Who is the "Ish" this time? (Gensis 37:12-17)

(יב) וַיֵּלְכ֖וּ אֶחָ֑יו לִרְע֛וֹת אֶׄתׄ־צֹ֥אן אֲבִיהֶ֖ם בִּשְׁכֶֽם׃ (יג) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל אֶל־יוֹסֵ֗ף הֲל֤וֹא אַחֶ֙יךָ֙ רֹעִ֣ים בִּשְׁכֶ֔ם לְכָ֖ה וְאֶשְׁלָחֲךָ֣ אֲלֵיהֶ֑ם וַיֹּ֥אמֶר ל֖וֹ הִנֵּֽנִי׃ (יד) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ל֗וֹ לֶךְ־נָ֨א רְאֵ֜ה אֶת־שְׁל֤וֹם אַחֶ֙יךָ֙ וְאֶת־שְׁל֣וֹם הַצֹּ֔אן וַהֲשִׁבֵ֖נִי דָּבָ֑ר וַיִּשְׁלָחֵ֙הוּ֙ מֵעֵ֣מֶק חֶבְר֔וֹן וַיָּבֹ֖א שְׁכֶֽמָה׃ (טו) וַיִּמְצָאֵ֣הוּ אִ֔ישׁ וְהִנֵּ֥ה תֹעֶ֖ה בַּשָּׂדֶ֑ה וַיִּשְׁאָלֵ֧הוּ הָאִ֛ישׁ לֵאמֹ֖ר מַה־תְּבַקֵּֽשׁ׃ (טז) וַיֹּ֕אמֶר אֶת־אַחַ֖י אָנֹכִ֣י מְבַקֵּ֑שׁ הַגִּֽידָה־נָּ֣א לִ֔י אֵיפֹ֖ה הֵ֥ם רֹעִֽים׃ (יז) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר הָאִישׁ֙ נָסְע֣וּ מִזֶּ֔ה כִּ֤י שָׁמַ֙עְתִּי֙ אֹֽמְרִ֔ים נֵלְכָ֖ה דֹּתָ֑יְנָה וַיֵּ֤לֶךְ יוֹסֵף֙ אַחַ֣ר אֶחָ֔יו וַיִּמְצָאֵ֖ם בְּדֹתָֽן׃

Genesis 37:12-17

(12) One time, when his brothers had gone to pasture their father’s flock at Shechem, (13) Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers are pasturing at Shechem. Come, I will send you to them.” He answered, Hineini “I am ready.” (14) And he said to him, “Go and see how your brothers are (Shalom) and how the flocks are faring (Shalom), and bring me back word.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron. When he reached Shechem, (15) a man came upon him wandering in the fields. The man asked him, “What are you looking for?” (16) He answered, “I am looking for my brothers. Could you tell me where they are pasturing?” (17) The man said, “They have gone from here, for I heard them say: Let us go to Dothan.” So Joseph followed his brothers and found them at Dothan.

רש"י על בראשית ל״ז:ט״ו:א׳

(א) וימצאהו איש זֶה גַּבְרִיאֵל, שֶנֶּאֱמַר וְהָאִישׁ גַּבְרִיאֵל (דניאל ב'):

Rashi on Genesis 37:15:1

(1) וימצאהו איש AND A MAN FOUND HIM — This was the angel Gabriel (Genesis Rabbah 84:14) as it is said, (Daniel 10:21) and the man (והאיש) Gabriel” (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayera 22).

דניאל ט׳:כ׳-כ״א

(כ) וְע֨וֹד אֲנִ֤י מְדַבֵּר֙ וּמִתְפַּלֵּ֔ל וּמִתְוַדֶּה֙ חַטָּאתִ֔י וְחַטַּ֖את עַמִּ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וּמַפִּ֣יל תְּחִנָּתִ֗י לִפְנֵי֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהַ֔י עַ֖ל הַר־קֹ֥דֶשׁ אֱלֹהָֽי׃ (כא) וְע֛וֹד אֲנִ֥י מְדַבֵּ֖ר בַּתְּפִלָּ֑ה וְהָאִ֣ישׁ גַּבְרִיאֵ֡ל אֲשֶׁר֩ רָאִ֨יתִי בֶחָז֤וֹן בַּתְּחִלָּה֙ מֻעָ֣ף בִּיעָ֔ף נֹגֵ֣עַ אֵלַ֔י כְּעֵ֖ת מִנְחַת־עָֽרֶב׃

Daniel 9:20-21

(20) While I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and laying my supplication before the LORD my God on behalf of the holy mountain of my God— (21) while I was uttering my prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had previously seen in the vision, was sent forth in flight and reached me about the time of the evening offering.

בראשית רבה פ״ד:י״ד

(יד) וַיִּמְצָאֵהוּ אִישׁ וְהִנֵּה תֹעֶה בַּשָּׂדֶה (בראשית לז, טו), אָמַר רַבִּי יַנַּאי שְׁלשָׁה מַלְאָכִים נִזְדַּוְּגוּ לוֹ, וַיִּמְצָאֵהוּ אִישׁ, וַיִּשְׁאָלֵהוּ הָאִישׁ, וַיֹּאמֶר הָאִישׁ...

