Genesis 24:2, 9, Your hand under my thigh. (Heb. yarek; see also 47:29.) Abraham’s servant literally placed his hands on Abraham’s testicles swearing an oath on Abraham’s projected progeny, even as in modern times we place our hands on the Bible. Interestingly, the word testicle or teste derives from the Latin words testis meaning “testimony, testify and testament.” Interestingly, yarek is the same word the KJV translates “hollow of his thigh” in Genesis 32:25 and 32, although, in this case, it seems to be referring to the tendon in the hip.

Genesis 24:6, 8, Beware that you bring not my son there again. Why was Abraham insistent that Isaac not be exposed to Babylon? What was there to beware of (shamar/שמר/shin-mem-resh, Strong’s H8104 meaning “to guard against, protect from, keep watch and ward, preserve, keep oneself from”)? The key is verse seven. What does this teach us about protecting our children and loved ones from corrupting influences? We must be ever vigilant like a soldier on guard duty to preserve and protect our children from those things that could lead to their spiritual ruination. YHVH had led Abraham out of the spiritual filth of Babylon. In no way did he want Isaac to go back to what he had left behind. Are we investing the necessary time and energy into our physical and spiritual children to insure that they do not return to the spiritual Babylon from which we fled prior to our conversion?