Genesis 29:12

12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's kinsman, and that he was Rebekah's son; and she ran and told 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.

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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 Now when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his mother's brother Laban, and the sheep of his mother's brother Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of his mother's brother Laban.

11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and wept aloud.

12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's kinsman, and that he was Rebekah's son; and she ran and told her father.

13 When Laban heard the news about his sister's son Jacob, he ran to meet him; he embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things,

14 and Laban said to him, "Surely you are my bone and my flesh!" And he stayed with him a month.