The History of Antiquity (Vol. 1-6). Duncker Max

the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. Then they slew a goat, and dipped the coat in the blood, and brought it to their father. Jacob knew the coat, and cried: An evil beast has eaten my son, and torn his garments; and he would not be comforted, but said: In sorrow will I go down to the grave to my son. But Joseph was carried away to Egypt, and was bought by Potiphar, an Egyptian in the service of the king, and captain of the body-guard, from the Ishmaelites. Joseph found grace in the eyes of his master; and as everything which he undertook prospered, Potiphar set him over his house. Joseph was goodly to look upon, and the wife of his master cast her eyes upon him. But he resisted her, and when she caught him by his garment, he left his garment in her hand, and fled out. Then she kept Joseph's garment by her till Potiphar returned, and said to him: The Hebrew servant, whom thou has brought to us, came to me to mock me; and when I lifted up my voice, he fled away and left his garment. Then Potiphar was angry, and took Joseph and cast him into the house of bondage, where were the prisoners of the king. And it came to pass that the chief butler and the chief baker sinned against the king, and Pharaoh put them in prison. Each of these had a dream in the night, and Joseph interpreted the dreams; and it came to pass, as he foretold, that the chief baker was hanged, but the chief butler was restored by Pharaoh to his office, on his birthday, so that, as before, he gave the cup into his hand. Two years afterwards, the king of Egypt saw in a dream seven fat kine come up out of the Nile, and after them seven lean kine, and the lean kine ate up the fat. As none of the interpreters and wise men of Egypt could interpret this dream, the chief butler bethought him of the young man of the tribe of the Hebrews, who had interpreted his own dream in the prison, and told Pharaoh what had befallen him. Then Pharaoh sent, and Joseph was quickly brought out of prison, and shaved himself, changed his garments, and came before Pharaoh and said: Seven years of abundance will come in the land of Egypt, and after them seven years of famine. Let Pharaoh collect food in the good years, and gather together corn, and keep it against the years of famine, that the land be not destroyed. Then Pharaoh took his ring from his hand and placed it on the hand of Joseph, and clothed him in garments of linen, and placed a golden chain upon his neck, and said: I place thee over the whole land of Egypt, only by my throne will I be above thee. And Pharaoh called Joseph Zaphnath-paaneah, and gave him Asenath, the daughter of the priest at On, to wife, and caused him to ride in his second chariot, and the people cried before him: Bow the knee. When the seven years of abundance came, Joseph collected food, and gathered up corn in the cities, without number, as the sand of the sea. And when the years of famine came, there was no bread in the land, and the people were compelled to buy bread from the granaries of Pharaoh; and when their money failed, they brought their horses, cattle, sheep, and asses to buy food from Joseph, and all the cattle in the land came to the king. And when they had no cattle left to buy corn, they gave their land and fields. Thus Joseph bought the land for Pharaoh, and the country became Pharaoh's, and Joseph said: Here is seed for you; sow your fields, and at the time of harvest, give the fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own for food, for yourselves and your children, and those in your houses. Thus Joseph laid on the land of the Egyptians a tax of the fifth, until this day.

      The famine was sore in all lands, and in the land of Canaan, and when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, he said to his sons: Go down and buy for us there, that we die not. Then the brethren of Joseph went down; but Benjamin, whom Rachel had borne after Joseph, Jacob sent not with them, for he feared that some evil might happen to him. Joseph, who sold corn to the people, knew his brethren when they bowed themselves to the earth before him, and remembered how he once dreamed at Hebron that he was binding sheaves with his brethren in the field, and his sheaf stood upright, and the sheaves of his brethren bowed before it; and that the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed before him. The interpreter was between them, and he dealt roughly with his brethren, and said: Ye are spies, who are come to see the weakness of the land. No, my lord, they answered, we are true men, twelve brethren, the sons of one father in the land of Canaan. The youngest has remained with our father, and one is not. Then Joseph took Simeon, and bound him and said: Take corn for the need of your house, and then bring your youngest brother with you, that I may see that ye are not spies; then will I give you back your brother, and ye shall deal in our land.

