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Abraham's servant is on a mission to find Isaac a wife, and he is blessed in that work. Upon Rebekah's fulfilling of the sign conditions of the servant's prayer to YHWH (Gen 24:12-20), the servant provides two immediate gifts to her in Gen 24:22 (NKJV, bold added):

So it was, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden nose ring weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels of gold.

But translations vary on whether this was a ring for the ear, nose, or possibly otherwise:

  • Ear ring: AKJV, Douay-Rheims, KJV, KJB2000, Webster's
  • Nose ring: NET, NIV, NKJV, NLT, GWT, ISV
  • Pendant (Not a ring at all): Jubilee
  • Ring (uncommitted location): All other versions on that source page (as of the original posting of this question)

Now as I note in another question about earrings and idolatry, I am aware that the term used in this verse for the ring is:

נֶזֶם (nězěm), which may also mean merely ring or nose-ring, according to both Ludwig Koehler, Walter Baumgartner, M. E. J. Richardson, and Johann Jakob Stamm, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994–2000) and Francis Brown, Samuel Rolles Driver, and Charles Augustus Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977).

So linguistically, I grasp why there is variation in the translations. What I am curious to know is:

  1. The older English translations (KJV, Douay-Rheims) favored earring, whereas newer one's favor either nose ring or non-commitment in translation. Is there a documented reason for this shift in translating this passage?
  2. Based on current knowledge of the historical, cultural context regarding jewelry and marriage transactions, what is the most likely type of "ring" this would have been: a single earring (the word נֶזֶם is singular in the text), a nose ring, or some other type of ring (and if so, where would it have been worn—a neckless hoop, a head ring, etc.)?
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  • The LXX indicates an earring, which is how the translators interpreted the Hebrew a couple of hundred years before Christ and the Syriac Peshitta agrees. Unfortunately, Genesis 24:22 is severely damaged in the DSS. So, while a nose ring would be cool, not to mention a tongue stud, an earring is more likely to have the ring of truth. ;-)
    – Dieter
    Commented Mar 5 at 6:59
  • 1
    @Dieter The answer I accepted actually states where the ring was intended, so you get your "cool" factor.
    – ScottS
    Commented Mar 13 at 3:12

3 Answers 3

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Eliezer, Abraham's servant, answers your question himself in Genesis 24:47 as he recounts the events to Rebekah's family.

וָאָשִׂ֤ם הַנֶּ֙זֶם֙ עַל־אַפָּ֔הּ

And I placed the ring on her nose

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  • Great catch! Totally missed the fact that he later was recounting the experience and that the text there makes it very clear that the ring was intended for the nostrils/nose.
    – ScottS
    Commented Mar 13 at 3:09
  • But after Eliezer placed the ring on Rebekah's nose, did she then put it on her finger? ;-) Sorry, but the image in my mind was irresistible. Unfortunately, The LXX uses the word "earrings" and the DSS is missing that part of the same verse.
    – Dieter
    Commented Mar 13 at 4:16
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+50

Ellicott commentary on Genesis 24:22 "(22) Earring.—Really nose-ring; for in Genesis 24:47 the man places it on her nose, wrongly translated face in our version. The word occurs again in Ezekiel 16:12, where it is rendered jewel, and again is placed “on the nose;” it is also similarly translated jewel in Proverbs 11:22, where it is placed in “a swine’s snout.” It was hung not from the central cartilage of the nose, but from the left nostril, the flesh of which was pierced for the purpose; and such rings are still the usual betrothal present in Arabia, and are commonly worn both there and in Persia, made not only of gold and of silver but of coral, mother-of-pearl, and even cheaper materials. (See Quotation in Note on Genesis 24:16.) Its weight, about a quarter of an ounce, would make it not more disfiguring than many of the personal ornaments worn at the present time."

It seems some newer translations had access to the same knowledge Ellicott did concerning the mistranslation of nose and face and other verses where it's used as a nose ring.

Based on Ellicott's understanding, the nose ring is more likely to be given as a betrothal gift.

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    FYI, I found the commentary you referred to online here: studylight.org/commentaries/ebc/genesis-24.html While the answer is useful, it is very unfortunate that Ellicott gives no citations for where he is getting his information from.
    – ScottS
    Commented May 13, 2019 at 19:50
  • Somehow, when I originally read this answer, I totally missed the fact that Gen 24:47 explicitly states in the Hebrew that it was her "nose". Honestly, I probably should have accepted this answer 5 years ago! :-) It was the more recent answer that so explicitly pointed that out in the Hebrew in that verse that was my "duh" moment.
    – ScottS
    Commented Mar 13 at 3:16
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Genesis 24:22 New International Version

When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring [H5141] weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels.

LXX translates it as ενώτια which means earring. LXX does not translate well for (NIV) Proverbs 11:

22 Like a gold ring [H5141] in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.

There is another Hebrew word for earring, as in Isaiah 3:

18 In that day the Lord will snatch away their finery: the bangles and headbands and crescent necklaces, 19 the earrings [H5188] and bracelets and veils, 20the headdresses and anklets and sashes, the perfume bottles and charms, 21the signet rings and nose rings [H5141],

Ezekiel 16:12 makes the Hebrew word's meaning more obvious:

and I put a ring [H5141] on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head.

your nose,
אַפֵּ֔ךְ (’ap·pêḵ)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person feminine singular
Strong's 639: The nose, nostril, the face, a person, ire

A nose ring, earring, or other in Genesis 24:22?

From these passages, it is most likely that Genesis 24:22 refers to a nose ring.

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2
  • Appreciate the comparative analysis to come to your "likely" conclusion. This might become an excellent answer if you were able to address some information on the two subquestions I noted in my question.
    – ScottS
    Commented Sep 1, 2021 at 17:22
  • I am also interested in those two subquestions. Still researching into them :)
    – user35953
    Commented Sep 1, 2021 at 17:44

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