the Berasit Hebrew Dictionary

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=====reyim=====
רעימ

'reyim' is built on the root word 'rey' which according to traditional translations means "evil". Because of this, it should be a straightforward process to determine the meaning of 'reyim' as "the evil ones". In fact, this is the case, at least in the traditional translation of around 33 instances. 

However, in 39 other instances, these same traditional translations inexplicably translate 'reyim' as "shepherds"((Genesis37:13-16, Exodus 2:17, Exodus 2:19, Numbers 14:33, 1 Samuel 17:40, 1 Samuel 25:7, 1 Samuel 25:16, 2 Kings 10:12, 1 Chronicles 27:29, Isaiah 13:20, Isaiah 31:4, Isaiah 56:11, Jeremiah 3:15, Jeremiah 6:3, Jeremiah 10:21, Jeremiah 23:1-4, Jeremiah 33:12, Ezekiel 34:2, Ezekiel 34:7-13, Amos 1:2, Micah 5:5, Zephaniah 2:6, Zechariah 10:3, Zechariah 11:3, Zechariah 11:8)).

Is it reasonable to conclude that in ancient Hebrew culture, "evil" and "shepherd" were synonyms? This seems extremely unlikely. The reality appears to be quite the opposite, with many shepherds appearing as the protagonist in may of the ancient stories. 

This is exemplified well by the story told in Genesis 46-47; Joseph sends his brothers to Pharaoh to plead for their lives. The case that they make is that they are shepherds like their father before them. They tell the Pharoah that they "tend sheep". The exact word they use is 'rey' which apparently means "to tend".  

The exact phrase bears a close investigation:

In the Masoretic version we read: יֹּאמְר֣וּ אֶל־ פַּרְעֹ֗ה רֹעֵ֥ה צֹאן֙ 
which translates directly to "they said to Pharaoh //tending// flocks" or in some translations "they said to Pharaoh //shepherding// flocks"

Look at the Hebrew text again: יֹּאמְר֣וּ אֶל־ **פַּרְעֹ֗ה רֹעֵ֥ה** צֹאן֙ 
There appears to be two words in a row that are very nearly identical. These are the words "Pharoah" and "tend". The word Pharaoh is cognate with and readily recognizable as the Hebrew word [[pereyeh]] which is built on the same root word "to tend" or "to shepherd". This is because the Egyptian position of Pharaoh was explicitly intended to be and always seen as a "shepherd of the Egyptian people and lands". Pharoah is //tending// Egypt just as Joseph's brothers //tend// their sheep. This is why in their interview, Joseph was adamant that the choose their exact phrase very carefully. He knew that it was critical for his brother to make a good impression and they could do this by showing Pharaoh how similar to him they were.

'reyim' are not "Evil Ones". They are "shepherds", or more generally "caretakers".