Bereshit Rabbah 84:14

AND A MAN FOUND HIM AND BEHOLD HE WAS WANDERING IN THE FIELD — Rabbi Yannai said three angels approached Joseph: One found him, one asked him, and one said to him...

Where have we heard this before?

בראשית י״ח:ב׳

(ב) וַיִּשָּׂ֤א עֵינָיו֙ וַיַּ֔רְא וְהִנֵּה֙ שְׁלֹשָׁ֣ה אֲנָשִׁ֔ים נִצָּבִ֖ים עָלָ֑יו וַיַּ֗רְא וַיָּ֤רָץ לִקְרָאתָם֙ מִפֶּ֣תַח הָאֹ֔הֶל וַיִּשְׁתַּ֖חוּ אָֽרְצָה׃

Genesis 18:2

(2) Looking up, he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them and, bowing to the ground:

תורה תמימה על התורה, בראשית י״ח:ב׳:א׳

(א) והנה שלשה אנשים. מאן ננהו שלשה אנשים, מיכאל וגבריאל ורפאל, מיכאל שבא לבשר את שרה, רפאל לרפאות את אברהם, וגבריאל דאזל למהפכה לסדום.

Torah Temimah on Torah, Genesis 18:2:1

(1) AND BEHOLD THERE WERE THREE MEN — Who are the three men?Michael and Gabriel and Raphael. Michael came to inform Sarah of the news (of her forthcoming pregnancy), Raphael came to heal Abraham (who had been recently circumcised), and Gabriel who went to the destruction of Sodom.

How does this connect to "the man" in Vayeishev?

גור אריה על בראשית ל״ז:ט״ו:א׳

(א) זה גבריאל. דעל כרחך מלאך היה, דאם לא כן למה צריך כל הסיפור שמצאו איש ושאל אותו "איפה הם רועים", ואמר לו בדותן הם והלך אליהם, מאי נפקא מיניה אם מתחלה הלך אליהם בלי טעות או על ידי טעות, ולמה הוצרך הכתוב לכל זה לומר "וימצאהו איש", אלא שהשם יתברך שלח מלאך להגיעו אל אחיו, ואם לא כן לא הלך אל אחיו אלא היה חוזר משכם לביתו כיון שלא מצא את אחיו, כי לא ידע איפה הם, ולכך שלח אליו המלאך...

Gur Aryeh on Bereishit 37:15:1

(1) This is Gabriel. In regards to whether it is necessary to say that "the man" was an angel... If not, why do we need the whole story? The story could have been simplified to tell us that Joseph found a man and asked him, "Where are they (my brothers) pasturing?" Then the man would have told him that they were in Dothan, and Joseph would have gone to them. What is gained from beginning the narrative 'he walked to them' without wandering or 'he walked to them' as a result of wandering, and why did scripture require the detail "a man found him?"

So that HaShem would bless Joseph by sending him an angel so that he may eventually arrive to his brothers. If none of this had happened, he would not have gone to his brothers. Instead, he would have returned from Shechem directly to his home since he was not able to find his brothers, because he would not have known where they were. Therefore, HaShem sent him an angel...

Rabbi Lawrence Kushner on what this verser (15) is really doing here:

But we who have read the story countless times know better [that God apparently does nothing]. We understand that the whole thing is just one big setup to get the Jewish people living happily ever after in Egypt at the end of Genesis and then the history that will follow…. But evidence of divine manipulation abounds. Perhaps one of the most compelling examples is the unnamed stranger who meets Joseph and tells him where his brothers (and destiny) await. But it’s bad, artificial, clumsy, plot contrivance. Why not just send him to Dothan in the first place? What literary value is here? “Nothing at all except, perhaps, getting the reader to wonder about why there are seemingly irrelevant side trips occasionally populated by unnamed strangers whose words change everything.”

"What Are You Looking For?" By Rabbi Marc Gellman, March 1997

The angel who met Joseph in the field was not winged or terrifying, he was just a messenger angel—a man who was also an angel from God. Joseph surely did not know that this man was an angel, and the man himself may not even have known, yet he was a malach, a messenger bearing a message from God that was both important and fragile. Important because it was a message from God and hearing it changed Joseph’s life, but fragile because Joseph might not have heard it. He could easily have dismissed the stranger’s directions to Dothan, figuring that he might have confused his brothers with some other shepherds heading that way. Angels present us with a message but also a choice—the choice of whether or not we can hear the message. (https://www.firstthings.com/article/1997/03/002-what-are-you-looking-for)

Menachem Mendl of Kotzk: (doesn’t focus on who this "ish" is, but on what the "ish"says):

The angel taught Joseph here that whenever he finds himself wandering on life’s paths, when his soul weeps inside him from despair and doubt, he should remember first to become clear about what he really wants and yearns for. Then he will be able to return to his task; his vision and his path now will be the same.

Meaning: When what you seek on the path of life eludes you, and you are confused about what you seek, reach deep inside yourself and God will help you clarify the truth you seek.