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The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Genesis 37:17

"They have moved on from here," the man answered. "I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan.'" So Joseph set out after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Dothan;   Thompson Chain Reference - Bible Stories for Children;   Children;   Dothan;   Home;   Pleasant Sunday Afternoons;   Religion;   Stories for Children;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Dothan;   Joseph;   Shepherd;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Jacob;   Palestine;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Envy;   Family Life and Relations;   Government;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Dothan;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Iram;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Dothan;   Genesis;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Dothan;   Hexateuch;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Dothan ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Dothan;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Do'than;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Joseph;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Dothan;   Palestine;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Dual;   Joseph;   Palestine;   Sidra;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
The man said, "They have left here, for I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dotan.'" Yosef went after his brothers, and found them in Dotan.
King James Version
And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.
Lexham English Bible
And the man said, "They have moved on from here, for I heard them saying, ‘Let us go to Dothan.'" Then Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.
New Century Version
The man said, "They have already gone. I heard them say they were going to Dothan." So Joseph went to look for his brothers and found them in Dothan.
New English Translation
The man said, "They left this area, for I heard them say, ‘Let's go to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
Amplified Bible
Then the man said, "[They were here, but] they have moved on from this place. I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
New American Standard Bible
Then the man said, "They have moved from here; for I heard them say, 'Let's go to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And the man said, they are departed hece: for I heard them say, Let vs goe vnto Dothan. Then went Ioseph after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.
Legacy Standard Bible
Then the man said, "They have journeyed from here; for I heard them saying, ‘Let us go to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
Contemporary English Version
"They're not here anymore," the man replied. "I overheard them say they were going to Dothan." Joseph left and found his brothers in Dothan.
Complete Jewish Bible
The man said, "They've left here; because I heard them say, ‘Let's go to Dotan.'" Yosef went after his brothers and found them in Dotan.
Darby Translation
And the man said, They have removed from this; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them at Dothan.
Easy-to-Read Version
The man said, "They have already gone away. I heard them say that they were going to Dothan." So Joseph followed his brothers and found them in Dothan.
English Standard Version
And 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.
George Lamsa Translation
And the man said, They have departed from here; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan.
Good News Translation
The man said, "They have already left. I heard them say that they were going to Dothan." So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
Christian Standard Bible®
“They’ve moved on from here,” the man said. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” So Joseph set out after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
Literal Translation
And the man said, They have left here, for I heard them say, Let us go towards Dothan. And Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The man sayde: They are gone from hence, for I herde them saye: let vs go vnto Dothan. Then folowed Ioseph after his brethren, and founde them at Dothan.
American Standard Version
And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.
Bible in Basic English
And the man said, They have gone away from here, for they said in my hearing, Let us go to Dothan. So Joseph went after them and came up with them at Dothan.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the man sayde, They are departed hence: for I haue hearde them say, let vs go vnto Dothan. Thus went Ioseph after his brethren, and founde them in Dothan.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the man said: 'They are departed hence; for I heard them say: Let us go to Dothan.' And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.
King James Version (1611)
And the man said, They are departed hence: for I heard them say, Let vs goe to Dothan. And Ioseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the man said to him, They have departed hence, for I heard them saying, Let us go to Dothaim; and Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothaim.
English Revised Version
And the man said, They are departed hence: for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the man seide to hym, Thei yeden awei fro this place; forsothe Y herde hem seiynge, Go we into Dothaym. And Joseph yede aftir his britheren, and foond hem in Dothaym.
Young's Literal Translation
And the man saith, `They have journeyed from this, for I have heard some saying, Let us go to Dothan,' and Joseph goeth after his brethren, and findeth them in Dothan.
Update Bible Version
And the man said, They have departed from here; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan.
Webster's Bible Translation
And the man said, They have departed hence: for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren and found them in Dothan.
World English Bible
The man said, "They have left here, for I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan.'" Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan.
New King James Version
And the man said, "They have departed from here, for I heard them say, "Let us go to Dothan."' So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.
New Living Translation
"Yes," the man told him. "They have moved on from here, but I heard them say, ‘Let's go on to Dothan.'" So Joseph followed his brothers to Dothan and found them there.
New Life Bible
And the man said, "They have moved from here. For I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.'" So Joseph followed his brothers and found them at Dothan.
New Revised Standard
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.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the man said, They have broken up from hence, for I heard them saying Let us go our way towards Dothan. So Joseph went after his brethren, and found them, in Dothan.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And the man said to him: They are departed from this place: for I heard them say: Let us go to Dothain. And Joseph went forward after his brethren, and found them in Dothain.
Revised Standard Version
And 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.
THE MESSAGE
The man said, "They've left here, but I overheard them say, ‘Let's go to Dothan.'" So Joseph took off, tracked his brothers down, and found them in Dothan.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then the man said, "They have moved from here; for I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

