וַיֹּ֥אמֶר לָהֶ֖ם הֲשָׁל֣וֹם ל֑וֹ וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ שָׁל֔וֹם וְהִנֵּה֙ רָחֵ֣ל בִּתּ֔וֹ בָּאָ֖ה עִם־הַצֹּֽאן׃
וַיֹּ֗אמֶר הֵ֥ן עוֹד֙ הַיּ֣וֹם גָּד֔וֹל לֹא־עֵ֖ת הֵאָסֵ֣ף הַמִּקְנֶ֑ה הַשְׁק֥וּ הַצֹּ֖אן וּלְכ֥וּ רְעֽוּ׃He continued, “Is he well?” They answered, “Yes, he is; and there is his daughter Rachel, coming with the flock.”
He said, “It is still broad daylight, too early to round up the animals; water the flock and take them to pasture.”
Genesis 29:6-7 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)
When Rachel is introduced, we read that she is tending Laban’s flock. She is presented to us in contrast to the hired hand shepherds whom Jacob rebukes for the way they are managing the sheep.
וַיֹּאמְרוּ֮ לֹ֣א נוּכַל֒ עַ֣ד אֲשֶׁ֤ר יֵאָֽסְפוּ֙ כׇּל־הָ֣עֲדָרִ֔ים וְגָֽלְלוּ֙ אֶת־הָאֶ֔בֶן מֵעַ֖ל פִּ֣י הַבְּאֵ֑ר וְהִשְׁקִ֖ינוּ הַצֹּֽאן׃
But they said, “We cannot, until all the flocks are rounded up; then the stone is rolled off the mouth of the well and we water the sheep.”
Genesis 29:8 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)
The hired hands tell Jacob that they actually cannot water the sheep. According to the rabbis, the stone over the well is too heavy, and requires more people to move it. They must wait for more people to arrive to help.
וַיְהִ֡י כַּאֲשֶׁר֩ רָאָ֨ה יַעֲקֹ֜ב אֶת־רָחֵ֗ל בַּת־לָבָן֙ אֲחִ֣י אִמּ֔וֹ וְאֶת־צֹ֥אן לָבָ֖ן אֲחִ֣י אִמּ֑וֹ וַיִּגַּ֣שׁ יַעֲקֹ֗ב וַיָּ֤גֶל אֶת־הָאֶ֙בֶן֙ מֵעַל֙ פִּ֣י הַבְּאֵ֔ר וַיַּ֕שְׁקְ אֶת־צֹ֥אן לָבָ֖ן אֲחִ֥י אִמּֽוֹ׃
And when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, and the flock of his uncle Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well, and watered the flock of his uncle Laban.
Genesis 29:10 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)
Rachel, being a young woman, would be of little help, so what we see in v10 might be viewed as a miraculous “rolling away of the stone.” Jacob is motivated by a need to tend to the sheep and to demonstrate strength to Rachel.
Jacob heaving this heavy stone away from the well is the same act as Rebekah watering all of Eliezer’s camels earlier in Genesis.
Genesis 29:10 is an echo of Genesis 24:19.
This is an image of righteousness. Perhaps, the Empty Tomb of the Gospels can be called a Well of Living Water.