Tell me, I pray you is literally “Please tell me.” This request should be translated in a polite form suitable for a young man addressing an older man who is a stranger.

Where they are pasturing the flock: note that Good News Translation restructures the verse to make Joseph give this information about his brothers in his answer to the man, rather than in his request for information about their whereabouts. This may be more natural for translators in some other languages; an example of what some have done is “I am looking for my brothers. They are minding my father’s sheep and goats somewhere here. Do you know where they are?”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .