And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I.

Israel said to him : Thy brethren feed the sheep in Sichem: come, I will send thee to them. And when he answered:

Israel said to him: "Your brothers are pasturing the sheep at Shechem. Come, I will send you to them." And when he answered,

Et dixit Israel ad Hoseph, Nonne fratres tui pascunt in Sechem? Veni, et mittam to ad eos. Et dixit ei, Ecce adsum.

And Israel said unto Joseph,.... After his brethren had been gone some time to Shechem:
do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? this question is put, not as ignorant of it, or doubting about it, but to put Joseph in mind of it, and in order to what follows:
come, and I will send thee unto them; which is pretty much he should, considering the length of the way, sixty miles, the dangerous place in which they were feeding their flocks, and especially seeing his brethren envied and hated him; but Jacob might think that by this time things had wore off of their minds; and it is certain he had no suspicion of their hatred rising so high as to attempt his life; and it is plain he had none concerning them, when his coat was brought to him, but believed it was wild beasts that had devoured him:
and he said unto him, here am I; showing his readiness to obey his father, and go on this errand, though it was a long journey, and he to go it alone, and his brethren also bore no good will to him.

Israel said, . . . Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem?--Anxious to learn how his sons were doing in their distant encampment, Jacob despatched Joseph; and the youth, accepting the mission with alacrity, left the vale of Hebron, sought them at Shechem, heard of them from a man in "the field" (the wide and richly cultivated plain of Esdraelon), and found that they had left that neighborhood for Dothan, probably being compelled by the detestation in which, from the horrid massacre, their name was held.