Bible Strands
Genesis 37:14
Then Israel told him, “Go now and see how your brothers and the flocks are faring, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron. And when Joseph arrived in Shechem,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Israel commands his son Joseph to leave the Valley of Hebron and travel to Shechem to verify the condition of his brothers and their flocks. This instruction occurs immediately after Joseph volunteers to go and just before he reaches Shechem.
The words — The Hebrew imperative לֶךְ (lekh) means "go," paired with רְאֵה (re'eh) meaning "see" or "inspect." These verbs frame the task as a direct command to verify conditions on the ground.
The thread — The departure from Hebron echoes Jacob’s earlier return to that city in Genesis 35:27, while the request for "welfare" (שָׁלוֹם) resonates with the psalmist’s prayer for peace upon Israel in Psalm 125:5.
Why it lands — The text reports a father’s practical assignment that initiates a journey with no stated outcome. It asks the reader to note how ordinary commands and geographic movement serve as the immediate mechanism for the next narrative phase.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
Cross-references
- Genesis 35:27 Jacob returned to his father Isaac at Mamre, near Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.
- Psalms 125:5 But those who turn to crooked ways the LORD will banish with the evildoers. Peace be upon Israel.
- Luke 19:42 and said, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes.
- Genesis 13:18 So Abram moved his tent and went to live near the Oaks of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.
- Genesis 23:2 She died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went out to mourn and to weep for her.
- Genesis 29:6 “Is he well?” Jacob inquired. “Yes,” they answered, “and here comes his daughter Rachel with his sheep.”
- Genesis 41:16 “I myself cannot do it,” Joseph replied, “but God will give Pharaoh a sound answer.”
- Numbers 13:22 They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, dwelled. It had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.
- Joshua 14:13 Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance.
- 1 Samuel 17:17 One day Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp.