The year is seventeen hundred b.c.. A shepherd drives a sharp iron knife through the wool to shear a struggling ram in the dirt. Hot summer air bakes the dry plateau, pressing heavy sweat into the eyes and aching joints of field laborers. Physical exhaustion weighs down the limbs, yet the promise of seasonal survival brings grim relief.
Gad watches his brothers harbor bitter hatred against Joseph. They tend sheep near Dothan under the scorching sun. The brothers plot murder to stop a dreamer from ruling over them. Reuben intervenes to cast the boy into an empty pit instead. Malice drives every movement in the encampment.
Deep hatred turns the human mind into a locked gear that grinds down its owner. Murderous intent requires deliberate planning and heavy physical effort. Brothers turn weapons against family out of pure territorial fear. The heart hardens like baked clay under prolonged heat.
Hatred wears out the body faster than honest labor under a scorching sun.
The dry earth absorbed spilled blood and hidden treachery. This violent afternoon left a permanent fracture in the house of Jacob.