Genesis 29:6-9

29:6 “Is he well?” ¹  Jacob asked. They replied, “He is well. ²  Now look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep.” 29:7 Then Jacob ³  said, “Since it is still the middle of the day, ⁴  it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. You should water the sheep and then go and let them graze some more.” ⁵  29:8 “We can’t,” they said, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone is rolled off the mouth of the well. Then we water ⁶  the sheep.”

29:9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel arrived with her father’s sheep, for she was tending them. ⁷ 

[29:6]  ¹ tn Heb “and he said to them, ‘Is there peace to him?’”

[29:6]  ² tn Heb “peace.”

[29:7]  ³ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “the day is great.”

[29:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “water the sheep and go and pasture [them].” The verbal forms are imperatives, but Jacob would hardly be giving direct orders to someone else’s shepherds. The nuance here is probably one of advice.

[29:8]  ⁵ tn The perfect verbal forms with the vav (ו) consecutive carry on the sequence begun by the initial imperfect form.

[29:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “was a shepherdess.”