Genesis 37:13

Summary

Israel (Jacob) speaks to Joseph, noting that his brothers are pasturing flocks at Shechem, and instructs him to go there so that he can send him to them. Joseph responds with a short affirmative statement indicating his readiness.

Key words

• ro'im ("pasturing", H7462B) — qal participle, masculine plural, describing the brothers' ongoing activity as a present, continuous action rather than a completed one.
• ha ("¿", H9008) combined with lo' ("not", H3808) — an interrogative particle prefixed to a negation, forming a rhetorical question expecting a positive answer ("are they not...?").
• lekha ("come", H1980K) with paragogic he (H9012) — imperative form with an emphatic ending, intensifying the command to Joseph.
• 'eshlacha ("I will send", H7971G) — qal imperfect with prefixed vav, expressing purpose or sequential result following the imperative ("come, so that I may send you").
• hineni ("here am I", H2009 + H9040) — interjection with first-person suffix, a fixed idiomatic response indicating presence and readiness rather than a full sentence.

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative construction va-yomer ("and he said", H0559) marking a new speech act by Yisra'el ("Israel", H3478) directed 'el-Yosef ("to Joseph", H3130G). Israel's utterance is structured as a rhetorical question introduced by ha-lo' ("is it not", H9008 + H3808), followed by 'acheikha ("your brothers", H0251G) in construct with the second-person suffix -kha ("your"), and the participle ro'im ("pasturing", H7462B) locating the action bi-Shekhem ("at Shechem", H7927G). The question form does not seek information but presents a known fact as the basis for the following instruction.

The instruction itself uses two verbal forms in sequence: the imperative lekha ("come", H1980K), reinforced by the paragogic he, and the imperfect-with-vav 'eshlachakha ("and I will send you", H7971G with suffix H9031), which expresses the intended result of the command — Joseph's coming enables Israel's sending him 'aleihem ("to them", H0413 + H9038, referring back to the brothers). The exchange closes with a second va-yomer clause, this time with Joseph as the (unstated) subject, marked by the preposition-plus-suffix lo ("to him", H9005 + H9033) referring to Israel, and Joseph's reply hineni ("here am I", H2009 + H9040), a compact idiom combining the interjection with the first-person suffix.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the rhetorical question as οὐχ οἱ ἀδελφοί σου ποιμαίνουσιν ("are not your brothers pasturing"), matching the Hebrew's interrogative-negative structure. The Vulgate instead states Fratres tui pascunt oves ("your brothers pasture the sheep") as a direct assertion, omitting the interrogative form found in the Hebrew ha-lo' and in the LXX's οὐχ. The Vulgate also adds oves ("sheep"), an object not present in the Hebrew participial phrase ro'im bi-Shekhem ("pasturing at Shechem"), where no direct object is specified.