Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 37:15

And a certain man found him, and, behold, [he was] wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?

15. a certain man ] Evidently Joseph and his brethren were well known, and not unfavourably, in the region of Shechem. The lad’s wandering in uncertainty appeals to the reader’s sympathy. The Targum of Palestine says the “man” was the angel Gabriel.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

And a certain man found him,…. Many of the Jewish writers l say, this was an angel, the angel Gabriel, in the likeness of a man; but according to Aben Ezra, it was a traveller he met on the road; but it is more probable, as Schimidt observes, that it was some man at work in the field that came upon him and took notice of him:

and, behold, [he was] wandering in the field; in some field near Shechem, perhaps the same his father Jacob had purchased, and where he expected to have found his brethren, and was looking out for them, going to and fro in search of them; which the labouring man in the field observed:

and the man asked him, saying, what seekest thou? seeing him walking about, and first looking one way, and then another, concluded he was in search of something, either of some man or of some creature, a sheep or an ox that was lost; and therefore put this question to him, with a view to give him what direction and assistance he could.

l Pirke Eliezer, c. 38. Targum Jon. & Jarchi in loc.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Verses 15-22:

By the time Joseph arrived in Shechem, his brothers had already left for other pastures. He met a man in his search, and asked for information about them. The man directed him to Dothan, about twelve miles to the north in the direction of the Plain of Esdraelon. It was on the caravan route from the East to Egypt.

The brothers saw Joseph from a distance. Thoughts of his dreams burned in them. In their jealousy, they conspired to kill Joseph, and report to Jacob that he had been eaten by a wild animal Reuben, the oldest, likely considered himself responsible for Joseph He privately sought for a way to deliver him. He warned the others against bloodshed, and advised that they cast Joseph into a nearby pit (a dry cistern), intending later to rescue him and return him to Jacob.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

15. Wandering in the field Wandering about the field that belonged to his father at Shechem . The fact of his going alone and unattended from Hebron to Shechem and beyond, shows the quiet and peace that prevailed in the land at that time .

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Gen 37:15 And a certain man found him, and, behold, [he was] wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?

Ver. 15. What seekest thou? ] This was not the angel Gabriel, as the Hebrews will have it; but some courteous passenger, that thus offereth himself to wandering Joseph, and sets him in his way again. At Athens there were public curses appointed against such as showed not those their error that were out of the way. a See the like, Deu 27:18 . “Brethren,” saith St James, “if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him, let him know that he saves a soul from death”; Jam 5:19-20 yea, he pulls him out of the fire of hell, saith Jude b Jdg 1:23 for they that err from God’s commandments are cursed. Psa 119:21

a Dion. Lamb., in Corn. Nep.

b Ex igne gehennali – Pareus.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)