04_Biblica_AN_Bar_Layout 1 16/12/13 12:27 Pagina 565 ANIMADVERSIONES What Did the Servant Give to Rebecca’s Brother and Mother? * Following the negotiation between the servant and Rebecca’s family, “the servant brought out objects of silver and gold, and garments and gave them to Rebecca; and he gave tndgm (mgdnt) to her brother and mother” (Gen 24,53). Thus the question arises: what is the meaning of mgdnt? Ex- amination of the term mgdnt (fem.pl.) reveals that it derives from the root dgm (mgd) and appears only four times in the Hebrew Bible (Gen 24,53; 2 Chr 21,3; 32,23; Ezra 1,6). Major dictionaries and translations interpret the term in a similar way: “precious gifts” (HALOT); “gifts” (BDB), in Gen 24,53 and 2 Chr 21,3; 32,23, while in Ezra 1,6 as a “tribute”; “pre- cious things”(DCH) 1. Also the JPS translates it as “presents”, KJV as “precious things”, NIV as “costly gifts”. Two types of gifts are mentioned in the text: one for Rebecca and the other one for her family. This is the first time that Rebecca’s family re- ceived any gifts from the servant. Interestingly, Rebecca’s brother and mother received the gifts while her father is not mentioned. This suggests that the father was already dead; therefore the gifts were presented to the nearest kin, in this case her brother and mother. Probably our text refers to the bride price and gifts. In Akkadian they are known as terḫâtum and biblum. Bride prices were to compensate for the bride’s services and po- tential offspring. This is what the Hebrew Bible calls môhar (Exod 22,16). The biblum were ceremonial marriage gifts to the bride’s family. Giving gifts to the bride’s family is also attested in Genesis 34 in the story of the rape of Dinah. Shechem was willing to give Jacob and his sons a mattān ‘a voluntary gift” over and above the môhar ‘the bride price,’ on the con- dition that they would give him Dinah for a wife. It appears that mattān corresponds to the Akkadian biblum, the ceremonial gifts that were given to the bride’s family which are called mgdnt. Thompson, on the other hand, pointed out that in the Ancient Near East gifts were often given at marriage but these were not necessarily related to terḫatu or “bride price” 2. Never- theless the question still remains: what kind of gifts are the mgdnt? We will demonstrate that mgdnt are fruits. In support of this interpretation, I will examine the masculine form meged which is mentioned five times in the blessing bestowed on Joseph (Deut 33,13-16); and the masculine plural * Dedicated to the memory of Quintin Baker, a godly man. 1 HALOT, 2, 543; BDB, 550; DCH, 132. 2 T.L. THOMPSON, The Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives: The Quest for the Historical Abraham (BZAW 133; New York 1974) 251. BIBLICA 94.4 (2013) 565-572