And his brethren went to feed their father's flock at Shechem.
One line about pasture opens the darkest chapter in Joseph's life. The brothers take the family flocks to Shechem, and their father later sends Joseph after them. Why Shechem, of all places — a town the family had every reason to avoid?
Shechem was not neutral ground. It was the city where Jacob's sons had killed its people. One writer sets Hebron and Shechem side by side, then asks where our own feet have taken us.
Jacob had many sheep and cattle. His sons fed the sheep at Shechem — the city where they had killed its people. Hebron, high on a mountain, makes us think of heaven; but Shechem makes us think of sin, deception and murder. Jacob's sons left Hebron and their father to feed the sheep down at Shechem. Have we not all left our heavenly Father and chosen this bad world?
The text does not say why the brothers chose that pasture. One commentator presses the question, and finds a faint sign of life in Jacob's soul.
Why this return to Shechem? Was it because the purchased land, the family estate, was there? It was a dangerous place to be connected with. It had proved a snare to the whole family, and the Lord had called them away from it. Had Jacob been as watchful as he should have been, we might not now be hearing again of Shechem and of the flocks and the brothers there. Still, it is good to see signs of uneasiness in his mind about it. He sends Joseph to find out how the flocks and the brothers were doing there, as though he had some misgiving about them in such a suspect place. We may take this as the pulse of an awakened soul in Jacob, though that pulse is weak.
Both names carry meaning. Read as a picture of Christ, the journey traces the Son's path from the Father's side into the world.
Shechem means "shoulder." It speaks of taking up responsibility, which Israel did under law. So the Lord Jesus, sent by the Father, came to the place where Israel was responsible to be, under the law God had given them. Joseph was sent "from the valley of Hebron" (v. 14). Hebron means "communion." This reminds us that the Father sent His Son from the place of close communion. That communion had been the portion of the Father and the Son from all past eternity.
One word runs through this part of the story: sent. Commentators see here a first outline of what the New Testament later states plainly.
Joseph gives willing and hearty obedience. "Here am I," he answers to his father's command. "So," we read, "he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem." Here we see a picture of the coming of the Son of God into the world. In type, it is the arrival of Israel's Messiah among them. He was "sent" by his father; and in the New Testament we read that "the Father has sent the Son."
Joseph goes knowing what his brothers think of him. He does not shrink back. He does not turn home when the errand proves harder than he expected.
Joseph then starts on his mission. He is sure of his father's love and aware of his brothers' hatred… He answered the will of the father, and did not shrink from the post of danger which the father did not fear for him… So Joseph followed this path of service, carrying his father's message and showing his father's concern. He came to Shechem. There his mission met a check: his brothers were not there. Such checks often happen to test how real we are — whether the Father's will is all we want. Joseph's heart was set on finishing the mission. Instead of going home when he could not find them, he waits at his post until he gets news of them.
The cruellest detail is that the errand itself gave the hatred its opening.
In his own measure Joseph was like the Lord. He was a vessel of divine wisdom in humiliation that deepened into the shadow of death. His brothers rejected and scorned him most of all, and he was sold to the Gentiles. The very errand of love on which his father sent him to them gave them the opportunity for taking out their hatred on his lowly and blameless head.
- Sent from. Joseph leaves the valley of Hebron — a name meaning communion — a picture of the Son sent out from the Father's side.
- Sent to. Shechem was the scene of the family's old violence and a proven snare. The sent one goes straight there.
- Sent by. Jacob sends Joseph out of uneasiness about the flocks in that dangerous place — a weak pulse of life in him, but a real one.
- Sent through. Missing his brothers at Shechem tested him. Was the father's will all he wanted? He waited instead of going home.
- Sent into. The errand of love handed his brothers their opportunity. They poured out hatred on a blameless head — as men later did to Christ.
And Israel said to Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed [the flock] at Shechem? Come, that I may send thee to them. And he said to him, Here am I.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see after the welfare of thy brethren, and after the welfare of the flock; and bring me word again. And he sent him out of the vale of Hebron; and he came towards Shechem.
