Genesis 29 commentary

GE ESIS 29 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
1
Then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the
land of the eastern peoples.
1. Barnes, “Gen_29:1-8
Jacob arrives at the well of Haran. “The land of the sons of the east.” The points of the
heavens were defined by the usage of practical life, and not by the standard of a science
yet unknown. Hence, the east means any quarter toward the sunrising. Haran was about
four degrees east of Beer-sheba, and five and a half degrees north. The distance was
about four hundred and fifty miles, and therefore it would take Jacob fifteen days to
perform the journey at thirty miles a day. If he reached Bethel the first night, he must
have travelled about fifty miles the first day. After this he proceeds on his journey
without any memorable incident. In the neighborhood of Haran he comes upon a well,
by which lay three flocks. This is not the well near Haran where Abraham’s servant met
Rebekah. It is in the pasture grounds at some distance from the town. On its mouth was
a large stone, indicating that water was precious, and that the well was the common
property of the surrounding natives. The custom was to gather the flocks, roll away the
stone, which was too great to be moved by a boy or a female, water the flocks, and
replace the stone. Jacob, on making inquiry, learns that Haran is at hand, that Laban is
well, and that Rachel is drawing nigh with her father’s flocks. Laban is called by Jacob
the son of Nahor, that is, his grandson, with the usual latitude of relative names in
Scripture Gen_28:13. “The day is great.” A great part of it yet remains. It is not yet the
time to shut up the cattle for the night; “water the sheep and go feed them.” Jacob may
have wished to meet with Rachel without presence of the shepherds. “We cannot.” There
was a rule or custom that the flocks must be all assembled before the stone was rolled
away for the purpose of watering the cattle. This may have been required to insure a fair
distribution of the water to all parties, and especially to those who were too weak to roll
away the stone.
2. Clarke, “Then Jacob went on his journey - The original is very remarkable:
And Jacob lifted up his feet, and he traveled unto the land of the children of the east.
There is a certain cheerfulness marked in the original which comports well with the state
of mind into which he had been brought by the vision of the ladder and the promises of
God. He now saw that having God for his protector he had nothing to fear, and therefore
he went on his way rejoicing.
People of the east - The inhabitants of Mesopotamia and the whole country beyond
the Euphrates are called ‫קדם‬ kedem, or easterns, in the sacred writings.

3. Gill, “Then Jacob went on his journey,.... After the above vow at Bethel, and
having had some intimation that what he desired would be granted him; or "he lift up
his feet" (x), which not only shows that he walked afoot, but that he went on his journey
with great cheerfulness; for having such gracious promises made him, that God would be
with him, and keep him, and supply him with all necessaries, and return him again to
the land of Canaan, which made his heart glad; his heart, as the Jewish writers say (y),
lift up his legs, and he walked apace, and with great alacrity:
and came into the land of the people of the east; the land of Mesopotamia or
Syria, which lay to the east of the land of Canaan, see Isa_9:11; hither he came by several
days' journeys.
4. Henry, “All the stages Israel's march to Canaan are distinctly noticed, but no
particular journal is kept of Jacob's expedition further than Beth-el; no, he had no more
such happy nights as he had at Beth-el, no more such visions of the Almighty. That was
intended for a feast; he must not expect it to be his daily bread. But, 1. We are here told
how cheerfully he proceeded in his journey after the sweet communion he had with God
at Beth-el: Then Jacob lifted up his feet; so the margin reads it, Gen_29:1. Then he went
on with cheerfulness and alacrity, not burdened with his cares, nor cramped with his
fears, being assured of God's gracious presence with him. Note, After the visions we have
had of God, and the vows we have made to him in solemn ordinances, we should run the
way of his commandments with enlarged hearts, Heb_12:1. 2. How happily he arrived at
his journey's end. Providence brought him to the very field where his uncle's flocks were
to be watered, and there he met with Rachel, who was to be his wife. Observe, (1.) The
divine Providence is to be acknowledged in all the little circumstances which concur to
make a journey, or other undertaking, comfortable and successful. If, when we are at a
loss, we meet seasonably with those that can direct us - if we meet with a disaster, and
those are at hand that will help us - we must not say that it was by chance, nor that
fortune therein favoured us, but that it was by Providence, and that God therein
favoured us. Our ways are ways of pleasantness, if we continually acknowledge God in
them.
5. Jamison, “Gen_29:1-35. The well of Haran.
Then Jacob went, etc. — Hebrew, “lifted up his feet.” He resumed his way next
morning with a light heart and elastic step after the vision of the ladder; for tokens of the
divine favor tend to quicken the discharge of duty (Neh_8:10).
and came into the land, etc. — Mesopotamia and the whole region beyond the
Euphrates are by the sacred writers designated “the East” (Jdg_6:3; 1Ki_4:30; Job_1:3).
Between the first and the second clause of this verse is included a journey of four
hundred miles.
6. K&D 1-4, “Arrival in Haran, and Reception by Laban. - Being strengthened in
spirit by the nocturnal vision, Jacob proceeded on his journey into “the land of the sons

of the East,” by which we are to understand, not so much the Arabian desert, that
reaches to the Euphrates, as Mesopotamia, which lies on the other side of that river. For
there he saw the well in the field (Gen_29:2), by which three flocks were lying, waiting
for the arrival of the other flocks of the place, before they could be watered. The remark
in Gen_29:2, that the stone upon the well's mouth was large (‫ה‬ ָ‫ּל‬‫ד‬ְ without the article is a
predicate), does not mean that the united strength of all the shepherds was required to
roll it away, whereas Jacob rolled it away alone (Gen_29:10); but only that it was not in
the power of every shepherd, much less of a shepherdess like Rachel, to roll it away.
Hence in all probability the agreement that had been formed among them, that they
would water the flocks together. The scene is so thoroughly in harmony with the
customs of the East, both ancient and modern, that the similarity to the one described in
Gen_24:11. is by no means strange (vid., Rob. Pal. i. 301, 304, ii. 351, 357, 371).
Moreover the well was very differently constructed from that at which Abraham's
servant met with Rebekah. There the water was drawn at once from the (open) well and
poured into troughs placed ready for the cattle, as is the case now at most of the wells in
the East; whereas here the well was closed up with a stone, and there is no mention of
pitchers and troughs. The well, therefore, was probably a cistern dug in the ground,
which was covered up or closed with a large stone, and probably so constructed, that
after the stone had been rolled away the flocks could be driven to the edge to drink.
(Note: Like the cistern Bir Beshat, described by Rosen., in the valley of Hebron, or
those which Robinson found in the desert of Judah (Pal. ii. 165), hollowed out in the
great mass of rock, and covered with a large, thick, flat stone, in the middle of which
a round hole had been left, which formed the opening of the cistern, and in many
cases was closed up with a heavy stone, which it would take two or three men to roll
away.)
7. Calvin, “1.Then Jacob went on his journey (62) Moses now relates the arrival of
Jacob in Mesopotamia, and the manner in which he was received by his uncle; and
although the narration may seem superfluous, it yet contains nothing but what is
useful to be known; for he commends the extraordinary strength of Jacob’s faith,
when he says, that he lifted up his feet to come into an unknown land. Again, he
would have us to consider the providence of God, which caused Jacob to fall in with
the shepherds, by whom he was conducted to the home he sought; for this did not
happen accidentally, but he was guided by the hidden hand of God to that place;
and the shepherds, who were to instruct and confirm him respecting all things, were
brought thither at the same time. Therefore, whenever we may wander in
uncertainty through intricate windings, we must contemplate, with eyes of faith, the
secret providence of God which governs us and our affairs, and leads us to
unexpected results.
8. TRAPP, "Genesis 29:1 Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the
LA Dof the people of the east.
Ver. 1. Then Jacob went on his journey.] Heb., Lifted up his feet: indefessi cursoris
instar ; as it were a generous and manly horse, refreshed with his wait by the way,
he went LIGHTLY on his long journey. "The joy of the Lord was" Jacob’s
"strength": [ ehemiah 8:10] it became as oil; wherewith his soul being suppled, he

was made more lithe, nimble, and FIT for action. He that is once soaked in this oil,
and bathed, with Jacob, in this bath at Bethel, will cheerfully do or suffer aught for
God’s sake. Tua praesentia, Domine, Laurentio ipsam craticulam dulcem fecit ,
saith one. (a) Gaudebat Crispina cum tenebatur, cum audiebatur, cum damnabatur,
cum ducebatur , saith Austin. So did many of the Marian martyrs, as were easy to
instance. Bernard gives the reasons: The cross is oiled, (b) saith he; and, by the
grace of the Spirit helping our infirmities, it is made, not only light, but sweet; and
not only not troublous and terrible, but desirable and delectable. From the
delectable orchard of the Leonine prison: so that Italian martyr Algerius dated his
letter. (c) Another Dutch martyr, feeling the flame to come to his beard, Ah, said he,
what a small pain is this, to be compared to the glory to come! (d) Let us pluck up
our feet, pass from strength to strength, and take long and lusty strides toward
heaven. It is but a little afore us; and a ready heart rids the way apace.
9. COFFMA , "It is interesting that the multiple documents theorists have radically
changed their minds about this chapter, as pointed out by Skinner, now assigning it
differently than formerly, indicating the total lack of any stability in the
THEORIES. Peake commented on this with the conclusion that, "further analysis is
unnecessary!"[1] He nevertheless pointed out what he considered to be the
advantages of the documentary theories, thus:
"If Genesis is a unity, Jacob is sent off to marry at age 77, when Rebekah had put
up with her unwelcome daughters-in-law 37 years. He is actually 84 when he
marries! The documentary analysis saves us from such absurdities."[2]
For the moment, it is conceded that the ages of the persons involved in these events
may appear absurd to some people, but it should be noted that the documentary
theories do absolutely nothing to change that situation. If there ever had been any
documents (which is not supported by any evidence at all); and, even if there had
been an editor or redactor who put it all together just as it appears in Genesis (again
an unproved and unprovable proposition), it is undeniable that such an imaginary
person (whoever he was) gave it to us as we have it. How does that get rid of any
alleged absurdities? Of course, it does nothing of the kind. The Genesis text is all
there is, and the solution of whatever problems may exist must be sought in the true
interpretation of that text.
In the matter of those ages of the participants mentioned above, Morris has this:
In terms of normal aging and life spans today, these figures could be cut almost in
half to correspond to the equivalent situations in our own time.[3] So where is any
problem with the ages? The ancients had no problem with them, and only
unbelievers have any problem with them now. And even if there should be thought
to be a problem, the imaginative, changing, and undependable GUESSES of modern
critics can afford no viable solution.

"Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the children of the east.
And he looked, and, behold, a well in the field, and, lo, three flocks of sheep lying
there by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks: and the stone upon the wells
mouth was great. And thither were all the flocks gathered; and they rolled the stone
from the wells mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the wells
mouth in its place. And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, whence are ye? And
they said, Of Haran are we. And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of
ahor? And they said, We know him. And he said unto them, Is it well with him?
And they said, It is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep."
"Land of the children of the east ..." "This is northern Mesopotamia where Haran is
located."[4]
"The well ..." Willis and other scholars suppose that this could have been the same
well where the servant of Abrahm met Rebekah years earlier.[5] If it was, then some
changes had evidently taken place in it, which, of course, was by no means
impossible. At least, it was in the same vicinity.
"Laban the son of ahor ..." ahor was the father of Bethuel, the father of Laban,
as repeatedly mentioned earlier. Therefore, "son" as used here actually means
grandson.[6] A similar use of "son" was observed in our comments on Genesis 9:24.
It should be noted that the conversation reported here is quite different from the
way a similar conversation would run today. This was due to the fact that the
Hebrews did not have a word that simply meant "yes."
ote that, "The words from the middle of Genesis 29:2 and including Genesis 29:3
are parenthetical, the watering of the flocks not taking place until the arrival of
Rachel, and after Jacob had removed the stone."[7]
That this conversation took place so easily indicates that these diverse branches of
Terah's family spoke Aramaic, the language of Ur of the Chaldees, from which
place Terah and Abraham had migrated.
The situation that appeared here was that of a common watering hole used by a
number of shepherds, the entrance to it being kept by the placement of a heavy
stone. In the evenings, the stone was removed; the flocks were watered in order as
they had arrived; and this had led to some coming early in order to "get in line"
first. It is not necessary to suppose that the "brethren" addressed by Jacob were
grown men, boys having been frequently used for the task of shepherding, as well

as, in rare cases women, as evidenced by Rachel's being called a shepherdess.
Morris agreed to this, saying, "The shepherds tending the flocks were apparently
either women or young lads."[8]
Jacob's personal reaction to what he found at the well must have been one of deep
gratitude to God for having speeded him to the very place where he would soon be
in touch with his mother's brother's family. It is well to keep in mind, throughout
this narrative, that God promised to be "with Jacob," and to bless him, for only this
can ACCOU T for some of the things that he successfully did.
10. PETT, "Jacob Meets Come to His Relatives’ Family Tribe and Marries Laban’s
Two Daughters (Genesis 29:1-30). Jacob’s Sons are Born (Genesis 29:31 to Genesis
30:24)
This covenant narrative reflects the fulfilment of Yahweh’s promise of fruitfulness
to Jacob and is based on the covenant significance of the names given to the sons. It
is not just a story. The names reflect their covenant relationship with God.
But it is noteworthy that, in remarkable contrast to Genesis 24, there is no mention
of God until we come to the birth of the sons. It is as though the writer is telling us
that, although God’s purposes came to fruition through it, God was not directly
involved in the chicanery that took place. When Abraham’s servant sought a wife
for Isaac, he went about it prayerfully and waited for God to show His will through
the acts of another CATERI G to the needs of his beasts. Here we have no prayer
and Jacob pre-empts the situation. The contrast could not be more stark.
Then fourteen years pass very quickly with Jacob’s pursuits not worth a mention,
the only point of importance being his two marriages that lead up to the birth of his
sons. It is not so much concerned with the life of Jacob as with the heirs of the
promise. Yahweh first steps in at Genesis 29:31. So the text is firmly based on
covenant records.
Verse 1
Jacob Meets Come to His Relatives’ Family Tribe and Marries Laban’s Two
Daughters (Genesis 29:1-30). Jacob’s Sons are Born (Genesis 29:31 to Genesis 30:24)
This covenant narrative reflects the fulfilment of Yahweh’s promise of fruitfulness
to Jacob and is based on the covenant significance of the names given to the sons. It
is not just a story. The names reflect their covenant relationship with God.
But it is noteworthy that, in remarkable contrast to Genesis 24, there is no mention

of God until we come to the birth of the sons. It is as though the writer is telling us
that, although God’s purposes came to fruition through it, God was not directly
involved in the chicanery that took place. When Abraham’s servant sought a wife
for Isaac, he went about it prayerfully and waited for God to show His will through
the acts of another CATERI G to the needs of his beasts. Here we have no prayer
and Jacob pre-empts the situation. The contrast could not be more stark.
Then fourteen years pass very quickly with Jacob’s pursuits not worth a mention,
the only point of importance being his two marriages that lead up to the birth of his
sons. It is not so much concerned with the life of Jacob as with the heirs of the
promise. Yahweh first steps in at Genesis 29:31. So the text is firmly based on
covenant records.
Genesis 29:1
‘Then Jacob went on his way and came to the land of the children of the East.’
“The children of the East.” A general term for people who came from lands to the
East of Canaan. In 1 Kings 4:30 the children of the East are, along with Egypt,
looked on as a source of wisdom (compare Matthew 2:1). This suggests reference to
the peoples of the Mediterranean area. JOB could also be called one of ‘the children
of the East’ ( JOB 13).
But the term is also used of peoples connected with the Amalekites and Midianites
(Judges 6:3; Judges 7:12; Judges 8:10), with Moabites and Ammonites (Ezekiel
25:9-10), where they are probably unidentified groups of nomads banded together
in an alliance (verse 4), and with Kedar (Jeremiah 49:28). It is therefore a term used
to designate conglomerate peoples, without being too specific, with reference to their
direction from Canaan. In this passage the reference is to THE GE ERAL area in
which Haran is situated seen as part of the wider area of ‘Easterners’. (Compare the
use of ‘Westerners’ and ‘Orientals’ today). Consider how the magi also came ‘from
the East’ (Matthew 2:1).
11. CO STABLE, "Verses 1-12
"More than any other book in the OT, Genesis emphasizes the east (see Genesis
3:24; Genesis 4:16; Genesis 10:30; Genesis 11:2; Genesis 13:11; Genesis 25:6 [and
Genesis 29:1]) as a direction of some significance." [ ote: Hamilton, The Book . . .
Chapters 18-50, p. 252.]
Jacob had travelled about 450 miles from Beersheba to Haran (Genesis 29:4). otice
the absence of prayer for divine guidance to the woman of God's choosing, which
dominates the story of Abraham's servant's visit to the same area for the same
purpose (ch. 22). Also, Jacob arrived alone on foot whereas Abraham's servant
came with a well-laden camel train.

"True to his character, Jacob proceeds arrogantly, questioning the shepherds'
carefree behavior (Genesis 29:7). For all the criticism one might level at Jacob's
conduct, he was no slacker in his labor ethic (Genesis 31:6; Genesis 31:38-41)."
[ ote: Mathews, Genesis 11:27-50:26, p. 462.]
The well was probably a cistern that had a mouth with a large circumference
(Genesis 29:8). A very large stone that required several men to remove it evidently
covered it. After someone moved the stone, the flocks would gather around the edge
of the well to drink. The well from which Rebekah drew water for Eliezer (Genesis
24:16) may have been a different kind.
The male shepherds may have been unable to roll the stone away because the well
belonged to Laban; their inability may have been moral rather than physical. [ ote:
Bush, 2:116-17.]
Jacob wept for joy (Genesis 29:11), but he did not praise God. He had ended his
journey, was now in the right place, and had met the right person, he thought. This
is one of the few places in Scripture that we read of a man kissing a woman. Jacob
apparently acted solely on the basis of Rachel's physical attractiveness.
"When Abraham's servant had discovered Rebekah's identity, he worshiped the
Lord (Genesis 24:24; Genesis 24:26), but here Jacob flexed his muscle, proving his
capacity to serve Laban's house." [ ote: Mathews, Genesis 11:27-50:26, p. 463.]
"This scene [Genesis 29:1-14] is chiefly about God's providence versus Jacob's
prayerlessness ..." [ ote: Waltke, Genesis, p. 402.]
The suggestion of some interpreters that Laban adopted Jacob as his son is
questionable. [ ote: See John Van Seters, "Jacob's Marriages and Ancient ear
East Customs: A Reexamination," Harvard Theological Review 62:4 (October
1969):377-95.]
12. MEYER, JACOB IN LABAN’S HOME
Gen_29:1-20
Well might Jacob lift up his feet! See margin. When we are sure of God we receive
strength that enables us to run with patience the race that is set before us. The steps of a
good man are ordered by the Lord, and we have a special claim on His guidance in our
matrimonial alliances-the most solemn and momentous step of all. There were many
good qualities in Rachel, fitting her to be a good wife. Her humility and industry, her
patience under the oppression of the unmannerly shepherds, her haste to share her joy
with her father-all these elicited Jacob’s love. What a touch of old-world and new-world
poetry is in those words of Gen_29:20! Where Love is queen time is too short, labor
never hard, distance never long, sacrifice unheard of! Oh, that we so loved our Lord, that

for the missionary toiling through long years, and the invalid condemned to a life of
pain, affliction might appear light and but for a moment.
13. PULPIT 1-14, "I. JACOB'S MEETI G WITH THE SHEPHERDS.
1. The providential discovery. The well in the field with the three flocks of sheep
lying by it enabled Jacob to ascertain his whereabouts, and ultimately led to his
finding Rachel. God guides the steps of his people without interfering with the
ordinary course of nature, simply directing them m the exercise of sense and
intelligence; and doubtless Jacob recognized in his, LIGHTI G on the Haran well a
first installment of that celestial guidance he had been lately promised. Saints should
practice the art of discerning the movement of God's finger in the minutest and
commonest events of life.
2. The friendly conversation. Saluting the shepherds as his brethren, i.e. as masters
of a common craft, Jacob gathers from their frank communications that he was on
the outskirts of Haran, in which his uncle Laban was a prosperous and wealthy
citizen, and that his cousin Rachel was on the road to that very well beside which he
stood with a flock of her father's sheep. Great is the virtue of asking questions,
especially when they are prefaced with politeness. Seldom anything is lost, but
frequently much is gained, by courteous inquiries.
3. The prudent counsel. Observing his friends disposed to indolence, and perhaps
desirous of meeting Rachel alone, Jacob recommends them to uncover the well,
water their flocks, and drive them off again to pasture, since much of the day yet
remained. If it was their advantage he sought, his advice was good; if it was his own
interest he served, the stratagem was ingenious. God's people should be wise as
serpents, but harmless as doves.
II. JACOB'S FIRST SIGHT OF RACHEL.
1. The gallant action. The lovely shepherdess arriving made a deep impression on
her cousin's heart. Springing to his feet, he rolls the stone from the well's mouth,
fills the troughs, and waters Laban's sheep—impelled thereto, shall we say, as much
by consideration for the fair girl who attended them as for the rich flock-master
who possessed them. Kindly acts proceeding from loving hearts are sometimes
largely assisted by the attractions of their recipients.
2. The loving salutation. "And Jacob kissed Rachel." If before explaining who he
was, it must have taken her by surprise even in those unconventional times; but it is
probable he may have first announced his name, in which case his behavior was
only in accordance with the manners of the age. Suitable expressions of, affection to

