Genesis 29:11

Gen 29:11 And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept.

Ver. 11. Lifted up his voice, and wept.] For joy, that he had so happily lighted upon his kinswoman. It argued also his great affection, and passion of mind, for her sake; love is ecstatical; nec iuris se sinit esse sui. Animus est ubi amat, non ubi animat. {a} He kisseth Rachel, as if he would have transfused his soul into her: and wept aloud; not as those vain lovers, who ut flerent, oculos erudiere suos :nor as the Brasileans, {b} whose faculty is such, that tears are for a present salutation, and as soon gone, as if they had said, How do you? but as Joseph wept over Benjamin; the prodigal’s father over him, &c.

{a} Ovid. Amor., lib. ii.

{b} Magni. in Geogr.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

29:11 Jacob kissed Rachel: Kissing relatives was a proper greeting (29:13; cp. Song 8:1).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 11. Jacob kissed Rachel] A simple and pure method by which the primitive inhabitants of the earth testified their friendship to each other, first abused by hypocrites, who pretended affection while their vile hearts meditated terror, (see the case of Joab,) and afterwards disgraced by refiners on morals, who, while they pretended to stumble at those innocent expressions of affection and friendship, were capable of committing the grossest acts of impurity.

And lifted up his voice] It may be, in thanksgiving to God for the favour he had shown him, in conducting him thus far in peace and safety.

And wept.] From a sense of the goodness of his heavenly Father, and his own unworthiness of the success with which he had been favoured. The same expressions of kindness and pure affection are repeated on the part of Laban, Ge 29:13.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(11) Jacob kissed Rachel . . . and wept.—Jacob first made himself, useful to Rachel, and then discloses to her who he is, claims her as a cousin, and kisses her. Then, overcome with joy at this happy termination of his long journey, and at finding himself among relatives, he can restrain his feelings no longer, but bursts into tears. In this outburst of emotion we see the commencement of his lifelong affection for the beautiful child whom he thus opportunely met.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. Jacob kissed … wept] This demonstrative display of feeling is Homeric in its simplicity. The suddenness of Jacob’s opportune meeting with his relatives, the removal of doubt and anxiety from his mind on entering a strange country, and the apparition of his young and fair cousin, had all deeply stirred his emotional nature. Cf. the tears of Joseph, Gen_45:2; Gen_45:14.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Jacob kissed Rachel,.... Which he did in a way of courtesy and civility; this was done after he had acquainted her with his relation to her; he saluted her upon that:

and lifted up his voice, and wept; for joy at the providence of God that had brought him so opportunely to the place, and at the sight of a person so nearly related to him; and who he hoped would be his wife, and was the person designed of God for him.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Kissed her, according to the custom of the country, (chap. xxiv. 26,) having told her who he was. He was not so young, that she could suspect him guilty of an unbecoming levity, being above 77 years old, chap. xxvii. 1. (Haydock) --- In that age of simplicity, beautiful maids might converse with shepherds, without suspicion or danger. (Menochius) --- Wept, through tenderness, and perhaps on account of his present inability to make her a suitable present. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Jacob kissed Rachel, as the custom of friends then was, both at their first meeting, as Ge 29:13; Ge 33:4; Ex 4:27; 18:7, and at their departure, as Ru 1:14; 1Sa 20:41; 1Ki 19:20.

Wept tears of joy, like those Ge 33:4, at the gracious providence of God to him, which had brought him safe to his desired place, and so happily and strangely conducted him to that person and family which was so desirable and dear to him.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. Kissed… and wept — “Delight and sorrow mingled in his heart, and, overwhelmed by his feelings, he paid his tribute to nature by a spontaneous flood of tears.” — Kalisch.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Jacob kissed Rachel, in demonstration of his cousinly affection. If Jacob had not yet discovered who he was to the fair shepherdess, his behavior must have filled her with surprise, even allowing for the unaffected simplicity of the times; but the fact that she does not resent his conduct as an undue liberty perhaps suggests that he had first informed her of his relationship to the inmates of Laban s house (Calvin). On kissing vide Gen_27:26and lifted up his voice, and wept partly for joy in finding his relatives; (cf. Gen_43:30 Gen_45:2, Gen_45:14, Gen_45:15) partly in grateful acknowledgment of God"s kindness in conducting him to his mother s brother"s house.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jacob kissed Rachel

In ancient Near East, it is common to greet a relative with a kiss. However, it is normally done between men. If your language has an affectionate greeting for a relative, use that. If not, use what is appropriate.

wept loudly

Jacob weeps because he is so happy. The full meaning of this statement can be made explicit. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

her father's relative

"related to her father"

translationWords

kiss

Rachel

Rebekah

son

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

ויבך AND HE WEPT- because he foresaw by the Holy Spirit that she would not be buried with him in the cave of Machpelah (Genesis Rabbah 70:12). Another explanation is: he wept because he came with empty hands. He thought: Eliezer, my grandfather’s servant, had with him rings, bracelets and all good things, whilst I have nothing with me (Genesis Rabbah 70:12). This was because Eliphaz Esau’s son pursued Jacob by his father’s order to kill him, and overtook him. But because Eliphaz had been brought up on Isaac’s lap, (cp. Deuteronomy Rabbah 2:13) he withheld his hand. He said to him (Jacob), “But what shall I do as regards my father’s order?” Jacob replied, “Take all I have and you can say that I am dead for a poor man may be accounted as dead" (Nedarim 64b).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

And cried in a loud voice. He was pained that he did not merit marrying her in his youth so that by now he would have had grown up children.

Sforno on the Tanakh — English translation: “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

וישק, since she had realised that Yaakov had done all this on her account, she accepted his kiss. Furthermore, he had told them כי אחי אביה הוא, i.e. a son of her father’s sister, a son of Rivkah, who was known to all the people of Charan to have become married to Yitzchok.

ויבך, he wept for joy. When close relatives meet after not having seen each other for a while, their emotional cup runs over so that they find it hard to control their feelings and they give way to them by crying for joy.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.