The THIGH / loins — under which the servant puts his hand to swear (24:2, 9). Not an idle gesture: the yarekh is the seat of procreation, the region of the covenant-of-circumcision sign (17:11), and 'those who came out of the yarekh' is the Hebrew for a man's own offspring (46:26; Exodus 1:5). To swear by it is to swear by the seed the whole promise runs through — fitting for an oath about the son who will carry the line. The Bible knows this gesture only twice, both about the promised posterity: here, and Jacob making Joseph swear to bury him in the land (47:29). → first discussed at Gen 24:2