friends beseem both grace and nature.
3. The irrepressible emote. And Jacob lifted up his voice and wept"—expressive
both of joy at finding his relatives, and of gratitude for God's goodness m grading
him to the house of his mother's brother. Unexpected good and eminent providences
kindle transports of delight in gracious souls.
4. The important communication. "Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's
brother, and that he was Rebekah's son: and she ran and told her father." Friends,
and much more Christians, meeting on life's journey, should with frankness
discover themselves to each other, and give each other hearty welcome.
III. JACOB'S I TRODUCTIO TO LABA .
1. The uncle's reception of his nephew, "Laban ran to meet his sister's son, and
embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house." Kinship and
kindness should ever be allied. Laban's hospitality to Jacob was grounded on the
fact of their relationship. So is Christ's entertainment of his people based upon the
circumstance that they are "members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones."
2. The nephew's return to his uncle. Ingenuous confidence—"Jacob told Laban all
these things"—and faithful service. It is implied in Genesis 29:15 that during the
month Jacob abode with Laban he served in keeping Laban's sheep. God's people
should endeavor as far as in them lies to requite the kindnesses of relatives and
friends.
14. BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "Genesis 29:1-14
Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east
Jacob’s experience on his journey
I. THAT GOD’S PRESENCE WITH HIM MADE HIS DUTIES AND HIS TROUBLES
LIGHT. He who casts his burden upon the Lord ceases to weary himself, and finds that
even labour is rest and pain is sweet.
II. THAT PROVIDENCE WAS STILL HIS GUIDE. All his life through Providence had
guided him, but he knew it not as he ought to know. Now, even in the most ordinary and
likely events of life he learns to trace the hand of Providence. Providence brings to this
spot the very woman who is designed to be the wife of Jacob. Surely he could not fail to
see that even through all the strange trials of his journey, and through the most
untoward events, the will of God was being accomplished.
III. THAT GOD’S GRACIOUS DEALINGS WITH HIM CALLED FOR GRATITUDE.
Jacob was deeply touched by the kindness of God; and while he embraced Rachel, he “
lifted up his voice and wept.” They were tears started by the remembrance of his

faithless misgivings, but they were also tears of joy at the thought that his difficulties
were at an end, and that the great object of his mission had been gained. (T. H. Leale.)
Providential guidance
1. God’s gracious appearances to a soul may encourage it to go any whither where
God would have them.
2. Encouragements from God and engagements to Him will make a man speed in the
way where God calleth.
3. Providence bringeth an obedient soul safely to the place appointed for him.
4. Providence sendeth to every part His servants to raise His Church. The East is not
exempted, Abraham from hence, Job in this place were eminent, and now Jacob is
sent to it (verse 2). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Jacob, the pilgrim
Rich in distant hopes, but cheerless in his immediate prospects, Jacob left the land of
promise. He was a true pilgrim; and his whole life was a wearisome and changeful
pilgrimage. The gold of his capacious and lofty mind was to be purified from its strong
alloy of dishonesty and cunning in the furnace of misery and toil; his moral education
commenced at his departure from the parental house, and after many tribulations only,
resulted in that peace of mind which is at once the surest symptom and the choicest
reward of true virtue. Jacob’s life has always been considered as a type; we see in it,
indeed, the eternal image of man’s protracted contests, both against the foe in his heart
and with his destinies, till at last the internal enemy is either wearied out by his
resistance, or expelled by his energy, or reconciled by his sufferings (see on Gen_34:1-4).
Among the earliest seeds sowed by Jacob were deceit and craft; and flight and exile were
the first fruits of his harvest. While his grandfather’s servants had undertaken the
journey to the town of Nahor with ten camels laden with all the most precious treasures
(Gen_24:10); the offspring of the alliance concluded in consequence of that journey, left
his father’s roof, as a poor wanderer, without an friend or an attendant, and without an
animal to lighten the fatigues of the way. (M. M.Kalisch, Ph. D.)
Lessons
1. Providence maketh God’s servants to see in due time some characters of their
being near their journey’s end, and accomplishment of His promise.
2. Things of usual account by some may be made by Providence of special use to
comfort others. So the welt, &c., here spoken of Jacob (Gen_29:2).
3. To seek community of good in neighbourhood is the very law of nature. Not each
to prevent other.
4. Preservation of public commodities for life and comfort, is that which nature will
teach men. It is unnatural to destroy (verse 3-5). (G. Hughes, B. D.)

Lessons
1. Providence maketh questions means to the satisfaction of His.
2. Sons are best known by the most eminent of their ancestors.
3. Nahor and his descent, with their way and religion, were known in Syria (Gen_
29:5).
4. It is but Nature’s dictate to inquire of the welfare of related friends.
5. Providence orders peace to others, that with them His servants may have peace.
6. Providence orders meeting of friends and comforts which man cannot project, and
doth little think of, Here Jacob meets Rachel (Gen_29:6). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Rachel his daughter cometh
Lessons -
1. Providential meetings may justly occasion providential advice from strangers to
others.
2. Time and business should be rationally managed to the improvement of both
(Gen_29:7).
3. Ingenuity taketh not amiss occasional advice from strangers.
4. Ingenuous men, if they follow not counsel, will give their reason.
5. Impotency to duty justly may excuse it.
6. Iniquity must not be done to others for private advantage (Gen_29:8). (G.
Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. God’s good hand sendeth the mercy sometimes to His servants while they inquire
about it.
2. The eminent in His church God hath called from the lowest condition in the
world.
3. It is not unbeseeming the greatest ladies to be found in honest labour. It was not
to Rachel. It suits the mother of the Church to be a shepherdess (Gen_29:9). (G.
Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. Discoveries of such as are near in the flesh is enough in nature to move for doing
them good.
2. Readiness and pains to show kindness unto friends in the flesh becometh both
grace and nature (Gen_29:10). (G. Hughes, B. D.)

Lessons
1. Self-discovery is proper, when God sends friends to meet at unawares.
2. Ingenuity gladly receiveth the manifestation of near friends in the flesh. (G.
Hughes, B. D.)
The meeting of Jacob with Rachel and Laban -
I. THE STRANGER AT THE WELL Jacob.
1. The journey ended. Canaan, Bethel, and his father’s house behind him. Mountains,
deserts, rivers, and rocky wildernesses between. God had kept Gen_28:20), so far,
from wild beasts and robbers, and all “ perils of the wilderness.”
2. He arrives on the confines of civilized life once more; yet knows not how near the
end of his journey he is. Finds flocks, and pasturage, and the dwellings of men.
3. Rests by the well side. Knows that it will soon be the meeting-place of men, from
the flocks that are gathering round the spot.
4. The shepherds arrive. He converses with them. Finds they are of Haran, the place
he is journeying to. Inquires concerning his kindred. Discovers that they are well,
and that Rachel, the daughter of Laban, is on the way to water the flock.
II. THE SHEPHERDESS. Rachel.
1. Primitive habits, and pastoral life in the East. The daughters of large land owners,
and men of substance, tending sheep.
2. Rachel approaches the well. Finds a stranger sitting near. Knows him not. He has
been told who she is.
3. Though weary with his journey, Jacob rises, and rolls the stone away, and waters
Rachel’s flock for her. Rachel doubtless wondering at this unexpected kindness.
4. Jacob, having watered the flock, salutes the shepherdess after the common
fashion of the country. A courteous and customary greeting.
5. Jacob weeps tears of joy that he has found the kindred of whom he is in search;
and of thankfulness that God has so far guided and blessed him. Rachel wondering.
6. Jacob tells his story. Mentions the name of that Rebekah of whom she had heard,
and who years before had gone across the great desert to her distant home.
III. THE WELCOME HOME. The home of Laban.
1. Rachel, full of joyful surprise, hastens forward, and tells the story of the strange
traveller to her father.
2. Laban, also surprised, quickly goes to the well to meet him. Salutes him, as Jacob
had saluted Rachel, and brings him home. Eastern hospitality.
3. Jacob repeats his story to Laban. Doubtless, while silent about many things,
related that the birthright and the blessing were his; and described the vision he had
by the way.
4. Laban cordially—because of his relationship especially—invites Jacob to abide

with him. Learn:
I. That a good man’s steps are ordered of the Lord, and He delighteth in his way.
II. If we commit our way unto the Lord, He will bring it to pass.
III. As Jacob watered Rachel’s flock, so should we be self-denying and helpful.
IV. Aim, like Rachel, at living a useful life. It was when she was employed in her works
of duty that she met with Jacob.
V. Like Jacob, acknowledge God as the giver of all good, and the guide of our life. (Jr. C.
Gray.)
We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together
Watering the sheep
A scene in Mesopotamia, beautifully pastoral. A well of water of great value in that
region. The fields around about it white with three flocks of sheep lying down waiting for
the watering. I hear their bleating coming on the bright air, and the laughter of young
men and maidens indulging in rustic repartee. I look off, and I see other flocks of sheep
coming, Meanwhile, Jacob, a stranger, on the interesting errand of looking for a wife,
comes to the well. A beautiful shepherdess comes to the same well. I see her
approaching, followed by her father’s flock of sheep. Jacob accosts the shepherds and
asks them why they postpone the slaking of the thirst of these sheep, and why they did
not immediately proceed to water them? The shepherds reply to the effect: “We are all
good neighbours, and as a matter of courtesy we wait until all the sheep of the
neighbourhood come up. Besides that, this stone on the well’s mouth is somewhat
heavy, and several of us take hold of it and push it aside, and then the buckets and the
troughs are filled, and the sheep are satisfied. We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered
together, and till they roll the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.”
Now a great flock of sheep to-day gather around this Gospel well. There are a great many
thirsty souls. I wonder why the flocks of all nations do not gather—why so many stay
thirsty; and while I am wondering about if, my text breaks forth in the explanation,
saying: “ We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and till they roll the stone
from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.” This well of the Gospel is deep enough
to put out the burning thirst of the twelve hundred million of the race. Do not let the
Church by a spirit of exclusiveness keep the world out. Let down all the bars, swing open
all the gates, scatter all the invitations: “Whosoever will let him come.”
I. You notice that this well of Mesopotamia had a stone on it, which must be removed
before the sheep could be watered; and I find on the well of salvation to-day
IMPEDIMENTS AND OBSTACLES, which must be removed in order that you may
obtain the refreshment and life of this Gospel.
1. In your case the impediment is pride of heart. You cannot bear to come to so
democratic a fountain; you do not want to come with so many others. You will have
to remove the obstacle of pride, or never find your way to the well. You will have to
come as we came, willing to take the water of eternal life in any way, and at any hand,
and in any kind of picture, crying out: “O Lord Jesus, I am dying of thirst. Give me
the water of eternal life, whether in trough or goblet; give me the water of life; I care
not in what it comes to me.” Away with all your hindrances of pride from the well’s
mouth.

