initial commit of ebook 1494HEADmain

1 files changed, 11094 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/1494-0.txt b/1494-0.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..65227bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/1494-0.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11094 @@
+The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Legends of the Jews, by Louis Ginzberg
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
+will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
+using this eBook.
+
+Title: The Legends of the Jews
+       Volume 2
+
+Author: Louis Ginzberg
+
+Translator: Henrietta Szold
+
+Release Date: October, 1998 [eBook #1494]
+[Most recently updated: February 4, 2022]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+Produced by: Charles Keller
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LEGENDS OF THE JEWS, VOLUME II ***
+
+
+
+
+The Legends of the Jews
+
+by Louis Ginzberg
+
+
+TRANSLATED PROM THE GERMAN MANUSCRIPT BY
+HENRIETTA SZOLD
+
+
+VOLUME II
+BIBLE TIMES AND CHARACTERS
+FROM JOSEPH TO THE EXODUS
+
+
+Contents
+
+ PREFACE
+
+ I. JOSEPH
+ The Favorite Son
+ Joseph Hated by His Brethren
+ Joseph Cast into the Pit
+ The Sale
+ Joseph's Three Masters
+ Joseph's Coat Brought to His Father
+ Judah and His Sons
+ The Wives of the Sons of Jacob
+ Joseph the Slave of Potiphar
+ Joseph and Zuleika
+ Joseph Resists Temptation
+ Joseph in Prison
+ Pharaoh's Dreams
+ Joseph before Pharaoh
+ The Ruler of Egypt
+ Joseph's Brethren in Egypt
+ Joseph Meets His Brethren
+ The Second journey to Egypt
+ Joseph and Benjamin
+ The Thief Caught
+ Judah Pleads and Threatens
+ Joseph Makes Himself Known
+ Jacob Receives the Glad Tidings
+ Jacob Arrives in Egypt
+ Joseph's Kindness and Generosity
+ Jacob's Last Wish
+ The Blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh
+ The Blessing of the Twelve Tribes
+ The Death of Jacob
+ The Sons of Jacob at War with the Sons of Esau
+ Zepho King of Kittim
+ The Nations at War
+ Joseph's Magnanimity 
+ Asenath
+ The Marriage of Joseph
+ Kind and Unkind Brethren
+ Treachery Punished
+ The Death and Burial of Joseph.
+
+ II. THE SONS OF JACOB
+ Significant Names
+ Reuben's Testament
+ Simon's Admonition against Envy
+ The Ascension of Levi
+ Judah Warns against Greed and Unchastity
+ Issachar's Singleness of Heart
+ Zebulon Exhorts unto Compassion
+ Dan's Confession
+ Naphtali's Dreams of the Division of the Tribes
+ Gad's Hatred
+ Asher's Last Words
+ Benjamin Extols Joseph.
+
+ III. JOB
+ Job and the Patriarchs
+ Job's Wealth and Benefactions
+ Satan and Job
+ Job's Suffering
+ The Four Friends
+ Job Restored.
+
+ IV. MOSES IN EGYPT
+ The Beginning of the Egyptian Bondage
+ Pharaoh's Cunning
+ The Pious Midwives
+ The Three Counsellors
+ The Slaughter of the Innocents
+ The Parents of Moses
+ The Birth of Moses
+ Moses Rescued from the Water
+ The Infancy of Moses
+ Moses Rescued by Gabriel
+ The Youth of Moses
+ The Flight
+ The King of Ethiopia
+ Jethro
+ Moses Marries Zipporah
+ A Bloody Remedy
+ The Faithful Shepherd
+ The Burning Thornbush
+ The Ascension of Moses
+ Moses Visits Paradise and Hell
+ Moses Declines the Mission
+ Moses Punished for His Stubbornness
+ The Return to Egypt
+ Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh
+ The Suffering Increases
+ Measure for Measure
+ The Plagues Brought through Aaron
+ The Plagues Brought through Moses
+ The First Passover
+ The Smiting of the Firstborn
+ The Redemption of Israel from Egyptian Bondage
+ The Exodus
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+The arrangement and presentation of the material in this volume are the
+same as in Volume I. In both my efforts have been directed to bringing
+together as full as possible a collection of Jewish legends that deal
+with Biblical personages and events. The sources of those legends and
+explanations of some of them will be given in the last volume of the
+entire work, and the numbers throughout the work refer to the notes in
+the concluding volume.
+
+My original intention was to continue Volume II up to the death of
+Moses, but the legendary material clustering around the life and death
+of Moses is so abundant that practical considerations demanded the
+division of this material, in order not to make the second volume too
+bulky. The division chosen is a natural one. This volume closes with
+the Exodus, and contains the deeds of Moses in Egypt, while the
+following volume will deal with Moses in the desert.
+
+The fact that Job is placed between Jacob's sons and Moses may appear
+strange to some readers, since in the Bible Job is one of the last
+books; but "legend is above time and space," and I have, therefore,
+given Job the place which legend has ascribed to him.
+
+LOUIS GINZBERG.
+
+
+NEW YORK, March 28, 1910.
+
+
+
+
+I
+JOSEPH
+
+
+
+
+THE FAVORITE SON
+
+
+Jacob was not exempt from the lot that falls to the share of all the
+pious. Whenever they expect to enjoy life in tranquillity, Satan
+hinders them. He appears before God, and says: "Is it not enough that
+the future world is set apart for the pious? What right have they to
+enjoy this world, besides?" After the many hardships and conflicts that
+had beset the path of Jacob, he thought he would be at rest at last,
+and then came the loss of Joseph and inflicted the keenest suffering.
+Verily, few and evil had been the days of the years of Jacob's
+pilgrimage, for the time spent outside of the Holy Land had seemed
+joyless to him. Only the portion of his life passed in the land of his
+fathers, during which he was occupied with making proselytes, in
+accordance with the example set him by Abraham and Isaac, did he
+consider worth while having lived,[1] and this happy time was of short
+duration. When Joseph was snatched away, but eight years had elapsed
+since his return to his father's house.[2]
+
+And yet it was only for the sake of Joseph that Jacob had been willing
+to undergo all the troubles and the adversity connected with his
+sojourn in the house of Laban. Indeed, Jacob's blessing in having his
+quiver full of children was due to the merits of Joseph, and likewise
+the dividing of the Red Sea and of the Jordan for the Israelites was
+the reward for his son's piety. For among the sons of Jacob Joseph was
+the one that resembled his father most closely in appearance, and,
+also, he was the one to whom Jacob transmitted the instruction and
+knowledge he had received from his teachers Shem and Eber.[3] The whole
+course of the son's life is but a repetition of the father's. As the
+mother of Jacob remained childless for a long time after her marriage,
+so also the mother of Joseph. As Rebekah had undergone severe suffering
+in giving birth to Jacob, so Rachel in giving birth to Joseph. As
+Jacob's mother bore two sons, so also Joseph's mother. Like Jacob,
+Joseph was born circumcised. As the father was a shepherd, so the son.
+As the father served for the sake of a woman, so the son served under a
+woman. Like the father, the son appropriated his older brother's
+birthright. The father was hated by his brother, and the son was hated
+by his brethren. The father was the favorite son as compared with his
+brother, so was the son as compared with his brethren. Both the father
+and the son lived in the land of the stranger. The father became a
+servant to a master, also the son. The master whom the father served
+was blessed by God, so was the master whom the son served. The father
+and the son were both accompanied by angels, and both married their
+wives outside of the Holy Land. The father and the son were both
+blessed with wealth. Great things were announced to the father in a
+dream, so also to the son. As the father went to Egypt and put an end
+to famine, so the son. As the father exacted the promise from his sons
+to bury him in the Holy Land, so also the son. The father died in
+Egypt, there died also the son. The body of the father was embalmed,
+also the body of the son. As the father's remains were carried to the
+Holy Land for interment, so also the remains of the son. Jacob the
+father provided for the sustenance of his son Joseph during a period of
+seventeen years, so Joseph the son provided for his father Jacob during
+a period of seventeen years.[4]
+
+Until he was seventeen years old, Joseph frequented the Bet
+ha-Midrash,[5] and he became so learned that he could impart to his
+brethren the Halakot he had heard from his father, and in this way he
+may be regarded as their teacher.[6] He did not stop at formal
+instruction, he also tried to give them good counsel, and he became the
+favorite of the sons of the handmaids, who would kiss and embrace
+him.[7]
+
+In spite of his scholarship there was something boyish about Joseph. He
+painted his eyes, dressed his hair carefully, and walked with a mincing
+step. These foibles of youth were not so deplorable as his habit of
+bringing evil reports of his brethren to his father. He accused them of
+treating the beasts under their care with cruelty—he said that they ate
+flesh torn from a living animal—and he charged them with casting their
+eyes upon the daughters of the Canaanites, and giving contemptuous
+treatment to the sons of the handmaids Bilhah and Zilpah, whom they
+called slaves.
+
+For these groundless accusations Joseph had to pay dearly. He was
+himself sold as a slave, because he had charged his brethren with
+having called the sons of the handmaids slaves, and Potiphar's wife
+cast her eyes upon Joseph, because he threw the suspicion upon his
+brethren that they had cast their eyes upon the Canaanitish women. And
+how little it was true that they were guilty of cruelty to animals,
+appears from the fact that at the very time when they were
+contemplating their crime against Joseph, they yet observed all the
+rules and prescriptions of the ritual in slaughtering the kid of the
+goats with the blood of which they besmeared his coat of many
+colors.[8]
+
+
+
+
+JOSEPH HATED BY HIS BRETHREN
+
+
+Joseph's talebearing against his brethren made them hate him. Among all
+of them Gad was particularly wrathful, and for good reason. Gad was a
+very brave man, and when a beast of prey attacked the herd, over which
+he kept guard at night, he would seize it by one of its legs, and whirl
+it around until it was stunned, and then he would fling it away to a
+distance of two stadia, and kill it thus. Once Jacob sent Joseph to
+tend the flock, but he remained away only thirty days, for he was a
+delicate lad and fell sick with the heat, and he hastened back to his
+father. On his return he told Jacob that the sons of the handmaids were
+in the habit of slaughtering the choice cattle of the herd and eating
+it, without obtaining permission from Judah and Reuben. But his report
+was not accurate. What he had seen was Gad slaughtering one lamb, which
+he had snatched from the very jaws of a bear, and he killed it because
+it could not be kept alive after its fright. Joseph's account sounded
+as though the sons of the handmaids were habitually inconsiderate and
+careless in wasting their father's substance.[9]
+
+To the resentment of the brethren was added their envy of Joseph,
+because their father loved him more than all of them. Joseph's beauty
+of person was equal to that of his mother Rachel, and Jacob had but to
+look at him to be consoled for the death of his beloved wife. Reason
+enough for distinguishing him among his children.[10] As a token of his
+great love for him, Jacob gave Joseph a coat of many colors, so light
+and delicate that it could be crushed and concealed in the closed palm
+of one hand. The Hebrew name of the garment, Passim, conveys the story
+of the sale of Joseph. The first letter, Pe, stands for Potiphar, his
+Egyptian master; Samek stands for Soharim, the merchantmen that bought
+Joseph from the company of Ishmaelites to whom his brethren had sold
+him; Yod stands for these same Ishmaelites; and Mem, for the Midianites
+that obtained him from the merchantmen, and then disposed of him to
+Potiphar. But Passim. has yet another meaning, "clefts." His brethren
+knew that the Red Sea would be cleft in twain in days to come for
+Joseph's sake, and they were jealous of the glory to be conferred upon
+him. Although they were filled with hatred of him, it must be said in
+their favor that they were not of a sullen, spiteful nature. They did
+not hide their feelings, they proclaimed their enmity openly.
+
+Once Joseph dreamed a dream, and he could not refrain from telling it
+to his brethren. He spoke, and said: "Hear, I pray you, this dream
+which I have dreamed. Behold, you gathered fruit, and so did I. Your
+fruit rotted, but mine remained sound. Your seed will set up dumb
+images of idols, but they will vanish at the appearance of my
+descendant, the Messiah of Joseph. You will keep the truth as to my
+fate from the knowledge of my father, but I will stand fast as a reward
+for the self-denial of my mother, and you will prostrate yourselves
+five times before me."[11]
+
+The brethren refused at first to listen to the dream, but when Joseph
+urged them again and again, they gave heed to him, and they said,
+"Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion
+over us?"[12] God put an interpretation into their mouths that was to
+be verified in the posterity of Joseph. Jeroboam and Jehu, two kings,
+and Joshua and Gideon, two judges, have been among his descendants,
+corresponding to the double and emphatic expressions used by his
+brethren in interpreting the dream.[13]
+
+Then Joseph dreamed another dream, how the sun, the moon, and eleven
+stars bowed down before him, and Jacob, to whom he told it first, was
+rejoiced over it, for he understood its meaning properly.[14] He knew
+that he himself was designated by the sun, the name by which God had
+called him when he lodged overnight on the holy site of the Temple. He
+had heard God say to the angels at that time, "The sun has come."[15]
+The moon stood for Joseph's mother, and the stars for his brethren, for
+the righteous are as the stars.[16] Jacob was so convinced of the truth
+of the dream that he was encouraged to believe that he would live to
+see the resurrection of the dead, for Rachel was dead, and her return
+to earth was clearly indicated by the dream. He went astray there, for
+not Joseph's own mother was referred to, but his foster-mother Bilhah,
+who had raised him.
+
+Jacob wrote the dream in a book, recording all the circumstances, the
+day, the hour, and the place, for the holy spirit cautioned him, "Take
+heed, these things will surely come to pass."[17] But when Joseph
+repeated his dream to his brethren, in the presence of his father,
+Jacob rebuked him, saying, "I and thy brethren, that has some sense,
+but I and thy mother, that is inconceivable, for thy mother is
+dead."[18] These words of Jacob called forth a reproof from God. He
+said, "Thus thy descendants will in time to come seek to hinder
+Jeremiah in delivering his prophecies."[19] Jacob may be excused, he
+had spoken in this way only in order to avert the envy and hate of his
+brethren from Joseph, but they envied and hated him because they knew
+that the interpretation put upon the dream by Jacob would be
+realized.[20]
+
+
+
+
+JOSEPH CAST INTO THE PIT
+
+
+Once the brethren of Joseph led their father's flocks to the pastures
+of Shechem, and they intended to take their ease and pleasure
+there.[21] They stayed away a long time, and no tidings of them were
+heard. Jacob began to be anxious about the fate of his sons. He feared
+that a war had broken out between them and the people of Shechem, and
+he resolved to send Joseph to them and have him bring word again,
+whether it was well with his brethren.[22] Jacob desired to know also
+about the flocks, for it is a duty to concern oneself about the welfare
+of anything from which one derives profit. Though he knew that the
+hatred of his brethren might bring on unpleasant adventures, yet
+Joseph, in filial reverence, declared himself ready to go on his
+father's errand. Later, whenever Jacob remembered his dear son's
+willing spirit, the recollection stabbed him to the heart. He would say
+to himself, "Thou didst know the hatred of thy brethren, and yet thou
+didst say, Here am I."[23]
+
+Jacob dismissed Joseph, with the injunction that he journey only by
+daylight,[24] saying furthermore, "Go now, see whether it be well with
+thy brethren, and well with the flock; and send me word"—an unconscious
+prophecy. He did not say that he expected to see Joseph again, but only
+to have word from him.[25] Since the covenant of the pieces, God had
+resolved, on account of Abraham's doubting question, that Jacob and his
+family should go down into Egypt to dwell there. The preference shown
+to Joseph by his father, and the envy it aroused, leading finally to
+the sale of Joseph and his establishment in Egypt, were but disguised
+means created by God, instead of executing His counsel directly by
+carrying Jacob down into Egypt as a captive.[26]
+
+Joseph reached Shechem, where he expected to find his brethren. Shechem
+was always a place of ill omen for Jacob and his seed—there Dinah was
+dishonored, there the Ten Tribes of Israel rebelled against the house
+of David while Rehoboam ruled in Jerusalem, and there Jeroboam was
+installed as king.[27] Not finding his brethren and the herd in
+Shechem, Joseph continued his journey in the direction of the next
+pasturing place, not far from Shechem, but he lost his way in the
+wilderness.[28] Gabriel in human shape appeared before him, and asked
+him, saying, "What seekest thou?"[29] And he answered, "I seek my
+brethren." Whereto the angel replied, "Thy brethren have given up the
+Divine qualities of love and mercy.[30] Through a prophetic revelation
+they learned that the Hivites were preparing to make war upon them, and
+therefore they departed hence to go to Dothan. And they had to leave
+this place for other reasons, too. I heard, while I was still standing
+behind the curtain that veils the Divine throne, that this day the
+Egyptian bondage would begin, and thou wouldst be the first to be
+subjected to it."[31] Then Gabriel led Joseph to Dothan.[32]
+
+When his brethren saw him afar off, they conspired against him, to slay
+him. Their first plan was to set dogs on him. Simon then spoke to Levi,
+"Behold, the master of dreams cometh with a new dream, he whose
+descendant Jeroboam will introduce the worship of Baal. Come now,
+therefore, and let us slay him, that we may see what will become of his
+dreams." But God spoke: "Ye say, We shall see what will become of his
+dreams, and I say likewise, We shall see, and the future shall show
+whose word will stand, yours or Mine."[33]
+
+Simon and Gad set about slaying Joseph, and he fell upon his face, and
+entreated them: "Have mercy with me, my brethren, have pity on the
+heart of my father Jacob. Lay not your hands upon me, to spill innocent
+blood, for I have done no evil unto you. But if I have done evil unto
+you, then chastise me with a chastisement, but your hands lay not upon
+me, for the sake of our father Jacob." These words touched Zebulon, and
+he began to lament and weep, and the wailing of Joseph rose up together
+with his brother's, and when Simon and Gad raised their hands against
+him to execute their evil design, Joseph took refuge behind Zebulon,
+and supplicated his other brethren to have mercy upon him. Then Reuben
+arose, and he said, "Brethren, let us not slay him, but let us cast him
+into one of the dry pits, which our fathers dug without finding water."
+That was due to the providence of God; He had hindered the water from
+rising in them in order that Joseph's rescue might be accomplished, and
+the pits remained dry until Joseph was safe in the hands of the
+Ishmaelites.[34]
+
+Reuben had several reasons for interceding in behalf of Joseph. He knew
+that he as the oldest of the brethren would be held responsible by
+their father, if any evil befell him. Besides, Reuben was grateful to
+Joseph for having reckoned him among the eleven sons of Jacob in
+narrating his dream of the sun, moon, and stars. Since his
+disrespectful bearing toward Jacob, he had not thought himself worthy
+of being considered one of his sons.[35] First Reuben tried to restrain
+his brethren from their purpose, and he addressed them in words full of
+love and compassion. But when he saw that neither words nor entreaties
+would change their intention, he begged them, saying: "My brethren, at
+least hearken unto me in respect of this, that ye be not so wicked and
+cruel as to slay him. Lay no hand upon your brother, shed no blood,
+cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and let him perish
+thus.[36]
+
+Then Reuben went away from his brethren, and he hid in the mountains,
+so that he might be able to hasten back in a favorable moment and draw
+Joseph forth from the pit and restore him to his father. He hoped his
+reward would be pardon for the transgression he had committed against
+Jacob.[37] His good intention was frustrated, yet Reuben was rewarded
+by God, for God gives a recompense not only for good deeds, but for
+good intentions as well.[38] As he was the first of the brethren of
+Joseph to make an attempt to save him, so the city of Bezer in the
+tribe of Reuben was the first of the cities of refuge appointed to
+safeguard the life of the innocent that seek help.[39] Furthermore God
+spake to Reuben, saying: "As thou wast the first to endeavor to restore
+a child unto his father, so Hosea, one of thy descendants, shall be the
+first to endeavor to lead Israel back to his heavenly Father."[40]
+
+The brethren accepted Reuben's proposition, and Simon seized Joseph,
+and cast him into a pit swarming with snakes and scorpions, beside
+which was another unused pit, filled with offal.[41] As though this
+were not enough torture, Simon bade his brethren fling great stones at
+Joseph. In his later dealings with this brother Simon, Joseph showed
+all the forgiving charitableness of his nature. When Simon was held in
+durance in Egypt as a hostage, Joseph, so far from bearing him a
+grudge, ordered crammed poultry to be set before him at all his
+meals.[42]
+
+Not satisfied with exposing Joseph to the snakes and scorpions, his
+brethren had stripped him bare before they flung him into the pit. They
+took off his coat of many colors, his upper garment, his breeches, and
+his shirt.[43] However, the reptiles could do him no harm. God heard
+his cry of distress, and kept them in hiding in the clefts and the
+holes, and they could not come near him. From the depths of the pit
+Joseph appealed to his brethren, saying: "O my brethren, what have I
+done unto you, and what is my transgression? Why are you not afraid
+before God on account of your treatment of me? Am I not flesh of your
+flesh, and bone of your bone? Jacob your father, is he not also my
+father? Why do you act thus toward me? And how will you be able to lift
+up your countenance before Jacob? O Judah, Reuben, Simon, Levi, my
+brethren, deliver me, I pray you, from the dark place into which you
+have cast me. Though I committed a trespass against you, yet are ye
+children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were compassionate with the
+orphan, gave food to the hungry, and clothed the naked. How, then, can
+ye withhold your pity from your own brother, your own flesh and bone?
+And though I sinned against you, yet you will hearken unto my petition
+for the sake of my father. O that my father knew what my brethren are
+doing unto me, and what they spake unto me!"
+
+To avoid hearing Joseph's weeping and cries of distress, his brethren
+passed on from the pit, and stood at a bow- shot's distance.[44] The
+only one among them that manifested pity was Zebulon. For two days and
+two nights no food passed his lips on account of his grief over the
+fate of Joseph, who had to spend three days and three nights in the pit
+before he was sold. During this period Zebulon was charged by his
+brethren to keep watch at the pit. He was chosen to stand guard because
+he took no part in the meals. Part of the time Judah also refrained
+from eating with the rest, and took turns at watching, because he
+feared Simon and Gad might jump down into the pit and put an end to
+Joseph's life.[45]
+
+While Joseph was languishing thus, his brethren determined to kill him.
+They would finish their meal first, they said, and then they would
+fetch him forth and slay him. When they had done eating, they attempted
+to say grace, but Judah remonstrated with them: "We are about to take
+the life of a human being, and yet would bless God? That is not a
+blessing, that is contemning the Lord.[46] What profit is it if we slay
+our brother? Rather will the punishment of God descend upon us. I have
+good counsel to give you. Yonder passeth by a travelling company of
+Ishmaelites on their way to Egypt. Come and let us sell him to the
+Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him. The Ishmaelites will
+take him with them upon their journeyings, and he will be lost among
+the peoples of the earth.[47] Let us follow the custom of former days,
+for Canaan, too, the son of Ham, was made a slave for his evil deeds,
+and so will we do with our brother Joseph."[48]
+
+
+
+
+THE SALE
+
+
+While the brethren of Joseph were deliberating upon his fate, seven
+Midianitish merchantmen passed near the pit in which he lay. They
+noticed that many birds were circling above it, whence they assumed
+that there must be water therein, and, being thirsty, they made a halt
+in order to refresh themselves. When they came close, they heard Joseph
+screaming and wailing, and they looked down into the pit and saw a
+youth of beautiful figure and comely appearance. They called to him,
+saying: "Who art thou? Who brought thee hither, and who cast thee into
+this pit in the wilderness?" They all joined together and dragged him
+up, and took him along with them when they continued on their journey.
+They had to pass his brethren, who called out to the Midianites: "Why
+have you done such a thing, to steal our slave and carry him away with
+you? We threw the lad into the pit, because he was disobedient. Now,
+then, return our slave to us." The Midianites replied: "What, this lad,
+you say, is your slave, your servant? More likely is it that you all
+are slaves unto him, for in beauty of form, in pleasant looks, and fair
+appearance, he excelleth you all. Why, then, will you speak lies unto
+us? We will not give ear unto your words, nor believe you, for we found
+the lad in the wilderness, in a pit, and we took him out, and we will
+carry him away with us on our journey." But the sons of Jacob insisted,
+"Restore our slave to us, lest you meet death at the edge of the
+sword."
+
+Unaffrighted, the Midianites drew their weapons, and, amid war whoops,
+they prepared to enter into a combat with the sons of Jacob. Then Simon
+rose up, and with bared sword he sprang upon the Midianites, at the
+same time uttering a cry that made the earth reverberate. The
+Midianites fell down in great consternation, and he said: "I am Simon,
+the son of the Hebrew Jacob, who destroyed the city of Shechem alone
+and unaided, and together with my brethren I destroyed the cities of
+the Amorites. God do so and more also, if it be not true that all the
+Midianites, your brethren, united with all the Canaanite kings to fight
+with me, cannot hold out against me. Now restore the boy you took from
+us, else will I give your flesh unto the fowls of the air and to the
+beasts of the field."
+
+The Midianites were greatly afraid of Simon, and, terrified and
+abashed, they spake to the sons of Jacob with little courage: "Said ye
+not that ye cast this lad into the pit because he was of a rebellious
+spirit? What, now, will ye do with an insubordinate slave? Rather sell
+him to us, we are ready to pay any price you desire." This speech was
+part of the purpose of God. He had put it into the heart of the
+Midianites to insist upon possessing Joseph, that he might not remain
+with his brethren, and be slain by them.[49] The brethren assented, and
+Joseph was sold as a slave while they sat over their meal. God spake,
+saying: "Over a meal did ye sell your brother, and thus shall Ahasuerus
+sell your descendants to Haman over a meal, and because ye have sold
+Joseph to be a slave, therefore shall ye say year after year, Slaves
+were we unto Pharaoh in Egypt."[50]
+
+The price paid for Joseph by the Midianites was twenty pieces of
+silver, enough for a pair of shoes for each of his brethren. Thus "they
+sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes." For
+so handsome a youth as Joseph the sum paid was too low by far, but his
+appearance had been greatly changed by the horrible anguish he bad
+endured in the pit with the snakes and the scorpions. He had lost his
+ruddy complexion, and he looked sallow and sickly, and the Midianites
+were justified in paying a small sum for him.[51]
+
+The merchantmen had come upon Joseph naked in the pit, for his brethren
+had stripped him of all his clothes. That he might not appear before
+men in an unseemly condition, God sent Gabriel down to him, and the
+angel enlarged the amulet banging from Joseph's neck until it was a
+garment that covered him entirely. Joseph's brethren were looking after
+him as he departed with the Midianites, and when they saw him with
+clothes upon him, they cried after them, "Give us his raiment! We sold
+him naked, without clothes." His owners refused to yield to their
+demand, but they agreed to reimburse the brethren with four pairs of
+shoes, and Joseph kept his garment, the same in which he was arrayed
+when he arrived in Egypt and was sold to Potiphar, the same in which he
+was locked up in prison and appeared before Pharaoh, and the same he
+wore when he was ruler over Egypt.[52]
+
+As an atonement for the twenty pieces of silver taken by his brethren
+in exchange for Joseph, God commanded that every first-born son shall
+be redeemed by the priest with an equal amount, and, also, every
+Israelite must pay annually to the sanctuary as much as fell to each of
+the brethren as his share of the price.[53]
+
+The brethren of Joseph bought shoes for the money, for they said: "We
+will not eat it, because it is the price for the blood of our brother,
+but we will tread upon him, for that he spake, he would have dominion
+over us, and we will see what will become of his dreams." And for this
+reason the ordinance has been commanded, that he who refuseth to raise
+up a name in Israel unto his brother that hath died without having a
+son, shall have his shoe loosed from off his foot, and his face shall
+be spat upon. Joseph's brethren refused to do aught to preserve his
+life, and therefore the Lord loosed their shoes from off their feet,
+for, when they went down to Egypt, the slaves of Joseph took their
+shoes off their feet as they entered the gates, and they prostrated
+themselves before Joseph as before a Pharaoh, and, as they lay
+prostrate, they were spat upon, and put to shame before the
+Egyptians.[54]
+
+The Midianites pursued their journey to Gilead, but they soon regretted
+the purchase they had made. They feared that Joseph had been stolen in
+the land of the Hebrews, though sold to them as a slave, and if his
+kinsmen should find him with them, death would be inflicted upon them
+for the abduction of a free man. The high-handed manner of the sons of
+Jacob confirmed their suspicion, that they might be capable of man
+theft. Their wicked deed would explain, too, why they had accepted so
+small a sum in exchange for Joseph. While discussing these points, they
+saw, coming their way, the travelling company of Ishmaelites that had
+been observed earlier by the sons of Jacob, and they determined to
+dispose of Joseph to them, that they might at least not lose the price
+they had paid, and might escape the danger at the same time of being
+made captives for the crime of kidnapping a man. And the Ishmaelites
+bought Joseph from the Midianites, and they paid the same price as his
+former owners had given for him.[55]
+
+
+
+
+JOSEPH'S THREE MASTERS
+
+
+As a rule the only merchandise with which the Ishmaelites loaded their
+camels was pitch and the skins of beasts. By a providential
+dispensation they carried bags of perfumery this time, instead of their
+usual ill-smelling freight, that sweet fragrance might be wafted to
+Joseph on his journey to Egypt.[56] These aromatic substances were well
+suited to Joseph, whose body emitted a pleasant smell, so agreeable and
+pervasive that the road along which he travelled was redolent thereof,
+and on his arrival in Egypt the perfume from his body spread over the
+whole land, and the royal princesses, following the sweet scent to
+trace its source, reached the place in which Joseph was.[57] Even after
+his death the same fragrance was spread abroad by his bones, enabling
+Moses to distinguish Joseph's remains from all others, and keep the
+oath of the children of Israel, to inter them in the Holy Land.[58]
+
+When Joseph learned that the Ishmaelites were carrying him to Egypt, he
+began to weep bitterly at the thought of being removed so far from
+Canaan and from his father. One of the Ishmaelites noticed Joseph's
+weeping and crying, and thinking that he found riding uncomfortable, he
+lifted him from the back of the camel, and permitted him to walk on
+foot. But Joseph continued to weep and sob, crying incessantly, "O
+father, father!" Another one of the caravan, tired of his lamentations,
+beat him, causing only the more tears and wails, until the youth,
+exhausted by his grief, was unable to move on. Now all the Ishmaelites
+in the company dealt out blows to him. They treated him with relentless
+cruelty, and tried to silence him by threats. God saw Joseph's
+distress, and He sent darkness and terror upon the Ishmaelites, and
+their hands grew rigid when they raised them to inflict a blow.
+Astonished, they asked themselves why God did thus unto them upon the
+road. They did not know that it was for the sake of Joseph.
+
+The journey was continued until they came to Ephrath, the place of
+Rachel's sepulchre. Joseph hastened to his mother's grave, and throwing
+himself across it, he groaned and cried, saying: "O mother, mother,
+that didst bear me, arise, come forth and see how thy son hath been
+sold into slavery, with none to take pity upon him. Arise, see thy son,
+and weep with me over my misfortune, and observe the heartlessness of
+my brethren. Awake, O mother, rouse thyself from thy sleep, rise up and
+prepare for the conflict with my brethren, who stripped me even of my
+shirt, and sold me as a slave to merchantmen, who in turn sold me to
+others, and without mercy they tore me away from my father. Arise,
+accuse my brethren before God, and see whom He will justify in the
+judgment, and whom He will find guilty. Arise, O mother, awake from thy
+sleep, see how my father is with me in his soul and in his spirit, and
+comfort him and ease his heavy heart."
+
+Joseph wept and cried upon the grave of his mother, until, weary from
+grief, he lay immovable as a stone. Then he heard a voice heavy with
+tears speak to him from the depths, saying: "My son Joseph, my son, I
+heard thy complaints and thy groans, I saw thy tears, and I knew thy
+misery, my son. I am grieved for thy sake, and thy affliction is added
+to the burden of my affliction. But, my son Joseph, put thy trust in
+God, and wait upon Him. Fear not, for the Lord is with thee, and He
+will deliver thee from all evil. Go down into Egypt with thy masters,
+my son; fear naught, for the Lord is with thee, O my son." This and
+much more like unto it did the voice utter, and then it was silent.
+Joseph listened in great amazement at first, and then he broke out in
+renewed tears. Angered thereby, one of the Ishmaelites drove him from
+his mother's grave with kicks and curses. Then Joseph entreated his
+masters to take him back to his father, who would give them great
+riches as a reward. But they said, "Why, thou art a slave! How canst
+thou know where thy father is? If thou hadst had a free man as father,
+thou wouldst not have been sold twice for a petty sum." And then their
+fury against him increased, they beat him and maltreated him, and he
+wept bitter tears.
+
+Now God looked upon the distress of Joseph, and He sent darkness to
+enshroud the land once more. A storm raged, the lightning flashed, and
+from the thunderbolts the whole earth trembled, and the Ishmaelites
+lost their way in their terror. The beasts and the camels stood still,
+and, beat them as their drivers would, they refused to budge from the
+spot, but crouched down upon the ground. Then the Ishmaelites spake to
+one another, and said: "Why hath God brought this upon us? What are our
+sins, what our trespasses, that such things befall us?" One of them
+said to the others: "Peradventure this hath come upon us by reason of
+the sin which we have committed against this slave. Let us beg him
+earnestly to grant us forgiveness, and if then God will take pity, and
+let these storms pass away from us, we shall know that we suffered harm
+on account of the injury we inflicted upon this slave."
+
+The Ishmaelites did according to these words, and they said unto
+Joseph: "We have sinned against God and against thee. Pray to thy God,
+and entreat Him to take this death plague from us, for we acknowledge
+that we have sinned against Him." Joseph fulfilled their wish, and God
+hearkened to his petition, and the storm was assuaged. All around
+became calm, the beasts arose from their recumbent position, and the
+caravan could proceed upon its way. Now the Ishmaelites saw plainly
+that all their trouble had come upon them for the sake of Joseph, and
+they spoke one to another, saying: "We know now that all this evil hath
+happened to us on account of this poor fellow, and wherefore should we
+bring death upon ourselves by our own doings? Let us take counsel
+together, what is to be done with the slave." One of them advised that
+Joseph's wish be fulfilled, and he be taken back to his father. Then
+they would be sure of receiving the money they had paid out for him.
+This plan was rejected, because they had accomplished a great part of
+their journey, and they were not inclined to retrace their steps. They
+therefore resolved upon carrying Joseph to Egypt and selling him there.
+They would rid themselves of him in this way, and also receive a great
+price for him.
+
+They continued their journey as far as the borders of Egypt, and there
+they met four men, descendants of Medan, the son of Abraham, and to
+these they sold Joseph for five shekels. The two companies, the
+Ishmaelites and the Medanites, arrived in Egypt upon the same day. The
+latter, hearing that Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of
+the guard, was seeking a good slave, repaired to him at once, to try to
+dispose of Joseph to him. Potiphar was willing to pay as much as four
+hundred pieces of silver, for, high as the price was, it did not seem
+too great for a slave that pleased him as much as Joseph. However, he
+made a condition. He said to the Medanites: "I will pay you the price
+demanded, but you must bring me the person that sold the slave to you,
+that I may be in a position to find out all about him, for the youth
+seems to me to be neither a slave nor the son of a slave. He appears to
+be of noble blood. I must convince myself that he was not stolen." The
+Medanites brought the Ishmaelites to Potiphar, and they testified that
+Joseph was a slave, that they had owned him, and had sold him to the
+Medanites. Potiphar rested satisfied with this report, paid the price
+asked for Joseph, and the Medanites and the Ishmaelites went their way.
+
+
+
+
+JOSEPH'S COAT BROUGHT TO HIS FATHER
+
+
+No sooner was the sale of Joseph an accomplished fact than the sons of
+Jacob repented of their deed. They even hastened after the Midianites
+to ransom Joseph, but their efforts to overtake them were vain, and
+they had to accept the inevitable. Meantime Reuben had rejoined his
+brethren.[59] He had been so deeply absorbed in penances, in praying
+and studying the Torah, in expiation of his sin against his father,
+that he had not been able to remain with his brethren and tend the
+flocks, and thus it happened that he was not on the spot when Joseph
+was sold.[60] His first errand was to go to the pit, in the hope of
+finding Joseph there. In that case he would have carried him off and
+restored him to his father clandestinely, without the knowledge of his
+brethren. He stood at the opening and called again and again, "Joseph,
+Joseph!" As he received no answer, he concluded that Joseph had
+perished, either by reason of terror or as the result of a snake bite,
+and he descended into the pit, only to find that he was not there,
+either living or dead. He mounted to the top again, and rent his
+clothes, and cried out, "The lad is not there, and what answer shall I
+give to my father, if he be dead?" Then Reuben returned unto his
+brethren, and told them that Joseph bad vanished from the pit, whereat
+he was deeply grieved, because he, being the oldest of the sons, was
+responsible to their father Jacob. The brethren made a clean breast of
+what they had done with Joseph, and they related to him how they had
+tried to make good their evil deed, and how their efforts had been
+vain.
+
+Now there remained nothing to do but invent a plausible explanation for
+their brother's disappearance to give to Jacob. First of all, however,
+they took an oath not to betray to his father or any human being what
+they bad actually done with Joseph. He who violated the oath would be
+put to the sword by the rest. Then they took counsel together about
+what to say to Jacob. It was Issachar's advice to tear Joseph's coat of
+many colors, and dip it in the blood of a little kid of the goats, to
+make Jacob believe that his son had been torn by a wild beast.[61] The
+reason he suggested a kid was because its blood looks like human blood.
+In expiation of this act of deception, it was ordained that a kid be
+used as an atonement sacrifice when the Tabernacle was dedicated.[62]
+
+Simon opposed this suggestion. He did not want to relinquish Joseph's
+coat, and he threatened to hew down any one that should attempt to
+wrest it from him by force. The reason for his vehemence was that he
+was very much enraged against his brethren for not having slain Joseph.
+But they threatened him in turn, saying, "If thou wilt not give up the
+coat, we shall say that thou didst execute the evil deed thyself." At
+that Simon surrendered it,[63] and Naphtali brought it to Jacob,
+handing it to him with the words: "When we were driving our herds
+homeward, we found this garment covered with blood and dust on the
+highway, a little beyond Shechem. Know now whether it be thy son's coat
+or not." Jacob recognized Joseph's coat, and, overwhelmed by grief, he
+fell prostrate, and long lay on the ground motionless, like a stone.
+Then he arose, and set up a loud cry, and wept, saying, "It is my son's
+coat."
+
+In great haste Jacob dispatched a slave to his sons, to bid them come
+to him, that he might learn more about what had happened. In the
+evening they all came, their garments rent, and dust strewn upon their
+heads. When they confirmed all that Naphtali had told him, Jacob broke
+out in mourning and lamentation: "It is my son's coat; an evil beast
+hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces. I sent him
+to you to see whether it was well with you, and well with the flock. He
+went to do my errand, and while I thought him to be with you, the
+misfortune befell." Thereto the sons of Jacob made reply: "He came to
+us not at all. Since we left thee, we have not set eyes on him."
+
+After these words, Jacob could doubt no longer that Joseph bad been
+torn by wild beasts, and he mourned for his son, saying: "O my son
+Joseph, my son, I sent thee to inquire after the welfare of thy
+brethren, and now thou art torn by wild beasts. It is my fault that
+this evil chance hath come upon thee. I am distressed for thee, my son,
+I am sorely distressed. How sweet was thy life to me, and how bitter is
+thy death! Would God I had died for thee, O Joseph, my son, for now I
+am distressed on thy account. O my son Joseph, where art thou, and
+where is thy soul? Arise, arise from thy place, and look upon my grief
+for thee. Come and count the tears that roll down my cheeks, and bring
+the tale of them before God, that His wrath be turned away from me. O
+Joseph, my son, how painful and appalling was thy death! None hath died
+a death like thine since the world doth stand. I know well that it came
+to pass by reason of my sins. O that thou wouldst return and see the
+bitter sorrow thy misfortune hath brought upon me! But it is true, it
+was not I that created thee, and formed thee. I gave thee neither
+spirit nor soul, but God created thee. He formed thy bones, covered
+them with flesh, breathed the breath of life into thy nostrils, and
+then gave thee unto me. And God who gave thee unto me, He hath taken
+thee from me, and from Him hath this dispensation come upon me. What
+the Lord doeth is well done!" In these words and many others like them
+Jacob mourned and bewailed his son, until he fell to the ground
+prostrate and immovable.
+
+When the sons of Jacob saw the vehemence of their father's grief, they
+repented of their deed, and wept bitterly. Especially Judah was
+grief-stricken. He laid his father's head upon his knees, and wiped his
+tears away as they flowed from his eyes, while he himself broke out in
+violent weeping. The sons of Jacob and their wives all sought to
+comfort their father. They arranged a great memorial service, and they
+wept and mourned over Joseph's death and over their father's
+sorrow.[64] But Jacob refused to be comforted.
+
+The tidings of his son's death caused the loss of two members of
+Jacob's family. Bilhah and Dinah could not survive their grief. Bilhah
+passed away the very day whereon the report reached Jacob, and Dinah
+died soon after, and so he had three losses to mourn in one month.
+
+He received the tidings of Joseph's death in the seventh month, Tishri,
+and on the tenth day of the month, and therefore the children of Israel
+are bidden to weep and afflict their souls on this day. Furthermore, on
+this day the sin offering of atonement shall be a kid of the goats,
+because the sons of Jacob transgressed with a kid, in the blood of
+which they dipped Joseph's coat, and thus they brought sorrow upon
+Jacob.[65]
+
+When he had recovered somewhat from the stunning blow which the tidings
+of his favorite son's death had dealt him, Jacob rose up from the
+ground and addressed his sons, tears streaming down his cheeks all the
+while. "Up," he said, "take your swords and your bows, go out in the
+field, and make search, perhaps you will find the body of my son, and
+you will bring it to me, so that I may bury it. Keep a lookout, too,
+for beasts of prey, and catch the first you meet. Seize it and bring it
+to me. It may be that God will have pity upon my sorrow, and put the
+beast between your hands that hath torn my child in pieces, and I will
+take my revenge upon it."
+
+The sons of Jacob set out on the morrow to do the bidding of their
+father, while he remained at home and wept and lamented for Joseph. In
+the wilderness they found a wolf, which they caught and brought to
+Jacob alive, saying: "Here is the first wild beast we encountered, and
+we have brought it to thee. But of thy son's corpse we saw not a
+trace." Jacob seized the wolf, and, amid loud weeping, he addressed
+these words to him: "Why didst thou devour my son Joseph, without any
+fear of the God of the earth, and without taking any thought of the
+grief thou wouldst bring down upon me? Thou didst devour my son without
+reason, he was guilty of no manner of transgression, and thou didst
+roll the responsibility for his death upon me. But God avengeth him
+that is persecuted."
+
+To grant consolation to Jacob, God opened the mouth of the beast, and
+he spake: "As the Lord liveth, who hath created me, and as thy soul
+liveth, my lord, I have not seen thy son, and I did not rend him in
+pieces. From a land afar off I came to seek mine own son, who suffered
+a like fate with thine. He hath disappeared, and I know not whether he
+be dead or alive, and therefore I came hither ten days ago to find him.
+This day, while I was searching for him, thy sons met me, and they
+seized me, and, adding more grief to my grief over my lost son, they
+brought me hither to thee. This is my story, and now, O son of man, I
+am in thy hands, thou canst dispose of me this day as seemeth well in
+thy sight, but I swear unto thee by the God that bath created me, I
+have not seen thy son, nor have I torn him in pieces, never hath the
+flesh of man come into my mouth." Astonished at the speech of the wolf,
+Jacob let him go, unhindered, whithersoever he would, but he mourned
+his son Joseph as before.[66]
+
+It is a law of nature that however much one may grieve over the death
+of a dear one, at the end of a year consolation finds its way to the
+heart of the mourner. But the disappearance of a living man can never
+be wiped out of one's memory. Therefore the fact that he was
+inconsolable made Jacob suspect that Joseph was alive, and he did not
+give entire credence to the report of his sons. His vague suspicion was
+strengthened by something that happened to him. He went up into the
+mountains, hewed twelve stones out of the quarry, and wrote the names
+of his sons thereon, their constellations, and the months corresponding
+to the constellations, a stone for a son, thus, "Reuben, Ram, Nisan,"
+and so for each of his twelve sons. Then he addressed the stones and
+bade them bow down before the one marked with Reuben's name,
+constellation, and month, and they did not move. He gave the same order
+regarding the stone marked for Simon, and again the stones stood still.
+And so he did respecting all his sons, until he reached the stone for
+Joseph. When he spoke concerning this one, "I command you to fall down
+before Joseph," they all prostrated themselves. He tried the same test
+with other things, with trees and sheaves, and always the result was
+the same, and Jacob could not but feel that his suspicion was true,
+Joseph was alive.[67]
+
+There was a reason why God did not reveal the real fate of Joseph to
+Jacob. When his brethren sold Joseph, their fear that the report of
+their iniquity might reach the ears of Jacob led them to pronounce the
+ban upon any that should betray the truth without the consent of all
+the others. Judah advanced the objection that a ban is invalid unless
+it is decreed in the presence of ten persons, and there were but nine
+of them, for Reuben and Benjamin were not there when the sale of Joseph
+was concluded. To evade the difficulty, the brothers counted God as the
+tenth person, and therefore God felt bound to refrain from revealing
+the true state of things to Jacob. He had regard, as it were, for the
+ban pronounced by the brethren of Joseph.[68] And as God kept the truth
+a secret from Jacob, Isaac did not feel justified in acquainting him
+with his grandson's fate, which was well known to him, for he was a
+prophet. Whenever he was in the company of Jacob, he mourned with him,
+but as soon as he quitted him, he left off from manifesting grief,
+because he knew that Joseph lived.[69]
+
+Jacob was thus the only one among Joseph's closest kinsmen that
+remained in ignorance of his son's real fortunes, and he was the one of
+them all that had the greatest reason for regretting his death. He
+spoke: "The covenant that God made with me regarding the twelve tribes
+is null and void now. I did strive in vain to establish the twelve
+tribes, seeing that now the death of Joseph hath destroyed the
+covenant. All the works of God were made to correspond to the number of
+the tribes—twelve are the signs of the zodiac, twelve the months,
+twelve hours hath the day, twelve the night, and twelve stones are set
+in Aaron's breastplate—and now that Joseph hath departed, the covenant
+of the tribes is set at naught."
+
+He could not replace the lost son by entering into a new marriage, for
+he had made the promise to his father-in-law to take none beside his
+daughters to wife, and this promise, as he interpreted it, held good
+after the death of Laban's daughters as well as while they were
+alive.[70]
+
+Beside grief over his loss and regret at the breaking of the covenant
+of the tribes, Jacob had still another reason for mourning the death of
+Joseph. God had said to Jacob, "If none of thy sons dies during thy
+lifetime, thou mayest look upon it as a token that thou wilt not be put
+in Gehenna after thy death." Thinking Joseph to be dead, Jacob had his
+own fate to bewail, too, for he now believed that he was doomed to
+Gehenna.[71] His mourning lasted all of twenty-two years, corresponding
+to the number of the years he had dwelt apart from his parents, and had
+not fulfilled the duty of a son toward them.[72]
+
+In his mourning Jacob put sackcloth upon his loins, and therein be
+became a model for the kings and princes in Israel, for David, Ahab,
+Joram, and Mordecai did likewise when a great misfortune befell the
+nation.[73]
+
+
+
+
+JUDAH AND HIS SONS
+
+
+When the sons of Jacob saw how inconsolable their father was, they went
+to Judah, and said to him, "This great misfortune is thy fault." Judah
+replied: "It was I that asked you, What profit is it if we slay our
+brother and conceal his blood? and now you say the sin lies at my
+door." The brethren continued to argue: "But it was thou that didst
+say, Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and we followed thy
+advice. Hadst thou said, Let us restore him to his father, we had
+heeded these words of thine as well."
+
+The brethren hereupon deprived Judah of his dignity, for hitherto he
+had been their king, and they also excluded him from their fellowship,
+and he had to seek his fortune alone.[74] Through the mediation of his
+chief shepherd Hirah, he became acquainted with the Canaanitish king of
+Adullam, Barsan by name. Though he was well aware of the corruption of
+the generations of Canaan, he permitted passion to get the better of
+him, and took a Canaanite to wife. The Adullamite king gave a banquet
+in his honor, at which his daughter Bath-shua poured the wine, and
+intoxicated by wine and passion Judah took her and married her.[75]
+Judah's action may be compared to that of the lion who passes a carrion
+and eats of it, though a cur preceding him on the way had refused to
+touch it. Even Esau came in time to acknowledge that the daughters of
+Canaan were wicked, and the lion Judah must needs take one of them to
+wife.[76] The holy spirit cried out against Judah when he married the
+Canaanite woman of Adullam, saying, "The glory of Israel went down in
+Adullam."[77]
+
+The first-born son of Judah from this marriage was named Er, "the
+childless," a suitable name for him that died without begetting any
+issue.[78] At Judah's desire, Er married Tamar, a daughter of Aram, the
+son of Shem, but because she was not a Canaanitish woman, his mother
+used artifices against her, and he did not know her, and an angel of
+the Lord killed him on the third day after his wedding. Then Judah gave
+Tamar to his second son Onan, the marriage taking place before the week
+of the wedding festivities for Er had elapsed. A whole year Onan lived
+with Tamar without knowing her, and when, finally, Judah uttered
+threats against him on that account, he did, indeed, have intercourse
+with her, but, giving heed to the injunctions of his mother, he took
+care not to beget any children with her.[79] He, too, died on account
+of his iniquity, and his name Onan "mourning," was well chosen, for
+very soon was his father called upon to mourn for him.[80] Now Judah
+conceived the plan of marrying Tamar to his youngest son Shelah, but
+his wife would not permit it. She hated Tamar because she was not of
+the daughters of Canaan like herself, and while Judah was away from
+home, Bath-shua chose a wife for her son Shelah from the daughters of
+Canaan. Judah was very angry at Bath-shua for what she had done, and
+also God poured out His wrath upon her, for on account of her
+wickedness she had to die,[81] and her death happened a year after that
+of her two sons.
+
+Now that Bath-shua was dead, Judah might have carried out his wish and
+married Tamar to his youngest son. But he waited for Shelah to grow up,
+because he feared for his life, seeing that Tamar had brought death to
+two husbands before him. So she remained a widow in her father's house
+for two years. Endowed with the gift of prophecy, Tamar knew that she
+was appointed to be the ancestress of David and of the Messiah, and she
+determined to venture upon an extreme measure in order to make sure of
+fulfilling her destiny.[82] Accordingly, when the holy spirit revealed
+to her that Judah was going up to Timnah,[83] she put off from her the
+garments of her widowhood, and sat in the gate of Abraham's tent, and
+there she encountered Judah.[84] All the time she lived in the house of
+her father-in-law, he had never seen her face, for in her virtue and
+chastity she had always kept it covered, and now when Judah met her, he
+did not recognize her. It was as a reward for her modesty that God made
+her to become the mother of the royal line of David, and the ancestress
+of Isaiah, and his father Amoz as well, both of whom were prophets and
+of royal blood.[85]
+
+Judah passed Tamar by without paying any attention to her, and she
+raised her eyes heavenward, and said, "O Lord of the world, shall I go
+forth empty from the house of this pious man?" Then God sent the angel
+that is appointed over the passion of love, and he compelled Judah to
+turn back.[86] With prophetic caution, Tamar demanded that, as a pledge
+for the reward he promised her, he leave with her his signet, his
+mantle, and his staff, the symbols of royalty, judgeship, and
+Messiahship, the three distinctions of the descendants of Tamar from
+her union with Judah. When Judah sent her the promised reward, a kid of
+the goats, by the hand of his friend, in order to receive the pledges
+from her hand, Tamar could not be found, and he feared to make further
+search for her, lest he be put to shame. But Tamar, who soon discerned
+that she was with child, felt very happy and proud, for she knew that
+she would be the mother of kings and redeemers.[87]
+
+When her state became known, she was forcibly dragged before the court,
+in which Isaac, Jacob, and Judah sat as judges. Judah, being the
+youngest of the judges and the least considerable in dignity, was the
+first to give a decision, for thus it is prescribed in criminal cases,
+that the prominent judges overawe not the lesser and influence their
+decisions unduly. It was the opinion of Judah that the woman was liable
+to the penalty of death by burning, for she was the daughter of the
+high priest Shem, and death by fire is the punishment ordained by the
+law for a high priest's daughter that leads an unchaste life.[88]
+
+The preparations for her execution were begun. In vain Tamar searched
+for the three pledges she had received from Judah, she could not find
+them, and almost she lost hope that she would be able to wring a
+confession from her father-in-law. She raised her eyes to God, and
+prayed: "I supplicate Thy grace, O God, Thou who givest ear to the cry
+of the distressed in the hour of his need, answer me, that I may be
+spared to bring forth the three holy children, who will be ready to
+suffer death by fire, for the sake of the glory of Thy Name." And God
+granted her petition, and sent the angel Michael down to succor her. He
+put the pledges in a place in which Tamar could not fail to see them,
+and she took them, and threw them before the feet of the judges, with
+the words: "By the man whose these are am I with child, but though I
+perish in the flames, I will not betray him. I hope in the Lord of the
+world, that He will turn the heart of the man, so that he will make
+confession thereof." Then Judah rose up, and said: "With your
+permission, my brethren, and ye men of my father's house, I make it
+known that with what measure a man metes, it shall be measured unto
+him, be it for good or for evil, but happy the man that acknowledgeth
+his sins. Because I took the coat of Joseph, and colored it with the
+blood of a kid, and then laid it at the feet of my father, saying, Know
+now whether it be thy son's coat or not, therefore must I now confess,
+before the court, unto whom belongeth this signet, this mantle, and
+this staff. But it is better that I be put to shame in this world than
+I should be put to shame in the other world, before the face of my
+pious father. It is better that I should perish in a fire that can be
+extinguished than I should be cast into hell fire, which devoureth
+other fires. Now, then, I acknowledge that Tamar is innocent. By me is
+she with child, not because she indulged in illicit passion, but
+because I held back her marriage with my son Shelah." Then a heavenly
+voice was heard to say: "Ye are both innocent! It was the will of God
+that it should happen!"[89]
+
+The open confession of Judah induced his oldest brother Reuben to make
+public acknowledgment of the sin he had committed against his father,
+for he had kept it a secret until then.[90]
+
+Tamar gave birth to twin sons, Perez and Zerah, both resembling their
+father in bravery and piety.[91] She called the first Perez, "mighty,"
+because she said, "Thou didst show thyself of great power, and it is
+meet and proper that thou shouldst be strong, for thou art destined to
+possess the kingdom."[92] The second son was called Zerah, because he
+appeared from out of the womb before his brother, but he was forced
+back again to make way for Perez.[93] These two, Perez and Zerah. were
+sent out as spies by Joshua, and the line that Rahab bound in the
+window of her house as a token to the army of the Israelites, she
+received from Zerah. It was the scarlet thread that the midwife had
+bound upon his hand, to mark him as the child that appeared first and
+withdrew.[94]
+
+
+
+
+THE WIVES OF THE SONS OF JACOB
+
+
+Judah was the first of the sons of Jacob to enter wedlock. After the
+sale of Joseph to the Midianites, his brethren had said to Judah, "If
+conditions were as before, our father would provide wives for us now.
+As it is, he is entirely absorbed by his grief for Joseph, and we must
+look about for wives ourselves. Thou art our chief, and thou shouldst
+marry first."
+
+Judah's marriage with Alit the daughter of the noble merchant Shua,
+which was consummated at Adullam, the residence of his friend Hirah,
+or, as he was called later, Hiram, king of Tyre, was not happy. His two
+oldest sons died, and shortly thereafter his wife also. It was Judah's
+punishment for having begun a good deed and left it unfinished, for "he
+who begins a good deed, and does not execute it to the end, brings down
+misfortune upon his own head." Judah had rescued Joseph from death, but
+it was his suggestion to sell him into slavery. Had he urged them to
+restore the lad to his father, his brethren would have obeyed his
+words. He was lacking in constancy to persist until he had completed
+the work of Joseph's deliverance, which he had begun.[95]
+
+In the same year, the year of Joseph's misfortune, all his other
+brethren married, too. Reuben's wife was named Elyoram, the daughter of
+the Canaanite Uzzi of Timnah. Simon married his sister Dinah first, and
+then a second wife. When Simon and Levi massacred the men of Shechem,
+Dinah refused to leave the city and follow her brethren, saying,
+"Whither shall I carry my shame?" But Simon swore he would marry her,
+as he did later, and when she died in Egypt, he took her body to the
+Holy Land and buried it there. Dinah bore her brother a son,[96] and
+from her union with Shechem, the son of Hamor, sprang a daughter,
+Asenath by name, afterward the wife of Joseph. When this daughter was
+born to Dinah, her brethren, the sons of Jacob, wanted to kill her,
+that the finger of men might not point at the fruit of sin in their
+father's house. But Jacob took a piece of tin, inscribed the Holy Name
+upon it, and bound it about the neck of the girl, and he put her under
+a thornbush, and abandoned her there. An angel carried the babe down to
+Egypt, where Potiphar adopted her as his child, for his wife was
+barren. Years thereafter, when Joseph travelled through the land as
+viceroy, the maidens threw gifts at him, to make him turn his eyes in
+their direction and give them the opportunity of gazing upon his
+beauty. Asenath possessed nothing that would do as a present, therefore
+she took off the amulet suspended from her neck, and gave it to him.
+Thus Joseph became acquainted with her lineage, and he married her,
+seeing that she was not an Egyptian, but one connected with the house
+of Jacob through her mother.[97]
+
+Beside the son of Dinah, Simon had another son, whose name was Saul, by
+Bunah, the damsel he had taken captive in the campaign against Shechem.
+
+Levi and Issachar married two daughters of Jobab, the grandson of Eber;
+the wife of the former was named Adinah, the wife of the latter,
+Aridah. Dan's wife was Elflalet, a daughter of the Moabite Hamudan. For
+a long time their marriage remained childless, finally they had a son,
+whom they called Hushim. Gad and Naphtali married women from Haran, two
+sisters, daughters of Amoram, a grandson of Nahor. Naphtali's wife,
+Merimit, was the older of the two, and the younger, the wife of Gad,
+was named Uzit.
+
+Asher's first wife was Adon, the daughter of Ephlal, a grandson of
+Ishmael. She died childless, and he married a second wife, Hadorah, a
+daughter of Abimael, the grandson of Shem. She had been married before,
+her first husband having been Malchiel, also a grandson of Shem, and
+the issue of this first marriage was a daughter, Serah by name. When
+Asher brought his wife to Canaan, the three year old orphan Serah came
+with them. She was raised in the house of Jacob, and she walked in the
+way of pious children, and God gave her beauty, wisdom, and sagacity.
+
+Zebulon's wife was Maroshah, the daughter of Molad, a grandson of
+Midian, the son of Abraham by Keturah.
+
+For Benjamin, when he was but ten years old, Jacob took Mahlia to wife,
+the daughter of Aram, the grandson of Terah, and she bore him five
+sons. At the age of eighteen he married a second wife, Arbat, the
+daughter of Zimran, a son of Abraham by Keturah, and by her also he had
+five sons.[98]
+
+
+
+
+JOSEPH THE SLAVE OF POTIPHAR
+
+
+When Joseph was sold as a slave to the Ishmaelites, he kept silent out
+of respect for his brethren, and did not tell his masters that he was a
+son of Jacob, a great and powerful man. Even when he came to the
+Midianites with the Ishmaelites, and the former asked after his
+parentage, he still said he was a slave, only in order not to put his
+brethren to shame. But the most distinguished of the Midianites rebuked
+Joseph, saying, "Thou art no slave, thy appearance betrayeth thee," and
+he threatened him with death unless he acknowledged the truth. Joseph,
+however, was steadfast, he would not act treacherously toward his
+brethren.
+
+Arrived in Egypt, the owners of Joseph could come to no agreement
+regarding him. Each desired to have sole and exclusive possession of
+him. They therefore decided to leave him with a shopkeeper until they
+should come back to Egypt again with their merchandise. And God let
+Joseph find grace in the sight of the shopkeeper. All that he had, his
+whole house, he put into Joseph's hand, and therefore the Lord blessed
+him with much silver and gold, and Joseph remained with him for three
+months and five days.
+
+At that time there came from Memphis the wife of Potiphar, and she cast
+her eyes upon Joseph, of whose comeliness of person she had heard from
+the eunuchs. She told her husband how that a certain shopkeeper had
+grown rich through a young Hebrew, and she added: "But it is said that
+the youth was stolen away out of the land of Canaan. Go, therefore, and
+sit in judgment upon his owner, and take the youth unto thy house, that
+the God of the Hebrews may bless thee, for the grace of heaven rests
+upon the youth."
+
+Potiphar summoned the shopkeeper, and when he appeared before him, he
+spoke harshly to him, saying: "What is this I hear? that thou stealest
+souls from the land of Canaan, and dost carry on traffic with them?"
+The shop-keeper protested his innocence, and he could not be made to
+recede from his assertion, that a company of Ishmaelites had left
+Joseph in his charge temporarily, until they should return. Potiphar
+had him stripped naked and beaten, but he continued to reiterate the
+same statement.
+
+Then Potiphar summoned Joseph. The youth prostrated himself before this
+chief of the eunuchs, for he was third in rank of the officers of
+Pharaoh. And he addressed Joseph, and said, "Art thou a slave or a
+free-born man?" and Joseph replied, "A slave." Potiphar continued to
+question him, "Whose slave art thou?" Joseph: "I belong to the
+Ishmaelites." Potiphar: "How wast thou made a slave?" Joseph: "They
+bought me in the land of Canaan."
+
+But Potiphar refused to give credence to what he said, and he had also
+him stripped and beaten. The wife of Potiphar, standing by the door,
+saw how Joseph was abused, and she sent word to her husband, "Thy
+verdict is unjust, for thou punishest the free-born youth that was
+stolen away from his place as though he were the one that had committed
+a crime." As Joseph held firmly to what he had said, Potiphar ordered
+him to prison, until his masters should return. In her sinful longing
+for him, his wife wanted to have Joseph in her own house, and she
+remonstrated with her husband in these words: "Wherefore dost thou keep
+the captive, nobly-born slave a prisoner? Thou shouldst rather set him
+at liberty and have him serve thee." He answered, "The law of the
+Egyptians does not permit us to take what belongs to another before all
+titles are made clear," and Joseph stayed in prison for twenty-four
+days, until the return of the Ishmaelites to Egypt.
