Genesis 37:12-14 describes that the older brothers lead the family flock all the way to Shechem to pasture. Jacob tells Joseph to find them and assess how they are doing. Joseph obediently agrees to set out on the journey alone.
In Genesis 37:12-14,Joseph embarks on his fateful journey to find his brothers, where he will be betrayed. The passage begins with, "Then his brothers went to pasture their father's flock in Shechem" (v 12).
Shechem lies roughly fifty miles north of Hebron along Canaan's central ridge (See Map), the site of Abraham's first altar (Genesis 12:6-7). Shechem was also the site where Simeon and Levi responded to the rape of their sister, Dinah, by treacherously slaying the inhabitants (Genesis 34).
Next, Israel said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers pasturing the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them." And he said to him, "I will go" (v 13).
Israel/Jacob speaks under the covenant name he received after wrestling with God (Genesis 32:28). While Joseph's brothers are far away tending the flock, Joseph has remained at home with his father. Israel/Jacob sees fit that Joseph should go to them, perhaps to assess the success of their ranging. In verse 2, we saw that Jacob relied on Joseph's reporting about his brothers' herd work. Joseph's concise assent--"I will go" (v 13)--is echoed elsewhere in scripture.
Abraham responds similarly to the voice of the Lord in Genesis 22:1-3. He "rose early in the morning" the next day after the Lord instructed him to offer Isaac as a sacrifice (Genesis 22:3). In this Abraham showed the same readiness to go when given an order.
In 1 Samuel 3:8, the boy Samuel responds to the voice of the Lord in the same manner, setting in motion his role as a prophet and judge of Israel.
When the Lord asks, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Isaiah responds, "Here I am" (Isaiah 6:8). The obedient response, the simple presentation of a willing heart to obey the voice of command, is an attribute of those whom the Lord will make use of.
Just as importantly, in parallel with other similar passages, it shows that this moment of willingness to go is the commencement of Joseph's unique role in God's divine plan of deliverance. We can see this in Jesus as well. Hebrews 10:5-9 tells us that He also consented as He left heaven to take on the form of human flesh and learn obedience, even to death on the cross.
In this moment of obedience to his father, Joseph is launched into a chain of events, all of which are beyond his control and which position him to deliver his family. Joseph's willing obedience anticipates the greater Son who would declare, "Behold, I have come to do Your will" (Psalm 40:7,Hebrews 10:7).
Jacob's charge is pastoral and paternal: "Go now and see about the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring word back to me" (v 14).
The Hebrew word "shalom" is translated here as welfare. "Shalom" conveys wholeness; the father seeks to see if hisbrothers and livestock are functioning as intended, with the brothers managing the sheep as a team and the sheep productively feeding on pasture. He sends Joseph from the valley of Hebron, an elevation of three thousand feet, through rugged wadis toward Shechem's saddle between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal.
The journey--two to three days on foot--underscores Joseph's trust in his father's mission and foreshadows the longer road to (and from) Egypt that God will weave from this simple act of obedience. Israel's command to Joseph also indicates that Joseph is at least indirectly serving in an oversight capacity. Jacob's instruction to bring word back to me (v 14)regarding his brothers' welfare implies that Joseph is serving as his father's eyes and ears while the other brothers do the work in the field.
This scene will repeat a pattern of sons bearing messages that are spurned by brethren. As a youth, David made a bread run to the front lines where he was chided by his brothers (1 Samuel 17:17-23). Christ the Son of God's incarnation led Him to walk among a world that "received Him not" (John 1:11).
Israel's concern for thewelfare of theflock could picture the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for sheep (John 10:11). And the choice of Shechem as a location for the events that follow might symbolize the continuity of covenant beginnings, family blood guilt, and later covenant promises.
In Genesis 12:6-7 when Abraham first came to Canaan, he came to the vicinity of Shechem where God disclosed that this was the land He promised to give him.
In Genesis 33:18-20,Shechem was where Jacob purchased land and built an altar to the Lord, and in Genesis 34 Joseph's brothers slaughtered the local inhabitants for defiling their sister.
