On the Weekly Torah Portion of Chayey Sarah
Even though this week’s Torah portion is called chayey sarah (Genesis 23:1 – 25:18), “The Life of Sarah,” the longest part of this parashah deals with the marriage of Isaac with Rebecca. Abraham is making his chief slave, Eliezer, who was the overseer of all his affairs, swear that he will find a wife for Abraham’s son Isaac not among the local Canaanites but back in Haran, which is where Abraham’s relatives still lived.
A number of commentators noted that during his conversation with Eliezer, Abraham refers to God in two different ways. First, he makes Eliezer swear in the name of the God of heaven and earth: