Introduction
Rebekah is the daughter of Bethuel and sister of Laban, chosen as a wife for Isaac through a servant's prayer and a test of hospitality at a well in Aram-Naharaim. Her later favouritism toward her younger son Jacob, and her role in his deception of the blind, aging Isaac, is central to the transfer of the covenant blessing to Jacob rather than his elder twin Esau.
This article follows the biblical account in Genesis. Where later Jewish, Christian or Islamic tradition adds detail not found in the text itself, the article identifies it as such.
Family
Selection at the well
Abraham's servant, sent to find a wife for Isaac from his master's own kindred, prayed for a specific sign: that the woman who offered to water his camels as well as give him a drink would be the one God had chosen. Rebekah did exactly this, and, learning she was Bethuel's daughter (Abraham's grandniece through Nahor), the servant recognised the answer to his prayer.
Marriage and the twins
Rebekah's family consented to her going with the servant, and she married Isaac, who loved her. Like Sarah before her, Rebekah struggled with infertility until Isaac prayed for her; she then bore twins, Esau and Jacob, who, the text notes, "struggled together within her", prompting her to seek an oracle from God, who told her that two nations were in her womb and that "the elder shall serve the younger".
The stolen blessing
Favouring Jacob, Rebekah orchestrated his deception of the aging, nearly blind Isaac: dressing Jacob in Esau's clothes and covering his arms with goatskins to mimic Esau's hairiness, she prepared a meal that led Isaac to bless Jacob with the blessing he had intended for his firstborn, Esau. When Esau's fury threatened Jacob's life, Rebekah arranged for Jacob to flee to her brother Laban in Paddan-aram, ostensibly to find a wife from her own family rather than a local Canaanite woman.