Genesis 37:17

17 The man said, "They have gone away, for I heard them say, "Let us go to Dothan.' " So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan.

Genesis 37:17 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 37:17

And the man said, they are departed hence
They had been there, in the field where he and Joseph were, and which was probably the field before mentioned; but for good reasons, perhaps for want of pasture, or in order to find better feeding for their cattle, they were gone from thence, from the fields about Shechem:

for I heard them say, let us go to Dothan;
this was, as some say, four miles from Shechem, others eight ^F13; according to Brochardus ^F14, it was a plain country between fruitful hills, contiguous to fountains, was pasture ground, and very fit for feeding cattle; and its very name, as Hillerus ^F15 notes, signifies grassy, or a place of tender grass: here, afterwards, was a city built, not far from Samaria, ( 2 Kings 6:13 ) ; about twelve miles to the north of it, as says Jerom ^F16; it was in the tribe of Manasseh, about forty four miles from Jerusalem to the north, and six miles from Tiberias to the west ^F17: and Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan;
which shows that he had a real desire to see them, and know their state and condition, that he might report it to his father; since he might have returned on not finding them at Shechem, that being the place he was sent to, and would have been sufficient to have shown obedience to his father's commands, though perhaps it might not have come up to his full sense and meaning.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F13 Bunting's Travels, p. 79. Ainsworth in loc.
F14 Apud Drusium in loc.
F15 Onomastic. Sacra, p. 526.
F16 Loc. Heb. fol. 90. H.
F17 Bunting, ut supra, (^F13) p. 80.

Genesis 37:17 In-Context

15 and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, "What are you seeking?"

16 "I am seeking my brothers," he said; "tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock."

17 The man said, "They have gone away, for I heard them say, "Let us go to Dothan.' " So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan.

18 They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him.

19 They said to one another, "Here comes this dreamer.