And the man wondering at her—gazing with attention on her (LXX; Vulgate, Gesenius, Furst); amazed and astonished at her (Rosenmüller, Delitzsch, Keil, Lange, Calvin)—held his peace, to wit—i.e. that he might know—silence being the customary attitude for the soul in either expecting or receiving a Divine communication (cf.
Le Genesis 10:3; Psalms 39:2; Acts 11:18)—whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not. This inward rumination obviously took place while the whole scene was being enacted before his eyes—the beautiful young girl filling the water-troughs, and the thirsty camels sucking up the cooling drink.
The loveliness of mind and body, both which he desired in Isaac's bride, was manifestly present in Rebekah; but still the questions remained to be determined, Was she one of Abraham's kindred, was she single?
and would she follow him to Canaan?—points of moment to the solution of which he now proceeds.