Genesis 37:15

15 And a man found him, and behold, he was wandering about in a field. And the man asked him, "What do you seek?"

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 said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers pasturing in Shechem? Come, let me send you to them." And he said, "Here I [am]."

14 Then he said to him, "Go now, see {if it goes well for your brothers and for the flock}, then return word to me." And he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he arrived at Shechem.

15 And a man found him, and behold, he was wandering about in a field. And the man asked him, "What do you seek?"

16 And he said, "I am seeking my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are pasturing."

17 And the man said, "They have moved on from here, for I heard [them] saying, 'Let us go to Dothan.'" Then Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.

Footnotes

• [a]. That is, Joseph