Genesis 37:13
in Genesis 37Israel said to him, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flocks at Shechem? Get ready; I am sending you to them.” “I am ready,” Joseph replied.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Israel said unto Joseph, Are not thy brethren feeding the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I.
KJV
And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I.
⋯
This verse in Genesis 37
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
to pasture their father's flocks near Shechem
on Genesis 37:12-14
Shechem is the plot Jacob bought at Genesis 33:19, and it is the town where Simeon and Levi killed every male in Genesis 34. Israel sends the favored son there alone to see how his brothers are faring. Joseph answers that he is ready. His bones come back to that same ground at Joshua 24:32.
This site's exposition
I am sending you to them
Joseph's reply is one Hebrew word, hinneni, the answer of a servant ready to go. Abraham gave the same answer when God called him at Genesis 22:1, before he took his beloved son up the mountain. Here the father sends the loved son, and the son goes.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Israel said unto Joseph,....
Note, Those children that are best beloved by their parents should be most obedient to their parents; and then their love is well-bestowed and well-returned.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Scripture mentions the place from which Joseph was sent, in order to indicate that there was a great distance between father and son, and that this was the reason why the brothers did him evil: they were distant far from their father.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יוֹסֵ֗ף | yosef | Joseph | H3130 → | 213 times |
| הֲל֤וֹא | halo' | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אַחֶ֙יךָ֙ | ʾacheikha | [are] brothers your | H251 → | 630 times |
| רֹעִ֣ים | roim | pasturing | H7462 → | 177 times |
| בִּשְׁכֶ֔ם | bishkhem | at Shechem | H7927 → | 63 times |
| לְכָ֖ה | lekhah | come ! | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וְאֶשְׁלָחֲךָ֣ | veeshlachakha | and I will send you | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אֲלֵיהֶ֑ם | ʾaleihem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| וַיֹּ֥אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| ל֖וֹ | lo | to <the> him | ||
| הִנֵּֽנִי׃ | hineni | here [am] I | H2009 → | 843 times |
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֜לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יוֹסֵ֗ףJoseph
yosefH3130 →213 times
הֲל֤וֹא¿ not
halo'H3808 →5168 times
אַחֶ֙יךָ֙[are] brothers your
ʾacheikhaH251 →630 times
רֹעִ֣יםpasturing
roimH7462 →177 times
בִּשְׁכֶ֔םat Shechem
bishkhemH7927 →63 times
לְכָ֖הcome !
lekhahH1980 →1546 times
וְאֶשְׁלָחֲךָ֣and I will send you
veeshlachakhaH7971 →845 times
אֲלֵיהֶ֑םto them
ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times
וַיֹּ֥אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
ל֖וֹto <the> him
lo
הִנֵּֽנִי׃here [am] I
hineniH2009 →843 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 10:16Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
it leads to
- Philippians 2:15
so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world
- Luke 10:3
Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.
- 1 Corinthians 14:20
Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.
- Colossians 4:5
Act wisely toward outsiders, redeeming the time.
- Ephesians 5:15–17
Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,
- Philippians 2:15
Through
Genesis 22:1Some time later God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he answered.
it leads to
- Hebrews 11:17
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac on the altar. He who had received the promises was ready to offer his one and only son,
- Deuteronomy 8:2
Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your…
- James 2:21
Was not our father Abraham justified by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
- Hebrews 11:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
About Genesis
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPatriarchsJosephThe rejected-then-exalted son — Genesis's great Christ-type; preserver of his family and of Egypt; the bridge into Exodus.
- PlaceCentral hill countryShechemThe city between Ebal and Gerizim where Abram built his first altar in the land, where Joshua set the people to choose whom they w…
This page draws on John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.