2. Here is another man who is kept back from this water of life by the stone of an
obdurate heart, which lies over the mouth of the well. You have no more feeling upon
this subject than if God had vet to do you the first kindness, or you had to do God the
first wrong. Seated on His lap all these years, His everlasting arms sheltering you,
where is your gratitude? Where is your morning and evening prayer? Where are your
consecrated lives? O man, what dost thou with that hard heart? Canst thou not feel
one throb of gratitude towards the God who made you, and the Christ who came to
redeem you, and the Holy Ghost who has all these years been importuning you?
II. Jacob with a good deal of tug and push took the stone from the well’s mouth, so that
the flocks might be watered. And I would that this morning my word, blessed of God,
might remove the hindrances to your getting up to the Gospel well. Yea, I take it for
granted that the work is done, and now like Oriental shepherds, I PROCEED TO WATER
THE SHEEP.
1. Come, all ye thirsty! You have an undefined longing in your souls. You tried
money-making; that did not satisfy you. You tried office under government; that did
not satisfy you. You tried pictures and sculptures, but works of art did not satisfy
you. You are as much discontented with this life as the celebrated French author who
felt that he could not any longer endure the misfortunes of the world, and who said:
“At four o’clock this afternoon I shall put an end to my own existence. Meanwhile, I
must toil on up to that time for the sustenance of my family.” And he wrote on his
book until the clock struck four, when he folded up his manuscript and, by his own
hand, concluded his earthly life. There are men in this house who are perfectly
discontented. Unhappy in the past, unhappy to-day, to be unhappy for ever, unless
you come to this Gospel-well. This satisfies the soul with a high, deep, all-absorbing,
and eternal satisfaction.
2. Come, also, to this Gospel-well, all ye troubled. I do not suppose you have
escaped. Compare your view of this life at fifteen years of age with what your view of
it is at forty, sixty, or seventy. What a great contrast of opinion! Were you right, then,
or are you right now? Two cups placed in your hands, the one a sweet cup, the other
a sour cup. A cup of joy and a cup of grief. Which has been the nearest to being full,
and out of which have you the more frequently partaken? Oh, you have had trouble,
trouble, trouble. God only knows how much you have had. It is a wonder you have
been able to live through it. It is a wonder your nervous system has not been
shattered, and your brain has not reeled. Trouble, trouble, If I could gather all the
griefs, of all sorts, from this great audience, and could put them in one scroll, neither
man nor angel could endure the recitation. Well what do you want? Would you like
to have your property back again? “No,” you say, as a Christian man: “I was
becoming arrogant, and I think that is why the Lord took it away. I don’t want to
have my property back.” Well, would you have your departed friends back again?
“No,” you say: “I couldn’t take the responsibility of bringing them from a tearless
realm to one of tears. I couldn’t do it.” Well, then, what do you want? A thousand
voices in the audience cry out: “Comfort, give us comfort.” For that reason I have
rolled away the stone from the well’s mouth. Come, all ye wounded of the flock,
pursued of the wolves, come to the fountain where the Lord’s sick and bereft ones
have come. I gather all the promises to-day in a group, and I ask the shepherds to
drive their flocks of lambs and sheep up to the sparkling supply. “Behold, happy is
the man whom God correcteth.”, “Though He cause grief, yet will He have
compassion.” “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him
out of them all.” “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”
Oh, what a great flock of sheep God will gather around the celestial well. No stone on

the well’s mouth, while the Shepherd waters the sheep. (Dr. Talmage.)
2
There he saw a well in the field, with three flocks of
sheep lying near it because the flocks were watered
from that well. The stone over the mouth of the well
was large.
1. Clarke, “Three flocks of sheep - ‫צאן‬ tson, small cattle, such as sheep, goats, etc.;
See note on Gen_12:16. Sheep, in a healthy state, seldom drink in cold and
comparatively cold countries: but it was probably different in hot climates. The three
flocks, if flocks and not shepherds be meant, which were lying now at the well, did not
belong to Laban, but to three other chiefs; for Laban’s flock was yet to come, under the
care of Rachel, Gen_29:6.
2. Gill, “And he looked, and behold a well in the field,.... Near Haran; he might
purposely look out for a well, as knowing that there people frequently came for water for
their families, or shepherds to water their flocks, of whom he might get intelligence
concerning Laban's family, and where they dwelt; or he might lookout for this particular
well, where his grandfather's servant had met with his mother Rebekah, of which he had
been informed, and very probably had some directions how to find it: of this well; see
Gill on Gen_24:11; to which may be added what another traveller says (z), there is in this
city (Orpha, the same with Haran) a fountain, which both Jews, Armenians, and Turks,
reported unto us was Jacob's well, and that here he served his uncle Laban: near
Alexandretta is a fine well, called Jacob's well, and its water is excellent; not far from
which the Greeks say are the remains of Laban's house (a):
and, lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; in order to be watered, when
it should be opened:
for out of that well they watered the flocks; the shepherds:
and a great stone was upon the well's mouth; so that until that was rolled off,
they could not be watered, which was the reason of their lying by it: this stone was laid
upon it, partly to keep the water from flowing out, and being wasted, that there might be
a sufficiency for the flocks; and partly to keep the water pure and clean, that it might be
wholesome for the flocks, as well as entire for the use of those that had a property in it.

3. Henry, “Those that have flocks must look well to them, and be diligent to know their
state, Pro_27:23. What is here said of the constant care of the shepherds concerning
their sheep (Gen_29:2, Gen_29:3, Gen_29:7, Gen_29:8) may serve to illustrate the
tender concern which our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, has for his flock,
the church; for he is the good Shepherd, that knows his sheep, and is known of them,
Joh_10:14. The stone at the well's mouth, which is so often mentioned here, was either
to secure their property in it (for water was scarce, it was not there usus communis
aquarum - for every one's use), or it was to save the well from receiving damage from
the heat of the sun, or from any spiteful hand, or to prevent the lambs of the flock from
being drowned in it. (3.) Separate interests should not take us from joint and mutual
help; when all the shepherds came together with their flocks, then, like loving
neighbours, at watering-time, they watered their flocks together.
4. Jamison, “And he looked, etc. — As he approached the place of his destination,
he, according to custom, repaired to the well adjoining the town where he would obtain
an easy introduction to his relatives.
5. HAWKER, “A well of water was considered a great treasure in those hot eastern
countries. Hence Jesus is often spoken of under that similitude. Isa_32:2; Joh_4:14;
Joh_7:37.
6. TRAPP, “Genesis 29:2 And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, lo,
there [were] three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the
flocks: and a great stone [was] upon the well’s mouth.
Ver. 2. Three flocks of sheep lying by it.] Semblably Christ, the chief Shepherd,
"feeds" and "leads his flock to the lively fountains of waters"; [Revelation 7:16-17
Psalms 23:2] commanding his under shepherds, the ministers, to roll away the stone,
by opening the promises, that his sheep may drink "water with joy out of those wells
of salvation". [Isaiah 12:3]
7. ELLICOTT, "A great stone was upon the well’s mouth.—The region round
Haran, though fertile, is very dry, and the chief use of the stone was to prevent the
well from being choked with sand. As the proper translation is the stone upon the
well’s mouth was great, it would also serve to prevent the well from being used,
except at fixed times; for it probably required the strength of two or three men
(comp. Robinson, Bibl. Res. ii. 180) to remove it; nor does the language of Genesis
29:10 necessarily imply that Jacob rolled it away without the aid of others. Besides
this, the stone may have marked that the well was private property: for, as we have
seen in the ACCOU T of the covenants of Abraham and Isaac with Abimelech, no
possession was morevalued than that of wells. And as we find the shepherds all
waiting for Rachel, and that immediately on her arrival the stone is rolled away, and
her sheep watered first, while the rest, though they had been there long before her,
yet have to bide their time till her wants are supplied, it is probable that Laban had
at least a first claim upon its enjoyment. o such courtesy was shown to the
daughters of Jethro (Exodus 2:17).

PULPIT, "And he looked (either to discover where he was, or in search of water),
and behold a well in the field,—not the well at which Eliezer's caravan halted,
which was a well for the village maidens, situated in front of the town, and
approached by steps (vide Genesis 14:1-24.), but a well in the open field for the use
of flocks, and covered at the time of Jacob's arrival with a huge stone—and, lo,
there were three flocks of sheep lying by it. A frequent Oriental scene (cf. Genesis
14:11; Exodus 2:16). "Who that has traveled much in this country has not often
arrived at a well in the heat of the day which was surrounded with numerous flocks
of sheep waiting to be watered? I once saw such a scene in the burning plains of
orthern Syria. Half-naked, fierce-looking men were drawing up water in leather
buckets; flock after flock was brought up, watered, and sent away; and after all the
men had ended their work, then several women and girls brought up their flocks,
and drew water for them. Thus it was with Jethro's daughters; and thus, no doubt,
it would have been with Rachel if Jacob had not rolled away the stone and watered
her sheep". For out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was upon
the well's mouth. "Most of the cisterns are covered with a large thick, flat stone, in
the center of which a hole is cut, which forms the mouth of the cistern. This hole, in
many instances, we found covered with a heavy stone, to the removal of which two
or three men were requisite".
3
When all the flocks were gathered there, the
shepherds would roll the stone away from the well's
mouth and water the sheep. Then they would return
the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.
1. Clarke, “All the flocks - Instead of ‫העדרים‬ hadarim, flocks, the Samaritan reads
haroim, shepherds; for which reading Houbigant strongly contends, as well in this verse
as in Gen_29:8. It certainly cannot be said that all the flocks rolled the stone from the
well’s mouth, and watered the sheep: and yet so it appears to read if we prefer the
common Hebrew text to the Samaritan. It is probable that the same reading was
originally that of the second verse also.
And put the stone again upon the well’s mouth - It is very likely that the stone
was a large one, which was necessary to prevent ill-minded individuals from either
disturbing the water, or filling up the well; hence a great stone was provided, which
required the joint exertions of several shepherds to remove it; and hence those who
arrived first waited till all the others were come up, that they might water their
respective flocks in concert.

