When the camels had done drinking serves as a transition to the servant’s giving gold ornaments to Rebekah.
The man: see comments on verse 21.
Took a gold ring: in some languages it is necessary to say where he took the ring from; in one translation, for example, “he pulled out a gold ring from the pack saddle.” This and the following verses do not say when the servant gave Rebekah these gifts. However, see the servant’s report in verse 47. Good News Translation and others follow the Samaritan Pentateuch, which adds here “which he put on her nose.”
Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, which rates the Hebrew text as {A}, understands “which he put on her nose” to be a translational adjustment to the text or taken over from verse 47, and recommends following the Hebrew. Nevertheless readers may be confused unless some translational adjustment is made. This may be done by following Good News Translation. Another way is suggested by Bible en français courant, which says “When the camels had finished drinking, the man gave the young woman a ring….”
Gold ring refers to a ring that is not closed, so that it can be worn in the nostril. That the ring was placed in the girl’s nostril is shown in verse 47.
Weighing a half shekel: this weight may be said to be approximately six grams (a quarter ounce) of gold. Although the measurement given in Hebrew is a weight, it was also a monetary value, and the important fact for the story is clearly that the ring and bracelets were gifts of considerable value. In translation a unit of weight, whether it is the shekel as in New Jerusalem Bible and Revised English Bible (“half a shekel”) or some modern equivalent as in Moffatt (“a quarter of an ounce”) and Bible en français courant (“about six grams”), may not carry the sense of great value for readers. However, there is little point in attempting to give the value in today’s currency, because we do not know how much a quarter ounce of gold was worth in those days, and modern values are constantly changing. Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch say “an expensive gold ring,” which is probably the best solution.
Two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels: if the translator wishes to express the gold in weight, the bracelets weighed more than a hundred grams or around five ounces; but as in the case of the nose ring, it is the size or value that is important in this text rather than the weight. In spite of this a number of modern versions focus on the weight: expressing it in shekels (Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible), in ounces (Moffatt), or in grams (Bible en français courant, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). A better approach is taken by Good News Translation “large” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “heavy,” which focus on the size of the gold bracelets. Whichever usage is employed, it should apply to both ring and bracelets.
In some translations the statements about the weight or value of the gifts are combined and placed after the reference to both items; for example, “… the servant took a gold ring for decorating the nose and two gold clasps for Rebekah’s arms. The weight of the ring was about 5 grams, and the weight of each clasp was about 100 grams.”
From verse 47 it appears that the servant put these ornaments on Rebekah after she replied in verse 24 that she was the descendant of Nahor. We may therefore complete verse 22 by saying at the end of verse 24 or 25 “Then the servant put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms.”
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 .