Genesis 37:16 - Printer Friendly

ESV: “I am seeking my brothers,” he said. “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.”

NIV: He replied, 'I'm looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?'

NASB: He said, 'I am looking for my brothers; please tell me where they are pasturing the flock.'

CSB: "I'm looking for my brothers," Joseph said. "Can you tell me where they are pasturing their flocks? "

NLT: I’m looking for my brothers,' Joseph replied. 'Do you know where they are pasturing their sheep?'

KJV: And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks.

NKJV: So he said, “I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.”

Jacob sent Joseph to Shechem to gather a report on the flocks from his brothers (Genesis 37:12–14). It might have been suspicion which motivated Jacob, since Joseph arrives to find they are not in the expected location. Instead, he finds himself wandering the fields looking for the family. A stranger noticed the lost-looking 17–year-old and asked what he is searching for. Now Joseph asks where his brothers have gone.

The following verse reveals they have moved the flocks to Dothan, even farther from home (Genesis 37:17). By the time Joseph finds them, he will truly be isolated from any protection his father might have provided. Joseph's furious and jealous older brothers are stung by Jacob's favoritism (Genesis 37:3–5) and Joseph's dreams (Genesis 37:5, 9). Catching their hated sibling far from home is an opportunity they won't pass up (Genesis 37:18, 28).

Genesis 37:12–36 describes how Joseph's wildly resentful brothers finally get rid of him. They hate Joseph for being Jacob's favorite (Genesis 37:3) and for his grandiose dreams (Genesis 37:5, 9). When Joseph arrives alone at the camp of his brothers, very far from home, they have an opportunity. Only Reuben's intervention keeps them from killing Joseph outright. Instead, while Reuben is absent, the brothers sell Joseph to passing slave traders and later convince their father he has been killed by a wild animal. Joseph becomes a slave in an Egyptian home. Genesis 39 will return to Joseph's story.

Joseph, 17, is deeply loved by his father Jacob and deeply resented by his ten older brothers thanks to Jacob's favoritism. Jacob gives Joseph a princely robe, and Joseph reports dreams that predict his family will one day bow before him. When alone with Joseph in the wilderness, the brothers decide to kill him. Reuben stops them, suggesting they throw him alive into a pit, instead. While Reuben is gone, however, the brothers sell Joseph to slave-traders, later convincing their father Joseph has been killed by a wild animal. Joseph is placed in the home of an Egyptian nobleman.

Following the death of Isaac and the story of Esau's people, Genesis begins a section called the "generations of Jacob." The story will focus primarily on Jacob's son Joseph. Joseph is deeply hated by his brothers. While alone with him in the wilderness, they sell him to slave-traders, who take Joseph to Egypt. Chapter 38 details some of the scandals which happened while Joseph was gone. Genesis 39 will resume a focus on Joseph's experiences.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.

Accessed 5/2/2024 3:05:06 PM