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The Marriages of Jacob

29 So Jacob moved on[a] and came to the land of the eastern people.[b] He saw[c] in the field a well with[d] three flocks of sheep lying beside it, because the flocks were watered from that well. Now[e] a large stone covered the mouth of the well. When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds[f] 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.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 29:1 tn Heb “and Jacob lifted up his feet.” This unusual expression suggests that Jacob had a new lease on life now that God had promised him the blessing he had so desperately tried to gain by his own efforts. The text portrays him as having a new step in his walk.
  2. Genesis 29:1 tn Heb “the land of the sons of the east.”
  3. Genesis 29:2 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.
  4. Genesis 29:2 tn Heb “and look, there.”
  5. Genesis 29:2 tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by the noun with the prefixed conjunction) provides supplemental information that is important to the story.
  6. Genesis 29:3 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the shepherds) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

Jacob Arrives in Paddan Aram

29 Then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the land of the eastern peoples.(A) There he saw a well in the open country, with three flocks of sheep lying near it because the flocks were watered from that well.(B) The stone(C) over the mouth of the well was large. When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone(D) away from the well’s mouth and water the sheep.(E) Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.

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