Rachel arrives at the well with her father's sheep, and the Torah calls her ro'ah — a shepherdess (Genesis 29:9). The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan stops to explain why the daughter of a wealthy man is doing this job.
A plague from the Lord had fallen on Laban's sheep. Few were left. The flock that once required a stable of hired shepherds was now small enough that Laban had dismissed his shepherds and given the remnant to his younger daughter to tend.
This is a crucial detail the plain Torah omits. It tells us that Rachel is not merely beautiful — she is working because her family is in a moment of decline. It also tells us why, a few verses later, Laban will welcome his sister's son Jacob so eagerly: a free laborer is exactly what a man with a shrinking flock needs.
And it tells us something about Rachel's character. The Targum has just set up that Laban's flock has been hit by a divine plague, and the daughter of that house is the one who rises each morning to water the survivors. She is not sitting in the house. She is working at dawn with the remnant. She will become the mother of Joseph, who will one day save a nation during a famine — and she has already been trained in the management of a depleted flock.
The plague is temporary. From the day Jacob touches the well, Laban's flock will explode into wealth. The plague was a setup. It pulled Rachel to the well at the exact hour Jacob walked into Haran.
The takeaway: God often arranges a loss before an introduction. Rachel met Jacob because a plague had stripped the other shepherds away.