Contextual Overview

12Some time later, Joseph's brothers had gone to pasture their father's flocks near Shechem. 13Israel said to him, "Are not your brothers pasturing the flocks at Shechem? Get ready; I am sending you to them." "I am ready," Joseph replied. 14Then Israel told him, "Go now and see how your brothers and the flocks are faring, and bring word back to me." So he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron. And when Joseph arrived in Shechem, 15a man found him wandering in the field and asked, "What are you looking for?" 16"I am looking for my brothers," Joseph replied. "Can you please tell me where they are pasturing their flocks?" 17"They have moved on from here," the man answered. "I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan.'" So Joseph set out after his brothers and found them at Dothan.18Now Joseph's brothers saw him in the distance, and before he arrived, they plotted to kill him. 19"Here comes that dreamer!" they said to one another. 20"Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We can say that a vicious animal has devoured him. Then we shall see what becomes of his dreams!" 21When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue Joseph from their hands. "Let us not take his life," he said.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Dothan: 2 Kings 6:13

Reciprocal: Matthew 10:36 - General

Cross-References

2 Kings 6:13
So the king said, "Go and see where he is, that I may send men to capture him." On receiving the report, "Elisha is in Dothan,"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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 m; according to Brochardus n, 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 o 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 p; it was in the tribe of Manasseh, about forty four miles from Jerusalem to the north, and six miles from Tiberias to the west q:

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.

m Bunting's Travels, p. 79. Ainsworth in loc. n Apud Drusium in loc. o Onomastic. Sacra, p. 526. p Loc. Heb. fol. 90. H. q Bunting, ut supra, (m) p. 80.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

- Joseph Was Sold into Egypt

17. דתין dotayı̂n Dothain, “two wells?” (Gesenius)

25. נכאת neko't “tragacanth” or goat’s-thorn gum, yielded by the “astragalus gummifer”, a native of Mount Lebanon. צרי tsērı̂y “opobalsamum,” the resin of the balsam tree, growing in Gilead, and having healing qualities. לט loṭ, λῆδον lēdon, “ledum, ladanum,” in the Septuagint στακτή staktē. The former is a gum produced from the cistus rose. The latter is a gum resembling liquid myrrh.

36. פוטיפר pôṭı̂yphar Potiphar, “belonging to the sun.”

The sketch of the race of Edom, given in the preceding piece, we have seen, reaches down to the time of Moses. Accordingly, the history of Jacob’s seed, which is brought before us in the present document, reverts to a point of time not only before the close of that piece, but before the final record of what precedes it. The thread of the narrative is here taken up from the return of Jacob to Hebron, which was seventeen years before the death of Isaac.

Genesis 37:1-5

Joseph is the favorite of his father, but not of his brethren. “In the land of his father’s sojournings.” This contrasts Jacob with Esau, who removed to Mount Seir. This notice precedes the phrase, “These are the generations.” The corresponding sentence in the case of Isaac is placed at the end of the preceding section of the narrative Genesis 25:11. “The son of seventeen years;” in his seventeenth year Genesis 37:32. “The sons of Bilhah.” The sons of the handmaids were nearer his own age, and perhaps more tolerant of the favorite than the sons of Leah the free wife. Benjamin at this time was about four years of age. “An evil report of them.” The unsophisticated child of home is prompt in the disapproval of evil, and frank in the avowal of his feelings. What the evil was we are not informed; but Jacob’s full-grown sons were now far from the paternal eye, and prone, as it seems, to give way to temptation. Many scandals come out to view in the chosen family. “Loved Joseph.” He was the son of his best-loved wife, and of his old age; as Benjamin had not yet come into much notice. “A Coat of many colors.” This was a coat reaching to the hands and feet, worn by persons not much occupied with manual labor, according to the general opinion. It was, we conceive, variegated either by the loom or the needle, and is therefore, well rendered χιτὼν ποικίλος chitōn poikilos, a motley coat. “Could not bid peace to him.” The partiality of his father, exhibited in so weak a manner, provokes the anger of his brothers, who cannot bid him good-day, or greet him in the ordinary terms of good-will.