+
+Meanwhile they had heard somewhere that Joseph was the son of Jacob,
+and they therefore said to him: "Why didst thou pretend that thou wast
+a slave? See, we have information that thou art the son of a powerful
+man in Canaan, and thy father mourns for thee in sackcloth." Joseph was
+on the point of divulging his secret, but he kept a check upon himself
+for the sake of his brethren, and he repeated that he was a slave.
+
+Nevertheless the Ishmaelites decided to sell him, that he be not found
+in their hands, for they feared the revenge of Jacob, who, they knew,
+was in high favor with the Lord and with men. The shopkeeper begged the
+Ishmaelites to rescue him from the legal prosecution of Potiphar, and
+clear him of the suspicion of man theft. The Ishmaelites in turn had a
+conference with Joseph, and bade him testify before Potiphar that they
+had bought him for money. He did so, and then the chief of the eunuchs
+liberated him from prison, and dismissed all parties concerned.
+
+With the permission of her husband, Potiphar's wife sent a eunuch to
+the Ishmaelites, bidding him to buy Joseph, but he returned and
+reported that they demanded an exorbitant price for the slave. She
+dispatched a second eunuch, charging him to conclude the bargain, and
+though they asked one mina of gold, or even two, he was not to be
+sparing of money, he was to be sure to buy the slave and bring him to
+her. The eunuch gave the Ishmaelites eighty pieces of gold for Joseph,
+telling his mistress, however, that he had paid out a hundred pieces.
+Joseph noticed the deception, but he kept silent, that the eunuch might
+not be put to shame.[99]
+
+Thus Joseph became the slave of the idolatrous priest Potiphar, or
+Poti-phera, as he was sometimes called.[100] He had secured possession
+of the handsome youth for a lewd purpose, but the angel Gabriel
+mutilated him in such manner that he could not accomplish it.[101] His
+master soon had occasion to notice that Joseph was as pious as he was
+beautiful, for whenever he was occupied with his ministrations, he
+would whisper a prayer: "O Lord of the world, Thou art my trust, Thou
+art my protection. Let me find grace and favor in Thy sight and in the
+sight of all that see me, and in the sight of my master Potiphar." When
+Potiphar noticed the movement of his lips, he said to Joseph, "Dost
+thou purpose to cast a spell upon me?" "Nay," replied the youth, "I am
+beseeching God to let me find favor in thine eyes."
+
+His prayer was heard. Potiphar convinced himself that God was with
+Joseph. Sometimes he would make a test of Joseph's miraculous powers.
+If he brought him a glass of hippocras, he would say, "I would rather
+have wine mixed with absinthe," and straightway the spiced wine was
+changed into bitter wine. Whatever he desired, he could be sure to get
+from Joseph, and he saw clearly that God fulfilled the wishes of his
+slave. Therefore he put all the keys of his house into his hand, and he
+knew not aught that was with him,[102] keeping back nothing from Joseph
+but his wife.[103] Seeing that the Shekinah rested upon him, Potiphar
+treated Joseph not as a slave, but as a member of his family, for he
+said, "This youth is not cut out for a slave's work, he is worthy of a
+prince's place."[104] Accordingly, he provided instruction for him in
+the arts, and ordered him to have better fare than the other
+slaves.[105]
+
+Joseph thanked God for his new and happy state. He prayed, "Blessed art
+Thou, O Lord, that Thou hast caused me to forget my father's house."
+What made his present fortunes so agreeable was that he was removed
+from the envy and jealousy of his brethren. He said: "When I was in my
+father's house, and he gave me something pretty, my brethren begrudged
+me the present, and now, O Lord, I thank Thee that I live amid plenty."
+Free from anxieties, he turned his attention to his external
+appearance. He painted his eyes, dressed his hair, and aimed to be
+elegant in his walk. But God spake to him, saying, "Thy father is
+mourning in sackcloth and ashes, while thou dost eat, drink, and dress
+thy hair. Therefore I will stir up thy mistress against thee, and thou
+shalt be embarrassed."[106] Thus Joseph's secret wish was fulfilled,
+that he might be permitted to prove his piety under temptation, as the
+piety of his fathers had been tested.[107]
+
+
+
+
+JOSEPH AND ZULEIKA
+
+
+"Throw the stick up in the air, it will always return to its original
+place." Like Rachel his mother, Joseph was of ravishing beauty, and the
+wife of his master was filled with invincible passion for him."[108]
+Her feeling was heightened by the astrologic forecast that she was
+destined to have descendants through Joseph. This was true, but not in
+the sense in which she understood the prophecy. Joseph married her
+daughter Asenath later on, and she bore him children, thus fulfilling
+what had been read in the stars."[109]
+
+In the beginning she did not confess her love to Joseph. She tried
+first to seduce him by artifice. On the pretext of visiting him, she
+would go to him at night, and, as she had no sons, she would pretend a
+desire to adopt him. Joseph then prayed to God in her behalf, and she
+bore a son. However, she continued to embrace him as though he were her
+own child, yet he did not notice her evil designs. Finally, when he
+recognized her wanton trickery, he mourned many days, and endeavored to
+turn her away from her sinful passion by the word of God. She, on her
+side, often threatened him with death, and surrendered him to
+castigations in order to make him amenable to her will, and when these
+means had no effect upon Joseph, she sought to seduce him with
+enticements. She would say, "I promise thee, thou shalt rule over me
+and all I have, if thou wilt but give thyself up to me. and thou shalt
+be to me the same as my lawful husband." But Joseph was mindful of the
+words of his fathers, and he went into his chamber, and fasted, and
+prayed to God, that He would deliver him from the toils of the Egyptian
+woman.
+
+In spite of the mortifications he practiced, and though he gave the
+poor and the sick the food apportioned to him, his master thought he
+lived a luxurious life, for those that fast for the glory of God are
+made beautiful of countenance.
+
+The wife of Potiphar would frequently speak to her husband in praise of
+Joseph's chastity in order that he might conceive no suspicion of the
+state of her feelings. And, again, she would encourage Joseph secretly,
+telling him not to fear her husband, that he was convinced of his
+purity of life, and though one should carry tales to him about Joseph
+and herself, Potiphar would lend them no credence. And when she saw
+that all this was ineffectual , she approached him with the request
+that he teach her the word of God, saying, "If it be thy wish that I
+forsake idol worship, then fulfil my desire, and I will persuade that
+Egyptian husband of mine to abjure the idols, and we shall walk in the
+law of thy God." Joseph replied, "The Lord desireth not that those who
+fear Him shall walk in impurity, nor hath He pleasure in the
+adulterer."
+
+Another time she came to him, and said, "If thou wilt not do my desire,
+I will murder the Egyptian and wed with thee according to the law."
+Whereat Joseph rent his garment, and he said, "O woman, fear the Lord,
+and do not execute this evil deed, that thou mayest not bring
+destruction down upon thyself, for I will proclaim thy impious purposes
+to all in public."
+
+Again, she sent him a dish prepared with magic spells, by means of
+which she hoped to get him into her power. But when the eunuch set it
+before him, he saw the image of a man handing him a sword together with
+the dish, and, warned by the vision, he took good care not to taste of
+the food. A few days later his mistress came to him, and asked him why
+he had not eaten of what she had sent him. He reproached her, saying,
+"How couldst thou tell me, I do not come nigh unto the idols, but only
+unto the Lord? The God of my fathers hath revealed thy iniquity to me
+through an angel, but that thou mayest know that the malice of the
+wicked has no power over those who fear God in purity, I shall eat thy
+food before thine eyes, and the God of my fathers and the angel of
+Abraham will be with me." The wife of Potiphar fell upon her face at
+the feet of Joseph, and amid tears she promised not to commit this sin
+again.
+
+But her unholy passion for Joseph did not depart from her, and her
+distress over her unfulfilled wish made her look so ill that her
+husband said to her, "Why is thy countenance fallen?" And she replied,
+"I have a pain at my heart, and the groanings of my spirit oppress me."
+
+Once when she was alone with Joseph, she rushed toward him, crying, "I
+will throttle myself, or I will jump into a well or a pit, if thou wilt
+not yield thyself to me." Noticing her extreme agitation, Joseph
+endeavored to calm her with these words, "Remember, if thou makest away
+with thyself, thy husband's concubine, Asteho, thy rival, will maltreat
+thy children, and extirpate thy memory from the earth." These words,
+gently spoken, had the opposite effect from that intended. They only
+inflamed her passion the more by feeding her hopes. She said: "There,
+seest thou, thou dost love me now! It sufficeth for me that thou takest
+thought for me and for the safety of my children. I expect now that my
+desire will be fulfilled." She did not know that Joseph spoke as he did
+for the sake of God, and not for her sake.[110]
+
+His mistress, or, as she was called, Zuleika, pursued him day after day
+with her amorous talk and her flattery, saying: "How fair is thy
+appearance, how comely thy form! Never have I seen so well-favored a
+slave as thou art." Joseph would reply: "God, who formed me in my
+mother's womb, hath created all men."
+
+Zuleika: "How beautiful are thine eyes, with which thou hast charmed
+all Egyptians, both men and women!"
+
+Joseph: "Beautiful as they may be while I am alive, so ghastly they
+will be to look upon in the grave."
+
+Zuleika: "How lovely and pleasant are thy words! I pray thee, take thy
+harp, play and also sing, that I may hear thy words."
+
+Joseph: "Lovely and pleasant are my words when I proclaim the praise of
+my God."
+
+Zuleika: "How beautiful is thy hair! Take my golden comb, and comb it."
+
+Joseph: "How long wilt thou continue to speak thus to me? Leave off! It
+were better for thee to care for thy household."
+
+Zuleika: "There is nothing in my house that I care for, save thee
+alone."
+
+But Joseph's virtue was unshaken. While she spoke thus, he did not so
+much as raise his eyes to look at his mistress.[111] He remained
+equally steadfast when she lavished gifts upon him, for she provided
+him with garments of one kind for the morning, another for noon, and a
+third kind for the evening. Nor could threats move him. She would say,
+"I will bring false accusations against thee before thy master," and
+Joseph would reply, "The Lord executeth judgment for the oppressed."
+Or, "I will deprive thee of food;" whereupon Joseph, "The Lord giveth
+food to the hungry." Or, "I will have thee thrown into prison;"
+whereupon Joseph, "The Lord looseth the prisoners." Or, "I will put
+heavy labor upon thee that will bend thee double;" whereupon Joseph,
+"The Lord raiseth up them that are bowed down." Or, "I will blind thine
+eyes;" whereupon Joseph, "The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind."[112]
+
+When she began to exercise her blandishments upon him, he rejected them
+with the words, "I fear my master." But Zuleika would say, "I will kill
+him." Joseph replied with indignation, "Not enough that thou wouldst
+make an adulterer of me, thou wouldst have me be a murderer, besides?"
+And he spoke furthermore, saying, "I fear the Lord my God!"
+
+Zuleika: "Nonsense! He is not here to see thee!
+
+Joseph: "Great is the Lord and highly to be praised, and His greatness
+is unsearchable."
+
+Thereupon she took Joseph into her chamber, where an idol hung above
+the bed. This she covered, that it might not be a witness of what she
+was about to do. Joseph said: "Though thou coverest up the eyes of the
+idol, remember, the eyes of the Lord run to and fro through the whole
+earth. Yes," continued Joseph, "I have many reasons not to do this
+thing for the sake of God. Adam was banished from Paradise on account
+of violating a light command; how much more should I have to fear the
+punishment of God, were I to commit so grave a sin as adultery! The
+Lord is in the habit of choosing a favorite member of our family as a
+sacrifice unto Himself. Perhaps He desireth to make choice of me, but
+if I do thy will, I make myself unfit to be a sacrifice unto God. Also
+the Lord is in the habit of appearing suddenly, in visions of the
+night, unto those that love Him. Thus did He appear unto Abraham,
+Isaac, and Jacob, and I fear that He may appear unto me at the very
+moment while I am defiling myself with thee. And as I fear God, so I
+fear my father, who withdrew the birthright from his first-born son
+Reuben, on account of an immoral act, and gave it to me. Were I to
+fulfil thy desire, I would share the fate of my brother Reuben."[113]
+
+With such words, Joseph endeavored to cure the wife of his master of
+the wanton passion she had conceived for him, while he took heed to
+keep far from a heinous sin, not from fear of the punishment that would
+follow, nor out of consideration for the opinion of men, but because he
+desired to sanctify the Name of God, blessed be He, before the whole
+world.[114] It was this feeling of his that Zuleika could not
+comprehend, and when, finally, carried away by passion, she told him in
+unmistakable language what she desired,[115] and he recoiled from her,
+she said to Joseph: "Why dost thou refuse to fulfil my wish? Am I not a
+married woman? None will find out what thou hast done." Joseph replied:
+"If the unmarried women of the heathen are prohibited unto us, how much
+more their married women?[116] As the Lord liveth, I will not commit
+the crime thou biddest me do." In this Joseph followed the example of
+many pious men, who utter an oath at the moment when they are in danger
+of succumbing to temptation, and seek thus to gather moral courage to
+control their evil instincts."
+
+When Zuleika could not prevail upon him, to persuade him, her desire
+threw her into a grievous sickness, and all the women of Egypt came to
+visit her, and they said unto her, "Why art thou so languid and wasted,
+thou that lackest nothing? Is not thy husband a prince great and
+esteemed in the sight of the king? Is it possible that thou canst want
+aught of what thy heart desireth?" Zuleika answered them, saying, "This
+day shall it be made known unto you whence cometh the state wherein you
+see me."
+
+She commanded her maid-servants to prepare food for all the women, and
+she spread a banquet before them in her house. She placed knives upon
+the table to peel the oranges, and then ordered Joseph to appear,
+arrayed in costly garments, and wait upon her guests. When Joseph came
+in, the women could not take their eyes off him, and they all cut their
+hands with the knives, and the oranges in their hands were covered with
+blood, but they, not knowing what they were doing, continued to look
+upon the beauty of Joseph without turning their eyes away from him.
+
+Then Zuleika said unto them: "What have ye done? Behold, I set oranges
+before you to eat, and you have cut your hands." All the women looked
+at their hands, and, lo, they were full of blood, and it flowed down
+and stained their garments. They said to Zuleika, "This slave in thy
+house did enchant us, and we could not turn our eyes away from him on
+account of his beauty." She then said: "This happened to you that
+looked upon him but a moment, and you could not refrain yourselves!
+How, then, can I control myself in whose house he abideth continually,
+who see him go in and out day after day? How, then, should I not waste
+away, or keep from languishing on account of him!" And the women spake,
+saying: "It is true, who can look upon this beauty in the house, and
+refrain her feelings? But he is thy slave! Why dost thou not disclose
+to him that which is in thy heart, rather than suffer thy life to
+perish through this thing?" Zuleika answered them: "Daily do I endeavor
+to persuade him, but he will not consent to my wishes. I promised him
+everything that is fair, yet have I met with no return from him, and
+therefore I am sick, as you may see."
+
+Her sickness increased upon her. Her husband and her household
+suspected not the cause of her decline, but all the women that were her
+friends knew that it was on account of the love she bore Joseph, and
+they advised her all the time to try to entice the youth. On a certain
+day, while Joseph was doing his master's work in the house, Zuleika
+came and fell suddenly upon him, but Joseph was stronger than she, and
+he pressed her down to the ground. Zuleika wept, and in a voice of
+supplication, and in bitterness of soul, she said to Joseph: "Hast thou
+ever known, seen, or heard of a woman my peer in beauty, let alone a
+woman with beauty exceeding mine? Yet I try daily to persuade thee, I
+fall into decline through love of thee, I confer all this honor upon
+thee, and thou wilt not hearken unto my voice! Is it by reason of fear
+of thy master, that he punish thee? As the king liveth, no harm shall
+come upon thee from thy master on account of this thing. Now,
+therefore, I pray thee, listen to me, and consent unto my desire for
+the sake of the honor that I have conferred upon thee, and take this
+death away from me. For why should I die on account of thee?" Joseph
+remained as steadfast under these importunities as before. Zuleika,
+however, was not discouraged; she continued her solicitations
+unremittingly, day after day,[118] month after month, for a whole year,
+but always without the least success, for Joseph in his chastity did
+not permit himself even to look upon her, wherefore she resorted to
+constraint. She had an iron shackle placed upon his chin, and he was
+compelled to keep his head up and look her in the face."[119]
+
+
+
+
+JOSEPH RESISTS TEMPTATION
+
+
+Seeing that she could not attain her object by entreaties or tears,
+Zuleika finally used force, when she judged that the favorable chance
+had come. She did not have long to wait. When the Nile overflowed its
+banks, and, according to the annual custom of the Egyptians, all
+repaired to the river, men and women, people and princes, accompanied
+by music, Zuleika remained at home under pretense of being sick. This
+was her long-looked-for opportunity, she thought. She rose up and
+ascended to the hall of state, and arrayed herself in princely
+garments. She placed precious stones upon her head, onyx stones set in
+silver and gold, she beautified her face and her body with all sorts of
+things for the purifying of women, she perfumed the hall and the whole
+house with cassia and frankincense, spread myrrh and aloes all over,
+and afterward sat herself down at the entrance to the hall, in the
+vestibule leading to the house, through which Joseph had to pass to his
+work.
+
+And, behold, Joseph came from the field, and he was on the point of
+entering the house to do his master's work, but when he reached the
+place where Zuleika sat, and saw all she had done, he turned back. His
+mistress, perceiving it, called out to him, "What aileth thee, Joseph?
+Go to thy work, I will make room for thee, that thou mayest pass by to
+thy seat." Joseph did as she bade him, he entered the house, took his
+seat, and set about his master's work as usual. Then Zuleika stood
+before him suddenly in all her beauty of person and magnificence of
+raiment, and repeated the desire of her heart.[120] It was the first
+and the last time that Joseph's steadfastness deserted him, but only
+for an instant. When he was on the point of complying with the wish of
+his mistress, the image of his mother Rachel appeared before him, and
+that of his aunt Leah, and the image of his father Jacob. The last
+addressed him thus: "In time to come the names of thy brethren will be
+graven upon the breastplate of the high priest. Dost thou desire to
+have thy name appear with theirs? Or wilt thou forfeit this honor
+through sinful conduct? For know, he that keepeth company with harlots
+wasteth his substance." This vision of the dead, and especially the
+image of his father, brought Joseph to his senses, and his illicit
+passion departed from him.[121]
+
+Astonished at the swift change in his countenance, Zuleika said, "My
+friend and true-love, why art thou so affrighted that thou art near to
+swooning?
+
+Joseph: "I see my father!"
+
+Zuleika: "Where is he? Why, there is none in the house."
+
+Joseph: "Thou belongest to a people that is like unto the ass, it
+perceiveth nothing. But I belong to those who can see things."
+
+Joseph fled forth, away from the house of his mistress,[122] the same
+house in which aforetime wonders had been done for Sarah kept a captive
+there by Pharaoh.[123] But hardly was he outside when the sinful
+passion again overwhelmed him, and he returned to Zuleika's chamber.
+Then the Lord appeared unto him, holding the Eben Shetiyah[124] in His
+hand, and said to him: "If thou touchest her, I will cast away this
+stone upon which the earth is founded, and the world will fall to
+ruin." Sobered again, Joseph started to escape from his mistress,[125]
+but Zuleika caught him by his garment, and she said: "As the king
+liveth, if thou wilt not fulfil my wish, thou must die," and while she
+spoke thus, she drew a sword with her free hand from under her dress,
+and, pressing it against Joseph's throat, she said, "Do as I bid thee,
+or thou diest." Joseph ran out, leaving a piece of his garment in the
+hands of Zuleika as he wrenched himself loose from the grasp of the
+woman with a quick, energetic motion.[126]
+
+Zuleika's passion for Joseph was so violent that, in lieu of its owner,
+whom she could not succeed in subduing to her will, she kissed and
+caressed the fragment of cloth left in her hand.[127] At the same time
+she was not slow to perceive the danger into which she had put herself,
+for, she feared, Joseph might possibly betray her conduct, and she
+considered ways and means of obviating the consequences of her
+folly.[128]
+
+Meanwhile her friends returned from the Nile festival, and they came to
+visit her and inquire after her health. They found her looking
+wretchedly ill, on account of the excitement she had passed through and
+the anxiety she was in. She confessed to the women what had happened
+with Joseph, and they advised her to accuse him of immorality before
+her husband, and then he would be thrown into prison. Zuleika accepted
+their advice, and she begged her visitors to support her charges by
+also lodging complaints against Joseph, that he had been annoying them
+with improper proposals.[129]
+
+But Zuleika did not depend entirely upon the assistance of her friends.
+She planned a ruse, besides, to be sure of convincing her husband of
+Joseph's guilt. She laid aside her rich robes of state, put on her
+ordinary clothes, and took to her sick-bed, in which she had been lying
+when the people left to go to the festival. Also she took Joseph's torn
+garment, and laid it out next to her. Then she sent a little boy to
+summon some of the men of her house, and to them she told the tale of
+Joseph's alleged outrage, saying: "See the Hebrew slave, whom your
+master hath brought in unto my house, and who attempted to do violence
+to me to-day! You had scarcely gone away to the festival when be
+entered the house, and making sure that no one was here he tried to
+force me to yield to his lustful desire. But I grasped his clothes,
+tore them, and cried with a loud voice. When he heard that I lifted up
+my voice and cried, he was seized with fear, and be fled, and got him
+out, but he left his garment by me." The men of her house spake not a
+word, but, in a rage against Joseph, they went to their master, and
+reported to him what had come to pass.[130] In the meantime the
+husbands of Zuleika's friends had also spoken to Potiphar, at the
+instigation of their wives, and complained of his slave, that he
+molested them.[131]
+
+Potiphar hastened home, and he found his wife in low spirits, and
+though the cause of her dejection was chagrin at not having succeeded
+in winning Joseph's love, she pretended that it was anger at the
+immoral conduct of the slave. She accused him in the following words:
+"O husband, mayest thou not live a day longer, if thou dost not punish
+the wicked slave that hath desired to defile thy bed, that hath not
+kept in mind who he was when he came to our house, to demean himself
+with modesty, nor hath he been mindful of the favors he hath received
+from thy bounty. He did lay a privy design to abuse thy wife, and this
+at the time of observing a festival, when thou wouldst be absent."[132]
+These words she spoke at the moment of conjugal intimacy with Potiphar,
+when she was certain of exerting an influence upon her husband.[133]
+
+Potiphar gave credence to her words, and he had Joseph flogged
+unmercifully. While the cruel blows fell upon him, he cried to God, "O
+Lord, Thou knowest that I am innocent of these things, and why should I
+die to-day on account of a false accusation by the hands of these
+uncircumcised, impious men?" God opened the mouth of Zuleika's child, a
+babe of but eleven months, and he spoke to the men that were beating
+Joseph, saying: "What is your quarrel with this man? Why do you inflict
+such evil upon him? Lies my mother doth speak, and deceit is what her
+mouth uttereth. This is the true tale of that which did happen," and
+the child proceeded to tell all that had passed—how Zuleika had tried
+first to persuade Joseph to act wickedly, and then had tried to force
+him to do her will. The people listened in great amazement. But the
+report finished, the child spake no word, as before.
+
+Abashed by the speech of his own infant son, Potiphar commanded his
+bailiffs to leave off from chastising Joseph, and the matter was
+brought into court, where priests sat as judges. Joseph protested his
+innocence, and related all that had happened according to the truth,
+but Potiphar repeated the account his wife had given him. The judges
+ordered the garment of Joseph to be brought which Zuleika had in her
+possession, and they examined the tear therein. It turned out to be on
+the front part of the mantle, and they came to the conclusion that
+Zuleika had tried to hold him fast, and had been foiled in her attempt
+by Joseph, against whom she was now lodging a trumped up charge. They
+decided that Joseph had not incurred the death penalty, but they
+condemned him to incarceration, because he was the cause of a stain
+upon Zuleika's fair name."[134]
+
+Potiphar himself was convinced of Joseph's innocence, and when he cast
+him into prison, he said to him, "I know that thou art not guilty of so
+vile a crime, but I must put thee in durance, lest a taint cling to my
+children."[135]
+
+
+
+
+JOSEPH IN PRISON
+
+
+By way of punishment for having traduced his ten brethren before his
+father, Joseph had to languish for ten years in the prison to which the
+wiles of traducers had in turn condemned him.[136] But, on the other
+hand, as he had sanctified the Name of God before the world by his
+chastity and his steadfastness, he was rewarded. The letter He, which
+occurs twice in the Name of God, was added to his name. He had been
+called Joseph, but now he was called also Jehoseph.[137]
+
+Though he was bound in prison, Joseph was not yet safe from the
+machinations of his mistress, whose passion for him was in no wise
+lessened. In truth it was she that had induced her husband to change
+his intention regarding Joseph; she urged him to imprison the slave
+rather than kill him, for she hoped that as a prisoner he could be made
+amenable to her wishes more easily. She spake to her husband, saying:
+"Do not destroy thy property. Cast the slave in prison and keep him
+there until thou canst sell him, and receive back the money thou didst
+pay out for him."[138] Thus she had the opportunity of visiting Joseph
+in his cell and trying to persuade him to do her will. She would say,
+"This and that outrage have I executed against thee, but, as thou
+livest, I will put yet other outrages upon thee if thou dost not obey
+me." But Joseph replied, "The Lord executeth judgment for the
+oppressed."
+
+Zuleika: "I will push matters so far that all men will hate thee."
+
+Joseph: "The Lord loveth the righteous."
+
+Zuleika: "I will sell thee into a strange land."
+
+Joseph: "The Lord preserveth the strangers."[139]
+
+Then she would resort to enticements in order to obtain her desire. She
+would promise to release him from prison, if he would but grant her
+wish. But he would say, "Better it is to remain here than be with thee
+and commit a trespass against God." These visits to Joseph in prison
+Zuleika continued for a long time, but when, finally, she saw that all
+her hopes were vain, she let him alone.[140]
+
+As the mistress persisted in her love for Joseph, so his master, her
+husband, could not separate himself from his favorite slave. Though a
+prisoner, Joseph continued to minister to the needs of Potiphar, and he
+received permission from the keeper of the prison to spend some of his
+time in his master's house.[141] In many other ways the jailer showed
+himself kindly disposed toward Joseph. Seeing the youth's zeal and
+conscientiousness in executing the tasks laid upon him, and under the
+spell of his enchanting beauty, he made prison life as easy as possible
+for his charge. He even ordered better dishes for him than the common
+prison fare, and he found it superfluous caution to keep watch over
+Joseph, for he could see no wrong in him, and he observed that God was
+with him, in good days and in bad. He even appointed him to be the
+overseer of the prison, and as Joseph commanded, so the other prisoners
+were obliged to do.[142]
+
+For a long time the people talked of nothing but the accusation raised
+against Joseph by his mistress. In order to divert the attention of the
+public from him, God ordained that two high officers, the chief butler
+and the chief baker, should offend their lord, the king of Egypt, and
+they were put in ward in the house of the captain of the guard. Now the
+people ceased their talk about Joseph, and spoke only of the scandal at
+court. The charges laid at the door of the noble prisoners were that
+they had attempted to do violence to the daughter of Pharaoh, and they
+had conspired to poison the king himself. Besides, they had shown
+themselves derelict in their service. In the wine the chief butler had
+handed to the king to drink, a fly had been discovered, and the bread
+set upon the royal board by the chief baker contained a little
+pebble."[143] On account of all these transgressions they were
+condemned to death by Pharaoh, but for the sake of Joseph it was
+ordained by Divine providence that the king should first detain them in
+prison before he ordered their execution. The Lord had enkindled the
+wrath of the king against his servants only that the wish of Joseph for
+liberty might be fulfilled, for they were the instruments of his
+deliverance from prison, and though they were doomed to death, yet in
+consideration of the exalted office they had held at court, the keeper
+of the prison accorded them privileges, as, for instance, a man was
+detailed to wait upon them, and the one appointed thereto was
+Joseph.[144] 1]
+
+The chief butler and the chief baker had been confined in prison ten
+years,[145] when they dreamed a dream, both of them, but as for the
+interpretation, each dreamed only that of the other one's dream.[146]
+In the morning when Joseph brought them the water for washing, he found
+them sad, depressed in spirits, and, in the manner of the sages, he
+asked them why they looked different on that day from other days. They
+said unto him, "We have dreamed a dream this night, and our two dreams
+resemble each other in certain particulars, and there is none that can
+interpret them." And Joseph said unto them: "God granteth understanding
+to man to interpret dreams. Tell them me, I pray you."[147] It was as a
+reward for ascribing greatness and credit to Him unto whom it belongeth
+that Joseph later attained to his lofty position.[148]
+
+The chief butler proceeded to tell his dream: "In my dream, behold, a
+vine was before me; and in the vine were three branches; and it was as
+though it budded, and its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters thereof
+brought forth ripe grapes; and Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and I took
+the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup
+into Pharaoh's hand." The chief butler was not aware that his dream
+contained a prophecy regarding the future of Israel, but Joseph
+discerned the recondite meaning,[149] and he interpreted the dream
+thus: The three branches are the three Fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and
+Jacob, whose descendants in Egypt will be redeemed by three leaders,
+Moses, Aaron, and Miriam; and the cup given into the hand of Pharaoh is
+the cup of wrath that he will have to drain in the end. This
+interpretation of the dream Joseph kept for himself, and he told the
+chief butler nothing thereof, but out of gratitude for the glad tidings
+of the deliverance of Israel from the bondage of Egypt, he gave him a
+favorable interpretation of his dream, and begged him to have him in
+his remembrance, when it should be well with him, and liberate him from
+the dungeon in which he was confined.
+
+When the chief baker heard the interpretation of the butler's dream, he
+knew that Joseph had divined its meaning correctly, for in his own he
+had seen the interpretation of his friend's dream, and he proceeded to
+tell Joseph what he had dreamed in the night: "I also was in my dream,
+and, behold, three baskets of white bread were on my head; and in the
+uppermost basket there was of all manner of bake- meats for Pharaoh;
+and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head." Also this
+dream conveyed a prophecy regarding the future of Israel: The three
+baskets are the three kingdoms to which Israel will be made subject,
+Babylon, Media, and Greece; and the uppermost basket indicates the
+wicked rule of Rome, which will extend over all the nations of the
+world, until the bird shall come, who is the Messiah, and annihilate
+Rome. Again Joseph kept the prophecy a secret. To the chief baker he
+gave only the interpretation that had reference to his person, but it
+was unfavorable to him, because through his dream Joseph had been made
+acquainted with the suffering Israel would have to undergo.
+
+And all came to pass, as Joseph had said, on the third day.[150] The
+day whereon he explained the meaning of their dreams to the two
+distinguished prisoners, a son was born unto Pharaoh and to celebrate
+the joyous event, the king arranged a feast for his princes and
+servants that was to last eight days. He invited them and all the
+people to his table, and he entertained them with royal splendor. The
+feast had its beginning on the third day after the birth of the child,
+and on that occasion the chief butler was restored in honor to his
+butlership, and the chief baker was hanged,[151] for Pharaoh's
+counsellors had discovered that it was not the butler's fault that the
+fly had dropped into the king's wine, but the baker had been guilty of
+carelessness in allowing the pebble to get into the bread.[152]
+Likewise it appeared that the butler had had no part in the conspiracy
+to poison the king, while the baker was revealed as one of the
+plotters, and he had to expiate his crime with his life.[153]
+
+
+
+
+PHARAOH'S DREAMS
+
+
+Properly speaking, Joseph should have gone out free from his dungeon on
+the same day as the butler. He had been there ten years by that time,
+and had made amends for the slander he had uttered against his ten
+brethren. However, he remained in prison two years longer. "Blessed is
+the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord," but
+Joseph had put his confidence in flesh and blood. He had prayed the
+chief butler to have him in remembrance when it should be well with
+him, and make mention of him unto Pharaoh, and the butler forgot his
+promise, and therefore Joseph had to stay in prison two years more than
+the years originally allotted to him there.[154] The butler had not
+forgotten him intentionally, but it was ordained of God that his memory
+should fail him. When he would say to himself, If thus and so happens,
+I will remember the case of Joseph, the conditions he had imagined were
+sure to be reversed, or if he made a knot as a reminder, an angel came
+and undid the knot, and Joseph did not enter his mind.[155]
+
+But "the Lord setteth an end to darkness," and Joseph's liberation was
+not delayed by a single moment beyond the time decreed for it. God
+said, "Thou, O butler, thou didst forget Joseph, but I did not," and He
+caused Pharaoh to dream a dream that was the occasion for Joseph's
+release.[156]
+
+In his dream Pharaoh saw seven kine, well-favored and fat-fleshed, come
+up out of the Nile, and they all together grazed peaceably on the brink
+of the river, In years when the harvest is abundant, friendship reigns
+among men, and love and brotherly harmony, and these seven fat kine
+stood for seven such prosperous years. After the fat kine, seven more
+came up out of the river, ill-favored and lean- fleshed, and each had
+her back turned to the others, for when distress prevails, one man
+turns away from the other. For a brief space Pharaoh awoke, and when he
+went to sleep again, he dreamed a second dream, about seven rank and
+good ears of corn, and seven ears that were thin and blasted with the
+east wind,[157] the withered cars swallowing the full ears. He awoke at
+once, and it was morning, and dreams dreamed in the morning are the
+ones that come true.[158]
+
+This was not the first time Pharaoh had had these dreams. They had
+visited him every night during a period of two years, and he had
+forgotten them invariably in the morning. This was the first time he
+remembered them, for the day had arrived for Joseph to come forth from
+his prison house.[159] Pharaoh's heart beat violently when he called
+his dreams to mind on awaking.[160] Especially the second one, about
+the ears of corn, disquieted him. He reflected that whatever has a
+mouth can eat, and therefore the dream of the seven lean kine that ate
+up the seven fat kine did not appear strange to him. But the ears of
+corn that swallowed up other ears of corn troubled his spirit.[161] He
+therefore called for all the wise men of his land, and they endeavored
+in vain to find a satisfactory interpretation. They explained that the
+seven fat kine meant seven daughters to be born unto Pharaoh, and the
+seven lean kine, that he would bury seven daughters; the rank ears of
+corn meant that Pharaoh would conquer seven countries, and the blasted
+ears, that seven provinces would rebel against him.[162] About the ears
+of corn they did not all agree. Some thought the good ears stood for
+seven cities to be built by Pharaoh, and the seven withered ears
+indicated that these same cities would be destroyed at the end of his
+reign.
+
+Sagacious as he was, Pharaoh knew that none of these explanations hit
+the nail on the head. He issued a decree summoning all interpreters of
+dreams to appear before him on pain of death, and he held out great
+rewards and distinctions to the one who should succeed in finding the
+true meaning of his dreams. In obedience to his summons, all the wise
+men appeared, the magicians and the sacred scribes that were in
+Mizraim, the city of Egypt, as well as those from Goshen, Raamses,
+Zoan, and the whole country of Egypt, and with them came the princes,
+officers, and servants of the king from all the cities of the land.
+
+To all these the king narrated his dreams, but none could interpret
+them to his satisfaction. Some said that the seven fat kine were the
+seven legitimate kings that would rule over Egypt, and the seven lean
+kine betokened seven princes that would rise up against these seven
+kings and exterminate them. The seven good ears of corn were the seven
+superior princes of Egypt that would engage in a war for their
+overlord, and would be defeated by as many insignificant princes, who
+were betokened by the seven blasted ears.
+
+Another interpretation was that the seven fat kine were the seven
+fortified cities of Egypt, at some future time to fall into the hands
+of seven Canaanitish nations, who were foreshadowed in the seven lean
+kine. According to this interpretation, the second dream supplemented
+the first. It meant that the descendants of Pharaoh would regain
+sovereign authority over Egypt at a subsequent period, and would subdue
+the seven Canaanitish nations as well.
+
+There was a third interpretation, given by some: The seven fat kine are
+seven women whom Pharaoh would take to wife, but they would die during
+his lifetime, their loss being indicated by the seven lean kine.
+Furthermore, Pharaoh would have fourteen sons, and the seven strong
+ones would be conquered by the seven weaklings, as the blasted ears of
+corn in his dream had swallowed up the rank ears of corn.
+
+And a fourth: "Thou wilt have seven sons, O Pharaoh, these are the
+seven fat kine. These sons of thine will be killed by the seven
+powerful rebellious princes. But then seven minor princes will come,
+and they will kill the seven rebels, avenge thy descendants, and
+restore the dominion to thy family."
+
+The king was as little pleased with these interpretations as with the
+others, which he had heard before, and in his wrath he ordered the wise
+men, the magicians and the scribes of Egypt, to be killed, and the
+hangmen made ready to execute the royal decree.
+
+However, Mirod, Pharaoh's chief butler,[163] took fright, seeing that
+the king was so vexed at his failure to secure an interpretation of his
+dreams that he was on the point of giving up the ghost. He was alarmed
+about the king's death, for it was doubtful whether the successor to
+the throne would retain him in office. He resolved to do all in his
+power to keep Pharaoh alive. Therefore he stepped before him, and
+spake, saying, "I do remember two faults of mine this day, I showed
+myself ungrateful to Joseph, in that I did not bring his request before
+thee, and also I saw thee in distress by reason of thy dream, without
+letting thee know that Joseph can interpret dreams.[164] When it
+pleased the Lord God to make Pharaoh wroth with his servants, the king
+put me in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, me and the
+chief baker.[165] And with us there was a simple young man, one of the
+despised race of the Hebrews, slave to the captain of the guard, and he
+interpreted our dreams to us, and it came to pass, as he interpreted to
+us, so it was. Therefore, O king, stay the hand of the hangmen, let
+them not execute the Egyptians. The slave I speak of is still in the
+dungeon, and if the king will consent to summon him hither, he will
+surely interpret thy dreams."[166]
+
+
+
+
+JOSEPH BEFORE PHARAOH
+
+
+"Accursed are the wicked that never do a wholly good deed." The chief
+butler described Joseph contemptuously as a "slave" in order that it
+might be impossible for him to occupy a distinguished place at court,
+for it was a law upon the statute books of Egypt that a slave could
+never sit upon the throne as king, nor even put his foot in the stirrup
+of a horse.[167]
+
+Pharaoh revoked the edict of death that he had issued against the wise
+men of Egypt, and he sent and called Joseph. He impressed care upon his
+messengers, they were not to excite and confuse Joseph, and render him
+unfit to interpret the king's dream correctly.[168] They brought him
+hastily out of the dungeon, but first Joseph, out of respect for the
+king, shaved himself, and put on fresh raiment, which an angel brought
+him from Paradise, and then he came in unto Pharaoh.[169]
+
+The king was sitting upon the royal throne, arrayed in princely
+garments, clad with a golden ephod upon his breast, and the fine gold
+of the ephod sparkled, and the carbuncle, the ruby, and the emerald
+flamed like a torch, and all the precious stones set upon the king's
+head flashed like a blazing fire, and Joseph was greatly amazed at the
+appearance of the king. The throne upon which he sat was covered with
+gold and silver and with onyx stones, and it had seventy steps. If a
+prince or other distinguished person came to have an audience with the
+king, it was the custom for him to advance and mount to the
+thirty-first step of the throne, and the king would descend thirty-six
+steps and speak to him. But if one of the people came to have speech
+with the king, he ascended only to the third step, and the king would
+come down four steps from his seat, and address him thence. It was also
+the custom that one who knew all the seventy languages ascended the
+seventy steps of the throne to the top, but if a man knew only some of
+the seventy languages, he was permitted to ascend as many steps as he
+knew languages, whether they were many or, few. And another custom of
+the Egyptians was that none could reign over them unless he was master
+of all the seventy languages.
+
+When Joseph came before the king, he bowed down to the ground, and he
+ascended to the third step, while the king sat upon the fourth from the
+top, and spake with Joseph, saying:[170] "O young man, my servant
+beareth witness concerning thee, that thou art the best and most
+discerning person I can consult with. I pray thee, vouchsafe unto me
+the same favors which thou didst bestow on this servant of mine, and
+tell me what events they are which the visions of my dreams foreshow. I
+desire thee to suppress naught out of fear, nor shalt thou flatter me
+with lying words, or with words that please me. Tell me the truth,
+though it be sad and alarming."[171]
+
+Joseph asked the king first whence he knew that the interpretation
+given by the wise men of his country was not true, and Pharaoh replied,
+"I saw the dream and its interpretation together, and therefore they
+cannot make a fool of me."[172] In his modesty Joseph denied that he
+was an adept at interpreting dreams. He said, "It is not in me; it is
+in the hand of God, and if it be the wish of God, He will permit me to
+announce tidings of peace to Pharaoh." And for such modesty he was
+rewarded by sovereignty over Egypt, for the Lord doth honor them that
+honor Him. Thus was also Daniel rewarded for his speech to
+Nebuchadnezzar:
+
+"There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, but as for me, this
+secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any
+living, but to the intent that the interpretation may be made known to
+the king, and that thou mayest know the thoughts of thy heart."[173]
+
+Then Pharaoh began to tell his dream, only he omitted some points and
+narrated others inaccurately in order that he might test the vaunted
+powers of Joseph. But the youth corrected him, and pieced the dreams
+together exactly as they had visited Pharaoh in the night, and the king
+was greatly amazed.[174] Joseph was able to accomplish this feat,
+because he had dreamed the same dream as Pharaoh, at the same time as
+he.[175] Thereupon Pharaoh retold his dreams, with all details and
+circumstances, and precisely as he had seen them in his sleep, except
+that he left out the word Nile in the description of the seven lean
+kine, because this river was worshipped by the Egyptians, and he
+hesitated to say that aught that is evil had come from his god.[176]
+
+Now Joseph proceeded to give the king the true interpretation of the
+two dreams. They were both a revelation concerning the seven good years
+impending and the seven years of famine to follow them. In reality, it
+had been the purpose of God to bring a famine of forty-two years'
+duration upon Egypt, but only two years of this distressful period were
+inflicted upon the land, for the sake of the blessing of Jacob when he
+came to Egypt in the second year of the famine. The other forty years
+fell upon the land at the time of the prophet Ezekiel.[177]
+
+Joseph did more than merely interpret the dreams. When the king gave
+voice to doubts concerning the interpretation, he told him signs and
+tokens. He said: "Let this be a sign to thee that my words are true,
+and my advice is excellent: Thy wife, who is sitting upon the
+birthstool at this moment, will bring forth a son, and thou wilt
+rejoice over him, but in the midst of thy joy the sad tidings will be
+told thee of the death of thine older son, who was born unto thee but
+two years ago, and thou must needs find consolation for the loss of the
+one in the birth of the other."
+
+Scarcely had Joseph withdrawn from the presence of the king, when the
+report of the birth of a son was brought to Pharaoh, and soon after
+also the report of the death of his first-born, who had suddenly
+dropped to the floor and passed away. Thereupon he sent for all the
+grandees of his realm, and all his servants, and he spake to them,
+saying: "Ye have heard the words of the Hebrew, and ye have seen that
+the signs which he foretold were accomplished, and I also know that he
+hath interpreted the dream truly. Advise me now how the land may be
+saved from the ravages of the famine. Look hither and thither whether
+you can find a man of wisdom and understanding, whom I may set over the
+land, for I am convinced that the land can be saved only if we heed the
+counsel of the Hebrew." The grandees and the princes admitted that
+safety could be secured only by adhering to the advice given by Joseph,
+and they proposed that the king, in his sagacity, choose a man whom he
+considered equal to the great task.[178] Thereupon Pharaoh said: "If we
+traversed and searched the earth from end to end, we could find none
+such as Joseph, a man in whom is the spirit of God.[179] If ye think
+well thereof, I will set him over the land which he hath saved by his
+wisdom."[180]
+
+The astrologers, who were his counsellors, demurred, saying, "A slave,
+one whom his present owner hath acquired for twenty pieces of silver,
+thou proposest to set over us as master?" But Pharaoh maintained that
+Joseph was not only a free-born man beyond the peradventure of a doubt,
+but also the scion of a noble family.[181] However, the princes of
+Pharaoh were not silenced, they continued to give utterance to their
+opposition to Joseph, saying: "Dost thou not remember the immutable law
+of the Egyptians, that none may serve as king or as viceroy unless he
+speaks all the languages of men? And this Hebrew knows none but his own
+tongue, and how were it possible that a man should rule over us who
+cannot even speak the language of our land? Send and have him fetched
+hither, and examine him in respect to all the things a ruler should
+know and have, and then decide as seemeth wise in thy sight."
+
+Pharaoh yielded, he promised to do as they wished, and he appointed the
+following day as the time for examining Joseph, who had returned to his
+prison in the meantime, for, on account of his wife, his master feared
+to have him stay in his house. During the night Gabriel appeared unto
+Joseph, and taught him all the seventy languages, and he acquired them
+quickly after the angel had changed his name from Joseph to Jehoseph.
+The next morning, when he came into the presence of Pharaoh and the
+nobles of the kingdom, inasmuch as he knew every one of the seventy
+languages, he mounted all the steps of the royal throne, until he
+reached the seventieth, the highest, upon which sat the king, and
+Pharaoh and his princes rejoiced that Joseph fulfilled all the
+requirements needed by one that was to rule over Egypt.
+
+The king said to Joseph: "Thou didst give me the counsel to look out a
+man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt, that he may
+in his wisdom save the land from the famine. As God hath showed thee
+all this, and as thou art master of all the languages of the world,
+there is none so discreet and wise as thou. Thou shalt therefore be the
+second in the land after Pharaoh, and according unto thy word shall all
+my people go in and go out; my princes and my servants shall receive
+their monthly appanage from thee; before thee the people shall
+prostrate themselves, only in the throne will I be greater than
+thou."[182]
+
+
+
+
+THE RULER OF EGYPT
+
+
+Now Joseph reaped the harvest of his virtues, and according to the
+measure of his merits God granted him reward. The mouth that refused
+the kiss of unlawful passion and sin received the kiss of homage from
+the people; the neck that did not bow itself unto sin was adorned with
+the gold chain that Pharaoh put upon it; the hands that did not touch
+sin wore the signet ring that Pharaoh took from his own hand and put
+upon Joseph's; the body that did not come in contact with sin was
+arrayed in vestures of byssus; the feet that made no steps in the
+direction of sin reposed in the royal chariot, and the thoughts that
+kept themselves undefiled by sin were proclaimed as wisdom.[183]
+
+Joseph was installed in his high position, and invested with the
+insignia of his office, with solemn ceremony. The king took off his
+signet ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed
+him in princely apparel, and set a gold crown upon his head, and laid a
+gold chain about his neck. Then he commanded his servants to make
+Joseph to ride in his second chariot, which went by the side of the
+chariot wherein sat the king, and he also made him to ride upon a great
+and strong horse of the king's horses, and his servants conducted him
+through the streets of the city of Egypt. Musicians, no less than a
+thousand striking cymbals and a thousand blowing flutes, and five
+thousand men with drawn swords gleaming in the air formed the vanguard.
+Twenty thousand of the king's grandees girt with gold-embroidered
+leather belts marched at the right of Joseph, and as many at the left
+of him.[184] The women and the maidens of the nobility looked out of
+the windows to gaze upon Joseph's beauty, and they poured down chains
+upon him, and rings and jewels, that he might but direct his eyes
+toward them. Yet he did not look up, and as a reward God made him proof
+against the evil eye, nor has it ever had the power of inflicting harm
+upon any of his descendants.[185] Servants of the king, preceding him
+and following him, burnt incense upon his path, and cassia, and all
+manner of sweet spices, and strewed myrrh and aloes wherever he went.
+Twenty heralds walked before him, and they proclaimed: "This is the man
+whom the king bath chosen to be the second after him. All the affairs
+of state will be administered by him, and whoever resisteth his
+commands, or refuseth to bow down to the ground before him, he will die
+the death of the rebel against the king and the king's deputy."
+
+Without delay the people prostrated themselves, and they cried, "Long
+live the king, and long live the deputy of the king!" And Joseph,
+looking down from his horse upon the people and their exultation,
+exclaimed, his eyes directed heavenward: "The Lord raiseth up the poor
+out of the dust, and lifteth up the needy from the dunghill. O Lord of
+hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in Thee."
+
+After Joseph, accompanied by Pharaoh's officers and princes, had
+journeyed through the whole city of Egypt, and viewed all there was
+therein, he returned to the king on the selfsame day, and the king gave
+him fields and vineyards as a present, and also three thousand talents
+of silver, and a thousand talents of gold, and onyx stones and
+bdellium, and many other costly things. The king commanded, moreover,
+that every Egyptian give Joseph a gift, else he would be put to death.
+A platform was erected in the open street, and there all deposited
+their presents, and among the things were many of gold and silver, as
+well as precious stones, carried thither by the people and also the
+grandees, for they saw that Joseph enjoyed the favor of the king.
+Furthermore, Joseph received one hundred slaves from Pharaoh, and they
+were to do all his bidding, and he himself acquired many more, for he
+resided in a spacious palace. Three years it took to build it. Special
+magnificence was lavished upon the hall of state, which was his
+audience chamber, and upon the throne fashioned of gold and silver and
+inlaid with precious stones, whereon there was a representation of the
+whole land of Egypt and of the river Nile. And as Joseph multiplied in
+riches, so he increased also in wisdom, for God added to his wisdom
+that all might love and honor him.[186] Pharaoh called him
+Zaphenath-paneah, he who can reveal secret things with ease, and
+rejoiceth the heart of man therewith. Each letter of the name
+Zaphenath-paneah has a meaning, too. The first, Zadde, stands for
+Zofeh, seer; Pe for Podeh, redeemer; Nun for Nabi, prophet; Taw for
+Tomek, supporter; Pe for Poter, interpreter of dreams; Ain for Arum,
+clever; Nun for Nabon, discreet; and Het for Hakam, wise.[187]
+
+The name of Joseph's wife pointed to her history in the same way.
+Asenath was the daughter of Dinah and Hamor, but she was abandoned at
+the borders of Egypt, only, that people might know who she was, Jacob
+engraved the story of her parentage and her birth upon a gold plate
+fastened around her neck. The day on which Asenath was exposed,
+Potiphar went walking with his servants near the city wall, and they
+heard the voice of a child. At the captain's bidding they brought the
+baby to him, and when he read her history from the gold plate, he
+determined to adopt her. He took her home with him, and raised her as
+his daughter. The Alef in Asenath stands for On, where Potiphar was
+priest; the Samek for Setirah, Hidden, for she was kept concealed on
+account of her extraordinary beauty; the Nun for Nohemet, for she wept
+and entreated that she might be delivered from the house of the heathen
+Potiphar; and the Taw for Tammah, the perfect one, on account of her
+pious, perfect deeds.[188]
+
+Asenath had saved Joseph's life while she was still an infant in arms.
+When Joseph was accused of immoral conduct by Potiphar's wife and the
+other women, and his master was on the point of having him hanged,
+Asenath approached her foster-father, and she assured him under oath
+that the charge against Joseph was false. Then spake God, "As thou
+livest, because thou didst try to defend Joseph, thou shalt be the
+woman to bear the tribes that he is appointed to beget.[189]
+
+Asenath bore him two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, during the seven years
+of plenty, for in the time of famine Joseph refrained from all
+indulgence in the pleasures of life.[190] They were bred in chastity
+and fear of God by their father, and they were wise, and
+well-instructed in all knowledge and in the affairs of state, so that
+they became the favorites of the court, and were educated with the
+royal princes.
+
+Before the famine broke over the land, Joseph found an opportunity of
+rendering the king a great service. He equipped an army of four
+thousand six hundred men, providing all the soldiers with shields and
+spears and bucklers and helmets and slings. With this army, and aided
+by the servants and officers of the king, and by the people of Egypt,
+he carried on a war with Tarshish in the first year after his
+appointment as viceroy. The people of Tarshish had invaded the
+territory of the Ishmaelites, and the latter, few in number at that
+time, were sore pressed, and applied to the king of Egypt for help
+against their enemies. At the head of his host of heroes, Joseph
+marched to the land of Havilah, where he was joined by the Ishmaelites,
+and with united forces they fought against the people of Tarshish,
+routed them utterly, settled their land with the Ishmaelites, while the
+defeated men took refuge with their brethren in Javan. Joseph and his
+army returned to Egypt, and not a man had they lost.
+
+In a little while Joseph's prophecy was confirmed: that year and the
+six following years were years of plenty, as he had foretold.[191] The
+harvest was so ample that a single ear produced two heaps of
+grain,[192] and Joseph made circumspect arrangements to provide
+abundantly for the years of famine. He gathered up all the grain, and
+in the city situated in the middle of each district he laid up the
+produce from round about, and had ashes and earth strewn on the
+garnered food from the very soil on which it had been grown;[193] also
+he preserved the grain in the ear; all these being precautions taken to
+guard against rot and mildew. The inhabitants of Egypt also tried, on
+their own account, to put aside a portion of the superabundant harvest
+of the seven fruitful years against the need of the future, but when
+the grievous time of dearth came, and they went to their storehouses to
+bring forth the treasured grain, behold, it had rotted, and become
+unfit for food.[194] The famine broke in upon the people with such
+suddenness that the bread gave out unexpectedly as they sat at their
+tables, they had not even a bite of bran bread.
+
+Thus they were driven to apply to Joseph and beseech his help, and he
+admonished them, saying, "Give up your allegiance to your deceitful
+idols, and say, Blessed is He who giveth bread unto all flesh." But
+they refused to deny their lying gods, and they betook themselves to
+Pharaoh, only to be told by him, "Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you,
+do!" For this Pharaoh was rewarded. God granted him long life and a
+long reign, until he became arrogant, and well-merited punishment
+overtook him.[195]
+
+When the Egyptians approached Joseph with the petition for bread, he
+spoke, saying, "I give no food to the uncircumcised. Go hence, and
+circumcise yourselves, and then return hither." They entered the
+presence of Pharaoh, and complained to him regarding Joseph, but he
+said as before, "Go unto Joseph!" And they replied, "We come from
+Joseph, and he hath spoken roughly unto us, saying, Go hence and
+circumcise yourselves! We warned thee in the beginning that he is a
+Hebrew, and would treat us in such wise." Pharaoh said to them: "O ye
+fools, did he not prophesy through the holy spirit and proclaim to the
+whole world, that there would come seven years of plenty to be followed
+by seven years of dearth? Why did you not save the yield of one or two
+years against the day of your need?"
+
+Weeping, they made reply: "The grain that we put aside during the good
+years hath rotted."
+
+Pharaoh: "Have ye nothing over of the flour of yesterday?"
+
+The Egyptians: "The very bread in the basket rotted!"
+
+Pharaoh: "Why?"
+
+The Egyptians: "Because Joseph willed thus!"
+
+Pharaoh: "O ye fools, if his word hath power over the grain, making it
+to rot when he desireth it to rot, then also must we die, if so be his
+wish concerning us. Go, therefore, unto him, and do as he bids
+you."[196]
+
+
+
+
+JOSEPH'S BRETHREN IN EGYPT
+
+
+The famine, which inflicted hardships first upon the wealthy among the
+Egyptians, gradually extended its ravages as far as Phoenicia, Arabia,
+and Palestine.[197] Though the sons of Jacob, being young men,
+frequented the streets and the highways, yet they were ignorant of what
+their old home-keeping father Jacob knew, that corn could be procured
+in Egypt. Jacob even suspected that Joseph was in Egypt. His prophetic
+spirit, which forsook him during the time of his grief for his son, yet
+manifested itself now and again in dim visions, and he was resolved to
+send his sons down into Egypt.[198] There was another reason. Though he
+was not yet in want, he nevertheless had them go thither for food,
+because he was averse from arousing the envy of the sons of Esau and
+Ishmael by his comfortable state.[199] For the same reason, to avoid
+friction with the surrounding peoples, he bade his sons not appear in
+public with bread in their hands, or in the accoutrements of war.[200]
+And as he knew that they were likely to attract attention, on account
+of their heroic stature and handsome appearance, he cautioned them
+against going to the city all together through the same gate, or,
+indeed, showing themselves all together anywhere in public, that the
+evil eye be not cast upon them.[201]
+
+The famine in Canaan inspired Joseph with the hope of seeing his
+brethren. To make sure of their coming, he issued a decree concerning
+the purchase of corn in Egypt, as follows: "By order of the king and
+his deputy, and the princes of the realm, be it enacted that he who
+desireth to buy grain in Egypt may not send his slave hither to do his
+bidding, but he must charge his own sons therewith. An Egyptian or a
+Canaanite that hath bought grain and then selleth it again shall be put
+to death, for none may buy more than he requireth for the needs of his
+household. Also, who cometh with two or three beasts of burden, and
+loads them up with grain, shall be put to death."
+
+At the gates of the city of Egypt, Joseph stationed guards, whose
+office was to inquire and take down the name of all that should come to
+buy corn, and also the name of their father and their grandfather, and
+every evening the list of names thus made was handed to Joseph. These
+precautions were bound to bring Joseph's brethren down to Egypt, and
+also acquaint him with their coming as soon as they entered the land.
+
+On their journey his brethren thought more of Joseph than of their
+errand. They said to one another: "We know that Joseph was carried down
+into Egypt, and we will make search for him there, and if we should
+find him, we will ransom him from his master, and if his master should
+refuse to sell him, we will use force, though we perish
+ourselves."[202]
+
+At the gates of the city of Egypt, the brethren of Joseph were asked
+what their names were, and the names of their father and grandfather.
+The guard on duty happened to be Manasseh, the son of Joseph. The
+brethren submitted to being questioned, saying "Let us go into the
+town, and we shall see whether this taking down of our names be a
+matter of taxes. If it be so, we shall not demur; but if it be
+something else, we shall see to-morrow what can be done in the
+case."[203]
+
+On the evening of the day they entered Egypt, Joseph discovered their
+names in the list, which he was in the habit of examining daily, and he
+commanded that all stations for the sale of corn be closed, except one
+only. Furthermore, even at this station no sales were to be negotiated
+unless the name of the would-be purchaser was first obtained. His
+brethren, with whose names Joseph furnished the overseer of the place,
+were to be seized and brought to him as soon as they put in appearance.
+
+But the first thought of the brethren was for Joseph, and their first
+concern, to seek him. For three days they made search for him
+everywhere, even in the most disreputable quarters of the city.
+Meantime Joseph was in communication with the overseer of the station
+kept open for the sale of corn, and, hearing that his brethren had not
+appeared there, he dispatched some of his servants to look for them,
+but they found them neither in Mizraim, the city of Egypt, nor in
+Goshen, nor in Raamses. Thereupon he sent sixteen servants forth to
+make a house to house search for them in the city, and they discovered
+the brethren of Joseph in a place of ill-fame and haled them before
+their master.
+
+
+
+
+JOSEPH MEETS HIS BRETHREN
+
+
+A large crown of gold on his head, apparelled in byssus and purple, and
+surrounded by his valiant men, Joseph was seated upon his throne in his
+palace. His brethren fell down before him in great admiration of his
+beauty, his stately appearance, and his majesty.[204] They did not know
+him, for when Joseph was sold into slavery, he was a beardless youth.
+But he knew his brethren, their appearance had not changed in aught,
+for they were bearded men when he was separated from them.[205]
+
+He was inclined to make himself known to them as their brother, but an
+angel appeared unto him, the same that had brought him from Shechem to
+his brethren at Dothan, and spoke, saying, "These came hither with
+intent to kill thee." Later, when the brethren returned home, and gave
+an account of their adventures to Jacob, they told him that a man had
+accused them falsely before the ruler of Egypt, not knowing that he who
+incited Joseph against them was an angel. It was in reference to this
+matter, and meaning their accuser, that Jacob, when he dispatched his
+sons on their second expedition to Egypt, prayed to God, "God Almighty
+give you mercy before the man."[206]
+
+Joseph made himself strange unto his brethren, and he took his cup in
+his hand, knocked against it, and said, "By this magic cup I know that
+ye are spies." They replied, "Thy servants came from Canaan into Egypt
+for to buy corn."
+
+Joseph: "If it be true that ye came hither to buy corn, why is it that
+each one of you entered the city by a separate gate?"[207]
+
+The brethren: "We are ALL the sons of one man in the land of Canaan,
+and he bade us not enter a city together by the same gate, that we
+attract not the attention of the people of the place." Unconsciously
+they had spoken as seers, for the word ALL included Joseph as one of
+their number.[208]
+
+Joseph: "Verily, ye are spies! All the people that come to buy corn
+return home without delay, but ye have lingered here three days,
+without making any purchases, and all the time you have been gadding
+about in the disreputable parts of the city, and only spies are wont to
+do thus."
+
+The brethren: "We thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of Jacob,
+the son of Isaac, the son of the Hebrew Abraham. The youngest is this
+day with our father in Canaan, and one hath disappeared. Him did we
+look for in this land, and we looked for him even in the disreputable
+houses."
+
+Joseph: "Have ye made search in every other place on earth, and was
+Egypt the only land left? And if it be true that he is in Egypt, what
+should a brother of yours be doing in a house of ill-fame, if, indeed,
+ye are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?"
+
+The brethren: "We did hear that some Ishmaelites stole our brother, and
+sold him into slavery in Egypt, and as our brother was exceeding fair
+in form and face, we thought he might have been sold for illicit uses,
+and therefore we searched even the disreputable houses to find him."
+
+Joseph: "You speak deceitful words, when you call yourselves sons of
+Abraham. By the life of Pharaoh, ye are spies, and you did go from one
+disreputable house to another that none might discover you."[209]
+
+The expression "by the life of Pharaoh" might have betrayed Joseph's
+real feeling to his brethren, had they but known his habit of taking
+this oath only when he meant to avoid keeping his word later.[210]
+
+Joseph continued to speak to his brethren: "Let us suppose you should
+discover your brother serving as a slave, and his master should demand
+a high sum for his ransom, would you pay it?"
+
+The brethren: "Yes!"
+
+Joseph: "But suppose his master should refuse to surrender him for any
+price in the world, what would you do?"
