Then Jacob kissed Rachel: for discussion of kissed see 27.26, 27.

Wept aloud is literally “lifted up his voice and wept.” The scene is highly emotional, and Jacob makes no effort to hide his tears of joy. In translation it may be necessary to make clear that Jacob cries because of the joyful relief he experiences when at last he has reached Haran and found the beautiful Rachel. In English we may say, for example, “He burst into tears of joy.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch says “He was so moved he burst into tears,” Bible en français courant “unable to hold back his tears.” Examples from some other translations are “and he wept loudly, because he was really happy” and “he was feeling so happy that the tears came from his eyes.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .