Gen 37:17

“Now Joseph found his brothers in Dothan, which means "desertion." And where is the person who deserts God but in desertion? No wonder if they deserted who did not hear him saying, "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest." Therefore Joseph came to Dothan, "and they saw him coming from afar, before he drew near to them, and they raged that they might kill him." It is right that they were far off who were in desertion, and so they were raging, because Christ had not drawn near to them. For if the model of Christ had drawn near to them, they would surely have loved their brother. But they could not be near, for they were plotting fratricide. "Behold, that dreamer is coming. Now therefore come, let us kill him." Were not the men who were saying such words plotting a sacrilegious fratricide, as Solomon says of them, "Let us remove the just one, because he is profitless to us"?”

“נסעו מזה THEY HAVE JOURNEYED HENCE — they have departed from all feeling of brotherhood. נלכה דתינה LET US GO TO DOTHAN — “let us go to seek some legal (דתות) pretexts” to put you to death. According to the literal sense, however, it is the name of place, and Scripture never really loses its literal sense (Shabbat 63a).”

“THEY HAVE JOURNEYED HENCE. “They have departed from any feeling of brotherhood. ‘Let us go to Dothan, that is, let us go to seek pretexts of dathoth (laws) with which to put you to death.’ According to the literal sense, however, Dothan is the name of a place, and Scripture never sheds its literal sense.” This is Rabbi Shlomo’s [Rashi’s] language. Now it was not the intent of our Rabbis to say that the man expressly told him, “They have departed hence from any feeling of brotherhood, and they have gone to stir up charges and pretexts against you,” for if so, he would have avoided going there and would not have endangered himself. Instead, their intent is to say that “the man” — Gabriel — who told it to him told the truth, but he spoke words having a double meaning, both of them true. Joseph, however, did not grasp the hidden meaning therein, and he followed the obvious. He thus followed his brothers and found them in Dothan, as he had told him. The Rabbis expounded this on the basis of the fact that the “man” referred to was an angel, and if so, he knew where the brothers were. Why then did he not say, “They are in Dothan,” instead of speaking as if he was in doubt, i.e., that he heard from them that they were going to Dothan but he does not know where they are at present. It is for this reason that they expounded the above Midrash concerning his words. FOR I HEARD THEY ARE SAYING. “I heard that they were saying.”, literally, “I heard they are saying,” is as if it were written, shamati shehayu omrim, “I heard that they were saying,” thus referring to a past event. Similarly the expression, Rebekah hears, means that she heard. It is possible that he is saying: “The shepherds have gone from here for I heard people saying, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ Perhaps they were your brothers.” The man thus spoke with him as if he were avoiding the subject.”