Bible Strands
Genesis 46:32
The men are shepherds; they raise livestock, and they have brought their flocks and herds and all that they own.’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joseph instructs his brothers and their household to inform Pharaoh of their arrival from Canaan. The brothers prepare this statement to answer Pharaoh’s upcoming question about their profession.
The words — The Hebrew term רֹעֵי (ro‘ê) translates literally as shepherds, and מִקְנֶה (mîqnê) denotes livestock or cattle. These lexical items explicitly categorize the family's occupation and economic assets.
The thread — This occupational designation appears again in Genesis 47:3 when Pharaoh directly asks the brothers about their trade. The pastoral identity also connects to Genesis 4:2 regarding Abel and contrasts with the agricultural life of Genesis 9:20.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to observe how the brothers consciously identify themselves as shepherds before Egyptian authority. This declaration establishes a fixed social and economic category that will dictate their settlement boundaries and political standing.
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 the men are shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.
Cross-references
- Genesis 47:3 “What is your occupation?” Pharaoh asked Joseph’s brothers. “Your servants are shepherds,” they replied, “both we and our fathers.”
- Genesis 4:2 Later she gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the soil.
- Genesis 9:20 Now Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard.
- Genesis 31:18 and he drove all his livestock before him, along with all the possessions he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land in Canaan.
- Genesis 37:2 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.
- Genesis 45:10 You shall settle in the land of Goshen and be near me—you and your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything you own.
- Genesis 46:34 you are to say, ‘Your servants have raised livestock ever since our youth—both we and our fathers.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the land of Goshen, since all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.”
- Exodus 3:1 Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
- 1 Samuel 17:15 but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep in Bethlehem.
- 1 Kings 9:27 And Hiram sent his servants, sailors who knew the sea, to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s servants.