Genesis 29:2-3

29:2 He saw ¹  in the field a well with ²  three flocks of sheep lying beside it, because the flocks were watered from that well. Now ³  a large stone covered the mouth of the well. 29:3 When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds ⁴  would roll the stone off the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would put the stone back in its place over the well’s mouth.

Genesis 29:8

29:8 “We can’t,” they said, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone is rolled off the mouth of the well. Then we water ⁵  the sheep.”

Genesis 29:10

29:10 When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, ⁶  and the sheep of his uncle Laban, he ⁷  went over ⁸  and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well and watered the sheep of his uncle Laban. ⁹ 

---

¹ tn Heb “and he saw, and look.” As in Gen 28:12-15, the narrator uses the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) here and in the next clause to draw the reader into the story.

² tn Heb “and look, there.”

³ tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by the noun with the prefixed conjunction) provides supplemental information that is important to the story.

⁴ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the shepherds) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn The perfect verbal forms with the vav (ו) consecutive carry on the sequence begun by the initial imperfect form.

⁶ tn Heb “Laban, the brother of his mother” (twice in this verse).

⁷ tn Heb “Jacob.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁸ tn Heb “drew near, approached.”

⁹ tn Heb “Laban, the brother of his mother.” The text says nothing initially about the beauty of Rachel. But the reader is struck by the repetition of “Laban the brother of his mother.” G. J. Wenham is no doubt correct when he observes that Jacob’s primary motive at this stage is to ingratiate himself with Laban (Genesis [WBC], 2:231).