According to the same force of the text, Jacob also, hastening to seek a bride, met Rachel unexpectedly at the well. And a great stone lay upon the well, which a multitude of shepherds were wont to roll away when they came together, and then gave water to themselves and to their flocks. But Jacob alone rolls away the stone, and waters the flocks of his spouse18    See Gen. xxix. The thing is, I think, a dark saying, a shadow of what should come. For what is the stone that is laid but Christ Himself? for of Him Isaiah says, “And I will lay in the foundations of Sion a costly stone, precious, elect19    Is. xxviii. 16 (not exactly from LXX.).:” and Daniel likewise, “A stone was cut out without hands20    Cf. Dan. ii. 45,” that is, Christ was born without a man. For as it is a new and marvellous thing that a stone should be cut out of the rock without a hewer or stone-cutting tools, so it is a thing beyond all wonder that an offspring should appear from an unwedded Virgin. There was lying, then, upon the well the spiritual21    νοητὸς. stone, Christ, concealing in the deep and in mystery the laver of regeneration which needed much time—as it were a long rope—to bring it to light. And none rolled away the stone save Israel, who is mind seeing God. But he both draws up the water and gives drink to the sheep of Rachel; that is, he reveals the hidden mystery, and gives living water to the flock of the Church. Add to this also the history of the three rods of Jacob22    Cf. Gen. xxx. 37, sqq.. For from the time when the three rods were laid by the well, Laban the polytheist thenceforth became poor, and Jacob became rich and wealthy in herds. Now let Laban be interpreted of the devil, and Jacob of Christ. For after the institution of Baptism Christ took away all the flock of Satan and Himself grew rich.

Κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν δὲ τοῦ λόγου δύναμιν σπεύδων καὶ ὁ Ἰακὼβ ἐπὶ μνηστείαν ἀδοκήτως ἐπὶ τοῦ φρέατος συνήντησε τῇ Ῥαχήλ. ἐπέκειτο δὲ λίθος μέγας τῷ φρέατι, ὃν πλῆθος ποιμένων συνιὸν ἀπεκύλιον εἶθ' οὕτως ἑαυτοῖς καὶ τοῖς προβάτοις ὑδρεύοντο, ὁ δὲ Ἰακὼβ μόνος ἀποκυλίει τὸν λίθον καὶ ποτίζει τῆς μνηστῆς τὰ πρόβατα. αἴνιγμα οἶμαι τὸ πρᾶγμα καὶ σκιὰ τοῦ μέλλοντος. τίς γὰρ ὁ ἐπικείμενος λίθος ἢ αὐτὸς ὁ Χριστός; περὶ οὗ φησιν Ἠσαΐας: Καὶ ἐμβαλῶ εἰς τὰ θεμέλια Σιὼν λίθον πολυτελῆ, ἔντιμον, ἐκλεκτόν: καὶ Δανιὴλ ὁμοίως: Ἐτμήθη λίθος ἄνευ χειρός, τουτέστιν ἐγεννήθη Χριστὸς ἄνευ ἀνδρός. ὡς γὰρ καινόν ἐστι καὶ παράδοξον λίθον πέτρας ἀποτμηθῆναι ἄνευ λιθοτόμου καὶ ὀργάνων λιθουργικῶν, οὕτω παντὸς ἐπέκεινα θαύματος ἐξ ἀνυμφεύτου παρθένου τόκον ὀφθῆναι. ἐπέκειτο τοίνυν τῷ φρέατι ὁ λίθος ὁ νοητὸς Χριστὸς κρύπτων ἐν βάθει καὶ μυστηρίῳ τὸ τῆς παλιγγενεσίας λουτρὸν ἔτι χρόνου πολλοῦ δεόμενον εἰς ἀποκάλυψιν ὡς σχοινίου μακροῦ: οὐδεὶς δὲ τὸν λίθον ἀπεκύλισεν εἰ μὴ Ἰσραήλ, ὅς ἐστι νοῦς ὁρῶν θεόν. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνιμᾶται τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ ποτίζει τὰ πρόβατα τῆς Ῥαχήλ, τουτέστι μυστήριον κεκρυμμένον ἀποκαλύψας δίδωσι ζωτικὸν ὕδωρ τῇ ἀγέλῃ τῆς ἐκκλησίας: καὶ τὸ τῶν τριῶν ῥάβδων τοῦ Ἰακὼβ πρόσθες: ἀφ' οὗ γὰρ αἱ τρεῖς ῥάβδοι τῇ πηγῇ παρετέθησαν, ἐκ τότε ὁ Λάβαν ὁ πολύθεος πένης ἐγένετο, πλούσιος δὲ καὶ πολύαρνος Ἰακώβ. ἀλληγορηθήτω δὲ ὁ Λάβαν εἰς τὸν διάβολον καὶ ὁ Ἰακὼβ εἰς τὸν Χριστόν: μετὰ γὰρ τὸ βάπτισμα Χριστὸς πᾶσαν ᾖρε τὴν ἀγέλην τοῦ Σατανᾶ καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπλούτησεν.