Genesis 29:12

12 He told her, "I am your father's relative, the son of Rebecca." She ran to tell her father;

Genesis 29:12 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 29:12

And Jacob told Rachel
Or "had told" F9 her; before he kissed her, and lift up his voice and wept, as Aben Ezra observes:

that he [was] her father's brother;
his nephew by his sister, for such were sometimes called brethren, as Lot, Abraham's brother's son, is called his brother, ( Genesis 14:12 Genesis 14:14 Genesis 14:16 ) :

and that he [was] Rebekah's son;
sister to her father, and aunt to her, and whose name and relation she doubtless knew full well:

and she ran and told her father;
leaving the care of her flock with Jacob; Rebekah, in a like case, ran and told her mother, ( Genesis 24:28 ) , which is most usual for daughters to do; but here Rachel runs and tells her father, her mother very probably being dead, as say the Jewish writers F11.


FOOTNOTES:

F9 (dgyw) "et puntiaverat", Pagninus, Montanus; "renuntiaverat", Vatablus.
F11 Bereshit Rabba, sect. 70. fol. 62. 4. Jarchi in loc.

Genesis 29:12 In-Context

10 When Jacob saw Rachel with his uncle Laban's flock, he went to the well, rolled the stone back, and watered the sheep.
11 Then he kissed her and began to cry for joy.
12 He told her, "I am your father's relative, the son of Rebecca." She ran to tell her father;
13 and when he heard the news about his nephew Jacob, he ran to meet him, hugged him and kissed him, and brought him into the house. When Jacob told Laban everything that had happened,
14 Laban said, "Yes, indeed, you are my own flesh and blood." Jacob stayed there a whole month.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.