genesis 29:1-14 chiastic structure

Read Genesis 29:1-14 at Bible Gateway.

Hebrew paragraph division

Gen 28:10-32:2 {p} God fulfills His promise to Jacob (wives + children + flocks)

Gen 29:1-14 chiastic structure

1a) Gen 29:1 Jacob went on his journey + came to the land of the people of the East;

1b) Gen 29:2-3 And he looked, and saw a well in the field; and behold, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks. A large stone was on the well’s mouth. Now all the flocks would be gathered there; and they would roll the stone from the well’s mouth, water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the well’s mouth;

1c) Gen 29:4-6 And Jacob said to them, “My brethren, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Haran.” Then he said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.” So he said to them, “Is he well?” And they said, “He is well. And look, his daughter Rachel is coming with the sheep;”

1d) Gen 29:7a Then he said, “Look, it is still high day; it is not time for the cattle to be gathered together. Water the sheep;

central axis) Gen 29:7b And go and feed them;”

2d) Gen 29:8 But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together, and they have rolled the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep;”

2c) Gen 29:9 Now while he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess;

2b) Gen 29:10 When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother;

2a) Gen 29:11-14 Jacob came to his destination: Laban’s household in Haran;

1a.1) Gen 29:11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept;
1a.2) Gen 29:12a Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s relative + he was Rebekah’s son;
1b) Gen 29:12b So she ran and told her father;
central axis) Gen 29:13a When Laban heard the report about Jacob his sister’s son;
2b) Gen 29:13b That he ran to meet him;
2a.1) Gen 29:13c And embraced him + kissed him + brought him to his house;
2a.2) Gen 29:13d-14 So he told Laban all these things. And Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him for a month.

Original Hebrew

Isn’t it interesting that the central axis of the entire chapter is a brief phrase about feeding the sheep. “To feed” is Strong’s H7462, ra’ah, a primitive root, “to feed, to pasture, to tend.” The ancient pictographs are the resh + ayin + hey:

resh = the head of man, thus head, first, top, beginning, man;
ayin = the eye, thus watch, know, shade;
hey = the man with upraised arms, thus look, reveal, wonder, worship, breath.

The story the ancient pictographs are telling is the man (resh) watching over (ayin) with sighing in his chest/ heart (hey), i.e. invested by love and duty to succeed in his commission, for tending God’s creation was his original commission from his Creator (Gen 1:26). And Yeshua, who is our Good Shepherd, is invested by love and duty to watch over us, His flock!