Genesis 37:14

14 Israel said, Go thou, and see whether all things be wellsome with thy brethren, and (with) the sheep; and (then come back, and) tell thou to me what is done. (And so) He was sent from the valley of Hebron, and came into Shechem;

Genesis 37:14 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 37:14

And he said to him, go, I pray thee
Or "now" ^F11, directly, immediately, which is more agreeable to the authority of a father:

see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks;
it having been many days, and perhaps months, since he had heard anything of them; and the rather Jacob might be under a concern for them, because of the danger they were exposed to from the neighbouring tribes and nations of the Canaanites, on account of their having some time ago destroyed the Shechemites; so the Targum of Jonathan, paraphrasing on the preceding part, makes Jacob to say,

``I am afraid, lest the Horites should come and smite them, because of their smiting Hamor and Shechem, and the inhabitants of that city; come, and I will send thee''

and bring me word again;
of their welfare, and of the state of their flocks:

so he sent him out of the vale of Hebron:
the same with the plains of Mamre near the city of Hebron, which was built on a hill:

and he came to Shechem:
after he had travelled sixty miles.

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FOOTNOTES:

F11 (an) "nunc", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius.

Genesis 37:14 In-Context

12 and when his brethren dwelled in Shechem, about [the] keeping of [the] flocks of their father, (And one day, when his brothers were tending their father's flocks in Shechem,)

13 Israel said to Joseph, Thy brethren keep (the) sheep in Shechem (Thy brothers tend the sheep in Shechem); come thou, I shall send thee to them. And when Joseph answered, I am ready,

14 Israel said, Go thou, and see whether all things be wellsome with thy brethren, and (with) the sheep; and (then come back, and) tell thou to me what is done. (And so) He was sent from the valley of Hebron, and came into Shechem;

15 and a man found him erring in the field (and a man found him wandering in a field), and the man asked him, what he sought.

16 And he answered, I seek my brethren; show thou to me where they keep their flocks. (And he answered, I am looking for my brothers; tell thou to me where they tend their flocks.)