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Genesis 24:40 (from Sefaria - modified English by me):

וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אֵלָ֑י יְהוָ֞ה אֲשֶׁר־הִתְהַלַּ֣כְתִּי לְפָנָ֗יו יִשְׁלַ֨ח מַלְאָכ֤וֹ אִתָּךְ֙ וְהִצְלִ֣יחַ דַּרְכֶּ֔ךָ וְלָקַחְתָּ֤ אִשָּׁה֙ לִבְנִ֔י מִמִּשְׁפַּחְתִּ֖י וּמִבֵּ֥ית אָבִֽי׃

And he said unto me: The LORD, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you, and make your way successful; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family, and from my father’s house;

If you view Genesis 24:4:

כִּ֧י אֶל־אַרְצִ֛י וְאֶל־מוֹלַדְתִּ֖י תֵּלֵ֑ךְ וְלָקַחְתָּ֥ אִשָּׁ֖ה לִבְנִ֥י לְיִצְחָֽק׃

But you shall go to my country, and to my birthplace, and take a wife for my son, for Isaac

There is no explicit command from Avraham indicating that Eliezer should get a wife specifically from Avraham's family.

Is it possible that Eliezer "expanded" on his relating the story after the fact since, as it turns out, he was in Avraham's family's home?

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Rav Hirsch says that

The reason for all the little differences can at once seen to be based, either on considerations of politeness, to which we have already referred above, or to make it more plausible to his hearers whom Eliezer seems to have perfectly understood.

We also see from the fact that he emphasizes the practical aspects and deemphasizes the miraculous. He suppresses all of his worries and also pretends that he first asked about Rivka's family and then gave her the gifts.

He hints that he has a daughter of his own in order to convince them to agree to send Rivka with him and to make an immediate decision.

In all of this, we see that he was very careful to ensure the success of his mission.

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  • "He hints that he has a daughter of his own " - Where do we see this?
    – DanF
    Nov 5, 2015 at 21:11
  • @DanF Rashi explains that אולי is written אלי hinting that he wanted Yitzchok to marry his daughter.
    – HaLeiVi
    Nov 5, 2015 at 21:24
  • @HaLeiVi OK. But, as sabbahillel stated, this is a "hint", and with Rash"i's explanation, this would not be evident in pshat.
    – DanF
    Nov 5, 2015 at 21:33
  • @DanF In general Remez is not Pshat. This is a Remez. We can read אלי as אולי without thinking twice -- in Pshat. But it is there for the hint.
    – HaLeiVi
    Nov 6, 2015 at 1:30

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