+
+The brethren: "If he yields not our brother to us, we will kill the
+master, and carry off our brother."
+
+Joseph: "Now see how true my words were, that ye are spies. By your own
+admission ye have come to slay the inhabitants of the land. Report hath
+told us that two of you did massacre the people of Shechem on account
+of the wrong done to your sister, and now have ye come down into Egypt
+to kill the Egyptians for the sake of your brother. I shall be
+convinced of your innocence only if you consent to send one of your
+number home and fetch your youngest brother hither."
+
+His brethren refused compliance, and Joseph caused them to be put into
+prison by seventy of his valiant men, and there they remained for three
+days.[211] God never allows the pious to languish in distress longer
+than three days, and so it was a Divine dispensation that the brethren
+of Joseph were released on the third day,[212] and were permitted by
+Joseph to return home, on condition, however, that one of them remain
+behind as hostage.
+
+The difference between Joseph and his brethren can be seen here. Though
+he retained one of them to be bound in the prison house, he still said,
+"I fear God," and dismissed the others, but when he was in their power,
+they gave no thought to God.[213] At this time, to be sure, their
+conduct was such as is becoming to the pious, who accept their fate
+with calm resignation, and acknowledge the righteousness of God, for He
+metes out reward and punishment measure for measure. They recognized
+that their present punishment was in return for the heartless treatment
+they had dealt out to Joseph, paying no heed to his distress, though he
+fell at the feet of each of them, weeping, and entreating them not to
+sell him into slavery. Reuben reminded the others that they had two
+wrongs to expiate, the wrong against their brother and the wrong
+against their father, who was so grieved that he exclaimed, "I will go
+down to the grave to my son mourning."
+
+The brethren of Joseph knew not that the viceroy of Egypt understood
+Hebrew, and could follow their words, for Manasseh stood and was an
+interpreter between them and him.[214]
+
+Joseph decided to keep Simon as hostage in Egypt, for he had been one
+of the two—Levi was the other—to advise that Joseph be put to death,
+and only the intercession of Reuben and Judah had saved him. He did not
+detain Levi, too, for he feared, if both remained behind together,
+Egypt might suffer the same fate at their hands as the city of
+Shechem.[215] Also, he preferred Simon to Levi, because Simon was not a
+favorite among the sons of Jacob, and they would not resist his
+detention in Egypt too violently, while they might annihilate Egypt, as
+aforetime Shechem, if they were deprived of Levi, their wise man and
+high priest.[216] Besides, it was Simon that had lowered Joseph into
+the pit, wherefore he had a particular grudge against him.[217]
+
+When the brethren yielded to Joseph's demand, and consented to leave
+their brother behind as hostage, Simon said to them, "Ye desire to do
+with me as ye did with Joseph!" But they replied, in despair: "What can
+we do? Our households will perish of hunger." Simon made answer, "Do as
+ye will, but as for me, let me see the man that will venture to cast me
+into prison." Joseph sent word to Pharaoh to let him have seventy of
+his valiant men, to aid him in arresting robbers. But when the seventy
+appeared upon the scene, and were about to lay hands on Simon, he
+uttered a loud cry, and his assailants fell to the floor and knocked
+out their teeth.[218] Pharaoh's valiant men, as well as all the people
+that stood about Joseph, fled affrighted, only Joseph and his son
+Manasseh remained calm and unmoved. Manasseh rose up, dealt Simon a
+blow on the back of his neck, put manacles upon his hands and fetters
+upon his feet, and cast him into prison. Joseph's brethren were greatly
+amazed at the heroic strength of the youth, and Simon said, "This blow
+was not dealt by an Egyptian, but by one belonging to our house."[219]
+
+He was bound and taken to prison before the eyes of the other brethren
+of Joseph, but as soon as they were out of sight, Joseph ordered good
+fare to be set before him, and he treated him with great kindness.[220]
+
+Joseph permitted his nine other brethren to depart, carrying corn with
+them in abundance, but he impressed upon them that they must surely
+return and bring their youngest brother with them. On the way, Levi,
+who felt lonely without his constant companion Simon, opened his sack,
+and he espied the money he had paid for the corn. They all trembled,
+and their hearts failed them, and they said, "Where, then, is the
+lovingkindness of God toward our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
+seeing that He hath delivered us into the hands of the Egyptian king,
+that he may raise false accusations against us?" And Judah said,
+"Verily, we are guilty concerning our brother, we have sinned against
+God, in that we sold our brother, our own flesh, and why do ye ask,
+Where, then, is the lovingkindness of God toward our fathers?"
+
+Reuben spoke in the same way: "Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin
+against the child, and ye would not hear? And now the Lord doth demand
+him of us. How can you say, Where, then, is the lovingkindness of God
+toward our fathers, though you have sinned against Him?"
+
+They proceeded on their journey home, and their father met them on the
+way. Jacob was astonished not to see Simon with them, and in reply to
+his questions, they told him all that had befallen them in Egypt. Then
+Jacob cried out: "What have ye done? I sent Joseph to you to see
+whether it be well with you, and ye said, An evil beast hath devoured
+him. Simon went forth with you for to buy corn, and you say, The king
+of Egypt hath cast him into prison. And now ye will take Benjamin away
+and kill him, too. Ye will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the
+grave."[221]
+
+The words of Jacob, which he uttered, "Me have ye bereaved of my
+children," were meant to intimate to his sons that he suspected them of
+the death of Joseph and of Simon's disappearance as well, and their
+reports concerning both he regarded as inventions.[222] What made him
+inconsolable was that now, having lost two of his sons, he could not
+hope to see the Divine promise fulfilled, that he should be the
+ancestor of twelve tribes.[223] He was quite resolved in his mind,
+therefore, not to let Benjamin go away with his brethren under any
+condition whatsoever, and he vouchsafed Reuben no reply when he said,
+"Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee." He considered it
+beneath his dignity to give an answer to such balderdash.[224] "My
+first-born son," he said to himself, "is a fool. What will it profit
+me, if I slay his two sons? Does he not know that his sons are equally
+mine?"[225] Judah advised his brethren to desist from urging their
+father then; he would consent, he thought, to whatever expedients were
+found necessary, as soon as their bread gave out, and a second journey
+to Egypt became imperative.[226]
+
+
+
+
+THE SECOND JOURNEY TO EGYPT
+
+
+When the supplies bought in Egypt were eaten up, and the family of
+Jacob began to suffer with hunger, the little children came to him, and
+they said, "Give us bread, that we die not of hunger before thee." The
+words of the little ones brought scorching tears to the eyes of Jacob,
+and he summoned his sons and bade them go again down into Egypt and buy
+food.[227] But Judah spake unto him, "The man did solemnly protest unto
+us, saying that we should not see his face, except our brother Benjamin
+be with us, and we cannot appear before him with idle pretexts." And
+Jacob said, "Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me as to tell the man
+whether ye had yet a brother?" It was the first and only time Jacob
+indulged in empty talk, and God said, "I made it My business to raise
+his son to the position of ruler of Egypt, and he complains, and says,
+Wherefore dealt ye so ill with-me?" And Judah protested against the
+reproach, that he had initiated the Egyptian viceroy in their family
+relations, with the words: "Why, he knew the very wood of which our
+baby coaches are made![228] Father," he continued, "if Benjamin goes
+with us, he may, indeed, be taken from us, but also he may not. This is
+a doubtful matter, but it is certain that if he does not go with us, we
+shall all die of hunger. It is better not to concern thyself about what
+is doubtful, and guide thy actions by what is certain.[229] The king of
+Egypt is a strong and mighty king, and if we go to him without our
+brother, we shall all be put to death. Dost thou not know, and hast
+thou not heard, that this king is very powerful and wise, and there is
+none like unto him in all the earth? We have seen all the kings of the
+earth, but none like unto the king of Egypt. One would surely say that
+among all the kings of the earth there is none greater than Abimelech
+king of the Philistines, yet the king of Egypt is greater and mightier
+than he, and Abimelech can hardly be compared with one of his officers.
+Father, thou hast not seen his palace and his throne, and all his
+servants standing before him. Thou hast not seen that king upon his
+throne, in all his magnificence and with his royal insignia, arrayed in
+his royal robes, with a large golden crown upon his head. Thou hast not
+seen the honor and the glory that God hath given unto him, for there is
+none like unto him in all the earth. Father, thou hast not seen the
+wisdom, the understanding, and the knowledge that God has given in his
+heart. We heard his sweet voice when he spake unto us. We know not,
+father, who acquainted him with our names, and all that befell us. He
+asked also concerning thee, saying, Is your father still alive, and is
+it well with him? Thou hast not seen the affairs of the government of
+Egypt regulated by him, for none asketh his lord Pharaoh about them.
+Thou hast not seen the awe and the fear that he imposes upon all the
+Egyptians. Even we went out from his presence threatening to do unto
+Egypt as unto the cities of the Amorites, and exceedingly wroth by
+reason of all his words that he spake concerning us as spies, yet when
+we came again before him, his terror fell upon us all, and none of us
+was able to speak a word to him, great or small. Now, therefore,
+father, send the lad with us, and we will arise and go down into Egypt,
+and buy food to eat, that we die not of hunger."[230]
+
+Judah offered his portion in the world to come as surety for Benjamin,
+and thus solemnly he promised to bring him back safe and sound, and
+Jacob granted his request, and permitted Benjamin to go down into Egypt
+with his other sons. They also carried with them choice presents from
+their father for the ruler of Egypt, things that arouse wonder outside
+of Palestine, such as the murex, which is the snail that produces the
+Tyrian purple, and various kinds of balm, and almond oil, and pistachio
+oil, and honey as hard as stone. Furthermore, Jacob put double money in
+their hand to provide against a rise in prices in the meantime. And
+after all these matters were attended to, he spake to his sons, saying:
+"Here is money, and here is a present, and also your brother. Is there
+aught else that you need?" And they replied, Yes, we need this,
+besides, that thou shouldst intercede for us with God." Then their
+father prayed:[231] "O Lord, Thou who at the time of creation didst
+call Enough! to heaven and earth when they stretched themselves out
+further and further toward infinity, set a limit to my sufferings, too,
+say unto them, Enough![232] God Almighty give you mercy before the
+ruler of Egypt, that he may release unto you Joseph, Simon, and
+Benjamin."
+
+This prayer was an intercession, not only for the sons of Jacob, but
+also for their descendants—that God would deliver the Ten Tribes in
+time to come, as He delivered the two, Judah and Benjamin, and after He
+permitted the destruction of two Temples, He would grant endless
+continuance to the third.[233]
+
+Jacob also put a letter addressed to the viceroy of Egypt into the
+hands of his son. The letter ran thus: "From thy servant Jacob, the son
+of Isaac, the grandson of Abraham, prince of God, to the mighty and
+wise king Zaphenathpaneah, the ruler of Egypt, peace! I make known unto
+my lord the king that the famine is sore with us in the land of Canaan,
+and I have therefore sent my sons unto thee, to buy us a little food,
+that we may live, and not die. My children surrounded me, and begged
+for something to eat, but, alas, I am very old, and I cannot see with
+mine eyes, for they are heavy with the weight of years, and also on
+account of my never-ceasing tears for my son Joseph, who hath been
+taken from me. I charged my sons not to pass through the gate all
+together at the same time, when they arrived in the city of Egypt, in
+consideration of the inhabitants of the land, that they might not take
+undue notice of them. Also I bade them go up and down in the land of
+Egypt and seek my son Joseph, mayhap they would find him there.
+
+"This did they do, but thou didst therefore account them as spies. We
+have heard the report of thy wisdom and sagacity. How, then, canst thou
+look upon their countenances, and yet declare them to be spies?
+Especially as we have heard thou didst interpret Pharaoh's dream, and
+didst foretell the coming of the famine, are we amazed that thou, in
+thy discernment, couldst not distinguish whether they be spies or not.
+
+"And, now, O my lord king, I send unto thee my son Benjamin, as thou
+didst demand of my other sons. I pray thee, take good care of him until
+thou sendest him back to me in peace with his brethren. Hast thou not
+heard, and dost thou not know, what our God did unto Pharaoh when he
+took our mother Sarah unto himself? Or what happened unto Abimelech on
+account of her? And what our father Abraham did unto the nine kings of
+Elam, how he killed them and exterminated their armies, though he had
+but few men with him? Or hast thou not heard what my two sons Simon and
+Levi did to the eight cities of the Amorites, which they destroyed on
+account of their sister Dinah? Benjamin consoled them for the loss of
+Joseph. What, then, will they do unto him that stretcheth forth the
+hand of power to snatch him away from them?
+
+"Knowest thou not, O king of Egypt, that the might of our God is with
+us, and that He always hearkens unto our prayers, and never forsakes
+us? Had I called upon God to rise up against thee when my sons told me
+how thou didst act toward them, thou and thy people, ye all would have
+been annihilated ere Benjamin could come down to thee. But I reflected
+that Simon my son was abiding in thy house, and perhaps thou wast doing
+kindnesses unto him, and therefore I invoked not the punishment of God
+upon thee. Now my son Benjamin goeth down unto thee with my other sons.
+Take heed unto thyself, keep thy eyes directed upon him, and God will
+direct His eye upon all thy kingdom.
+
+"I have said all now that is in my heart. My sons take their youngest
+brother down into Egypt with them, and do thou send them all back to me
+in peace."
+
+This letter Jacob put into the keeping of Judah, charging him to
+deliver it to the ruler of Egypt. His last words to his sons were an
+admonition to take good care of Benjamin and not leave him out of their
+sight, either on the journey or after their arrival in Egypt. He bade
+farewell to them, and then turned in prayer to God, saying: "O Lord of
+heaven and earth! Remember Thy covenant with our father Abraham.
+Remember also my father Isaac, and grant grace unto my sons, and
+deliver them not into the hands of the king of Egypt. O my God, do it
+for the sake of Thy mercy, redeem my sons and save them from the hands
+of the Egyptians, and restore their two brethren unto them."
+
+Also the women and the children in the house of Jacob prayed to God
+amid tears, and entreated Him to redeem their husbands and their
+fathers out of the hands of the king of Egypt.[234]
+
+
+
+
+JOSEPH AND BENJAMIN
+
+
+Great was the joy of Joseph when his brethren stood before him and
+Benjamin was with them. In his youngest brother he saw the true
+counterpart of his father.[235] He ordered his son Manasseh,[236] the
+steward of his house, to bring the men into the palace, and make ready
+a meal for them. But he was to take care to prepare the meat dishes in
+the presence of the guests, so that they might see with their own eyes
+that the cattle had been slaughtered according to the ritual
+prescriptions, and the sinew of the hip which is upon the hollow of the
+thigh had been removed.[237]
+
+The dinner to which Joseph invited his brethren was a Sabbath meal, for
+he observed the seventh day even before the revelation of the law. The
+sons of Jacob refused the invitation of the steward, and a scuffle
+ensued. While he tried to force them into the banqueting hall, they
+tried to force him out,[238] for they feared it was but a ruse to get
+possession of them and their asses, on account of the money they had
+found in their sacks on their return from their first journey to Egypt.
+In their modesty they put the loss of their beasts upon the same level
+as the loss of their personal liberty. To the average man property is
+as precious as life itself.[239]
+
+Standing at the door of Joseph's house, they spake to the steward, and
+said: "We are in badly reduced circumstances. In our country we
+supported others, and now we depend upon thee to support us." After
+these introductory words, they offered him the money they had found in
+their sacks. The steward reassured them concerning the money, saying,
+"However it may be, whether for the sake of your own merits, or for the
+sake of the merits of your fathers, God hath caused you to find a
+treasure, for the money ye paid for the corn came into my hand." Then
+he brought Simon out to them. Their brother looked like a leather
+bottle, so fat and rotund had he grown during his sojourn in
+Egypt.[240] He told his brethren what kind treatment had been accorded
+unto him. The very moment they left the city he had been released from
+prison, and thereafter he had been entertained with splendor in the
+house of the ruler of Egypt.
+
+When Joseph made his appearance, Judah took Benjamin by the hand, and
+presented him to the viceroy, and they all bowed down themselves to him
+to the earth.[241] Joseph asked them concerning the welfare of their
+father and their grandfather, and they made reply, "Thy servant our
+father is well; he is yet alive," and Joseph knew from their words that
+his grandfather Isaac was no more.[242] He had died at the time when
+Joseph was released from prison, and the joy of God in the liberation
+of Joseph was overcast by His sorrow for Isaac.[243] Then Judah handed
+his father's letter to Joseph, who was so moved at seeing the
+well-known handwriting that he had to retire to his chamber and weep.
+When he came back, he summoned Benjamin to approach close to him, and
+he laid his hand upon his youngest brother's head, and blessed him with
+the words, "God be gracious unto thee, my son."[244] His father had
+once mentioned "the children which God hath graciously given Thy
+servant," and as Benjamin was not among the children thus spoken of,
+for he was born later, Joseph compensated him now by blessing him with
+the grace of God.[245]
+
+The table was set in three divisions, for Joseph, for his brethren, and
+for the Egyptians. The sons of Jacob did not venture to eat of the
+dishes set before them, they were afraid they might not have been
+prepared according to the ritual prescriptions—a punishment upon Joseph
+for having slandered his brethren, whom he once charged with not being
+punctilious in the observance of the dietary laws.[246] The Egyptians,
+again, could not sit at the same table with the sons of Jacob, because
+the latter ate the flesh of the animals to which the former paid divine
+worship.[247]
+
+When all was ready, and the guests were to be seated, Joseph raised his
+cup, and, pretending to inhale his knowledge from it, he said, "Judah
+is king, therefore let him sit at the head of the table, and let Reuben
+the first-born take the second seat," and thus he assigned places to
+all his brethren corresponding to their dignity and their age.[248]
+Moreover, he seated the brothers together who were the sons of the same
+mother, and when he reached Benjamin, he said, "I know that the
+youngest among you has no brother borne by his own mother, next to whom
+he might be seated, and also I have none, therefore he may take his
+place next to me."
+
+The brethren marvelled one with another at all this. During the meal,
+Joseph took his portion, and gave it to Benjamin, and his wife Asenath
+followed his example, and also Ephraim and Manasseh, so that Benjamin
+had four portions in addition to that which he had received like the
+other sons of Jacob.[249]
+
+Wine was served at the meal, and it was the first time in twenty-two
+years that Joseph and his brethren tasted of it, for they had led the
+life of Nazarites, his brethren because they regretted the evil they
+had done to Joseph, and Joseph because he grieved over the fate of his
+father.[250]
+
+Joseph entered into conversation with his brother Benjamin. He asked
+him whether he had a brother borne by his own mother, and Benjamin
+answered, "I had one, but I do not know what hath become of him."
+Joseph continued his questions: "Hast thou a wife?"
+
+Benjamin: "Yes, I have a wife and ten sons."
+
+Joseph: "And what are their names? "
+
+Benjamin: "Bela, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and
+Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard."
+
+Joseph: "Why didst thou give them such peculiar names?"
+
+Benjamin: "In memory of my brother and his sufferings: Bela, because my
+brother disappeared among the peoples; Becher, he was the first-born
+son of my mother; Ashbel, he was taken away from my father; Gera, he
+dwells a stranger in a strange land; Naaman, he was exceedingly lovely;
+Ehi, he was my only brother by my father and my mother together; Rosh,
+he was at the head of his brethren; Muppim, he was beautiful in every
+respect; Huppim, he was slandered; and Ard, because he was as beautiful
+as a rose."[251]
+
+Joseph ordered his magic astrolabe to be brought to him, whereby he
+knew all things that happen, and he said unto Benjamin, "I have heard
+that the Hebrews are acquainted with all wisdom, but dost thou know
+aught of this?" Benjamin answered, "Thy servant also is skilled in all
+wisdom, which my father hath taught me." He then looked upon the
+astrolabe, and to his great astonishment he discovered by the aid of it
+that he who was sitting upon the throne before him was his brother
+Joseph. Noticing Benjamin's amazement, Joseph asked him, "What hast
+thou seen, and why art thou astonished?" Benjamin said, "I can see by
+this that Joseph my brother sitteth here before me upon the throne."
+And Joseph said: "I am Joseph thy brother! Reveal not the thing unto
+our brethren. I will send thee with them when they go away, and I will
+command them to be brought back again into the city, and I will take
+thee away from them. If they risk their lives and fight for thee, then
+shall I know that they have repented of what they did unto me, and I
+will make myself known unto them. But if they forsake thee, I will keep
+thee, that thou shouldst remain with me. They shall go away, and I will
+not make myself known unto them."[252]
+
+Then Joseph inquired of Benjamin what his brethren had told their
+father after they had sold him into slavery, and he heard the story of
+the coat dipped in the blood of a kid of the goats. "Yes, brother,"
+spoke Joseph, "when they had stripped me of my coat, they handed me
+over to the Ishmaelites, who tied an apron around my waist, scourged
+me, and bade me run off. But a lion attacked the one that beat me, and
+killed him, and his companions were alarmed, and they sold me to other
+people."[253]
+
+Dismissed by Joseph with kind words, his brethren started on their
+homeward journey as soon as the morning was light, for it is a good
+rule to "leave a city after sunrise, and enter a city before
+sundown."[254] Besides, Joseph had a specific reason for not letting
+his brethren depart from the city during the night. He feared an
+encounter between them and his servants, and that his men might get the
+worst of it, for the sons of Jacob were like the wild beasts, which
+have the upper hand at night.
+
+
+
+
+THE THIEF CAUGHT
+
+
+They were not yet far beyond the city gates, when Joseph dispatched
+Manasseh, the steward of his house, to follow after them, and look for
+the silver cup that he had concealed in Benjamin's sack. He knew his
+brethren well, he did not venture to let them get too far from the city
+before he should attempt to force their return. He hoped that the
+nearness of the city would intimidate them and make them heed his
+commands. Manasseh therefore received the order to bring them to a
+halt, by mild speech if he could, or by rough speech if he must, and
+carry them back to the city.[255] He acted according to his
+instructions. When the brethren heard the accusation of theft , they
+said: "With whomsoever of thy servants the cup be found, let him die,
+and we also will be my lord's bondmen." And Manasseh said, "As you say,
+so were it proper to do, for if ten persons are charged with theft, and
+the stolen object is found with one of them, all are held responsible.
+But I will not be so hard. He with whom the cup is found shall be the
+bondman, and the rest shall be blameless."
+
+He searched all the sacks, and in order not to excite the suspicion
+that he knew where the cup was, he began at Reuben, the eldest, and
+left off at Benjamin, the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin's
+sack. In a rage, his brethren shouted at Benjamin, "O thou thief and
+son of a thief! Thy mother brought shame upon our father by her
+thievery, and now thou bringest shame upon us." But he replied, "Is
+this matter as evil as the matter of the kid of the goats—as the deed
+of the brethren that sold their own brother into slavery?"[256]
+
+In their fury and vexation, the brethren rent their clothes. God paid
+them in their own coin. They had caused Jacob to tear his clothes in
+his grief over Joseph, and now they were made to do the same on account
+of their own troubles. And as they rent their clothes for the sake of
+their brother Benjamin, so Mordecai, the descendant of Benjamin, was
+destined to rend his on account of his brethren, the people of Israel.
+But because mortification was inflicted upon the brethren through
+Manasseh, the steward of Joseph, the allotment of territory given to
+the tribe of Manasseh was "torn" in two, one-half of the tribe had to
+live on one side of the Jordan, the other half on the other side. And
+Joseph, who had not shrunk from vexing his brethren so bitterly that
+they rent their clothes in their abasement, was punished, in that his
+descendant Joshua was driven to such despair after the defeat of Ai
+that he, too, rent his clothes.[257]
+
+Convicted of theft beyond the peradventure of a doubt, the brethren of
+Joseph had no choice but to comply with the steward's command and
+return to the city. They accompanied him without delay. Each of them
+loaded his ass himself, raising the burden with one hand from the
+ground to the back of the beast, and then they retraced their steps
+cityward,[258] and as they walked, they rapped Benjamin roughly on the
+shoulder, saying, "O thou thief and son of a thief, thou hast brought
+the same shame upon us that thy mother brought upon our father."
+Benjamin bore the blows and the abusive words in patient silence, and
+he was rewarded for his humility. For submitting to the blows upon his
+shoulder, God appointed that His Shekinah should "dwell between his
+shoulders," and He also called him "the beloved of the Lord."[259]
+
+Joseph's brethren returned to the city without fear. Though it was a
+great metropolis, in their eyes it appeared but as a hamlet of ten
+persons, which they could wipe out with a turn of the hand.[260] They
+were led into the presence of Joseph, who, contrary to his usual habit,
+was not holding a session of the court in the forum on that day. He
+remained at home, that his brethren might not be exposed to shame in
+public. They fell to the earth before him, and thus came true his dream
+of the eleven stars that made obeisance to him.[261] But even while
+paying homage to Joseph, Judah was boiling inwardly with suppressed
+rage, and he said to his brethren, "Verily, this man hath forced me to
+come back hither only that I should destroy the city on this day."
+
+Guarded by his valiant men on the right and on the left, Joseph
+addressed his brethren, snarling, "What deed is this that ye have done,
+to steal away my cup? I know well, ye took it in order to discover with
+its help the whereabouts of your brother that hath disappeared."[262]
+Judah was spokesman, and he replied: "What shall we say unto my lord
+concerning the first money that he found in the mouth of our sacks?
+What shall we speak concerning the second money that also was in our
+sacks? And how shall we clear ourselves concerning the cup? We cannot
+acknowledge ourselves guilty, for we know ourselves to be innocent in
+all these matters. Yet we cannot avow ourselves innocent, because God
+hath found out the iniquity of thy servants, like a creditor that goes
+about and tries to collect a debt owing to him.[263] Two brothers take
+care not to enter a house of mirth and festivity together, that they be
+not exposed to the evil eye, but we all were caught together in one
+place, by reason of the sin which we committed in company."
+
+Joseph: "But if your punishment is for selling Joseph, why should this
+brother of yours suffer, the youngest, he that had no part in your
+crime.
+
+Judah: "A thief and his companions are taken together."
+
+Joseph: "If you could prevail upon yourselves to report to your father
+concerning a brother that had not stolen, and had brought no manner of
+shame upon you, that a wild beast had torn him, you will easily
+persuade yourselves to say it concerning a brother that hath stolen,
+and hath brought shame upon you. Go hence, and tell your father, 'The
+rope follows after the water bucket.'[264] But," continued Joseph,
+shaking his purple mantle, "God forbid that I should accuse you all of
+theft. Only the youth that stole the cup in order to divine his
+brother's whereabouts shall remain with me as my bondman; but as for
+you, get you up in peace unto your father."
+
+The holy spirit called out, "Great peace have they which love thy law!"
+
+The brethren all consented to yield Benjamin to the ruler of Egypt,
+only Judah demurred, and he cried out, "Now it is all over with peace!"
+and he prepared to use force, if need be, to rescue Benjamin from
+slavery.[265]
+
+
+
+
+JUDAH PLEADS AND THREATENS.
+
+
+Joseph dismissed his brethren, and carried Benjamin off by main force,
+and locked him up in a chamber. But Judah broke the door open and stood
+before Joseph with his brethren.[266] He determined to use in turn the
+three means of liberating Benjamin at his disposal. He was prepared to
+convince Joseph by argument, or move him by entreaties, or resort to
+force, in order to accomplish his end.[267]
+
+He spake: "Thou doest a wrong unto us. Thou who didst say, 'I fear
+God,' thou showest thyself to be like unto Pharaoh, who hath no fear of
+God. The judgments which thou dost pronounce are not in accordance with
+our laws, nor are they in accordance with the laws of the nations.
+According to our law, a thief must pay double the value of what he hath
+stolen. Only, if he hath no money, he is sold into slavery, but if he
+hath the money, he maketh double restitution. And according to the law
+of the nations, the thief is deprived of all he owns. Do so, but let
+him go free. If a man buys a slave, and then discovers him to be a
+thief, the transaction is void. Yet thou desirest to make one a slave
+whom thou chargest with being a thief. I suspect thee of wanting to
+keep him in thy power for illicit purposes,[268] and in this
+lustfulness thou resemblest Pharaoh. Also thou art like Pharaoh in that
+thou makest a promise and keepest it not. Thou saidst unto thy
+servants, Bring thy youngest brother down unto me, that I may set mine
+eyes upon him. Dost thou call this setting thine eyes upon him?[269] If
+thou didst desire nothing beside a slave, then wouldst thou surely
+accept our offer to serve thee as bondmen instead of Benjamin. Reuben
+is older than he, and I exceed him in strength. It cannot but be as I
+say, thou hast a lustful purpose in mind with our brother.[270]
+
+"Therefore let these words of mine which I am about to speak find
+entrance into thy heart: For the sake of the grandmother of this lad
+were Pharaoh and his house stricken with sore plagues, because he
+detained her in his palace a single night against her will. His mother
+died a premature death, by reason of a curse which his father uttered
+in inconsiderate haste. Take heed, then, that this man's curse strike
+thee not and slay thee. Two of us destroyed the whole of a city on
+account of one woman, how much more would we do it for the sake of a
+man, and that man the beloved of the Lord, in whose allotment it is
+appointed that God shall dwell!
+
+"If I but utter a sound, death-dealing pestilence will stalk through
+the land as far as No. In this land Pharaoh is the first, and thou art
+the second after him, but in our land my father is the first, and I am
+the second. If thou wilt not comply with our demand, I will draw my
+sword, and hew thee down first, and then Pharaoh."
+
+When Judah gave utterance to this threat, Joseph made a sign, and
+Manasseh stamped his foot on the ground so that the whole palace shook.
+Judah said, "Only one belonging to our family can stamp thus!" and
+intimidated by this display of great strength, he moderated his tone
+and manner. "From the very beginning," he continued to speak, "thou
+didst resort to all sorts of pretexts in order to embarrass us. The
+inhabitants of many countries came down into Egypt to buy corn, but
+none of them didst thou ask questions about their family relations. In
+sooth, we did not come hither to seek thy daughter in marriage, or
+peradventure thou desirest an alliance with our sister? Nevertheless we
+gave thee an answer unto all thy questions."
+
+Joseph replied: "Verily, thou canst talk glibly! Is there another
+babbler like thee among thy brethren?[271] Why dost thou speak so much,
+while thy brethren that are older than thou, Reuben, Simon, and Levi,
+stand by silent?"
+
+Judah: "None of my brethren has so much at stake as I have, if Benjamin
+returns not to his father. I was a surety to my father for him, saying,
+If I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear
+the blame forever, in this world and in the world to come.[272]
+
+The other brethren withheld themselves intentionally from taking part
+in the dispute between Judah and Joseph, saying, "Kings are carrying on
+a dispute, and it is not seemly for us to interfere between them."[273]
+Even the angels descended from heaven to earth to be spectators of the
+combat between Joseph the bull and Judah the lion, and they said, "It
+lies in the natural course of things that the bull should fear the
+lion, but here the two are engaged in equal, furious combat."
+
+In reply to Judah, when he explained that his great interest in
+Benjamin's safety was due to the pledge he had given to his father,
+Joseph spoke: "Why wast thou not a surety for thy other brother, when
+ye sold him for twenty pieces of silver? Then thou didst not regard the
+sorrow thou wast inflicting upon thy father, but thou didst say, A wild
+beast hath devoured Joseph. And yet Joseph had done no evil, while this
+Benjamin has committed theft. Therefore, go up and say unto thy father,
+The rope hath followed after the water bucket."
+
+These words had such an effect upon Judah that he broke out in sobs,
+and cried aloud, "How shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not
+with me?"[274] His outcry reached to a distance of four hundred
+parasangs, and when Hushim the son of Dan heard it in Canaan, he jumped
+into Egypt with a single leap and joined his voice with Judah's, and
+the whole land was on the point of collapsing from the great noise they
+produced. Joseph's valiant men lost their teeth, and the cities of
+Pithom and Raamses were destroyed, and they remained in ruins until the
+Israelites built them up again under taskmasters. Also Judah's
+brethren, who had kept quiet up to that moment, fell into a rage, and
+stamped on the ground with their feet until it looked as though deep
+furrows had been torn in it by a ploughshare.[275] And Judah addressed
+his brethren, "Be brave, demean yourselves as men, and let each one of
+you show his heroism, for the circumstances demand that we do our
+best."
+
+Then they resolved to destroy Mizraim, the city of Egypt, and Judah
+said, "I will raise my voice, and with it destroy Egypt."
+
+Reuben: "I will raise my arm, and crush it out of existence."
+
+Simon: "I will raise my hand, and lay waste its palaces."
+
+Levi: "I will draw my sword, and slay the inhabitants of Egypt."
+
+Issachar: "I will make the land like unto Sodom."
+
+Zebulon: "Like unto Gomorrah will I render it."
+
+Dan: "I will reduce it to a desert."[276]
+
+Then Judah's towering rage began to show signs of breaking out: his
+right eye shed tears of blood; the hair above his heart grew so stiff
+that it pierced and rent the five garments in which he was clothed; and
+he took brass rods, bit them with his teeth, and spat them out as fine
+powder. When Joseph observed these signs, fear befell him, and in order
+to show that he, too, was a man of extraordinary strength, he pushed
+with his foot against the marble pedestal upon which he sat, and it
+broke into splinters. Judah exclaimed, "This one is a hero equal to
+myself!" Then he tried to draw his sword from its scabbard in order to
+slay Joseph, but the weapon could not be made to budge, and Judah was
+convinced thereby that his adversary was a God-fearing man, and he
+addressed himself to the task of begging him to let Benjamin go free,
+but he remained inexorable.[277]
+
+Judah then said: "What shall we say unto our father, when he seeth that
+our brother is not with us, and he will grieve over him?"
+
+Joseph: "Say that the rope hath followed after the water bucket."
+
+Judah: "Thou art a king, why dost thou speak in this wise, counselling
+a falsehood? Woe unto the king that is like thee!"
+
+Joseph: "Is there a greater falsehood than that ye spake concerning
+your brother Joseph, whom you sold to the Midianites for twenty pieces
+of silver, telling your father, An evil beast bath devoured him?"
+
+Judah: "The fire of Shechem burneth in my heart, now will I burn all
+thy land with fire."
+
+Joseph: "Surely, the fire kindled to burn Tamar, thy daughter-in-law,
+who did kill thy sons, will extinguish the fire of Shechem."
+
+Judah: "If I pluck out a single hair from my body, I will fill the
+whole of Egypt with its blood."
+
+Joseph: "Such is it your custom to do; thus ye did unto your brother
+whom you sold, and then you dipped his coat in blood, brought it to
+your father, and said, An evil beast hath devoured him, and here is his
+blood."
+
+When Judah heard this, he was exceedingly wroth, and he took a stone
+weighing four hundred shekels that was before him, cast it toward
+heaven with one hand, caught it with his left hand, then sat upon it,
+and the stone turned into dust. At the command of Joseph, Manasseh did
+likewise with another stone, and Joseph said to Judah: "Strength hath
+not been given to you alone, we also are powerful men. Why, then, will
+ye all boast before us?" Then Judah sent Naphtali forth, saying, "Go
+and count all the streets of the city of Egypt and come and tell me the
+number," but Simon interposed, saying, "Let not this thing trouble you,
+I will go to the mount, and take up one huge stone from the mount,
+throw it over the whole of Mizraim, the city of Egypt, and kill all
+therein."
+
+Hearing all these words, which they spake aloud, because they did not
+know that he understood Hebrew, Joseph bade his son Manasseh make haste
+and gather together all the inhabitants of Egypt, and all the valiant
+men, and let them come to him on horseback and afoot. Meantime Naphtali
+had gone quickly to execute Judah's bidding, for he was as swift as the
+nimble hart, he could run across a field of corn without breaking an
+ear. And he returned and reported that the city of Egypt was divided
+into twelve quarters. Judah bade his brethren destroy the city; he
+himself undertook to raze three quarters, and he assigned the nine
+remaining quarters to the others, one quarter to each.
+
+In the meantime Manasseh had assembled a great army, five hundred
+mounted men and ten thousand on foot, among them four hundred valiant
+heroes, who could fight without spear or sword, using only their
+strong, unarmed hands. To inspire his brethren with more terror, Joseph
+ordered them to make a loud noise with all sorts of instruments, and
+their appearance and the hubbub they produced did, indeed, cause fear
+to fall upon some of the brethren of Joseph. Judah, however, called to
+them, "Why are you terrified, seeing that God grants us His mercy?" He
+drew his sword, and uttered a wild cry, which threw all the people into
+consternation, and in their disordered flight many fell over each other
+and perished, and Judah and his brethren followed after the fleeing
+people as far as the house of Pharaoh. Returning to Joseph, Judah again
+broke out in loud roars, and the reverberations caused by his cries
+were so mighty that all the city walls in Egypt and in Goshen fell in
+ruins, the pregnant women brought forth untimely births, and Pharaoh
+was flung from his throne. Judah's cries were heard at a great
+distance, as far off as Succoth.
+
+When Pharaoh learnt the reason of the mighty uproar, he sent word to
+Joseph that he would have to concede the demands of the Hebrews, else
+the land would suffer destruction. "Thou canst take thy choice," were
+the words of Pharaoh, "between me and the Hebrews, between Egypt and
+the land of the Hebrews. If thou wilt not heed my command, then leave
+me and go with them into their land."
+
+
+
+
+JOSEPH MAKES HIMSELF KNOWN
+
+
+Seeing that his brethren were, indeed, on the point of destroying
+Egypt, Joseph resolved to make himself known to them, and he cast
+around for a proper opening, which would lead naturally to his
+announcement. At his behest, Manasseh laid his hand upon Judah's
+shoulder, and his touch allayed Judah's fury, for he noticed that he
+was in contact with a kinsman of his, because such strength existed in
+no other family. Then Joseph addressed Judah gently, saying:[278] "I
+should like to know who advised him to steal the cup. Could it have
+been one of you?" Benjamin replied: "Neither did they counsel theft,
+nor did I touch the cup." "Take an oath upon it," demanded Joseph, and
+Benjamin complied with his brother's request: "I swear that I did not
+touch the cup! As true as my brother Joseph is separated from me; as
+true as I had nothing to do with the darts that my brethren threw at
+him; as true as I was not one of those to take off his coat; as true as
+I had no part in the transaction by which he was given over to the
+Ishmaelites; as true as I did not help the others dip his coat in
+blood; so true is my oath, that they did not counsel theft, and that I
+did not commit theft."
+
+Joseph: "How can I know that this oath of thine taken upon thy
+brother's fate is true?"
+
+Benjamin: "From the names of my ten sons, which I gave them in memory
+of my brother's life and trials, thou canst see how dearly I loved him.
+I pray thee, therefore, do not bring down my father with sorrow to the
+grave."
+
+Hearing these words of abiding love, Joseph could refrain himself no
+longer. He could not but make himself known unto his brethren.[279] He
+spake these words to them: "Ye said the brother of this lad was dead.
+Did you yourselves see him dead before you?" They answered, "Yes!"
+
+Joseph: "Did you stand beside his grave?"
+
+The brethren: "Yes!"
+
+Joseph: "Did you throw clods of earth upon his corpse?"
+
+The brethren: "No."
+
+Then Joseph reflected, saying to himself: "My brethren are as pious as
+aforetime, and they speak no lies. They said I was dead, because when
+they abandoned me, I was poor, and 'a poor man is like unto a dead
+man;' they stood beside my grave, that is the pit into which they cast
+me; but they did not say that they had shovelled earth upon me, for
+that would have been a falsehood."
+
+Turning to his brethren, he said: "Ye lie when ye say that your brother
+is dead. He is not dead. You sold him,[280] and I did buy him. I shall
+call him, and set him before your eyes," and he began to call, "Joseph,
+son of Jacob, come hither! Joseph, son of Jacob, come hither! Speak to
+thy brethren who did sell thee." The others turned their eyes hither
+and thither, to the four corners of the house, until Joseph called to
+them: "Why look ye here and there? Behold, I am Joseph your brother!
+"Their souls fled away from them, and they could make no answer, but
+God permitted a miracle to happen, and their souls came back to them.
+
+Joseph continued, "Ye see it with your own eyes, and also my brother
+Benjamin seeth it with his eyes, that I speak with you in Hebrew, and I
+am truly your brother." But they would not believe him. Not only had he
+been transformed from a smooth-faced youth into a bearded man since
+they had abandoned him, but also the forsaken youth now stood before
+them the ruler of Egypt. Therefore Joseph bared his body and showed
+them that he belonged to the descendants of Abraham.
+
+Abashed they stood there, and in their rage they desired to slay Joseph
+as the author of their shame and their suffering. But an angel appeared
+and flung them to the four corners of the house. Judah raised so loud
+an outcry that the walls of the city of Egypt tumbled down, the women
+brought forth untimely births, Joseph and Pharaoh both rolled down off
+their thrones, and Joseph's three hundred heroes lost their teeth, and
+their heads remained forever immobile, facing backward, as they had
+turned them to discover the cause of the tumult. Yet the brethren did
+not venture to approach close to Joseph, they were too greatly ashamed
+of their behavior toward their brother.[281] He sought to calm them,
+saying, "Now be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me
+hither, for God did send me before you to preserve life."
+
+Even such kind words of exhortation did not banish their fear, and
+Joseph continued to speak, "As little as I harbor vengeful thoughts in
+my heart against Benjamin, so little do I harbor them against you."And
+still his brethren were ill at case, and Joseph went on, "Think you
+that it is possible for me to inflict harm upon you? If the smoke of
+ten candles could not extinguish one, how can one extinguish ten?"
+
+At last the brethren were soothed, and they went up to Joseph,[282] who
+knew each by name, and, weeping, he embraced and kissed them all in
+turn. The reason why he wept was that his prophetic spirit showed him
+the descendants of his brethren enslaved by the nations.[283]
+Especially did he weep upon Benjamin's neck, because he foresaw the
+destruction decreed for the two Temples to be situated in the allotment
+of Benjamin. And Benjamin also wept upon Joseph's neck, for the
+sanctuary at Shiloh, in the territory of Joseph which was likewise
+doomed to destruction.[284]
+
+Pharaoh was well pleased with the report of the reconciliation between
+Joseph and the Hebrews, for he had feared that their dissensions might
+cause the ruin of Egypt, and he sent his servants to Joseph, that they
+take part in his joy. Also he sent word to Joseph that it would please
+him well if his brethren took up their abode in Egypt, and he promised
+to assign the best parts of the land to them for their
+dwelling-place.[285]
+
+Not all the servants of Pharaoh were in agreement with their master
+concerning this invitation to the Hebrews. Many among them were
+disquieted, saying, "If one of the sons of Jacob came hither, and he
+was advanced to a high position over our heads, what evil will happen
+to us when ten more come hither?"[286]
+
+Joseph gave all his brethren two changes of raiment, one for use on the
+ordinary days of the week and one for use on the Sabbath, for, when the
+cup was found with Benjamin, they had rent their clothes, and Joseph
+would not have his brethren go about in torn garments.[287] But to
+Benjamin he gave five changes of raiment, though not in order to
+distinguish him above his brethren. Joseph remembered only too well
+what mischief his father had caused by giving him the coat of many
+colors, thereby arousing the envy of his brethren. He desired only to
+intimate that Mordecai, a descendant of Benjamin, would once be arrayed
+in five royal garments.[288]
+
+Joseph presented his brethren, apparelled in their gold and silver
+embroidered clothes, before Pharaoh, who was well pleased to become
+acquainted with them when he saw that they were men of heroic stature
+and handsome appearance.[289] He gave them wagons, to bring their
+families down into Egypt, but as they were ornamented with images of
+idols, Judah burnt them,[290] and Joseph replaced them with eleven
+other wagons, among them the one he had ridden in at his accession to
+office, to view the land of Egypt. This was to be used by his father on
+his journey to Egypt. For each of his brothers' children, he sent
+raiments, and also one hundred pieces of silver for each, but for each
+of the children of Benjamin he sent ten changes of raiment. And for the
+wives of his brethren he gave them rich garments of state, such as were
+worn by the wives of the Pharaohs, and also ointments and aromatic
+spices. To his sister Dinah he sent silver and gold embroidered
+clothes, and myrrh, aloes, and other perfumes, and such presents he
+gave also to the wife and the daughters-in-law of Benjamin. For
+themselves and for their wives the brethren received all sorts of
+precious stones and jewelled ornaments, like those that are worn by the
+Egyptian nobility.
+
+Joseph accompanied his eleven brethren to the frontier, and there he
+took leave of them with the wish that they and all their families come
+down to Egypt,[291] and he enjoined upon them, besides, three maxims to
+be observed by travellers: Do not take too large steps; do not discuss
+Halakic subjects, that you lose not your way; and enter the city at the
+latest with the going down of the sun.[292]
+
+
+
+
+JACOB RECEIVES THE GLAD TIDINGS
+
+
+In blithe spirits the sons of Jacob journeyed up to the land of Canaan,
+but when they reached the boundary line, they said to one another, "How
+shall we do? If we appear before our father and tell him that Joseph is
+alive, he will be greatly frightened, and he will not be inclined to
+believe us." Besides, Joseph's last injunction to them had been to take
+heed and not startle their father with the tidings of joy.
+
+On coming close to their habitation, they caught sight of Serah, the
+daughter of Asher, a very beautiful maiden, and very wise, who was
+skilled in playing upon the harp. They summoned her unto them and gave
+her a harp, and bade her play before Jacob and sing that which they
+should tell her. She sat down before Jacob, and, with an agreeable
+melody, she sang the following words, accompanying herself upon the
+harp: "Joseph, my uncle, liveth, he ruleth over the whole of Egypt, he
+is not dead!" She repeated these words several times, and Jacob grew
+more and more pleasurably excited. His joy awakened the holy spirit in
+him, and he knew that she spoke the truth.[293] The spirit of prophecy
+never visits a seer when he is in a state of lassitude or in a state of
+grief; it comes only together with joy. All the years of Joseph's
+separation from him Jacob had had no prophetic visions, because he was
+always sad, and only when Serah's words reawakened the feeling of
+happiness in his heart, the prophetic spirit again took possession of
+him.[294] Jacob rewarded her therefor with the words, "My daughter, may
+death never have power over thee, for thou didst revive my spirit." And
+so it was. Serah did not die, she entered Paradise alive. At his
+bidding, she repeated the words she had sung again and again, and they
+gave Jacob great joy and delight, so that the holy spirit waxed
+stronger and stronger within him.
+
+While he was sitting thus in converse with Serah, his sons appeared
+arrayed in all their magnificence, and with all the presents that
+Joseph had given them, and they spake to Jacob, saying: "Glad tidings!
+Joseph our brother liveth! He is ruler over the whole land of Egypt,
+and he sends thee a message of joy." At first Jacob would not believe
+them, but when they opened their packs, and showed him the presents
+Joseph had sent to all, he could not doubt the truth of their words any
+longer.[295]
+
+Joseph had had a premonition that his father would refuse to give his
+brethren credence, because they had tried to deceive him before, and
+"it is the punishment of the liar that his words are not believed even
+when he speaks the truth." He had therefore said to them, "If my father
+will not believe your words, tell him that when I took leave of him, to
+see whether it was well with you, he had been teaching me the law of
+the heifer whose neck is broken in the valley." When they repeated
+this, every last vestige of Jacob's doubt disappeared, and he said:
+"Great is the steadfastness of my son Joseph. In spite of all his
+sufferings he has remained constant in his piety.[296] Yea, great are
+the benefits that the Lord hath conferred upon me. He saved me from the
+hands of Esau, and from the hands of Laban, and from the Canaanites who
+pursued after me. I have tasted many joys, and I hope to see more, but
+never did I hope to set eyes upon Joseph again, and now I shall go down
+to him and behold him before my death."[297]
+
+Then Jacob and the members of his family put on the clothes Joseph had
+sent, among them a turban for Jacob, and they made all preparations to
+journey down into Egypt and dwell there with Joseph and his family.
+Hearing of his good fortune, the kings and the grandees of Canaan came
+to wait upon Jacob and express sympathy with him in his joy, and he
+prepared a three days' banquet for them.[298]
+
+Jacob, however, would not go down into Egypt without first inquiring
+whether it was the will of God that he should leave the Holy Land.[299]
+He said, "How can I leave the land of my fathers, the land of my birth,
+the land in which the Shekinah dwells, and go into an unclean land,
+inhabited by slaves of the sons of Ham, a land wherein there is no fear
+of God?"[300] Then he brought sacrifices in honor of God, in the
+expectation that a Divine vision would descend upon him and instruct
+him whether to go down into Egypt or have Joseph come up to Canaan. He
+feared the sojourn in Egypt, for he remembered the vision he had had at
+Beth-el on leaving his father's house,[301] and he said to God: "I
+resemble my father. As he was greedy in filling his maw, so am I, and
+therefore I would go down into Egypt in consequence of the famine. As
+my father preferred one son to the other, so had I a favorite son, and
+therefore I would go down into Egypt to see Joseph. But in this I do
+not resemble my father, he had only himself to provide for, and my
+house consists of seventy souls, and therefore am I compelled to go
+down into Egypt. The blessing which my father gave me was not fulfilled
+in me, but in my son Joseph, whom peoples serve, and before whom
+nations bow down."[302]
+
+Then the Shekinah addressed Jacob, calling his name twice in token of
+love,[303] and bidding him not to fear the Egyptian slavery foretold
+for the descendants of Abraham, for God would have pity upon the
+suffering of his children and deliver them from bondage.[304] God
+furthermore said, "I will go down into Egypt with thee," and the
+Shekinah accompanied Jacob thither, bringing the number of the company
+with which he entered Egypt up to seventy.[305] But as Jacob
+entertained fears that his descendants would stay there forever, God
+gave him the assurance that He would lead him forth together with all
+the pious that were like unto him.[306] And God also told Jacob that
+Joseph had remained steadfast in his piety even in Egypt, and he might
+dismiss all doubts from his mind on this score, for it was his anxiety
+on this account that had induced Jacob to consider going down into
+Egypt; he wanted only to make sure of Joseph's faithfulness, and then
+return home, but God commanded him to go thither and remain there.[307]
+
+Before Jacob left Canaan, he went to Beer-sheba, to hew down the cedars
+that Abraham had planted there, and take them with him to Egypt. For
+centuries these cedar trees remained in the possession of his
+descendants; they carried them with them when they left Egypt, and they
+used them in building the Tabernacle.[308]
+
+Although Joseph had put wagons at the disposal of his brethren for the
+removal of his family from Canaan to Egypt, they yet carried Jacob upon
+their arms, for which purpose they divided themselves into three
+divisions, one division after the other assuming the burden. As a
+reward for their filial devotion, God redeemed their descendants from
+Egypt.[309]
+
+Judah was sent on ahead by his father, to erect a dwelling in Goshen,
+and also a Bet ha-Midrash, that Jacob might set about instructing his
+sons at once after his arrival. He charged Judah with this honorable
+task in order to compensate him for a wrong he had done him. All the
+years of Joseph's absence he bad suspected Judah of having made away
+with Rachel's son.[310] How little the suspicion was justified he
+realized now when Judah in particular had been assiduous in securing
+the safety of Benjamin, the other son of Rachel. Jacob therefore said
+to Judah: "Thou hast done a pious, God-bidden deed, and hast shown
+thyself to be a man capable of carrying on negotiations with Joseph.
+Complete the work thou hast begun! Go to Goshen, and together with
+Joseph prepare all things for our coming. Indeed," continued Jacob,
+"thou wast the cause of our going down into Egypt, for it was at thy
+suggestion that Joseph was sold as a slave, and, also, through thy
+descendants Israel will be led forth out of Egypt."[311]
+
+When Joseph was informed of the approach of his father, he rejoiced
+exceedingly, chiefly because his coming would stop the talk of the
+Egyptians, who were constantly referring to him as the slave that had
+dominion over them. "Now," thought Joseph, "they will see my father and
+my brethren, and they will be convinced that I am a free-born man, of
+noble stock."
+
+In his joy in anticipation of seeing his father, Joseph made ready his
+chariot with his own hands, without waiting for his servants to
+minister to him, and this loving action redounded later to the benefit
+of the Israelites, for it rendered of none effect Pharaoh's zeal in
+making ready his chariot himself, with his own hands, to pursue after
+the Israelites.[312]
+
+
+
+
+JACOB ARRIVES IN EGYPT
+
+
+When the Egyptian nobles observed their viceroy completing his
+preparations to meet his father, they did the same.[313] Indeed, Joseph
+had issued a proclamation throughout the land, threatening with death
+all that did not go forth to meet Jacob. The procession that
+accompanied him was composed of countless men, arrayed in byssus and
+purple, and marching to the sound of all sorts of musical instruments.
+Even the women of Egypt had a part in the reception ceremonies. They
+ascended to the roofs of the houses and the walls of the cities, ready
+to greet Jacob with the music of cymbals and timbrels.
+
+Joseph wore the royal crown upon his head, Pharaoh had yielded it to
+him for the occasion. He descended from his chariot when he was at a
+distance of about fifty ells from his father, and walked the rest of
+the way on foot, and his example was followed by the princes and nobles
+of Egypt. When Jacob caught sight of the approaching procession, he was
+rejoiced,[314] and even before he recognized Joseph, he bowed down
+before him, but for permitting his father to show him this mark of
+honor, punishment was visited upon Joseph. He died an untimely death,
+before the years of life assigned to him had elapsed.[315]
+
+That no harm befall Jacob from a too sudden meeting with him, Joseph
+sent his oldest son ahead with five horses, the second son following
+close after him in the same way. As each son approached, Jacob thought
+he beheld Joseph, and so he was prepared gradually to see him face to
+face.[316]
+
+Meantime Jacob had espied, from where he was seated, a man in royal
+robes among the Egyptians, a crown upon his head, and a purple mantle
+over his shoulders, and he asked Judah who it might be. When he was
+told that it was Joseph, his joy was great over the high dignity
+attained by his son.
+
+By this time Joseph had come close to his father, and he bowed himself
+before him down to the earth, and all the people with him likewise
+prostrated themselves.[317] Then Joseph fell upon his father's neck,
+and he wept bitterly. He was particularly grieved that he had permitted
+his father to bow down before him but a little while before without
+hindering it.[318] At the very moment when Joseph embraced his father,
+Jacob was reciting the Shema', and he did not allow himself to be
+interrupted in his prayer,[319] but then he said, "When they brought me
+the report of the death of Joseph, I thought I was doomed to double
+death—that I should lose this world and the world to come as well. The
+Lord had promised to make me the ancestor of twelve tribes, and as the
+death of my son rendered it impossible that this promise should be
+realized, I feared I had incurred the doom by my own sins, and as a
+sinner I could not but expect to forfeit the future world, too. But now
+that I have beheld thee alive, I know that my death will be only for
+the world here below."[320]
+
+Such was the manner of Jacob's arrival in Egypt. He came with his whole
+family, sixty-nine persons they were in all, but the number was raised
+to seventy by the birth of Jochebed, afterward the mother of Moses,
+which took place when the cavalcade had advanced to the space between
+the one and the other city wall.[321] All the males in his family were
+married men; even Pallu and Hezron, the latter of whom was but one year
+old at the time of their migration, and the former but two years, had
+the wives with them that had been chosen for them by their
+parents.[322] In general, all the sons and grandsons of Jacob had
+married young, some of them had been fathers at the age of seven.[323]
+
+Joseph took some from among his brethren, and presented them to
+Pharaoh. He chose the weakest of them, that the king might not be
+tempted to retain them in his service as warriors.[324] And as he did
+not desire his family to live at close quarters with the Egyptians and
+perhaps amalgamate with them, he introduced them as shepherds. The
+Egyptians worshipped the constellation of the rain, and paid divine
+honors to animals, and they kept aloof from shepherds. Pharaoh
+therefore was inclined to grant Joseph's wish, to give them the pasture
+land of Goshen for their sojourning place, the land that was theirs by
+right, for the Pharaoh that took Sarah away from Abraham by force had
+given it to her as her irrevocable possession.[325]
+
+In their conversation with Pharaoh the brethren of Joseph made it plain
+to the Egyptian king that it was not their intention to remain in Egypt
+forever, it was to be only a temporary dwelling-place.[326]
+
+Then Joseph set Jacob his father before Pharaoh, and when the king saw
+him, he said to Og, who happened to be with him at that moment, "Seest
+thou! Thou wast wont to call Abraham a sterile mule, and here is his
+grandson with a family of seventy persons!" Og would not believe his
+own eyes, he thought Abraham was standing before him, so close was the
+resemblance between Jacob and his progenitor. Then Pharaoh asked about
+Jacob's age, to find out whether he actually was Jacob, and not
+Abraham. And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, "The days of the years of my
+pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years," using the word pilgrimage
+in reference to life on earth, which the pious regard as a temporary
+sojourn in alien lands. "Few and evil," he continued, "have been the
+days of the years of my life. In my youth I had to flee to a strange
+land on account of my brother Esau, and now, in my old age, I must
+again go to a strange land, and my days have not attained unto the days
+of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their
+pilgrimage." These words sufficed to convince Pharaoh and Og that the
+man standing before them was not Abraham, but his grandson.[327]
+
+When Jacob uttered the words, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage
+have been few and evil," God said to him: "Jacob, I saved thee out of
+the hands of Esau and Laban, I restored Joseph unto thee, and made him
+to be a king and a ruler, and yet thou speakest of few and evil days.
+Because of thy ingratitude, thou wilt not attain unto the days of the
+years of the life of thy fathers," and Jacob died at an age
+thirty-three years less than his father Isaac's.[328]
+
+On going out from the presence of Pharaoh, Jacob blessed the king with
+the words, "May the years still in store for me be given unto thee, and
+may the Nile overflow its banks henceforth again and water the land."
+His words were fulfilled. In order to show that the pious are a
+blessing for the world, God caused the Nile to rise above its bed and
+fructify the land of Egypt.[329]
+
+
+
+
+JOSEPH'S KINDNESS AND GENEROSITY
+
+
+Jacob and his family now settled in the land of Goshen, and Joseph
+provided them with all things needful, not only with food and drink,
+but also with clothing, and in his love and kindness he entertained his
+father and his brethren daily at his own table.[330] He banished the
+wrong done to him by his brethren from his mind, and he besought his
+father to pray to God for them, that He should forgive their great
+transgression. Touched by this noble sign of love, Jacob cried out, "O
+Joseph, my child, thou hast conquered the heart of thy father
+Jacob."[331]
+
+Joseph had other virtues, besides. The title "the God- fearing one,"
+borne only by him, Abraham, Job, and Obadiah, he gained by reason of
+his kindness of heart and his generosity. Whatever he gave his
+brethren, he gave with a "good eye," a liberal spirit. If it was bread
+for food, it was sure to be abundant enough, not only to satisfy the
+hunger of all, but also for the children to crumble, as is their
+habit.[332]
+
+But Joseph was more than a helper to his family. As a shepherd pastures
+his flock, so he provided for the whole world during the years of
+famine. The people cursed Pharaoh, who kept the stores of corn in his
+treasure chambers for his own use, and they blessed Joseph, who took
+thought for the famishing, and sold grain to all that came.[333] The
+wealth which he acquired by these sales was lawful gain, for the prices
+were raised, not by him, but by the Egyptians themselves.[334] One part
+of his possessions, consisting of gold and silver and precious stones,
+Joseph buried in four different places, in the desert near the Red Sea,
+on the banks of the Euphrates, and in two spots in the desert in the
+vicinity of Persia and Media.[335] Korah discovered one of the hiding-
+places, and the Roman emperor Antoninus, the son of Severus, another.
+The other two will never be found, because God has reserved the riches
+they hold for the pious, to be enjoyed by them in the latter days, the
+days of the Messiah.[336] The remainder of Joseph's possessions he gave
+away, partly to his brethren and their families, and partly to Pharaoh,
+who put them into his treasury.[337]
+
+The wealth of the whole world flowed into Egypt at that time, and it
+remained there until the exodus of the Israelites. They took it along,
+leaving Egypt like a net without fish. The Israelites kept the treasure
+until the time of Rehoboam, who was deprived of it by the Egyptian king
+Shishak, and he in turn had to yield it to Zerah, the king of Ethiopia.
+Once more it came into possession of the Jews when King Asa conquered
+Zerah, but this time they held it for only a short while, for Asa
+surrendered it to the Aramean king Ben-hadad, to induce him to break
+his league with Baasha, the king of the Ten Tribes. The Ammonites, in
+turn, captured it from Ben-hadad, only to lose it in their war with the
+Jews under Jehoshaphat. Again it remained with the Jews, until the time
+of King Ahaz, who sent it to Sennacherib as tribute money. Hezekiah won
+it back, but Zedekiah, the last king of the Jews, lost it to the
+Chaldeans, from whom it came to Persia, thence to the Greeks, and
+finally to the Romans, and with the last it remained for all time.[338]
+
+The people were soon left without means to purchase the corn they
+needed. In a short time they had to part with their cattle, and when
+the money thus secured was spent, they sold their land to Joseph, and
+even their persons. Many of them would cover themselves with clay and
+appear before Joseph, and say to him, "O lord king, see me and see my
+possessions!" And so Joseph bought all the land of Egypt, and the
+inhabitants became his tenants, and they gave a fifth of their
+ingatherings unto joseph.[339]
+
+The only class of the people permitted to remain in possession of their
+land were the priests. Joseph owed them gratitude, for they had made it
+possible for him to become the ruler over Egypt. The Egyptians had
+hesitated to make him their viceroy, because they shrank from choosing
+a man accused of adultery for so high an office. It was the priests
+that made the suggestion to examine Joseph's torn garment, which his
+mistress had submitted as evidence of his guilt, and see whether the
+rent was in front or in back. If it was in back, it would show his
+innocence—he had turned to flee, and his temptress had clutched him so
+that the garment tore. But if the tear was in front, then it would be a
+proof of his guilt—he had used violence with the woman, and she had
+torn the mantle in her efforts to defend her honor. The angel Gabriel
+came and transferred the rent from the fore part to the back, and the
+Egyptians were convinced of Joseph's innocence, and their scruples
+about raising him to the kingship were removed.[340]
+
+As soon as the Egyptians learnt of the advantageous position of the
+priests, they all tried to prove themselves members of the caste. But
+Joseph investigated the lists in the archives, and determined the
+estate of every citizen.
