What Does Genesis 29:11 Mean?

And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept.

Genesis 29:11 · SDV

Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.

Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.

This verse in the King James

King James wording

King James Version

And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept.

THE KEY

The verb for Jacob’s raised voice also means to carry or bear, so his voice carries the weight of the moment.

THE MEANING

A kiss, a raised voice, and weeping occupy the same instant here. Tenderness and tears belong together; the moment does not have to resolve into one clean feeling before it becomes visible.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

This verse undoes the idea that a reunion must be only joyful: Jacob’s kiss and his tears arrive together.

THE ROOT

וַיִּשָּׂא

wayyissaʾ

GROWS FROM

נשא

⁨נשא⁩ (nasaʾ) means to lift, carry, bear, or take up.

“lifted up his voice” in this verse is wayyissaʾ. The verb in the verse comes from ⁨נשא⁩ (nasaʾ, lift, carry, bear). English preserves the upward motion in “lifted,” while the wider root also holds the sense of bearing: Jacob raises his voice as he carries this moment outward.

ALSO GROWS

nasaʾ: to lift, carry, bear, or take up

נָשָׂא

This is the verb’s full form, with the root’s three consonants ⁨נשא⁩ visible; it shows that lifting can also mean carrying or bearing.

nasiʾ: leader, prince; one elevated

נָשִׂיא

This word shares the consonants ⁨נשא⁩ and is traditionally linked to the idea of being lifted up; the root’s range reaches from raising a voice to elevating a person.

THE PATTERN

Grief becomes visible in tears and, at times, audible in the voice.

And he gave his voice to weeping, and Egypt heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard.

Genesis 45:2 · SDVJoseph’s grief also moves from tears into a voice others can hear.

Turn aside from me, all you workers of crookedness; for the LORD hears the voice of my weeping.

Psalm 6:8 · SDVThe psalm gives weeping a voice that is heard.

Jesus wept.

John 11:35 · SDVHere tears alone make grief visible.

THE THREAD

Surely he has borne our sicknesses, and carried our wounds. Yet we reckoned him struck, beaten by God, and bowed low.

Isaiah 53:4 · SDV

The Hebrew verb behind “borne” is ⁨נשא⁩ (nasaʾ, to carry or bear), the same root as Jacob’s “lifted” voice. Here grief itself is what is carried, opening Jacob’s raised voice as more than volume: it bears the weight of the moment.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us