Genesis 37:5-11

Joseph’s dreams excite the jealousy of his brothers. His frankness in reciting his dream to his brothers marks a spirit devoid of guile, and only dimly conscious of the import of his nightly visions. The first dream represents by a figure the humble submission of all his brothers to him, as they rightly interpret it. “For his dreams and for his words.” The meaning of this dream was offensive enough, and his telling of it rendered it even more disagreeable. A second dream is given to express the certainty of the event Genesis 41:32. The former serves to interpret the latter. There the sheaves are connected with the brothers who bound them, and thereby indicate the parties. The eleven stars are not so connected with them. But here Joseph is introduced directly without a figure, and the number eleven, taken along with the eleven sheaves of the former dream, makes the application to the brothers plain. The sun and moon clearly point out the father and mother. The mother is to be taken, we conceive, in the abstract, without nicely inquiring whether it means the departed Rachel, or the probably still living Leah. Not even the latter seems to have lived to see the fulfillment of this prophetic dream Genesis 49:31. The second dream only aggravated the hatred of his brothers; but his father, while rebuking him for his speeches, yet marked the saying. The rebuke seems to imply that the dream, or the telling of it, appears to his father to indicate the lurking of a self-sufficient or ambitious spirit within the breast of the youthful Joseph. The twofold intimation, however, came from a higher source.

Genesis 37:12-17

Joseph is sent to Dothan. Shekem belonged to Jacob; part of it by purchase, and the rest by conquest. Joseph is sent to inquire of their welfare (שׁלום shālom “peace,” Genesis 37:4). With obedient promptness the youth goes to Shekem, where he learns that they had removed to Dothan, a town about twelve miles due north of Shekem.

Genesis 37:18-24

His brothers cast him into a pit. “This master of dreams;” an eastern phrase for a dreamer. “Let us slay him.” They had a foreboding that his dreams might prove true, and that he would become their arbitrary master. This thought at all events would abate somewhat of the barbarity of their designs. It is implied in the closing sentence of their proposal. Reuben dissuades them from the act of murder, and advises merely to cast him into the pit, to which they consent. He had a more tender heart, and perhaps a more tender conscience than the rest, and intended to send Joseph back safe to his father. He doubtless took care to choose a pit that was without water.

Genesis 37:25-30

Reuben rips his clothes when he finds Joseph gone. “To eat bread.” This shows the cold and heartless cruelty of their deed. “A caravan” - a company of travelling merchants. “Ishmaelites.” Ishmael left his father’s house when about fourteen or fifteen years of age. His mother took him a wife probably when he was eighteen, or twenty at the furthest. He had arrived at the latter age about one hundred and sixty-two years before the date of the present occurrence. He had twelve sons Genesis 25:13-15, and if we allow only four other generations and a fivefold increase, there will be about fifteen thousand in the fifth generation. “Came from Gilead;” celebrated for its balm Jeremiah 8:22; Jeremiah 46:11. The caravan road from Damascus to Egypt touches upon the land of Gilead, goes through Beth-shean, and passes by Dothan. “Spicery.” This gum is called tragacanth, or goats-thorn gum, because it was supposed to be obtained from this plant. “Balm,” or balsam; an aromatic substance obtained from a plant of the genus Amyris, a native of Gilead. “Myrrh” is the name of a gum exuding from the balsamodendron myrrha, growing in Arabia Felix. “Lot,” however, is supposed to be the resinous juice of the cistus or rock rose, a plant growing in Crete and Syria. Judah, relenting, and revolting perhaps from the crime of fratricide, proposes to sell Joseph to the merchants.

Midianites and Medanites Genesis 37:36 are mere variations apparently of the same name. They seem to have been the actual purchasers, though the caravan takes its name from the Ishmaelites, who formed by far the larger portion of it. Midian and Medan were both sons of Abraham, and during one hundred and twenty-five years must have increased to a small clan. Thus, Joseph is sold to the descendants of Abraham. “Twenty silver pieces;” probably shekels. This is the rate at which Moses estimates a male from five to twenty years old Leviticus 27:5. A man-servant was valued by him at thirty shekels Exodus 21:32. Reuben finding Joseph gone, rends his clothes, in token of anguish of mind for the loss of his brother and the grief of his father.

Genesis 37:31-36

The brothers contrive to conceal their crime; and Joseph is sold into Egypt. “Torn, torn in pieces is Joseph.” The sight of the bloody coat convinces Jacob at once that Joseph has been devoured by a wild beast. “All his daughters.” Only one daughter of Jacob is mentioned by name. These are probably his daughters-in-law. “To the grave.” Sheol is the place to which the soul departs at death. It is so called from its ever craving, or being empty. “Minister.” This word originally means eunuch, and then, generally, any officer about the court or person of the sovereign. “Captain of the guards.” The guards are the executioners of the sentences passed by the sovereign on culprits, which were often arbitrary, summary, and extremely severe. It is manifest, from this dark chapter, that the power of sin has not been extinguished in the family of Jacob. The name of God does not appear, and his hand is at present only dimly seen among the wicked designs, deeds, and devices of these unnatural brothers. Nevertheless, his counsel of mercy standeth sure, and fixed is his purpose to bring salvation to the whole race of man, by means of his special covenant with Abraham.


 
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