+
+The priests were favored in another way. Beside remaining in possession
+of their land, they received daily portions from Pharaoh, wherefore God
+said, "The priests that serve idols receive all they need every day,
+how much more do the sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who are My
+priests, deserve that I should give them what they need every
+day."[341]
+
+The rest of the inhabitants of Egypt, who had to part with their land,
+were not permitted to remain in their native provinces. Joseph removed
+them from their own cities, and settled them in others. His purpose
+herein was to prevent the Egyptians from speaking of his brethren
+derogatorily as "exiles the sons of exiles"; he made them all equally
+aliens.[342] For the same reason, God later, at the time of the going
+forth of the Israelites from Egypt, caused all nations to change their
+dwelling-places about, so that the Israelites could not be reproached
+with having had to leave their home. And, finally, when Sermacherib
+carried the Jews away from their land into exile, it also happened that
+this king first mixed up the inhabitants of all the countries of the
+world.[343]
+
+
+
+
+JACOB'S LAST WISH
+
+
+In return for the seventeen years that Jacob had devoted to the
+bringing up of Joseph, he was granted seventeen years of sojourn with
+his favorite son in peace and happiness. The wicked experience sorrow
+after joy; the pious must suffer first, and then they are happy, for
+all's well that ends well, and God permits the pious to spend the last
+years of their lives in felicity.[344]
+
+When Jacob felt his end approach, he summoned Joseph to his bedside,
+and he told him all there was in his heart. He called for Joseph rather
+than one of his other sons, because he was the only one in a position
+to execute his wishes.
+
+Jacob said to Joseph: "If I have found grace in thy sight, bury me not,
+I pray thee, in Egypt. Only for thy sake did I come down into Egypt,
+and for thy sake I spoke, Now I can die. Do this for me as a true
+service of love, and not because thou art afraid, or because decency
+demands it. And when I sleep with my fathers, thou shalt bury me in
+their burying-place. Carry me out of the land of idolatry, and bury me
+in the land where God hath caused His Name to dwell, and put me to rest
+in the place in which four husbands and wives are to be buried, I the
+last of them."
+
+Jacob desired not to be buried in Egypt for several reasons. He knew
+that the soil of Egypt would once swarm with vermin, and it revolted
+him to think of his corpse exposed to such uncleanness. He feared,
+moreover, that his descendants might say, "Were Egypt not a holy land,
+our father Jacob had never permitted himself to be buried there," and
+they might encourage themselves with this argument to make choice of
+Egypt as a permanent dwelling- place. Also, if his grave were there,
+the Egyptians might resort to it when the ten plagues came upon them,
+and if he were induced to pray for them to God, he would be advocating
+the cause of the Lord's enemies. If, on the other hand, he did not
+intercede for them, the Name of God would be profaned among the
+heathen, who would say, "Jacob is a useless saint!" Besides, it was
+possible that God might consider him, the "scattered sheep" of Israel,
+as a sacrifice for the Egyptians, and remit their punishment. From his
+knowledge of the people, another fear was justified, that his grave
+would become an object of idolatrous veneration, and the same
+punishment is appointed by God for the idols worshipped as for the
+idolaters that worship them.
+
+If Jacob had good reasons for not wanting his body to rest in the soil
+of Egypt, he had equally good reasons for wanting it to rest in the
+Holy Land. In the Messianic time, when the dead will rise, those buried
+in Palestine will awaken to new life without delay, while those buried
+elsewhere will first have to roll from land to land through the earth,
+hollowed out for the purpose, until they reach the Holy Land, and only
+then will their resurrection take place. But over and beyond this,
+Jacob had an especial reason for desiring to have his body interred in
+Palestine. God had said to him at Beth-el, "The land whereon thou
+liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed," and hence he made
+every endeavor to "lie" in the Holy Land, to make sure it would belong
+to him and his descendants.[345] Nevertheless he bade Joseph strew some
+Egyptian earth over his dead body.[346]
+
+Jacob expressed these his last wishes three times. Such is the
+requirement of good breeding in preferring a request.
+
+In the last period of Jacob's life, one can see how true it is that
+"even a king depends upon favors in a strange land." Jacob, the man for
+the sake of whose merits the whole world was created, for the sake of
+whom Abraham was delivered from the fiery furnace, had to ask services
+of others while he was among strangers,[347] and when Joseph promised
+to do his bidding, he bowed himself before his own son, for it is a
+true saying, "Bow before the fox in his day," the day of his
+power.[348]
+
+He was not satisfied with a simple promise from Joseph, that he would
+do his wish; he insisted upon his taking an oath by the sign of the
+covenant of Abraham, putting a hand under his thigh in accordance with
+the ceremony customary among the Patriarchs![349] But Joseph said:
+"Thou treatest me like a slave. With me thou hast no need to require an
+oath. Thy command sufficeth." Jacob, however, urged him, saying: "I
+fear Pharaoh may command thee to bury me in the sepulchre with the
+kings of Egypt. I insist that thou takest an oath, and then I will be
+at peace." Joseph gave in,[350] though he would not submit to the
+ceremony that Eliezer had used to confirm the oath he took at the
+request of his master Abraham. The slave acted in accordance with the
+rules of slavery, the free man acted in accordance with the dictates of
+freedom.[351] And in a son that thing would have been unseemly which
+was becoming in a slave.[352]
+
+When Joseph swore to bury his father in Palestine, he added the words,
+"As thou commandest me to do, so also will I beg my brethren, on my
+death-bed, to fulfil my last wish and carry my body from Egypt to
+Palestine."[353]
+
+Jacob, noticing the Shekinah over the bed's head, where she always
+rests in a sick room, bowed himself upon the bed's head,[354] saying,
+"I thank thee, O Lord my God, that none who is unfit came forth from my
+bed, but my bed was perfect."[355] He was particularly grateful for the
+revelation God had vouchsafed him concerning his first-born son Reuben,
+that he had repented of his trespass against his father, and atoned for
+it by penance. He was thus assured that all his sons were men worthy of
+being the progenitors of the twelve tribes, and he was blessed with
+happiness such as neither Abraham nor Isaac had known, for both of them
+had had unworthy as well as worthy sons.[356]
+
+Until the time of Jacob death had always come upon men suddenly, and
+snatched them away before they were warned of the imminent end by
+sickness. Once Jacob spoke to God, saying, "O Lord of the world, a man
+dies suddenly, and he is not laid low first by sickness, and he cannot
+acquaint his children with his wishes regarding all he leaves behind.
+But if a man first fell sick, and felt that his end were drawing nigh,
+he would have time to set his house in order." And God said, "Verily,
+thy request is sensible, and thou shalt be the first to profit by the
+new dispensation," and so it happened that Jacob fell sick a little
+while before his death.[357]
+
+His sickness troubled him grievously, for he had undergone much during
+his life. He had worked day and night while he was with Laban, and his
+conflicts with the angel and with Esau, though he came off victor from
+both, had weakened him, and he was not in a condition to endure the
+hardships of disease.[358]
+
+
+
+
+THE BLESSING OF EPHRAIM AND MANASSEH
+
+
+All the years of Jacob's sojourn in Egypt, Asenath, the wife of Joseph,
+was his constant nurse. When she saw his end drawing nigh, she spoke to
+Joseph: "I have heard that one who is blessed by a righteous man is as
+though he had been blessed by the Shekinah. Therefore, bring thy sons
+hither, that Jacob give them his blessing."[359]
+
+Though Joseph was a devoted and loving son to his father, he was not in
+constant attendance upon him, because he wanted to avoid giving him the
+opportunity of inquiring into the circumstances of his coming to Egypt.
+He was apprehensive that Jacob might curse his sons and bring death
+upon them, if he discovered the facts connected with their treacherous
+dealings with Joseph. He took good care therefore never to be alone
+with his father. But as he desired to be kept informed of his welfare,
+he arranged a courier service between himself and Jacob.
+
+Now when Joseph received the news of his father's having fallen sick,
+through his messenger, as well as through Ephraim, whom Jacob was
+instructing in the Torah, he hastened to the land of Goshen, taking his
+two sons with him. He desired to have certainty upon five points: Would
+his father bless his two sons, who were born in Egypt, and, if so,
+would he appoint them to be heads of tribes? Would he assign the rights
+of the first-born unto himself, and, if so, would he divest Reuben of
+such rights altogether? And why had his father buried his mother Rachel
+by the wayside, and not carried her body to the family tomb at
+Machpelah?[360]
+
+Jacob had also entertained doubts on five points, when he was about to
+emigrate from Canaan to Egypt: He did not know whether his descendants
+would lose themselves among the people of Egypt; whether he would die
+there and be buried there; and whether he would be permitted to see
+Joseph and see the sons of Joseph. God gave him the assurance, saying,
+"I will go down with thee into Egypt, and I will surely bring thee up
+again after thy death, and thy descendants also, and Joseph shall put
+his hand upon thine eyes." When the time approached for the fulfilment
+of the Divine promise, God appeared unto Jacob, and He said, "I
+promised to fulfil thy wish, and the time of fulfilment hath come."
+
+The holy spirit made known to Jacob that Joseph was coming to him,[361]
+and he strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed in order to pay due
+respect to the representative of the government. Though Joseph was his
+son, he was also viceroy, and entitled to special marks of honor.
+Besides, Jacob desired to make the impression of being a man in good
+health. He wanted to avoid the possibility of having his blessing of
+Joseph and Joseph's sons questioned as the act of an irresponsible
+person.[362]
+
+He strengthened himself spiritually as well as physically, by prayer to
+God, in which he besought Him to let the holy spirit descend upon him
+at the time of his giving the blessing to the sons of Joseph.
+
+When Joseph appeared in the company of his two sons, his father said to
+him: "In all the seventeen years thou hast been visiting me, thou didst
+never bring thy sons with thee, but now they have come, and I know the
+reason. If I bless them, I shall act in opposition to the word of God,
+who promised to make me the progenitor of twelve tribes, for if I adopt
+them as my sons, there will be fourteen tribes. But if I do not bless
+them, it will plunge thee in sorrow. So be it, I will bless them. But
+think not I do it because thou didst support me all these years. There
+is quite another reason.[363] When I left my father's house to go to
+Haran, I offered up a prayer at Beth-el, and I promised to give unto
+God the tenth of all I owned. So far as my material possessions are
+concerned, I kept my vow, but I could not give the tithe of my sons,
+because according to the law I had to withdraw from the reckoning the
+four sons, Reuben, Joseph, Dan, and Gad, that are the first-born
+children of their mothers. When I returned, God again appeared unto me
+in Beth-el, and He said, Be fruitful and multiply. But after this
+blessing no son was born unto me except Benjamin alone, and it cannot
+be but that God meant Manasseh and Ephraim when He spoke of 'a nation
+and a company of nations.' If now I have found favor in thy sight, thy
+two sons Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simon, shall be mine,
+and then I shall be able to give a tenth part of my ten sons unto the
+Lord, and I shall leave this world free from the sin of not keeping my
+vow to the Lord concerning the tithe-giving."
+
+Joseph consented to do his father's will, and Jacob tithed his sons,
+consecrating Levi to the Holy One, and appointing him to be the chief
+of his brethren. He enjoined his sons to have a care that there should
+never fail them a son of Levi in the priestly succession. And it
+happened that. of all the tribes Levi was the only one that never
+proved faithless to the covenant of the fathers.[364]
+
+Thus Jacob adopted Manasseh and Ephraim to be his own sons, even as
+Reuben and Simon were his sons. They were entitled like the others to a
+portion in the Holy Land, and like the others they were to bear
+standards on their journey through the desert.[365]
+
+Satisfied as to Jacob's intentions concerning his sons, Joseph asked
+his father about his mother's burial-place, and Jacob spoke, saying:
+"As thou livest, thy wish to see thy mother lying by my side in the
+grave doth not exceed mine own. I had joy in life only as long as she
+was alive, and her death was the heaviest blow that ever fell upon me."
+Joseph questioned him: "Perhaps thou didst have to bury her in the way,
+because she died during the rainy season, and thou couldst not carry
+her body through the rain to our family sepulchre?" "No," replied
+Jacob, "she died in the spring time, when the highways are clean and
+firm." Joseph: "Grant me permission to take up her body now and place
+it in our family burial-place." Jacob: "No, my son, that thou mayest
+not do. I was unwilling to bury her in the way, but the Lord commanded
+it." The reason of the command was that God knew that the Temple would
+be destroyed, and Israel would be carried away into banishment, and the
+exiles would ask the Patriarchs to intercede for them with God, but God
+would not hearken unto them. On their way to the land of the stranger
+they would pass the grave of Rachel, and they would throw themselves
+upon it, and beseech their mother to make intercession for them with
+God. And Rachel would pray to God in their behalf: "O Lord of the
+world, look upon my tears, and have compassion upon my children. But if
+Thou wilt not take pity on them, then indemnify me for the wrong done
+to me." Unto her prayer God will hearken, and He will have mercy upon
+Israel. Therefore was Rachel buried in the way.
+
+Now Jacob desired to bless the sons of Joseph, but the holy spirit made
+him to see Jeroboam, the descendant of Ephraim, and Jehu, the
+descendant of Manasseh, how they would seduce Israel to idolatry, and
+the Shekinah forsook him as he was about to lay his hands upon the
+heads of his grandsons. He said to Joseph, "Is it possible that thou
+didst not marry the mother of thy children according to the law?"
+Joseph thereupon brought his wife Asenath to his father, and pointing
+to her marriage contract, he said, "This one is my wife, whom I married
+as is proper, with a marriage contract and due ceremony. I pray thee,
+my father, bless my sons if only for the sake of this pious woman."
+
+Jacob bade his grandsons approach close to him, and he kissed and
+embraced them, in the hope that his joy in them would lure back the
+holy spirit, but his hope was vain. Joseph concluded that the time was
+not favorable for blessing, and he decided to go away until a more
+propitious opportunity presented itself, first, however, proving to his
+father that his sons had been initiated in the covenant of Abraham.
+
+Outside of his father's chamber, alone with his sons, he threw himself
+down before God and besought Him to show him mercy, and he bade his
+sons do likewise, saying, "Be not content with your high station, for
+worldly honors are but for a time. Entreat God to be merciful and let
+the Shekinah descend upon my father, that he bless you both." Then
+spake God to the holy spirit: "How long yet shall Joseph suffer? Reveal
+thyself quickly, and enter into Jacob, that he may be able to bestow
+blessings."
+
+In the words of Jacob, "Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simon,
+shall be mine," Joseph had noticed his father's preference for his
+younger son Ephraim. It made him very anxious about his older son's
+birthright, and he was careful to put the two lads before his father in
+such wise that Manasseh should stand opposite Jacob's right hand, and
+Ephraim opposite his left hand.[366] But Ephraim, on account of his
+modesty, was destined for greater things than his older brother
+Manasseh, and God bade the holy spirit prompt Jacob to give the
+birthright to Ephraim.[367] Now when Joseph observed his father put his
+right hand upon Ephraim's head, he made an attempt to remove it unto
+Manasseh's head. But Jacob warded him off, saying: "What, thou wouldst
+displace my hand against my will, the hand that overcame the prince of
+the angel hosts, who is as large as one-third of the world![368] I know
+things not known to thee—I know what Reuben did to Bilhah, and what
+Judah did to Tamar. How much more do I know things known to thee![369]
+Thinkest thou I know not what thy brethren did to thee, because thou
+wouldst betray nothing whenever I asked thee?[370] I know it, Manasseh
+also shall become great, the judge Gideon shall descend from him, but
+his younger brother will be the ancestor of Joshua, who will bring the
+sun and the moon to a standstill, though they have dominion over the
+whole earth from end to end." Thus did Jacob set Ephraim the younger
+above Manasseh the older, and thus did it remain unto all times. In the
+list of the generations, Manasseh comes after Ephraim, and so it was in
+the allotment of the portions in the Holy Land, and so it was in the
+placing of the camps and the standards of the tribes, and in the
+dedication of the Tabernacle—everywhere Ephraim preceded Manasseh.[371]
+
+The blessing bestowed upon his grandchildren by Jacob was as follows:
+"O that it be the will of God that ye walk in the ways of the Lord like
+unto my fathers Abraham and Isaac,[372] and may the angel that hath
+redeemed me from all evil give his aid unto Joshua and Gideon,[373] and
+reveal himself unto them. May your names be named on Israel, and like
+unto fishes may you grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth,
+and as fishes are protected by the water, so may you be protected by
+the merits of Joseph."[374]
+
+The words "like unto fishes" were used by Jacob for the purpose of
+intimating the manner of death awaiting the Ephraimites, the
+descendants of Joseph. As fish are caught by their mouth, so the
+Ephraimites were in later days to invite their doom by their peculiar
+lisp. At the same time, Jacob's words contained the prophecy that
+Joshua the son of the man Nun, the "fish," would lead Israel into the
+Holy Land. And in his words lay still another prophecy, with reference
+to the sixty thousand men children begot in the same night as Moses,
+all cast into the river with him, and saved for the sake of his merits.
+The number of boys thrown to the fishes in the river that night was
+equal to the number of men in Israel upon the earth.[375]
+
+Ephraim received a special and separate blessing from his grandfather.
+Jacob said to him, "Ephraim, my son, thou art the head of the Academy,
+and in the days to come my most excellent and celebrated descendants
+will be called Ephrati after thee."[376]
+
+Joseph received two gifts from his father. The first was Shechem, the
+city that Jacob had defended, with sword and bow, against the
+depredations of the Amorite kings when they tried to take revenge upon
+his sons for the outrage committed there. And the second gift was the
+garments made by God for Adam and passed from hand to hand, until they
+came into the possession of Jacob. Shechem was his reward, because,
+with his chastity, he stemmed the tide of immorality that burst loose
+in Shechem first of all.[377] Besides, he had a prior claim upon the
+city. Shechem, son of Hamor, the master of the city, had given it to
+Dinah as a present, and the wife of Joseph, Asenath, being the daughter
+of Dinah, the city belonged to him by right.[378]
+
+Adam's clothes Jacob had received from Esau. He had not taken them from
+his brother by force, but God had caused them to be given to him as a
+reward for his good deeds. They had belonged to Nimrod. Once when the
+mighty hunter caught Esau in his preserves, and forbade him to go on
+the chase, they agreed to determine by combat what their privileges
+were. Esau had taken counsel with Jacob, and he had advised him never
+to fight with Nimrod while he was clothed in Adam's garments. The two
+now wrestled with each other, and at the time Nimrod was not dressed in
+Adam's clothes. The end was that he was slain by Esau. Thus the
+garments worn by Adam fell into the hands of Esau, from him they passed
+into Jacob's, and he bequeathed them to Joseph.[379]
+
+Jacob also taught Joseph three signs whereby to distinguish the true
+redeemer, who should deliver Israel from the bondage of Egypt. He would
+proclaim the Ineffable Name, appoint elders, and use the word Pakod in
+addressing the people.[380]
+
+
+
+
+THE BLESSING OF THE TWELVE TRIBES
+
+
+When Joseph and his two sons left Jacob, his brethren, envious of the
+bountiful blessings bestowed upon the three, said, "The whole world
+loveth a favorite of fortune, and our father hath blessed Joseph thus
+because he is a ruler of men." Then spoke Jacob: "They that seek the
+Lord shall not want any good thing. I have blessings enough for
+all."[381]
+
+Jacob summoned his sons from the land of Egypt, and bade them come to
+him at Raamses, first, however, commanding them to make themselves
+clean, that the blessing he was about to bestow might attach itself to
+them. Another one of his commands was that they were to establish an
+Academy, by the members of which they were to be governed.
+
+When his sons were brought into his presence by the angels, Jacob
+spoke, saying, "Take heed that no dissensions spring up among you, for
+union is the first condition of Israel's redemption," and he was on the
+point of revealing the great secret to them concerning the end of time,
+but while they were standing around the golden bed whereon their father
+lay, the Shekinah visited him for a moment and departed as quickly, and
+with her departed also all trace of the knowledge of the great mystery
+from the mind of Jacob.[382] He had the same experience as his own
+father Isaac, who also had loss of memory inflicted upon him by God, to
+prevent him from revealing the secret at the end of time to Esau, when
+he summoned him to receive his blessing.
+
+The accident made Jacob apprehensive that his sons were not pious
+enough to be considered worthy of the revelation concerning the
+Messianic era, and he said to them, "Ishmael and the sons of Keturah
+were the blemished among the issue of my grandfather Abraham; my father
+Isaac begot a blemished issue in Esau, and I fear now that among you,
+too, there is one that harbors the intention to serve idols." The
+twelve men spake, and said: "Hear, O Israel, our father, the Eternal
+our God is the One Only God. As thy heart is one and united in
+avouching the Holy One, blessed be He, to be thy God, so also are our
+hearts one and united in avouching Him." Whereto Jacob responded,
+"Praised be the Name of the glory of His majesty forever and
+ever!"[383] And although the whole mystery of the Messianic time was
+not communicated to the sons of Jacob, yet the blessing of each
+contained some reference to the events of the future.
+
+These were the words addressed by Jacob to his oldest son: "Reuben,
+thou art my first-born, my might, and the beginning of my strength! Thy
+portion should have been three crowns. Thou shouldst have had the
+double heritage of thy primogeniture, and the priestly dignity, and the
+royal power. But by reason of thy sin, the birthright is conferred upon
+Joseph, kingship upon Judah, and the priesthood upon Levi. My son, I
+know no healing remedy for thee, but the man Moses, who will ascend to
+God, he will make thee whole, and God will forgive thy sin.[384] I
+bless thee—may thy descendants be heroes in the Torah and heroes in
+war.[385] Though thou must lose thy birthright, yet wilt thou be the
+first to enter into possession of thy allotment in the Holy Land, and
+in thy territory shall be the first of the cities of refuge, and always
+shall thy name stand first in the list of the families of the tribes.
+Yea, thou shalt also be the first whose heritage will be seized by the
+enemy, and the first to be carried away into the lands of exile."[386]
+
+After Reuben had had his "ears pulled" thus, he retired, and Jacob
+called his sons Simon and Levi to his side, and he addressed them in
+these words: "Brethren ye were of Dinah, but not of Joseph, whom you
+sold into slavery. The weapons of violence wherewith ye smote Shechem
+were stolen weapons, for it was not seemly for you to draw the sword.
+That was Esau's portion. To him was it said, By thy sword shalt thou
+live. Into the council of the tribe of Simon my soul will not come when
+they foregather at Shittim to do vicious deeds, and my glory will not
+be united unto the assembly of Korah, the descendants of Levi. In their
+anger Simon and Levi slew the prince of Shechem, and in their self-will
+they sold Joseph the bull into slavery. Accursed was the city of
+Shechem when they entered to destroy it. If they remain united, no
+ruler will be able to stand up before them, no war will prosper against
+them. Therefore will I divide and scatter their possession among the
+possessions of the other tribes. The descendants of Simon will many of
+them be poor men, who will wander from tribe to tribe and beg for
+bread, and also Levi's tribe will gather its tithes and gifts from all
+the others."
+
+The words of Jacob, "I will divide them in Jacob," spoken of Simon and
+Levi, were fulfilled on Simon in particular. When twenty-four thousand
+of Simon fell at Shittim, the widows they left behind married husbands
+of all the other tribes. Nevertheless Jacob did not dismiss Simon and
+Levi without blessing them; the tribe of Simon was to bring forth the
+teachers and the beadles needed by all Israel, and Levi, the scholars
+that would expound the Torah and render decisions according to its
+teachings.[387]
+
+When the remaining sons of Jacob heard the rebukes dealt out by their
+father to these three, they feared to hear like reproaches, and they
+tried to slip away from his presence. Especially Judah was alarmed,
+that his father might taunt him with his trespass touching Tamar. But
+Jacob spoke thus to him: "Judah, thou dost deserve thy name. Thy mother
+called thee Jehudah, because she gave praise to God at thy birth, and
+so shall thy brethren praise thee, and they all will call themselves by
+thy name. And as thou didst confess thy sin openly, so also thy
+descendants, Achan, David, and Manasseh, will make public avowal of
+their sins, and the Lord will hear their prayer. Thy hands will send
+darts after the fleeing foe, and thy father's sons shall pay thee
+respect. Thou hast the impudence of a dog and the bravery of a lion.
+Thou didst save Joseph from death, and Tamar and her two sons from the
+flames. No people and no kingdom will be able to stand up against thee.
+Rulers shall not cease from the house of Judah, nor teachers of the law
+from his posterity, until his descendant Messiah come, and the
+obedience of all peoples be unto him. How glorious is Messiah of the
+House of Judah! His loins girded, he will go out to do battle with his
+enemies. No king and no ruler will prevail against him. The mountains
+will be dyed red with their blood, and the garments of Messiah will be
+like the garments of him that presseth wine. The eyes of Messiah will
+be clearer than pure wine, for they will never behold unchastity and
+bloodshed; and his teeth will be whiter than milk, for never will they
+bite aught that is taken by violence."[388]
+
+Though Issachar was the older, Zebulon came next to be blessed, as a
+reward for the sacrifice he had made for his brother's sake, for when
+Issachar chose the study of the Torah as his vocation, Zebulon decided
+to devote himself to business and support his brother with the profits
+of his trade, that he might give himself up to the law
+undisturbed.[389] His blessing was that he would conquer the seacoast
+as far as Zidon.[390]
+
+"Issachar," said Jacob, "will take upon himself the burden of the study
+of the Torah, and all the other tribes will come to him and ask him to
+decide their doubts on legal questions, and his descendants will be the
+members of the Sanhedrin and the scholars that will occupy themselves
+with fixing the calendar." Jacob blessed Issachar also with the
+blessing, that the fruits of his land should be exceedingly large, and
+this brought a heavenly as well as an earthly profit in its train, for
+when the heathen to whom the fruits were sold marvelled thereat, the
+Jewish merchants explained that their extraordinary size was due to the
+merits of the tribe of Issachar, whom God rewarded for their devotion
+to the Torah, and thus many of the heathen were induced to convert to
+Judaism.[391]
+
+In blessing Dan, Jacob's thoughts were occupied chiefly with his
+descendant Samson, who, like unto God, without any manner of
+assistance, conferred victory upon his people. Jacob even believed the
+strong, heroic man to be the Messiah, but when Samson's death was
+revealed to him, he exclaimed, "I wait for Thy salvation, O Lord, for
+Thy help is unto all eternity, while Samson's help is only for a
+time.[392] The redemption" continued Jacob, "will not be accomplished
+by Samson the Danite, but by Elijah the Gadite, who will appear at the
+end of time."[393]
+
+Asher's blessing was the beauty of his women, who would be sought in
+marriage by kings and high priests.[394]
+
+In Naphtali's land all fruits would ripen quickly, and they would be
+brought as presents to kings, and gain royal favor for the givers. This
+blessing was fulfilled in the plain of Gennesaret.[395] At the same
+time Naphtali's blessing was a prophecy concerning his descendant
+Deborah, who was like a hind let loose against Sisera to conquer him,
+and she gave goodly words in her song of Israel's victory.[396]
+Naphtali himself deserved the description applied to Deborah, for he
+was swift as a hart to do the will of God, and he was a fleet messenger
+unto his father and the tribes. They sent him whithersoever they would,
+and he executed their errands with dispatch.[397] He served the
+brethren of Joseph as herald, to announce unto Jacob the glad tidings,
+"Joseph is yet alive," and when the stricken father saw him approach,
+he said, "Lo, here cometh Naphtali the lovable, who proclaimeth
+peace."[398]
+
+Joseph's blessing exceeded the blessing of all his brethren. Jacob
+spoke: "O son whom I bred up, Joseph, whom I raised, and who wast
+strong to resist the enticements of sin, thou didst conquer all the
+magicians and the wise men of Egypt by thy wisdom and thy pious deeds.
+The daughters of princes cast their jewels before thee, to draw thine
+eyes upon them when thou didst pass through the land of Egypt, but thou
+didst not look their way, and therefore wast thou made the father of
+two tribes. The magicians and the wise men of Egypt sought to defame
+thee before Pharaoh and slander thee, but thou didst set thy hope in
+the Almighty. Therefore may He who appeared unto me as El Shaddai bless
+thee and grant thee fertile soil and much cattle. May the blessing thy
+father giveth thee now, and the blessing that his fathers Abraham and
+Isaac gave him, and that called forth the envy of the great of the
+world, Ishmael, Esau, and the sons of Keturah—may all these blessings
+be a crown upon the head of Joseph, and a chain upon the neck of him
+that was the ruler of Egypt, and yet diminished not the honor due to
+his brethren."[399]
+
+The slander of which Jacob spoke referred to what Potiphar had said of
+Joseph before Pharaoh. He had complained, saying, "Why didst thou
+appoint my slave, whom I did buy for twenty pieces of silver, to be
+ruler over the Egyptians?" Joseph had then taken up his own defense,
+saying: "When thou didst buy me as a slave, thou didst commit a capital
+crime. Only a descendant of Canaan may be sold as a slave, and I am a
+descendant of Shem, and a prince besides. If thou wilt convince thyself
+of the truth of my words, do but compare me with the likeness of my
+mother Sarah that Pharaoh had made of her!" They brought Sarah's
+likeness, and, verily, it appeared that Joseph resembled his
+ancestress, and all were convinced of his noble lineage.[400]
+
+The blessing that Jacob bestowed upon Benjamin contains the prophecy
+that his tribe would provide Israel with his first ruler and his last
+ruler, and so it was, for Saul and Esther both belonged to the tribe of
+Benjamin. Likewise Benjamin's heritage in the Holy Land harbors two
+extremes: Jericho ripens its fruits earlier than any other region in
+Palestine, while Beth-el ripens them latest. In Benjamin's blessing,
+Jacob referred also to the service in the Temple, because the Holy
+Place was situated in the territory of Benjamin. And when Jacob called
+his youngest son a wolf that ravineth, he was thinking of the judge
+Ehud, the great scholar, a Benjamite, who conquered Eglon king of Moab,
+and also he had in mind the Benjamites that captured their wives by
+cunning and force.[401]
+
+Again, if he called Benjamin a wolf, Judah a lion, and Joseph a bull,
+he wanted to point to the three kingdoms known as wolf, lion, and bull,
+the doom of which was and will be sealed by the descendants of his
+three sons: Babylon, the kingdom of the lion, fell through the hands of
+Daniel of the tribe of Judah; Media, the wolf, found its master in the
+Benjamite Mordecai; and the bull Joseph will subdue the horned beast,
+the kingdom of wickedness, before the Messianic time.[402]
+
+
+
+
+THE DEATH OF JACOB
+
+
+After Jacob had blessed each of his sons separately, he addressed
+himself to all of them together, saying: "According to my power did I
+bless you, but in future days a prophet will arise, and this man Moses
+will bless you, too, and he will continue my blessings where I left
+off." He added, besides, that the blessing of each tribe should redound
+to the good of all the other tribes: the tribe of Judah should have a
+share in the fine wheat of the tribe of Benjamin, and Benjamin should
+enjoy the goodly barley of Judah. The tribes should be mutually
+helpful, one to another.[403]
+
+Moreover, he charged them not to be guilty of idolatry in any form or
+shape and not to let blasphemous speech pass their lips, and he taught
+them the order of transporting his bier,[404] thus: "Joseph, being
+king, shall not help to bear it, nor shall Levi, who is destined to
+carry the Ark of the Shekinah. Judah, Issachar, and Zebulon shall grasp
+its front end, Reuben, Simon, and Gad its right side, Ephraim,
+Manasseh, and Benjamin the hindmost end, and Dan, Asher, and Naphtali
+its left side." And this was the order in which the tribes, bearing
+each its standard, were to march through the desert, the Shekinah
+dwelling in the midst of them.[405]
+
+Jacob then spake to Joseph, saying: "And thou, my son Joseph, forgive
+thy brethren for their trespass against thee, forsake them not, and
+grieve them not, for the Lord hath put them into thine hands, that thou
+shouldst protect them all thy days against the Egyptians."
+
+Also he admonished his sons, saying that the Lord would be with them if
+they walked in His ways, and He would redeem them from the hands of the
+Egyptians. "I know," he continued, "great suffering will befall your
+sons and your grandsons in this land, but if you will obey God, and
+teach your sons to know Him, then He will send you a redeemer, who will
+bring you forth out of Egypt and lead you into the land of your
+fathers."[406]
+
+In resignation to the will of God,[407] Jacob awaited his end, and
+death enveloped him gently. Not the Angel of Death ended his life, but
+the Shekinah took his soul with a kiss. Beside the three Patriarchs,
+Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, only Moses, Aaron, and Miriam breathed their
+last in this manner, through the kiss of the Shekinah. And these six,
+together with Benjamin, are the only ones whose corpses are not exposed
+to the ravages of the worms, and they neither corrupt nor decay.
+
+Thus Jacob departed this world, and entered the world to come, a
+foretaste of which he had enjoyed here below, like the other two
+Patriarchs, and none beside among men. In another respect their life in
+this world resembled their life in the world to come, the evil
+inclination had no power over them, either here or there, wherein David
+resembled them.[408]
+
+Joseph ordered his father's body to be placed upon a couch of ivory,
+covered with gold, studded with gems, and hung with drapery of byssus
+and purple. Fragrant wine was poured out at its side, and aromatic
+spices burnt next to it. Heroes of the house of Esau, princes of the
+family of Ishmael, and the lion Judah, the bravest of his sons,
+surrounded the sumptuous bier of Jacob. "Come," said Judah to his
+brethren, "let us plant a high cedar tree at the head of our father's
+grave, its top shall reach up to the skies, its branches shall shade
+all the inhabitants of the earth, and its roots shall grow down deep
+into the earth, unto the abyss. For from him are sprung twelve tribes,
+and from him will arise kings and rulers, chapters of priests prepared
+to perform the service of the sacrifices, and companies of Levites
+ready to sing psalms and play upon sweet instruments."[409]
+
+The sons of Jacob tore their garments and girded their loins with
+sackcloth, threw themselves upon the ground, and strewed earth upon
+their heads until the dust rose in a high cloud. And when Asenath, the
+wife of Joseph, heard the tidings of Jacob's death, she came, and with
+her came the women of Egypt, to weep and mourn over him. And the men of
+Egypt that had known Jacob repaired thither, and they mourned day after
+day, and also many journeyed down into Egypt from Canaan, to take part
+in the seventy days' mourning made for him.[410]
+
+The Egyptians spake to one another, saying, "Let us lament for the
+pious man Jacob, because the affliction of the famine was averted from
+our land on account of his merits," for instead of ravaging the land
+for forty-two years according to the decree of God, the famine had
+lasted but two years, and that was due to the virtues of Jacob.[411]
+
+Joseph ordered the physicians to embalm the corpse. This he should have
+refrained from doing, for it was displeasing to God, who spoke, saying:
+"Have I not the power to preserve the corpse of this pious man from
+corruption? Was it not I that spoke the reassuring words, Fear not the
+worm, O Jacob, thou dead Israel?" Joseph's punishment for this useless
+precaution was that he was the first of the sons of Jacob to suffer
+death.[412] The Egyptians, on the other hand, who devoted forty days to
+embalming the corpse and preparing it for burial, were rewarded for the
+veneration they showed. Before He destroyed their city, God gave the
+Ninevites a forty days' respite on account of their king, who was the
+Pharaoh of Egypt. And for the three score and ten days of mourning that
+the heathen made for Jacob, they were recompensed at the time of
+Ahasuerus. During seventy days, from the thirteenth of Nisan, the date
+of Haman's edict ordering the extermination of the Jews, until the
+twenty-third of Siwan, when Mordecai recalled it, they were permitted
+to enjoy absolute power over the Jews.
+
+When all preparations for the burial of Jacob had been completed,
+Joseph asked permission of Pharaoh to carry the body up into Canaan.
+But he did not himself go to put his petition before Pharaoh, for he
+could not well appear before the king in the garb of a mourner, nor was
+he willing to interrupt his lamentation over his father for even a
+brief space and stand before Pharaoh and prefer his petition. He
+requested the family of Pharaoh to intercede for him with the king for
+the additional reason that he was desirous of enlisting the favor of
+the king's relations, lest they advise Pharaoh not to fulfil his wish.
+He acted according to the maxim, "Seek to win over the accuser, that he
+cause thee no annoyance."[413]
+
+Joseph applied first to the queen's hairdresser, and she influenced the
+queen to favor him, and then the queen put in a good word for him with
+the king.[414] At first Pharaoh refused the permission craved by
+Joseph, who, however, urged him to consider the solemn oath he had
+given his dying father, to bury him in Canaan. Pharaoh desired him to
+seek absolution from the oath. But Joseph rejoined, "Then will I apply
+also for absolution from the oath I gave thee," referring to an
+incident in his earlier history. The grandees of Egypt had advised
+Pharaoh against appointing Joseph as viceroy, and they did not recede
+from this counsel until Joseph, in his conversation with the Egyptian
+king, proved himself to be master of the seventy languages of the
+world, the necessary condition to be fulfilled before one could become
+ruler over Egypt. But the conversation proved something else, that
+Pharaoh himself was not entitled to Egyptian kingship, because he
+lacked knowledge of Hebrew. He feared, if the truth became known,
+Joseph would be raised to his own place, for he knew Hebrew beside all
+the other tongues. In his anxiety and distress, Pharaoh made Joseph
+swear an oath never to betray the king's ignorance of Hebrew. Now when
+Joseph threatened to have himself absolved from this oath as well as
+the one to his dying father, great terror overwhelmed him, and he
+speedily granted Joseph permission to go up to Canaan and bury his
+father there.[415]
+
+Moreover, Pharaoh issued a decree in all parts of the land menacing
+those with death who would not accompany Joseph and his brethren upon
+their journey to Canaan with their father's remains, and accordingly
+the procession that followed the bier of Jacob was made up of the
+princes and nobles of Egypt as well as the common people.[416] The bier
+was borne by the sons of Jacob. In obedience to his wish not even their
+children were allowed to touch it.[417] It was fashioned of pure gold,
+the border thereof inlaid with onyx stones and bdellium, and the cover
+was gold woven work joined to the bier with threads that were held
+together with hooks of onyx stones and bdellium. Joseph placed a large
+golden crown upon the head of his father, and a golden sceptre he put
+in his hand, arraying him like a living king.
+
+The funeral cortege was arranged in this order: First came the valiant
+men of Pharaoh and the valiant men of Joseph, and then the rest of the
+inhabitants of Egypt. All were girt with swords and clothed in coats of
+mail, and the trappings of war were upon them. The weepers and mourners
+walked, crying and lamenting, at some distance from the bier, and the
+rest of the people went behind it, while Joseph and his household
+followed together after it, with bare feet and in tears, and Joseph's
+servants were close to him, each man with his accoutrements and weapons
+of war. Fifty of Jacob's servants preceded the bier, strewing myrrh
+upon the road in passing, and all manner of perfumes, so that the sons
+of Jacob trod upon the aromatic spices as they carried the body
+forward.
+
+Thus the procession moved on until it reached Canaan. It halted at the
+threshing-floor of Atad, and there they lamented with a very great and
+sore lamentation.[418] But the greatest honor conferred upon Jacob was
+the presence of the Shekinah, who accompanied the cortege.[419]
+
+The Canaanites had no intention at first to take part in the mourning
+made for Jacob, but when they saw the honors shown him, they joined the
+procession of the Egyptians,[420] loosing the girdles of their garments
+as a sign of grief.[421] Also the sons of Esau, Ishmael, and Keturah
+appeared, though their design in coming was to seize the opportunity
+and make war upon the sons of Jacob, but when they saw Joseph's crown
+suspended from the bier, the Edomite and Ishmaelite kings and princes
+followed his example, and attached theirs to it, too, and it was
+ornamented with thirty-six crowns.
+
+Nevertheless the conflict was not averted; it broke out in the end
+between the sons of Jacob and Esau and his followers. When the former
+were about to lower the body of their father into the Cave of
+Machpelah, Esau attempted to prevent it, saying that Jacob had used his
+allotted portion of the tomb for Leah, and the only space left for a
+grave belonged to himself. For, continued Esau, "though I sold my
+birthright unto Jacob, I yet have a portion in the tomb as a son of
+Isaac." The sons of Jacob, however, were well aware of the fact that
+their father had acquired Esau's share in the Cave, and they even knew
+that a bill of sale existed, but Esau, assuming properly that the
+document was left behind in Egypt, denied that any such had ever been
+made out, and the sons of Jacob sent Naphtali, the fleet runner, back
+to Egypt to fetch the bill. Meantime, while this altercation was going
+on between Esau and the others, Hushim the son of Dan arose and
+inquired in astonishment why they did not proceed with the burial of
+Jacob, for he was deaf and had not understood the words that had passed
+between the disputants. When he heard what it was all about, and that
+the ceremonies were interrupted until Naphtali should return from Egypt
+with the bill of sale, he exclaimed, with indignation, "My grandfather
+shall lie here unburied until Naphtali comes back!" and he seized a
+club and dealt Esau a vigorous blow, so that he died, and his eyes fell
+out of their sockets and dropped upon Jacob's knees, and Jacob opened
+his own eyes and smiled. Esau being dead, his brother's burial could
+proceed without hindrance, and Joseph interred him in the Cave of
+Machpelah in accordance with his wish.
+
+His other children had left all arrangements connected with the burial
+of their father's body to their brother Joseph, for they reflected that
+it was a greater honor for Jacob if a king concerned himself about his
+remains rather than simple private individuals.[422]
+
+The head of Esau, as he lay slain by the side of Jacob's grave, rolled
+down into the Cave, and fell into the lap of Isaac, who prayed to God
+to have mercy upon his son, but his supplications were in vain. God
+spoke, saying, "As I live, he shall not behold the majesty of the
+Lord."[423]
+
+
+
+
+THE SONS OF JACOB AT WAR WITH THE SONS OF ESAU
+
+
+Jacob having been interred with royal pomp, and the seven days' period
+of mourning over, the conflict between the sons of Jacob and the sons
+of Esau broke out anew. In the skirmish that had ensued when Esau
+advanced a claim upon a place in the Cave of Machpelah, while his
+brother's remains still lay unburied, he lost forty of his men, and
+after his death fortune favored his sons as little. Eighty of their
+followers were slain, while of the sons of Jacob not one was lost.
+Joseph succeeded in capturing Zepho the son of Eliphaz and fifty of his
+men, and he clapped them in chains and carried them off to Egypt.
+Thereupon the rest of the attacking army led by Eliphaz fled to Mount
+Seir, taking with them the headless corpse of Esau, to bury it in his
+own territory. The sons of Jacob pursued after them, but they slew
+none, out of respect for the remains of Esau.
+
+On the third day a great army gathered together, consisting of the
+inhabitants of Seir and the children of the East, and they marched down
+into Egypt with the purpose of making war upon Joseph and his brethren.
+In the battle that came off, this army was almost totally destroyed,
+not less than six hundred thousand men were mowed down by Joseph and
+his warriors, and the small remnant fled precipitately. Returned to
+their own country after this fatal campaign, the sons of Esau and the
+sons of Seir fell to quarrelling among themselves, and the sons of Seir
+demanded that their former allies leave the place, because it was they
+that had brought misfortune upon the country.
+
+The sons of Esau thereupon dispatched a messenger in secret to their
+friend Agnias, king of Africa, begging his aid against the sons of
+Seir. He granted their request, and sent them troops consisting of
+foot-soldiers and mounted men. The sons of Seir, on their part, also
+sought allies, and they secured the help of the children of the East,
+and of the Midianites, who put warriors at their disposal. In the
+encounters that ensued between the hostile forces, the sons of Esau
+were defeated again and again, partly on account of treachery in their
+own ranks, for their men sometimes deserted to the enemy while the
+combat was on. At last, however, in the battle that took place in the
+desert of Paran, the sons of Esau gained a decisive victory. They
+massacred all the warriors of the sons of Seir, and the Midianites and
+the children of the East were put to flight.
+
+Thereafter the sons of Esau returned to Seir, and they slew all the
+inhabitants of the place, men, women, and children, sparing only fifty
+lads and maidens. The former they used as slaves, and the latter they
+took to wife. They also enriched themselves with the spoils, seizing
+all the possessions of the sons of Seir, and the whole land was divided
+among the five sons of Esau. Now these descendants of Esau determined
+to put a king over themselves, but in consequence of the treachery
+committed during the war there prevailed such hatred and bitterness
+among them that they decided never to appoint a ruler from their own
+people. Their choice fell upon Bela, the son of Beor, one of the
+warriors sent to them by King Agnias. His peer could not be found among
+the allied troops for bravery, wisdom, and handsome appearance. They
+set the royal crown upon his head, built a palace for him, and gave him
+gifts of silver, gold, and gems, until he lived in great opulence. He
+reigned happily for thirty years, and met his death then in a war
+against Joseph and his brethren.
+
+This war came about because the sons of Esau could not banish from
+their memory the disgrace of the defeat inflicted upon them by Joseph
+and his people. Having enlisted the aid of Agnias, and of the
+Ishmaelites and other nations of the East, they set forth on a second
+campaign against Egypt, in the hope of delivering Zepho and his
+followers from the hands of Joseph. In spite of their enormous
+host—they had no less than eight hundred thousand men of infantry and
+cavalry—they were defeated at Raamses by Joseph and his brethren and
+their little company of six hundred men. Beside their king Bela, they
+left one-fourth of their army upon the field. The loss of their king
+discouraged them grievously, and they took to flight, hard pressed by
+Joseph, who cut down many of the fugitives.
+
+When he returned from the battle, Joseph ordered manacles and fetters
+to be put upon Zepho and his followers, and their captivity was made
+more bitter unto them than it had been before.
+
+The sons of Esau appointed Jobab of Bozrah to succeed their dead king
+Bela. His reign lasted ten years, but they desisted from all further
+attempts at waging war with the sons of Jacob. Their last experience
+with them had been too painful, but the enmity they cherished against
+them was all the fiercer, and their hatred never abated.
+
+Their third king was Husham, and he ruled over them for twenty years.
+During his reign Zepho succeeded in making good his escape from Egypt.
+He was received kindly by Agnias, king of Africa, and appointed
+commander-in-chief of his troops. He used every means of persuasion to
+induce his sovereign lord to enter into a war with Egypt, but in vain,
+for Agnias was only too well acquainted with the strength and heroism
+of the sons of Jacob. For many years he resisted Zepho's arguments and
+blandishments. Indeed, as it was, Agnias had his hands full with other
+warlike enterprises. It had happened about this time that a man of the
+land of Kittim, 'Uzi by name, whom his countrymen venerated as a god,
+died in the city of Pozimana, and he left behind a fair and clever
+daughter. Agnias heard of Yaniah's beauty and wisdom, and he sued for
+her hand, and his request was granted him by the people of Kittim.
+
+The messengers of Agnias were hastening away from Kittim, bearing to
+their master the promise of the inhabitants that Yaniah should become
+his wife, when Turnus, king of Benevento, arrived on the same errand.
+His suit was rejected, for the people of Kittim were afraid-to break
+the promise given to Agnias. In his anger, Turnus went to Sardinia to
+make war upon King Lucus, a brother of Agnias, intending to deal with
+the latter as soon as the other was rendered harmless. Hearing of the
+design hatched by Turnus, Agnias hastened to Sardinia to the assistance
+of his brother, and a battle took place in the Valley of Campania.
+Against Turnus were arrayed Agnias, his brother Lucus, and the son of
+the latter, Niblos, whom his father had appointed commander-in-chief of
+the Sardinian troops. In the first encounter, Turnus was the victor,
+and the Sardinians lost their general Niblos. But in the second
+engagement the army of Turnus was routed completely, and he himself was
+left dead on the field. His army fled, pursued closely by Agnias as far
+as the cross-road between Rome and Albano. Niblos' body was put inside
+of a golden statue, and his father erected a high tower over his grave,
+and another over the grave of Turnus, and these two buildings,
+connected by a marble pavement, stand opposite to each other, on the
+cross-road at which Agnias left off from following after the fugitive
+army.
+
+The king of Africa went on to the city of Benevento, but he took no
+harsh measures against it and its inhabitants, because it belonged to
+the land of Kittim at that time. Thenceforth, however, bands of
+soldiers from Africa made incursions, now and again, into the land of
+Kittim, under the lead of Zepho, the captain of the African army.
+Agnias meantime went to Pozimana, to solemnize his marriage with
+Yaniah, and he returned with her to his capital in Africa.[424]
+
+
+
+
+ZEPHO KING OF KITTIM
+
+
+All this time Zepho did not leave off urging Agnias to invade Egypt,
+and he succeeded finally in persuading the king to consider his wish,
+and a great army was equipped against Egypt and the sons of Jacob.
+Among the shield- bearers was Balaam, the fifteen year old son of Beor,
+a wise youth and an adept in magic, and the king bade him acquaint him
+with the issue of the war upon which they were entering. Balaam took
+wax and moulded the figures of men, to represent the army of Agnias and
+the army of the Egyptians, and he plunged them into magic water and let
+them swim, and it appeared that the African army was subdued by the
+Egyptians. Agnias accordingly gave up the campaign, and Zepho, seeing
+that his sovereign could not be persuaded into war with the sons of
+Jacob, fled the country and betook himself to Kittim.
+
+The people of Kittim received him with great honors, and they offered
+him much money to stay with them and conduct their wars. It happened
+once while Zepho was in the mountains of Koptiziah, where the
+inhabitants of Kittim had taken refuge before the troops of the African
+king, that he had to go on a search for an ox that had strayed away,
+and he discovered a cave the opening of which was barred by a great
+stone. He shivered the stone in pieces, and entering the cave he saw an
+animal formed like a man above and a he-goat below, and he killed the
+strange beast, which was in the very act of devouring his lost ox.
+There was great rejoicing among the people of Kittim, for the monster
+had long been doing havoc among their cattle, and in gratitude they set
+aside one day of the year, which they called by Zepho's name, in honor
+of their liberator, and all the people brought him presents and offered
+sacrifices to him.
+
+At this time it came to pass that Yaniah, the wife of King Agnias, fell
+into a grievous sickness, and the physicians ascribed her illness to
+the climate, and to the water of Africa, to which she, a native of the
+land of Kittim, could not get accustomed, because she had been in the
+habit of using the water of the river Forma, which her forefathers had
+drawn to her house through a conduit. Agnias sent to the land of Kittim
+and had some of the water of the Forma brought to Africa. Finding it
+much lighter than the water of his own country, he built a huge canal
+from the land of Kittim. to Africa, and the queen henceforth had all
+the Forma water she needed. Besides, he took earth and stone from
+Kittim, and built a palace for Yaniah, and she recovered from her
+illness.
+
+Meantime Zepho had won a decisive victory over the African troops that
+had made an incursion into the land of Kittim, and the people chose him
+as king. His first undertaking was a campaign against the sons of Tubal
+and the Islands of the Sea, and again he was successful, he subdued
+them completely. On his return, the people built a great palace for
+Zepho, and they renewed his kingship, and he continued until his death
+to reign as king of Kittim and of Italy.
+
+During the first thirteen years of his reign, the Africans made no
+attempt to disturb the peace of Kittim, but then they invaded the land,
+only to be severely repulsed by Zepho, who pursued the troops up to the
+very borders of Africa, and Agnias the king was in such consternation
+that he did not venture to make reprisals for some time. When he
+finally made a second attempt, his troops were annihilated by Zepho
+down to the very last man. Now Agnias, in despair, assembled all the
+inhabitants of Africa, as numerous as the sand on the sea-shore, and he
+united his great host with the army of his brother Lucus, and thus he
+made his third attempt upon Zepho and the people of the land of Kittim.
+
+Alarmed, Zepho wrote to his brethren in Seir, and entreated their king
+Hadad to send him aid. But the people of Seir had concluded an alliance
+with Agnias as far back as under their first king Bela, and they
+refused Zepho's request, and the king of Kittim had to face the host of
+eight hundred thousand men mustered by Agnias with his little band of
+three thousand. Then the people of Kittim spake to their king Zepho,
+saying: "Pray for us unto the God of thy ancestors. Peradventure He may
+deliver us from the hand of Agnias and his army, for we have heard that
+He is a great God, and He delivers all that trust in Him." Zepho prayed
+unto the Lord, saying: "O Lord, God of Abraham and Isaac, my fathers,
+this day may it be made known that Thou art a true God, and all the
+gods of the nations are vain and useless. Remember now this day unto me
+Thy covenant with Abraham our father, which our ancestors related unto
+us, and do graciously with me this day for the sake of Abraham and
+Isaac, our fathers, and save me and the sons of Kittim from the hand of
+the king of Africa, who hath come against us for battle."
+
+God gave ear unto Zepho's prayer, and in the first day's battle
+one-half of the African army fell. Agnias forthwith dispatched a decree
+to his country, ordering, on penalty of death and confiscation of
+property, that all the males of the land, including boys that bad
+passed their tenth year, were to join the army and fight against the
+people of Kittim. In spite of these new accessions, three hundred
+thousand strong, Agnias was beaten again by Zepho in the second battle.
+The African general Sosipater having fallen slain, the troops broke
+into flight, at their head Agnias with Lucus the brother and Asdrubal
+the son of Agnias. After this dire defeat the Africans made no further
+attempt to disturb the peace of Kittim, and their incursions ceased
+forever.
+
+In spite of the great victory that Zepho had won with the help of God,
+the king of Kittim walked in the idolatrous ways of the people whom he
+ruled, and in the ways of the sons of Esau, for, as saith the proverb
+of the ancients, "Out of the wicked cometh forth wickedness," and Zepho
+was not other than the rest of the sons of Esau.
+
+The severe defeat inflicted upon Agnias drove Balaam from Africa to
+Kittim, and he was received with great honors by Zepho, who welcomed
+him on account of his deep wisdom.
+
+Now Zepho thought the time had arrived for him to carry out his plan of
+vengeance against the posterity of Jacob, all the more as in the
+meantime Joseph had died, and also his brethren and the valiant men of
+Pharaoh had passed away. He was joined in the enterprise by Hadad, the
+king of Edom, and by the nations of the East and the Ishmaelites. The
+allied army was so vast that the space it covered as it stood in rank
+and file was equal to a three days' journey. It formed in battle array
+in the Valley of Pathros, and it was met by three hundred thousand
+Egyptians and one hundred and fifty Israelites from Goshen. But the
+Egyptians did not trust the Israelites, they feared their defection to
+the sons of Esau and Ishmael. They therefore made an agreement with
+them that the Israelites were not to come to the help of the Egyptians
+until it appeared that the enemy were getting the upper hand
+
+Zepho, who had a high opinion of Balaam's ability, desired him to use
+his magic arts and find out what would be the outcome of the war, but
+Balaam's knowledge failed him, he could not satisfy the king's wish.
+The Egyptians got the worst of the first encounter between the two
+hostile armies, but the aspect of things changed as soon as they
+summoned the Israelites to aid them. The Israelites prayed to God to
+support them with His help, and the Lord heard their prayer. Then they
+threw themselves upon Zepho and his allies, and after they had cut down
+several thousand men, such dismay and confusion took hold of the enemy
+that they fled hastily, pursued by the Israelites as far as the
+boundary of the country. The Egyptians, instead of coming to the
+assistance of the Israelites, had taken to flight, leaving the small
+band of their allies to dispose of the huge host of their adversaries.
+Embittered by such treatment, the Israelites slew as many as two
+hundred Egyptians, under the pretext that they thought they belonged to
+the enemy.[425]
+
+
+
+
+THE NATIONS AT WAR
+
+
+Hadad, the king of Edom, who had failed to gain fame and honor in the
+Egyptian campaign, was favored by fortune in another war, a war against
+Moab. The Moabites shrank from meeting Hadad alone, and they made an
+alliance with the Midianites. In the thick of the fight the Moabites
+fled from the field of battle, leaving the Midianites to their fate,
+and these deserted allies of theirs were cut down to a man by Hadad and
+his Edomites. The Moabites saved their skins, and suffered only the
+inconvenience of having to pay tribute. To avenge the faithlessness
+practiced against them, the Midianites, supported by their kinsmen, the
+sons of Keturah, gathered a mighty army, and attacked the Moabites the
+following year. But Hadad came to their assistance, and again he
+inflicted a severe defeat upon the Midianites, who had to give up their
+plan of revenge against Moab. This is the beginning of the inveterate
+enmity between the Moabites and the Midianites. If a single Moabite is
+caught in the land of Midian, he is killed without mercy, and a
+Midianite in Moab fares no better.
+
+After the death of Hadad, the Edomites installed Samlah of Masrekah as
+their king, and he reigned eighteen years. It was his desire to take up
+the cause of Agnias, the old ally of the Edomites, and chastise Zepho
+for having gone to war with him, but his people, the Edomites, would
+not permit him to undertake aught that was inimical to their kinsman,
+and Samlah had to abandon the plan. In the fourteenth year of Samlah's
+reign, Zepho died, having been king of Kittim for fifty years. His
+successor was Janus, one of the people of Kittim, who enjoyed an
+equally long reign.
+
+Balaam had made his escape to Egypt after the death of Zepho, and he
+was received there with great demonstrations of honor by the king and
+all the nobles, and Pharaoh appointed him to be royal counsellor, for
+he had heard much about his exceeding great wisdom.
+
+In the Edomite kingdom, Samlah was succeeded by Saul of Pethor, a youth
+of surpassing beauty, whose reign lasted forty years. His successor
+upon the throne was Baal Hamon, king for thirty-eight years, during
+which period the Moabites rose up against the Edomites, to whom they
+had been paying tribute since the time of Hadad, and they succeeded in
+throwing off the yoke of the stranger.
+
+The times were troubled everywhere. Agnias, the king of Africa, died,
+and also the death of Janus occurred, the king of Kittim. The
+successors to these two rulers, Asdrubal, the son of Agnias, and
+Latinus, the king of Kittim, then entered upon a long drawn out war of
+many years. At first the fortune of war favored Latinus. He sailed to
+Africa in ships, and inflicted one defeat after another upon Asdrubal,
+and finally this king of Africa lost his life upon the battlefield.
+After destroying the canal from Kittim to Africa built many years
+before by Agnias, Latinus returned to his own country, taking with him
+as his wife Ushpiziwnah, the daughter of Asdrubal, who was so
+wondrously beautiful that her countrymen wore her likeness upon their
+garments.
+
+Latinus did not enjoy the fruits of his victory long. Anibal, the
+younger brother of Asdrubal and his successor in the royal power, went
+to Kittim in ships and carried on a series of wars lasting eighteen
+years, in the course of which he killed off eighty thousand of the
+people of Kittim, not sparing the princes and the nobles. At the end of
+this protracted period he went back to Africa, and reigned over his
+people in quiet and peace.
+
+The Edomites, during the forty-eight years of the reign of Hadad, the
+successor of Baal Hamon, fared no better than the people of Kittim.
+Hadad's first undertaking was to reduce the Moabites again under the
+sovereignty of Edom, but he had to desist, because he could not offer
+successful resistance to a newly chosen king of theirs, one of their
+own people, who enlisted the aid of their kinsmen the Ammonites. The
+allies commanded a great host, and Hadad was overwhelmed. These wars
+were followed by others between Hadad of Edom. and Abimenos of Kittim.
+The latter was the attacking party, and he invaded Seir with a mighty
+army. The sons of Seir were defeated abjectly, their king Hadad was
+taken captive, and then executed by Abimenos, and Seir was made a
+province subject to Kittim and ruled by a governor.
+
+Thus ended the independence of the sons of Esau. Henceforth they had to
+pay tribute to Kittim, over which Abimenos ruled until his death, in
+the thirty-eighth year of his reign.[426]
+
+
+
+
+JOSEPH'S MAGNANIMITY
+
+
+As Joseph was returning from the burial of his father in the Cave of
+Machpelah, he passed the pit into which his brethren had once cast him,
+and he looked into it, and said, "Blessed be God who permitted a
+miracle to come to pass for me here!" The brethren inferred from these
+words of gratitude, which Joseph but uttered in compliance with the
+injunctions of the law, that he cherished the recollection of the evil
+they had done him, and they feared, that now their father was dead,
+their brother would requite them in accordance with their deeds. They
+observed, moreover, that since their father was no more, Joseph had
+given up the habit of entertaining them at his table, and they
+interpreted this as a sign of his hatred of them. In reality, it was
+due to Joseph's respect and esteem for his brethren. "So long as my
+father was alive," Joseph said to himself, "he bade me sit at the head
+of the table, though Judah is king, and Reuben is the first-born. It
+was my father's wish, and I complied with it. But now it is not seemly
+that I should have the first seat in their presence, and yet, being
+ruler of Egypt, I cannot yield my place to any other." He thought it
+best therefore not to have the company of his brethren at his meals.
+
+But they, not fathoming his motives, sent Bilhah to him with the dying
+message of their father, that he was to forgive the transgression and
+the sin of his brethren. For the sake of the ways of peace they had
+invented the message; Jacob had said nothing like it. Joseph, on his
+part, realized that his brethren spoke thus only because they feared he
+might do harm unto them, and he wept that they should put so little
+trust in his affection. When they appeared, and fell down before his
+face, and said, "Thou didst desire to make one of us a slave unto
+thyself. Behold, we all are ready to be thy servants," he spoke to them
+gently, and tried to convince them that he harbored no evil design
+against them. He said: "Be not afraid, I will do you no harm, for I
+fear God, and if ye think I failed to have you sit at my table because
+of enmity toward you, God knows the intentions of my heart, He knows
+that I acted thus out of consideration for the respect I owe to
+you."[427]
+
+Furthermore he said: "Ye are like unto the dust of the earth, the sand
+on the sea-shore, and the stars in the heavens. Can I do aught to put
+these out of the world? Ten stars could effect nothing against one
+star, how much less can one star effect anything against ten? Do you
+believe that I have the power of acting contrary to the laws of nature?
