He finds a group of shepherds just standing there, killing time. "Why aren't you watering your sheep?" he asks, a little puzzled. "Are you day laborers? It's early to stop working. Or are these your flocks? Why not give them a drink and let them graze?" They explain they're waiting for all the shepherds to arrive so they can move the stone covering the well together. It’s a group effort, apparently.
But Jacob isn’t one to just stand around. And just then, wouldn’t you know it, in walks RACHEL, tending her father LABAN's sheep. Laban, you see, had suffered a devastating loss of livestock due to a plague, leaving him with so few animals that his daughter could manage them on her own.
Now, according to Legends of the Jews, as retold by Louis Ginzberg, something remarkable happens when Jacob sees Rachel. He walks right up to that well, the one all the shepherds were waiting to open together. And he rolls the massive stone away himself, "as easily as a cork is drawn from a bottle!"
Seriously?
This is the fourth wonder Jacob performs that day, Ginzberg tells us. Jacob's strength was equal to that of all the shepherds combined! He single-handedly accomplished what usually required a large group of men. How is that even possible?
Well, the tradition offers an explanation. Jacob, having just left the Holy Land, had been divinely blessed. God caused the "dew of resurrection" to fall upon him, endowing him with supernatural strength. So much strength, in fact, that he was even victorious in a combat with angels.
Think about that for a moment. The dew of resurrection. It's a beautiful image, isn't it? A symbol of renewed life, of strength beyond our ordinary capacity. And it was bestowed upon Jacob as he embarked on his journey.
So, was it really just about physical strength? Or was it something more? Was it the love he felt for Rachel? Was it the divine blessing? Maybe it was all of those things, intertwined. Maybe it was the simple act of seeing someone you want to help, and finding the strength you didn’t know you had. Food for thought, right?