Genesis 37:2
אֵלֶּה׀ תֹּלְדוֹת יַעֲקֹב יוֹסֵף בֶּן־שְׁבַֽע־עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה הָיָה רֹעֶה אֶת־אֶחָיו בַּצֹּאן וְהוּא נַעַר אֶת־בְּנֵי בִלְהָה וְאֶת־בְּנֵי זִלְפָּה נְשֵׁי אָבִיו וַיָּבֵא יוֹסֵף אֶת־דִּבָּתָם רָעָה אֶל־אֲבִיהֶֽם׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
אֵ֣לֶּה׀ תֹּלְד֣וֹת יַעֲקֹ֗ב יוֹסֵ֞ף בֶּן־שְׁבַֽע־עֶשְׂרֵ֤ה שָׁנָה֙ הָיָ֨ה רֹעֶ֤ה אֶת־אֶחָיו֙ בַּצֹּ֔אן וְה֣וּא נַ֗עַר אֶת־בְּנֵ֥י בִלְהָ֛ה וְאֶת־בְּנֵ֥י זִלְפָּ֖ה נְשֵׁ֣י אָבִ֑יו וַיָּבֵ֥א יוֹסֵ֛ף אֶת־דִּבָּתָ֥ם רָעָ֖ה אֶל־אֲבִיהֶֽם׃
αὗται δὲ αἱ γενέσεις Ἰακώβ. ἸωσὴΦ δέκα ἑπτὰ ἐτῶν ἦν ποιμαίνων μετὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτοῦ τὰ πρόβατα, ὢν νέος, μετὰ τῶν υἱῶν Βάλλας καὶ μετὰ τῶν υἱῶν ΖἐλΦας τῶν γυναικῶν τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ· κατήνεγκαν δὲ Ἰωσὴφ ψόγον πονηρὸν πρὸς Ἰσραὴλ τὸν πατέρα αὐτῶν.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Et hæ sunt generationes ejus: Joseph cum sedecim esset annorum, pascebat gregem cum fratribus suis adhuc puer: et erat cum filiis Balæ et Zelphæ uxorum patris sui: accusavitque fratres suos apud patrem crimine pessimo.
Ésta es la historia de la familia de Jacob. Cuando José tenía diecisiete años, cuidaba el rebaño junto con sus hermanos, los hijos de Bilhá y de Zilpá, las esposas de su padre. Y José le contaba a su padre lo mal que se portaban sus hermanos.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Estas fueron las generaciones de Jacob. José, siendo de edad de diez y siete años apacentaba las ovejas con sus hermanos; y el joven estaba con los hijos de Bilha, y con los hijos de Zilpa, mujeres de su padre: y noticiaba José á su padre la mala fama de ellos.
This is the account of Jacob. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was tending the flock with his brothers, the sons of his father ’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, and he brought their father a bad report about them.
✦ What the text says
Summary
Genesis 37:2 opens the Jacob narrative cycle with a formulaic heading, then introduces Joseph at seventeen years old, shepherding flocks alongside the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, and reports that he brought a negative report about them to their father.
Key words
- toledot ("accounts of", H8435) — feminine plural construct noun, a recurring structural marker in Genesis introducing a new narrative section tied to a named figure (here Jacob).
- ro'eh ("shepherding", H7462B) — qal participle, masculine singular, expressing ongoing action ("was shepherding") rather than a completed event; paired with the perfect verb hayah ("he was", H1961) to form a periphrastic construction describing habitual activity.
- na'ar ("youth", H5288) — masculine singular noun describing Joseph's status, connected by the conjunction ve ("and", H9002) and pronoun hu' ("he", H1931) as a separate clause.
- dibbatam ("their report", H1681) — feminine singular construct noun with third-person plural suffix m ("their", H9028), the object Joseph brings.
- ra'ah ("bad", H7451A) — feminine singular adjective modifying dibbatam, specifying the negative quality of the report.
What the text says
The verse divides into three grammatical units. The first, 'eleh toledot Ya'aqov ("these [are] the accounts of Jacob", H0428+H8435+H3290), is a nominal clause functioning as a heading, using the construct noun toledot to link to the following narrative material about Jacob's family. The second unit describes Joseph's age and activity: ben-sheva'-'esreh shanah ("a son of seventeen years", H1121L+H7651+H6240+H8141) is an idiomatic age construction using "son of" plus the number, followed by hayah ro'eh ("he was shepherding", H1961+H7462B) — a perfect verb plus participle combination that in Biblical Hebrew narrative typically conveys ongoing or habitual action rather than a single completed event.
The clause continues with 'et-'echav ("with his brothers", H0854+H0251G+H9023) and ba-tzon ("in the flock", H9003+H6629G), then a separate nominal clause ve-hu na'ar ("and he [was] a youth", H9002+H1931+H5288) specifies Joseph's status alongside 'et-benei Vilhah ve-'et-benei Zilpah ("with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah", H1121L+H1090A+H1121A+H2153), identified as neshei 'aviv ("the wives of his father", H0802H+H0001G+H9023). The final clause uses the narrative vav (H9001) prefixed to yave' ("he brought", H0935P, hiphil causative), indicating Joseph caused the report — dibbatam ra'ah ("their bad report", H1681+H7451A) — to reach 'el-'avihem ("to their father", H0413+H0001G+H9028).
Differences between versions
The Vulgate renders the age as "sedecim" (sixteen) where the Hebrew sheva'-'esreh (H7651+H6240) reads "seventeen," a numerical divergence not present in the LXX's δέκα ἑπτὰ ("ten seven" = seventeen). The LXX also renders dibbatam ra'ah ("their bad report") as ψόγον πονηρὸν ("evil blame/censure") and names the father Ἰσραὴλ ("Israel") where the Hebrew has no name, only 'avihem ("their father", H0001G+H9028).
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.