וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ל֗וֹ לֶךְ־נָ֨א רְאֵ֜ה אֶת־שְׁל֤וֹם אַחֶ֙יךָ֙ וְאֶת־שְׁל֣וֹם הַצֹּ֔אן וַהֲשִׁבֵ֖נִי דָּבָ֑ר וַיִּשְׁלָחֵ֙הוּ֙ מֵעֵ֣מֶק חֶבְר֔וֹן וַיָּבֹ֖א שְׁכֶֽמָה׃
Und er sprach zu ihm: Geh doch hin, sieh nach dem Wohlbefinden deiner Brüder und der Herde und bringe mir Nachricht. So schickte er ihn von dem Thale bei Hebron, und er kam nach Sichem.
That the Worse is wont to Attack the Better
[15] Now you notice that Scripture goes out of its way to record even the place from which he dispatches him, all but giving the reader a plain hint to avoid the literal interpretation. For it says “out of the vale of Hebron” (Gen. 37:14). Now “Hebron,” a “coupling” and “comradeship,” is a figurative title for our body, because it is “coupled” with a soul, and has established a friendship and “comradeship” with it. As “vales” it has organs of sense, great receivers of all objects of sense outside it. These pump over the understanding the countless qualities of things, and pour them in upon it through the receivers, flooding it and totally submerging it.