+Twelve hours hath the day, twelve hours the night, twelve months the
+year, twelve constellations are in the heavens, and also there are
+twelve tribes! You are the trunk and I am the head—of what use the head
+without the trunk? It is to my own good that I should treat you with
+fraternal affection. Before your advent, I was looked upon as a slave
+in this country—you proved me a man of noble birth. Now, if I should
+kill you, my claims upon an aristocratic lineage would be shown to be a
+lie. The Egyptians would say, He was not their brother, they were
+strangers to him, he but called them his brethren to serve his purpose,
+and now he hath found a pretext to put them out of the way. Or they
+would hold me to be a man of no probity. Who plays false with his own
+kith and kin, how can he keep faith with others? And, in sooth, how can
+I venture to lay hand upon those whom God and my father both have
+blessed?"[428]
+
+As Joseph's dealings were kind and gentle with his brethren, so he was
+the helper and counsellor of the Egyptians, and when Pharaoh departed
+this life, Joseph being then a man of seventy-one years of age, the
+king's last wish was that he might be a father unto his son and
+successor Magron, and administer the affairs of state for him. Some of
+the Egyptians desired to make Joseph king after the death of Pharaoh,
+but this plan met with opposition on the part of others. They objected
+to an alien on the throne, and so the royal title was left to Magron,
+called Pharaoh, according to the established custom the name given to
+all the Egyptian kings. But Joseph was made the actual ruler of the
+land, and though he was only viceroy in Egypt, he reigned as king over
+the lands outside of Egypt as far as the Euphrates, parts of which
+Joseph had acquired by conquest. The inhabitants of these countries
+brought their yearly tribute to him and other presents besides, and
+thus did Joseph rule for forty years, beloved of all, and respected by
+the Egyptians and the other nations, and during all that time his
+brethren dwelt in Goshen, happy and blithe in the service of God. And
+in his own family circle Joseph was happy also; he lived to act as
+godfather at the circumcision of the sons of his grandson Machir.
+
+His end was premature as compared with that of his brethren; at his
+death he was younger than any of them at their death. It is true,
+"Dominion buries him that exercises it."[429] He died ten years before
+his allotted time, because, without taking umbrage, he had permitted
+his brethren to call his father his "servant" in his presence.[430]
+
+
+
+
+ASENATH
+
+
+God gives every man the wife he deserves,[431] and so Asenath was
+worthy of being the helpmeet of Joseph the pious. Her father was
+Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's magnates, ranking among the most
+distinguished of them by reason of wisdom, wealth, and station. His
+daughter was slender like unto Sarah, beautiful like Rebekah, and
+radiant in appearance like Rachel. Noblemen and princes sued for her
+hand when she was eighteen years of age. Even Pharaoh's appointed
+successor, his first-born son, demanded her in marriage, but his father
+refused to comply with his wish, because he did not consider her a
+proper wife for one destined to sit upon the throne. The daughter of
+the Moabite king, he insisted, was a more suitable match for him. But
+Asenath rejected every proposal of marriage, and avoided all
+intercourse with men. With seven maidens born the same day as herself,
+she lived in retirement in a magnificent palace adjoining that of her
+parents.
+
+It happened in the first of the seven years of plenty that Joseph
+planned to visit the place in which Potiphar resided, and he sent word
+to him that he would put up with him, at his house. Potiphar was
+enchanted with the honor in prospect for him, and also with the
+opportunity it would afford him of bringing about a marriage between
+Asenath and Joseph. But when he disclosed his plan to his daughter, she
+rejected it with indignation. "Why shouldst thou desire to see me
+united with a vagabond, a slave," she cried out, "one that does not
+even belong to our nation, but is the son of a Canaanitish herdsman, a
+fellow that attempted to violate the honor of his mistress, and in
+punishment for this misdemeanor was thrown into prison, to be liberated
+thence by Pharaoh for interpreting his dream? Nay, father, never will I
+become his wife. I am willing to marry the son of Pharaoh, the future
+ruler and king of Egypt."
+
+Potiphar promised his daughter not to speak of the plan again. At that
+moment Joseph's arrival was announced, and Asenath left the presence of
+her parents and withdrew to her own apartments. Standing by the window,
+she saw Joseph pass, and she was so transported with his divine beauty
+and his indescribably noble carriage that she burst into tears, and
+said: "Poor, foolish me, what shall I do? I permitted myself to be
+misled by friends, who told me that Joseph was the son of a Canaanitish
+shepherd. Now I behold the splendor that emanates from him like unto
+the splendor of the sun, illuminating our house with his rays. In my
+audacity and folly I had looked down upon him, and had spoken absurd
+nonsense against him. I knew not that he was a son of God, as he must
+be, for among men such beauty as his does not exist. I pray Thee, O God
+of Joseph, grant me pardon! It was my ignorance that made me speak like
+a fool. If my father will give me in marriage to Joseph, I will be his
+forever."
+
+Meantime Joseph had taken his seat at Potiphar's table, and he observed
+a maiden looking at him from one of the palace windows. He commanded
+that she be ordered away, for he never permitted women to gaze at him
+or come near to him. His supernatural beauty always fascinated the
+noble Egyptian ladies, and they were untiring in the efforts they made
+to approach him. But their attempts were vain. He cherished the words
+of his father Jacob, who had admonished his son to keep aloof from the
+women of the Gentiles.
+
+Potiphar explained to Joseph that the maiden at the window was his
+virgin daughter, who never permitted men to abide near her; he was the
+first man she had ever looked upon. The father continued and made the
+request of Joseph, to allow his daughter to pay him her respects.
+Joseph granted the favor he desired, and Asenath appeared and greeted
+him with the words, "Peace be with thee, thou blessed of God Most
+High," whereunto Joseph returned the salutation, "Be thou blessed of
+the Lord, from whom flow all blessings."
+
+Asenath desired also to kiss Joseph, but he warded off the intimate
+greeting with the words: "It is not meet that a God-fearing man, who
+blesses the living God, and eats the blessed bread of life, who drinks
+of the blessed cup of immortality and incorruptibility, and anoints
+himself with the fragrant oil of holiness, should kiss a woman of a
+strange people, who blesses dead and unprofitable idols, and eats the
+putrid bread of idolatry, which chokes the soul of man, who drinks the
+libations of deceit, and anoints herself with the oil of destruction."
+
+These words uttered by Joseph touched Asenath unto tears. Out of
+compassion with her, he bestowed his blessing upon her, calling upon
+God to pour out His spirit over her and make her to become a member of
+His people and His inheritance, and grant her a portion in the life
+eternal.
+
+
+
+
+THE MARRIAGE OF JOSEPH
+
+
+The appearance and the speech of Joseph made so deep an impression upon
+Asenath that no sooner had she reached her apartment than she divested
+herself of her robes of state and took off her jewels, and put on
+sackcloth instead, strewed ashes upon her head, and supplicated God
+amid tears to grant her pardon for her sins. In this manner she spent
+seven days and seven nights in her chamber. Not even her seven
+attendants were permitted to enter her presence during the time of her
+penance. The morning of the eighth day an angel appeared unto her, and
+bade her put away her sackcloth and ashes and array herself in state,
+for this day she had been born anew, he said, to eat the blessed bread
+of life, to drink of the cup of life immortal, and anoint herself with
+the oil of life eternal. Asenath was about to set food and drink before
+her guest, when she perceived a honeycomb of wondrous form and
+fragrance. The angel explained to her that it had been produced by the
+bees of Paradise, to serve as food for the angels and the elect of God.
+He took a small portion of it for himself, and the rest he put into
+Asenath's mouth, saying: "From this day forth thy body shall bloom like
+the eternal flowers in Paradise, thy bones shall wax fat like the
+cedars thereof, strength inexhaustible shall be thine, thy youth shall
+never fade, and thy beauty never perish, and thou shalt be like unto a
+metropolis surrounded by a wall." At the request of Asenath, the angel
+blessed also her seven attendants, with the words, "May the Lord bless
+you and make you to be seven pillars in the City of Refuge."
+
+Thereupon the angel left her, and she saw him ascend heavenward in a
+chariot of fire drawn by four steeds of fire. Now she knew that she had
+not been entertaining a human being, but an angel.
+
+The celestial messenger had scarcely departed, when a visit from Joseph
+was announced, and she hastened to array and adorn herself for his
+reception. When she washed her face, she caught sight of it in the
+water, and saw it to be of such beauty as never before, so great had
+been the transformation wrought by the angel. When Joseph came, he did
+not recognize her. He asked her who she was, whereto she replied, "I am
+thy maid-servant Asenath! I have cast away my idols, and this day a
+visitant came to me from heaven. He gave me to eat of the bread of life
+and to drink of the blessed cup, and he spake these words unto me, 'I
+give thee unto Joseph as his affianced wife, that he may be thy
+affianced husband forever.' And furthermore he said, 'Thy name shall
+not any more be called Asenath, but thy name shall be City of Refuge,
+whither the nations shall flee for safety.' And he added, 'I go to
+Joseph, to tell him all these things that have reference to thee.' Now,
+my lord, thou knowest whether the man was with thee and spoke to thee
+in my behalf."
+
+Joseph confirmed all she had said, and they embraced and kissed each
+other in token of their betrothal, which they celebrated by a banquet
+with Potiphar and his wife. The wedding took place later in the
+presence of Pharaoh, who set a golden crown upon the head of the
+bridegroom and the bride, gave them his blessing, and made a seven
+days' feast in their honor, to which he invited the magnates and
+princes of Egypt and of other countries. And during the seven days of
+the wedding festivities the people were prohibited, under penalty of
+death, from doing any manner of work; they all were to join in the
+celebration of Joseph's marriage.
+
+
+
+
+KIND AND UNKIND BRETHREN
+
+
+On the twenty-first day of the second month in the second of the seven
+years of famine, Jacob came down to Egypt, and his daughter-in-law
+Asenath visited him. She marvelled not a little at his beauty and
+strength. His shoulders and his arms were like an angel's, and his
+loins like a giant's. Jacob gave her his blessing, and with her husband
+she returned home, accompanied by the sons of Leah, while the sons of
+the handmaids, remembering the evil they had once done unto Joseph,
+kept aloof. Levi in particular had conceived a fondness for Asenath. He
+was especially close to the Living God, for he was a prophet and a
+sage, his eyes were open, and he knew how to read the celestial books
+written by the finger of God. He revealed to Asenath that he had seen
+her future resting-place in heaven, and it was built upon a rock and
+encompassed by a diamond wall.
+
+On their journey they met the son of Pharaoh, his successor to the
+throne, and he was so transported with Asenath's beauty, that he made
+the plan of murdering Joseph in order to secure possession of his wife.
+He summoned Simon and Levi, and by blandishments and promises sought to
+induce them to put Joseph out of the way. Simon was so enraged that he
+would have felled him at once, had not his brother Levi, who was
+endowed with the gift of prophecy, divined his purpose, and frustrated
+it by stepping upon his foot, while whispering: "Why art thou so angry,
+and so wroth with the man? We that fear God may not repay evil with
+evil." Turning to the son of Pharaoh, he told him that nothing would
+induce them to execute the wickedness he had proposed; rather he
+advised him not to undertake aught against Joseph, else he would kill
+him with the sword that had served him in his slaughter of the
+inhabitants of Shechem. The culprit was seized with frantic alarm, and
+fell down before Simon and Levi to entreat their mercy. Levi raised him
+tip, saying, "Fear not, but abandon thy wicked plan, and harbor no evil
+design against Joseph."
+
+Nevertheless the son of Pharaoh did not give up his criminal purpose.
+He approached the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, and sought to accomplish
+through them what had failed with Simon and Levi. He called them into
+his presence, and told them of a conversation between Joseph and
+Pharaoh that he had overheard. The former had said that he waited but
+to learn of the death of his father Jacob in order to do away with the
+sons of the handmaids, because they had been the ones to sell him into
+slavery. Their wrath excited against Joseph by these words, the sons of
+Bilhah and Zilpah assented to the proposition of the son of Pharaoh. It
+was arranged that the latter should kill Pharaoh, the friend of Joseph,
+while they would fall upon their brother, and put him out of the way.
+They were furnished with six hundred able warriors and fifty spearmen
+for the purpose. The first part of the plan, the murder of Pharaoh,
+failed. The palace guard would not allow even the successor to the
+throne to enter his father's bedchamber, and he had to depart without
+having effected his object.
+
+Now Dan and Gad gave him the advice to take up his station with fifty
+archers in a secret place that Asenath had to pass on her homeward
+journey. Thence he could make a successful attack upon her suite, and
+gain possession of her. Naphtali and Asher did not care to have
+anything to do with this hostile enterprise against Joseph, but Dan and
+Gad forced them into it, insisting that all the sons of the handmaids
+must stand together as men and repel the danger that threatened them.
+
+
+
+
+TREACHERY PUNISHED
+
+
+From their ambush the forces of the son of Pharaoh fell upon Asenath
+and her six hundred attendants. They succeeded in hewing down the
+vanguard, and Asenath had to take to flight. To her alarm she
+encountered the son of Pharaoh with fifty mounted men. Benjamin, seated
+in the same chariot with her, came to her rescue, for in spite of his
+youth he was exceedingly courageous. He descended from the chariot,
+gathered pebbles, and, throwing them at the son of Pharaoh, struck him
+on his forehead and inflicted a severe wound. The charioteer aided him
+by keeping him supplied with pebbles, which he cast at the fifty riders
+with such expert skill that he slew forty-eight of them with as many
+missiles. Meantime the sons of Leah arrived on the spot and came to
+Asenath's aid, for Levi, with his prophetic spirit, had seen what was
+happening, and summoning his five brothers he had hastened thither.
+These six attacked the troops in ambush and cut them down. But the
+danger to Asenath was by no means removed. At this moment the sons of
+the handmaids threw themselves upon her and Benjamin with drawn swords.
+It was their intention to kill them both, and flee to cover in the
+depths of the woods. But as soon as Asenath supplicated God for aid,
+the swords dropped from the hands of her assailants, and they saw that
+the Lord was on the side of Asenath. They fell at her feet and
+entreated her grace. She allayed their anxiety with the words: "Be
+courageous and have no fear of your brethren, the sons of Leah. They
+are God-fearing men. Do but keep yourselves in hiding until their wrath
+is appeased."
+
+When the sons of Leah appeared, Asenath fell down before them, and amid
+tears she adjured them to spare the sons of the handmaids and not repay
+with evil the evil they had meditated. Simon would not hear of making
+concessions. He insisted that the measure of their sins was full, and
+they must pay for them with their lives, for they had been the ones
+that had sold Joseph into slavery, and brought down untold misfortune
+upon Jacob and his sons. But Asenath did not leave off, and her urgent
+petitions won the day. She succeeded in calming the anger of Simon, and
+in Levi she had a secret ally, for this prophet knew the hiding-place
+of the sons of the handmaids, and he did not betray it to Simon, lest
+his wrath be increased at the sight of them. It was also Levi that
+restrained Benjamin from giving the death blow to the heavily wounded
+son of Pharaoh. So far from permitting harm to be done to him, he
+washed his wounds, put him into a chariot, and took him to Pharaoh, who
+thanked Levi from his heart for his services of loving- kindness.
+Levi's efforts were vain, three days later the son of Pharaoh died of
+the wounds inflicted by Benjamin, and from grief over the loss of his
+first-born Pharaoh followed him soon after, departing this life at the
+age of one hundred and seventy-seven years. His crown he left to
+Joseph, who ruled over Egypt for forty-eight years thereafter. He in
+turn handed the crown on to the grandchild of Pharaoh, an infant in
+arms at the time of his grandfather's death, toward whom Joseph had
+acted in a father's stead all his life.[432]
+
+
+
+
+THE DEATH AND BURIAL OF JOSEPH
+
+
+On his death-bed Joseph took an oath of his brethren, and he bade them
+on their death-bed likewise take an oath of their sons, to carry his
+bones to Palestine, when God should visit them and bring them up out of
+the land of Egypt. He said: "I that am a ruler could take my father's
+body up to the Holy Land while it was still intact. Of you I do but
+make the request that ye carry my bones from hence, and you may inter
+them in any spot in Palestine, for I know that the burial-place of the
+fathers was appointed to be the tomb only of the three Patriarchs and
+their three wives."
+
+Joseph took the oath, to carry his remains along with them when they
+left Egypt, from his brethren, and not from his sons, to bury him at
+once in Palestine, for he feared the Egyptians would not give the
+latter permission to transport his bones even if they recalled what
+Joseph had been allowed to do with his father's body. They would object
+that Joseph had been the viceroy, and a wish preferred by one of so
+high an estate could not be denied.[433] Furthermore, he adjured his
+brethren not to leave Egypt until a redeemer should appear and announce
+his message with the words, "Pakod— I have surely visited you"—a
+tradition which Joseph had received from his father, who bad it from
+Isaac, and Isaac in turn had beard it from Abraham.[434] And he told
+them that God would redeem Israel through Moses as through the Messiah,
+in this world as in the world to come, and the Egyptian redemption
+would begin in Tishri, when Israel would be freed from slave labor, and
+would be completed in the following Nisan, when they would leave
+Egypt.[435]
+
+Joseph also admonished his brethren to walk in the ways of the Lord, so
+that they might become worthy of His grace and help. Especially he
+impressed upon his brethren and his sons the virtue of chastity and a
+steadfast moral life. He told them all that had happened to him, the
+hatred of his brethren, the persecutions of the wife of Potiphar, the
+slander, envy, and malice of the Egyptians, to show how that those who
+fear the Lord are not forsaken by Him in darkness, or bondage, or
+tribulation, or distress. "I was sold into slavery," he said, "but the
+Lord delivered me; I was thrown into prison, but His strong hand helped
+me. I was tortured by hunger, but the Lord Himself gave me sustenance.
+I was alone, and God comforted me. And as for you, if ye will walk in
+the ways of chastity and purity in patience and humility of heart, the
+Lord will dwell among you, for He loveth a chaste life, and if you, my
+children, will observe the commandments of the Lord, He will raise you
+up here, in this world, and bless you there, in the world to come. If
+men seek to do evil unto you, pray for them, and you will be delivered
+from all evil by the Lord. On account of my forbearing patience I
+received the daughter of my master to wife, and her dowry was a hundred
+talents of gold, and God gave me also beauty like the beauty of a
+flower, more than all the children of Jacob, and He preserved me unto
+mine old age in vigor and beauty, for in all things did I resemble
+Jacob."
+
+Joseph continued and told them the visions he had had, in which the
+future of Israel was revealed to him, and then he closed with the
+words: "I know that the Egyptians will oppress you after my death, but
+God will execute vengeance for your sakes, and He will lead you to the
+land of promise of your fathers. But ye shall surely carry my bones
+with you from hence, for if my remains are taken to Canaan, the Lord
+will be with you in the light, and Behar will be with the Egyptians in
+the darkness. Also take with you the bones of your mother Zilpah, and
+bury them near the sepulchre of Bilhah and Rachel."
+
+These words ended, he stretched out his feet, and slept his last
+eternal sleep, and the whole of Israel mourned him, and the whole of
+Egypt was in great grief, for he had been a compassionate friend to the
+Egyptians, too, and he had done good unto them, and given them wise
+counsel and assistance in all their undertakings.[436]
+
+Joseph's wish, that his bones should rest in the Holy Land, was
+fulfilled when the Israelites went forth from Egypt, and no less a
+personage than Moses applied himself to its execution. Such was
+Joseph's reward for the devotion he had displayed in the interment of
+his father's body, for he had done all things needful himself, leaving
+naught to others. Therefore so great a man as Moses busied himself with
+the realization of Joseph's wish.[437]
+
+For three days and three nights preceding the exodus Moses hunted up
+and down through the land of Egypt for Joseph's coffin, because he knew
+that Israel could not leave Egypt without heeding the oath given to
+Joseph. But his trouble was in vain; the coffin was nowhere to be
+found. Serah, the daughter of Asher, met Moses, tired and exhausted,
+and in answer to her question about the cause of his weariness, he told
+her of his fruitless search. Serah took him to the Nile river, and told
+him that the leaden coffin made for Joseph by the Egyptians had been
+sunk there after having been scaled up on all sides. The Egyptians had
+done this at the instigation and with the help of the magicians, who,
+knowing that Israel could not leave the country without the coffin, had
+used their arts to put it in a place whence it could not be
+removed.[438]
+
+Moses now took Joseph's cup, and he cut four flat pieces from it, and
+engraved a lion on one of them, an eagle on the second, a bull on the
+third, and a human figure on the fourth. He threw the first, with the
+lion, into the river, saying at the same time, "Joseph, Joseph, the
+hour for the redemption of Israel hath arrived, the Shekinah lingers
+here only for thy sake, the clouds of glory await thy coming. If thou
+wilt show thyself, well and good; if not, then we are clear from our
+oath." But the coffin did not appear.
+
+Then Moses threw the second plate into the water, that with the figure
+of the eagle, repeating the same words, but again the coffin did not
+rise from the bed of the Nile, and there it remained, too, when he
+threw in the third plate bearing the figure of the bull, and called
+upon Joseph a third time to come forth. But the fourth plate with the
+human figure and the fourth invocation to Joseph brought the coffin to
+the surface of the water. Moses seized it, and in joy he bore it
+off.[439] While Israel had been busy gathering gold and silver from the
+Egyptians, Moses had been thinking of nothing but Joseph's coffin, and
+his happiness was great that he had been permitted to fulfil the wish
+of Joseph.[440]
+
+During the forty years of wandering through the desert, the coffin was
+in the midst of Israel, as a reward for Joseph's promise to his
+brethren, "I will nourish you and take care of you." God had said, "As
+thou livest, for forty years they will take care of thy bones."[441]
+
+All this time in the desert Israel carried two shrines with them, the
+one the coffin containing the bones of the dead man Joseph, the other
+the Ark containing the covenant of the Living God. The wayfarers who
+saw the two receptacles wondered, and they would ask, "How doth the ark
+of the dead come next to the ark of the Ever-living?" The answer was,
+"The dead man enshrined in the one fulfilled the commandments enshrined
+in the other. In the latter it is written, I am the Lord thy God, and
+he said, Am I in the place of God? Here it is written, Thou shalt have
+no other gods before My face, and he said, I fear God. Here it is
+written, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, and
+therefore he did not swear by God, but said, By the life of Pharaoh.
+Here it is written, Remember the Sabbath day, and he said to the
+overseer of his palace on Friday, Slay and make ready, meaning for the
+Sabbath. Here it is written, Honor thy father and thy mother, and he
+said, when his father desired to send him to his brethren, Here am I,
+although he knew it was perilous for him to go. Here it is written,
+Thou shalt not kill, and he refrained from murdering Potiphar when
+Potiphar's wife urged him to do it. Here it is written, Thou shalt not
+commit adultery, and he scorned the adulterous proposals of Potiphar's
+wife. Here it is written, Thou shalt not steal, and he stole nothing
+from Pharaoh, but gathered up all the money and brought it unto
+Pharaoh's house. Here it is written, Thou shalt not bear false witness
+against thy neighbor, and he told his father nothing of what his
+brethren had done to him, though what he might have told was the truth.
+Here it is written, Thou shalt not covet, and he did not covet
+Potiphar's wife."[442]
+
+On their arrival in the Holy Land, the Israelites buried the bones of
+Joseph in Shechem, for God spake to the tribes, saying, "From Shechem
+did ye steal him, and unto Shechem, shall ye return him."[443]
+
+God, who is so solicitous about the dead bodies of the pious, is even
+more solicitous about their souls, which stand before Him like angels,
+and do their service ministering unto Him.[444]
+
+
+
+
+II
+THE SONS OF JACOB
+
+
+
+
+SIGNIFICANT NAMES
+
+
+Jacob raised all his sons in the fear of God, and taught them the ways
+of a pious life, using severity when there was need to make his lessons
+impressive. He reaped the fruits of his labor, for all his sons were
+godly men of stainless character.[1] The ancestors of the twelve tribes
+resembled their fathers in piety, and their acts were no less
+significant than those of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Like these three,
+they deserve to be called the Fathers of Israel.[2] God made a covenant
+with them as He had made with the three Patriarchs, and to this
+covenant their descendants owe their preservation.[3]
+
+The very names of the tribes point to the redemption of Israel. Reuben
+is so called, because God "sees" the affliction of His people; Simon,
+because He "hears" its groaning; Levi, He "joins" Himself unto His
+people when Israel suffers; Judah, Israel will "thank" God for its
+deliverance; Issachar, it will be "rewarded" for its suffering with a
+recompense; Zebulon, God will have a "dwelling-place" in Israel;
+Benjamin, He swore by His "right hand" to succor His people; Dan, He
+will "judge" the nation that subjugates Israel; Naphtali, He bestowed
+the Torah upon Israel, and she drops sweetness like the "honeycomb";
+Gad, the Lord gave manna unto Israel, and it was like "coriander" seed;
+Asher, all nations will call Israel "happy"; and Joseph, because God
+will "add" a second redemption of Israel to the first—redemption from
+the wicked kingdom at the end as from Egypt in former times.[4]
+
+Not only the names of Jacob's sons are significant, but the names of
+their sons as well. Thus the names of the sons of Issachar express the
+activities of the tribe known for its learning above all the others.
+The oldest was called Tola, "worm"; as the silk worm is distinguished
+for its mouth, with which it spins, so also the men of the tribe of
+Issachar for the wise words of their mouth. The second is Puah, "madder
+plant"; as this plant colors all things, so the tribe of Issachar
+colors the whole world with its teachings. The third is Jashub, "the
+returning one," for through the teachings of Issachar Israel will be
+turned back to its Heavenly Father; and Shimron, the fourth, is "the
+observing one," to indicate that the tribe of Issachar observes the
+Torah.[5]
+
+The names of the sons of Gad likewise interpret the history of the
+tribe. During Israel's sojourn in Egypt, it had strayed from the right
+path, but when Aaron appeared as prophet and monitor, and called unto
+the Israelites to cast away the abominations of their eyes and forsake
+the idols of Egypt, they hearkened unto his words. Hence the double
+name Ozni and Ezbon borne by one of the sons of Gad, for this tribe
+"hearkened" to the word of God, and fulfilled His "will."
+
+The grandsons of Asher bear the names Heber and Malchiel, because they
+were the "associates" of kings, and their inheritance yielded "royal
+dainties."
+
+Partly the history of the tribe of Benjamin can be read in the names of
+its chiefs. It consisted originally of ten divisions, descended from
+Benjamin's ten sons, but five of them perished in Egypt on account of
+their ungodly ways, from which no admonition availed to turn them
+aside. Of the five families remaining, two, the descendants of Bela and
+those of Ashbel, had always been God-fearing; the others, the
+Ahiramites, the Shephuphamites, and the Huphamites, repented of their
+sins, and in accordance with the change in their conduct had been the
+change in their names. Ehi had become Ahiram, because the breach with
+the "Exalted" One was healed; Muppira was called Shephupham, because
+they "afflicted" themselves in their penance; and Huppim was turned
+into Hupham, to indicate that they had "cleansed" themselves from sin.
+As a reward for their piety, the family springing from Bela was
+permitted to have two subdivisions, the Ardites and the Naamites. Their
+names point them out as men that know well how the fear of God is to be
+manifested, whose deeds are exceedingly lovely.
+
+Naphtali was another tribe of steadfast piety, and the names of his
+sons testify thereto: Jahzeel, because the tribesmen raised a
+"partition wall" between God and the idols, inasmuch as they trusted in
+God and contemned the idols; Guni, because God was their "protection";
+and Jezer and Shillem designate the Naphtalites as men devoted to God
+with all their hearts.[6]
+
+
+
+
+REUBEN'S TESTAMENT
+
+
+Two years after the death of Joseph, Reuben fell sick. Feeling that his
+end was nigh, he called together his sons, his grandsons, and his
+brethren, to give them his last admonitions from out of the fulness of
+his experience. He spake: "Hear, my brethren, and do ye, my children,
+give ear unto Reuben your father in the commands that I enjoin upon
+you. And, behold, I adjure you this day by the God of heaven that ye
+walk not in the follies of youth and the fornications to which I was
+addicted, and wherewith I defiled the bed of my father Jacob. For I
+tell you now that for seven months the Lord afflicted my loins with a
+terrible plague, and if my father Jacob had not interceded for me, the
+Lord had swept me away. I was twenty years of age when I did what was
+evil before the Lord, and for seven months I was sick unto death. Then
+I did penance for seven years in the innermost depths of my soul. Wine
+and strong drink I drank not, the flesh of animals passed not my lips,
+dainties I tasted not, because I mourned over my sins, for they were
+great."
+
+He admonished those gathered around him to beware of the seven tempter
+spirits, which are the spirit of fornication, gluttony, strife, love of
+admiration, arrogance, falsehood, and injustice. He cautioned them
+especially against unchastity, saying: "Pay no heed to the glances of a
+woman, and remain not alone with a married woman, and do not occupy
+yourselves with the affairs of women. Had I not seen Bilhah bathe in a
+secluded spot, I had not fallen into the great sin I committed, for
+after my thoughts had once grasped the nakedness of woman, I could not
+sleep until I had accomplished the abominable deed. For when our father
+Jacob went to his father Isaac, while we sojourned in Eder, not far
+from Ephrath, which is Beth-lehem, Bilhah was drunken with wine, and
+she lay asleep, uncovered, in her bedchamber, and I entered in and saw
+her nakedness and committed the sin, and I went out again, leaving her
+asleep. But an angel of God revealed my impious act to my father Jacob
+at once. He came back and mourned over me, and never again did he
+approach Bilhah. Unto the very last day of his life, I had not the
+assurance to look my father in the face or to speak to my brethren
+regarding my disgrace, and even now my conscience tortures me on
+account of my sin. Nevertheless my father spake words of comfort to me,
+and prayed to God in my behalf, that the wrath of the Lord might depart
+from me, as He showed me."
+
+Reuben admonished his children impressively to join themselves to Levi,
+"because he will know the law of the Lord," he said, "and he will give
+ordinances for judgment, and bring sacrifices for all Israel, until the
+consummation of the times, as the anointed high priest of whom the Lord
+spake."
+
+After announcing his last will to his sons, Reuben departed this life
+at the age of one hundred and twenty-five years. His body was laid in a
+coffin until his sons bore it away from Egypt, and carried it up to
+Hebron, where they buried it in the Double Cave.[7]
+
+
+
+
+SIMON'S ADMONITION AGAINST ENVY
+
+
+As Reuben confessed his sin upon his death-bed, and warned his children
+and his family to be on their guard against unchastity, the vice that
+had brought about his fall, so Simon, when he was about to die,
+assembled his sons around him, and confessed the sin he had committed.
+He had been guilty of boundless envy of Joseph, and he spoke: "I was
+the second son begotten by my father Jacob, and my mother Leah called
+me Simon, because the Lord had heard her prayer. I waxed strong, and
+shrank from no manner of deed, and I was afraid of naught, for my heart
+was hard, and my liver unyielding, and my bowels without mercy. And in
+the days of my youth I was jealous of Joseph, for our father loved him
+more than all the rest of us, and I resolved to kill him. For the
+prince of temptation sent the spirit of jealousy to take possession of
+me, and it blinded me so that I did not consider Joseph to be my
+brother, and I spared not even my father Jacob. But his God and the God
+of his fathers sent His angel and saved him out of my hands.
+
+When I went to Shechem to fetch ointment for the herds, and Reuben was
+in Dothan, where all our supplies and stores were kept, our brother
+Judah sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites. On his return, when he heard what
+had happened, Reuben was very sad, for he had been desirous of saving
+Joseph and bringing him back to our father. But as for me, my wrath was
+enkindled against Judah, that he had let him escape alive. My anger
+abode with me all of five months. But the Lord restrained me from using
+the power of my hands, for my right hand withered for the length of
+seven days. Then I knew that what had happened was for the sake of
+Joseph. I repented and prayed to God to restore my hand and withhold me
+henceforth from all sorts of defilement, envy, and folly. For two years
+I gave myself up to fasting and the fear of God, for I perceived that
+redemption from jealousy could come only through the fear of God.
+
+My father, seeing me downcast, asked to know the cause of my sadness,
+and I replied that I was suffering with my liver, but in truth I was
+mourning more than all my brethren, seeing that I had been the cause of
+Joseph's sale. And when we went down into Egypt, and Joseph bound me as
+a spy, I was not grieved, for I knew in my heart that my suffering was
+just retribution. But Joseph was good, the spirit of God dwelt within
+him. Compassionate and merciful as he was, he bore me no resentment for
+my evil deeds toward him, but he loved me with the same love he showed
+the others. He paid due honor to us all, and gave us gold, and cattle,
+and produce. And now, my dear children, do ye love one another, each
+one his brother, with a clean heart, and remove the spirit of jealousy
+from the midst of you."
+
+Like Reuben, so also Simon adjured his sons to beware of unchastity,
+for this vice is the mother of all evil. It separates man from God, and
+abandons him to Behar. These were the closing words of his exhortation:
+"In the writings of Enoch I saw that your sons would be corrupted
+through unchastity, and they would maltreat the sons of Levi with the
+sword. But they will not be able to do aught against Levi, for the war
+he will wage is the war of the Lord, and he will vanquish all your
+armies. As a small remnant you will be scattered among Levi and Judah,
+and none among you will rise to be a judge or a king of our people, as,
+my father Jacob prophesied in his blessing."
+
+Having completed his admonitions to his sons, Simon passed away and was
+gathered to his fathers, at the age of one hundred and twenty years.
+His sons placed him in a coffin made of imperishable wood, so that they
+might carry his bones to Hebron, as they did, in secret, during the war
+between the Egyptians and the Canaanites. Thus did all the tribes
+during the war; they took the remains each of its founder from Egypt to
+Hebron. Only the bones of Joseph remained in Egypt until the Israelites
+went out of the land, for the Egyptians guarded them in their royal
+treasure chambers. Their magicians had warned them that whenever
+Joseph's bones should be removed from Egypt, a great darkness would
+envelop the whole land, and it would be a dire misfortune for the
+Egyptians, for none would be able to recognize his neighbor even with
+the light of a lamp.[8]
+
+
+
+
+THE ASCENSION OF LEVI
+
+
+When it was disclosed to Levi that he was about to die, he gathered all
+his children around him, to tell them the story of his life, and he
+also prophesied unto them what they would do, and what would happen to
+them until the judgment day. He spoke: "When we were pasturing the
+flocks in Abel-Meholah, the spirit of understanding of the Lord came
+upon me, and I saw all mankind, how they corrupt their ways, and that
+injustice builds up walls for herself, and impiety sits enthroned upon
+the towers. And I fell to grieving over the generations of men, and I
+prayed to the Lord to save me. Sleep enshrouded me, and I beheld a tall
+mountain, and lo! the heavens opened, and an angel of God addressed me,
+and said: 'Levi, enter!'
+
+"I entered the first heaven, and I saw a great sea hanging there, and
+farther on I saw a second heaven, brighter and more resplendent than
+the first. I said to the angel, 'Why is this so?' And the angel said to
+me, 'Marvel not at this, for thou shalt see another heaven, brilliant
+beyond compare, and when thou hast ascended thither, thou shalt stand
+near the Lord, and thou shalt be His minister, and declare His
+mysteries to men; and of the Lord's portion shall be thy life, and He
+shall be thy field and vineyard and fruits and gold and silver.'
+
+"Then the angel explained the uses of the different heavens to me, and
+all that happens in each, and he proclaimed the judgment day. He opened
+the gates of the third heaven, where I beheld the holy Temple, and God
+seated upon the Throne of Glory. The Lord spake to me: 'Levi, upon thee
+have I bestowed the blessing of the priesthood, until I come and dwell
+in the midst of Israel.' Then the angel carried me back to earth, and
+gave me a shield and a sword, saying, 'Execute vengeance upon Shechem
+for Dinah, and I will be with thee, for the Lord hath sent me.' I asked
+the angel what his name was, and he replied: 'I am the angel that
+intercedes for the people of Israel, that it may not be destroyed
+utterly, for every evil spirit attacks it.'
+
+"When I awoke, I betook myself to my father, and on the way, near
+Gebal, I found a brass shield, such as I had seen in my dream. Then I
+advised my father and my brother Reuben to bid the sons of Hamor
+circumcise themselves, for I was quivering with rage on account of the
+abominable deed they had done. I slew Shechem first of all, and then
+Simon slew Hamor, and all my other brothers came out and destroyed the
+whole city. Our father took this in ill part, and in his blessing he
+remembered our conduct. Although we did a wrong thing in acting thus
+against his wishes, yet I recognized it to be the judgment of God upon
+the people of Shechem on account of their sins, and I said to my
+father: 'Be not wroth, my lord, for God will exterminate the Canaanites
+through this, and he will give the land to thee and to thy seed after
+thee. Henceforth Shechem will be called the city of imbeciles, for as a
+fool is mocked at, so have we made a mockery of them.'
+
+"When we journeyed to Beth-lehem, and had been abiding there for
+seventy days, another vision was vouchsafed me, like unto the former. I
+saw seven men clad in white, and they spake to me, saying: 'Rise up,
+and array thyself in the priestly garments, set the crown of
+righteousness upon thy head, and put on the ephod of understanding, and
+the robe of truth, and the mitre-plate of faith, and the mitre of
+dignity, and the shoulderpieces of prophecy.' And each of the men
+brought a garment unto me and invested me therewith, and spake:
+'Henceforth be the priest of the Lord, thou and thy seed unto eternity.
+And ye shall eat all that is lovely to look upon, and the table of the
+Lord thy descendants will appropriate for themselves, and from them
+will come high priests, judges, and scholars, for all that is holy will
+be guarded by their mouth.'
+
+"Two days after I was visited by this dream, Judah and I repaired to
+our grandfather Isaac, who blessed me in accordance with the words I
+had heard. Jacob also had a vision, and he saw, too, that I was
+appointed to be the priest of God, and through me he set apart a tenth
+of his possessions unto the Lord. And when we established ourselves in
+Hebron, the residence of Isaac, our grandfather taught me the law of
+the priesthood, and admonished me to hold myself aloof from unchastity.
+
+At the age of twenty-eight years I took Milcah to wife, and she bore me
+a son, and I named him Gershom, because we were strangers in the land.
+But I perceived he would not be in the first ranks of men. My second
+son was born unto me in my thirty-fifth year, and he saw the light of
+the world at sunrise, and I beheld him in a vision standing among the
+proud of the assembly, and therefore I gave him the name Kohath. The
+third son my wife bore me in the fortieth year of my life, and I called
+his name Merari, because bitter had been her travail in bearing him. My
+daughter Jochebed was born in Egypt, when I was sixty-three years old,
+and I called her thus because I was known honorably among my brethren
+in those days. And in my ninety- fourth year, Amram took Jochebed to
+wife, he that was born on the same day with her."
+
+Thereupon Levi admonished his children to walk in the ways of the Lord,
+and fear Him with all their heart, and he told them what he had learnt
+from the writings of Enoch, that his descendants would sin against the
+Lord in times to come, and they would suffer the Divine punishment for
+their transgression, and then God would raise up a new priest, unto
+whom all the words of the Lord would be revealed. His last words were:
+"And now, my children, ye have heard all I have to say. Choose, now,
+light or darkness, the law of the Lord or the works of Beliar." And his
+sons made answer, "Before the Lord we will walk according to His law."
+Then Levi spake, "The Lord is witness and the angels are witnesses, I
+am witness and ye are witnesses, concerning the word of your mouth."
+And his sons replied, "We are witnesses."
+
+Thus Levi ceased to admonish his sons. He stretched out his feet, and
+was gathered unto his fathers, at the age of one hundred and
+thirty-seven years, a greater age than any of his brethren attained.[9]
+
+
+
+
+JUDAH WARNS AGAINST GREED AND UNCHASTITY
+
+
+The last words addressed by Judah to his sons were the following: "I
+was the fourth son begotten by my father, and my mother called me
+Judah, saying, 'I thank the Lord that He hath given me a fourth son.' I
+was zealous in my youth and obedient to my father in all things. When I
+grew up to manhood, he blessed me, saying, 'Thou wilt be king, and wilt
+prosper in all thy ways.' The Lord granted me His grace in whatever I
+undertook, in the field and in the house. I could speed as swiftly as
+the hind, and overtake it, and prepare a dish of it for my father. A
+deer I could catch on the run, and all the animals of the valley. A
+wild mare I could outstrip, hold it, and bridle it. A lion I slew, and
+snatched a kid from its jaws. A bear I caught by the paw, and flung it
+adown the cliff, and it lay beneath crushed. I could keep pace with the
+wild boar, and overtake it, and as I ran I seized it, and tore it to
+pieces. A leopard sprang at my dog in Hebron, and I grasped its tail,
+and hurled it away from me, and its body burst on the coast at Gaza. A
+wild steer I found grazing in the field. I took it by its horns, swung
+it round and round until it was stunned, and then I cast it to the
+ground and killed it."
+
+Judah continued and told his children of his heroism in the wars that
+the sons of Jacob had waged with the kings of Canaan and with Esau and
+his family. In all these conflicts he bore a distinguished part, beyond
+the achievements of the others. His father Jacob was free from all
+anxiety when Judah was with his brethren in their combats, because he
+had had a vision showing him an angel of strength standing at the side
+of Judah on all his ways.
+
+Judah did not conceal his shortcomings, either. He confessed how
+drunkenness and passion had betrayed him first into marriage with a
+Canaanitish woman, and then into improper relations with his
+daughter-in-law Tamar. He said to his children:
+
+"Do not walk after the desire of your hearts, and vaunt not the valiant
+deeds of your youth. This, too, is evil in the eyes of the Lord. For
+while I boasted that the face of a beautiful woman had never allured me
+in the wars, and reviled my brother Reuben for his transgression with
+Bilhah, the spirit of passion and unchastity gained possession of me,
+and I took Bath-shua to wife, and trespassed with Tamar, though she was
+the affianced of my son. First I said to Bath-shua's father, 'I will
+take counsel with my father Jacob, to know whether I should marry thy
+daughter,' but he was a king, and he showed me an untold heap of gold
+accredited to his daughter, and he adorned her with the magnificence of
+women, in gold and pearls, and he bade her pour the wine at the meal.
+The wine turned my eyes awry, and passion darkened my heart. In mad
+love for her, I violated the command of the Lord and the will of my
+father, and I took her to wife. The Lord gave me a recompense according
+to the counsel of my heart, for I had no joy in the sons she bore me.
+
+"And now, my children, I pray you, do not intoxicate yourselves with
+wine, for wine twists the understanding away from the truth, and
+confuses the sight of the eyes. Wine led me astray, so that I felt no
+shame before the throngs of people in the city, and I turned aside and
+went in to Tamar in the presence of them, and committed a great sin.
+And though a man be a king, if he leads an unchaste life, he loses his
+kingship. I gave Tamar my staff, which is the stay of my tribe, and my
+girdle-cord, which is power, and my signet- diadem, which is the glory
+of my kingdom. I did penance for all this, and unto old age I drank no
+wine, and ate no flesh, and knew no sort of pleasure. Wine causes the
+secret things of God and man to be revealed unto the stranger. Thus did
+I disclose the commands of the Lord and the mysteries of my father
+Jacob to the Canaanite woman Bath-shua, though God had forbidden me to
+betray them. I also enjoin you not to love gold, and not to look upon
+the beauty of women, for through money and through beauty I was led
+astray to Bath-shua the Canaanite. I know that my stock will fall into
+misery through these two things, for even the wise men among my sons
+will be changed by them, and the consequence will be that the kingdom
+of Judah will be diminished, the domain that the Lord gave me as a
+reward for my obedient conduct toward my father, for never did I speak
+in contradiction of him, but I did all things according to his words.
+And Isaac, my father's father, blessed me with the blessing that I
+should be ruler in Israel, and I know that the kingdom will arise from
+me. In the books of Enoch the just I read all the evil that ye will do
+in the latter days. Only beware, my children, of unchastity and greed,
+for love of gold leads to idolatry, causing men to call them gods that
+are none, and dethroning the reason of man. On account of gold I lost
+my children, and had I not mortified my flesh, and humbled my soul, and
+had not my father Jacob offered up prayers for me, I had died
+childless. But the God of my fathers, the merciful and gracious One,
+saw that I had acted unwittingly, for the ruler of deception had
+blinded me, and I was ignorant, being flesh and blood, and corrupt
+through sins, and in the moment when I considered myself invincible, I
+recognized my weakness."
+
+Then Judah revealed to his sons, in clear, brief words, the whole
+history of Israel until the advent of the Messiah, and his final speech
+was: "My children, observe the whole law of the Lord; in it is hope for
+all that keep His ways. I die this day at the age of one hundred and
+nineteen years before your eyes. None shall bury me in a costly
+garment, nor shall ye cut my body to embalm it, but ye shall carry me
+to Hebron."
+
+Having spoken these words, Judah sank into death.[10]
+
+
+
+
+ISSACHAR'S SINGLENESS OF HEART
+
+
+When Issachar felt his end approach, he summoned his sons, and he said
+to them: "Hearken, my children, unto your father Issachar, and listen
+to the words of him that is beloved of the Lord. I was born unto Jacob
+as his fifth son, as a reward for the dudaim. Reuben brought the dudaim
+from the field. They were fragrant apples, which grew in the land of
+Haran upon an eminence below a gully. Rachel met Reuben, and she took
+the dudaim away from him. The lad wept, and his cries brought his
+mother Leah to his side, and she addressed Rachel thus: 'Is it a small
+matter that thou hast taken away my husband? and wouldst thou take away
+my son's dudaim also?' And Rachel said, 'See, Jacob shall be thine
+to-night for thy son's dudaim.' But Leah insisted, 'Jacob is mine, and
+I am the wife of his youth,' whereupon Rachel, 'Be not boastful and
+overweening. To me he was betrothed first, and for my sake he served
+our father fourteen years. Thou art not his wife, thou wast taken to
+him by cunning instead of me, for our father deceived me, and put me
+out of the way the night of thy nuptials, so that Jacob could not see
+me. Nevertheless, give me the dudaim, and thou mayest have Jacob for a
+night.'
+
+"Then Leah bore me, and I was called Issachar, on account of the reward
+Rachel had given to my mother. At that time an angel of the Lord
+appeared to Jacob, and he spoke: 'Rachel will bear only two sons, for
+she rejected the espousal of her husband, and chose continence! But
+Leah bore six sons, for the Lord knew that she desired to be with her
+husband, not because she was prompted by the evil inclination, but for
+the sake of children. Rachel's prayer also was fulfilled, on account of
+the dudaim, for although she desired to eat of the apples, she did not
+touch them, but put them in the house of the Lord, and gave them to the
+priest of the Most High that was in those days.
+
+"When I grew up, my children, I walked in the integrity of my heart,
+and I became a husbandman, cultivating the land for my father and my
+brethren, and I gathered the fruit from the fields in their due time.
+My father blessed me, because he saw that I walked in singleness of
+heart. I was not married to a wife until I was thirty years old, for
+the hard work I did consumed my strength, and I had no desire unto
+woman, but, overwhelmed by fatigue, I would sink into sleep. My father
+was well pleased at all times with my rectitude. If my work was crowned
+with good results, I brought the firstfruits of my labor to the priest
+of the Lord, the next harvest went to my father, and then I thought of
+myself. The Lord doubled the possessions in my hand, and Jacob knew
+that God aided me for the sake of my singleness of heart, for in my
+sincerity I gave of the produce of the land to the poor and the needy.
+
+"And now hearken unto me, my children, and walk in singleness of heart,
+for upon it resteth the favor of the Lord at all times. The simple man
+longeth not for gold, he doth not defraud his neighbor, he hath no
+desire for meats and dainties of many kinds, he careth not for
+sumptuous dress, he hopeth not for long life, he waiteth only upon the
+will of God. The spirits of deception have no power over him, for he
+looketh not upon the beauty of woman, lest he defile his understanding
+with corruption. Jealousy cometh not into his thoughts, envy doth not
+sear his soul, and insatiable greed doth not make him look abroad for
+rich gain. Now, then, my children, observe the law of the Lord, attain
+to simplicity, and walk in singleness of heart, without meddling with
+the affairs of others. Love the Lord and love your neighbors, have pity
+upon the poor and the feeble, bow your backs to till the ground, occupy
+yourselves with work upon the land, and bring gifts unto the Lord in
+gratitude. For the Lord hath blessed you with the best of the fruits of
+the field, as he hath blessed all the saints from Abel down to our day.
+
+"Know, my children, that in the latter time your sons will abandon the
+paths of probity, and will be ruled by greed. They will forsake
+rectitude and practice craft, they will depart from the commands of the
+Lord and follow after Beliar, they will give up husbandry and pursue
+their evil plans, they will be scattered among the heathen and serve
+their enemies. Tell this unto your children, so that, if they sin, they
+may repent speedily, and return to the Lord, for He is merciful, and He
+will take them out to bring them back unto their land.
+
+"I am one hundred and twenty-two years old, and I can discern no sin in
+myself. Save my wife, I have known no woman. I was guilty of no
+unchastity through the lifting up of eyes. I drank no wine, that I
+might not be led astray, I did not covet what belonged to my neighbor,
+guile had no place in my heart, lies did not pass my lips. I sighed
+along with all that were heavy-laden, and to the poor I gave my bread.
+I loved the Lord with all my might, and mankind I also loved. Do ye
+likewise, my children, and all the spirits of Beliar will flee from
+you, no deed done by the wicked will have power over you, and ye will
+vanquish all the wild beasts, for ye have with you the Lord of heaven."
+
+And Issachar bade his children carry him up to Hebron, and bury him
+there by his fathers in the Cave, and he stretched out his feet, and
+fell into the sleep of eternity, full of years, healthy of limb, and in
+the possession of all his faculties.[11]
+
+
+
+
+ZEBULON EXHORTS UNTO COMPASSION
+
+
+When Zebulon attained the age of one hundred and fourteen years, which
+was two years after the death of Joseph, he called his sons together,
+and admonished them, in these words, to lead a life of piety: "I am
+Zebulon, a precious gift for my parents, for when I was born, my father
+became very rich, by means of the streaked rods, in herds of sheep and
+herds of cattle. I am conscious of no sin in me, and I remember no
+wrong done by me, unless it be the unwitting sin committed against
+Joseph, in that I did not, out of consideration for my brethren,
+disclose to my father what had happened to his favorite son, though in
+secret I mourned exceedingly. I feared my brethren, because they had
+agreed that he who betrayed the secret should be slain with the sword.
+When they planned to kill Joseph, I besought them amid tears not to sin
+thus.
+
+"And now, my children, hearken unto me. I exhort you to observe the
+commands of the Lord, and have mercy upon your neighbors, and act
+compassionately, not only toward men, but also toward dumb brutes. For
+on account of my mercifulness the Lord blessed me; all my brethren fell
+sick at one time or another, but I escaped without any illness. Also
+the sons of my brethren had to endure disease, and they were nigh unto
+death for the sake of Joseph, because they had no pity in their hearts.
+But my sons were preserved in perfect health, as ye well know. And when
+I was in Canaan, catching fish at the shores of the sea for my father
+Jacob, many were drowned in the waters of the sea, but I came away
+unharmed. For ye must know that I was the first to build a boat for
+rowing upon the sea, and I plied along the coasts in it, and caught
+fish for my father's household, until we went down into Egypt. Out of
+pity I would share my haul with the poor stranger, and if he was sick
+or well on in years, I would prepare a savory dish for him, and I gave
+unto each according to his needs, sympathizing with him in his distress
+and having pity upon him. Therefore the Lord brought numerous fish to
+my nets, for he that gives aught to his neighbor, receives it back from
+the Lord with great increase. For five years I fished in the summer,
+and in the winter I pastured the flocks with my brethren.
+
+"Now, my children, have pity and compassion on all men, that the Lord
+may have pity and compassion on you, for in the measure in which man
+has mercy with his fellow-men, God has mercy with him. When we came
+down into Egypt, Joseph did not visit upon us the wrong he had
+suffered. Take him as your model, and remember not a wrong done unto
+you, else unity is rent asunder, and the bonds of kinship are torn, and
+the soul is disquieted. Observe the water! If it runs on undivided, it
+carries down stone, wood, and sand along with it. But if it is divided
+and flows through many channels, the earth sucks it up, and it loses
+its force. If you separate, one from the other, you will be like
+divided waters. Be not cleft into two heads, for all that the Lord hath
+made has but one head. He has given two shoulders unto his creatures,
+two hands, and two feet, but all these organs obey one head."
+
+Zebulon ended his exhortation unto unity with an account of the
+divisions in Israel, whereof he had read in the writings of the
+fathers, that they would come about in future days, and bring sore
+suffering upon Israel. However, he spoke encouraging words to his
+children, saying: "Be not grieved over my death, and do not lose heart
+at my departure from you, for I shall arise again in the midst of you,
+and I shall live joyously among the people of my tribe, those who
+observe the law of the Lord. As for the godless, the Lord will bring
+everlasting fire down upon them, and exterminate them unto all
+generations. Now I hasten hence unto my eternal rest with my fathers.
+But ye, fear ye the Lord your God with all your might all the days of
+your life."
+
+Having made an end of saying these words, he sank into the sleep of
+death, and his sons put him into a coffin, wherein they carried him up
+to Hebron later, to bury him there next to his fathers.[12]
+
+
+
+
+DAN'S CONFESSION
+
+
+When Dan assembled his family at the last of his life, he spake: "I
+confess before you this day, my children, that I had resolved to kill
+Joseph, that good and upright man, and I rejoiced over his sale, for
+his father loved him more than he loved the rest of us. The spirit of
+envy and boastfulness goaded me on, saying, 'Thou, too, art the son of
+Jacob,' and one of the spirits of Behar stirred me up, saying, 'Take
+this sword, and slay Joseph, for once he is dead thy father will love
+thee.' It was the spirit of anger that was seeking to persuade me to
+crush Joseph, as a leopard crunches a kid between its teeth. But the
+God of our father Jacob did not deliver him into my hand, to let me
+find him alone, and He did not permit me to execute this impious deed,
+that two tribes in Israel might not be destroyed.
+
+"And now, my children, I am about to die, and I tell it unto you in
+truth, if you take not heed against the spirit of lies and anger, and
+if ye love not truth and generosity, you will perish. The spirit of
+anger casts the net of error around its victim, and it blinds his eyes,
+and the spirit of lies warps his mind, and clouds his vision. Evil is
+anger, it is the grave of the soul. Desist from anger and hate lies,
+that the Lord may dwell among you, and Behar flee from your presence.
+Speak the truth each unto his neighbor, and you will not fall into
+anger and trouble, but you will be at peace, and the Lord of peace you
+will have with you, and no war will vanquish you.
+
+"I speak thus, for I know that in the latter days you will fall off
+from God, and you will kindle the wrath of Levi, and rise in rebellion
+against Judah, but you will not accomplish aught against them, for the
+angel of the Lord is their guide, and Israel will perish through them.
+And if you turn recreant to the Lord, you will execute every kind of
+evil thing, and do the abominations of the heathen, committing
+unchastity with the wives of the godless, while the tempter spirits are
+at work among you. Therefore you will be carried away into captivity,
+and in the lands of exile you will suffer all the plagues of Egypt and
+all the tribulations of the heathen. But when you return to the Lord,
+you will find mercy. He will take you into His sanctuary, and grant you
+peace.
+
+"And now, my children, fear the Lord, and be on your guard against
+Satan and his spirits. Keep aloof from every evil deed, cast anger away
+from you and every sort of lie, love truth and forbearance, and what ye
+have heard from your father, tell unto your children. Avoid all manner
+of unrighteousness, cling to the integrity of the law of the Lord, and
+bury me near my fathers."
+
+Having spoken these words, he kissed his children, and fell asleep.[13]
+
+
+
+
+NAPHTALI'S DREAMS OF THE DIVISION OF THE TRIBES
+
+
+In the hundred and thirty-second year of his life, Naphtali invited all
+his children to a banquet. The next morning when he awoke, he told them
+that he was dying, but they would not believe him. He, however, praised
+the Lord, and assured them again that his death was due after the
+banquet of the day before. Then he addressed his last words to his
+children:
+
+"I was born of Bilhah, and because Rachel had acted with cunning, and
+had given Jacob Bilhah instead of herself, I was called Naphtali.
+Rachel loved me, for I was born upon her knees, and while I was still
+very young, she was in the habit of kissing me and saying, 'O that I
+had a brother unto thee from mine own body, one in thine image.'
+Therefore Joseph resembled me in all respects, in accordance with
+Rachel's prayer. My mother Bilhah was a daughter of Rotheus, a brother
+of Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, and she was born the same day as Rachel.
+As for Rotheus, he was of the family of Abraham, a Chaldean,
+God-fearing, and a free man of noble birth, and when he was taken
+captive, he was bought by Laban and married to his slave Aina. She bore
+Rotheus a daughter, and he called her Zilpah, after the name of the
+village in which he was taken captive. His second daughter he called
+Bilhah, saying, 'My daughter is impetuous,' for hardly was she born
+when she hastened to suckle.
+
+"I was fleet of foot like a deer, and my father Jacob appointed me to
+be his messenger, and in his blessing he called me a hind let loose. As
+the potter knows the vessel he fashions, how much it is to hold, and
+uses clay accordingly, so the Lord makes the body in conformity with
+the soul, and to agree with the capacity of the body He plans the soul.
+The one corresponds to the other down to the third of a hair- breadth,
+for the whole of creation was made by weight, and measure, and rule.
+And as the potter knows the use of every vessel he fashions, so the
+Lord knows the body of His creature, unto what point it will be
+steadfast in the good, and at what point it will fall into evil ways.
+Now, then, my children, let your conduct be well-ordered unto good in
+the fear of God, do naught that is ill-regulated or untimely, for
+though ye tell your eye to hear, it yet cannot, and as little can ye do
+deeds of light while you abide in darkness."
+
+Furthermore Naphtali said unto his children: "I give you no command
+concerning my silver, or my gold, or any other possession that I
+bequeath to you. And what I command you is not a hard matter, which you
+cannot do, but I speak unto you concerning an easy thing, which you can
+execute." Then his sons answered, and said, "Speak, father, for we are
+listening to thy words." Naphtali continued: "I give you no commandment
+except regarding the fear of God, that you should serve Him and follow
+after Him." Then the sons of Naphtali asked: "Wherefore does He require
+our service?" and he replied, saying: "He needs no creature, but all
+creatures need Him. Nevertheless He hath not created the world for
+naught, but that men should fear Him, and none should do unto his
+neighbor what he would not have others do unto him." His sons asked
+again, "Father, hast thou observed that we strayed from the ways of the
+Lord to the right or to the left?" Naphtali replied: "God is witness,
+and so am I witness for you, that it is as you say. But I fear
+regarding future times, that you may depart from the ways of the Lord,
+and follow after the idols of the stranger, and walk in the statutes of
+the heathen peoples, and join yourselves unto the sons of Joseph
+instead of the sons of Levi and Judah." The sons of Naphtali spoke,
+"What reason hast thou for commanding this thing unto us?" Naphtali:
+"Because I know that the sons of Joseph will one day turn recreant to
+the Lord, the God of their fathers, and it is they that will lead the
+sons of Israel into sin, and cause them to be driven away from their
+inheritance, their beautiful land, to a land that is not ours, even as
+it was Joseph that brought the Egyptian bondage down upon us.
+
+"I will tell ye, my children, the vision I had while I was yet a
+shepherd of flocks. I saw my brethren pasturing the herds with me, and
+our father approached, and said: 'Up, my sons, each one take what he
+can in my presence!' We answered, and said to him, 'What shall we take?
+We see nothing but the sun, the moon, and the stars.' Then our father
+said: 'These shall ye take!' Levi, hearing this, snatched up an
+ox-goad, sprang up to the sun, sat upon him, and rode. Judah did
+likewise. He jumped up to the moon, and rode upon her. And the other
+nine tribes did the same, each rode upon his star or his planet in the
+heavens. Joseph remained behind alone on the earth, and our father
+Jacob said to him, 'My son, why hast thou not done like thy brethren?'
+Joseph answered, 'What right have men born of woman to be in the
+heavens, seeing that in the end they must stay on earth?' While Joseph
+was speaking thus, a tall steer appeared before him. He had great
+pinions like the wings of the stork, and his horns were as long as
+those of the reem. Jacob urged his son, 'Up, Joseph, mount the steer!'
+Joseph did as his father bade him, and Jacob went his way. For the
+space of two hours Joseph displayed himself upon the steer, sometimes
+galloping, sometimes flying, until he reached Judah. Then Joseph
+unfolded the standard in his hand, and began to rain blows down upon
+Judah with it, and when his brother demanded the reason for this
+treatment, he said, 'Because thou hast twelve rods in thine hand, and I
+have but one. Give thine to me, and peace shall prevail between us!'
+But Judah refused to do his bidding, and Joseph beat him until he
+dropped ten rods, and only two remained in his clutch. Joseph now
+invited his brethren to abandon Judah and follow after him. They all
+did thus, except Benjamin, who stayed true to Judah. Levi was grieved
+over the desertion of Judah, and he descended from the sun. Toward the
+end of the day a storm broke out, and it scattered the brethren, so
+that no two were together. When I gave an account of my vision to my
+father Jacob, he said, 'It is but a dream, it can neither help nor
+harm.'
+
+"A short while thereafter another vision was revealed to me. I saw all
+of us together with our father at the shores of the sea, and a ship
+appeared in the midst of the sea, and it had neither sailors nor other
+crew. Our father spake, 'Do you see what I see?' And when we answered
+that we did, he commanded us to follow him. He took off his clothes,
+and sprang into the sea, and we sprang after him. Levi and Judah were
+the first to scale the side of the ship. Our father cried after them,
+'See what is written upon the mast,' for there is no ship that does not
+bear the name of the owner upon the mast. Levi and Judah scrutinized
+the writing, and what they read was this, 'This ship and all the
+treasures therein belong unto the son of Barachel.' Jacob thanked God
+for having blessed him, not only on land, but also upon the sea, and he
+said to us, 'Stretch forth your hands, and whatsoever each one seizes
+shall be his!' Levi caught hold of the big mast, Judah of the second
+mast, next to Levi's, and the other brethren, with the exception of
+Joseph, took the oars, and Jacob himself seized the two rudders,
+wherewith to guide the ship. He bade Joseph take an oar, too, but he
+refused to do his father's bidding, and Jacob gave him one of the
+rudders. After our father had instructed us each one in what we had to
+do, he disappeared, whereupon Joseph took possession of the second
+rudder, too. All went smoothly for a time, as long as Judah and Joseph
+acted together in harmony with each other, and Judah kept Joseph
+informed in what direction to steer. But a quarrel broke out between
+them, and Joseph did not guide the vessel in the way his father had
+commanded him, and Judah attempted to direct him, and the vessel was
+wrecked upon a rock. Levi and Judah descended from the masts, and
+likewise the other brethren left the ship and escaped to the shore. At
+this moment Jacob appeared, and he found us scattered in all
+directions, and we reported to him how Joseph had caused the vessel to
+run aground, because he had refused, out of jealousy of Judah and Levi,
+to steer it according to their instructions. Then Jacob asked us to
+show him the spot where we had lost the ship, of which only the masts
+were visible above the water. He emitted a whistle summoning us all,
+and he swam out into the water, and raised the vessel as before.