2. Gill, “And thither were all the flocks gathered,.... The three above mentioned,
Gen_29:2,
and they rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the sheep; that
is, when they watered the sheep, they used to roll away the stone from the mouth of the
well in order to do it; for as yet the flocks, now lying by it, had not been watered, as
appears from Gen_29:7,
and put a stone upon the well's mouth in this place; this they were wont to do
every time they watered the flocks.
3. Jamison, “thither were all the flocks gathered; and a stone, etc. — In
Arabia, owing to the shifting sands and in other places, owing to the strong evaporation,
the mouth of a well is generally covered, especially when it is private property. Over
many is laid a broad, thick, flat stone, with a round hole cut in the middle, forming the
mouth of the cistern. This hole is covered with a heavy stone which it would require two
or three men to roll away. Such was the description of the well at Haran.
4. TRAPP, “Ver. 3. And they put the stone again upon the well’s mouth.] To keep
the waters clean and filth free. The Turks had procured some traitor in Scodra,
where Scanderbeg ruled, to poison the town well. (a) The Pope hath endeavoured
the like, by pouring out his deadly poison "upon the rivers and fountains of water"
(the Scriptures) "that they might become blood". [Revelation 16:4] Witness that
heathenish decree of the Council of Trent; equalising, if not preferring, the
Apocrypha to the canonical Scripture; the vulgar translation to the original;
traditions to Holy Writ; and affirming that the Holy Ghost himseff is not to be
heard, though he bring never so plain Scripture for himself; nisi accedat meretricis
purpuratae effrons interpretatio , saith a learned doctor, unless the Pope may
interpret it. (b) Horrible blasphemy! Had not God’s servants need to see to the
cleansing of this well, and the keeping IT FREE from the tramplings and
defilements of this foul beast? The Council of Constance comes in with a on-
obstante against Christ’s institution, withholding the cup from the sacrament. (c)
Before that the gospel was corrected, amended, and expounded, say the Canonists,
there were many things permitted (as priests’ marriage); which now, since the time
is come that all things are made perfect, are clearly abolished and taken away.
When the Hussites denied to admit any doctrine that could not be proved by the
Holy Scriptures, the Council of Basil answered them, by Cardinal Cusanus, that the
Scriptures were not of the essence of the Church, but of the well being of it only;
that the Word of God was so much the better taught the people, by how much it had
less of the Scriptures in it; that the Scripture was to be interpreted according to the
current rite of the Church; (d) qua mutante sententiam, mutetur et Dei iudicium .
Can any hear this, and his ears not tingle? This was then the Pope’s express: for in
Popish councils, the bishops and others have no more to do, but simply, inclinato

capite , to say Placet to that which in the Pope’s name is propounded to them: as
nothing was resolved by the Trent fathers, but all in Rome: whence grew that
blasphemous proverb, which I abhor to relate. (e) This council was that sea, upon
which the second angel poured out his vial, [Revelation 16:3] and it became as the
blood of a dead man; and every living soul died in that sea. Cavete .
5. COKE, "Genesis 29:3. Thither were all the flocks gathered— Houbigant, instead
of ‫כלאּהעדרים‬ (cal-hangadarim) all the flocks, would read after the Samaritan version
‫כלאּהרעים‬ (cal-haroim) all the shepherds, both here and in the eighth verse. And it
must be allowed that the alteration seems very just. It is said, Genesis 29:2 that there
were THREE flocks, with which all the flocks, in this verse, do not seem to agree;
not to say that they rolled refers to the flocks, according to the common reading.
Houbigant confirms the reading of the Samaritan version by other reasons; and,
after him, we may properly translate, and thither were all the shepherds gathered,
i.e.. to this well, with their flocks, at noon; and as there was a great stone laid over
the well's mouth to preserve the water pure and clean, they waited for each other by
joint consent, and then removed the stone. This whole event, as well as that recorded
in ch. 24: affords us a fine picture of the primitive ages, and of that pastoral life
which the sons and daughters of the greatest personages did not disdain. See Song of
Solomon 1:6-7.
Kennicott espouses the reading above given by Houbigant. He observes further, that
though the Samaritan text, and the Greek and Arabic versions, read shepherds,
instead of flocks, in the eighth verse; and though the Samaritan and Arabic copies
read also shepherds in verse the third, yet this passage is not clear of all its
difficulties. The third verse, as translated with the correction before mentioned, tells
us, that (when Jacob first came into the field and saw the well) all the shepherds
were there gathered together, and watered the sheep, and replaced the stone upon
the well's mouth. But the eighth verse tells us, that the shepherds were not yet
assembled together; and therefore those who were present could not uncover the
well, and water their own flocks separately.
The true method of reconciling these two verses is as follows:—The third verse
speaks only of the custom of the shepherds assembling at that well and watering
their flocks all together; a sense this which the words most naturally admit; for all
the words in the third verse, though preter, have a future signification, on account
of the conversive particle prefixed to every one of them; and therefore, as futures,
cannot express a past assembly or action. But, being frequentative, and implying the
continuance and custom of doing a thing, (the known signification of Hebrew future
tenses,) they remarkably express this sense: And there (at this well) all the
shepherds usually met together, and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and
watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well's mouth. Consequently,

when Jacob would have the shepherds then present to water their sheep, they might
well answer, We cannot, until all the shepherds be gathered together, and roll the
stone from the well's mouth; then we water the sheep.
But then, if these shepherds, who were before supposed to be assembled at the third
verse, were not assembled, and if that verse be expressive only of the custom of their
assembling, shall we not be thought to destroy the whole advantage of the
Samaritan reading? For, it will be said, if the third verse does not express shepherds
so assembled, no preceding verse expresses the presence of any shepherds. This
difficulty, however formidable at first sight, may be satisfactorily removed. We have
seen that the word is ‫הרעים‬ shepherds, in the third and eighth verses; now, let the
second verse be read in the same manner, and the beauty and propriety of the
passage is complete.
1. Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east.
2. And he looked, and behold, a well in the field; and lo, three shepherds were lying
by it; for out of that well they watered their flocks: and a great stone was upon the
well's mouth.
3. (And there all the shepherds usually met together, and rolled the stone from the
well's mouth, and watered the sheep; and put the stone again, upon the well's
mouth, in its place.)
4. And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, whence are ye? And they said, We are of
Haran, &c.
7. And he said, Lo, it is yet high day; neither is it time that the cattle should be
gathered together: water ye the sheep, and go feed them.
8. And they said, We cannot, until all the shepherds shall be gathered together, and
roll the stone from the well's mouth; then we water the sheep.

4
Jacob asked the shepherds, "My brothers, where are
you from?" "We're from Haran," they replied.
1. Clarke, “My brethren, whence be ye? - The language of Laban and his family
was Chaldee and not Hebrew; (see Gen_31:47); but from the names which Leah gave to
her children we see that the two languages had many words in common, and therefore
Jacob and the shepherds might understand each other with little difficulty. It is possible
also that Jacob might have learned the Chaldee or Aramitish language from his mother,
as this was his mother’s tongue.
2. Gill, “And Jacob said unto them,.... To the shepherds, though not expressly
mentioned; it cannot be imagined he spoke to the flocks, but to the keepers of them:
my brethren, whence be ye? a kind and affable way of speaking, used even to
strangers, since all men are brethren by nature; or might be used by Jacob, because they
were of the same occupation with himself, shepherds, asking them of what city they
were, and from whence they came? and which being answered, would lead on to a
conversation, which was what he wanted:
and they said, of Haran are we; the very place he was bound for, and was sent unto,
Gen_27:43.
3. Henry, “It becomes us to speak civilly and respectfully to strangers. Though Jacob
was no courtier, but a plain man, dwelling in tents, and a stranger to compliment, yet he
addresses himself very obligingly to the people he met with, and calls them his brethren,
Gen_29:4. The law of kindness in the tongue has a commanding power, Pro_31:26.
Some think he calls them brethren because they were of the same trade, shepherds like
him. Though he was now upon his preferment, he was not ashamed of his occupation.
(5.) Those that show respect have usually respect shown to them. As Jacob was civil to
these strangers, so he found them civil to him. When he undertook to teach them how to
despatch their business (Gen_29:7), they did not bid him meddle with his own concerns
and let them alone; but, though he was a stranger, they gave him the reason of their
delay, Gen_29:8. Those that are neighbourly and friendly shall have neighbourly and
friendly usage.
4. Jamison, “Jacob said, My brethren — Finding from the shepherds who were
reposing there with flocks and who all belonged to Haran, that his relatives in Haran
were well and that one of the family was shortly expected, he enquired why they were
idling the best part of the day there instead of watering their flocks and sending them
back to pasture.

5. Calvin, “4.My brethren, whence be ye? The great frankness of that age appears in
this manner of meeting together; for, though the fraternal name is often abused by
dishonest and wicked men, it is yet not to be doubted that friendly intercourse was
then more faithfully cultivated than it is now. This was the reason why Jacob salutes
unknown men as brethren, undoubtedly according to received custom. Frugality
also is apparent, in that Rachel sometimes pays attention to the flock; for, since
Laban abounds with servants, how does it happen that he employs his own daughter
in a vile and sordid service, except that it was deemed disgraceful to educate
children in idleness, softness, and indulgence? Whereas, on the contrary, at this day,
since ambition, pride, and refinement, have rendered manners effeminate, the care
of domestic concerns is held in such contempt, that women, for the most part, are
ashamed of their proper office. It followed, from the same purity of manners which
has been mentioned, that Jacob ventured so unceremoniously to kiss his cousin; for
much greater liberty was allowed in their chaste and modest mode of living. (63) In
our times, impurity and ungovernable lusts are the cause why not only kisses are
suspected, but even looks are dreaded; and not unjustly, since the world is filled
with every kind of corruption, and such perfidy prevails, that the intercourse
between men and women is seldom conducted with modesty: (64) wherefore, that
ancient simplicity ought to cause us deeply to mourn; so that this vile corruption
into which the world has fallen may be distasteful to us, and that the contagion of it
may not affect us and our families. The order of events, however, is inverted in the
narration of Moses; for Jacob did not kiss Rachel till he had informed her that he
was her relative. Hence also his weeping; for, partly through joy, partly through the
memory of his father’s house, and through natural affection, he burst into tears.
6. TRAPP, "Ver. 4. And Jacob said.] These petty passages are recorded, when the
acts of mighty monarchs are unmentioned; to show God’s dear respect to his poor
servants. The lion and eagle were not offered in sacrifice as the lamb and dove were.
Mr Fox being asked, whether he knew such an honest poor man, answered, I
remember him well: I tell you, I forget lords and ladies, to remember such. So doth
God.
5
He said to them, "Do you know Laban, ahor's
grandson?" "Yes, we know him," they answered1.
Clarke, “Laban the son of Nahor - Son is here put for grandson, for Laban was
the son of Bethuel the son of Nahor.

