He said: his words are addressed to the LORD, and so “he prayed” or “this is what he prayed.”

God of my master Abraham: that is, “God whom my master Abraham serves,” “… worships.”

Grant me success today: the Hebrew says literally “Make it meet [happen well] before me.” Jacob in the guise of Esau uses the same expression in 27.20. The servant is asking for a favorable result in his undertaking. Revised English Bible say “give me good fortune,” Bible en français courant “grant me to make a happy encounter,” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “Give me good fortune in my purpose.” Since readers of the story already know what the servant had been commanded to do, some translations make this prayer more direct; for example, “Help me find that girl today.”

I pray thee represents a particle with the previous verb that is equivalent to “please.”

Show steadfast love to my master Abraham: steadfast love translates the Hebrew chesed, which has the sense of “loyalty,” “kindness,” “love.” Good News Translation translates the thought of loyalty by saying “keep your promise to my master.” This is a good model.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .