King James Version · The patriarchs
Genesis 29
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Then went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east. And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was upon the well’s . 3And thither were all the flocks gathered: and they rolled the stone from the well’s , and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well’s in his place. And said unto them, My brethren, whence be ye? And they said, Of are we. And he said unto them, Know ye the son of ? And they said, We know him. And he said unto them, Is he well? And they said, He is well: and, behold, his daughter cometh with the sheep. And he said, Lo, it is yet high day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together: water ye the sheep, and go and feed them. And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and till they roll the stone from the well’s ; then we water the sheep. And while he yet spake with them, came with her ’s sheep: for she kept them. And it came to pass, when saw the daughter of his mother’s brother, and the sheep of his mother’s brother, that went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s , and watered the his mother’s brother. And kissed , and lifted up his voice, and wept. And told that he was her ’s brother, and that he was ’s son: and she ran and told her . And it came to pass, when heard the tidings of his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told all these things. And said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my . And he abode with him the space of a month. And said unto , Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be? And had two daughters: the name of the elder was , and the name of the younger was . was tender eyed; but was beautiful and well favoured. And loved ; and said, I will thee seven years for thy younger daughter. And said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: with me. And seven years for ; and they seemed unto him but days, for the love he had to her. And said unto , Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her. And gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. And it came to pass in the evening, that he took his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her. And gave unto his daughter his maid for an handmaid. And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was : and he said to , What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I with thee for ? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me? 26And said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before . Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the which thou shalt with me yet seven other years. 28And did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him his daughter to wife also. And gave to his daughter his handmaid to be her maid. And he went in also unto , and he loved also more than , and with him yet seven other years. And when saw that was hated, he opened her : but was . And conceived, and a son, and she called his name : for she said, Surely hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me. And she conceived again, and a son; and said, Because hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she called his name . And she conceived again, and a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called . And she conceived again, and a son: and she said, Now will I : therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · The patriarchs, 2000 BC to 1600 BC ›
Abraham's family as herdsmen among settled Canaanite city-states, in a world where Egypt and Mesopotamia are the great powers and Canaan is the corridor between them.
- Mesopotamia
- Abraham's own century is Hammurabi's. The great empire of Ur has already fallen, and Babylon rises under a king who published a law code on a stone pillar for everyone to see. Reading Genesis alongside Hammurabi's laws is illuminating in both directions: some provisions are strikingly similar, and the places where Israel's later law diverges are the places worth stopping at.
- Egypt
- The Middle Kingdom, wealthy, bureaucratic, and organised around the Nile flood. Egyptian tomb paintings from this period show Semitic traders arriving with donkeys and striped cloaks, which is more or less the picture Genesis gives of a family going down to Egypt in a famine. Toward the end of the era the Hyksos, rulers of Semitic origin, take the delta.
- Anatolia and the Aegean
- Assyrian merchants run a long-distance trading colony at Kanesh in Anatolia, leaving thousands of clay letters about copper, tin, and debt. On Crete the Minoan palaces are at their height, with plumbing, frescoes, and a script nobody has yet read.
- Further afield
- The Indus Valley cities are in decline after centuries of grid-planned streets and drains. In China the Erlitou culture is building the first palace complexes. Stonehenge is standing and already old.
All of Genesis