Genesis 29:6

_AND HE SAID UNTO THEM, IS HE WELL? AND THEY SAID, HE IS WELL: AND, BEHOLD, RACHEL HIS DAUGHTER COMETH WITH THE SHEEP._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

1-8 Jacob proceeded cheerfully in his journey, after the sweet communion he had with God at Beth-el. Providence brought him to the field where his uncle's flocks were to be watered. What is said of the care of the shepherds for their sheep, may remind us of 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. The stone at the well's mouth was to secure it; water was scarce, it was not there for every one's use: but separate interests should not take us from helping one another. When all the shepherds came together with their flocks, then, like loving neighbours, they watered their flocks together. The law of kindness in the tongue has a commanding power, Proverbs 31:26. Jacob was civil to these strangers, and he found them civil to him....

Verse Genesis 29:6. IS _HE WELL?_] השלום לו _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....

- Jacob’s Marriage 6. רחל _rāchēl_, Rachel, “a ewe.” 16. לאה _lê'âh_, Leah, “wearied.” 24. זלפה _zı̂lpâh_, Zilpah, “drop?” 29. בלהה _bı̂lhâh_, Bilhah, “timidity.” 32. ראוּבן _re'uvbēn_, Reuben, “behold a son.” A paronomasia in allusion to the phrase בעניי ראה _be‛ānyı̂y_ _rā'âh_. Derivatives and compounds, being formed by the common speaker, are sometimes founded upon resemblance in sound, and not always on precise forms of the original sentence which prompted them. 33. ש

EXPOSITION GENESIS 29:1 THEN JACOB WENT ON HIS JOURNEY (literally, _lifted up his feet—a _graphic description of traveling. Inspired by new hopes, and conscious of loftier aims than when he fled from Beersheba, the lonely furtive departed from Bethel), AND CAME INTO THE LAND OF THE PEOPLE OF THE EAST—literally, _the land of the sons of the east_,_ i_._e_._ _Mesopotamia, about 450 miles distant from Beersheba. GENESIS 29:2 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 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. b השלום לו "nunquid pax ei", Montanus, Vatablus, Fagius, Cartwright, Schmidt....

CHAPTER 29 JACOB WITH LABAN _ 1. Jacob's arrival at Padan-aram (Genesis 29:1)_ 2. His service for Rachel (Genesis 29:15) 3. Laban's deception (Genesis 29:21) 4. Jacob receives Rachel (Genesis 29:26) 5. Leah's sons (Genesis 29:32) The Lord brought him to Padan-aram, where he was to dwell as an exile for twenty years. During these twenty years Jehovah did not manifest Himself to him, even as Israel dispersed among the nations has no communications from the Lord. His sojourn in Padan-aram produce

JACOB SERVES SEVEN YEARS FOR RACHEL. LABAN SUBSTITUTES LEAH AND SECURES FOURTEEN YEARS'SERVICE IN EXCHANGE FOR THE TWO. Apart from bits of P (Genesis 29:24; Genesis 29:28_ b_, Genesis 29:29) the section belongs to JE. Analysis is very uncertain. Probably Genesis 29:1 is from E, Genesis 29:2 from J. Opinions differ as to Genesis 29:15; for our purpose further analysis is unnecessary. Jacob comes in his journey to a well, and finds three flocks waiting to

_Rachel_ The name means "Ewe," a personal name, though, possibly, also tribal. In very early times, the designation of an animal seems often to have been transferred to a family or clan in connexion with the "totem," or animal associated in worship with the spirit-god of the community....

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 New 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;