Genesis 37:12

12 and when his brethren dwelled in Shechem, about [the] keeping of [the] flocks of their father, (And one day, when his brothers were tending their father's flocks in Shechem,)

Genesis 37:12 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 37:12

And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in
Shechem.
] Very probably some considerable time after the telling of the above dreams; it was usual to remove flocks from place to place for the sake of pasturage; and sometimes at a great distance, as Shechem was from Hebron, where Jacob now dwelt, said ^F9 to be about sixty miles; but this is not so much to be marvelled at as the place itself, whither they went, for though Jacob had bought a parcel of a field in this place, ( Genesis 33:19 ) ; which might be a reason for their going thither to feed their father's flocks in his own field; yet it was the place where they had committed a most outrageous action in destroying all, the males there, and therefore might fear the inhabitants of the neighbouring cities would rise upon them and cut them off.

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 Bunting's Travels, p. 79. Ainsworth in loc.

Genesis 37:12 In-Context

10 And when he had told this dream to his father, and his brethren, his father blamed him, and said, What will this dream mean to itself that thou hast seen? Whether I, and thy mother, and thy brethren, shall worship thee on (the) earth? (And when he told this dream to his father, and his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said, What meaneth this dream that thou hast seen? Shall I, and thy mother, and thy brothers, all bow low to the ground before thee?)

11 Therefore his brethren had envy to him. Forsooth the father beheld privily the thing, (And so his brothers envied him, but his father privately considered it all.)

12 and when his brethren dwelled in Shechem, about [the] keeping of [the] flocks of their father, (And one day, when his brothers were tending their father's flocks in Shechem,)

13 Israel said to Joseph, Thy brethren keep (the) sheep in Shechem (Thy brothers tend the sheep in Shechem); come thou, I shall send thee to them. And when Joseph answered, I am ready,

14 Israel said, Go thou, and see whether all things be wellsome with thy brethren, and (with) the sheep; and (then come back, and) tell thou to me what is done. (And so) He was sent from the valley of Hebron, and came into Shechem;