Genesis 46:34

Summary

The verse gives instructions for how Joseph's brothers should answer Pharaoh: they are to identify themselves as "men of livestock" who have kept animals since youth, like their fathers before them. The stated purpose of this answer is to secure permission to settle in the land of Goshen, because raising sheep is described as an "abomination" to Egypt.

Key words

• 'a.mar.Tem ("you will say", H0559) — qal perfect used sequentially, continuing a chain of instructions from the preceding verses (Joseph telling his brothers what to say when they meet Pharaoh).
• 'an.Shei mik.Neh ("men of livestock", H0582 + H4735) — a construct chain (noun + noun) literally "men of livestock," identifying the brothers by occupation/possession rather than using an adjective form.
• 'a.va.Dei-kha ("servants of you / your servants", H5650 + H9021) — construct noun with 2nd-person suffix, the brothers' self-designation before Pharaoh.
• ba.'a.Vur te.she.Vu ("in order that you may dwell", H5668 + H3427) — the preposition-noun ba'avur introduces purpose, followed by a qal jussive form of yashab, marking the goal of the speech: settlement in Goshen.
• to.'a.Vat mitz.Ra.yim ("abomination of Egypt", H8441 + H4713) — construct chain giving the stated reason for the arrangement, linking the noun "abomination" directly to "Egypt."

What the text says

The verse is structured as embedded direct speech: Joseph's instruction (va'amartem, "and you will say") introduces the words the brothers are to speak to Pharaoh. Within that speech, the brothers describe themselves twice using construct chains — 'anshei miqneh ("men of livestock") and 'avadeikha ("your servants") — both nominal constructions rather than verbal ones, presenting their identity as a fixed status rather than an ongoing action. The phrase minne'ureinu ve'ad-'attah ("from our youth until now") uses construct-plus-suffix forms to extend this identity across time, reinforced by the double gam...gam ("both...also") linking "we" ('anachnu) and "our fathers" ('avoteinu) as equally involved.

The purpose clause ba'avur teshvu be'eretz Goshen ("in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen") uses a jussive verb form of yashab ("to dwell", H3427), which expresses intended or permitted result rather than a simple future statement. The final clause, introduced by the particle ki ("for/that", H3588A), gives the rationale: to'avat mitzrayim kol ro'eh tzon ("the abomination of Egypt [is] every shepherd of sheep"). The construct chain to'avat mitzrayim attaches the noun "abomination" directly to "Egypt," a construction the English glosses render as "abominable to Egypt" but which grammatically reads as "Egypt's abomination."

Differences between versions

The LXX adds a geographical detail absent from the Hebrew and the Vulgate: after "land of Gesem" it appends "Ἀραβίᾳ" ("Arabia"), specifying a region not named in the Hebrew text ('eretz Goshen alone). The Vulgate renders 'anshei miqneh ("men of livestock") as "viri pastores" ("shepherd men"), shifting the Hebrew's broader term for livestock-keeping toward the more specific occupation of shepherding, which the Hebrew reserves for the later phrase ro'eh tzon ("shepherd of sheep").