seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Genesis 37:12 Now his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem, 13 and Israel said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them.”
“Very well,” he replied.
14 So he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.” Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron.
When Joseph arrived at Shechem, 15 a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16 He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?”
17 “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’”
“Very well,” he replied.
14 So he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.” Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron.
When Joseph arrived at Shechem, 15 a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16 He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?”
17 “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’”
This is from bible-commentaries.com.
With verse 12 starts the great adventure of Joseph's life. His father sends him on an errand to Sechem to see how his brothers are doing. Considering the fact stated in verse 2, it seems that Jacob was rather naive in doing this. Jacob's sons must have believed that Jacob sent Joseph on a spying mission. It seems that Jacob had very little idea about what was going on in his family, or that he did not care.
Upon arrival at Shechem, Joseph learns from a man who sees him wandering around, that his brothers have moved the flocks farther away to Dothan.
Upon arrival at Shechem, Joseph learns from a man who sees him wandering around, that his brothers have moved the flocks farther away to Dothan.
The comments in biblestudytools.com bring up an interesting point.
The vale of Shechem was, from the earliest mention of Canaan, blest with extraordinary abundance of water. Therefore did the sons of Jacob go from Hebron to this place, though it must have cost them near twenty hours' travelling--that is, at the shepherd rate, a little more than fifty miles. But the herbage there was so rich and nutritious that they thought it well worth the pains of so long a journey, to the neglect of the grazing district of Hebron.
Israel said, . . . Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem?--Anxious to learn how his sons were doing in their distant encampment, Jacob dispatched Joseph; and the youth, accepting the mission with alacrity, left the vale of Hebron, sought them at Shechem, heard of them from a man in "the field" (the wide and richly cultivated plain of Esdraelon), and found that they had left that neighborhood for Dothan, probably being compelled by the detestation in which, from the horrid massacre, their name was held.
Israel said, . . . Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem?--Anxious to learn how his sons were doing in their distant encampment, Jacob dispatched Joseph; and the youth, accepting the mission with alacrity, left the vale of Hebron, sought them at Shechem, heard of them from a man in "the field" (the wide and richly cultivated plain of Esdraelon), and found that they had left that neighborhood for Dothan, probably being compelled by the detestation in which, from the horrid massacre, their name was held.
So Israel's [Jacob's] sons had to be careful where they hung out with the flocks. After all, they had convinced all the men in one town to get circumcised and, while the men were disabled, murdered them. So, it seems that Israel [Jacob] did care about his sons, though it could have been his large flock of sheep. I get the impression that Joseph didn't work as a shepherd. Boy, he must have really been a spoiled son....