+Turning to Joseph, he spake thus, 'My son, never do that again, never
+permit jealousy of thy brethren to master thee. Nearly it happened that
+all thy brethren perished because of thee.'
+
+"When I told my father what I had seen in this vision, he clasped his
+hands, and tears flowed from his eyes, and be said: 'My son, for that
+the vision was doubled unto thee twice, I am dismayed, and I shudder
+for my son Joseph. I loved him more than all of you, but by reason of
+his perverseness ye will be carried away into captivity, and scattered
+among the nations. Thy first and thy second vision had the same
+meaning, the vision is one.'
+
+"Therefore, my sons, I command you not to join yourselves unto the sons
+of Joseph, but ye shall join yourselves unto the sons of Levi and
+Judah. I tell you, too, that my inheritance shall be of the best of
+Palestine, the middle of the earth. You will eat, and the delectable
+gifts of my portion will satisfy you. But I warn you not to kick in
+your prosperity and not to become perverse, resisting the commands of
+God, who satisfies you with the best of His land, and not to forget
+your God, whom your father Abraham chose when the families of the earth
+were divided in the days of Peleg. The Lord descended with seventy
+angels, at their head Michael, and he commanded them to teach the
+seventy languages unto the seventy families of Noah. The angels did
+according to the behest of God, and the holy Hebrew language remained
+only in the house of Shem and Eber, and in the house of their
+descendant Abraham. On this day of teaching languages, Michael came to
+each nation separately, and told it the message with which God had
+charged him, saying: 'I know the rebellion and the confusion ye have
+enacted against God. Now, make choice of him whom you will serve, and
+whom will you have as your mediator in heaven?' Then spake Nimrod the
+wicked, 'In my eyes there is none greater than he that taught me the
+language of Cush.' The other nations also answered in words like these,
+each one designated its angel. But Abraham said: 'I choose none other
+than Him that spake and the world was. In Him I will have faith, and my
+seed forever and ever.' Thenceforth God put every nation in the care of
+its angel, but Abraham and his seed He kept for Himself.
+
+"Therefore I adjure you not to go astray and serve other gods beside
+Him whom our fathers made choice of. You can perceive somewhat of His
+power in the creation of man. From head to foot is man wonderfully
+made. With his ears he hears, with his eyes he sees, with his brain he
+comprehends, with his nose he smells, with the tubes of his throat he
+utters sounds, with his gullet he swallows food, with his tongue he
+articulates, with his mouth he forms words, with his hands he does his
+work, with his heart he meditates, with his spleen he laughs, with his
+liver he waxes angry, with his stomach he crushes his food, with his
+feet he walks, with his lungs he breathes, and with his kidneys he
+makes resolves, and none of his organs undergoes a change in function,
+each performs its own. Therefore it behooves man to take to heart who
+it is that hath created him, and who hath developed him from a
+foul-smelling drop in the womb of woman, who hath brought him to the
+light of the world, who hath given sight to his eyes, and who hath
+bestowed the power of motion upon his feet, who maketh him to stand
+upright, who hath infused the breath of life into him, and who hath
+imparted of His own pure spirit unto him. Happy the man, therefore,
+that polluteth not the holy spirit of God within him by doing evil
+deeds, and well for him if he returns it to his Creator as he received
+it."
+
+After Naphtali had charged his children thus, and with many other
+lessons like these, he enjoined them to carry his remains to Hebron, to
+be buried there near his fathers. Then he ate and drank with rejoicing,
+covered his face, and died, and his sons did according to all that
+their father Naphtali had commanded them.[14]
+
+
+
+
+GAD'S HATRED
+
+
+In the hundred and twenty-fifth year of his life Gad assembled his
+sons, and he spake to them: "I am the ninth son of Jacob, and I was a
+valiant shepherd of the flocks. I guarded the herds, and when a lion or
+any other wild beast approached, I pursued it, gripped it by the foot,
+flung it a stone's throw from me, and killed it thus. Once, for a space
+of thirty days, Joseph tended the flocks with us, and when he returned
+to our father, he told him that the sons of Zilpah and Bilhah
+slaughtered the best of the herds, and used the flesh without the
+knowledge of Reuben and Judah. He had seen me snatch a lamb out of the
+jaws of a bear, kill the bear, and slaughter the lamb, for it was too
+badly injured to live. I was wroth with Joseph for his talebearing,
+until he was sold into Egypt. I would neither look upon him nor hear
+aught about him, for to our very faces he, blamed us, because we had
+eaten the lamb without seeking the permission of Judah first. And
+whatever Joseph told our father, he believed.
+
+"Now I confess my sin, that ofttimes I longed to kill him, for I hated
+him from the bottom of my heart, and on account of his dreams I hated
+him still more, and I desired to destroy him from off the land of the
+living. But Judah sold him by stealth to the Ishmaelites. Thus the God
+of our fathers saved him out of our hands, and He did not permit us to
+commit an abominable outrage in Israel.
+
+"Hear now, my children, the words of truth, that ye may practice
+justice and the whole law of the Most High, and permit yourselves not
+to be tempted by the spirit of hatred. Evil is hatred, for it is the
+constant companion of deception, it always contradicts the truth. A
+little thing it magnifies into a great thing, light it takes for
+darkness, the sweet it calls bitter, and it teaches slander, enkindles
+anger, brings on war and violence, and fills the heart with devilish
+poison. I tell you my own experience, my children, that ye may drive
+hatred out of your hearts, and cleave to the love of the Lord.
+Righteousness banishes hatred, and humility kills it, for he that fears
+to give umbrage to the Lord, desires not to do wrong even in his
+thoughts. This is what I recognized at the last, after I had done
+penance on account of Joseph, for true atonement, pleasing to God,
+enlightens the eyes, illumines the soul with knowledge, and creates a
+counsel of salvation. My penance came in consequence of a sickness of
+the liver that God inflicted upon me. Without the prayers of my father
+Jacob, my spirit would have departed from me, for through the organ
+wherewith man transgresses, he is punished. As my liver had felt no
+mercy for Joseph, unmerciful suffering was caused unto me by my liver.
+My judgment lasted eleven months, as long as my enmity toward Joseph.
+
+"And now, my children, each of you shall love his brother, and ye shall
+uproot hatred from your hearts by loving one another in word and deed
+and the thoughts of the soul. For I spake peaceably with Joseph in the
+presence of our father, but when I went out from before him, the spirit
+of hatred darkened my understanding, and stirred up my soul to murder
+him. If you see one that hath more good fortune than you, do not
+grieve, but pray for him, that his happiness may be perfect, and if one
+of the wicked even should grow rich in substance, like Esau, my
+father's brother, do not envy him. Wait for the end of the Lord.
+
+"This also tell unto your children, that they shall honor Judah and
+Levi, for from them the Lord will cause a savior to arise unto Israel.
+For I know that in the end your children will fall off from God, and
+they will take part in all wickedness, malice, and corruptness, before
+the Lord."
+
+After Gad had rested a little while, he spake again, "My children,
+hearken unto your father, and bury me with my fathers." Then he drew up
+his feet, and slept in peace. After five years, his sons carried his
+remains to Hebron unto his fathers.[15]
+
+
+
+
+ASHER'S LAST WORDS
+
+
+In the hundred and twenty-fifth year of his life, while be was still
+robust in health, Asher summoned his children unto him, and admonished
+them to walk in the ways of virtue and the fear of God. He spake:
+"Hearken, ye sons of Asher, unto your father, and I will show you all
+that is right before God. Two ways hath God put before the children of
+men, and two inclinations hath He bestowed upon them, two kinds of
+actions and two aims. Therefore all things are in twos, the one
+opposite to the other. But ye, my children, ye shall not be double,
+pursuing both goodness and wickedness. Ye shall cling only to the ways
+of goodness, for the Lord taketh delight in them, and men yearn after
+them. And flee from wickedness, for thus you will destroy the evil
+inclination. Heed well the commands of the Lord, by following truth
+with a single mind. Observe the law of the Lord, and have not the same
+care for wicked things as for good things. Rather keep your eyes upon
+what is truly good, and guard it through all the commands of the Lord.
+The end of man, when he meets the messengers of God and of Satan, shows
+whether he was righteous or unrighteous in his life. If his soul goes
+out with agitation, she will be plagued by the evil spirit, whom she
+served with her lusts and her evil deeds; but if she departs
+tranquilly, the angel of peace will lead her to life eternal.
+
+"Be not like Sodom, my children, which recognized not the angels of the
+Lord, that ye be not delivered into the hands of your enemies, and your
+land be cursed, and your sanctuary destroyed, and you be scattered to
+the four corners of the earth, and scorned in the confusion like stale
+water, until the Most High shall visit the earth, and break the heads
+of the dragons in the waters. Tell this, my sons, unto your children,
+that they be not disobedient toward God, for I read in the tablets of
+the heavens that you will be contumacious and act impiously toward Him,
+in that you will have no care for the law of God, but you will heed
+human laws, and they are corrupted by reason of man's godlessness.
+Therefore ye will be dispersed abroad like unto Gad and Dan, my
+brethren, and you will not know either your land, or your tribe, or
+your tongue. Nevertheless the Lord will gather you in His faithfulness,
+for the sake of His gracious mercy, and for the sake of Abraham, Isaac,
+and Jacob."
+
+And when he had made an end of saying these words, he commanded them to
+bury him in Hebron. And he sank into sweet sleep, and died. His sons
+did as he had commanded, and they carried him up and buried him with
+his fathers.[16]
+
+
+
+
+BENJAMIN EXTOLS JOSEPH
+
+
+Benjamin was one hundred and twenty-five years old, and he called his
+children to come to him. When they appeared, he kissed them, and spake:
+"As Isaac was born unto Abraham in his old age, so was I born unto
+Jacob when he was stricken in years. Therefore I was called Benjamin,
+'the son of days.' My mother Rachel died at my birth, and Bilhah her
+slave suckled me. Rachel had no children for twelve years after bearing
+Joseph. Therefore she prayed to God, and fasted twelve days, and she
+conceived and bare me. Our father loved Rachel fondly, and he had
+longed greatly to have two sons by her.
+
+"When I came down to Egypt, and my brother Joseph recognized me, he
+asked me, 'What said my brethren to my father regarding me?' And I told
+him that they had sent Jacob his coat stained with blood, and had said,
+'Know now whether this be thy son's coat or not.' And Joseph said:
+'This is what happened to me. Canaanitish merchantmen stole me away
+with violence, and on the way they wanted to hide my coat, to make it
+seem as though a wild beast had met me and slain me. But he who was
+about to conceal it, was torn by a lion, whereupon his companions, in
+great fear, sold me to the Ishmaelites. My brethren, thou seest, did
+not deceive my father with a lie.' In this wise Joseph tried to keep
+the deed of our brethren a secret from me. He also summoned my
+brethren, and enjoined them not to make known to our father what they
+had done to him, and bade them repeat the tale he had told me.
+
+"Now, my children, love ye the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, and
+observe His commandments, taking that good and pious man Joseph as your
+model. Until the day of his death he would not have divulged what his
+brethren had done to him, and although God revealed their action to
+Jacob, he continued to deny it. Only after many efforts, when Jacob
+adjured him to confess the truth, he was induced to speak out. Even
+then he besought our father Jacob to pray for our brethren, that God
+account not the evil they had done to him as a sin. And Jacob
+exclaimed, 'O my good child Joseph, thou hast shown thyself more
+merciful than I was!'
+
+"My children, have you observed the mercy of the good man? Imitate it
+with pure intention, that ye, too, may wear crowns of glory. A good man
+has not an envious eye, he has mercy with all, even with sinners,
+though their evil designs be directed against him, and by his good
+deeds he conquers the evil, since it was ordained of God. If you do
+good, the unclean spirits will depart from you, and even the wild
+beasts will stand in fear of you. The inclination of a good man lies
+not in the power of the tempter spirit Behar, for the angel of peace
+guides his soul. Flee before the malice of Beliar, whose sword is drawn
+to slay all that pay him obedience, and his sword is the mother of
+seven evils, bloodshed, corruptness, error, captivity, hunger, panic,
+and devastation. Therefore God surrendered Cain to seven punishments.
+Once in a hundred years the Lord brought a castigation upon him. His
+afflictions began when he was two hundred years old, and in his nine
+hundredth year he was destroyed by the deluge, for having slain his
+righteous brother Abel. And those who are like unto Cain will be
+chastised forever with the same punishments as his.
+
+"Know now, my children, that I am about to die. Practice truth and
+righteousness, and observe the law of the Lord and also His
+commandments. This I bequeath unto you as your sole heritage, and you
+shall leave it to your children as an eternal possession. Thus Abraham,
+Isaac, and Jacob did, they transmitted it unto us, saying, 'Observe the
+commands of God, until the Lord shall reveal His salvation in the sight
+of all the heathen.' Then you will see Enoch, Noah, Shem, Abraham,
+Isaac, and Jacob[17] rise up with rejoicing to new life at the right
+hand of God, and we brethren, the sons of Jacob, will arise also, each
+of us at the head of his tribe, and we will pay homage to the King of
+the heavens."
+
+After Benjamin had made an end of speaking thus, he said: "I command
+you, my children, to carry my bones up out of Egypt and bury me near my
+fathers."
+
+And when he had made an end of saying these things, he fell asleep at a
+good old age, and they put his body into a coffin, and in the
+ninety-first year of their sojourning in Egypt, his sons and the sons
+of his brethren brought up the bones of their father, in secret, and
+buried them in Hebron, at the feet of their fathers. Then they returned
+from the land of Canaan, and they dwelt in Egypt until the day of the
+exodus from the land.[18]
+
+
+
+
+III
+JOB
+
+
+
+
+JOB AND THE PATRIARCHS
+
+
+Job, the most pious Gentile that ever lived,[1] one of the few to bear
+the title of honor "the servant of God,"[2] was of double kin to Jacob.
+He was a grandson of Jacob's brother Esau, and at the same time the
+son-in-law of Jacob himself, for lie had married Dinah as his second
+wife.[3] He was entirely worthy of being a member of the Patriarch's
+family, for he was perfectly upright, one that feared God, and eschewed
+evil. Had he not wavered in his resignation to the Divine will during
+the great trial to which he was subjected, and murmured against God,
+the distinction would have been conferred upon him of having his name
+joined to the Name of God in prayer, and men would have called upon the
+God of Job as they now call upon the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
+But he was not found steadfast like the three Fathers, and he forfeited
+the honor God had intended for him.
+
+The Lord remonstrated with him for his lack of patience, saying: "Why
+didst thou murmur when suffering came upon thee? Dost thou think
+thyself of greater worth than Adam, the creation of Mine own hands,
+upon whom together with his descendants I decreed death on account of a
+single transgression? And yet Adam murmured not. Thou art surely not
+more worthy than Abraham, whom I tempted with many trials, and when he
+asked, 'Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit the land?' and I
+replied, 'Know of a surety that thy seed will be a stranger in a land
+that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them
+four hundred years,' he yet murmured not. Thou dost not esteem thyself
+more worthy than Moses, dost thou? Him I would not grant the favor of
+entering the promised land, because he spake the words, 'Hear now, ye
+rebels; shall we bring you forth water out of this rock?' And yet he
+murmured not. Art thou more worthy than Aaron, unto whom I showed
+greater honor than unto any created being, for I sent the angels
+themselves out of the Holy of Holies when he entered the place? Yet
+when his two sons died, he murmured not."[4]
+
+The contrast between Job and the Patriarchs appears from words spoken
+by him and words spoken by Abraham. Addressing God, Abraham said, "That
+be far from Thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with
+the wicked, that so the righteous should be as the wicked," and Job
+exclaimed against God, "It is all one; therefore I say, He destroyeth
+the perfect and the wicked." They both received their due recompense,
+Abraham was rewarded and Job was punished.[5]
+
+Convinced that his suffering was undeserved and unjust, Job had the
+audacity to say to God: "O Lord of the world, Thou didst create the ox
+with cloven feet and the ass with unparted hoof, Thou hast created
+Paradise and hell, Thou createst the righteous and also the wicked.
+There is none to hinder, Thou canst do as seemeth good in Thy sight."
+The friends of Job replied: "It is true, God hath created the evil
+inclination, but He hath also given man the Torah as a remedy against
+it. Therefore the wicked cannot roll their guilt from off their
+shoulders and put it upon God."
+
+The reason Job did not shrink from such extravagant utterances was
+because he denied the resurrection of the dead. He judged of the
+prosperity of the wicked and the woes of the pious only by their
+earthly fortunes. Proceeding from this false premise, he held it to be
+possible that the punishment falling to his share was not at all
+intended for him. God had slipped into an error, He imposed the
+suffering upon him that had been appointed unto a sinner. But God spake
+to him, saying: "Many hairs have I created upon the head of man, yet
+each hair hath its own sac, for were two hairs to draw their
+nourishment from the same sac, man would lose the sight of his eyes. It
+hath never happened that a sac hath been misplaced. Should I, then,
+have mistaken Job for another? I let many drops of rain descend from
+the heavens, and for each drop there is a mould in the clouds, for were
+two drops to issue from the same mould, the ground would be made so
+miry that it could not bring forth any growth. It hath never happened
+that a mould hath been misplaced. Should I, then, have mistaken Job for
+another? Many thunderbolts I hurl from the skies, but each one comes
+from its own path, for were two to proceed from the same path, they
+would destroy the whole world. It hath never happened that a path hath
+been misplaced. Should I, then, have mistaken Job for another? The
+gazelle gives birth to her young on the topmost point of a rock, and it
+would fall into the abyss and be crushed to death, if I did not send an
+eagle thither to catch it up and carry it to its mother. Were the eagle
+to appear a minute earlier or later than the appointed time, the little
+gazelle would perish. It hath never happened that the proper minute of
+time was missed. Should I, then, have mistaken Job for another? The
+hind has a contracted womb, and would not be able to bring forth her
+young, if I did not send a dragon to her at the right second, to nibble
+at her womb and soften it, for then she can bear. Were the dragon to
+come a second before or after the right time, the hind would perish. It
+hath never happened that I missed the right second. Should I, then,
+have mistaken Job for another?"
+
+Notwithstanding Job's unpardonable words, God was displeased with his
+friends for passing harsh judgment upon him. "A man may not be held
+responsible for what he does in his anguish," and Job's agony was
+great, indeed[6]
+
+
+
+
+JOB'S WEALTH AND BENEFACTIONS
+
+
+Job was asked once what he considered the severest affliction that
+could strike him, and he replied, "My enemies' joy in my misfortune,[7]
+and when God demanded to know of him, after the accusations made by
+Satan, what he preferred, poverty or physical suffering, he chose pain,
+saying, "O Lord of the whole world, chastise my body with suffering of
+all kinds, only preserve me from poverty."[8] Poverty seemed the
+greater scourge, because before his trials he had occupied a brilliant
+position on account of his vast wealth. God graciously granted him this
+foretaste of the Messianic time. The harvest followed close upon the
+ploughing of his field; no sooner were the seeds strewn in the furrows,
+than they sprouted and grew and ripened produce. He was equally
+successful with his cattle. His sheep killed wolves, but were
+themselves never harmed by wild beasts.[9] Of sheep he had no less than
+one hundred and thirty thousand, and he required eight hundred dogs to
+keep guard over them, not to mention the two hundred dogs needed to
+secure the safety of his house. Besides, his herds consisted of three
+hundred and forty thousand asses and thirty-five hundred pairs of oxen.
+All these possessions were not used for self- indulgent pleasures, but
+for the good of the poor and the needy, whom he clothed, and fed, and
+provided with all things necessary. To do all this, he even had to
+employ ships that carried supplies to all the cities and the dwelling-
+places of the destitute. His house was furnished with doors on all its
+four sides, that the poor and the wayfarer might enter, no matter from
+what direction they approached. At all times there were thirty tables
+laden with viands ready in his house, and twelve besides for widows
+only, so that all who came found what they desired. Job's consideration
+for the poor was so delicate that he kept servants to wait upon them
+constantly. His guests, enraptured by his charitableness, frequently
+offered themselves as attendants to minister to the poor in his house,
+but Job always insisted upon paying them for their services. If he was
+asked for a loan of money, to be used for business purposes, and the
+borrower promised to give a part of his profits to the poor, he would
+demand no security beyond a mere signature. And if it happened that by
+some mischance or other the debtor was not able to discharge his
+obligation, Job would return the note to him, or tear it into bits in
+his presence.
+
+He did not rest satisfied at supplying the material needs of those who
+applied to him. He strove also to convey the knowledge of God to them.
+After a meal he was in the habit of having music played upon
+instruments, and then he would invite those present to join him in
+songs of praise to God. On such occasions he did not consider himself
+above playing the cithern while the musicians rested.[10]
+
+Most particularly Job concerned himself about the weal and woe of
+widows and orphans. He was wont to pay visits to the sick, both rich
+and poor, and when it was necessary, he would bring a physician along
+with him. If the case turned out to be hopeless, he would sustain the
+stricken family with advice and consolation. When the wife of the
+incurably sick man began to grieve and weep, he would encourage her
+with such words as these: "Trust always in the grace and lovingkindness
+of God. He hath not abandoned thee until now, and He will not forsake
+thee henceforth. Thy husband will be restored to health, and will be
+able to provide for his family as heretofore. But if—which may God
+forefend—thy husband should die, I call Heaven to witness that I shall
+provide sustenance for thee and thy children." Having spoken thus, he
+would send for a notary, and have him draw up a document, which he
+signed in the presence of witnesses, binding himself to care for the
+family, should it be bereaved of its head. Thus he earned for himself
+the blessing of the sick man and the gratitude of the sorrowing
+wife.[11]
+
+Sometimes, in case of necessity, Job could be severe, too, especially
+when it was a question of helping a poor man obtain his due. If one of
+the parties to a suit cited before his tribunal was known to be a man
+of violence, he would surround himself with his army and inspire him
+with fear, so that the culprit could not but show himself amenable to
+his decision.[12]
+
+He endeavored to inculcate his benevolent ways upon his children, by
+accustoming them to wait upon the poor. On the morrow after a feast he
+would sacrifice bountifully to God, and together with the pieces upon
+the altar his offerings would be divided among the needy. He would say:
+"Take and help yourselves, and pray for my children. It may be that
+they have sinned, and renounced God, saying in the presumption of their
+hearts: 'We are the children of this rich man. All these things are our
+possessions. Why should we be servants to the poor?' "
+
+
+
+
+SATAN AND JOB
+
+
+The happy, God-pleasing life led by Job for many years excited the
+hatred of Satan, who had an old grudge against him. Near Job's house
+there was an idol worshipped by the people. Suddenly doubts assailed
+the heart of Job, and he asked himself: "Is this idol really the
+creator of heaven and earth? How can I find out the truth about it?" In
+the following night he perceived a voice calling: "Jobab! Jobab! Arise,
+and I will tell thee who he is whom thou desirest to know. This one to
+whom the people offer sacrifices is not God, he is the handiwork of the
+tempter, wherewith he deceives men." When he heard the voice, Job threw
+himself on the ground, and said: "O Lord, if this idol is the handiwork
+of the tempter, then grant that I may destroy it. None can hinder me,
+for I am the king of this land."[13]
+
+Job, or, as he is sometimes called, Jobab, was, indeed, king of Edom,
+the land wherein wicked plans are concocted against God, wherefore it
+is called also Uz, "counsel."[14]
+
+The voice continued to speak. It made itself known as that of an
+archangel of God, and revealed to Job that he would bring down the
+enmity of Satan upon himself by the destruction of the idol, and much
+suffering with it. However, if he remained steadfast under them, God
+would change his troubles into joys, his name would become celebrated
+throughout the generations of mankind, and he would have a share in the
+resurrection to eternal life. Job replied to the voice: "Out of love of
+God I am ready to endure all things unto the day of my death. I will
+shrink back from naught." Now Job arose, and accompanied by fifty men
+he repaired to the idol, and destroyed it.
+
+Knowing that Satan would try to approach him, he ordered his guard not
+to give access to any one, and then he withdrew to his chamber. He had
+guessed aright. Satan appeared at once, in the guise of a beggar, and
+demanded speech with Job. The guard executed his orders, and forbade
+his entering. Then the mendicant asked him to intercede for him with
+Job for a piece of bread. Job knew it was Satan, and he sent word to
+him as follows, "Do not expect to eat of my bread, for it is prohibited
+unto thee," at the same time putting a piece of burnt bread into the
+hand of the guard for Satan. The servant was ashamed to give a beggar
+burnt bread, and he substituted a good piece for it. Satan, however,
+knowing that the servant had not executed his master's errand, told him
+so to his face, and he fetched the burnt bread and handed it to him,
+repeating the words of Job. Thereupon Satan returned this answer, "As
+the bread is burnt, so I will disfigure thy body." Job replied: "Do as
+thou desirest, and execute thy plan. As for me, I am ready to suffer
+whatever thou bringest down upon me."
+
+Now Satan betook himself to God, and prayed Him to put Job into his
+power,[15] saying: "I went to and fro in the earth, and walked up and
+down in it, and I saw no man as pious as Abraham. Thou didst promise
+him the whole land of Palestine, and yet he did not take it in ill part
+that he had not so much as a burial-place for Sarah.[16] As for Job, it
+is true, I found none that loveth Thee as he does, but if Thou wilt put
+him into my hand, I shall succeed in turning his heart away from Thee."
+But God spake, "Satan, Satan, what hast thou a mind to do with my
+servant Job, like whom there is none in the earth?" Satan persisted in
+his request touching Job, and God granted it, He gave him full power
+over Job's possessions.[17]
+
+This day of Job's accusation was the New Year's Day, whereon the good
+and the evil deeds of man are brought before God.[18]
+
+
+
+
+JOB'S SUFFERING
+
+
+Equipped with unlimited power, Satan endeavored to deprive Job of all
+he owned. He burnt part of his cattle, and the other part was carried
+off by enemies. What pained Job more than this was that recipients of
+his bounty turned against him, and took of his belongings.[19]
+
+Among the adversaries that assailed him was Lilith, the queen of
+Sheba.[20] She lived at a great distance from his residence, it took
+her and her army three years to travel from her home to his. She fell
+upon his oxen and his asses, and took possession of them, after slaying
+the men to whose care Job had entrusted them. One man escaped alone.
+Wounded and bruised, he had only enough life in him to tell Job the
+tale of his losses, and then he fell down dead. The sheep, which had
+been left unmolested by the queen of Sheba, were taken away by the
+Chaldeans. Job's first intention was to go to war against these
+marauders, but when he was told that some of his property had been
+consumed by fire from heaven, he desisted, and said, "If the heavens
+turn against me, I can do nothing."[21]
+
+Dissatisfied with the result, Satan disguised himself as the king of
+Persia, besieged the city of Job's residence, took it, and spoke to the
+inhabitants, saying: "This man Job hath appropriated all the goods in
+the world, leaving naught for others, and he hath also torn down the
+temple of our god, and now I will pay him back for his wicked deeds.
+Come with me and let us pillage his house." At first the people refused
+to hearken to the words of Satan. They feared that the sons and
+daughters of Job might rise up against them later, and avenge their
+father's wrongs. But after Satan had pulled down the house wherein the
+children of Job were assembled, and they lay dead in the ruins, the
+people did as he bade them, and sacked the house of Job.
+
+Seeing that neither the loss of all he had nor the death of his
+children could change his pious heart, Satan appeared before God a
+second time, and requested that Job himself, his very person, be put
+into his hand. God granted Satan's plea, but he limited his power to
+Job's body, his soul he could not touch.[22] In a sense Satan was worse
+off than Job. He was in the position of the slave that has been ordered
+by his master to break the pitcher and not spill the wine.[23]
+
+Satan now caused a terrific storm to burst over the house of Job. He
+was cast from his throne by the reverberations, and he lay upon the
+floor for three hours. Then Satan smote his body with leprosy from the
+sole of his foot unto his crown. This plague forced Job to leave the
+city, and sit down outside upon an ash-heap,[24] for his lower limbs
+were covered with oozing boils, and the issue flowed out upon the
+ashes. The upper part of his body was encrusted with dry boils, and to
+ease the itching they caused him, he used his nails, until they dropped
+off together with his fingertips, and he took him a potsherd to scrape
+himself withal.[25] His body swarmed with vermin, but if one of the
+little creatures attempted to crawl away from him, he forced it back,
+saying, "Remain on the place whither thou wast sent, until God assigns
+another unto thee."[26] His wife, fearful that he would not bear his
+horrible suffering with steadfastness, advised him to pray to God for
+death, that lie might be sure of going hence an upright man.[27] But he
+rejected her counsel, saying, "If in the days of good fortune, which
+usually tempts men to deny God, I stood firm, and did not rebel against
+Him, surely I shall be able to remain steadfast under misfortune, which
+compels men to be obedient to God."[28] And Job stuck to his resolve in
+spite of all suffering, while his wife was not strong enough to bear
+her fate with resignation to the will of God.
+
+Her lot was bitter, indeed, for she had had to take service as a
+water-carrier with a common churl, and when her master learnt that she
+shared her bread with Job, he dismissed her. To keep her husband from
+starving, she cut off her hair, and purchased bread with it. It was all
+she had to pay the price charged by the bread merchant, none other than
+Satan himself, who wanted to put her to the test. He said to her,
+"Hadst thou not deserved this great misery of thine, it had not come
+upon thee." This speech was more than the poor woman could bear. Then
+it was that she came to her husband, and amid tears and groans urged
+him to renounce God and die. Job, however, was not perturbed by her
+words, because he divined at once that Satan stood behind his wife, and
+seduced her to speak thus. Turning to the tempter, he said: "Why dost
+thou not meet me frankly? Give up thy underhand ways, thou wretch."
+Thereupon Satan appeared before Job, admitted that he had been
+vanquished, and went away abashed.[29]
+
+
+
+
+THE FOUR FRIENDS
+
+
+The friends of Job lived in different places, at intervals of three
+hundred miles one from the other. Nevertheless they all were informed
+of their friend's misfortune at the same time, in this way: Each one
+had the pictures of the others set in his crown, and as soon as any one
+of them met with reverses, it showed itself in his picture. Thus the
+friends of Job learnt simultaneously of his misfortune, and they
+hastened to his assistance.[30]
+
+The four friends were related to one another, and each one was related
+to Job. Eliphaz, king of Teman, was a son of Esau;[31] Bildad, Zophar,
+and Elihu were cousins, their fathers, Shuah, Naamat, and Barachel,
+were the sons of Buz, who was a brother of Job and a nephew of
+Abraham.[32]
+
+When the four friends arrived in the city in which Job lived, the
+inhabitants took them outside the gates, and pointing to a figure
+reclining upon an ash-heap at some distance off, they said, "Yonder is
+Job." At first the friends would not give them credence, and they
+decided to look more closely at the man, to make sure of his identity.
+But the foul smell emanating from Job was so strong that they could not
+come near to him. They ordered their armies to scatter perfumes and
+aromatic substances all around. Only after this had been done for
+hours, they could approach the outcast close enough to recognize him.
+
+Eliphaz was the first to address Job, "Art thou indeed Job, a king
+equal in rank with ourselves?" And when Job said Aye, they broke out
+into lamentations and bitter tears, and all together they sang an
+elegy, the armies of the three kings, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar,
+joining in the choir. Again Eliphaz began to speak, and he bemoaned
+Job's sad fortune, and depicted his friend's former glory, adding the
+refrain to each sentence, "Whither hath departed the splendor of thy
+throne?"
+
+After listening long to the wailing and lamenting of Eliphaz and his
+companions, Job spake, saying: "Silence, and I will show you my throne
+and the splendor of its glory. Kings will perish, rulers disappear,
+their pride and lustre will pass like a shadow across a mirror, but my
+kingdom will persist forever and ever, for glory and magnificence are
+in the chariot of my Father."
+
+These words aroused the wrath of Eliphaz, and he called upon his
+associates to abandon Job to his fate and go their way. But Bildad
+appeased his anger, reminding him that some allowance ought to be made
+for one so sorely tried as Job. Bildad put a number of questions to the
+sufferer in order to establish his sanity. He wanted to elicit from Job
+how it came about that God, upon whom he continued to set his hopes,
+could inflict such dire suffering. Not even a king of flesh and blood
+would allow a guardsman of his that had served him loyally to come to
+grief. Bildad desired to have information from Job also concerning the
+movements of the heavenly bodies.
+
+Job had but one answer to make to these questions: man cannot
+comprehend Divine wisdom, whether it reveal itself in inanimate and
+brute nature or in relation to human beings. "But," continued Job, "to
+prove to you that I am in my right mind, listen to the question I shall
+put to you. Solid food and liquids combine inside of man, and they
+separate again when they leave his body. Who effects the separation?"
+And when Bildad conceded that he could not answer the question, Job
+said, "If thou canst not comprehend the changes in thy body, how canst
+thou hope to comprehend the movements of the planets?"
+
+Zophar, after Job had spoken thus to Bildad, was convinced that his
+suffering had had no effect upon his mind, and he asked him whether he
+would permit himself to be treated by the physicians of the three
+kings, his friends. But Job rejected the offer, saying, "My healing and
+my restoration come from God, the Creator of all physicians."
+
+While the three kings were conversing thus with Job, his wife Zitidos
+made her appearance clad in rags, and she threw herself at the feet of
+her husband's friends, and amid tears she spoke, saying: "O Eliphaz,
+and ye other friends of Job, remember what I was in other days, and how
+I am now changed, coming before you in rags and tatters." The sight of
+the unhappy woman touched them so deeply that they could only weep, and
+not a word could they force out of their mouths. Eliphaz, however, took
+his royal mantle of purple, and laid it about the shoulders of the poor
+woman. Zitidos asked only one favor, that the three kings should order
+their soldiers to clear away the ruins of the building under which her
+children lay entombed, that she might give their remains decent burial.
+The command was issued to the soldiers accordingly, but Job said, "Do
+not put yourselves to trouble for naught. My children will not be
+found, for they are safely bestowed with their Lord and Creator." Again
+his friends were sure that Job was bereft of his senses. He arose,
+however, prayed to God, and at the end of his devotions, he bade his
+friends look eastward, and when they did his bidding, they beheld his
+children next to the Ruler of heaven, with crowns of glory upon their
+heads. Zitidos prostrated herself, and said, "Now I know that my
+memorial resides with the Lord." And she returned to the house of her
+master, whence she had absented herself for some time against his will.
+He had forbidden her to leave it, because he had feared that the three
+kings would take her with them.
+
+In the evening she lay down to sleep next to the manger for the cattle,
+but she never rose again, she died there of exhaustion. The people of
+the city made a great mourning for her, and the elegy composed in her
+honor was set down in writing and recorded.
+
+
+
+
+JOB RESTORED
+
+
+More and more the friends of Job came to the conclusion that he had
+incurred Divine punishment on account of his sins, and as he
+asseverated his innocence again and again, they prepared angrily to
+leave him to his fate. Especially Elihu was animated by Satan to speak
+scurrilous words against Job, upbraiding him for his unshakable
+confidence in God. Then the Lord appeared to them, first unto Job, and
+revealed to him that Elihu was in the wrong, and his words were
+inspired by Satan. Next he appeared unto Eliphaz, and to him He spake
+thus: "Thou and thy friends Bildad and Zophar have committed a sin, for
+ye did not speak the truth concerning my servant Job. Rise up and let
+him bring a sin offering for you. Only for his sake do I refrain from
+destroying you."
+
+The sacrifice offered by Job in behalf of his friends was accepted
+graciously by God, and Eliphaz broke out into a hymn of thanksgiving to
+the Lord for having pardoned the transgression of himself and his two
+friends. At the same time he announced the damnation of Elihu, the
+instrument of Satan.
+
+God appeared to Job once more, and gave him a girdle composed of three
+ribands, and he bade him tie it around his waist. Hardly had he put it
+on when all his pain disappeared, his very recollection of it vanished,
+and, more than this, God made him to see all that ever was and all that
+shall ever be.[33]
+
+After suffering sevenfold pain for seven years[34] Job was restored to
+strength. With his three friends he returned to the city, and the
+inhabitants made a festival in his honor and unto the glory of God. All
+his former friends joined him again, and he resumed his old occupation,
+the care of the poor, for which he obtained the means from the people
+around. He said to them, "Give me, each one of you, a sheep for the
+clothing of the poor, and four silver or gold drachmas for their other
+needs." The Lord blessed Job, and in a few days his wealth had
+increased to double the substance he had owned before misfortune
+overtook him. Zitidos having died during the years of his trials, he
+married a second wife, Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and she bore him
+seven sons and three daughters.[35] He had never had more than one wife
+at a time, for he was wont to say, "If it had been intended that Adam
+should have ten wives, God would have given them to him. Only one wife
+was bestowed upon him, whereby God indicated that he was to have but
+one, and therefore one wife suffices for me, too."[36]
+
+When Job, after a long and happy life, felt his end approaching, he
+gathered his ten children around him, and told them the tale of his
+days. Having finished the narrative, he admonished them in these words:
+"See, I am about to die, and you will stand in my place. Forsake not
+the Lord, be generous toward the poor, treat the feeble with
+consideration, and do not marry with the women of the Gentiles."
+
+Thereupon he divided his possessions among his sons, and to his
+daughters he gave what is more precious than all earthly goods, to each
+of them one riband of the celestial girdle he had received from God.
+The magic virtue of these ribands was such that no sooner did their
+possessors tie them around their waists than they were transformed into
+higher beings, and with seraphic voices they broke out into hymns after
+the manner of the angels.
+
+For three days Job lay upon his bed, sick though not suffering, for the
+celestial girdle made him proof against pain. On the fourth day he saw
+the angels descend to fetch his soul. He arose from his bed, handed a
+cithern to his oldest daughter Jemimah, "Day," a censer to the second
+one, Keziah, "Perfume," and a cymbal to the third, Amaltheas, "Horn,"
+and bade them welcome the angels with the sound of music. They played
+and sang and praised the Lord in the holy tongue. Then he appeared that
+sits in the great chariot, kissed Job, and rode away bearing his soul
+with him eastward. None saw them depart except the three daughters of
+Job.
+
+The grief of the people, especially the poor, the widows, and the
+orphans, was exceeding great. For three days they left the corpse
+unburied, because they could not entertain the thought of separating
+themselves from it.
+
+As the name of Job will remain imperishable unto all time, by reason of
+the man's piety,[37] so his three friends were recompensed by God for
+their sympathy with him in his distress. Their names were preserved,
+the punishment of hell was remitted unto them, and, best of all, God
+poured out the holy spirit over them.[38] But Satan, the cause of Job's
+anguish, the Lord cast down from heaven, for he had been vanquished by
+Job, who amid his agony had thanked and praised God for all He had done
+unto him.[39]
+
+
+
+
+IV
+MOSES IN EGYPT
+
+
+
+
+THE BEGINNING OF THE EGYPTIAN BONDAGE
+
+
+As soon as Jacob was dead, the eyes of the Israelites were closed, as
+well as their hearts. They began to feel the dominion of the
+stranger,[1] although real bondage did not enslave them until some time
+later. While a single one of the sons of Jacob was alive, the Egyptians
+did not venture to approach the Israelites with evil intent. It was
+only when Levi, the last of them, had departed this life that their
+suffering commenced.[2] A change in the relation of the Egyptians
+toward the Israelites had, indeed, been noticeable immediately after
+the death of Joseph, but they did not throw off their mask completely
+until Levi was no more. Then the slavery of the Israelites supervened
+in good earnest.
+
+The first hostile act on the part of the Egyptians was to deprive the
+Israelites of their fields, their vineyards, and the gifts that Joseph
+had sent to his brethren. Not content with these animosities, they
+sought to do them harm in, other ways.[3] The reason for the hatred of
+the Egyptians was envy and fear. The Israelites had increased to a
+miraculous degree. At the death of Jacob the seventy persons he had
+brought down with him bad grown to the number of six hundred
+thousand,[4] and their physical strength and heroism were extraordinary
+and therefore alarming to the Egyptians. There were many occasions at
+that time for the display of prowess. Not long after the death of Levi
+occurred that of the Egyptian king Magron, who had been bred up by
+Joseph, and therefore was not wholly without grateful recollection of
+what he and his family had accomplished for the welfare of Egypt. But
+his son and successor Malol, together with his whole court, knew not
+the sons of Jacob and their achievements, and they did not scruple to
+oppress the Hebrews.
+
+The final breach between them and the Egyptians took place during the
+wars waged by Malol against Zepho, the grandson of Esau. In the course
+of it, the Israelites had saved the Egyptians from a crushing defeat,
+but instead of being grateful they sought only the undoing of their
+benefactors, from fear that the giant strength of the Hebrews might be
+turned against them.[5]
+
+
+
+
+PHARAOH'S CUNNING
+
+
+The counsellors and elders of Egypt came to Pharaoh, and spake unto
+him, saying: "Behold, the people of the children of Israel are greater
+and mightier than we. Thou hast seen their strong power, which they
+have inherited from their fathers, for a few of them stood up against a
+people as many as the sand of the sea, and not one hath fallen. Now,
+therefore, give us counsel what to do with them, until we shall
+gradually destroy them from among us, lest they become too numerous in
+the land, for if they multiply, and there falleth out any war, they
+will also join themselves with their great strength unto our enemies,
+and fight against us, destroy us from the land, and get them up out of
+the land."
+
+The king answered the elders, saying: "This is the plan advised by me
+against Israel, from which we will not depart. Behold, Pithom and
+Raamses are cities not fortified against battle. It behooves us to
+fortify them. Now, go ye and act cunningly against the children of
+Israel, and proclaim in Egypt and in Goshen, saying: 'All ye men of
+Egypt, Goshen, and Pathros! The king has commanded us to build Pithom
+and Raamses and fortify them against battle. Those amongst you in all
+Egypt, of the children of Israel and of all the inhabitants of the
+cities, who are willing to build with us, shall have their wages given
+to them daily at the king's order.'
+
+"Then go ye first, and begin to build Pithom and Raamses, and cause the
+king's proclamation to be made daily, and when some of the children of
+Israel come to build, do ye give them their wages daily, and after they
+shall have built with you for their daily wages, draw yourselves away
+from them day by day, and one by one, in secret. Then you shall rise up
+and become their taskmasters and their officers, and you shall have
+them afterward to build without wages. And should they refuse, then
+force them with all your might to build. If you do this, it will go
+well with us, for we shall cause our land to be fortified after this
+manner, and with the children of Israel it will go ill, for they will
+decrease in number on account of the work, because you will prevent
+them from being with their wives."
+
+The elders, the counsellors, and the whole of Egypt did according to
+the word of the king. For a month the servants of Pharaoh built with
+Israel, then they withdrew themselves gradually, while the children of
+Israel continued to work, receiving their daily wages, for some men of
+Egypt were still carrying on the work with them. After a time all the
+Egyptians had withdrawn, and they had turned to become the officers and
+taskmasters of the Israelites. Then they refrained from giving them any
+pay, and when some of the Hebrews refused to work without wages, their
+taskmasters smote them, and made them return by force to labor with
+their brethren. And the children of Israel were greatly afraid of the
+Egyptians, and they came again and worked without pay, all except the
+tribe of Levi, who were not employed in the work with their brethren.
+The children of Levi knew that the proclamation of the king was made to
+deceive Israel, therefore they refrained from listening to it, and the
+Egyptians did not molest them later, since they had not been with their
+brethren at the beginning, and though the Egyptians embittered the
+lives of the other Israelites with servile labor, they did not disturb
+the children of Levi. The Israelites called Malol, the king of Egypt,
+Maror, "Bitterness," because in his days the Egyptians embittered their
+lives with all manner of rigorous service.[6]
+
+But Pharaoh did not rest satisfied with his proclamation and the
+affliction it imposed upon the Israelites. He suspended a brick-press
+from his own neck, and himself took part in the work at Pithom and
+Raamses. After this, whenever a Hebrew refused to come and help with
+the building, alleging that he was not fit for such hard service, the
+Egyptians would retort, saying, "Dost thou mean to make us believe thou
+art more delicate than Pharaoh?"
+
+The king himself urged the Israelites on with gentle words, saying, "My
+children, I beg you to do this work and erect these little buildings
+for me. I will give you great reward therefor." By means of such
+artifices and wily words the Egyptians succeeded in overmastering the
+Israelites, and once they had them in their power, they treated them
+with undisguised brutality. Women were forced to perform men's work,
+and men women's work.
+
+The building of Pithom and Raamses turned out of no advantage to the
+Egyptians, for scarcely were the structures completed, when they
+collapsed, or they were swallowed by the earth, and the Hebrew workmen,
+besides having to suffer hardships during their erection, lost their
+lives by being precipitated from enormous heights, when the buildings
+fell in a heap.[7]
+
+But the Egyptians were little concerned whether or not they derived
+profit from the forced labor of the children of Israel. Their main
+object was to hinder their increase, and Pharaoh therefore issued an
+order, that they were not to be permitted to sleep at their own homes,
+that so they might be deprived of the opportunity of having intercourse
+with their wives. The officers executed the will of the king, telling
+the Hebrews that the reason was the loss of too much time in going to
+and fro, which would prevent them from completing the required tale of
+bricks. Thus the Hebrew husbands were kept apart from their wives, and
+they were compelled to sleep on the ground, away from their
+habitations.
+
+But God spake, saying: "Unto their father Abraham I gave the promise,
+that I would make his children to be as numerous as the stars in the
+heavens, and you contrive plans to prevent them from multiplying. We
+shall see whose word will stand, Mine or yours." And it came to pass
+that the more the Egyptians afflicted them, the more they multiplied,
+and the more they spread abroad.[8] And they continued to increase in
+spite of Pharaoh's command, that those who did not complete the
+required tale of bricks were to be immured in the buildings between the
+layers of bricks, and great was the number of the Israelites that lost
+their lives in this way.[9] Many of their children were, besides,
+slaughtered as sacrifices to the idols of the Egyptians. For this
+reason God visited retribution upon the idols at the time of the going
+forth of the Israelites from Egypt. They had caused the death of the
+Hebrew children, and in turn they were shattered, and they crumbled
+into dust."
+
+
+
+
+THE PIOUS MIDWIVES
+
+
+When now, in spite of all their tribulations, the children of Israel
+continued to multiply and spread abroad, so that the land was full of
+them as with thick underbrush—for the women brought forth many children
+at a birth[11]—the Egyptians appeared before Pharaoh again, and urged
+him to devise some other way of ridding the land of the Hebrews, seeing
+that they were increasing mightily, though they were made to toil and
+labor hard. Pharaoh could invent no new design; he asked his
+counsellors to give him their opinion of the thing. Then spake one of
+them, Job of the land of Uz, which is in Aram-naharaim, as follows:
+"The plan which the king invented, of putting a great burden of work
+upon the Israelites, was good in its time, and it should be executed
+henceforth, too, but to secure us against the fear that, if a war
+should come to pass, they may overwhelm us by reason of their numbers,
+and chase us forth out of the land, let the king issue a decree, that
+every male child of the Israelites shall be killed at his birth. Then
+we need not be afraid of them if we should be overtaken by war. Now let
+the king summon the Hebrew midwives, that they come hither, and let him
+command them in accordance with this plan."
+
+Job's advice found favor in the eyes of Pharaoh and the Egyptians."
+They preferred to have the midwives murder the innocents, for they
+feared the punishment of God if they laid hands upon them themselves.
+Pharaoh cited the two midwives of the Hebrews before him, and commanded
+them to slay all men children, but to save the daughters of the Hebrew
+women alive," for the Egyptians were as much interested in preserving
+the female children as in bringing about the death of the male
+children. They were very sensual, and were desirous of having as many
+women as possible at their service."
+
+However, the plan, even if it had been carried into execution, was not
+wise, for though a man may marry many wives, each woman can marry but
+one husband. Thus a diminished number of men and a corresponding
+increase in the number of women did not constitute so serious a menace
+to the continuance of the nation of the Israelites as the reverse case
+would have been.
+
+The two Hebrew midwives were Jochebed, the mother of Moses, and Miriam,
+his sister. When they appeared before Pharaoh, Miriam exclaimed: "Woe
+be to this man when God visits retribution upon him for his evil
+deeds." The king would have killed her for these audacious words, had
+not Jochebed allayed his wrath by saying: "Why dost thou pay heed to
+her words? She is but a child, and knows not what she speaks." Yet,
+although Miriam was but five years old at the time, she nevertheless
+accompanied her mother, and helped her with her offices to the Hebrew
+women, giving food to the new-born babes while Jochebed washed and
+bathed them.
+
+Pharaoh's order ran as follows: "At the birth of the child, if it be a
+man child, kill it; but if it be a female child, then you need not kill
+it, but you may save it alive." The midwives returned: "How are we to
+know whether the child is male or female?" for the king had bidden them
+kill it while it was being born. Pharaoh replied: "If the child issues
+forth from the womb with its face foremost, it is a man child, for it
+looks to the earth, whence man was taken; but if its feet appear first,
+it is a female, for it looks up toward the rib of the mother, and from
+a rib woman was made."[15]
+
+The king used all sorts of devices to render the midwives amenable to
+his wishes. He approached them with amorous proposals, which they both
+repelled, and then he threatened them with death by fire.[16] But they
+said within themselves: "Our father Abraham opened an inn, that he
+might feed the wayfarers, though they were heathen, and we should
+neglect the children, nay, kill them? No, we shall have a care to keep
+them alive." Thus they failed to execute what Pharaoh had commanded.
+Instead of murdering the babes, they supplied all their needs. If a
+mother that had given birth to a child lacked food and drink, the
+midwives went to well-to-do women, and took up a collection, that the
+infant might not suffer want. They did still more for the little ones.
+They made supplication to God, praying: "Thou knowest that we are not
+fulfilling the words of Pharaoh, but it is our aim to fulfil Thy words.
+O that it be Thy will, our Lord, to let the child come into the world
+safe and sound, lest we fall under the suspicion that we tried to slay
+it, and maimed it in the attempt." The Lord hearkened to their prayer,
+and no child born under the ministrations of Shiphrah and Puah, or
+Jochebed and Miriam, as the midwives are also called, came into the
+world lame or blind or afflicted with any other blemish.[17]
+
+Seeing that his command was ineffectual, he summoned the midwives a
+second time, and called them to account for their disobedience. They
+replied: "This nation is compared unto one animal and another, and, in
+sooth, the Hebrews are like the animals. As little as the animals do
+they need the offices of midwives."[18] These two God-fearing women
+were rewarded in many ways for their good deeds. Not only that Pharaoh
+did them no harm, but they were made the ancestors of priests and
+Levites, and kings and princes. Jochebed became the mother of the
+priest Aaron and of the Levite Moses, and from Miriam's union with
+Caleb sprang the royal house of David. The hand of God was visible in
+her married life. She contracted a grievous sickness, and though it was
+thought by all that saw her that death would certainly overtake her,
+she recovered, and God restored her youth, and bestowed unusual beauty
+upon her, so that renewed happiness awaited her husband, who had been
+deprived of the pleasures of conjugal life during her long illness. His
+unexpected joys were the reward of his piety and trust in God.[19] And
+another recompense was accorded to Miriam: she was privileged to bring
+forth Bezalel, the builder of the Tabernacle, who was endowed with
+celestial wisdom.[20]
+
+
+
+
+THE THREE COUNSELLORS
+
+
+In the one hundred and thirtieth year after Israel's going down to
+Egypt Pharaoh dreamed that he was sitting upon his throne, and he
+lifted up his eyes, and he beheld an old man before him with a balance
+in his hand, and he saw him taking all the elders, nobles, and great
+men of Egypt, tying them together, and laying them in one scale of the
+balance, while he put a tender kid into the other. The kid bore down
+the pan in which it lay until it hung lower than the other with the
+bound Egyptians. Pharaoh arose early in the morning, and called
+together all his servants and his wise men to interpret his dream, and
+the men were greatly afraid on account of his vision. Balaam the son of
+Beor then spake, and said: "This means nothing but that a great evil
+will spring up against Egypt, for a son will be born unto Israel, who
+will destroy the whole of our land and all its inhabitants, and he will
+bring forth the Israelites from Egypt with a mighty hand. Now,
+therefore, O king, take counsel as to this matter, that the hope of
+Israel be frustrated before this evil arise against Egypt."
+
+The king said unto Balaam: "What shall we do unto Israel? We have tried
+several devices against this people, but we could not prevail over it.
+Now let me hear thy opinion."
+
+At Balaam's instance, the king sent for his two counsellors, Reuel the
+Midianite and Job the Uzite, to hear their advice. Reuel spoke: "If it
+seemeth good to the king, let him desist from the Hebrews, and let him
+not stretch forth his hand against them, for the Lord chose them in
+days of old, and took them as the lot of His inheritance from amongst
+all the nations of the earth, and who is there that hath dared stretch
+forth his hand against them with impunity, but that their God avenged
+the evil done unto them?" Reuel then proceeded to enumerate some of the
+mighty things God had performed for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and he
+closed his admonition with the words: "Verily, thy grandfather, the
+Pharaoh of former days, raised Joseph the son of Jacob above all the
+princes of Egypt, because he discerned his wisdom, for through his
+wisdom he rescued all the inhabitants of the land from the famine,
+after which he invited Jacob and his sons to come down to Egypt, that
+the land of Egypt and the land of Goshen be delivered from the famine
+through their virtues. Now, therefore, if it seem good in thine eyes,
+leave off from destroying the children of Israel, and if it be not thy
+will that they dwell in Egypt, send them forth from here, that they may
+go to the land of Canaan, the land wherein their ancestors sojourned."
+
+When Pharaoh heard the words of Jethro-Reuel, he was exceedingly wroth
+with him, and he was dismissed in disgrace from before the king, and he
+went to Midian.
+
+The king then spoke to Job, and said: "What sayest thou, Job, and what
+is thy advice respecting the Hebrews?" Job replied: "Behold, all the
+inhabitants of the land are in thy power. Let the king do as seemeth
+good in his eyes."
+
+Balaam was the last to speak at the behest of the king, and he said:
+"From all that the king may devise against the Hebrews, they will be
+delivered. If thou thinkest to diminish them by the flaming fire, thou
+wilt not prevail over them, for their God delivered Abraham their
+father from the furnace in which the Chaldeans cast him. Perhaps thou
+thinkest to destroy them with a sword, but their father Isaac was
+delivered from being slaughtered by the sword. And if thou thinkest to
+reduce them through hard and rigorous labor, thou wilt also not
+prevail, for their father Jacob served Laban in all manner of hard
+work, and yet he prospered. If it please the king, let him order all
+the male children that shall be born in Israel from this day forward to
+be thrown into the water. Thereby canst thou wipe out their name, for
+neither any of them nor any of their fathers was tried in this way.[21]
+
+
+
+
+THE SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS
+
+
+Balaam's advice was accepted by Pharaoh and the Egyptians. They knew
+that God pays measure for measure, therefore they believed that the
+drowning of the men children would be the safest means of exterminating
+the Hebrews, without incurring harm themselves, for the Lord had sworn
+unto Noah never again to destroy the world by water. Thus, they
+assumed, they would be exempt from punishment, wherein they were wrong,
+however. In the first place, though the Lord had sworn not to bring a
+flood upon men, there was nothing in the way of bringing men into a
+flood. Furthermore, the oath of God applied to the whole of mankind,
+not to a single nation. The end of the Egyptians was that they met
+their death in the billows of the Red Sea. "Measure for measure"—as
+they had drowned the men children of the Israelites, so they were
+drowned.[22]
+
+Pharaoh now took steps looking to the faithful execution of his decree.
+He sent his bailiffs into the houses of the Israelites, to discover all
+new-born children, wherever they might be. To make sure that the
+Hebrews should not succeed in keeping the children hidden, the
+Egyptians hatched a devilish plan. Their women were to take their
+little ones to the houses of the Israelitish women that were suspected
+of having infants. When the Egyptian children began to cry or coo, the
+Hebrew children that were kept in hiding would join in, after the
+manner of babies, and betray their presence, whereupon the Egyptians
+would seize them and bear them off.[23]
+
+Furthermore, Pharaoh commanded that the Israelitish women employ none
+but Egyptian midwives, who were to secure precise information as to the
+time of their delivery, and were to exercise great care, and let no
+male child escape their vigilance alive. If there should be parents
+that evaded the command, and preserved a new-born boy in secret, they
+and all belonging to them were to be killed.[24]
+
+Is it to be wondered at, then, that many of the Hebrews kept themselves
+away from their wives? Nevertheless those who put trust in God were not
+forsaken by Him. The women that remained united with their husbands
+would go out into the field when their time of delivery arrived, and
+give birth to their children and leave them there, while they
+themselves returned home. The Lord, who had sworn unto their ancestors
+to multiply them, sent one of His angels to wash the babes, anoint
+them, stretch their limbs, and swathe them. Then he would give them two
+smooth pebbles, from one of which they sucked milk, and from the other
+honey. And God caused the hair of the infants to grow down to their
+knees and serve them as a protecting garment, and then He ordered the
+earth to receive the babes, that they be sheltered therein until the
+time of their growing up, when it would open its mouth and vomit forth
+the children, and they would sprout up like the herb of the field and
+the grass of the forest. Thereafter each would return to his family and
+the house of his father.
+
+When the Egyptians saw this, they went forth, every man to his field,
+with his yoke of oxen, and they ploughed up the earth as one ploughs it
+at seed time. Yet they were unable to do harm to the infants of the
+children of Israel that had been swallowed up and lay in the bosom of
+the earth. Thus the people of Israel increased and waxed exceedingly.
+And Pharaoh ordered his officers to go to Goshen, to look for the male
+babes of the children of Israel, and when they discovered one, they
+tore him from his mother's breast by force, and thrust him into the
+river." But no one is so valiant as to be able to foil God's purposes,
+though he contrive ten thousand subtle devices unto that end. The child
+foretold by Pharaoh's dreams and by his astrologers was brought up and
+kept concealed from the king's spies. It came to pass after the
+following manner.[26]
+
+
+
+
+THE PARENTS OF MOSES
+
+
+When Pharaoh's proclamation was issued, decreeing that the men children
+of the Hebrews were to be cast into the river, Amram, who was the
+president of the Sanhedrin, decided that in the circumstances it was
+best for husbands to live altogether separate from their wives. He set
+the example. He divorced his wife, and all the men of Israel did
+likewise,[27] for he occupied a place of great consideration among his
+people, one reason being that he belonged to the tribe of Levi, the
+tribe that was faithful to its God even in the land of Egypt, though
+the other tribes wavered in their allegiance, and attempted to ally
+themselves with the Egyptians, going so far as to give up Abraham's
+sign of the covenant.[28] To chastise the Hebrews for their impiety,
+God turned the love of the Egyptians for them into hatred, so that they
+resolved upon their destruction. Mindful of all that he and his people
+owed to Joseph's wise rule, Pharaoh refused at first to entertain the
+malicious plans proposed by the Egyptians against the Hebrews. He spoke
+to his people, "You fools, we are indebted to these Hebrews for
+whatever we enjoy, and you desire now to rise up against them?" But the
+Egyptians could not be turned aside from their purpose of ruining
+Israel. They deposed their king, and incarcerated him for three months,
+until he declared himself ready to execute with determination what they
+had resolved upon, and he sought to bring about the ruin of the
+children of Israel by every conceivable means. Such was the retribution
+they had drawn down upon themselves by their own acts.[29]
+
+As for Amram, not only did he belong to the tribe of Levi,
+distinguished for its piety, but by reason of his extraordinary piety
+he was prominent even among the pious of the tribe. He was one of the
+four who were immaculate, untainted by sin, over whom death would have
+had no power, had mortality not been decreed against every single human
+being on account of the fall of the first man and woman. The other
+three that led the same sinless life were Benjamin, Jesse the father of
+David, and Chileab the son of David.[30] If the Shekinah was drawn
+close again to the dwelling-place of mortals, it was due to Amram's
+piety. Originally the real residence of the Shekinah was among men, but
+when Adam committed his sin, she withdrew to heaven, at first to the
+lowest of the seven heavens. Thence she was banished by Cain's crime,
+and she retired to the second heaven. The sins of the generation of
+Enoch removed her still farther off from men, she took up her abode in
+the third heaven; then, successively, in the fourth, on account of the
+malefactors in the generation of the deluge; in the fifth, during the
+building of the tower of Babel and the confusion of tongues; in the
+sixth, by reason of the wicked Egyptians at the time of Abraham; and,
+finally, in the seventh, in consequence of the abominations of the
+inhabitants of Sodom. Six righteous men, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Levi,
+Kohath, and Amram, drew the Shekinah back, one by one, from the seventh
+to the first heaven, and through the seventh righteous man, Moses, she
+was made to descend to the earth and abide among men as aforetime.[31]
+
+Amram's sagacity kept pace with his piety and his learning. The
+Egyptians succeeded in enslaving the Hebrews by seductive promises. At
+first they gave them a shekel for every brick they made, tempting them
+to superhuman efforts by the prospect of earning much money. Later,
+when the Egyptians forced them to work without wages, they insisted
+upon having as many bricks as the Hebrews had made when their labor was
+paid for, but they could demand only a single brick daily from Amram,
+for he had been the only one whom they had not led astray by their
+artifice. He had been satisfied with a single shekel daily, and had
+therefore made only a single brick daily, which they had to accept
+afterward as the measure of his day's work.[32]
+
+As his life partner, Amram chose his aunt Jochebed, who was born the
+same day with him.[33] She was the daughter of Levi, and she owed her
+name, "Divine Splendor," to the celestial light that radiated from her
+countenance.[34] She was worthy of being her husband's helpmeet, for
+she was one of the midwives that had imperilled their own lives to
+rescue the little Hebrew babes. Indeed, if God had not allowed a
+miracle to happen, she and her daughter Miriam would have been killed
+by Pharaoh for having resisted his orders and saved the Hebrew children
+alive. When the king sent his hangmen for the two women, God caused
+them to become invisible, and the bailiffs bad to return without
+accomplishing their errand.[35]
+
+The first child of the union between Amram and Jochebed, his wife, who
+was one hundred and twenty-six years old at the time of her marriage,
+was a girl, and the mother called her Miriam, "Bitterness," for it was
+at the time of her birth that the Egyptians began to envenom the life
+of the Hebrews. The second child was a boy, called Aaron, which means,
+"Woe unto this pregnancy!" because Pharaoh's instructions to the
+midwives, to kill the male children of the Hebrews, was proclaimed
+during the months before Aaron's birth.[36]
+
+
+
+
+THE BIRTH OF MOSES
+
+
+When Amram separated from his wife on account of the edict published
+against the male children of the Hebrews, and his example was followed
+by all the Israelites, his daughter Miriam said to him: "Father, thy
+decree is worse than Pharaoh's decree. The Egyptians aim to destroy
+only the male children, but thou includest the girls as well. Pharaoh
+deprives his victims of life in this world, but thou preventest
+children from being born, and thus thou deprivest them of the future
+life, too. He resolves destruction, but who knows whether the intention
+of the wicked can persist? Thou art a righteous man, and the enactments
+of the righteous are executed by God, hence thy decree will be upheld."