Joseph's brothers are away with the flocks at Shechem, and his father sends him to check on them. But the place has a dark history, and his brothers already hate him. Commentators read this short journey as a picture of the Father sending His Son.
Shechem was not safe ground for this family. One writer asks why the flocks were back there at all, and sees a trace of worry in the errand Jacob gives:
Why this return to Shechem? Was it because the purchased land, the family estate, was there? It was a dangerous place to be connected with. It had proved a snare to the whole family, and the Lord had called them away from it. Jacob should have been more watchful. If he had been, we might not be hearing again of Shechem, or of the flocks and the brothers there. But still, it is good to see signs of uneasiness in his mind about it. He sends Joseph to find out how the flocks and the brothers were doing there, as though he had some misgiving about them in so suspicious a place.
The two place names mark the ends of the journey. One writer reads them as a map of what the Son left and where He came:
Shechem means "shoulder," and speaks of assuming responsibility, which Israel did under law. So the Father sent the Lord Jesus to the place where Israel was responsible to be, under the law God had given them. Joseph was sent "from the valley of Hebron" (v. 14). Hebron means "communion." This reminds us that the Father sent His Son from the place of close communion. That communion had been the portion of the Father and the Son from all past eternity.
Another sets the same two places side by side, then turns them on the reader:
Hebron, high on a mountain, makes us think of heaven; but Shechem, of sin, deception and murder. Jacob's sons left Hebron and their father to feed the sheep down at Shechem. Have we not all left our heavenly Father and chosen this bad world?
Joseph agrees to go, knowing what kind of welcome waits at the other end of the road:
Joseph would have had good reason to draw back from such an errand. He knew his brothers' wickedness and hatred. He knew the envy of their hearts against him. He could with reason have asked his father to excuse him from this undertaking. But no; "Here I am," he says, always ready to obey, and glad to seek his brothers' welfare.
The word "sent" draws the New Testament parallel. The errand pictures a mission that met the same welcome:
Joseph first comes before you as a young man of seventeen (Gen. 37:2), and we find that his father sends him on a journey, saying, "Go now, see if it is well with your brothers… and bring me word" (v. 14). In the same way, of the blessed Lord we read, "The Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world" (1 John 4:14). Did the world know Him? Ah, no! "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him" (John 1:10-11). So it was here. No sooner does Joseph appear among his brothers than they plot, as you know, for his death.
Joseph reaches Shechem and cannot find his brothers. One writer draws out what he does next, and what it teaches anyone sent on an errand for God:
Responding to the will of the father, he did not shrink from the post of danger which the father did not see for him. Suppose the One greater than we are, in love and in wisdom, appoints us a path of service that would be pleasing to Himself. He knows all, and He sees no danger for us. Then we may surely enter on it in simple confidence… Joseph's heart was set on finishing the errand. Instead of turning back when he could not find his brothers, he waits at his post until he gets news of them, and then follows them to Dothan.
Asking after the welfare of others is a service anyone can take up:
Joseph's service brought him reproach and misunderstanding. In the end he had the joy of fellowship with his brothers, and "Joseph provided… his brothers" with food (Genesis 47:12). Paul cared for all the churches. Timothy had genuine concern for the saints. Epaphras prayed fervently for them. These are a few of those who sought the welfare of their brothers — a happy service open to all.
- Sent — Joseph goes because his father sends him, and the New Testament uses that same word of the Father sending His Son into the world.
- From — he leaves Hebron, whose name means "communion" — a picture of the place the Son came from.
- To — he goes to Shechem, a place that speaks of sin and murder, and a snare the Lord had already called the family away from.
- Willing — knowing their hatred, he answers "Here I am." When he cannot find them at Shechem, he presses on to Dothan.
- For — the whole journey aims at the welfare of his brothers, and that service is still open to anyone.