Shechem serves not just as the beginning of Joseph's exile to Egypt, but the destination to which the nation of Israel will return after the Exodus. It was on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, which overlook Shechem in the valley between, where the nation of Israel renewed its covenant with the Lord after entering the land of Canaan (Joshua 8:30-35), marking an end of the Exodus. This was also where Joshua built an altar before Israel undertook the conquest of the land (Joshua 8:30).
Genesis 37:12-14
12 Then his brothers went to pasture their father's flock in Shechem.
13 Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “I will go.”
14 Then he said to him, “Go now and see about the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
Set to dark mode
Genesis 37:12-14 meaning
In Genesis 37:12-14, Joseph embarks on his fateful journey to find his brothers, where he will be betrayed. The passage begins with, "Then his brothers went to pasture their father's flock in Shechem" (v 12).
Shechem lies roughly fifty miles north of Hebron along Canaan's central ridge (See Map), the site of Abraham's first altar (Genesis 12:6-7). Shechem was also the site where Simeon and Levi responded to the rape of their sister, Dinah, by treacherously slaying the inhabitants (Genesis 34).
Next, Israel said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers pasturing the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them." And he said to him, "I will go" (v 13).
Israel/Jacob speaks under the covenant name he received after wrestling with God (Genesis 32:28). While Joseph's brothers are far away tending the flock, Joseph has remained at home with his father. Israel/Jacob sees fit that Joseph should go to them, perhaps to assess the success of their ranging. In verse 2, we saw that Jacob relied on Joseph's reporting about his brothers' herd work. Joseph's concise assent--"I will go" (v 13)--is echoed elsewhere in scripture.
Abraham responds similarly to the voice of the Lord in Genesis 22:1-3. He "rose early in the morning" the next day after the Lord instructed him to offer Isaac as a sacrifice (Genesis 22:3). In this Abraham showed the same readiness to go when given an order.
In 1 Samuel 3:8, the boy Samuel responds to the voice of the Lord in the same manner, setting in motion his role as a prophet and judge of Israel.
When the Lord asks, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Isaiah responds, "Here I am" (Isaiah 6:8). The obedient response, the simple presentation of a willing heart to obey the voice of command, is an attribute of those whom the Lord will make use of.
Just as importantly, in parallel with other similar passages, it shows that this moment of willingness to go is the commencement of Joseph's unique role in God's divine plan of deliverance. We can see this in Jesus as well. Hebrews 10:5-9 tells us that He also consented as He left heaven to take on the form of human flesh and learn obedience, even to death on the cross.
In this moment of obedience to his father, Joseph is launched into a chain of events, all of which are beyond his control and which position him to deliver his family. Joseph's willing obedience anticipates the greater Son who would declare, "Behold, I have come to do Your will" (Psalm 40:7, Hebrews 10:7).
Jacob's charge is pastoral and paternal: "Go now and see about the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring word back to me" (v 14).
The Hebrew word "shalom" is translated here as welfare. "Shalom" conveys wholeness; the father seeks to see if his brothers and livestock are functioning as intended, with the brothers managing the sheep as a team and the sheep productively feeding on pasture. He sends Joseph from the valley of Hebron, an elevation of three thousand feet, through rugged wadis toward Shechem's saddle between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal.
The journey--two to three days on foot--underscores Joseph's trust in his father's mission and foreshadows the longer road to (and from) Egypt that God will weave from this simple act of obedience. Israel's command to Joseph also indicates that Joseph is at least indirectly serving in an oversight capacity. Jacob's instruction to bring word back to me (v 14) regarding his brothers' welfare implies that Joseph is serving as his father's eyes and ears while the other brothers do the work in the field.
This scene will repeat a pattern of sons bearing messages that are spurned by brethren. As a youth, David made a bread run to the front lines where he was chided by his brothers (1 Samuel 17:17-23). Christ the Son of God's incarnation led Him to walk among a world that "received Him not" (John 1:11).
Israel's concern for the welfare of the flock could picture the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for sheep (John 10:11). And the choice of Shechem as a location for the events that follow might symbolize the continuity of covenant beginnings, family blood guilt, and later covenant promises.