+
+Amram recognized the justice of her plea, and he repaired to the
+Sanhedrin, and put the matter before this body. The members of the
+court spoke, and said: "It was thou that didst separate husbands and
+wives, and from thee should go forth the permission for re-marriage."
+Amram then made the proposition that each of the members of the
+Sanhedrin return to his wife, and wed her clandestinely, but his
+colleagues repudiated the plan, saying, "And who will make it known
+unto the whole of Israel? "
+
+Accordingly, Amram stood publicly under the wedding canopy with his
+divorced wife Jochebed, while Aaron and Miriam danced about it, and the
+angels proclaimed, "Let the mother of children be joyful!" His
+re-marriage was solemnized with great ceremony, to the end that the men
+that bad followed his example in divorcing their wives might imitate
+him now in taking them again unto themselves. And so it happened.[37]
+
+Old as Jochebed was, she regained her youth. Her skin became soft, the
+wrinkles in her face disappeared, the warm tints of maiden beauty
+returned, and in a short time she became pregnant.[38]
+
+Amram was very uneasy about his wife's being with child; he knew not
+what to do. He turned to God in prayer, and entreated Him to have
+compassion upon those who had in no wise transgressed the laws of His
+worship, and afford them deliverance from the misery they endured,
+while He rendered abortive the hope of their enemies, who yearned for
+the destruction of their nation. God had mercy on him, and He stood by
+him in his sleep, and exhorted him not to despair of His future favors.
+He said further, that He did not forget their piety, and He would
+always reward them for it, as He had granted His favor in other days
+unto their forefathers. "Know, therefore," the Lord continued to speak,
+"that I shall provide for you all together what is for your good, and
+for thee in particular that which shall make thee celebrated; for the
+child out of dread of whose nativity the Egyptians have doomed the
+Israelite children to destruction, shall be this child of thine, and be
+shall remain concealed from those who watch to destroy him, and when he
+has been bred up, in a miraculous way, he shall deliver the Hebrew
+nation from the distress they are under by reason of the Egyptians. His
+memory shall be celebrated while the world lasts, and not only among
+the Hebrews, but among strangers also. And all this shall be the effect
+of My favor toward thee and thy posterity. Also his brother shall be
+such that he shall obtain My priesthood for himself, and for his
+posterity after him, unto the end of the world."
+
+After he had been informed of these things by the vision, Amram awoke,
+and told all unto his wife Jochebed.[39]
+
+His daughter Miriam likewise had a prophetic dream, and she related it
+unto her parents, saying: "In this night I saw a man clothed in fine
+linen. 'Tell thy father and thy mother,' he said, 'that he who shall be
+born unto them, shall be cast into the waters, and through him the
+waters shall become dry, and wonders and miracles shall be performed
+through him, and he shall save My people Israel, and be their leader
+forever.' "[40]
+
+During her pregnancy, Jochebed observed that the child in her womb was
+destined for great things. All the time she suffered no pain, and also
+she suffered none in giving birth to her son, for pious women are not
+included in the curse pronounced upon Eve, decreeing sorrow in
+conception and in childbearing.[41]
+
+At the moment of the child's appearance, the whole house was filled
+with radiance equal to the splendor of the sun and the moon.[42] A
+still greater miracle followed. The infant was not yet a day old when
+he began to walk and speak with his parents, and as though he were an
+adult, he refused to drink milk from his mother's breast.[43]
+
+Jochebed gave birth to the child six months after conception. The
+Egyptian bailiffs, who kept strict watch over all pregnant women in
+order to be on the spot in time to carry off their new-born boys, had
+not expected her delivery for three months more. These three months the
+parents succeeded in keeping the babe concealed, though every
+Israelitish house was guarded by two Egyptian women, one stationed
+within and one without.[44] At the end of this time they determined to
+expose the child, for Amram was afraid that both he and his son would
+be devoted to death if the secret leaked out, and he thought it better
+to entrust the child's fate to Divine Providence. He was convinced that
+God would protect the boy, and fulfil His word in truth.[45]
+
+
+
+
+MOSES RESCUED FROM THE WATER
+
+
+Jochebed accordingly took an ark fashioned of bulrushes, daubed it with
+pitch on the outside, and lined it with clay within. The reason she
+used bulrushes was because they float on the surface of the water, and
+she put pitch only on the outside, to protect the child as much as
+possible against the annoyance of a disagreeable odor. Over the child
+as it lay in the ark she spread a tiny canopy, to shade the babe, with
+the words, "Perhaps I shall not live to see him under the marriage
+canopy." And then she abandoned the ark on the shores of the Red Sea.
+Yet it was not left unguarded. Her daughter Miriam stayed near by, to
+discover whether a prophecy she had uttered would be fulfilled. Before
+the child's birth, his sister had foretold that her mother would bring
+forth a son that should redeem Israel. When he was born, and the house
+was filled with brilliant light, Amram kissed her on her head, but when
+he was forced into the expedient of exposing the child, he beat her on
+her head, saying, "My daughter, what hath become of thy prophecy?"
+Therefore Miriam stayed, and strolled along the shore, to observe what
+would be the fate of the babe, and what would come of her prophecy
+concerning him.[46]
+
+The day the child was exposed was the twenty-first of the month of
+Nisan, the same on which the children of Israel later, under the
+leadership of Moses, sang the song of praise and gratitude to God for
+the redemption from the waters of the sea. The angels appeared before
+God, and spoke: "O Lord of the world, shall he that is appointed to
+sing a song of praise unto Thee on this day of Nisan, to thank Thee for
+rescuing him and his people from the sea, shall he find his death in
+the sea to-day?" The Lord replied: "Ye know well that I see all things.
+The contriving of man can do naught to change what bath been resolved
+in My counsel. Those do not attain their end who use cunning and malice
+to secure their own safety, and endeavor to bring ruin upon their
+fellow-men. But he who trusts Me in his peril will be conveyed from
+profoundest distress to unlooked-for happiness. Thus My omnipotence
+will reveal itself in the fortunes of this babe.[47]
+
+At the time of the child's abandonment, God sent scorching heat to
+plague the Egyptians, and they all suffered with leprosy and smarting
+boils. Thermutis, the daughter of Pharaoh, sought relief from the
+burning pain in a bath in the waters of the Nile.[48] But physical
+discomfort was not her only reason for leaving her father's palace. She
+was determined to cleanse herself as well of the impurity of the idol
+worship that prevailed there.
+
+When she saw the little ark floating among the flags on the surface of
+the water, she supposed it to contain one of the little children
+exposed at her father's order, and she commanded her handmaids to fetch
+it. But they protested, saying, "O our mistress, it happens sometimes
+that a decree issued by a king is unheeded, yet it is observed at least
+by his children and the members of his household, and dost thou desire
+to transgress thy father's edict?" Forthwith the angel Gabriel
+appeared, seized all the maids except one, whom he permitted the
+princess to retain for her service, and buried them in the bowels of
+the earth.
+
+Pharaoh's daughter now proceeded to do her own will. She stretched
+forth her arm, and although the ark was swimming at a distance of sixty
+ells, she succeeded in grasping it, because her arm was lengthened
+miraculously. No sooner had she touched it than the leprosy afflicting
+her departed from her. Her sudden restoration led her to examine the
+contents of the ark,[49] and when she opened it, her amazement was
+great. She beheld an exquisitely beautiful boy, for God bad fashioned
+the Hebrew babe's body with peculiar care,[50] and beside it she
+perceived the Shekinah. Noticing that the boy bore the sign of the
+Abrahamic covenant, she knew that he was one of the Hebrew children,
+and mindful of her father's decree concerning the male children of the
+Israelites, she was about to abandon the babe to his fate. At that
+moment the angel Gabriel came and gave the child a vigorous blow, and
+he began to cry aloud, with a voice like a young man's. His vehement
+weeping and the weeping of Aaron, who was lying beside him, touched the
+princess, and in her pity she resolved to save him. She ordered an
+Egyptian woman to be brought, to nurse the child, but the little one
+refused to take milk from her breast, as he refused to take it from one
+after the other of the Egyptian women fetched thither. Thus it had been
+ordained by God, that none of them might boast later on, and say, "I
+suckled him that holds converse now with the Shekinah." Nor was the
+mouth destined to speak with God to draw nourishment from the unclean
+body of an Egyptian woman.
+
+Now Miriam stepped into the presence of Thermutis, as though she had
+been standing there by chance to look at the child,[51] and she spoke
+to the princess, saying, "It is vain for thee, O queen, to call for
+nurses that are in no wise of kin to the child, but if thou wilt order
+a woman of the Hebrews to be brought, he may accept her breast, seeing
+that she is of his own nation." Thermutis therefore bade Miriam fetch a
+Hebrew woman, and with winged steps, speeding like a vigorous youth,
+she hastened and brought back her own mother, the child's mother, for
+she knew that none present was acquainted with her. The babe,
+unresisting, took his mother's breast, and clutched it tightly.[52] The
+princess committed the child to Jochebed's care, saying these words,
+which contained an unconscious divination: "Here is what is thine."
+Nurse the boy henceforth, and I will give thee two silver pieces as thy
+wages.[54]
+
+The return of her son, safe and sound, after she had exposed him, was
+Jochebed's reward from God for her services as one of the midwives that
+had bidden defiance to Pharaoh's command and saved the Hebrew children
+alive.[55]
+
+By exposing their son to danger, Amram and Jochebed had effected the
+withdrawal of Pharaoh's command enjoining the extermination of the
+Hebrew men children. The day Moses was set adrift in the little ark,
+the astrologers had come to Pharaoh and told him the glad tidings, that
+the danger threatening the Egyptians on account of one boy, whose doom
+lay in the water, had now been averted. Thereupon Pharaoh cried a halt
+to the drowning of the boys of his empire. The astrologers had seen
+something, but they knew not what, and they announced a message, the
+import of which they did not comprehend. Water was, indeed, the doom of
+Moses, but that did not mean that he would perish in the waters of the
+Nile. It had reference to the waters of Meribah, the waters of strife,
+and how they would cause his death in the desert, before he had
+completed his task of leading the people into the promised land.
+Pharaoh, misled by the obscure vision of his astrologers, thought that
+the future redeemer of Israel was to lose his life by drowning, and to
+make sure that the boy whose appearance was foretold by the astrologers
+might not escape his fate, he had ordered all boys, even the children
+of the Egyptians, born during a period of nine months to be cast into
+the water.
+
+On account of the merits of Moses, the six hundred thousand men
+children of the Hebrews begotten in the same night with him, and thrown
+into the water on the same day, were rescued miraculously together with
+him, and it was therefore not an idle boast, if he said later, "The
+people that went forth out of the water on account of my merits are six
+hundred thousand men."[56]
+
+
+
+
+THE INFANCY OF MOSES
+
+
+For two years the child rescued by Pharaoh's daughter stayed with his
+parents and kindred. They gave him various names. His father called him
+Heber, because it was for this child's sake that he had been "reunited"
+with his wife. His mother's name for him was Jekuthiel, "because," she
+said, "I set my hope upon God, and He gave him back to me." To his
+sister Miriam he was Jered, because she had "descended" to the stream
+to ascertain his fate. His brother Aaron called him Abi Zanoah, because
+his father, who had "cast off" his mother, had taken her back for the
+sake of the child to be born. His grandfather Kohath knew him as Abi
+Gedor, because the Heavenly Father had "built up" the breach in Israel,
+when He rescued him, and thus restrained the Egyptians from throwing
+the Hebrew men children into the water. His nurse called him Abi Soco,
+because he had been kept concealed in a "tent" for three months,
+escaping the pursuit of the Egyptians. And Israel called him Shemaiah
+ben Nethanel, because in his day God would "hear" the sighs of the
+people, and deliver them from their oppressors, and through him would
+He "give" them His own law.[57]
+
+His kindred and all Israel knew that the child was destined for great
+things, for he was barely four months old when he began to prophesy,
+saying, "In days to come I shall receive the Torah from the flaming
+torch."[58]
+
+When Jochebed took the child to the palace at the end of two years,
+Pharaoh's daughter called him Moses, because she had "drawn" him out of
+the water, and because he would "draw" the children of Israel out of
+the land of Egypt in a day to come.[59] And this was the only name
+whereby God called the son of Amram, the name conferred upon him by
+Pharaoh's daughter. He said to the princess: "Moses was not thy child,
+yet thou didst treat him as such. For this I will call thee My
+daughter, though thou art not My daughter," and therefore the princess,
+the daughter of Pharaoh, bears the name Bithiah, "the daughter of God."
+She married Caleb later on, and he was a suitable husband for her. As
+she stood up against her father's wicked counsels, so Caleb stood up
+against the counsel of his fellow-messengers sent to spy out the land
+of Canaan.[60] For rescuing Moses and for her other pious deeds, she
+was permitted to enter Paradise alive.[61]
+
+That Moses might receive the treatment at court usually accorded to a
+prince, Bithiah pretended that she was with child for some time before
+she had him fetched away from his parents' house." His royal
+foster-mother caressed and kissed him constantly, and on account of his
+extraordinary beauty she would not permit him ever to quit the palace.
+Whoever set eyes on him, could not leave off from looking at him,
+wherefore Bithiah feared to allow him out of her sight.[63]
+
+Moses' understanding was far beyond his years; his instructors observed
+that he disclosed keener comprehension than is usual at his age. All
+his actions in his infancy promised greater ones after he should come
+to man's estate, and when he was but three years old, God granted him
+remarkable size. As for his beauty, it was so attractive that
+frequently those meeting him as he was carried along on the road were
+obliged to turn and stare at him. They would leave what they were
+about, and stand still a great while, looking after him, for the
+loveliness of the child was so wondrous that it held the gaze of the
+spectator. The daughter of Pharaoh, perceiving Moses to be an
+extraordinary lad, adopted him as her son, for she had no child of her
+own. She informed her father of her intention concerning him, in these
+words: "I have brought up a child, who is divine in form and of an
+excellent mind, and as I received him through the bounty of the river
+in a wonderful way, I have thought it proper to adopt him as my son and
+as the heir of thy kingdom." And when she had spoken thus, she put the
+infant between her father's hands, and he took him and hugged him close
+to his breast.[64]
+
+
+
+
+MOSES RESCUED BY GABRIEL
+
+
+When Moses was in his third year, Pharaoh was dining one day, with the
+queen Alfar'anit at his right hand, his daughter Bithiah with the
+infant Moses upon her lap at his left, and Balaam the son of Beor
+together with his two sons and all the princes of the realm sitting at
+table in the king's presence. It happened that the infant took the
+crown from off the king's head, and placed it on his own. When the king
+and the princes saw this, they were terrified, and each one in turn
+expressed his astonishment. The king said unto the princes, "What speak
+you, and what say you, O ye princes, on this matter, and what is to be
+done to this Hebrew boy on account of this act?"
+
+Balaam spoke, saying: "Remember now, O my lord and king, the dream
+which thou didst dream many days ago, and how thy servant interpreted
+it unto thee. Now this is a child of the Hebrews in whom is the spirit
+of God. Let not my lord the king imagine in his heart that being a
+child he did the thing without knowledge. For he is a Hebrew boy, and
+wisdom and understanding are with him, although he is yet a child, and
+with wisdom has he done this, and chosen unto himself the kingdom of
+Egypt. For this is the manner of all the Hebrews, to deceive kings and
+their magnates, to do all things cunningly in order to make the kings
+of the earth and their men to stumble.
+
+"Surely thou knowest that Abraham their father acted thus, who made the
+armies of Nimrod king of Babel and of Abimelech king of Gerar to
+stumble, and he possessed himself of the land of the children of Heth
+and the whole realm of Canaan. Their father Abraham went down into
+Egypt, and said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister, in order to make
+Egypt and its king to stumble.
+
+"His son Isaac did likewise when he went to Gerar, and he dwelt there,
+and his strength prevailed over the army of Abimelech, and he intended
+to make the kingdom of the Philistines to stumble, by saying that
+Rebekah his wife was his sister.
+
+"Jacob also dealt treacherously with his brother, and took his
+birthright and his blessing from him. Then he went to Paddan-aram, to
+Laban, his mother's brother, and he obtained his daughters from him
+cunningly, and also his cattle and all his belongings, and he fled away
+and returned to the land of Canaan, to his father.
+
+"His sons sold their brother Joseph, and he went down into Egypt and
+became a slave, and he was put into prison for twelve years, until the
+former Pharaoh delivered him from the prison, and magnified him above
+all the princes of Egypt on account of his interpreting the king's
+dreams. When God caused a famine to descend upon the whole world,
+Joseph sent for his father, and he brought him down into Egypt his
+father, his brethren, and all his father's household, and he supplied
+them with food without pay or reward, while he acquired Egypt, and made
+slaves of all its inhabitants.
+
+"Now, therefore, my lord king, behold, this child has risen up in their
+stead in Egypt, to do according to their deeds and make sport of every
+man, be he king, prince, or judge. If it please the king, let us now
+spill his blood upon the ground, lest he grow up and snatch the
+government from thine hand, and the hope of Egypt be cut off after he
+reigns. Let us, moreover, call for all the judges and the wise men of
+Egypt, that we may know whether the judgment of death be due to this
+child, as I have said, and then we will slay him."
+
+Pharaoh sent and called for all the wise men of Egypt, and they came,
+and the angel Gabriel was disguised as one of them. When they were
+asked their opinion in the matter, Gabriel spoke up, and said: "If it
+please the king, let him place an onyx stone before the child, and a
+coal of fire, and if he stretches out his hand and grasps the onyx
+stone, then shall we know that the child hath done with wisdom all that
+he bath done, and we will slay him. But if he stretches out his hand
+and grasps the coal of fire, then shall we know that it was not with
+consciousness that he did the thing, and he shall live."
+
+The counsel seemed good in the eyes of the king, and when they had
+placed the stone and the coal before the child, Moses stretched forth
+his hand toward the onyx stone and attempted to seize it, but the angel
+Gabriel guided his hand away from it and placed it upon the live coal,
+and the coal burnt the child's hand, and he lifted it up and touched it
+to his mouth, and burnt part of his lips and part of his tongue, and
+for all his life he became slow of speech and of a slow tongue.
+
+Seeing this, the king and the princes knew that Moses had not acted
+with knowledge in taking the crown from off the king's head, and they
+refrained from slaying him.[65] God Himself, who protected Moses,
+turned the king's mind to grace, and his foster-mother snatched him
+away, and she had him educated with great care, so that the Hebrews
+depended upon him, and cherished the hope that great things would be
+done by him. But the Egyptians were suspicious of what would follow
+from such an education as his.[66]
+
+At great cost teachers were invited to come to Egypt from neighboring
+lands, to educate the child Moses. Some came of their own accord, to
+instruct him in the sciences and the liberal arts. By reason of his
+admirable endowments of mind, he soon excelled his teachers in
+knowledge. His learning seemed a process of mere recollecting, and when
+there was a difference of opinion among scholars, he selected the
+correct one instinctively, for his mind refused to store up anything
+that was false.[67]
+
+But he deserves more praise for his unusual strength of will than for
+his natural capacity, for he succeeded in transforming an originally
+evil disposition into a noble, exalted character, a change that was
+farther aided by his resolution, as he himself acknowledged later.
+After the wonderful exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, a king of
+Arabia sent an artist to Moses, to paint his portrait, that he might
+always have the likeness of the divine man before him. The painter
+returned with his handiwork, and the king assembled his wise men, those
+in particular who were conversant with the science of physiognomy. He
+displayed the portrait before them, and invited their judgment upon it.
+The unanimous opinion was that it represented a man covetous, haughty,
+sensual, in short, disfigured by all possible ugly traits. The king was
+indignant that they should pretend to be masters in physiognomy, seeing
+that they declared the picture of Moses, the holy, divine man, to be
+the picture of a villain. They defended themselves by accusing the
+painter in turn of not having produced a true portrait of Moses, else
+they would not have fallen into the erroneous judgment they had
+expressed. But the artist insisted that his work resembled the original
+closely.
+
+Unable to decide who was right, the Arabian king went to see Moses, and
+he could not but admit that the portrait painted for him was a
+masterpiece. Moses as he beheld him in the flesh was the Moses upon the
+canvas. There could be no doubt but that the highly extolled knowledge
+of his physiognomy experts was empty twaddle. He told Moses what had
+happened, and what he thought of it. He replied: "Thy artist and thy
+experts alike are masters, each in his line. If my fine qualities were
+a product of nature, I were no better than a log of wood, which remains
+forever as nature produced it at the first. Unashamed I make the
+confession to thee that by nature I possessed all the reprehensible
+traits thy wise men read in my picture and ascribed to me, perhaps to a
+greater degree even than they think. But I mastered my evil impulses
+with my strong will, and the character I acquired through severe
+discipline has become the opposite of the disposition with which I was
+born. Through this change, wrought in me by my own efforts, I have
+earned honor and commendation upon earth as well as in heaven."[68]
+
+
+
+
+THE YOUTH OF MOSES
+
+
+One day—it was after he was grown up, and had passed beyond the years
+of childhood—Moses went to the land of Goshen, in which lived the
+children of Israel. There he saw the burdens under which his people
+were groaning, and he inquired why the heavy service had been put upon
+them. The Israelites told him all that had befallen, told him of the
+cruel edict Pharaoh had issued shortly before his birth, and told him
+of the wicked counsels given by Balaam against themselves as well as
+against his person when he was but a little boy and had set Pharaoh's
+crown upon his head. The wrath of Moses was kindled against the
+spiteful adviser, and he tried to think out means of rendering him
+harmless. But Balaam, getting wind of his ill-feeling, fled from Egypt
+with his two sons, and betook himself to the court of Kikanos king of
+Ethiopia.[69]
+
+The sight of his enslaved people touched Moses unto tears, and he
+spoke, saying: "Woe unto me for your anguish! Rather would I die than
+see you suffer so grievously." He did not disdain to help his
+unfortunate brethren at their heavy tasks as much as lay in his power.
+He dismissed all thought of his high station at court, shouldered a
+share of the burdens put upon the Israelites, and toiled in their
+place. The result was that he not only gave relief to the heavily-laden
+workmen, but he also gained the favor of Pharaoh, who believed that
+Moses was taking part in the labor in order to promote the execution of
+the royal order. And God said unto Moses: "Thou didst relinquish all
+thy other occupations, and didst join thyself unto the children of
+Israel, whom thou dost treat as brethren; therefore will I, too, put
+aside now all heavenly and earthly affairs, and hold converse with
+thee."[70]
+
+Moses continued to do all he could to alleviate the suffering of his
+brethren to the best of his ability. He addressed encouraging words to
+them, saying: "My dear brethren, bear your lot with fortitude! Do not
+lose courage, and let not your spirit grow weary with the weariness of
+your body. Better times will come, when tribulation shall be changed
+into joy. Clouds are followed by sunshine, storms by calm, all things
+in the world tend toward their opposites, and nothing is more
+inconstant than the fortunes of man."[71]
+
+The royal favor, which the king accorded him in ever- increasing
+measure, he made use of to lighten the burden laid upon the children of
+Israel. One day he came into the presence of Pharaoh, and said: "O my
+lord, I have a request to make of thee, and my hope is that thou wilt
+not deny it." "Speak," replied the king. "It is an admitted fact," said
+Moses, "that if a slave is not afforded rest at least one day in the
+week, he will die of overexertion. Thy Hebrew slaves will surely
+perish, unless thou accordest them a day of cessation from work."
+Pharaoh fulfilled the petition preferred by Moses, and the king's edict
+was published in the whole of Egypt and in Goshen, as follows: "To the
+sons of Israel! Thus saith the king: Do your work and perform your
+service for six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; on it ye
+shall do no labor. Thus shall ye do unto all times, according to the
+command of the king and the command of Moses the son of Bithiah." And
+the day appointed by Moses as the day of rest was Saturday, later given
+by God to the Israelites as the Sabbath day.[72]
+
+While Moses abode in Goshen, an incident of great importance occurred.
+To superintend the service of the children of Israel, an officer from
+among them was set over every ten, and ten such officers were under the
+surveillance of an Egyptian taskmaster. One of these Hebrew officers,
+Dathan by name, had a wife, Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the
+tribe of Dan, who was of extraordinary beauty, but inclined to be very
+loquacious. Whenever the Egyptian taskmaster set over her husband came
+to their house on business connected with his office, she would
+approach him pleasantly and enter into conversation with him. The
+beautiful Israelitish woman enkindled a mad passion in his breast, and
+he sought and found a cunning way of satisfying his lustful desire. One
+day he appeared at break of dawn at the house of Dathan, roused him
+from his sleep, and ordered him to hurry his detachment of men to their
+work. The husband scarcely out of sight, he executed the villainy he
+had planned, and dishonored the woman, and the fruit of this illicit
+relation was the blasphemer of the Name whom Moses ordered to execution
+on the march through the desert.
+
+At the moment when the Egyptian slipped out of Shelomith's chamber,
+Dathan returned home. Vexed that his crime had come to the knowledge of
+the injured husband, the taskmaster goaded him on to work with
+excessive vigor, and dealt him blow after blow with the intention to
+kill him.[73] Young Moses happened to visit the place at which the
+much-abused and tortured Hebrew was at work. Dathan hastened toward
+him, and complained of all the wrong and suffering the Egyptian had
+inflicted upon him.[74] Full of wrath, Moses, whom the holy spirit had
+acquainted with the injury done the Hebrew officer by the Egyptian
+taskmaster, cried out to the latter, saying: "Not enough that thou hast
+dishonored this man's wife, thou aimest to kill him, too?" And turning
+to God, he spoke further: "What will become of Thy promise to Abraham,
+that his posterity shall be as numerous as the stars, if his children
+are given over to death? And what will become of the revelation on
+Sinai, if the children of Israel are exterminated?"
+
+Moses wanted to see if someone would step forward, and, impelled by
+zeal for the cause of God and for God's law, would declare himself
+ready to avenge the outrage. He waited in vain. Then he determined to
+act himself. Naturally enough he hesitated to take the life of a human
+being. He did not know whether the evil-doer might not be brought to
+repentance, and then lead a life of pious endeavor. He also considered,
+that there would perhaps be some among the descendants to spring from
+the Egyptian for whose sake their wicked ancestor might rightfully lay
+claim to clemency. The holy spirit allayed all his doubts. He was made
+to see that not the slightest hope existed that good would come either
+from the malefactor himself or from any of his offspring. Then Moses
+was willing to requite him for his evil deeds. Nevertheless he first
+consulted the angels, to hear what they had to say, and they agreed
+that the Egyptian deserved death, and Moses acted according to their
+opinion.
+
+Neither physical strength nor a weapon was needed to carry out his
+purpose. He merely pronounced the Name of God, and the Egyptian was a
+corpse. To the bystanders, the Israelites, Moses said: "The Lord
+compared you unto the sand of the sea-shore, and as the sand moves
+noiselessly from place to place, so I pray you to keep the knowledge of
+what hath happened a secret within yourselves. Let nothing be heard
+concerning it."
+
+The wish expressed by Moses was not honored. The slaying of the
+Egyptian remained no secret, and those who betrayed it were Israelites,
+Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Pallu, of the tribe of Reuben, notorious
+for their effrontery and contentiousness. The day after the thing with
+the Egyptians happened, the two brothers began of malice aforethought
+to scuffle with each other, only in order to draw Moses into the
+quarrel and create an occasion for his betrayal. The plan succeeded
+admirably. Seeing Dathan raise his hand against Abiram, to deal him a
+blow, Moses exclaimed, "O thou art a villain, to lift up thy hand
+against an Israelite, even if he is no better than thou." Dathan
+replied: "Young man, who hath made thee to be a judge over us, thou
+that hast not yet attained to years of maturity? We know very well that
+thou art the son of Jochebed, though people call thee the son of the
+princess Bithiah, and if thou shouldst attempt to play the part of our
+master and judge, we will publish abroad the thing thou didst unto the
+Egyptian. Or, peradventure, thou harborest the intention to slay us as
+thou didst slay him, by pronouncing the Name of God?"
+
+Not satisfied with these taunts, the noble pair of brothers betook
+themselves to Pharaoh, and spoke before him, "Moses dishonoreth thy
+royal mantle and thy crown," to which Pharaoh returned, saying, "Much
+good may it do him!" But they pursued the subject. "He helps thine
+enemies, Pharaoh," they continued, whereupon he replied, as before,
+"Much good may it do him!" Still they went on, "He is not the son of
+thy daughter." These last words did not fail of making an impression
+upon Pharaoh.[75] A royal command was issued for the arrest of Moses,
+and he was condemned to death by the sword.
+
+The angels came to God, and said, "Moses, the familiar of Thine house,
+is held under restraint," and God replied, "I will espouse his cause."
+"But," the angels urged, "his verdict of death has been pronounced—yes,
+they are leading him to execution," and again God made reply, as
+before, "I will espouse his cause."
+
+Moses mounted the scaffold, and a sword, sharp beyond compare, was set
+upon his neck ten times, but it always slipped away, because his neck
+was as hard as ivory. And a still greater miracle came to pass. God
+sent down the angel Michael, in the guise of a hangman, and the human
+hangman charged by Pharaoh with the execution was changed into the form
+of Moses. This spurious Moses the angel killed with the very sword with
+which the executioner had purposed to slay the intended victim.
+Meantime Moses took to flight. Pharaoh ordered his pursuit, but it was
+in vain. The king's troops were partly stricken with blindness partly
+with dumbness. The dumb could give no information about the
+abiding-place of Moses, and the blind, though they knew where it was,
+could not get to it.[76]
+
+
+
+
+THE FLIGHT
+
+
+An angel of God took Moses to a spot removed forty days' journey from
+Egypt, so far off that all fear was banished from his mind.[77] Indeed,
+his anxiety had never been for his own person, but only on account of
+the future of Israel. The subjugation of his people had always been an
+unsolved enigma to him. Why should Israel, he would ask himself, suffer
+more than all the other nations? But when his personal straits
+initiated him in the talebearing and back- biting that prevailed among
+the Israelites, then he asked himself, Does this people deserve to be
+redeemed?[78] The religious conditions among the children of Israel
+were of such kind at that time as not to permit them to hope for Divine
+assistance. They refused to give ear to Aaron and the five sons of
+Zerah, who worked among them as prophets, and admonished them unto the
+fear of God. It was on account of their impiety that the heavy hand of
+Pharaoh rested upon them more and more oppressively, until God had
+mercy upon them, and sent Moses to deliver them from the slavery of
+Egypt.[79]
+
+When he succeeded in effecting his escape from the hands of the
+hangman, Moses had no idea that a royal throne awaited him. It was
+nevertheless so. A war broke out at this time between Ethiopia and the
+nations of the East that had been subject to it until then. Kikanos,
+the king, advanced against the enemy with a great army. He left Balaam
+and Balaam's two sons, Jannes and Jambres, behind, to keep guard over
+his capital and take charge of the people remaining at home. The
+absence of the king gave Balaam the opportunity of winning his subjects
+over to his side, and he was put upon the throne, and his two sons were
+set over the army as generals. To cut Kikanos off from his capital,
+Balaam and his sons invested the city, so that none could enter it
+against their will. On two sides they made the walls higher, on the
+third they dug a network of canals, into which they conducted the
+waters of the river girding the whole land of Ethiopia, and on the
+fourth side their magic arts collected a large swarm of snakes and
+scorpions. Thus none could depart, and none could enter.
+
+Meantime Kikanos succeeded in subjugating the rebellious nations. When
+he returned at the head of his victorious army, and espied the high
+city wall from afar, he and his men said: "The inhabitants of the city,
+seeing that the war detained us abroad for a long time, have raised the
+walls and fortified them, that the kings of Canaan may not be able to
+enter." On approaching the city gates, which were barred, they cried
+out to the guards to open them, but by Balaam's instructions they were
+not permitted to pass through. A skirmish ensued, in which Kikanos lost
+one hundred and thirty men. On the morrow the combat was continued, the
+king with his troops being stationed on the thither bank of the river.
+This day he lost his thirty riders, who, mounted on their steeds, had
+attempted to swim the stream. Then the king ordered rafts to be
+constructed for the transporting of his men. When the vessels reached
+the canals, they were submerged, and the waters, swirling round and
+round as though driven by mill wheels, swept away two hundred men,
+twenty from each raft. On the third day they set about assaulting the
+city from the side on which the snakes and scorpions swarmed, but they
+failed to reach it, and the reptiles killed one hundred and seventy
+men. The king desisted from attacking the city, but for the space of
+nine years he surrounded it, so that none could come out or go in.
+
+While the siege was in progress, Moses appeared in the king's camp on
+his flight before Pharaoh, and at once found favor with Kikanos and his
+whole army. He exercised an attraction upon all that saw him, for he
+was slender like a palm-tree, his countenance shone as the morning sun,
+and his strength was equal to a lion's. So deep was the king's
+affection for him that he appointed him to be commander-in-chief of his
+forces.
+
+At the end of the nine years Kikanos fell a prey to a mortal disease,
+and he died on the seventh day of his illness. His servants embalmed
+him, buried him opposite to the city gate toward the land of Egypt, and
+over his grave they erected a magnificent structure, strong and high,
+upon the walls whereof they engraved all the mighty deeds and battles
+of the dead king.
+
+Now, after the death of Kikanos, his men were greatly grieved on
+account of the war. One said unto the other, "Counsel us, what shall we
+do at this time? We have been abiding in the wilderness, away from our
+homes, for nine years. If we fight against the city, many of us will
+fall dead; and if we remain here besieging it, we shall also die. For
+now all the princes of Aram and of the children of the East will hear
+that our king is dead, and they will attack us suddenly, and they will
+fight with us until not a remnant will be left. Now, therefore, let us
+go and set a king over us, and we will remain here besieging the city
+until it surrenders unto us."
+
+
+
+
+THE KING OF ETHIOPIA
+
+
+They could find none except Moses fit to be their king. They hastened
+and stripped off each man his upper garment, and cast them all in a
+heap upon the ground, making a high place, on top of which they set
+Moses. Then they blew with trumpets, and called out before him: "Long
+live the king! Long live the king!" And all the people and the nobles
+swore unto him to give him Adoniah for wife, the Ethiopian queen, the
+widow of Kikanos. And they made Moses king over them on that day.
+
+They also issued a proclamation, commanding every man to give Moses of
+what he possessed, and upon the high place they spread a sheet, wherein
+each one cast something, this one a gold nose ring, that one a coin,
+and onyx stones, bdellium, pearls, gold, and silver in great abundance.
+
+Moses was twenty-seven years old when he became king over Ethiopia, and
+he reigned for forty years. On the seventh day of his reign, all the
+people assembled and came before him, to ask his counsel as to what was
+to be done to the city they were besieging. The king answered them, and
+said: "If you will hearken to my words, the city will be delivered into
+our hands. Proclaim with a loud voice throughout the whole camp, unto
+all the people, saying: 'Thus saith the king! Go to the forest and
+fetch hither of the young of the stork, each man one fledgling in his
+hand. And if there be any man that transgresseth the word of the king,
+not to bring a bird, he shall die, and the king shall take all
+belonging to him.' And when you have brought them, they shall be in
+your keeping. You shall rear them until they grow up, and you shall
+teach them to fly as the hawk flieth."
+
+All the people did according to the word of Moses, and after the young
+storks had grown to full size, he ordered them to be starved for three
+days. On the third day the king said unto them, "Let every man put on
+his armor and gird his sword upon him. Each one shall mount his horse,
+and each shall set his stork upon his hand, and we will rise up and
+fight against the city opposite to the place of the serpents."
+
+When they came to the appointed spot, the king said to them, "Let each
+man send forth his young stork, to descend upon the serpents." Thus
+they did, and the birds swooped down and devoured all the reptiles and
+destroyed them. After the serpents were removed in this way, the men
+fought against the city, subdued it, and killed all its inhabitants,
+but of the people besieging it there died not one.
+
+When Balaam saw that the city had fallen into the hands of the
+besiegers, he exercised his magic arts, which enabled him to fly
+through the air, and he carried with him his two sons, Jannes and
+Jambres, and his eight brothers, and they all took refuge in Egypt.
+
+Seeing that they had been saved by the king, and the city had been
+taken by his good counsel, the people became more than ever attached to
+him. They set the royal crown upon his head, and gave him Adoniah, the
+widow of Kikanos to wife. But Moses feared the stern God of his
+fathers, and he went not in unto Adoniah, nor did he turn his eyes
+toward her, for he remembered how Abraham had made his servant Eliezer
+swear, saying unto him, "Thou shalt not take a wife for my son of the
+daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell." He also remembered
+what Isaac did when Jacob fled before his brother Esau, how he
+commanded his son, saying, "Thou shalt not take a wife from the
+daughters of Canaan, nor ally thyself by marriage with any of the
+children of Ham, for the Lord our God gave Ham the son of Noah and all
+his seed as slaves to the children of Shem and Japheth forever."
+
+At that time Aram and the children of the East heard that Kikanos the
+king of Ethiopia had died, and they rose up against the Ethiopians, but
+Moses went forth with a mighty army to fight against the rebellious
+nations, and he subdued them, first the children of the East and then
+Aram.
+
+Moses continued to prosper in his kingdom. He conducted the government
+in justice, righteousness, and integrity, and his people loved and
+feared him.
+
+In the fortieth year of his reign, while he was sitting upon his throne
+one day, surrounded by all the nobles, Adoniah the queen, who was
+seated before him, rose up, and spake: "What is this thing which you,
+the people of Ethiopia, have done these many days? Surely you know that
+during the forty years this man bath reigned over you, he hath not
+approached me, nor hath he worshipped the gods of Ethiopia. Now,
+therefore, let this man reign over you no more, for he is not of our
+flesh. Behold, Monarchos my son is grown up, let him reign over you. It
+is better for you to serve the son of your lord than a stranger, a
+slave of the king of Egypt."
+
+A whole day the people and the nobles contended with one another,
+whether to pay heed to the words of the queen. The officers of the army
+remained faithful to Moses, but the people of the cities were in favor
+of crowning the son of their former lord as king. The following morning
+they rose up and made Monarchos, the son of Kikanos, king over them,
+but they were afraid to stretch forth their hand against Moses, for the
+Lord was with him. They also remembered the oath they had sworn unto
+Moses, and therefore they did him no harm. Moreover, they gave many
+presents to him, and dismissed him with great honor.
+
+When Moses left Ethiopia, in the sixty-seventh year of his age, it was
+the time appointed by God in the days of old to bring Israel forth from
+the affliction of the children of Ham. But fearing to return to Egypt
+on account of Pharaoh, Moses journeyed to Midian.[80]
+
+
+
+
+JETHRO
+
+
+In the city of Midian, named thus for a son of Abraham by Keturah,[81]
+the man Jethro had lived for many years, doing a priest's service
+before the idols. As time went on, he grew more and more convinced of
+the vanity of idol worship. His priesthood became repugnant to him, and
+he resolved to give up his, charge. He stood before his townsmen, and
+said, "Until now I performed your service before the idols, but I have
+grown too old for the duties of the office. Choose, therefore, whomever
+you would choose in my place." Speaking thus, he delivered to the
+people all the paraphernalia appertaining to the idol worship, and bade
+them transfer them to the one to whom in their discretion they should
+entrust his position. Suspecting Jethro's hidden motives, the people
+put him under the ban, and none might venture to do him the slightest
+service. Not even would the shepherds pasture his flocks, and there was
+nothing for him to do but impose this work upon his seven
+daughters.[82]
+
+Jethro's transformation from an idolatrous priest into a God-fearing
+man is conveyed by his seven names. He was called Jether, because the
+Torah contains an "additional" section about him; Jethro, he
+"overflowed" with good deeds. Hobab, "the beloved son of God"; Reuel,
+"the friend of God"; Heber, "the associate of God"; Putiel, "he that
+hath renounced idolatry"; and Keni, he that was "zealous" for God, and
+"acquired" the Torah.[83]
+
+In consequence of the hostile relation between Jethro and the
+inhabitants of the city, his daughters were in the habit of making
+their appearance at the watering troughs before the other shepherds
+came thither. But the ruse was not successful. The shepherds would
+drive them away, and water their own flocks at the troughs that the
+maidens had filled. When Moses arrived in Midian, it was at the well
+that he made halt, and his experience was the same as Isaac's and
+Jacob's. Like them he found his helpmeet there. Rebekah had been
+selected by Eliezer as the wife of Isaac, while she was busy drawing
+water for him; Jacob had seen Rachel first, while she was watering her
+sheep, and at this well in Midian Moses met his future wife Zipporah.
+
+The rudeness of the shepherds reached its climax the very day of Moses'
+arrival. First they deprived the maidens of the water they had drawn
+for themselves, and attempted to do violence to them, and then they
+threw them into the water with intent to kill them. At this moment
+Moses appeared, dragged the maidens out of the water, and gave the
+flocks to drink, first Jethro's and then the flocks of the shep- herds,
+though the latter did not deserve his good offices. True, he did them
+the service with but little trouble to himself, for he had only to draw
+a bucketful, and the water flowed so copiously that it sufficed for all
+the herds,[84] and it did not cease to flow until Moses withdrew from
+the well,[85] —the same well at which Jacob had met Rachel, his future
+wife, and the same well that God created at the beginning of the world,
+the opening of which He made in the twilight of the first Sabbath
+eve.[86]
+
+Jethro's daughters thanked Moses for the assistance he had afforded
+them. But Moses warded off their gratitude, saying, "Your thanks are
+due to the Egyptian I killed, on account of whom I had to flee from
+Egypt. Had it not been for him, I should not be here now."[87]
+
+
+
+
+MOSES MARRIES ZIPPORAH
+
+
+One of the seven maidens whom Moses saw at the well attracted his
+notice in particular on account of her modest demeanor, and he made her
+a proposal of marriage. But Zipporah repulsed him, saying, "My father
+has a tree in his garden with which he tests every man that expresses a
+desire to marry one of his daughters, and as soon as the suitor touches
+the tree, he is devoured by it."
+
+Moses: "Whence has he the tree?"
+
+Zipporah: "It is the rod that the Holy One, blessed be He, created in
+the twilight of the first Sabbath eve, and gave to Adam. He transmitted
+it to Enoch, from him it descended to Noah, then to Shem, and Abraham,
+and Isaac, and finally to Jacob, who brought it with him to Egypt, and
+gave it to his son Joseph. When Joseph died, the Egyptians pillaged his
+house, and the rod, which was in their booty, they brought to Pharaoh's
+palace. At that time my father was one of the most prominent of the
+king's sacred scribes, and as such he had the opportunity of seeing the
+rod. He felt a great desire to possess it, and he stole it and took it
+to his house. On this rod the Ineffable Name is graven, and also the
+ten plagues that God will cause to visit the Egyptians in a future day.
+For many years it lay in my father's house. One day he was walking in
+his garden carrying it, and he stuck it in the ground. When he
+attempted to draw it out again, he found that it had sprouted, and was
+putting forth blossoms. That is the rod with which he tries any that
+desire to marry his daughters. He insists that our suitors shall
+attempt to pull it out of the ground, but as soon as they touch it, it
+devours them."
+
+Having given him this account of her father's rod, Zipporah went home,
+accompanied by her sisters, and Moses followed them.[88]
+
+Jethro was not a little amazed to see his daughters return so soon from
+the watering troughs. As a rule, the chicanery they had to suffer from
+the shepherds detained them until late.[89] No sooner had he heard
+their report about the wonder- working Egyptian than he exclaimed,
+"Mayhap he is one of the descendants of Abraham, from whom issueth
+blessing for the whole world."[90] He rebuked his daughters for not
+having invited the stranger that had done them so valuable a service to
+come into their house, and he ordered them to fetch him, in the hope
+that he would take one of his daughters to wife.[91]
+
+Moses had been standing without all this time, and had allowed Jethro's
+daughters to describe him as an Egyptian, without protesting and
+asserting his Hebrew birth. For this God punished him by causing him to
+die outside of the promised land. Joseph, who had proclaimed in public
+that he was a Hebrew, found his last resting-place in the land of the
+Hebrews, and Moses, who apparently had no objection to being considered
+an Egyptian, had to live and die outside of that land.[92]
+
+Zipporah hastened forth to execute her father's wish, and no sooner had
+she ushered him in[93] than Moses requested her hand in marriage.
+Jethro replied, "If thou canst bring me the rod in my garden, I will
+give her to thee." Moses went out,[94] found the sapphire rod that God
+had bestowed upon Adam when he was driven forth from Paradise, the rod
+that had reached Jethro after manifold vicissitudes, and which he had
+planted in the garden. Moses uprooted it and carried it to Jethro,[95]
+who conceived the idea at once that he was the prophet in Israel
+concerning whom all the wise men of Egypt had foretold that he would
+destroy their land and its inhabitants. As soon as this thought struck
+him, he seized Moses, and threw him into a pit, in the expectation that
+he would meet with death there.
+
+And, indeed, he would have perished, if Zipporah had not devised a
+stratagem to save his life. She said to her father: "Would it were thy
+will to hearken unto my counsel. Thou hast no wife, but only seven
+daughters. Dost thou desire my six sisters to preside over thy
+household? Then shall I go abroad with the sheep. If not, let my
+sisters tend the flocks, and I shall take care of the house." Her
+father said: "Thou hast spoken well. Thy six sisters shall go forth
+with the sheep, and thou shalt abide in the house and take care of it,
+and all that belongeth to me therein."
+
+Now Zipporah could provide Moses with all sorts of dainties as he lay
+in the pit, and she did it for the space of seven years. At the
+expiration of this period, she said to her father: "I recollect that
+once upon a time thou didst cast into yonder pit a man that had fetched
+thy rod from the garden for thee, and thou didst commit a great
+trespass thereby. If it seemeth well to thee, uncover the pit and look
+into it. If the man is dead, throw his corpse away, lest it fill the
+house with stench. But should he be alive, then thou oughtest to be
+convinced that he is one of those who are wholly pious, else he had
+died of hunger."
+
+The reply of Jethro was: "Thou hast spoken wisely. Dost thou remember
+his name?" And Zipporah rejoined, "I remember he called himself Moses
+the son of Amram." Jethro lost no time, he opened the pit, and called
+out, "Moses! Moses!" Moses replied, and said: "Here am I!" Jethro drew
+him up out of the pit, kissed him, and said: "Blessed be God, who
+guarded thee for seven years in the pit. I acknowledge that He slayeth
+and reviveth, that thou art one of the wholly pious, that through thee
+God will destroy Egypt in time to come, lead His people out of the
+land, and drown Pharaoh and his whole army in the sea."[96]
+
+Thereupon Jethro gave much money to Moses, and he bestowed his daughter
+Zipporah upon him as wife, giving her to him under the condition that
+the children born of the marriage in Jethro's house should be divided
+into two equal classes, the one to be Israelitish, the other Egyptian.
+When Zipporah bore him a son, Moses circumcised him,[97] and called him
+Gershom, as a memorial of the wonder God had done for him, for although
+he lived in a "strange" land, the Lord had not refused him aid even
+"there."[98]
+
+Zipporah nursed her first child for two years, and in the third year
+she bore a second son. Remembering his compact with Jethro, Moses
+realized that his father-in-law would not permit him to circumcise this
+one, too, and he determined to return to Egypt, that he might have the
+opportunity of bringing up his second son as an Israelite. On the
+journey thither, Satan appeared to him in the guise of a serpent, and
+swallowed Moses down to his extremities. Zipporah knew by this token
+that the thing had happened because her second son had not been
+circumcised, and she hastened to make good the omission. As soon as she
+sprinkled the blood of the circumcision on her husband's feet, a
+heavenly voice was heard to cry to the serpent, commanding him, "Spew
+him out!" and Moses came forth and stood upon his feet. Thus Zipporah
+saved Moses' life twice, first from the pit and then from the
+serpent.[99]
+
+When Moses arrived in Egypt, he was approached by Dathan and Abiram,
+the leaders of the Israelites, and they spake: "Comest thou hither to
+slay us, or dost thou purpose to do the same with us as thou didst with
+the Egyptian?" This drove Moses straightway back to Midian, and there
+he remained two years more, until God revealed Himself at Horeb, and
+said to him, "Go and bring forth My children out of the land of
+Egypt.[100]
+
+
+
+
+A BLOODY REMEDY
+
+
+The latter years of Israel's bondage in Egypt were the worst. To punish
+Pharaoh for his cruelty toward the children of Israel, God afflicted
+him with a plague of leprosy, which covered his whole body, from the
+crown of his bead to the soles of his feet. Instead of being chastened
+by his disease, Pharaoh remained stiffnecked, and he tried to restore
+his health by murdering Israelitish children. He took counsel with his
+three advisers, Balaam, Jethro, and Job, how he might be healed of the
+awful malady that had seized upon him. Balaam spoke, saying, "Thou
+canst regain thy health only if thou wilt slaughter Israelitish
+children and bathe in their blood." Jethro, averse from having a share
+in such an atrocity, left the king and fled to Midian. Job, on the
+other hand, though he also disapproved of Balaam's counsel, kept
+silence, and in no wise protested against it,[101] wherefor God
+punished him with a year's suffering.[102] But afterward He loaded him
+down with all the felicities of this life, and granted him many years,
+so that this pious Gentile might be rewarded in this world for his good
+deeds and not have the right to urge a claim upon the beatitude of the
+future life.[103]
+
+In pursuance of the sanguinary advice given by Balaam, Pharaoh had his
+bailiffs snatch Israelitish babes from their mothers' breasts, and
+slaughter them, and in the blood of these innocents he bathed. His
+disease afflicted him for ten years, and every day an Israelitish child
+was killed for him. It was all in vain; indeed, at the end of the time
+his leprosy changed into boils, and he suffered more than before.
+
+While he was in this agony, the report was brought to him that the
+children of Israel in Goshen were careless and idle in their forced
+labor. The news aggravated his suffering, and he said: "Now that I am
+ill, they turn and scoff at me. Harness my chariot, and I will betake
+myself to Goshen, and see the derision wherewith the children of Israel
+deride me." And they took and put him upon a horse, for he was not able
+to mount it himself. When he and his men had come to the border between
+Egypt and Goshen, the king's steed passed into a narrow place. The
+other horses, running rapidly through the pass, pressed upon each other
+until the king's horse fell while he sate upon it, and when it fell,
+the chariot turned over on his face, and also the horse lay upon him.
+The king's flesh was torn from him, for this thing was from the Lord,
+He had heard the cries of His people and their affliction. The king's
+servants carried him upon their shoulders, brought him back to Egypt,
+and placed him on his bed.
+
+He knew that his end was come to die, and the queen Alfar'anit and his
+nobles gathered about his bed, and they wept a great weeping with him.
+
+The princes and his counsellors advised the king to make choice of a
+successor, to reign in his stead, whomsoever he would choose from among
+his sons. He had three sons and two daughters by the queen Alfar'anit,
+beside children from concubines. The name of his first-born was Atro,
+the name of the second Adikam, and of the third Moryon. The name of the
+older daughter was Bithiah, and of the other, Akuzit. The first-born of
+the sons of the king was an idiot, precipitate and heedless in all his
+actions. Adikam, the second son, was a cunning and clever man, and
+versed in all the wisdom of Egypt, but ungainly in appearance, fleshy
+and short of stature; his height was a cubit and a space, and his beard
+flowed down to his ankles.
+
+The king resolved that Adikam should reign in his stead after his
+death. When this second son of his was but ten years old, he had given
+him Gedidah, the daughter of Abilat, to wife, and she bore him four
+sons. Afterward Adikam went and took three other wives, and begot eight
+sons and three daughters.
+
+The king's malady increased upon him greatly, and his flesh emitted a
+stench like a carcass cast into the field in summer time in the heat of
+the sun. When he saw that his disorder bad seized upon him with a
+strong grip, he commanded his son Adikam to be brought to him, and they
+made him king over the land in his place.
+
+At the end of three years the old king died in shame and disgrace, a
+loathing to all that saw him, and they buried him in the sepulchre of
+the kings of Egypt in Zoan, but they did not embalm him, as was usual
+with kings, for his flesh was putrid, and they could not approach his
+body on account of the stench, and they buried him in haste. Thus the
+Lord requited him with evil for the evil he had done in his days to
+Israel, and he died in terror and shame after having reigned
+ninety-four years.
+
+Adikam was twenty years old when he succeeded his father, and he
+reigned four years. The people of Egypt called him Pharaoh, as was
+their custom with all their kings, but his wise men called him Akuz,
+for Akuz is the word for "short" in the Egyptian language, and Adikam
+was exceedingly awkward and undersized. The new Pharaoh surpassed his
+father Malol and all the former kings in wickedness, and he made
+heavier the yoke upon the children of Israel. He went to Goshen with
+his servants, and increased their labor, and he said unto them,
+"Complete your work, each day's task, and let not your hands slacken
+from the work from this day forward, as you did in the day of my
+father." He placed officers over them from amongst the children of
+Israel, and over these officers he placed taskmasters from amongst his
+servants. And he put before them a measure for bricks, according to the
+number they were to make day by day, and whenever any deficiency was
+discovered in the measure of their daily bricks, the taskmasters of
+Pharaoh would go to the women of the children of Israel, and take their
+infants from them, as many as the number of bricks lacking in the
+measure, and these babes they put into the building instead of the
+missing bricks. The taskmasters forced each man of the Israelites to
+put his own child in the building. The father would place his son in
+the wall, and cover him over with mortar, all the while weeping, his
+tears running down upon his child.
+
+The children of Israel sighed every day on account of their dire
+suffering, for they had thought that after Pharaoh's death his son
+would lighten their toil, but the new king was worse than his father.
+And God saw the burden of the children of Israel, and their heavy work,
+and He determined to deliver them.[104]
+
+However, it was not for their own sake that God resolved upon the
+deliverance of the children of Israel, for they were empty of good
+deeds, and the Lord foreknew that, once they were redeemed, they would
+rise up against Him, and even worship the golden calf. Yet He took
+mercy upon them, for He remembered His covenant with the Fathers, and
+He looked upon their repentance for their sins, and accepted their
+promise, to fulfil the word of God after their going forth from Egypt
+even before they should hear it.[105]
+
+After all, the children of Israel were not wholly without merits. In a
+high degree they possessed qualities of extraordinary excellence. There
+were no incestuous relations among them, they were not evil-tongued,
+they did not change their names, they clung to the Hebrew language,
+never giving it up,[106] and great fraternal affection prevailed among
+them. If one happened to finish the tale of his bricks before his
+neighbors, he was in the habit of helping the others. Therefore God
+spake, "They deserve that I should have mercy upon them, for if a man
+shows mercy unto another, I have mercy upon him."[107]
+
+
+
+
+THE FAITHFUL SHEPHERD
+
+
+When Jethro bestowed his daughter Zipporah upon Moses as his wife, he
+said to his future son-in-law: "I know that thy father Jacob took his
+wives, the daughters of Laban, and went away with them against their
+father's will. Now take an oath that thou wilt not do the same unto
+me," and Moses swore not to leave him without his consent,[108] and he
+remained with Jethro, who made him the shepherd of his flocks. By the
+way he tended the sheep, God saw his fitness to be the shepherd of His
+people, for God never gives an exalted office to a man until He has
+tested him in little things. Thus Moses and David were tried as
+shepherds of flocks, and only after they had proved their ability as
+such, He gave them dominion over men.
+
+Moses watched over the flocks with loving care. He led the young
+animals to pasture first, that they might have the tender, juicy grass
+for their food; the somewhat older animals he led forth next, and
+allowed them to graze off the herbs suitable for them; and finally came
+the vigorous ones that had attained their full growth, and to them he
+gave the hard grass that was left, which the others could not eat, but
+which afforded good food for them. Then spake God, "He that
+understandeth how to pasture sheep, providing for each what is good for
+it, he shall pasture My people."
+
+Once a kid escaped from the flock, and when Moses followed it, he saw
+how it stopped at all the water courses, and he said to it: "Poor kid,
+I knew not that thou wast thirsty, and wast running after water! Thou
+art weary, I ween," and he carried it back to the herd on his shoulder.
+Then said God: "Thou hast compassion with a flock belonging to a man of
+flesh and blood! As thou livest, thou shalt pasture Israel, My
+flock."[109]
+
+Not only did Moses take heed that no harm should come to the herds
+under his charge, but he was also careful that they cause no injury to
+men. He always chose an open meadow as his pasturing place, to prevent
+his sheep from grazing in private estates.[110]
+
+Jethro had no reason to be dissatisfied with the services rendered to
+him by his son-in-law. During the forty years Moses acted as his
+shepherd not one sheep was attacked by wild beasts, and the herds
+multiplied to an incredible degree.[111] Once he drove the sheep about
+in the desert for forty days, without finding a pasturing place for
+them. Nevertheless he did not lose a single sheep.
+
+Moses' longing for the desert was irresistible. His prophetic spirit
+caused him to foresee that his own greatness and the greatness of
+Israel would manifest themselves there. In the desert God's wonders
+would appear, though it would be at the same time the grave of the
+human herd to be entrusted to him in the future, and also his own last
+resting- place. Thus he had a presentiment at the very beginning of his
+career that the desert would be the scene of his activity, which not
+only came true in the present order of things, but also will be true in
+the latter days, when he will appear in the desert again, to lead into
+the promised land the generation, arisen from their graves, that he
+brought forth from Egyptian bondage.[112]
+
+Wandering through the desert, he reached Mount Horeb, which is called
+by six names, each conveying one of its distinctions. It is "the
+mountain of God," wherein the Lord revealed His law; "Basban," for God
+"came there"; "a mountain of humps," for the Lord declared all the
+other mountains unfit for the revelation, as "crookbackt" animals are
+declared unfit for sacrifices; "mountain of abode," because it is the
+mountain that God desired for His "abode"; Sinai, because the "hatred"
+of God against the heathen began at the time when Israel received the
+law thereon; and Horeb, "sword," because there the sword of the law was
+drawn upon the sinners.[113]
+
+
+
+
+THE BURNING THORN-BUSH
+
+
+When Moses drew near to Mount Horeb, he was aware at once that it was a
+holy place, for he noticed that passing birds did not alight upon it.
+At his approach the mountain began to move, as though to go forward and
+meet him, and it settled back into quietude only when his foot rested
+upon it.[114] The first thing Moses noticed was the wonderful burning
+bush, the upper part of which was a blazing flame, neither consuming
+the bush, nor preventing it from bearing blossoms as it burnt, for the
+celestial fire has three peculiar qualities: it produces blossoms, it
+does not consume the object around which it plays, and it is black of
+color. The fire that Moses saw in the bush was the appearance of the
+angel Michael, who had descended as the forerunner of the Shekinah
+herself to come down presently. It was the wish of God to hold converse
+with Moses, who, however, was not inclined to permit any interruption
+of the work under his charge. Therefore God startled him with the
+wonderful phenomenon of the burning thorn-bush. That brought Moses to a
+stop, and then God spoke with him.
+
+There were good reasons for selecting the thorn-bush as the vessel for
+a Divine vision. It was "clean," for the heathen could not use it to
+make idols. God's choosing to dwell in the stunted thorn-bush conveyed
+the knowledge to Moses that He suffers along with Israel. Furthermore,
+Moses was taught that there is nothing in nature, not even the
+insignificant thorn-bush, that can exist without the presence of the
+Shekinah. Besides, the thorn-bush may be taken as the symbol for Israel
+in several respects. As the thorn- bush is the lowliest of all species
+of trees, so the condition of Israel in the exile is the lowliest as
+compared with that of all the other nations, but as the thorn-bush
+releases no bird that alights upon it without lacerating its wings, so
+the nations that subjugate Israel will be punished. Also, as a garden
+hedge is made of the thorn-bush, so Israel forms the hedge for the
+world, the garden of God, for without Israel the world could not
+endure. Furthermore, as the thorn- bush bears thorns and roses alike,
+so Israel has pious and impious members, and as the thorn-bush requires
+ample water for its growth, so Israel can prosper only through the
+Torah, the celestial water. And the thorn-bush, the leaf of which
+consists of five leaflets, was to indicate to Moses that God had
+resolved to redeem Israel only for the sake of the merits of five pious
+men, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Aaron, and Moses. The numbers represented
+by the letters composing the Hebrew word for thorn-bush, Seneh, add up
+to one hundred and twenty, to convey that Moses would reach the age of
+one hundred and twenty years, and that the Shekinah would rest on Mount
+Horeb for one hundred and twenty days. Finally, in order to give Moses
+an illustration of His modesty, God descended from the exalted heavens
+and spake to him from a lowly thorn-bush instead of the summit of a
+lofty mountain or the top of a stately cedar tree.[115]
+
+
+
+
+THE ASCENSION OF MOSES
+
+
+The vision of the burning bush appeared to Moses alone; the other
+shepherds with him saw nothing of it. He took five steps in the
+direction of the bush, to view it at close range, and when God beheld
+the countenance of Moses distorted by grief and anxiety over Israel's
+suffering, He spake, "This one is worthy of the office of pasturing My
+people."[116]
+
+Moses was still a novice in prophecy, therefore God said to Himself,
+"If I reveal Myself to him in loud tones, I shall alarm him, but if I
+reveal Myself with a subdued voice, he will hold prophecy in low
+esteem," whereupon he addressed him in his father Amram's voice. Moses
+was overjoyed to hear his father speak, for it gave him the assurance
+that. he was still alive. The voice called his name twice, and he
+answered, "Here am I! What is my father's wish?" God replied, saying,
+"I am not thy father. I but desired to refrain from terrifying thee,
+therefore I spoke with thy father's voice. I am the God of thy father,
+the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." These
+words rejoiced Moses greatly, for not only was his father Amram's name
+pronounced in the same breath with the names of the three Patriarchs,
+but it came before theirs, as though he ranked higher than they.
