Genesis 37:17

Summary

An unnamed man tells Joseph that his brothers have already left the area and reports overhearing them say they intended to go to Dothan. Joseph then follows and locates his brothers in Dothan.

Key words

• na.se.'U ("they have departed", H5265) — qal perfect, 3rd person plural, marking a completed action prior to the moment of speaking: the brothers' departure is presented as already accomplished.
• sha.Ma'.ti ("I heard", H8085) — qal perfect, 1st person singular, the man's own completed act of hearing, grounding his report in direct experience.
• 'o.me.Rim ("saying", H0559) — qal participle, masculine plural, describing the brothers as ongoing speakers at the moment the man heard them, giving a vivid "heard them saying" construction rather than a simple reported statement.
• ne.le.Khah ("let us go", H1980) — a first-person plural volitive form embedded in direct quotation, reproducing the brothers' own words as a proposal or exhortation ("let us go") rather than a plain future statement.
• va.yim.tza.'Em ("and he found them", H4672) — qal narrative form with 3rd person masculine plural suffix ("them"), closing the sequence: the narrative vav chains this action as the next event after Joseph's going.

What the text says

The verse is built on a chain of narrative vav-forms (va.yo.mer, "and he said"; va.yelekh, "and he went"; va.yim.tza.'em, "and he found them") that carry the main storyline forward in sequence: speech, then movement, then discovery. Embedded within this chain is direct speech from "the man" (ha.'ish, H0376), itself containing a perfect verb (na.se.'u, "they have departed") describing a prior completed action, followed by a subordinate clause introduced by ki ("for/that", H3588) that gives the man's grounds for this claim — his own perfect-tense hearing (sha.ma'ti) of the brothers actively speaking (the participle 'omerim).

The brothers' quoted intention, nelekhah dotayenah ("let us go to Dothan"), uses a cohortative-type first-person plural form expressing a proposal among themselves, with the directional he suffix on Dotayenah marking Dothan as the goal of motion ("toward Dothan"). This grammatical layering — reported speech about heard speech about a proposed action — distinguishes the report from a flat statement of fact; the man is relaying secondhand, overheard intent, not confirmed present location.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the brothers' proposal as πορευθῶμεν εἰς Δωθόειμ ("let us go into Dothoeim"), matching the volitive sense of nelekhah. The Vulgate's Eamus in Dothain ("let us go into Dothain") likewise preserves the first-person plural exhortative form. All three textual traditions (Hebrew, LXX, Vulgate) agree in structure and content; the only variation across the sources is the spelling of the place name (Dotan/Δωθόειμ–Δωθάειμ/Dothain).