2. Gill, “And he said unto them, know ye Laban the son of Nahor?.... He was
the son of Bethuel, and grandson of Nahor; grandsons being called the sons of their
grandfather; and Nahor might be more known than Bethuel, Haran being Nahor's city,
Gen_24:10; and not Bethuel his mother's father, but Laban her brother is inquired after;
perhaps Bethuel was dead, and Laban was the head of the family, and well known, and it
was to him he was sent:
and they said, we know him; perfectly well; he lives in our city, and is our
neighbour.
3. K&D, "Genesis 29:5-14
Jacob asked the shepherds where they lived; from which it is probable that the well
was not situated, like that in Gen_24:11, in the immediate neighbourhood of the town of
Haran; and when they said they were from Haran, he inquired after Laban, the son, i.e.,
the descendant, of Nahor, and how he was (‫ּו‬‫ל‬ ‫ּום‬‫ל‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ ֲ‫:ה‬ is he well?; and received the reply,
“Well; and behold Rachel, his daughter, is just coming (‫ה‬ፎ ָ particip.) with the flock.”
When Jacob thereupon told the shepherds to water the flocks and feed them again, for
the day was still “great,” - i.e., it wanted a long while to the evening, and was not yet time
to drive them in (to the folds to rest for the night) - he certainly only wanted to get the
shepherds away from the well, that he might meet with his cousin alone. But as Rachel
came up in the meantime, he was so carried away by the feelings of relationship, possibly
by a certain love at first sight, that he rolled the stone away from the well, watered her
flock, and after kissing her, introduced himself with tears of joyous emotion as her
cousin ( ָ‫יה‬ ִ‫ב‬ፎ ‫י‬ ִ‫ח‬ ֲ‫,א‬ brother, i.e., relation of her father) and Rebekah's son. What the other
shepherds thought of all this, is passed over as indifferent to the purpose of the
narrative, and the friendly reception of Jacob by Laban is related immediately
afterwards. When Jacob had told Laban “all these things,” - i.e., hardly “the cause of his
journey, and the things which had happened to him in relation to the birthright”
(Rosenmüller), but simply the things mentioned in Gen_29:2-12 - Laban acknowledged
him as his relative: “Yes, thou art my bone and my flesh” (cf. Gen_2:23 and Jdg_9:2);
and thereby eo ipso ensured him an abode in his house.
6
Then Jacob asked them, "Is he well?" "Yes, he is,"
they said, "and here comes his daughter Rachel with
the sheep."

1. Clarke, “Is he well? - ‫לו‬ ‫השלום‬ hashalom lo? Is there peace to him? Peace among
the Hebrews signified all kinds of prosperity. Is he a prosperous man in his family and in
his property? And they said, He is well, ‫שלום‬ shalom, he prospers.
Rachel - cometh with the sheep - ‫רחל‬ rachel (the ch sounded strongly guttural)
signifies a sheep or ewe; and she probably had her name from her fondness for these
animals.
2. Gill, “And he said unto them, is he well?.... In good health, he and his family, or
"is peace unto him" (b); does he enjoy prosperity and happiness? for this word was used
in the eastern nations, and still is, for all kind of felicity:
and they said, he is well; or has peace; he and his family are in good health, enjoying
all the comforts and blessings of life:
and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep; at that very instant
she was coming out of the city with her father's flock of sheep, to water them at the well;
an instance of great humility, diligence, and simplicity; this was very providential to
Jacob.
3. TRAPP, “Ver. 6. And, behold, Rachel his daughter.] ote, that our least and
ordinary actions are ordered and directed by God; as athanael’s being under the
fig tree, [John 1:48] &c. Birds flying seem to fly at liberty, yet are guided by an
overruling hand of Heaven: so are our thoughts, affections, actions. Sic curat Deus
universos, quasi singulos; sic singulos, quasi solos , saith Augustine, Rachel, by a
divine providence, meets Jacob at the well: so doth the Church (that shepherdess,
Song of Solomon 1:7-8) meet Christ in his ordinances. [Psalms 23:2-3]
4. COKE, "Genesis 29:6. Is he well?— In the margin of our Bibles it is, Is there
peace to him? which is agreeable to the Hebrew. Peace, with them, was a word
comprehensive of all happiness; hence used in salutation, See Luke 10:5; Luke
24:36. John 20:19. Pax (peace) is sometimes used in the same sense by the Latins;*
and very frequently ειρηνη, (peace) in the ew Testament.† Rachel, in the Hebrew,
signifies a sheep. It was common with the ancients, who held all rural employments
in great honour, to take their names from the animals they tended: thus at Rome
there were the families of the Porcii, Ovilii, Caprilii, Equitii, Tauri, &c. Rachel can
scarce be supposed to have been alone in her attendance upon the flocks; some of
her father's servants, no doubt, accompanied her.
*——"Tu munera supplex Trende, petens pacem." VIRG. Georg. IV. v. 534. "Thou
suppliant offer gifts, and sue for peace." WARTO . † Grace and peace is the usual
apostolical blessing.

7
"Look," he said, "the sun is still high; it is not time
for the flocks to be gathered. Water the sheep and
take them back to pasture."
1. Clarke, “It is yet high day - The day is but about half run; neither is it time that
the cattle should be gathered together - it is surely not time yet to put them into the
folds; give them therefore water, and take them again to pasture.
2. Gill, “And he said, lo, it is yet high day,.... Noonday, when the sun is highest; at
which time in those hot countries flocks used to be made to lie down in shady places,
and by still waters, to which the allusion is in Psa_23:2; or however the sun was still up
very high, and there was a great deal of the day yet to come; for so the phrase is, "yet the
day is great" or "much" (c), a long time still untonight:
neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together; off of the
pastures, to be had home, and put into folds, which was usually done in the evening:
water ye the sheep, and go and feed them; give them water out of the well to
drink, and then lead them out the pastures, and let them feed until the night is coming
on: this he said not in an authoritative way, or in a surly ill natured manner, and as
reproving them for their slothfulness; but kindly and gently giving his advice, who was a
shepherd himself, and knew what was proper to be done; and this appears by the
shepherds taking in good part what he said, and returning a civil answer.
3. HAWKER, “How sweetly is the Lord Jesus represented under the similitude of a
shepherd! Joh_10:1-18. And how delightfully is the church represented as his flock.
Son_1:7. Rachael’s name signifies a sheep.
4. TRAPP, “Ver. 7. either is it time, &c.] Time is a precious commodity, and must
be thriftily husbanded. The common complaint is, We want time: but the truth is,
we do not so much want, as waste it, as the heathen observed: (a) which they that
do, are wastefullest prodigals: for, of all other possessions, two may be had together;
but two moments of time cannot be possessed together. This made the philosopher
so parsimonious of time: ullus mihi per otium exit dies - I cannot afford to cast
away a day; pattem noctium studiis vindico - part of the night I take for my studies.
So did Charles the Great; and after him, Charles the Fifth, who, when at any time in

the field against the enemy, spent what hours he could spare in the study of the
mathematics. He had, for that purpose, as his instructor, Turrianus of Cremona
ever with him. As if he had been of Cato’s mind, (b) that great men must be able to
give good account, non minus otii, quam negotii ; no less of their leisure, than of
their labour. His constant custom was, saith Cicero, (c) to call to mind, at evening,
what thing soever he had seen, read, or done, that day. King Alfred, that reigned
here (Anno Dom. 872), is said to have cast the natural day into three parts: eight
hours he spent in praying, study, and writing; eight in the service of his body; eight
in the affairs of state. Which spaces (having then no other engine for it) he measured
by a great wax LIGHT, divided into so many parts; receiving notice by the keeper
thereof, as the various hours passed in the burning.
5. COFFMA , "It is absolutely untenable to suppose that the shepherds thus
admonished by Jacob could have been grown men. The language here would never
have been addressed to grown men, being clearly beyond what any stranger would
have uttered. Their being juveniles prompted Jacob to rebuke them, in essence, for
not getting on with feeding the flock, especially since it was about high noon, or at
least a long while still until nightfall. Also, the admitted inability of these boys to
remove the stone indicates the same thing.
"Jacob rolled away the stone ..." It is preposterous the way some interpreters refer
to this as a "superhuman" task, inspired by "love at first sight," etc. othing here
even suggests that this feat was anything that was very difficult for Jacob. Of
course, some critics would like to make this event some kind of a "miraculous
event" imagined in the folklore of the Hebrews.
Certainly, there is no problem here that is not solved completely by the fact that
Jacob was indeed a very strong man. But there have been strong men in all ages and
all countries. In ew England, there is the story of Ethan Allen Crawford, seven-
foot giant son of old Abel Crawford, for whom Crawford otch, ew Hampshire, is
named, his family having received the otch as a GRA T from the state because he
fulfilled the conditions for its acquisitions by being the first one to ride a horse to the
area. This he did by hoisting a horse over a 12-foot ledge, saddle and all! He also
carried a 400-pound kettle over a mile, crossing the Ammonoosuc River on a log. He
also carried a 300-pound bear two miles to place it in his private zoo! He carried an
injured woman down Mount Washington, and rode a horse up that peak when he
was 75 years old! (He was a veteran of The War of 1812).
Besides, the text makes nothing special about this act. Peake's allegation that,
"Jacob, single-handed, removes the immense stone,"[9] is nothing but an "addition
to the word of God." othing in the Bible forbids the conclusion, that, if Jacob
needed help, he would have procured it from the lads he had just addressed. We
agree with Adam Clarke that, "It is not likely that he did it by himself."[10] o
matter which way one understands the text here, there is absolutely no problem

