Reuben Mourns Over Empty Cistern

Heavy dust settles across the arid grazing fields of the Dothan valley. Nomadic caravans haul heavy loads of resin and spices along the inland commercial routes. The brothers stand near a dry limestone water reservoir plunging nearly twenty feet into the bedrock. Reuben frantically searches the jagged stone walls for his missing younger brother. He fiercely tears his woven woolen garments in sudden and overwhelming distress. Zebulun completely refuses his daily portion of cooked meat and ground wheat flatbread.

The fertile Dothan valley sits roughly sixty miles north of modern Jerusalem. It serves as a natural bottleneck for ancient trade wagons heading south toward Egypt. Canaanite herdsmen heavily guarded these valuable water sources during the second millennium b.c. The ancient narrative portrays Zebulun as a man deeply burdened by a heavy conscience. He firmly believes the God of Israel watches his daily actions with careful attention. He refuses to eat while his brother remains missing from their pastoral camp.

Ancient rural cisterns feature a narrow top opening carved directly through solid limestone bedrock. The carved neck widens into a broad bell shape to hold maximum winter rainwater. Interior walls often receive a thick layer of crushed lime plaster to prevent continuous seepage. A trapped individual cannot scale the sheer plastered walls without heavy braided hemp ropes. Joseph leaves behind only a dark circular void measuring fifteen feet across the stone floor. The brothers quickly slaughter a domestic goat to smear fresh blood on his ornate tunic.

True compassion requires a man to quietly share the heavy grief of his own brother.

Reuben stares downward into the dry limestone cavity until the hot desert sun finally sets. Harsh evening winds blow loose dirt and sand across the empty northern grazing pastures. Zebulun carefully hides his quiet weeping from the angry men who sold their own flesh. The heavy silence of the brothers masks a deep and permanent fracture within the family.