In Parshas Chayei Sara, the Torah recounts the story of Yitzchak’s marriage. Avraham charges his servant Eliezer with the mission of finding a suitable wife for his son.
Avraham instructs Eliezer as follows:
Text 1
“And I will adjure you by the Lord, the G-d of the heaven and the G-d of the earth that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose midst I dwell. But you shall go to my land and to my birthplace, and you shall take a wife for my son, for Yitzchak.” And the servant said to him, "Perhaps the woman will not wish to go after me to this land. Shall I return your son to the land from which you came?" And Avraham said to him, "Beware, lest you return my son back there. The Lord, G-d of the heavens, Who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and Who spoke about me, and Who swore to me, saying, 'To your seed will I give this land,' He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.”
Bereishis 24:3-7
The above account is then repeated a second time when Eliezer tells Besuel, Rivka’s father, the words of Avraham.
There is, however, a discrepancy between what Avraham told Eliezer and what Eliezer relays to Rivka’s family in the name of Avaraham:
Text 2
And [food] was set before him [Eliezer] to eat, but he said, "I will not eat until I have spoken my words." And he [Besuel] said, "Speak." And he said, "I am Avraham's servant. And the Lord blessed my master exceedingly, and he became great, and He gave him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, man servants and maid servants, camels and donkeys. And Sara, my master's wife, bore a son to my master after she had become old, and he gave him all that he possesses. And my master adjured me, saying, 'You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell. Instead, you must go to my father's house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.' And I said to my master, 'Perhaps the woman will not follow me?' And he said to me, 'The Lord, before Whom I walked, will send His angel with you and make your way prosper, and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father's house.’”
Bereishis 24:33-40
While Avraham said, “The Lord....will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there,” Eliezer says, “The Lord...will send His angel with you and make your way prosper, and you shall take a wife...”
Why did Eliezer change the words that his master had actually said for other ones?
