So Ya•a•qovꞋ settled in the land of his father's residencies, in the land of Kᵊna•anꞋ.

One day, Yo•seiphꞋ was shepherding the family's tzon with his brothers—and Yo•seiphꞋ brought a bad, malicious false slander concerning his brothers to their father.

כְּתֹנֶת (echoed today in the stripes of the ta•litꞋ)

Now, among his sons, Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ most loved Yo•seiphꞋ because he was the son of his senior years; and he made for him a striped כְּתֹנֶת, distinguishing Yo•seiphꞋ as his heir apparent.

When his brothers saw that their father loved Yo•seiphꞋ more than them, they eschewed Yo•seiphꞋ and would not even greet him with the customary "Shâ•lomꞋ al•eikh•emꞋ".

Then Yo•seiphꞋ dreamed a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they eschewed him even more. He told them, "Listen to this dream I dreamed. Look, we were tying bales of hay in the field and, suddenly, I noticed that while I had stood my bale on end, upright, you all laid your bales on their sides, horizontal, bowing around my bale."

"You think that means that you're going to reign over us?" his brothers asked incredulously. "You… think that you… are going to rule over us?" they mocked. And they eschewed him all the more because of his dreams and assertions.

Then Yo•seiphꞋ dreamed another dream—which he again told his brothers. "Look," Yo•seiphꞋ related to them, "I've dreamed yet another dream. Look, the sun, moon and 11 stars bowed down to me."

When he told the dream to his father, Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ, and his brothers, Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ admonished him, saying, "What does your dream mean? I and your mother and all of your brothers are going to bow down to you?" His brothers envied him, but Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ watch-guarded the matter.

Pre-Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ Kᵊna•anꞋ, ca. B.C.E. 2000 – 1500. ShᵊkhëmꞋ is 124 km (77 mi.) North of Khë•vᵊr•onꞋ. Dō•tânꞋ is a further 30 km (19 mi.) NNW beyond ShᵊkhëmꞋ. Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ may have been concerned, perhaps having heard, before their trip, some of his sons' loose talk, that they were nearing EiꞋmëq Yi•zᵊrᵊël, infringing into territories that could trigger a war with the A•mor•imꞋ, the A•ram•imꞋ, the A•mon•imꞋ, the Rᵊphâ•imꞋ, or some of the other Kᵊna•an•imꞋ city-kings of the north.

Sheep grazing, Tel Dotan (photo: Ido Erez)

As his brothers shepherded their father's tzon ever northward from Khë•vᵊr•onꞋ, they were expected to eventually reached the hills around ShᵊkhëmꞋ. "Hey, Yo•seiphꞋ?" Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ called. "Shouldn't your brothers be around ShᵊkhëmꞋ by now? Come on, I'll get things ready for you to go see them and bring back news to me how they're doing."

"I'm over here." Yo•seiphꞋ answered.

"Go, prithee," Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ urged his favorite son. "Check the shâ•lomꞋ of your brothers and the shâ•lomꞋ of the tzon and bring news to me." So Yi•sᵊr•â•eilꞋ sent Yo•seiphꞋ from EiꞋmeq Khë•vᵊr•onꞋ and he went to ShᵊkhëmꞋ where a man found him wandering in a field.

"What are you looking for?" the man asked. "I'm looking for my brothers" Yo•seiphꞋ replied. "Can you tell me where they're shepherding?"

Tel Dotan (in background; photo: Ido Erez)

"Well, they already left here," the man answered. "They said they were headed toward Dō•tânꞋ." So Yo•seiphꞋ continued north to Dō•tânꞋ, where he found them.

Long before Yo•seiphꞋ reached Dō•tânꞋ, his brothers recognized his striped kaftan approaching in the distance—and they connived to kill him.