(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)
“Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept. Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s relative, and that he was Rebekah’s son. She ran and told her father. When Laban heard the news of Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet Jacob, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things. Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” Jacob stayed with him for a month.”
(Genesis 29:11-14)
Jacob was thrilled, but he didn’t grab her and plant one on her lips. This is a friendship kiss, a formal greeting. He does the same to Laban that he does to Rachel.
He was so overcome with emotion he wept. He had been brought to exactly the right place at exactly the right time and was now with exactly the right people. God had shepherded him perfectly. Rachel must have been confused seeing the tears and hearing the story. Jacob probably had trouble getting the words out clearly in the beginning. But he did get them out and she did understand. In her turn, she was so excited she left the flock and ran home. This wasn’t as irresponsible as it might seem because Jacob had proven that he was capable of caring for them AND that he was related to them – unlikely to steal them. In addition, all the other shepherds were still around watering their flocks. They were a tight-knit community, so no one was going to take advantage of her momentary absence.
Much like when Abraham’s servant had come for Rebekah, Laban immediately left his house and ran to greet his relative (Genesis 24:29-31). He probably remembered the rich gifts that had come last time and was looking forward to more – he would be disappointed since Jacob left with nothing. Laban greeted Jacob with joy, kissed him in friendship, and brought him back into his home. Jacob was welcome.
Jacob was Laban’s nephew. He didn’t hold back any details of his journey or his mission. He probably even passed on greeting from Rebekah his mother, who was Laban’s sister. Laban acknowledged the relationship and invited Jacob to stay. Jacob stayed for a month, living with them and helping them out in their daily lives – that is, working with them and sharing their burdens as well as their shelter and food.
The Torah: A Women’s Commentary writes: ‘he was Rebekah’s son. Jacob identifies himself only as Rebekah’s son, not Isaac’s. she ran. The text, tending toward silence about emotions, speaks only of her acts of running and announcing the arrival, as did Rebekah when Abraham’s servant revealed his identity at the same well (24:28). Rebekah, however, ran to her mother’s house. “Truly, you are my bone and my flesh!” Laban’s effusive statement of recognition and solidarity will soon become ironic as uncle and nephew prove equal in chicanery.’
The sage Rav Hirsch writes: ‘V. 13. את כל הדברים האלה. All these matters of which we know, especially that, although he came from the rich home of his sister, he had still brought nothing with him but the staff in his hand. This explains the “אך״ in Laban’s reply. Nevertheless, although poor, you are welcome as a relative.’
The sage Radak writes: ‘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. 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. ויהי כשמוע…ויספר ללבן את כל הדברים האלה, he revealed the reason why he had left his father’s home and that he had done so at the command of both his father and his mother. ויאמר…אך עצמי, the word אך in this instance means “truly!” It appears in this meaning in several other passages in the Scriptures, as for instance, Psalms 73,1 אך טוב לישראל”G’d is truly good to Israel.” Or, Isaiah 63,8 אך עמי המה, “truly, they are My people!” Essentially, what Lavan said to Yaakov was that he should not worry about having left home seeing that all he needed would be provided for him by Lavan.’
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