And Abraham was old, well stricken in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said unto his servant, the elder of his house, that ruled over all that he had: ‘Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh. And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell. But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son, even for Isaac.’ (Genesis 24:1–4)
וְאַבְרָהָם זָקֵן בָּא בַּיָּמִים וַה' בֵּרַךְ אֶת אַבְרָהָם בַּכֹּל.
וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְרָהָם אֶל עַבְדּוֹ זְקַן בֵּיתוֹ הַמֹּשֵׁל בְּכָל אֲשֶׁר לוֹ: שִׂים נָא יָדְךָ תַּחַת יְרֵכִי. וְאַשְׁבִּיעֲךָ בַּה' אֱלֹהֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם וֵאלֹהֵי הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר לֹא תִקַּח אִשָּׁה לִבְנִי מִבְּנוֹת הַכְּנַעֲנִי אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי יוֹשֵׁב בְּקִרְבּוֹ. כִּי אֶל אַרְצִי וְאֶל מוֹלַדְתִּי תֵּלֵךְ וְלָקַחְתָּ אִשָּׁה לִבְנִי לְיִצְחָק. (בראשית כ"ד, א-ד)
The Sages tell us that the servant Abraham sent to find a wife for Isaac was Eliezer. Surprisingly, however, the Torah never mentions his name throughout the entire narrative.
Identifying him as Eliezer fits the plain sense, since the opening calls him “his servant, the elder of his house, that ruled over all that he had.” This description suits Eliezer, mentioned several chapters earlier when Abraham asked the LORD for offspring and expressed his fear:
And Abram said: ‘O Lord GOD, what wilt Thou give me, seeing I go hence childless, and he that shall be possessor of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’ And Abram said: ‘Behold, to me Thou hast given no seed, and, lo, one born in my house is to be mine heir.’ (Genesis 15:2–3)
וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְרָם: א-דני ה' מַה תִּתֶּן לִי וְאָנֹכִי הוֹלֵךְ עֲרִירִי וּבֶן מֶשֶׁק בֵּיתִי הוּא דַּמֶּשֶׂק אֱלִיעֶזֶר? וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְרָם: הֵן לִי לֹא נָתַתָּה זָרַע וְהִנֵּה בֶן בֵּיתִי יוֹרֵשׁ אֹתִי. (בראשית ט"ו ב-ג)
Why, then, does the Torah not name the servant?
This is not its only deliberate avoidance of a known character’s name. At Moses’ birth, “And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi” (Exodus 2:1), although his parents’ names are known and appear later (Exodus 6:20). This is a literary choice rather than ignorance. What does that choice mean for the servant?
Apparently it emphasizes that Eliezer acts on Abraham’s mission, leaving no place to highlight his personality. It recalls angels, the LORD’s messengers, withholding their names even when explicitly asked (Genesis 32:30; Judges 13:17–18).
For Eliezer, however, this is unsatisfactory. He fulfilled the mission as more than an ordinary servant, showing initiative, sophistication, and great intelligence in bringing Rebekah to Isaac. His actions went far beyond obeying Abraham and executing his assignment. Doing more than expected of a servant, he would seem to deserve naming. His independent actions make the Torah’s avoidance of his name especially puzzling.
Perhaps the answer lies in the story’s key word, “all”: the LORD “had blessed Abraham in all things” (Genesis 24:1); Abraham addressed the elder ruling over “all that he had” (Genesis 24:2); the servant took ten of his master’s camels, “having all goodly things of his master’s in his hand” (Genesis 24:10); and told Rebekah’s family that Abraham had given Isaac “all that he hath” (Genesis 24:36).
This “all” creates tension between Eliezer, Abraham, and Isaac. When Abraham was old, Eliezer, rather than Isaac, effectively controlled everything he owned. Had Isaac not been born, the faithful servant would have inherited Abraham, as Abraham himself said (Genesis 15:2–3). Would Eliezer avoid fulfilling the mission to obtain everything Abraham owned, or fully carry out Abraham’s assignment?
By completing Abraham’s mission, Eliezer relinquished the possibility of becoming his successor, effectively losing “everything.”
The Sages sensitively recognized this point. In Eliezer’s “Peradventure the woman will not follow me” (Genesis 24:39), they read elai (אֵלַי), “to me,” instead of ulai (אֻלַי), “perhaps,” and expound that Eliezer had a daughter whom he hoped Isaac would marry (Rashi there, based on Genesis Rabbah 59). On the midrash’s account, Isaac’s marriage to Eliezer’s daughter was the alternative to taking a wife from Aram-naharaim.
The fifteenth-century BCE Nuzi documents record an adopted household servant marrying his master’s daughter and thereby becoming his heir, but only when the master had no biological son. No precedent has been found for the reverse arrangement, the master’s son marrying his faithful servant’s daughter, as the Sages propose, although it cannot be ruled out theoretically.
Either way, Eliezer, the elder ruling over “all that he had,” seems to have held extensive power and all authority in Abraham’s household. Had he wished, he could have exploited his elderly master’s condition, the trust placed in him to find Isaac a wife, and the young son’s passivity, to take over the household.
Eliezer chose the opposite course: faithfully obeying his master and proving absolute loyalty to Abraham.
By withholding his name even though his identity is clear, the Torah emphasizes his extraordinary merit: a servant placing his master’s mission above personal aspirations, relinquishing every chance to inherit Abraham through nobility of spirit and complete submission, rather than compulsion.
