37:2 This is the account of Jacob.
Joseph, his seventeen-year-old son, 1 was taking care of 2 the flocks with his brothers. Now he was a youngster 3 working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. 4 Joseph brought back a bad report about them 5 to their father.
1 tn Heb “a son of seventeen years.” The word “son” is in apposition to the name “Joseph.”
2 tn Or “tending”; Heb “shepherding” or “feeding.”
3 tn Or perhaps “a helper.” The significance of this statement is unclear. It may mean “now the lad was with,” or it may suggest Joseph was like a servant to them.
4 tn Heb “and he [was] a young man with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, the wives of his father.”
5 tn Heb “their bad report.” The pronoun is an objective genitive, specifying that the bad or damaging report was about the brothers.