Genesis 37:16

16 "I'm looking for my brothers," he answered. "Tell me, please, where are they pasturing the sheep?"

Genesis 37:16 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 37:16

And he said, I seek my brethren
Whom, no doubt, he described to the man, and told him who they were, and to whom they belonged; or otherwise the man would have been at a loss to know who he meant, and what further to say to him, and without which Joseph would never have made the following request to him:

tell me, I pray thee, where they feed [their flocks];
in what part of the country they are, what field they are in, how far to it, and which the way.

Genesis 37:16 In-Context

14 He said to him, "Go now, see whether things are going well with your brothers and with the sheep, and bring word back to me." So he sent him away from the Hevron Valley, and he went to Sh'khem,
15 where a man found him wandering around in the countryside. The man asked him, "What are you looking for?"
16 "I'm looking for my brothers," he answered. "Tell me, please, where are they pasturing the sheep?"
17 The man said, "They've left here; because I heard them say, 'Let's go to Dotan.'"Yosef went after his brothers and found them in Dotan.
18 They spotted him in the distance, and before he had arrived where they were, they had already plotted to kill him.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.