What Does Genesis 46:32 Mean?
And the men are shepherds, for they have been men of livestock; and they have brought their flocks and their herds, and all that they have.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
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.THE KEY
The word “shepherds” already contains the act of feeding: their identity is the work of sustaining the flock.
THE MEANING
This verse holds tending, livelihood, and what is carried together. Shepherding means feeding and caring for living creatures, while the herds themselves are part of what sustains the household.
THE ROOT
רֹעֵי
ro'ei
GROWS FROM
רעה
To pasture, tend, or feed a flock.
The Hebrew word for “shepherds” carries the action of pasturing within it; the work is already inside the title. Shepherding is not only watching over a flock but sustaining it through ongoing care.
ALSO GROWS
ra'ah: To pasture, graze, or tend.
רָעָה
The verb makes clear that the shepherd’s identity is bound to the act of tending.
mir'eh: Pasture or grazing ground.
מִרְעֶה
The same root reaches from the one who tends to the place where the flock is fed.
מִקְנֶה
miqneh
GROWS FROM
קנה
To acquire, buy, or possess.
“have been men of livestock” in this verse is miqneh. The Hebrew word for livestock grows from a root meaning “acquire” or “possess,” linking the herds to property and livelihood. The verse places those possessions beside the work of a shepherd: what is held is also living and tended.
ALSO GROWS
qanah: To acquire, buy, or possess.
קָנָה
This verb exposes the root idea beneath the word for livestock.
miqneh: Livestock or property.
מִקְנֶה
The noun names the acquired herd that is both livelihood and the object of the shepherd’s care.
הֵבִיאוּ
hevi'u
GROWS FROM
בוא
To come, arrive, or enter; in this form, to cause to come or bring.
The verb translated “brought” is a causative form of בוא, “come” or “enter.” Their flocks, herds, and possessions are pictured arriving with them, so the verse holds movement and arrival within what might otherwise sound like an inventory.
ALSO GROWS
bo': To come, enter, or arrive.
בּוֹא
This is the underlying motion carried by the causative verb “brought.”
mavo: Entrance or entry.
מָבוֹא
The related noun names a point of arrival, echoing the movement held in “brought.”
THE PATTERN
Shepherding is defined by sustaining the lives entrusted to its care.
And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has shepherded me all my life long to this day,A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I do not come up short.I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his living soul for the sheep.THE THREAD
And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has shepherded me all my life long to this day,The Hebrew behind “fed” is the same רעה root carried by “shepherds” here. What this verse names as the men’s work, the connected verse describes as a life sustained through care.
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