Tag: Rachel

Rolling Away the Stone

Posted on by jovial_cynic

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.

Beautiful Rachel

Posted on by jovial_cynic

עוֹדֶ֖נּוּ מְדַבֵּ֣ר עִמָּ֑ם וְרָחֵ֣ל ׀ בָּ֗אָה עִם־הַצֹּאן֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לְאָבִ֔יהָ כִּ֥י רֹעָ֖ה הִֽוא׃

While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s flock—for she was its shepherd.
Genesis 29:9 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

When Genesis introduces Rachel, it doesn’t tell us how beautiful she is. It tells us her role: she is a shepherdess. Her name means “ewe.”

She is shown as both a sheep and as a good shepherd leading her father’s flock, in contrast to the hired hands from the previous verses.

The Women of the Wells

Posted on by jovial_cynic
Genesis 24 introduces us to the theme of the “woman at the well” in the Torah.

Rebekah is the first.
Rachel is next in Genesis 29.
Ziporrah is the third in Exodus 2.

Each encounter ends in marriage.

When John 4 describes the Samaritan woman at the well, there’s a tension we’re supposed to notice: she has been married FIVE times already, and it never worked out. This is brought out as glaring contrast to the joyful well-side encounters of the past. The circumstances with her past husbands are heartbreaking.

But then John describes a closeness that was inappropriate for the encounter unless Jesus and this woman were married. The disciples are shocked.

Perhaps that’s the entire point of this “woman at the well” story: What Jesus offered her is a closeness that we only find in marriage. He offers Living Water: a promise of forever.

Blessings for All Y’all

Posted on by jovial_cynic

Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.
Genesis 9:1 (NIV)

As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”
Genesis 9:7 (NIV)

Not only does Genesis 9 start with a blessing, the blessing is repeated in verse 7: “be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth.”

Verse 1 says “them,” so it’s clear that it’s plural.

Verse 7 says “as for you,” but in Hebrew, this is the plural “you.” It’s “ya’ll.”

This is important, because Noah individually does *not* go and become fruitful or multiply (unless you’re seeing a pun, and think the grapes that follow are the multiplied fruit!)

God’s blessings are not merely for individuals. They are for community.

For folks who wish to bear children but can’t, this must feel like a curse. To be told “children are God’s blessing” and then not experience it personally must feel like a double-curse: missing out on the blessing and then experiencing the shame of failure.

In scripture, we see this barrenness: Sarai (Genesis 11:30), Rebekah (Genesis 25:21), Rachel (Genesis 29:31) – wives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They’re all barren at first, but God says they will be a great nation.

Why does it start this way? Perhaps this is an echo of Genesis 1:2.

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Genesis 1:2 (NIV)

For reasons unknown, Noah does not have any more children with his wife, even though he is included in the “ya’ll” in Genesis 9:7.

Perhaps Noah failed to count the three blessings he already had. Perhaps the wine blurred his vision.

But he was blessed by God. Twice.

And God has blessed you as well, and God intends to make you fruitful and multiply you in ways you may not yet realize. This seems to be the nature of God: blessings and promises. Fruitfulness.

For all ya’ll.

Leave Your Mother and Father

Posted on by jovial_cynic

For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
Genesis 2:24 (NASB)

One of the times a bible character actually does “leave his mother and father to be joined to his wife,” per the note in Genesis 2, is with the story of Jacob… where he fled home to avoid his brother’s wrath, and then ended up marrying two women – Leah and Rachel.

But the first time we see it followed, it’s here with Cain. It makes me wonder if this is a blessing or a curse.

Then Cain left the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and Cain built a city, and named the city Enoch, after the name of his son.
Genesis 4:16-17 (NASB)