Eliezer the God-Fearing Servant Who Walks in Darkness

"And he said: O LORD, God of my master Abraham, send me, I pray, good speed this day" (Genesis 24:12). "Who among you fears the LORD" (Isaiah 50:10) - this is Eliezer; "who hearkens to the voice of His servant" - to the voice of Abraham; "who walks in darkness" - at the hour when he went to bring Rebecca; "and has no light" - and who gives him light? The Holy One, blessed be He, gives him light with flashes and lightning; "let him trust in the name of the LORD and lean upon" his God - this is "send me, I pray, good speed this day." It is written: "A wise servant shall rule over a son who causes shame" (Proverbs 17:2). "A wise servant" - this is Eliezer. And what was his wisdom? He said: That man [Abraham] has already cursed Canaan into bondage; perhaps another Cushite or another barbarian will come and enslave me. Better that I be a servant in this household than be enslaved in another household. "Shall rule over a son who causes shame" - this is Isaac, who shamed the whole world when he was bound upon the altar. "And shall share the inheritance among the brothers" - among Israel: just as they invoke the merit of the fathers, so too this one invokes the merit of the fathers, as it is said, "O LORD, God of my master Abraham." "Send me, I pray, good speed" - You have begun; finish and do kindness with my master Abraham. All need kindness, even Abraham, through whom kindness rolls through the world; he too needed kindness, as it is said, "and do kindness with my master Abraham."