“I am seeking my brothers,” he said. “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.”
A stranger finds Joseph wandering in a field, and Joseph's answer holds his whole errand: his father sent him to look for his brothers, and he will not go home until he finds them. Why record this small roadside exchange at all, and what does it show about the one who spoke it?
A Refusal to Turn Back
Joseph had reached Shechem and found nobody there. That empty field handed him a reason to give up and go home.
C. KnappJoseph does not find his brothers when he comes to Shechem. They have departed. Now is his chance to return to Hebron if his heart is not wholly in his mission. Here is a good excuse for turning back and giving up the task. But no; he has no thought of turning back, or of giving up the work his father gave him to do.
Interruptions as a Test
Everyone who serves meets a stalled errand. Another writer sees a test in this delay.
The Bible TreasuryJoseph followed this path of service. He carried his father's message and expressed his father's interest. He came to Shechem, but there his mission stalled, because his brothers were not there. Such checks often come to test how real we are — is the Father's will wholly our desire? Joseph's heart was set on finishing it. Instead of returning when he could not find them, he waits at his post until he gets news of them. Then he follows them to Dothan.
The Sent One Who Knew the Danger
Commentators see in Joseph's journey a shadow of a far greater one.
Hamilton SmithIn this journey there is a foreshadowing of a far greater journey taken by the Son of God. He left the Father's home of light and love. He came into this world of death and darkness, and He knew well the evil into which He came. And yet He did not turn back. Even at the cross we read, "Jesus, knowing all that would happen to Him, came forward" (John 18:4). If the love of the Father would send Him, then the love of the Son is ready to do the Father's bidding. "Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God." He comes as the sent One of the Father to declare the Father's love.
Alone in a Field, Telling His Errand
In the verse Joseph is alone in a field, telling a passing stranger what he is after.
C. KnappJoseph wandering in the field, in complete loneliness, is only a shadow of Him who had "nowhere to lay His head." He was often surrounded by crowds, yet His life was one of loneliness and sorrow… Sometimes, as with Joseph, "a man found" Him, and to such people He told His errand. To these, His disciples, He could unburden the thoughts of His heavy heart; but the world did not know Him! But oh, how He kept up His search for those "lost sheep of the house of Israel" to whom He was "sent." Nothing could turn Him back.
From Shechem to Dothan
Joseph asks where his brothers are pasturing the flock. The answer sends him on to Dothan, and commentators differ on what that name means. One reads the name as a picture of Israel's thirst.
C. Knapp"Dothan" means "two wells," or perhaps better, "cisterns." This at once recalls what God says of Israel in Jeremiah 2:13. They have forsaken Him, "the fountain of living waters," and dug out for themselves "broken cisterns that can hold no water." That was Israel's condition exactly when the One with whom is "the fountain of life" was among them.
Another writer takes the name to mean something else.
L. M. GrantJoseph did not find his brothers at Shechem, just as the Lord Jesus did not find Israel in the place of obedience to the law of God… Dothan means "their decree." Joseph found his brothers at Dothan. In the same way, the Lord Jesus found Israel in a place of their own decrees and traditions, and not in the place of subjection to the law of God.
The Errand Passed On
Joseph's errand is a service still open to anyone.
F. A. HughesJoseph's service brought him reproach and misunderstanding. In the end he had the joy of fellowship with his brothers, and he provided for them (Genesis 47:12). Paul cared for all the churches. Timothy had genuine desires for the saints. Epaphras prayed for them with all his heart. These are a few of those who sought the welfare of the brothers — a happy service open to all.
Summary
- Sent. Joseph speaks as a man under orders. He is the son carrying his father's message — a shadow of the Son sent from the Father's home into a world He already knew was evil.
- Sought. His answer names his whole purpose: he is after his brothers and their welfare.
- Stopped. The empty field at Shechem tested whether the Father's will was wholly his own desire. Such checks come to every servant.
- Sustained. He did not go home. He waited, asked, and followed on to Dothan — his persistence showed the errand was his own.
- Shared. The same errand comes to us. Seeking the welfare of brothers is a happy service open to all.