Genesis 29:2

Summary

Genesis 29:2 describes Jacob seeing a well in a field with three flocks of sheep lying near it. The text explains that this well was used to water the flocks, and that a large stone covered its opening.

Key words

• va-yar ("and he saw", H7200) — qal narrative verb form indicating a sequential action: "and then he saw."
• hinneh ("there!", H2009) — used twice in the verse, this interjection marks a scene as it comes into view, giving the description a vivid, immediate quality.
• rovtzim ("lying down", H7257) — qal participle, masculine plural, describing the flocks not as having lain down but as being in the ongoing state of lying there when seen.
• ki ("for/that", H3588) — subordinating particle introducing the reason clause that explains the flocks' presence at the well.
• yashqu ("they watered", H8248) — hiphil imperfect, a causative form; the imperfect aspect can indicate a habitual or ongoing action ("they would water" / "they water").

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence structure builds the scene progressively through two uses of hinneh ("there!", H2009), each introducing a new element as it comes into Jacob's field of vision: first the well (be'er, "a well", H875) in the field (sadeh, "field", H7704), then the three flocks (shelošah 'edrei-tzo'n, "three flocks of sheep") lying upon it. The participle rovtzim ("lying down", H7257) presents the flocks' position as a static scene being observed, rather than a completed action.

The clause beginning with ki ("for", H3588) shifts from description to explanation: it clarifies why the flocks are gathered there, stating that "from that well" (min-ha-be'er ha-hiv') the flocks were watered. The verb yashqu ("they watered", H8248) is a hiphil imperfect — a causative form (someone causes the flocks to drink) — with the imperfect aspect allowing for a habitual reading ("they used to water" or "they water" as a regular practice), though the specific action of watering has not yet occurred at this narrative moment. The verse closes with a separate detail introduced by ve- ("and", H9002): a large stone ('even gedolah, "stone... large", H68/H1419) lies over the "mouth" (pi, "mouth of", H6310) of the well — the construct form pi ha-be'er meaning literally "the mouth of the well," i.e., its opening.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders yashqu with a passive construction, "adaquabantur" ("were watered"), which shifts the grammatical subject from an implied group of waterers (as in the causative Hebrew hiphil) to the flocks themselves as passive recipients. The LXX similarly uses an active form, "ἐπότιζον" ("they were watering"), consistent with the Hebrew's causative sense. Modern translations (BSB, RV1909, SBLIBRE) vary between passive ("the sheep were watered") and active-with-implied-subject renderings, reflecting the ambiguity of the unstated subject of yashqu in the Hebrew.