JACOB has been sent by his father to find a wife from among his extended family. En route he has a powerful vision in which God appears to him.
Reassured, he travels on, arrives at a well, makes enquiries and ascertains that this is indeed where his kinsfolk live. Rachel (his niece) arrives with her father’s sheep. Jacob rolls the stone off the mouth of the well and in watering her flocks unstops his own emotions too — kissing Rachel and bursting into tears.
Why the tears? Is Jacob happy or sad? The traditional commentators hypothesise: Radak remarks that it’s not unusual for a person to cry tears of joy at a family reunion.
Sforno suggests that these are tears of regret, Jacob wishing he had met and married Rachel earlier so that by now they would have adult children.