“The servant took ten camels from the camels of his master, and he went, and all his master’s goods in his hand; he arose and went to Aram Naharayim, to the city of Naḥor” (Genesis 24:10). “The servant took ten camels from the camels of his master…” – the camels of Abraham our patriarch were notable, [in that] everywhere that they would go out, they would go out muzzled.34So that they should not eat vegetation belonging to a private individual.
“And all his master’s goods in his hand” – Rabbi Ḥelbo said: This refers to his will.35In it, he bequeathed all his belongings to Isaac. “He arose and went to Aram Naharayim” – Rabbi Yitzḥak said: [He arrived] on that same day. This is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yitzḥak [elsewhere]: “I came today to the spring” (Genesis 24:42) – today I departed and today I arrived. “You made the land quake; You shattered it.
Heal its shards, for it has toppled”36The Midrash interprets all these descriptions as references to incidents in which someone was able to reach long distances in a short amount of time, as if the ground itself contracted for him. (Psalms 60:4). “You made the land quake” – in the days of Abraham;37See Genesis Rabba 43:3. “you shattered it” – in the days of Eliezer; “heal its shards” – in the days of Jacob;38See Genesis Rabba 68:8. “for it has toppled” – in the days of Yishbi Benov.
That is what is written: “Yishbi Benov, who was of the offspring of the giant” (II Samuel 21:16). He wielded his shield, and David leapt backwards eighteen cubits.39From the force of the shield. This one feared that one, and that one feared this one. This one [Yishbi Benov] feared [David], saying: ‘If this is how he leaps backwards, what can he do going forward?’
And that one [David] feared this one [Yishbi Benov], saying: ‘If he can wield his shield like this, how can I stand against him?’ David said: ‘If only I had one of my sister’s sons to come and aid me.’ Immediately, “Avishai son of Tzeruya came to his aid” (II Samuel 21:17). Was he standing behind the door [that he arrived so quickly]?
That is a rhetorical question. The Rabbis say: Even if he was at the other end of the world, the Holy One blessed be He flew him and brought him in the blink of an eye, so that that righteous one [David] should not have to stand there in distress. That is what is written: “Avishai son of Tzeruya came to his aid and smote the Philistine and put him to death. Then David’s men took an oath [to him, saying]: You will not go out with us to battle [any longer], so that you not extinguish the lamp of Israel” (II Samuel 21:17).
“He made his camels crouch outside the city by a well of water at the time of evening, at the time that the women go out to draw water” (Genesis 24:11). “He made his camels crouch outside the city” – he had them go on their knees.