Genesis 18:7

18:7 Then Abraham ran to the herd and chose a fine, tender calf, and gave it to a servant, ¹  who quickly prepared it. ² 

Genesis 24:2

24:2 Abraham said to his servant, the senior one ³  in his household who was in charge of everything he had, “Put your hand under my thigh ⁴ 

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¹ tn Heb “the young man.”

² tn The construction uses the Piel preterite, “he hurried,” followed by the infinitive construct; the two probably form a verbal hendiadys: “he quickly prepared.”

³ tn The Hebrew term זָקֵן (zaqen) may refer to the servant who is oldest in age or senior in authority (or both).

⁴ sn Put your hand under my thigh. The taking of this oath had to do with the sanctity of the family and the continuation of the family line. See D. R. Freedman, “Put Your Hand Under My Thigh – the Patriarchal Oath,” BAR 2 (1976): 2-4, 42.