ויירא ויאמר מה נורא המקום הזה. It is appropriate for man to stand in awe and reverence at sites which have been distinguished through historical events and which hosted holy people, or which themselves represent holiness. This is is why idle conversation in houses of study and synagogues is forbidden even when no study or prayer is in progress. Such conversation interferes with one's reverence and thereby aggravates the wrong committed.

ונתן לי לחם לאכול ובגד ללבוש. We learn from Jacob's vow that we should not ask G–d for more than the necessities of life, just as he only asked for bread to eat and clothes to wear.

ויאמר להם יעקב אחי מאין אתם. From Jacob's opening remarks to the shepherds we learn that one should always speak pleasantly, for Jacob addressed these shepherds who were total strangers to him as brothers.

לא עת האסף המקנה. When Jacob admonished the shepherds that they had not done a day's work yet, he demonstrated that it is everyone's concern to remind people of their duties when they are clearly remiss.

הן עוד היום גדול לא עת האסף המקנה. The Zohar in פרשת ואתחנן (Sullam edition page 62), commenting on Jacob's statement that there was still much daylight left (Genesis 29,7), says that we learn from this verse that, if Israel will do תשובה, its exile will not last longer than a day, and it will return to the Holy Land. This is based on Lamentations 1,13: נתנני שוממה כל היום דוה, "He has placed me in desolation, and left me in misery all day long." If Israel fails to repent, G–d says: עוד היום גדול, לא עת האסף המקנה "the day still has a long time to go, it is not yet time to gather in the cattle" [A day is perceived a day in G–d's time, i.e. one thousand years. Ed.]. This is because Israel has no merits to its credit. There is, however, one remedy for Israel, namely לכו השקו הצאן, "go water the flock," i.e. make the people study Torah, drink the waters of Torah, ולכו רעו, then you can go to the place where you find rest, to the land of Israel, your inheritance.

An alternative meaning interprets our verse as referring to the day of upheaval, the day on which the Temple was destroyed and Israel was forced to go into exile. Due to Israel's sins, that day still has a long ways to go, i.e. "the day is still long, it is not yet time to gather in the cattle." Seeing they themselves are to blame for the day being so long, the remedy is to go and study Torah, as per the first version in this Zohar. According to this latter version, Israel responds to this call by paraphrasing the shepherds in Genesis 29,8: לא נוכל עד אשר יאספו כל העדרים וגללו את האבן מעל פי הבאר והשקינו, "We cannot do this until all the emanations (in which these decisions are made) have been gathered together and between them they have removed this heavy stone (decree of exile); on that day the well, i.e. the access to Torah knowledge, will become accessible and we can water the flock."

[Continuation of the Zohar:] וגללו את האבן. The combined forces of the emanations will roll away the heavy stone, the harsh decree from the mouth of the well, i.e. the lowest of the emanations מלכות, so that the Torah in the באר will be able to sustain us during the remainder of the exile and our flocks (people) will be watered, (sustained by Torah). At the end of this long "day," G–d will lead us back to ארץ ישראל. When Bileam speaks about the אחרית הימים, "the end of days" during which Israel is described as revenging itself on Moab (Numers 24,14), he refers to the period during which Israel has suffered in exile and at the end of which G–d will take revenge on those nations who have mistreated Israel while the latter were in exile. The "day" which Jacob speaks about to the shepherds is an allusion to that אחרים הימים. Thus far the Zohar.

וישלח יעקב ויקרא לרחל וללאה. We learn from here that when the head of the household wants something from its member, he should not go about this in an autocratic manner even though he has the right to impose his will. He should endeavor to win over the members of his household to the course of action he has decided upon. It is always better to have the willing support of one's family than to have them merely obey one's orders.

כי דרך נשים. Nachmanides points out that in earlier days menstruating women were quarantined to the point where one did not even talk to them. The experts in those days were aware that the breath emanating from these women was harmful. Nachmanides mentions that he was going to report on scientific experiments conducted which prove such a theory. The Talmud also reports such an isolation of menstruating women. Rabbi Yochanan says that it is forbidden to walk behind such a woman, to step on the dust she walked on, and to make use of what she has handled during her period. This is why Rachel said to her father that actually she ought to be getting up and kiss his hands; she warned him not even to walk about within her tent since the dust that she had walked on might prove harmful to him. Laban remained silent and did not respond because one did not speak to women whom one knew to be menstruating. Thus far Nachmanides.

From all this we learn how careful a husband has to be to keep his distance from his wife while she is menstruating, so as not to defile himself additionally. The impurity associated with a menstruating woman is viewed so gravely by our sages that they compare it to idol worship. We know this from Shabbat 82a, where Rabbi Akiva compares the impurity conferred upon a person who carries some object that has been used for idol worship with the impurity of a menstruating woman, basing himself on Isaiah 30,22: תזרם כמו דוה, "You will cast them away like a menstruous woman." Rachel may well have had this interpretation in mind so as not to be guilty of lying; her father, however, accepted her words at face value, and that is why he did not reply.