What Does Genesis 37:12 Mean in the King James?
And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The brothers are not merely giving food: Hebrew names their work with the same root that names a shepherd.
THE MEANING
The verse places care in motion: the brothers go out to feed a flock that belongs to their father. Shechem is also the Hebrew word for “shoulder,” so the place name quietly holds an image of bearing weight alongside their work.
THE ROOT
לִרְעוֹת
lir'ot
GROWS FROM
רעה
To pasture or tend as a shepherd.
“feed” in this verse is lir'ot. The Hebrew action comes from the root that also names the shepherd and the pasture. The brothers go to do the work of tending, not just to perform a single act of feeding.
ALSO GROWS
ro'eh: One who pastures and tends a flock.
רֹעֶה
The action in this verse belongs to the same root as the person who shepherds.
mir'eh: A grazing place or pasture.
מִרְעֶה
The same root names the tending, the tender, and the place where a flock grazes.
שְׁכֶם
Shekhem
GROWS FROM
שכם
Shoulder; these consonants also appear in a verb meaning to rise early.
Shechem is the same Hebrew form as “shoulder,” the body’s load-bearing part. The place name gives the brothers’ work a quiet weight-bearing resonance while the verse stays concrete: they tend their father’s flock.
ALSO GROWS
shekhem: The shoulder, which bears a load.
שְׁכֶם
This is the word carried by the place name, alongside the brothers’ work of tending.
vayyashkem: A verb form meaning “he rose early.”
וַיַּשְׁכֵּם
The related verb echoes purposeful setting out, though this verse gives no time of day.
THE PATTERN
A flock is sustained through active shepherding: feeding, gathering, and leading.
A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.THE THREAD
A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.Genesis uses לִרְעוֹת (lir’ot, to pasture or tend), and Psalm 23 uses רֹעֶה (ro’eh, shepherd); both grow from רעה. The brothers perform the tending that Psalm 23 names in the shepherd.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us