Genesis 37:15

15 And a man findeth him, and lo, he is wandering in the field, and the man asketh him, saying, `What seekest thou?'

Genesis 37:15 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 37:15

And a certain man found him
Many of the Jewish writers


FOOTNOTES:

F12 say, this was an angel, the angel Gabriel, in the likeness of a man; but according to Aben Ezra, it was a traveller he met on the road; but it is more probable, as Schimidt observes, that it was some man at work in the field that came upon him and took notice of him:

and, behold, [he was] wandering in the field;
in some field near Shechem, perhaps the same his father Jacob had purchased, and where he expected to have found his brethren, and was looking out for them, going to and fro in search of them; which the labouring man in the field observed:

and the man asked him, saying, what seekest thou?
seeing him walking about, and first looking one way, and then another, concluded he was in search of something, either of some man or of some creature, a sheep or an ox that was lost; and therefore put this question to him, with a view to give him what direction and assistance he could.


F12 Pirke Eliezer, c. 38. Targum Jon. & Jarchi in loc.

Genesis 37:15 In-Context

13 and Israel saith unto Joseph, `Are not thy brethren feeding in Shechem? come, and I send thee unto them;' and he saith to him, `Here [am] I;'
14 and he saith to him, `Go, I pray thee, see the peace of thy brethren, and the peace of the flock, and bring me back word;' and he sendeth him from the valley of Hebron, and he cometh to Shechem.
15 And a man findeth him, and lo, he is wandering in the field, and the man asketh him, saying, `What seekest thou?'
16 and he saith, `My brethren I am seeking, declare to me, I pray thee, where they are feeding?'
17 And the man saith, `They have journeyed from this, for I have heard some saying, Let us go to Dothan,' and Joseph goeth after his brethren, and findeth them in Dothan.
Young's Literal Translation is in the public domain.