hand, settling on a suitable bride would be no easy task. Certainly, the young women from this Canaanite neighborhood would never do.
Abraham’s ancestry had its roots in distant Ur, a prominent coastal city on the Persian Gulf. Ur was not only wealthy; it was also a center of learning and culture for all of Mesopotamia. It was in the region around Ur that human beings, more than a thousand years before, had invented the art and skill of writing.
The cultural inheritance of Abraham, then, was rich and deep. After more than a century of his sojourn among these local Canaanites, he knew how little his family had in common with them. So a proper bride must be sought from the old country, the land further east along the Fertile Crescent, the area whence he and Sarah had migrated many years ago. Someone trustworthy must journey there in search of a suitable bride.
THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:
Patrick Henry Reardon is pastor emeritus of All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church in Chicago, Illinois, and the author of numerous books, including, most recently, Out of Step with God: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Numbers (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2019).
A Journal of Mere Christianity—Delivered to Your Door
- Essays on theology, culture, and the Church
- Contributors from across the Christian traditions
Six print issues (one year) of Touchstone, plus full online access and PDF downloads for only $39.95.
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95.
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more from the online archives
25.6—Nov/Dec 2012
The Loss of Aristotelian Logic & the Social, Moral & Sexual Consequences by Peter Kreeft
21.6—July/August 2008
Benedict XVI on the Crisis of Faith & Reason by Samuel Gregg
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
