Genesis 29:2

A well. After a journey of some 450 mi., which would require about 3 weeks, Jacob reached the vicinity of Haran (v. 4). The remark that the stone upon the well’s mouth was large does not mean that the united strength of all the shepherds was required to roll it away, for Jacob did so alone (v. 10). It suggests, rather, an agreement among the shepherds to water their flocks together. The scene at the well is so thoroughly in harmony with the customs of the East, both ancient and modern, that the similarity of this narrative to the one described in ch. 24:11 is by no means strange. Moreover, this well was constructed differently from the one where Eliezer met Rebekah. There the water was drawn at once from an open well and poured into troughs placed ready for the cattle, as at most wells in the East today, whereas here the well was closed with a stone and no mention is made of the need of pitchers and troughs.