's arm'' by
Benjamin West. The servant in question was possibly Eliezer of Damascus. Eliezer of
Damascus () was, according to
Targum Jonathan Bereishit, 14:14, the son of
Nimrod. According to
Genesis 15:2, he was the head of the patriarch
Abraham's household: Medieval biblical exegetes have explained the noun
ben mešeq as meaning "butler; steward; overseer", while the name
Damméseq Eliʿézer is explained by
Targum Onkelos as meaning "Eliezer the Damascene". Other writers say that he was given the name "Damascus" by Abraham, who purchased Eliezer from Nimrod and had passed through the city of Damascus while returning with his servant from
Babylonia. There is an interpretation in
Genesis Rabbah (43:2), cited by
Rashi, that Eliezer went alone with Abraham to rescue
Lot, about "his initiates" stated to be 318 in number () being the numerical value of Eliezer's name in
Hebrew, interpreted in tractate Nedarim (32a) as Abraham not wishing to rely on a miracle by taking only one individual. According to most interpretations, the unnamed "senior servant of (Abraham's) household, who had charge of all that he owned" in
Genesis 24:2, who obtained Rebecca as a bride for
Isaac, was the same Eliezer. ==The son of Moses==