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 below). In J, Jacob is dwelling in the vale of Hebron; the sons have gone to Shechem. If the incident of ch. 34 belonged to the same cycle of tradition, the brethren would perhaps hardly have ventured into the neighbourhood of Shechem so soon (see p. 418); though it has been argued that this very circumstance accounts for Jacob's solicitude. In E we find no indication of either the starting-point or the goal of the journey. 14a suggests that the flocks were at some distance from Jacob's home: possibly the narrative is based on a stratum of E in which Jacob's permanent residence was at Bethel (see on 35$1$).—15-17. The man who directs Joseph to Dothan is not necessarily a neighbour of the family who knew Joseph by sight (Gu.); nor is the incident a faded version of a theophany (Ho. Ben.): it is simply a vivid description of the uncertainty of Joseph's persistent search for his brethren.—Dôthān (2 Ki. 6$13ff.$, Jth. 3$9$ 4$6$ 7$18$) is the modern Tell Dōthān, near Ǧenīn, about 15 miles N of Shechem. Some local legend may have connected it with the history of Joseph.

$15-17$ would be a sufficiently natural continuation of $14b$ (J), and Gu.'s conjecture (above) establishes no presumption to the contrary. They may, however, be from E: in this case it is probable that E did not mention Shechem at all, nor J Dothan.

18-30. The plot to murder Joseph frustrated by Reuben (E), or Judah (J).—18a, 19, 20 E &#8214; 18b J. Common to both sources is the proposal to kill Joseph; E develops it most fully, revealing the motive of the crime and

] with puncta extraordinaria, because for some reason the text was suspected.—14. (23$13a$)] The words might be a gloss based on P (35$13b$ 49$14b$ 50$13a$); but Steuernagel's proposal to remove them (Einw. 36) takes too little account of the fragmentariness of J's narrative in ch. 35; and Gu.'s argument that the journey was too long for a young lad is weak.—17. ] [E]G .—, ] The form with is the older (cf. Eg. Tu-ti-y-na, Müller, AE, 88), the other an accommodation to a common nominal termination. The ending [Language: **] is not dual, but an old (Aram. ?) locative corresponding to Heb. (see pp. 342 f.; Barth, NB, 319$2. 19$; G-K. § 88 c).
 * cation, but a variant, of $27$, continuing $29ff.$. $13$ obviously follows $5$.—12.

18a and 18ba are obviously doublets; the analysis adopted above gives the simplest arrangement.—] 'acted craftily,' only found in late writings (Nu. 25$18$, Mal. 1$14$, Ps. 105$25$†), but the [root] occurs in Aram.