with it. It is a characteristic of language in all ages and countries that men are said
to DO whatever they initiate and take the lead in accomplishing.
"Kissed Rachel ... lifted up his voice and wept ..." These were tears of joy, for the
realization that at last Jacob had reached his destination and that God had blessed
him all the way. Rachel, of course, made haste to tell her father of the arrival of this
kinsman. Jacob seems to have been left in charge of the sheep.
"Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's brother ..." Here again we have an
example of the Hebrew usage of the word "brother" in the extended sense of
relative. The ew English Bible renders "friend" here, and "kinsman" in Genesis
29:12 and Genesis 29:15.[11] The words "son," "brother," and SEED" in Genesis
are all used with multiple denotations.
6. COKE, "Genesis 29:7. It is yet high day, &c.— Jacob inquires why these
shepherds delayed to water their flocks, when much of the day yet remained for
them to feed in, if now watered; when it was much too soon to gather them together,
or to fold them for the night. To which they reply, Genesis 29:8 that they could not
yet water them; that is, they could not in equity: (ch. Genesis 34:14. Genesis 44:26.
Matthew 9:15.) not that they were unable to roll away the stone; but it was contrary
to the rules of the place, as it had been agreed that no one should uncover the well
and disturb the waters, till all the shepherds with their flocks were assembled
together to the common place of watering.
7. PULPIT, "And he said, Lo, it is yet high day (literally, the day is yet great, i.e.
much of it still remains), neither is it time that the cattle should he gathered together
(i.e. to shut them up for the night): water ye the sheep, and go and feed them—being
desirous to get the shepherds away from the well that he might meet Rachel alone
(Keil, Lange, Murphy), though perhaps his words with as much correctness may be
traced to that prudent and industrious habit of mind which afterwards shone forth
so conspicuously in himself, and which instinctively caused him to frown upon
laziness and inactivity (Starke, Kalisch, Bush).
8
"We can't," they replied, "until all the flocks are

gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the
mouth of the well. Then we will water the sheep."
1. Clarke, “We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together - It is a rule
that the stone shall not be removed till all the shepherds and the flocks which have a
right to this well be gathered together; then, and not before, we may water the sheep. See
note on Gen_29:3.
2. Gill, “And they said, we cannot,.... That is, water the sheep; either because the
stone was a great one, as Jarchi observes, and therefore used to be removed by the joint
strength of all the shepherds when they came together, though Jacob rolled it away of
himself afterwards; but this is imputed to his great strength: or rather it was a custom
that obtained among them, or an agreement made between them, that the stone should
not be removed from the mouth of the well, and any flock watered:
until all the flocks be gathered together; and therefore they could not fairly and
rightly do it, without violating the law and custom among them:
and till they roll the stone from the well's mouth; that is, the shepherds of the
several flocks:
then we water the sheep; and not till then.
3. Jamison, “They said, We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered — In order
to prevent the consequences of too frequent exposure in places where water is scarce, the
well is not only covered, but it is customary to have all the flocks collected round it
before the covering is removed in presence of the owner or one of his representatives;
and it was for this reason that those who were reposing at the well of Haran with the
three flocks were waiting the arrival of Rachel.
4. PETT, “The answer was that it was because the stone could not be moved. This
may have been because there were not enough men there to move the stone. Most of
the keepers of the sheep were probably women. Alternately it may have been
because it was part of the agreement in respect of the private well that the stone not
be removed until all were present. But we are probably intended to get the idea of
the diligence of Jacob compared with the dilatoriness of the shepherds.
5. PULPIT, "And they said, We cannot,—not because of any physical difficulty
(Kalisch), since three men could easily have accomplished what Jacob by himself
did, but because they had agreed not to do so (Rosenmüller, Murphy), but to wait—
until all the flocks be gathered together (when the watering was done at once,
instead of at so many different times), and till they roll the stone from the well's
mouth;—more correctly rendered, and (sc. then, i.e. when the flocks are assembled)
they (i.e. the shepherds) roll away the stone—then (or, and) we water the sheep. The

object of watering the flocks collectively may have been, as above stated, for
convenience, or to prevent the well from being opened too frequently, in which case
dust might rapidly accumulate within it (Kalisch), or perhaps to SECURE an equal
distribution of the water (Murphy).
9
While he was still talking with them, Rachel came
with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess.
1. Barnes, “Gen_29:9-14
Jacob’s interview with Rachel, and hospitable reception by Laban. Rachel’s approach
awakens all Jacob’s warmth of feeling. He rolls away the stone, waters the sheep, kisses
Rachel, and bursts into tears. The remembrance of home and of the relationship of his
mother to Rachel overpowers him. He informs Rachel who he is, and she runs to
acquaint her father. Laban hastens to welcome his relative to his house. “Surely my bone
and my flesh art thou.” This is a description of kinsmanship probably derived from the
formation of the woman out of the man Gen_2:23. A month here means the period from
new moon to new moon, and consists of twenty-nine or thirty days.
2. Clarke, “Rachel came with her father’s sheep - So we find that young women
were not kept concealed in the house till the time they were married, which is the
common gloss put on ‫עלמה‬ almah, a virgin, one concealed. Nor was it beneath the dignity
of the daughters of the most opulent chiefs to carry water from the well, as in the case of
Rebekah; or tend sheep, as in the case of Rachel. The chief property in those times
consisted in flocks: and who so proper to take care of them as those who were interested
in their safety and increase? Honest labor, far from being a discredit, is an honor both to
high and low. The king himself is served by the field; and without it, and the labor
necessary for its cultivation, all ranks must perish. Let every son, let every daughter,
learn that it is no discredit to be employed, whenever it may be necessary, in the meanest
offices, by which the interests of the family may be honestly promoted.
3. Gill, “And while he yet spake with them,.... While Jacob was thus discoursing
with the shepherds:
Rachel came with her father's sheep; to water them at the well. She was within
sight when Jacob first addressed the shepherds, but now she was come to the well, or
near it, with the sheep before her:

for she kept them: or "she was the shepherdess" (d); the chief one; she might have
servants under her to do some parts of the office of a shepherd, not so fit for her to do; it
may be Laban's sons, for some he had, Gen_31:1; were not as yet grown up, and Leah,
the eldest daughter, having tender eyes, could not bear the open air, and light of the sun,
nor so well look after the straying sheep; and therefore the flock was committed to the
care of Rachel the younger daughter, whose name signifies a sheep. The Jews say (e),
that the hand of God was upon Laban's flock, and there were but few left, so that he put
away his shepherds, and what remained be put before his daughter Rachel, see Gen_
30:30; and some ascribe it to his covetousness that he did this; but there is no need to
suggest anything of that kind; for keeping sheep in those times and countries was a very
honourable employment, and not below the sons and daughters of great personages, and
still is so accounted. Dr. Shaw (f) says it is customary, even to this day, for the children
of the greatest Emir to attend their flocks; the same is related of the seven children of the
king of Thebes, of Antiphus the son of Priam, and of Anchises, Aeneas's father (g).
4. Henry 9-14, “Here we see, 1. Rachel's humility and industry: She kept her father's
sheep (Gen_29:9), that is, she took the care of them, having servants under her that
were employed about them. Rachel's name signifies a sheep. Note, Honest useful labour
is that which nobody needs be ashamed of, nor ought it to be a hindrance to any one's
preferment. 2. Jacob's tenderness and affection. When he understood that this was his
kinswoman (probably he had heard of her name before), knowing what his errand was
into that country, we may suppose it struck his mind immediately that his must be his
wife. Being already smitten with her ingenuous comely face (though it was probably sun-
burnt, and she was in the homely dress of a shepherdess), he is wonderfully officious,
and anxious to serve her (Gen_29:10), and addresses himself to her with tears of joy and
kisses of love, Gen_29:11. She runs with all haste to tell her father; for she will by no
means entertain her kinsman's address without her father's knowledge and approbation,
Gen_29:12. These mutual respects, at their first interview, were good presages of their
being a happy couple. 3. Providence made that which seemed contingent and fortuitous
to give speedy satisfaction to Jacob's mind, as soon as ever he came to the place which he
was bound for. Abraham's servant, when he came upon a similar errand, met with
similar encouragement. Thus God guides his people with his eye, Psa_32:8. It is a
groundless conceit which some of the Jewish writers have, that Jacob, when he kissed
Rachel, wept because he had been set upon in his journey by Eliphaz the eldest son of
Esau, at the command of his father, and robbed of all his money and jewels, which his
mother had given him when she sent him away. It was plain that it was his passion for
Rachel, and the surprise of this happy meeting, that drew these tears from his eyes. 4.
Laban, though none of the best-humoured men, bade him welcome, was satisfied in the
account he gave of himself, and of the reason of his coming in such poor circumstances.
While we avoid the extreme, on the one hand, of being foolishly credulous, we must take
heed of falling into the other extreme, of being uncharitably jealous and suspicious.
Laban owned him for his kinsman: Thou art my bone and my flesh, Gen_29:14. Note,
Those are hard-hearted indeed that are unkind to their relations, and that hide
themselves from their own flesh, Isa_58:7.
5. Jamison 9-11, “While he yet spake with them, Rachel came — Among the
pastoral tribes the young unmarried daughters of the greatest sheiks tend the flocks,
going out at sunrise and continuing to watch their fleecy charges till sunset. Watering

them, which is done twice a day, is a work of time and labor, and Jacob rendered no
small service in volunteering his aid to the young shepherdess. The interview was
affecting, the reception welcome, and Jacob forgot all his toils in the society of his
Mesopotamian relatives. Can we doubt that he returned thanks to God for His goodness
by the way?
6. TRAPP, “VER 9. For she kept them.] Leah might be left at home, for the
tenderness of her eyes. A man is to see that all under his roof have a fit
EMPLOYME T; as the master gave each servant his task, his talent, [Matthew
25:15] according to his various abilities, secundum peritiam et potentiam . And
everyone hath some excellency or other in him, can we but find and improve it. God
hath dispensed his gifts diversely, for the common benefit. And as, in the same
pasture, the ox can find fodder, the hound a hare, the stork a lizard, the fair maid
flowers: so there is none so worthless, but something may be made of him; some
good extracted out of the unlikeliest. Yea, wisdom is such an elixir, as by
CO TACTIO (if there be any disposition of goodness in the same metal) it will
render it of the property.
7. PETT, "Rachel, who had previously been spotted some distance away (Genesis
29:6), now arrives. So Jacob gets his men to help him to move the stone so that the
flocks can feed. He is not used to having to wait and ignores any custom. He does not
want to have to linger. Or it may be that a brief discussion has revealed that the well
is ahor’s so that Rachel has the right to SECURE its opening. (Jacob would not
kiss Rachel without at least some preliminary words).
10
When Jacob saw Rachel daughter of Laban, his
mother's brother, and Laban's sheep, he went over
and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well
and watered his uncle's sheep.
1. Clarke, “Jacob went near, and rolled the stone - Probably the flock of Laban
was the last of those which had a right to the well; that flock being now come, Jacob
assisted the shepherds to roll off the stone, (for it is not likely he did it by himself), and
so assisted his cousin, to whom he was as yet unknown, to water her flock.