When Jacob heard this, he said to his sons: Ye make me childless; Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and Benjamin ye would take from me. All these things are against me. But when the corn was eaten which they brought out of Egypt, he sent his sons a second time to buy food; and Benjamin was with them. Judah had promised his father to be surety for him. Joseph caused them to be brought into his house, and gave them water to wash their feet, and food for their asses, and restored Simeon to them, and bade them eat at his table. And food was placed for the brethren by themselves, and for Joseph and the Egyptians by themselves. And Joseph caused presents to be given to them, and Benjamin's present was the largest; and they were drunken in his house. Then Joseph caused his steward to fill the sacks of the strangers with corn, and to replace the purchase money in each sack, and in Benjamin's sack to place his own cup of silver. When the morning came, and the brethren went forth from the city with their sacks and their asses, Joseph's steward overtook them not far from the city, and demanded the silver and gold which they had stolen, and found the cup in Benjamin's sack. The brethren rent their garments and turned back, and cast themselves on the earth before Joseph. But he said: With whomsoever the cup was found he shall be my servant; the rest may go in peace. Then Judah came forward and said: When we set forth our father said, If ye take Benjamin also from me, and any evil happen to him, ye will bring my grey hairs with sorrow to the grave. If then we go back to our father, thy servant, and the boy is not with us, he will die, for his soul hangs upon him; let me remain here in his place, and be thy servant, that I may not see the sorrow of my father. Then Joseph could no longer restrain himself: he caused the Egyptians to go out from his presence, and lifted up his voice with tears, and said: I am Joseph, your brother, whom ye sold. Hasten, and go to my father, and tell him of all my glory. Bid him come to me, and you shall dwell here with your possessions. But Jacob did not believe the words of his sons, till he saw the chariots which Pharaoh had sent to carry him to Egypt. And Jacob set out with his sons, their wives and their children, seventy souls, with his flocks, and his goods, to Egypt; and Joseph came to meet him in his chariot, and wept long on the neck of his father, and gave to his kindred food, and a dwelling-place in the land of Goshen. When Jacob's days came to a close, he called his son Joseph, and said to him: Thy two sons, born to thee in the land of Egypt, shall be mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be to me as Reuben and Simeon. And he laid his right hand on Ephraim, and named Ephraim the younger before Manasseh, and said: In thee shall Israel bless and say: God make thee like Ephraim and Manasseh. And thus Jacob blessed his other sons also, and to Judah he said: The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the staff of the ruler from between his feet; he shall bind his ass to the vine, and the colt of his she-ass to the choice vine; he shall wash his garment in wine, and his robe in the blood of the grape; his eyes are red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. But Joseph is the son of a fruit-tree by a well. The branches ran over the wall; the archers provoke and follow him, but his bow remains firm, and the strength of his hands is supple. So he blessed them, and said to Joseph: Bury me not in Egypt; bury me with my fathers in the cave which Abraham bought of Ephron the Hittite, where Abraham, and Sarah, and Isaac, and Rebekah are buried, and where I buried Leah. Then Joseph fell on the face of his father and wept, and the Egyptians mourned seventy days for Jacob, and Joseph carried the body with Pharaoh's servants, and the elders of Pharaoh's house and of all Egypt, and with all his brethren, and the whole house of Jacob to Canaan, and buried him in the cave of Machpelah. But Joseph dwelt in Egypt till his death, and he saw the sons of Ephraim till the third generation, and the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on his knees. Joseph died 110 years old, and they embalmed him, and placed him in a sepulchre in Egypt. And all Joseph's brethren died. But their sons were fruitful and increased, and the land was full of them.

      Then there arose a new king in Egypt who knew not Joseph, and he said: The children of Israel are mighty; we shall be wise to prevent their increase, that they join not with our enemies if a war arise. And the Egyptians put taskmasters over the children of Israel, in order to oppress them with burdens. The children of Israel were compelled to perform heavy tasks in the field, and taskwork in clay and bricks; and they built for Pharaoh the treasure cities of Pithom and Ramses, and Pharaoh commanded all his people to throw into the Nile all the male children born to the Israelites, but to let the daughters live.