I'm having some trouble understanding the Rashi in Bereishis 37:12. Rashi says (as I understand it) that we cut out the word es because they only went to to feed their own sheep. If so, then why does the Pussuk mention צֹאן אֲבִיהֶם ?
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Sifsei Chachomim explains that they went to pasture themselves, and their fathers sheep happened to be there. |
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I have no source for this: it's my own thought. I've heard that letters with dots are interpreted as if absent. (Citation needed, as they say over at Wikipedia. On the other hand, that seems to be the premise of the question, too.) If es were absent from this verse, it could be read "The brothers went to pasture. The sheep/goats of their father were in Sh'chem." which could imply they were pasturing themselves. But of course that's a d'rasha: the plain meaning is that they were in fact pasturing their father's sheep/goats, which is why the verse mentions the latter. |
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