2. Gill, “And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban
his mother's brother,.... Coming with her flock towards the well, and for whom and
whose flock only the shepherds might be waiting:
and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother; wherefore out of respect to him and
his, he being so nearly allied to him, it was
that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, either with
the help of the shepherds, or of himself by his own strength; which the Jewish writers
(h) say amazed the shepherds, that he should do that himself, which required their
united strength. The Targum of Jonathan says, he did it with one of his arms; and
Jarchi, that he removed it as easily as a man takes off the lid cover of a pot:
and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother; this he did partly out of
respect to his relations, and partly that he might be taken notice of by Rachel.
3. PULPIT, "And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his
mother's brother,—"the term mother's brother is not unintentionally repeated three
times in this verse to describe with the greatest possible stress that Jacob had met
with his own relations, with "his bone and his flesh" (Kalisch)—and the sheep of
Laban his mother's brother (Jacob from the first takes particular notice of Laban's
flock, perhaps regarding them as a sign of Laban's wealth. If Laban's daughter had
her attractions for the son of Isaac, so also had Laban's sheep), that Jacob went
near, and rolled the stone from the well's mouth (probably disregarding the
shepherds' rule to wait for the gathering of all the flocks, unless, indeed, Rachel's
was the last), and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother. The threefold
repetition of this phrase does not prove that Jacob acted in all this purely as a
cousin (Lange). The phrase is the historian's, and Jacob had not yet informed
Rachel of his name.
11
Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud.
1. Clarke, “Jacob kissed Rachel - A simple and pure method by which the
primitive inhabitants of the earth testified their friendship to each other, first abused by
hypocrites, who pretended affection while their vile hearts meditated terror, (see the

case of Joab), and afterwards disgraced by refiners on morals, who, while they pretended
to stumble at those innocent expressions of affection and friendship, were capable of
committing the grossest acts of impurity.
And lifted up his voice - It may be, in thanksgiving to God for the favor he had
shown him, in conducting him thus far in peace and safety.
And wept - From a sense of the goodness of his heavenly Father, and his own
unworthiness of the success with which he had been favored. The same expressions of
kindness and pure affection are repeated on the part of Laban, Gen_29:13.
2. Gill, “And Jacob kissed Rachel,.... Which he did in a way of courtesy and civility;
this was done after he had acquainted her with his relation to her; he saluted her upon
that:
and lifted up his voice, and wept; for joy at the providence of God that had brought
him so opportunely to the place, and at the sight of a person so nearly related to him;
and who he hoped would be his wife, and was the person designed of God for him.
3. TRAPP, “Ver. 11. Lifted up his voice, and wept.] For joy, that he had so happily
LIGHTED upon his kinswoman. It argued also his great affection, and passion of
mind, for her sake; love is ecstatical; nec iuris se sinit esse sui. Animus est ubi amat,
non ubi animat. (a) He kisseth Rachel, as if he would have transfused his soul into
her: and wept aloud; not as those vain lovers, who ut flerent, oculos erudiere suos
:nor as the Brasileans, (b) whose faculty is such, that tears are for a present
salutation, and as SOO gone, as if they had said, How do you? but as Joseph wept
over Benjamin; the prodigal’s father over him, &c.
4. PETT, "The meeting is emotional. In days when families were often out of touch
for years such scenes were a regular feature of life when they came together. It must
be considered certain that Jacob had said something introductory before he kissed
Rachel, something like “I am your cousin’. He has after all gone to great trouble to
water her sheep and this would hardly be done without saying anything. But after
his rapturous welcome he then explains his relationship in more detail. Then, quite
excited for she will have heard of her wider family, Rachel runs to tell her father.
“Her father”s brother’, that is, a blood relation, his ‘kinsman’. Strictly he was his
nephew. The word for ‘brother’ had a variety of meanings, compare Genesis 29:4.
5. PULPIT, "And Jacob kissed Rachel,—in demonstration of his cousinly affection.
If Jacob had not yet discovered who he was to the fair shepherdess, his behavior
must have filled her with surprise, even allowing for the unaffected simplicity of the
times; but the fact that she does not resent his conduct as an undue liberty perhaps
suggests that he had first informed her of his relationship to the inmates of Laban's
house (Calvin). On kissing vide Genesis 27:26—and lifted up his voice, and wept—
partly for joy in finding his relatives (cf. Genesis 43:30; Genesis 45:2, Genesis 45:14,
Genesis 45:15); partly in grateful acknowledgment of God's kindness in conducting

him to his mother's brother's house.
12
He had told Rachel that he was a relative of her
father and a son of Rebekah. So she ran and told her
father.
1. Gill, “And Jacob told Rachel,.... Or "had told" (i) her; before he kissed her, and lift
up his voice and wept, as Aben Ezra observes:
that he was her father's brother; his nephew by his sister, for such were sometimes
called brethren, as Lot, Abraham's brother's son, is called his brother, Gen_14:12,
and that he was Rebekah's son; sister to her father, and aunt to her, and whose
name and relation she doubtless knew full well:
and she ran and told her father; leaving the care of her flock with Jacob; Rebekah,
in a like case, ran and told her mother, Gen_24:28, which is most usual for daughters to
do; but here Rachel runs and tells her father, her mother very probably being dead, as
say the Jewish writers (k).
2. Jamison, “Jacob told Rachel, etc. — According to the practice of the East, the term
“brother” is extended to remote degrees of relationship, as uncle, cousin, or nephew.
3. TRAPP, “Ver. 12. That he was her father’s brother.] And therefore made so bold
with her, upon no further acquaintance. His kisses were not unchaste, but modest;
such as were common among kindred. And yet here care must be taken that Satan
corrupt not our courtesy, or more intimate acquaintance, with never so near an
alliance. Flies may settle upon the sweetest perfumes, and putrify them. St Paul saw
cause to exhort Timothy (that mortified young man) to exhort the younger women,
"as sisters with all purity"; [1 Timothy 5:2] because, through the subtilty of Satan,
and the deceit of his own heart, even whilst he was exhorting them to chastity, some
unchaste motions might steal upon him. A great DEAL of caution doth no hurt. (a)
4. PULPIT, "And Jacob told (or, had told, ut supra) Rachel that he was her father's
brother,—as Lot is called Abraham's brother, though in reality his nephew (Genesis
13:8; Genesis 14:14, Genesis 14:16)—and that he was Rebekah's son (this clause
would explain the meaning of the term "brother in the former): and she ran and

told her father. Like Rebekah, believing the stranger's words and running to report
them, though, unlike Rebekah, first relating them to her father (cf. Genesis 14:1-24
:28).
13
As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his
sister's son, he hurried to meet him. He embraced
him and kissed him and brought him to his home,
and there Jacob told him all these things.
1. Gill, “And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his
sister's son,.... That there was such a man at the well, thus related to him, and what he
had done there, had rolled away the stone, and watered his flock. The Jewish writers (l)
make this report chiefly to respect his great strength showed in the above instance, with
other things:
that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought
him to his house; Jarchi and other interpreters represent this as done with avaricious
views, and that he expected Jacob had brought presents with him, as pieces of gold,
pearls and jewels, and such like precious things Abraham's servant brought and gave
him when he came for Rebekah, Gen_24:53; but I see not why we may not take all this to
be hearty, sincere, and affectionate, arising from nearness of relation, and a sense of it:
and he told Laban all these things; how he was sent hither by his parents on
account of the hatred of his brother Esau, because he had got the birthright and blessing
from him; how God had appeared to him at Luz, and the promises he had made him;
how providentially he had met with Rachel at the well, and perhaps might him at, if he
did not openly declare, the end of his coming thither for a wife.
2. HAWKER, "It is profitable to remark, of whom these things were spoken in after
ages; our great kinsman after the flesh. Eph_5:30.
3. Calvin, “13.And he told Laban all these things. Since Laban had previously seen
one of Abraham’s servants replenished with great wealth, an unfavourable opinion
of his nephew might instantly enter into his mind: it was therefore necessary for
holy Jacob to explain the causes of his own departure, and the reason why he had
been sent away so contemptibly clothed. It is also probable that he had been

instructed by his mother respecting the signs and marks by which he might convince
them of his relationship: therefore Laban exclaims, Surely thou art my bone and my
flesh; intimating that he was fully satisfied, and that he was induced by indubitable
tokens to acknowledge Jacob as his nephew. This knowledge inclines him to
humanity; for the sense of nature dictates that they who are united by ties of blood
should endeavor to assist each other; but though the bond between relatives is
closer, yet our kindness ought to extend more widely, so that it may diffuse itself
through the whole human race. If, however, all the sons of Adam are thus joined
together, that spiritual relationship which God produces between the faithful, and
than which there is no holier bond of mutual benevolence, ought to be much more
effectual.
4. TRAPP, "Ver 13. He ran to meet him, and embraced him.] All in hypocrisy, as
the Hebrews hold. There be many Labans: hot at first, cold at last; friendly in the
BEGI I G, froward in the end. A free friend at first, a kind friend to the last, is
rara avis in terris ." Trust not in a friend, put not confidence in a brother," &c.
[Micah 7:5] Look rather unto the Lord, as the Church doth there: he is the only one
dependable, as they say, and will never fail us; when the world, as Laban, will show
itself at parting, if not before.
He told Laban all these things.] Why and how he came so poorly to him, whereas
Abram’s servant, coming upon a like errand, came far better attended and
appointed; which was the thing that Laban likely looked after when he ran out to
meet Jacob.
5. COFFMA , "Embraced him and kissed him ..." This was the customary greeting
among Hebrew families in those days and even down until the present time. It is a
mistake to view Jacob's kiss of Rachel as the type of osculation seen in romantic
movies. The early church itself manifested the same type of greeting seen here in the
actions of Jacob and Laban.
"He told Laban all these things ..." probably refers to the meeting between Rachel
and Jacob at the well. It is not necessary to suppose that Jacob rehearsed the events
regarding his deception of Isaac and Esau and the facts of his being, at the time, a
fugitive from the murderous wrath of Esau.
"What shall thy wages be ... ?" The crafty Laban, having no doubt observed the
infatuation that Jacob had for Rachel, might have anticipated that he would make
some kind of bold and extravagant offer. This may therefore be supposed on the
basis of what Laban later did as the beginning of his unscrupulous deception and
exploitation of Jacob. By any consideration, it would appear that "seven years" was
a long period of servitude.

Genesis 29 commentary

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Genesis 29 commentary