+
+Moses said not a word. In silent reverence before the Divine vision he
+covered his face, and when God disclosed the mission with which He
+charged him, of bringing the Israelites forth from the land of Egypt,
+he answered with humility, "Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh,
+and bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" Thereupon spake
+God, "Moses, thou art meek, and I will reward thee for thy modesty. I
+will deliver the whole land of Egypt into thine hand, and, besides, I
+will let thee ascend unto the throne of My glory, and look upon all the
+angels of the heavens."
+
+Hereupon God commanded Metatron, the Angel of the Face, to conduct
+Moses to the celestial regions amid the sound of music and song, and He
+commanded him furthermore to summon thirty thousand angels, to serve as
+his body-guard, fifteen thousand to right of him and fifteen thousand
+to left of him. In abject terror Moses asked Metatron, "Who art thou?"
+and the angel replied, "I am Enoch, the son of Jared, thy ancestor, and
+God has charged me to accompany thee to His throne." But Moses
+demurred, saying, "I am but flesh and blood, and I cannot look upon the
+countenance of an angel," whereupon Metatron changed Moses' flesh into
+torches of fire, his eyes into Merkabah wheels, his strength into an
+angel's, and his tongue into a flame, and he took him to heaven with a
+retinue of thirty thousand angels, one half moving to right of them and
+one half to left of them.
+
+In the first heaven Moses saw streams upon streams of water, and he
+observed that the whole heaven consisted of windows, at each of which
+angels were stationed. Metatron named and pointed out all the windows
+of heaven to him: the window of prayer and the window of supplication;
+of weeping and of joy; plenitude and starvation; wealth and poverty;
+war and peace; conception and birth; showers and soft rains; sin and
+repentance; life and death; pestilence and healing; sickness and
+health; and many windows more.
+
+In the second heaven Moses saw the angel Nuriel, standing three hundred
+parasangs high, with his retinue of fifty myriads of angels, all
+fashioned out of water and fire, and all keeping their faces turned
+toward the Shekinah while they sang a song of praise to God. Metatron
+explained to Moses, that these were the angels set over the clouds, the
+winds, and the rains, who return speedily, as soon as they have
+executed the will of their Creator, to their station in the second of
+the heavens, there to proclaim the praise of God.
+
+In the third heaven Moses saw an angel, so tall it would take a human
+being five hundred years to climb to his height. He had seventy
+thousand heads, each head having as many mouths, each mouth as many
+tongues, and each tongue as many sayings, and he together with his
+suite of seventy thousand myriads of angels made of white fire praised
+and extolled the Lord. "These," said Metatron to Moses, "are called
+Erelim, and they are appointed over the grass, the trees, the fruits,
+and the grain, but as soon as they have done the will of their Creator,
+they return to the place assigned to them, and praise God."
+
+In the fourth heaven Moses saw a Temple, the pillars thereof made of
+red fire, the staves of green fire, the thresholds of white fire, the
+boards and clasps of flaming fire, the gates of carbuncles, and the
+pinnacles of rubies. Angels were entering the Temple and giving praise
+to God there. In response to a question from Moses Metatron told him
+that they presided over the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, and
+the other celestial bodies. and all of them intone songs before God. In
+this heaven Moses noticed also the two great planets, Venus and Mars,
+each as large as the whole earth, and concerning these he asked unto
+what purpose they had been created. Metatron explained thereupon, that
+Venus lies upon the sun to cool him off in summer, else he would scorch
+the earth, and Mars lies upon the moon, to impart warmth to her, lest
+she freeze the earth.
+
+Arrived in the fifth heaven, Moses saw hosts of angels, whose nether
+parts were of snow and their upper parts of fire, and yet the snow did
+not melt nor was the fire extinguished, for God had established perfect
+harmony between the two elements. These angels, called Ishim, have had
+nothing to do since the day of their creation but praise and extol the
+Lord.
+
+In the sixth of the heavens were millions and myriads of angels
+praising God, they were called 'Irin and kadishim, "Watchers" and "Holy
+Ones," and their chief was made of hail, and he was so tall, it would
+take five hundred years to walk a distance equal to his height.
+
+In the last heaven Moses saw two angels, each five hundred parasangs in
+height, forged out of chains of black fire and red fire, the angels Af,
+"Anger," and Hemah, "Wrath," whom God created at the beginning of the
+world, to execute His will. Moses was disquieted when he looked upon
+them, but Metatron embraced him, and said, "Moses, Moses, thou favorite
+of God, fear not, and be not terrified," and Moses became calm. There
+was another angel in the seventh heaven, different in appearance from
+all the others, and of frightful mien. His height was so great, it
+would have taken five hundred years to cover a distance equal to it,
+and from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet he was studded
+with glaring eyes, at the sight of which the beholder fell prostrate in
+awe. "This one," said Metatron, addressing Moses, "is Samael, who takes
+the soul away from man." "Whither goes he now?" asked Moses, and
+Metatron replied, "To fetch the soul of Job the pious." Thereupon Moses
+prayed to God in these words, "O may it be Thy will, my God and the God
+of my fathers, not to let me fall into the hands of this angel."
+
+Here, in the highest heaven, he saw also the seraphim with their six
+wings. With two they cover their face, that they gaze not upon the
+Shekinah; and with two their feet, which, being like a calf's feet,
+they hide, to keep secret Israel's transgression of the golden calf.
+With the third pair of wings they fly and do the service of the Lord,
+all the while exclaiming, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the
+whole earth is full of His glory." The wings of these angels are of
+prodigious size, it would take a man five hundred years to traverse
+their length and their breadth, as from one end of the earth to the
+other.
+
+And Moses saw in the seventh heaven the holy Hayyot, which support the
+throne of God; and he beheld also the angel Zagzagel, the prince of the
+Torah and of wisdom, who teaches the Torah in seventy languages to the
+souls of men, and thereafter they cherish the precepts contained
+therein as laws revealed by God to Moses on Sinai. From this angel with
+the horns of glory Moses himself learnt all the ten mysteries."
+
+Having seen what there is in the seven heavens, he spoke to God,
+saying, "I will not leave the heavens unless Thou grantest me a gift,"
+and God replied, "I will give thee the Torah, and men shall call it the
+Law of Moses."[117]
+
+
+
+
+MOSES VISITS PARADISE AND HELL
+
+
+When Moses was on the point of departing from heaven, a celestial voice
+announced: "Moses, thou camest hither, and thou didst see the throne of
+My glory. Now thou shalt see also Paradise and hell," and God
+dispatched Gabriel on the errand of showing hell to him. Terrified by
+its fires, when he caught sight of them as he entered the portals of
+hell, Moses refused to go farther. But the angel encouraged him,
+saying, "There is a fire that not only burns but also consumes, and
+that fire will protect thee against hell fire, so that thou canst step
+upon it, and yet thou wilt not be seared."
+
+As Moses entered hell, the fire withdrew a distance of five hundred
+parasangs, and the Angel of Hell, Nasargiel, asked him, "Who art thou?"
+and he answered, "I am Moses, the son of Amram."
+
+Nasargiel: "This is not thy place, thou belongest in Paradise."
+
+Moses: "I came hither to see the manifestation of the power of God."
+
+Then said God to the Angel of Hell, "Go and show hell unto Moses, and
+how the wicked are treated there." Immediately he went with Moses,
+walking before him like a pupil before his master, and thus they
+entered hell together, and Moses saw men undergoing torture by the
+Angels of Destruction: some of the sinners were suspended by their
+eyelids, some by their ears, some by their hands, and some by their
+tongues, and they cried bitterly. And women were suspended by their
+hair and by their breasts, and in other ways, all on chains of fire.
+Nasargiel explained: "These hang by their eyes, because they looked
+lustfully upon the wives of their neighbors, and with a covetous eye
+upon the possessions of their fellow-men. These hang by their ears
+because they listened to empty and vain speech, and turned their ear
+away from hearing the Torah. These hang by their tongues, because they
+talked slander, and accustomed their tongue to foolish babbling. These
+hang by their feet, because they walked with them in order to spy upon
+their fellow-men, but they walked not to the synagogue, to offer prayer
+unto their Creator. These hang by their hands, because with them they
+robbed their neighbors of their possessions, and committed murder.
+These women hang by their hair and their breasts, because they
+uncovered them in the presence of young men, so that they conceived
+desire unto them, and fell into sin."
+
+Moses heard hell cry with a loud and a bitter cry, saying to Nasargiel:
+"Give me something to eat, I am hungry."— Nasargiel: "What shall I give
+thee?"—Hell: "Give me the souls of the pious."—Nasargiel: "The Holy
+One, blessed be He, will not deliver the souls of the pious unto thee."
+
+Moses saw the place called Alukah, where sinners were suspended by
+their feet, their heads downward, and their bodies covered with black
+worms, each five hundred parasangs long. They lamented, and cried: "Woe
+unto us for the punishment of hell. Give us death, that we may die!"
+Nasargiel explained: "These are the sinners that swore falsely,
+profaned the Sabbath and the holy days, despised the sages, called
+their neighbors by unseemly nicknames, wronged the orphan and the
+widow, and bore false witness. Therefore bath God delivered them to
+these worms."
+
+Moses went thence to another place, and there he saw sinners prone on
+their faces, with two thousand scorpions lashing, stinging, and
+tormenting them, while the tortured victims cried bitterly. Each of the
+scorpions had seventy thousand heads, each head seventy thousand
+mouths, each mouth seventy thousand stings, and each sting seventy
+thousand pouches of poison and venom, which the sinners are forced to
+drink down, although the anguish is so racking that their eyes melt in
+their sockets. Nasargiel explained: "These are the sinners who caused
+the Israelites to lose their money, who exalted themselves above the
+community, who put their neighbors to shame in public, who delivered
+their fellow-Israelites into the hands of the Gentiles, who denied the
+Torah of Moses, and who maintained that God is not the Creator of the
+world."
+
+Then Moses saw the place called Tit ba-Yawen, in which the sinners
+stand in mud up to their navels, while the Angels of Destruction lash
+them with fiery chains, and break their teeth with fiery stones, from
+morning until evening, and during the night they make their teeth grow
+again, to the length of a parasang, only to break them anew the next
+morning. Nasargiel explained: "These are the sinners who ate carrion
+and forbidden flesh, who lent their money at usury, who wrote the Name
+of God on amulets for Gentiles, who used false weights, who stole money
+from their fellow-Israelites, who ate on the Day of Atonement, who ate
+forbidden fat, and animals and reptiles that are an abomination, and
+who drank blood."
+
+Then Nasargiel said to Moses: "Come and see how the sinners are burnt
+in hell," and Moses answered, "I cannot go there," but Nasargiel
+replied, "Let the light of the Shekinah precede thee, and the fire of
+hell will have no power over thee." Moses yielded, and he saw how the
+sinners were burnt, one half of their bodies being immersed in fire and
+the other half in snow, while worms bred in their own flesh crawled
+over them, and the Angels of Destruction beat them incessantly.
+Nasargiel explained: "These are the sinners who committed incest,
+murder, and idolatry, who cursed their parents and their teachers, and
+who, like Nimrod and others, called themselves gods." In this place,
+which is called Abaddon, he saw the sinners taking snow by stealth and
+putting it in their armpits, to relieve the pain inflicted by the
+scorching fire, and he was convinced that the saying was true, "The
+wicked mend not their ways even at the gate of hell."
+
+As Moses departed from hell, he prayed to God, "May it be Thy will, O
+Lord my God and God of my fathers, to save me and the people of Israel
+from the places I have seen in hell." But God answered him, and said,
+"Moses, before Me there is no respecting of persons and no taking of
+gifts. Whoever doeth good deeds entereth Paradise, and he that doeth
+evil must go to hell."
+
+At the command of God, Gabriel now led Moses to Paradise. As he
+entered, two angels came toward him, and they said to him, "Thy time is
+not yet arrived to leave the world," and Moses made answer, "What ye
+say is true, but I have come to see the reward of the pious in
+Paradise." Then the angels extolled Moses, saying: "Hail, Moses,
+servant of God! Hail, Moses, born of woman, that hast been found worthy
+to ascend to the seven heavens! Hail to the nation to which thou
+belongest!"
+
+Under the tree of life Moses saw the angel Shamshiel, the prince of
+Paradise, who led him through it, and showed him all there is therein.
+He saw seventy thrones made of precious stones, standing on feet of
+fine gold, each throne surrounded by seventy angels. But one of them
+was larger than all the others, and it was encircled by one hundred and
+twenty angels. This was the throne of Abraham, and when Abraham beheld
+Moses, and heard who he was, and what his purpose was in visiting
+Paradise, he exclaimed, "Praise ye the Lord, for He is good, for His
+mercy endureth forever."
+
+Moses asked Shamshiel about the size of Paradise, but not even he who
+is the prince thereof could answer the question, for there is none that
+can gauge it. It can neither be measured nor fathomed nor numbered. But
+Shamshiel explained to Moses about the thrones, that they were
+different one from the other, some being of silver, some of gold, some
+of precious stones and pearls and rubies and carbuncles. The thrones
+made of pearls are for the scholars that study the Torah day and night
+for her own sake; those of precious stones are for the pious, those of
+rubies for the just, those of gold for the repentant sinners, and those
+of silver for the righteous proselytes. "The greatest of them all,"
+continued Shamshiel, "is the throne of Abraham, the next in size the
+thrones of Isaac and Jacob, then come the thrones of the prophets, the
+saints, and the righteous, each in accordance with a man's worth, and
+his rank, and the good deeds he has performed in his lifetime." Moses
+asked then for whom the throne of copper was intended, and the angel
+answered, "For the sinner that has a pious son. Through the merits of
+his son he receives it as his share."
+
+Again Moses looked, and he beheld a spring of living water welling up
+from under the tree of life and dividing into four streams, which
+passed under the throne of glory, and thence encompassed Paradise from
+end to end. He also saw four rivers flowing under each of the thrones
+of the pious, one of honey, the second of milk, the third of wine, and
+the fourth of pure balsam.
+
+Beholding all these desirable and pleasant things, Moses felt great
+joy, and he said, "Oh, how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid
+up for them that fear Thee, which Thou hast wrought for them that put
+their trust in Thee, before the sons of men!" And Moses left Paradise,
+and returned to the earth.
+
+At the moment of his departure, a heavenly voice cried aloud: "Moses,
+servant of the Lord, thou that art faithful in His house, even as thou
+hast seen the reward that is laid up for the pious in the world to
+come, so also thou wilt be worthy of seeing the life of the world that
+shall be in the future time. Thou and all Israel, ye shall see the
+rebuilding of the Temple and the advent of the Messiah, behold the
+beauty of the Lord, and meditate in His Temple."[118]
+
+In the world to come Moses, beside sharing the joys of Israel, will
+continue his activity as the teacher of Israel, for the people will go
+before Abraham and request him to instruct them in the Torah. He will
+send them to Isaac, saying, "Go to Isaac, he hath studied more of the
+Torah than ever I studied," but Isaac, in turn, will send them to
+Jacob, saying, "Go to Jacob, he hath had more converse with the sages
+than ever I had." And Jacob will send them to Moses, saying, "Go to
+Moses, he was instructed in the Torah by God Himself."[119]
+
+In the Messianic time, Moses will be one of the seven shepherds that
+shall be the leaders of Israel with the Messiah.[120]
+
+
+
+
+MOSES DECLINES THE MISSION
+
+
+When Moses turned aside to see the great sight, that the bush was not
+consumed, he heard a voice calling to him, "Draw not nigh hither."
+These words were to convey that the dignity to be conferred upon him
+God intended for Moses personally, not for his descendants, and further
+he was warned not to arrogate honors appointed for others, as the
+priesthood, which was to belong to Aaron and Aaron's descendants, or
+royalty, which was to appertain to David and the house of David.[121]
+
+Again the voice spake: "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the
+place whereon thou standest is holy ground." These words conveyed the
+desire of God that he cut asunder every bond uniting him with earthly
+concerns, he was even to give up his conjugal life. Hereupon the angel
+Michael spoke to God: "O Lord of the world, can it be Thy purpose to
+destroy mankind? Blessing can prevail only if male and female are
+united, and yet Thou biddest Moses separate from his wife." God
+answered, saying, "Moses has begot children, he has done his duty
+toward the world. I desire him to unite himself now with the Shekinah,
+that she may descend upon earth for his sake."[122]
+
+God spake furthermore, addressing Moses, "Thou seest only what is to
+happen in the near future, that Israel is to receive the Torah on Mount
+Sinai, but I behold what cometh after, bow the people will worship the
+steer, the figure of which they will see upon My chariot, even while My
+revelation will be made on Sinai. Thus they will excite My wrath.
+Nevertheless, though I know all the perverseness of their hearts,
+wherein they will rebel against Me in the desert, I will redeem them
+now, for I accord unto man the treatment he merits for his present
+actions, not what he will deserve in the future. I promised their
+father Jacob, 'I will go down with thee into Egypt, and I will also
+surely bring thee up again,' and now I will betake myself thither, to
+bring Israel up in accordance with My words unto Jacob, and bear them
+to the land I swore unto their fathers, that their seed should inherit
+it. So long as the time of affliction that I had appointed unto his
+seed in My revelation to Abraham was not past, I hearkened not to the
+supplication and the groaning of his children, but now the end hath
+come. Therefore, go before Pharaoh, that he dismiss My people. If thou
+dost not bring about the redemption, none other will, for there is none
+other that can do it. In thee doth Israel hope, and upon thee doth
+Israel wait. The matter lieth in thine hands alone."
+
+Moses, however, refused to take the mission upon himself. He said to
+God, "Thy promise unto Jacob was, 'I will surely bring thee up again
+out of Egypt.' Thou didst undertake to do it Thyself, and now it is Thy
+purpose to send me thither. And how, indeed, were it possible for me to
+accomplish this great matter, to bring the children of Israel up out of
+Egypt? How could I provide them with food and drink? Many are the women
+in childbirth among them, many are the pregnant women and the little
+children. Whence shall I procure dainties for those who have borne
+babes, whence sweetmeats for the pregnant, and whence tidbits for the
+little ones? And how may I venture to go among the Egyptian brigands
+and murderers? for Thou art bidding me to go to mine enemies, to those
+who lie in wait to take my life. Why should I risk the safety of my
+person, seeing that I know not whether Israel possesses merits making
+them worthy of redemption?' I have reckoned up the years with care, and
+I have found that but two hundred and ten have elapsed since the
+covenant of the pieces made with Abraham, and at that time Thou didst
+ordain four hundred years of oppression for his seed."[124]
+
+But God overturned all his objections. He spake to Moses, saying: "I
+will be with thee. Whatever thou desirest I will do, so that the
+redemption will in very truth be realized through Me, in accordance
+with My promise to Jacob. The little ones that Israel will carry up out
+of Egypt I will provide with food for thirty days. This shall prove to
+thee in what manner I will supply the needs of all. And as I will be at
+thy side, thou hast no need to fear any man. Respecting thy doubt,
+whether Israel deserves to be redeemed, this is My answer: they will be
+permitted to go forth from Egypt on account of the merits they will
+acquire at this mountain, whereon they will receive the Torah through
+thee.[125] And thy reckoning of the end is not correct, for the four
+hundred years of bondage began with the birth of Isaac, not with the
+going down of Jacob into Egypt. Therefore the appointed end hath
+come."[126]
+
+Persuaded now of God's unalterable resolve to use him as His instrument
+in the redemption of Israel from Egypt, Moses entreated God to impart
+to him the knowledge of His Great Name, that he be not confounded if
+the children of Israel ask for it. God answered, saying: "Thou desirest
+to know My Name? My Name is according to My acts. When I judge My
+creatures, I am called Elohim, "judge"; when I rise up to do battle
+against the sinners, I am Lord Zebaot, "the Lord of hosts"; when I wait
+with longsuffering patience for the improvement of the sinner, My name
+is El Shaddai; when I have mercy upon the world, I am Adonai. But unto
+the children of Israel shalt thou say that I am He that was, that is,
+and that ever will be, and I am He that is with them in their bondage
+now, and He that shall be with them in the bondage of the time to
+come."
+
+In reply to the latter words of God, Moses said, "Sufficient unto the
+day is the evil thereof," and God assented thereto. He admitted that it
+was not proper to force the knowledge of future suffering upon Israel
+in a present that was itself full of evil and sorrow. And the Lord said
+to Moses: "My words about the future were meant for thee alone, not
+also for them. Tell the children of Israel, besides, that at My behest
+an angel can stretch his hand from heaven and touch the earth with it,
+and three angels can find room under one tree, and My majesty can fill
+the whole world, for when it was My will, it appeared to Job in his
+hair, and, again, when I willed otherwise, it appeared in a
+thorn-bush."[127]
+
+But the most important communication from God to Moses concerning the
+Divine Names were the words to follow: "In mercy I created the world;
+in mercy I guide it; and with mercies I will return to Jerusalem. But
+unto the children of Israel thou shalt say that My mercy upon them is
+for the sake of the merits of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."
+
+When Moses heard these words, he spoke to God, saying, "Are there men
+that transgress after death?" and when God assured him that it was not
+possible for the dead to sin, Moses asked again, "Why, then, is it that
+Thou didst reveal Thyself to me at the first as the God of my father,
+and now Thou passest him over?" Whereupon God said, "In the beginning
+it was My purpose to address thee with flattering words, but now thou
+hearest the whole and exact truth, I am only the God of Abraham, the
+God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."[128]
+
+Moses prayed to God, entreating Him to reveal His Great and Holy Name
+unto him, so that he might call upon Him with it and secure the
+fulfilment of all his wishes. The Lord granted the prayer of Moses, and
+when the celestials knew that He had revealed the secret of the
+Ineffable Name, they cried out, "Blessed art Thou, O Lord, gracious
+Giver of knowledge!"[129]
+
+God is always regardful of the honor of the elders of a people, and He
+bade Moses assemble those of Israel and announce the approaching
+redemption to them. And as God knew beforehand how Pharaoh's obduracy
+would display itself, He made it known to Moses at once, lest he
+reproach God later with the Egyptian king's frowardness.[130]
+
+
+
+
+MOSES PUNISHED FOR HIS STUBBORNNESS
+
+
+In spite of all these safeguards, Moses was not yet ready to accept the
+mission God wished to impose upon him. He persisted in urging his
+fears, saying: "But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto
+my voice, for they will say, 'The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.[]
+And the Lord said unto him, "What is that in thine hand?" And he said,
+"A rod." And the Lord said: "Thou deservest to be castigated with it.
+If thou didst not intend to take My mission upon thyself, thou shouldst
+have said so in the beginning. Instead, thou didst hold back with thy
+refusal, until I revealed to thee the great secret of the Ineffable
+Name, that thou mightest know it if the children of Israel should ask
+thee concerning it. And now thou sayest, I will not go. Now, therefore,
+if thou wilt not execute My charge to thee, it will be executed by this
+rod. It was My wish to distinguish thee and make thee My instrument for
+doing many miracles.[131] But thou deservest a punishment for having
+suspected My children of lack of faith. The children of Israel are
+believers and sons of believers, but thou wilt show thyself of little
+faith in thy career, and as thou followest the example of the
+slanderous serpent, so shalt thou be punished with leprosy, wherewith
+the serpent was punished."
+
+The Lord now bade Moses put his hand into his bosom and take it out
+again, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white
+as snow. And God bade him put his hand into his bosom again, and it
+turned again as his other flesh. Beside being a chastisement for his
+hasty words, the plague on his hand was to teach him that as the leper
+defiles, so the Egyptians defiled Israel, and as Moses was healed of
+his uncleanness, so God would cleanse the children of Israel of the
+pollution the Egyptians had brought upon them.
+
+The second wonder connected with the rod of Moses likewise conveyed a
+double meaning, in that it pointed to the coming redemption of Israel,
+and taught Moses a specific lesson. At the bidding of God, Moses cast
+his rod on the ground, and it became a serpent, to show him that when
+he traduced Israel, he was following the example of the abusive
+serpent, and also to show him that the great dragon that lieth in the
+midst of the rivers of Egypt, though he was now hacking into Israel
+with his teeth, would be rendered harmless like the rod of wood, which
+has no power to bite.
+
+And, again, through the third miracle he was bidden to perform, God
+conveyed to Moses what would happen in the latter years of his own
+life. The sign He gave him was to make known to him that, before the
+water came, blood would flow from the rock at Meribah, when Moses
+should strike it after uttering the hasty, impatient words that were
+destined to bring death down upon him.[132]
+
+For seven days God urged Moses to undertake the mission He desired him
+to execute. He resorted to persuasion, that the heathen might not say,
+that He abused His power as the Ruler of the world, forcing men to do
+His service against their will. But Moses remained obdurate, he could
+not be won over.[133] He said: "Thou doest a wrong unto me in sending
+me to Pharaoh. In the palace of the Egyptian king there are persons
+that know how to speak the seventy languages of the world. No matter
+what language a man may use, there is someone that understands him. If
+I should come as Thy representative, and they should discover that I am
+not able to converse in the seventy languages, they will mock at me,
+and say, 'Behold this man, he pretends to be the ambassador of the
+Creator of the world, and he cannot speak the seventy languages.' " To
+this God made reply, as follows: "Adam, who was taught by none, could
+give names to the beasts in the seventy languages. Was it not I that
+made him to speak?"[134]
+
+Moses was not yet satisfied, he continued to urge objections, and he
+said: "O Lord of the world, Thou wouldst charge me with the task of
+chastising Egypt and redeeming Israel, and I am ready to be Thy
+messenger. But is it seemly that a man should execute two errands at
+once? Nay, my Lord, for this two men are needed." God made answer, and
+said, "Moses, I know well whom thou hast in mind with thy request, to
+be thy companion in the mission I assign to thee. Know, therefore, that
+the holy spirit hath already come upon thy brother Aaron, and even now
+he is awaiting thee on the way of Egypt, and when his eyes rest upon
+thee he will rejoice."
+
+Furthermore God spake to Moses, saying, "When I appeared unto thee the
+first time, thou wast meek, and didst hide thy face, not to see the
+vision. Whence cometh now this effrontery of thine, that thou
+addressest Me as a servant his master? Thou speakest too many words by
+far. Perchance thou thinkest I have no messengers, hosts, seraphim,
+ofanim, ministering angels, and Merkabah wheels, to send to Egypt, to
+bring My children thence, that thou sayest, 'Send by the hand of him
+whom Thou wilt send.' In sooth, thou deservest severe chastisement. But
+what can I do, seeing that I am the Master of mercy? If thou escapest
+unpunished, thou owest it to thy father Amram, who rendered great
+services in behalf of the preservation of the Israelitish people in
+Egypt."
+
+But Moses replied: "O Lord of the world, I a prophet and the son of a
+prophet obeyed Thy words only after much hesitation, and I cannot
+expect Pharaoh, a wicked man and the son of a wicked man, and the
+Egyptians, a disobedient people and the sons of a disobedient people,
+to give ear to my words. O Lord of the world, Thou dost send me to
+Egypt to redeem sixty myriads of Thy people from the oppression of the
+Egyptians. If it were a question of delivering a couple of hundred men,
+it were a sufficiently difficult enterprise. How much severer is the
+task of freeing sixty myriads from the dominion of Pharaoh! If Thou
+hadst called upon the Egyptians to give up their evil ways soon after
+they began to enslave Israel, they might have heeded Thy admonitions.
+But if I should go and speak to them now, after they have been ruling
+over Israel these two hundred and ten years, Pharaoh would say, 'If a
+slave has served his master for ten years, and no protest has made
+itself heard from any quarter, how can a man conceive the idea suddenly
+of having him set at liberty?' Verily, O Lord of the world, the task
+Thou puttest upon me is too heavy for my strength."[135]
+
+Moses said furthermore: "I am not an eloquent man, nor can I see of
+what avail words can be in this matter. Thou art sending me to one that
+is himself a slave, to Pharaoh of the tribe of Ham, and a slave will
+not be corrected by words. I consent to go on Thy errand only if Thou
+wilt invest me with the power of chastising Pharaoh with brute force."
+To these words spoken by Moses, God made reply: "Let it not fret thee
+that thou art not an eloquent speaker. It is I that made the mouth of
+all that speak, and I that made men dumb. One I make to see, another I
+make blind; one I make to hear, another I make deaf. Had I willed it
+so, thou hadst been a man of ready speech. But I desired to show a
+wonder through thee. Whenever I will it, the words I cast into thy
+mouth shall come forth without hesitation. But what thou sayest about a
+slave, that he cannot be corrected by words, is true, and therefore I
+give thee My rod for Pharaoh's castigation."
+
+But Moses still stood his ground. He raised other objections. "His
+grandchild," he said, "is closer to a man than his nephew. Nevertheless
+when Lot was taken captive, Thou didst send angels to the aid of
+Abraham's nephew. But now, when the life of sixty myriads of Abraham's
+lineal descendants is at stake, Thou sendest me, and not the angels.
+When the Egyptian bondwoman Hagar was in distress, Thou didst dispatch
+five angels to stand by her, and to redeem sixty myriads of the
+children of Sarah Thou dost dispatch me.[136] O Lord, send, I pray
+Thee, by the hand of him whom Thou wilt send in days to come." To this
+God answered, saying, "I said not that I would send thee to Israel, but
+to Pharaoh, and that one whom thou madest mention of, I will send to
+Israel at the end of days—Elijah will appear to them before the great
+and terrible day."[137]
+
+If Moses refused to do the errand of the Lord, there was a reason. God
+had revealed to him the treasures of the Torah, of wisdom, and of
+knowledge, and the whole world's future. Now he beheld in the inner
+chamber of God rows of scholars and judges interpreting the Torah in
+forty- nine different ways as they sat in the court of hewn stones; and
+he saw, besides, Rabbi Akiba explaining the meaning of the crowns upon
+the letters. Then said Moses: "I do not care to be God's messenger. Let
+Him rather send one of these great scholars." Then God ordered the
+Angel of Wisdom to carry Moses to a place of myriads of scholars, all
+interpreting the Torah, and all making use of the formula: This is a
+Halakah revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai. Now Moses recognized that
+even the greatest scholars of future generations would be dependent
+upon him, and then, at last, he was ready to execute the mission God
+desired to lay upon him.[138]
+
+But Moses had to pay dear for having hesitated in the execution of the
+Divine bidding. God said to him: "It was appointed that thou shouldst
+be priest, and Aaron should be the Levite. Because thou hast refused to
+execute My will, thou shalt be the Levite, and Aaron shall be
+priest,"—a punishment that did not fall upon Moses personally, but only
+upon his descendants, all of whom are Levites. As for himself, he
+performed a priest's service in the Tabernacle.[139]
+
+Moses had said to God, "Thou hast been speaking to me now these many
+days, nevertheless I am still slow of speech and of a slow tongue." For
+this he received another punishment. God said to him: "I might change
+thee into a new man, and heal thee of thy imperfect speech, but because
+thou hast uttered such words, I refrain from curing thee."[140]
+
+
+
+
+THE RETURN TO EGYPT
+
+
+When Moses finally gave in, and declared himself ready to go to Egypt
+as God's messenger, his acceptance was still conditional upon the
+promise of God to fulfil all his wishes, and God granted whatsoever he
+desired, except immortality and entering the Holy Land.[141] God also
+allayed his fears regarding the danger that threatened him from his
+whilom enemies Dathan and Abiram, on account of whom he had had to flee
+from Egypt. He told him that they had sunk to the estate of poor and
+insignificant men, bereft of the power of doing him harm.[142]
+
+Moses was loyal to the oath he had given his father-in-law Jethro,
+never to return to Egypt without securing his consent. His first
+concern therefore was to go back to Midian and obtain his permission,
+which Jethro gave freely. Then Moses could set out on his journey. He
+tarried only to take his wife and his children with him, which made his
+father- in-law say, "Those who are in Egypt are to leave it, and thou
+desirest to take more thither?" Moses replied: "Very soon the slaves
+held in bondage in Egypt will be redeemed, and they will go forth from
+the land, and gather at Mount Sinai, and hear the words, 'I am the Lord
+thy God,' and should my sons not be present there?" Jethro acknowledged
+the justice of Moses' words, and he said to him, "Go in peace, enter
+Egypt in peace, and leave the land in peace."[143]
+
+At last Moses sallied forth upon his journey to Egypt, accompanied by
+his wife and his children. He was mounted upon the very ass that had
+borne Abraham to the Akedah on Mount Moriah, the ass upon which the
+Messiah will appear riding at the end of days.[144] Even now, his
+journey begun, Moses was but half-hearted about his mission. He
+travelled leisurely, thinking: "When I arrive in Egypt and announce to
+the children of Israel that the end of the term of Egyptian slavery has
+come, they will say, 'We know very well that our bondage must last four
+hundred years, and the end is not yet,' but if I were to put this
+objection before God, He would break out in wrath against me. It is
+best for me to consume as much time as possible on the way thither."
+
+God was ill pleased with Moses for this artifice, and He spake to him,
+saying, "Joseph prophesied long ago that the oppression of Egypt would
+endure only two hundred and ten years." For his lack of faith Moses was
+punished while he was on the road to Egypt.[145] The angels Af and
+Hemah appeared and swallowed his whole body down to his feet,[146] and
+they gave him up only after Zipporah, nimble as a "bird,"[147]
+circumcised her son Gershom, and touched the feet of her husband with
+the blood of the circumcision. The reason why their son had remained
+uncircumcised until then was that Jethro had made the condition, when
+he consented to the marriage of his daughter with Moses, that the first
+son of their union should be brought up as a Gentile.[148]
+
+When Moses was released by the angels, he attacked them, and he slew
+Hemah, whose host of angels, however, held their own before the
+assailant.[149]
+
+The Divine voice heard by Moses in Midian telling him to return to his
+brethren in Egypt fell at the same time upon the ear of Aaron, dwelling
+in Egypt, and it bade him "go into the wilderness to meet Moses." God
+speaketh marvellously with His voice, and therefore the same revelation
+could be understood one way in Midian and another way in Egypt.
+
+The greeting of the two brothers was very cordial. Envy and jealousy
+bad no place between them. Aaron was rejoiced that God had chosen his
+younger brother to be the redeemer of Israel, and Moses was rejoiced
+that his older brother had been divinely appointed the high priest in
+Israel. God knew their hearts, for at the time when He charged him with
+the Egyptian mission, Moses had said, "All these years Aaron has been
+active as a prophet in Israel, and should I now encroach upon his
+province and cause him vexation?" But God reassured him, saying,
+"Moses, thy brother Aaron will surely not be vexed, he will rather
+rejoice at thy mission, yea, he will come forth and meet thee."
+
+Aaron showed his joy freely at seeing his brother once more, after
+their separation of many years. As for his joy in the distinction
+accorded to Moses, it was too great to be expressed in all its depth
+and extent. For his kind, generous spirit, he received a reward from
+God, in that he was permitted to bear the Urim and Thummim upon his
+heart, "for," God said, "the heart that rejoiced at the exalting of a
+brother shall wear the Urim and Thummim."[150]
+
+Aaron ran to meet his brother, and embraced him, and asked where he had
+spent all the years of their separation. When he was told in Midian, he
+continued to question him, saying, "Who are these that are travelling
+with thee?"
+
+Moses: "My wife and my sons."
+
+Aaron: "Whither goest thou with them?"
+
+Moses: "To Egypt."
+
+Aaron: "What! Great enough is our sorrow through those who have been in
+Egypt from the beginning, and thou takest more to the land?"
+
+Moses recognized that Aaron was right, and he sent his wife and his
+sons back to his father-in-law Jethro.[151]
+
+He was no less magnanimous than Aaron. If the elder brother felt no
+envy on account of the younger brother's dignity, the younger brother
+did not withhold from the other the teachings and revelations he had
+received. Immediately after meeting with Aaron, Moses told him all that
+God had taught him, even the awful secret of the Ineffable Name
+communicated to him on Mount Horeb.[152]
+
+In obedience to the command of God, the elders of the people were
+assembled, and before them Moses performed the wonders that were to be
+his credentials as the redeemer sent to deliver the people.
+Nevertheless, the deeds he did were not so potent in convincing them of
+the reality of the mission as the words wherein God had announced the
+approaching redemption to him, which he repeated in their ears. The
+elders knew that Jacob had imparted to Joseph the secret mark
+designating the redeemer, and Joseph had in turn confided it to his
+brethren before his death. The last surviving one of the brethren,
+Asher, had revealed it to his daughter Serah, in the following words:
+"He that will come and proclaim the redemption with the words of God,
+'I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in
+Egypt,' he is the true redeemer." Serah was still alive at Moses'
+return, and the elders betook themselves to her, and told her the words
+of Moses announcing the redemption. When she heard that his words had
+been the same as those Asher had quoted, she knew that he was the
+promised redeemer, and all the people believed in him.
+
+Thereupon Moses invited the elders to go to Pharaoh with him, but they
+lacked the courage to appear before the king. Though they started out
+with Moses, they dropped off stealthily on the way, one by one, and
+when Moses and Aaron stood in the presence of the king, they found
+themselves alone, deserted by all the others. The elders did not go out
+free. Their punishment was that God did not permit them to ascend the
+holy mountain with Moses. They durst accompany him on the way to God
+only as far as they had accompanied him on the way to Pharaoh, and then
+they had to tarry until he came again.[153]
+
+
+
+
+MOSES AND AARON BEFORE PHARAOH
+
+
+The day Moses and Aaron made their appearance before Pharaoh happened
+to be the anniversary of his birth, and he was surrounded by many
+kings, for he was the ruler of the whole world, and this was the
+occasion on which the kings of the earth came to do him homage. When
+the attendants announced Moses and Aaron, Pharaoh inquired whether the
+two old men had brought him crowns, and, receiving a negative reply, he
+ordered that they were not to be admitted to his presence, until he had
+seen and dismissed all the others desirous of paying him their
+respects.[154]
+
+Pharaoh's palace was surrounded by a vast army. It was built with four
+hundred entrances, one hundred on each side, and each of them guarded
+by sixty thousand soldiers. Moses and Aaron were overawed by this
+display of power, and they were afraid. But the angel Gabriel appeared,
+and he led them into the palace, observed by none of the guards, and
+Pharaoh decreed severe punishment upon the inattentive sentinels for
+having admitted the old men without his permission. They were
+dismissed, and others put in their places. But the same thing happened
+the next day. Moses and Aaron were within the palace, and the new guard
+had not been able to hinder their passing. Pharaoh questioned his
+servants, how it had been possible for the two old men to enter, and
+they said: "We know it not! Through the doors they did not come.
+Surely, they must be magicians."[155]
+
+Not enough that the palace was guarded by a host, at each entrance two
+lions were stationed, and in terror of being torn to pieces none dared
+approach the doors, and none could go within until the lion tamer came
+and led the beasts away. Now Balaam and all the other sacred scribes of
+Egypt advised that the keepers loose the lions at the approach of Moses
+and Aaron. But their advice availed naught. Moses had but to raise his
+rod, and the lions bounded toward him joyously, and followed at his
+feet, gambolling like dogs before their master on his return home.[156]
+
+Within the palace, Moses and Aaron found seventy secretaries busy with
+Pharaoh's correspondence, which was carried on in seventy languages. At
+the sight of the messengers of Israel, they started up in great awe,
+for the two men resembled angels. In stature they were as the cedars of
+Lebanon, their countenances radiated splendor like the sun, the pupils
+of their eyes were like the sphere of the morning star, their beards
+like palm branches, and their mouths emitted flames when they opened
+them for speech. In their terror, the secretaries flung down pen and
+paper, and prostrated themselves before Moses and Aaron.
+
+Now the two representatives of the children of Israel stepped before
+Pharaoh, and they spake, "The God of the Hebrews hath met with us; let
+us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, and
+sacrifice unto the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence
+or with the sword." But Pharaoh answered, saying: "What is the name of
+your God? Wherein doth His strength consist, and His power? How many
+countries, how many provinces, how many cities hath He under His
+dominion? In how many campaigns was He victorious? How many lands did
+He make subject to Himself? How many cities did He capture? When He
+goeth to war, how many warriors, riders, chariots, and charioteers doth
+He lead forth?" Whereto Moses and Aaron replied: "His strength and His
+power fill the whole world. His voice heweth out flames of fire; His
+words break mountains in pieces. The heaven is His throne, and the
+earth His footstool. His bow is fire, His arrows are flames, His spears
+torches, His shield clouds, and His sword lightning flashes. He created
+the mountains and the valleys, He brought forth spirits and souls, He
+stretched out the earth by a word, He made the mountains with His
+wisdom, He forms the embryo in the womb of the mother, He covers the
+heavens with clouds, at His word the dew and the rain descend
+earthward, He causes plants to grow from the ground, He nourishes and
+sustains the whole world, from the horns upon the rem down to the eggs
+of vermin. Every day He causes men to die, and every day He calls men
+into life."
+
+Pharaoh answered, and said: "I have no need of Him. I have created
+myself, and if ye say that He causes dew and rain to descend, I have
+the Nile, the river that hath its source under the tree of life, and
+the ground impregnated by its waters bears fruit so huge that it takes
+two asses to carry it. and it is palatable beyond description, for it
+has three hundred different tastes."[157]
+
+Then Pharaoh sent to fetch the books of the chronicles of his kingdom
+from his archives, wherein are recorded the names of the gods of all
+the nations, to see whether the name of the God of the Hebrews was
+among them. He read off: "The gods of Moab, the gods of Ammon, the gods
+of Zidon—I do not find your God inscribed in the archives!" Moses and
+Aaron exclaimed: "O thou fool! Thou seekest the Living in the graves of
+the dead. These which thou didst read are the names of dumb idols, but
+our God is the God of life and the King of eternal life."[158]
+
+When Pharaoh said the words, "I know not the Lord," God Himself made
+answer, saying: "O thou rascal! Thou sayest to My ambassadors, 'I know
+not the strength and the power of your God'? Lo, I will make thee to
+stand, for to show thee My power, and that My Name may be declared
+throughout all the earth."[159]
+
+Having searched his list of the gods of the nations in vain for a
+mention of the God of the Hebrews, Pharaoh cited before him the wise
+men of Egypt, and he said to them: "Have ye ever heard the name of the
+God of these people?" They replied, "We have been told that He is a son
+of the wise, the son of ancient kings." Then spake God, saying, "O ye
+fools! Ye call yourselves wise men, but Me ye call only the son of the
+wise. Verily, I will set at naught all your wisdom and your
+understanding."[160]
+
+Pharaoh persisted in his obduracy, even after Moses and Aaron had
+performed the miracle of the rod. At the time when the two Hebrews
+succeeded in entering the palace, guarded as it was by lions, Pharaoh
+had sent for his magicians, at their head Balaam and his two sons
+Jannes and Jambres, and when they appeared before him, he told them of
+the extraordinary incident, how the lions had followed the two old men
+like dogs, and fawned upon them. It was Balaam's opinion that they were
+simply magicians like himself and his companions, and he prayed the
+king to have them come before him together with themselves, to test who
+were the master magicians, the Egyptians or the Hebrews.
+
+Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and he said to them: "Who will
+believe you when you say that you are the ambassadors of God, as you
+pretend to be, if you do not convince men by performing wonders?"
+Thereupon Aaron cast his rod to the ground, and it became a
+serpent.[161] Pharaoh laughed aloud. "What," he exclaimed, "is this all
+your God can do? It is the way of merchants to carry merchandise to a
+place if there is none of it there, but would anyone take brine to
+Spain or fish to Accho? It seems you do not know that I am an adept in
+all sorts of magic!" He ordered little school children to be brought,
+and they repeated the wonder done by Moses and Aaron; indeed, Pharaoh's
+own wife performed it. Jannes and Jambres, the sons of Balaam, derided
+Moses, saying, "Ye carry straw to Ephrain!"[162] whereto Moses
+answered, "To the place of many vegetables, thither carry vegetables."
+
+To show the Egyptians that Aaron could do something with his rod that
+their magicians could not imitate, God caused the serpent into which
+His rod had been changed to swallow up all the rods of the magicians.
+But Balaam and his associates said: "There is nothing marvellous or
+astonishing in this feat. Your serpent has but devoured our serpents,
+which is in accordance with a law of nature, one living being devours
+another. If thou wishest us to acknowledge that the spirit of God
+worketh in thee, then cast thy rod to the earth, and if, being wood, it
+swallows up our rods of wood, then we shall acknowledge that the spirit
+of God is in thee." Aaron stood the test. After his rod had resumed its
+original form, it swallowed up the rods of the Egyptians,[163] and yet
+its bulk showed no increase. This caused Pharaoh to reflect, whether
+this wonderful rod of Aaron might not swallow up also him and his
+throne. Nevertheless he refused to obey the behest of God, to let
+Israel go, saying, "Had I Jacob-Israel himself here before me, I should
+put trowel and bucket on his shoulder." And to Moses and Aaron, he
+said, "Because ye, like all the rest of the tribe of Levi, are not
+compelled to labor, therefore do ye speak, 'Let us go and sacrifice to
+the Lord.' If you had asked for a thousand people, or two thousand, I
+should have fulfilled your request, but never will I consent to let six
+hundred thousand men go away."
+
+
+
+
+THE SUFFERING INCREASES
+
+
+Beside refusing to dismiss the children of Israel, he ordered, on the
+very day of Moses and Aaron's audience with him, that the people be
+required to deliver the prescribed tale of bricks, though the
+taskmasters were not as heretofore to give them straw to make brick.
+Another decree was, that the children of Israel were not to be
+permitted to rest on the Sabbath, for Pharaoh knew that they used the
+leisure for reading the rolls that described their redemption. All this
+was a part of God's plan, the oppression of Israel was to be increased
+the closer the end approached. As they wandered up and down the land of
+Egypt gathering the straw they needed for the due tale of bricks, they
+were maltreated by the Egyptians if they caught them on their fields.
+Such unkind acts perpetrated by the whole people made it impossible for
+them to cast the entire blame for the bondage of Israel upon Pharaoh.
+All the Egyptians showed cruelty to the Israelites on their straw
+foraging expeditions, and therefore the Divine punishment descended
+upon all alike.
+
+This frightful time of Israel's extreme suffering lasted six months.
+Meantime Moses went to Midian, leaving Aaron alone in Egypt. When Moses
+returned at the end of the reign of terror, two of the Israelitish
+officers accosted him and Aaron, and heaped abuse upon them for having
+increased the woes of their people rather than diminished them. They
+spake, saying, "If ye are truly the ambassadors of God, then may He
+judge between us and Pharaoh. But if you are seeking to bring about the
+redemption of Israel on your own account, then may God judge between
+you and Israel. You are responsible for the widespread stench now
+issuing from the Israelitish corpses used as bricks for building when
+our tale was not complete. The Egyptians had but a faint suspicion that
+we were waiting for our redemption. It is your fault if they are fully
+conscious of it now. We are in the quandary of the poor sheep that has
+been dragged away by a wolf. The shepherd pursues the robber, catches
+up with him, and tries to snatch the sheep from his jaws, and the
+wretched victim, pulled this way by the wolf and that way by the
+shepherd, is torn to pieces. Thus Israel fares between you and
+Pharaoh."
+
+The two officers that spake these stinging words were Dathan and
+Abiram, and it was neither the first nor the last time they inflicted
+an injury upon Moses. The other Israelitish officers were gentle and
+kind; they permitted themselves to be beaten by the taskmasters rather
+than prod the laborers of their own people put under their
+surveillance.
+
+The cruel suffering to which his people was exposed caused Moses to
+speak to God thus: "I have read the book of Genesis through, and I
+found the doom in it pronounced upon the generation of the deluge. It
+was a just judgment. I found also the punishments decreed against the
+generation of the confusion of tongues, and against the inhabitants of
+Sodom. These, too, were just. But what hath this nation of Israel done
+unto Thee, that it is oppressed more than any other nation in history?
+Is it because Abraham said, 'Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit
+the land?' and Thou didst rebuke him for his small faith, saying, 'Know
+of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not
+theirs'? Why, then, are not the descendants of Esau and Ishmael held in
+bondage, too? Are they not likewise of the seed of Abraham? But if Thou
+wilt say, 'What concern is it of mine?' then I ask Thee, Why didst Thou
+send me hither as Thy messenger? Thy great, exalted, and terrible Name
+is feared in all the earth, yet Pharaoh heard me pronounce it, and he
+refuses obedience. I know Thou wilt redeem Israel in Thine own good
+time, and it is of little moment to Thee that now they are immuring
+living Israelites in these buildings."
+
+Were He a God of justice only, the Lord would have slain Moses for the
+audacity of his last words, but in view of his having spoken as he had
+only out of compassion with Israel, the Lord dealt graciously with him.
+He answered Moses, saying, "Thou shalt see what I will do to Pharaoh,"
+words conveying to Moses, that although he would be witness to the
+chastisement of Pharaoh, he would not be present at that of the
+thirty-one kings of Canaan. Thus he was rebuked for the unbecoming
+language he had used in addressing God.[164] At the same time God's
+words were a rejoinder to another speech by Moses. He had said: "O Lord
+of the world, I know well that Thou wilt bring Thy children forth from
+Egypt. O that Thou wouldst make use of another instrument, for I am not
+worthy of being the redeemer of Thy children." God made answer thereto:
+"Yes, Moses, thou art worthy thereof. Through thee My children will be
+brought forth out of Egypt. Thou shalt see what I will do to
+Pharaoh."[165]
+
+At the same time God called him to account for having so little faith.
+He said: "O for the departed, their like cannot be found any more! I
+appeared unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as El Shaddai, God Almighty,
+but I was not known to them by My name Adonai, God All-Merciful, as I
+appeared unto thee. Nevertheless they did not cast aspersions upon My
+acts. I spake to Abraham, 'Unto thee will I give the land,' but when he
+was about to bury Sarah, he had to pay out silver and buy a
+resting-place for her body; and yet he did not find fault with Me. I
+spake to Isaac, 'Unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these
+lands,' but when he desired water to drink, he had to strive with the
+herdsmen of Gerar; and yet he did not find fault with Me. I spake to
+Jacob, 'The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy
+seed,' but when he wanted to spread his tent, he had to acquire a
+parcel of ground for an hundred pieces of money; and yet he did not
+find fault with Me. None of them asked to know My Name. But thou didst
+demand to know it at the very first, when I desired to send thee down
+into Egypt, and after I revealed it to thee, thou didst speak, saying,
+'Thou didst tell me that Thou art called Compassionate and Gracious,
+Longsuffering and Merciful, but as soon as I pronounced this Name
+before Pharaoh, misfortune descended upon the people of Israel.' Now I
+desire to fulfil My covenant with the three Patriarchs, and give their
+posterity the promised land, as a reward for the unquestioning faith of
+the Fathers, and also as a reward to the people, who, in spite of their
+suffering, did not find fault with My deeds. For this will I give them
+the land, which they do not deserve to possess for other reasons. I
+swear that I will do thus!" God pronounced this oath, to banish all
+fear from the mind of Moses, that He might act only in accordance with
+His attribute of justice, and thus delay the redemption of Israel for a
+time, on account of the sins of the people.[166]
+
+Now the redemption of Israel was a settled fact. But before Moses and
+Aaron could start on the work of delivering their people, God called
+various points to their attention, which He bade them consider in their
+undertaking. He spake to them, saying: "My children are perverse,
+passionate, and troublesome. You must be prepared to stand their abuse,
+to the length of being pelted with stones by them. I send you to
+Pharaoh, and although I will punish him according to his deserts, yet
+you must not fail in the respect due to him as a ruler. Furthermore, be
+careful to take the elders of the people into your counsel,[167] and
+let your first step toward redemption be to make the people give up the
+worship of idols."
+
+The last was a most difficult task, and the words of God concerning it
+wrung the exclamation from Moses: "See, the children of Israel will not
+hearken unto me. How, then, should Pharaoh hearken unto me?"[168] It
+was the third time Moses declined to go on the errand of God. Now the
+Divine patience was exhausted, and Moses was subjected to punishment.
+At first God had revealed Himself only to Moses, and the original
+intention had been that he alone was to perform all the miracles, but
+henceforth the word of God was addressed to Aaron as well, and he was
+given a share in doing the wonders.[169]
+
+
+
+
+MEASURE FOR MEASURE
+
+
+God divided the ten punishments decreed for Egypt into four parts,
+three of the plagues He committed to Aaron, three to Moses, one to the
+two brothers together, and three He reserved for Himself. Aaron was
+charged with those, that proceeded from the earth and the water, the
+elements that are composed of more or less solid parts, from which are
+fashioned all the corporeal, distinctive entities, while the three
+entrusted to Moses were those that proceeded from the air and the fire,
+the elements that are most prolific of life.[170]
+
+The Lord is a man of war, and as a king of flesh and blood devises
+various stratagems against his enemy, so God attacked the Egyptians in
+various ways. He brought ten plagues down upon them. When a province
+rises up in rebellion, its sovereign lord first sends his army against
+it, to surround it and cut off the water supply. If the people are
+contrite, well and good; if not, he brings noise makers into the field
+against them. If the people are contrite, well and good; if not, he
+orders darts to be discharged against them. If the people are contrite,
+well and good; if not, he orders his legions to assault them. If the
+people are contrite, well and good; if not, he causes bloodshed and
+carnage among them. If the people are contrite, well and good; if not,
+he directs a stream of hot naphtha upon them. If the people are
+contrite, well and good; if not, he hurls projectiles at them from his
+ballistae. If the people are contrite, well and good; if not, he has
+scaling-ladders set up against their walls. If the people are contrite,
+well and good; if not, he casts them into dungeons. If the people are
+contrite, well and good; if not, he slays their magnates.
+
+Thus did God proceed against the Egyptians. First He cut off their
+water supply by turning their rivers into blood. They refused to let
+the Israelites go, and He sent the noisy, croaking frogs into their
+entrails. They refused to let the Israelites go, and He brought lice
+against them, which pierced their flesh like darts. They refused to let
+the Israelites go, and He sent barbarian legions against them, mixed
+hordes of wild beasts. They refused to let the Israelites go, and He
+brought slaughter upon them, a very grievous pestilence. They refused
+to let the Israelites go, and He poured out naphtha over them, burning
+blains. They refused to let the Israelites go, and He caused His
+projectiles, the hail, to descend upon them. They refused to let the
+Israelites go, and He placed scaling-ladders against the wall for the
+locusts, which climbed them like men of war. They refused to let the
+Israelites go, and He cast them into dungeon darkness. They refused to
+let the Israelites go, and He slew their magnates, their first-born
+sons.[171]
+
+The plagues that God sent upon the Egyptians corresponded to the deeds
+they bad perpetrated against the children of Israel. Because they
+forced the Israelites to draw water for them, and also hindered them
+from the use of the ritual baths, He changed their water into blood.
+
+Because they had said to the Israelites, "Go and catch fish for us," He
+brought frogs up against them, making them to swarm in their
+kneading-troughs and their bed- chambers and hop around croaking in
+their entrails. It was the severest of all the ten plagues.
+
+Because they had said to the Israelites, "Go and sweep and clean our
+houses, our courtyards, and our streets," He changed the dust of the
+air into lice, so that the vermin lay piled up in heaps an ell high,
+and when the Egyptians put on fresh garments, they were at once
+infested with the insects.
+
+The fourth plague was an invasion of the land by hordes of all sorts of
+wild animals, lions, wolves, panthers, bears, and others. They overran
+the houses of the Egyptians, and when they closed their doors to keep
+them out, God caused a little animal to come forth from the ground, and
+it got in through the windows, and split open the doors, and made a way
+for the bears, panthers, lions, and wolves, which swarmed in and
+devoured the people down to the infants in their cradles. If an
+Egyptian entrusted his ten children to an Israelite, to take a walk
+with them, a lion would come and snatch away one of the children, a
+bear would carry off the second, a serpent the third, and so on, and in
+the end the Israelite returned home alone. This plague was brought upon
+them because they were in the habit of bidding the Israelites go and
+catch wolves and lions for their circuses, and they sent them on such
+errands, to make them take up their abode in distant deserts, where
+they would be separated from their wives, and could not propagate their
+race.
+
+Then God brought a grievous murrain upon their cattle, because they had
+pressed the Israelites into their service as shepherds, and assigned
+remote pasturing places to them, to keep them away from their wives.
+Therefore the murrain came and carried off all the cattle in the flocks
+the Israelites were tending.
+
+The sixth plague was a boil breaking forth with blains upon man and
+upon beast. This was the punishment of the Egyptians, because they
+would say to the children of Israel, "Go and prepare a bath for us unto
+the delight of our flesh and our bones." Therefore they were doomed to
+suffer with boils that inflamed their flesh, and on account of the itch
+they could not leave off scratching. While the Egyptians suffered thus,
+the children of Israel used their baths.
+
+Because they had sent the Israelites forth into the fields, to plough
+and sow, hail was sent down upon them, and their trees and crops were
+destroyed.
+
+They had been in the habit of saying to the Israelites, "Go forth,
+plant ye trees for us, and guard the fruit thereon." Therefore God
+brought the locusts into the Egyptian border, to eat the residue of
+that which was escaped, which remained unto them from the hail, for the
+teeth of the locust are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the jaw teeth
+of a great lion.
+
+Because they would throw the Israelites into dungeons, God brought
+darkness upon them, the darkness of hell, so that they had to grope
+their way. He that sat could not rise up on his feet, and he that stood
+could not sit down. The infliction of darkness served another purpose.
+Among the Israelites there were many wicked men, who refused to leave
+Egypt, and God determined to put them out of the way. But that the
+Egyptians might not say they had succumbed to the plague like
+themselves, God slew them under cover of the darkness, and in the
+darkness they were buried by their fellow-Israelites, and the Egyptians
+knew nothing of what had happened. But the number of these wicked men
+had been very great, and the children of Israel spared to leave Egypt
+were but a small fraction of the original Israelitish population.
+
+The tenth plague was the slaying of the first-born, and it came upon
+the Egyptians because of their intention to murder the men children of
+the Israelites at their birth, and, finally, Pharaoh and his host were
+drowned in the Red Sea, because the Egyptians had caused the men
+children of the Israelites to be exposed in the water.[172]
+
+Each, of the plagues inflicted upon Egypt had another parallel in the
+cruel treatment accorded to the Israelites. The first was a punishment
+for the arrogant words spoken by Pharaoh, "My Nile river is mine own,
+and I have made it for myself."
+
+The plague of the frogs God brought down upon the Egyptians, "because,"
+He said, "the frogs, which sometimes inhabit the water, shall take
+vengeance upon the Egyptians for having desired to destroy the nation
+destined to be the bearers of the Torah, and the Torah is likened unto
+water."
+
+God sent vermin upon them, saying, "Let the lice made of the dust of
+the earth take vengeance upon the Egyptians for having desired to
+destroy the nation whose seed is like unto the dust of the earth."
+
+Hordes of beasts, lions and wolves and swarms of serpents, came down
+upon them, "because," God said, "these animals shall take vengeance
+upon the Egyptians for having desired to destroy the nation that is
+likened unto lions, wolves, and serpents."
+
+A fatal pestilence was brought upon them, "because," God said, "death
+shall take vengeance upon the Egyptians for having desired to destroy
+the nation that faces death for the glorification of the Name of God."
+
+They were made to suffer with burning blains, "because," God said, "the
+boils coming from the ashes of the furnace shall take vengeance upon
+the Egyptians for having desired to destroy the nation whose ancestor
+Abraham walked into the fiery furnace for the glorification of the Name
+of God."
+
+He made hail to descend upon them, "because," He said, "the white hail
+shall take vengeance upon the Egyptians for having desired to destroy a
+nation whose sins shall be white."
+
+The locusts came upon them, "because," God said, "the locusts, which
+are My great army, shall take vengeance upon the Egyptians for having
+desired to destroy the nation that is called My hosts."
+
+"Darkness," said God, "which is divided from the light, shall come and
+take vengeance upon the Egyptians for desiring to destroy the nation
+upon which shineth the light of the Lord, while gross darkness covers
+the other peoples."
+
+The tenth plague, the slaying of the first-born, God inflicted, saying,
+"I will take vengeance upon the Egyptians for having desired to destroy
+the nation that is My first- born. As the night divided itself for
+Abraham, that his enemies might be vanquished, so I will pass through
+Egypt in the middle of the night, and as Abraham was proved by ten
+temptations, so I will send ten plagues upon Egypt, the enemy of his
+children."[173]
+
+
+
+
+THE PLAGUES BROUGHT THROUGH AARON
+
+
+From the infliction of the first of the plagues until the passing of
+the last, after which the Egyptians yielded all that Moses and Aaron
+demanded, there elapsed a whole year, for twelve months is the term set
+by God for the expiation of sins. The deluge lasted one year; Job
+suffered one year; sinners must endure hell tortures for one year, and
+the judgment upon Gog at the end of time will be executed for the
+length of one year.[174]
+
+Moses announced the first plague to Pharaoh one morning when the king
+was walking by the river's brink. This morning walk enabled him to
+practice a deception. He called himself a god, and pretended that he
+felt no human needs. To keep up the illusion, he would repair to the
+edge of the river every morning, and ease nature there while alone and
+unobserved. At such a time it was that Moses appeared before him, and
+called out to him, "Is there a god that hath human needs?" "Verily, I
+am no god," replied Pharaoh, "I only pretend to be one before the
+Egyptians, who are such idiots, one should consider them asses rather
+than human beings."[175]
+
+Then Moses made known to him that God would turn the water into blood,
+if he refused to let Israel go. In the warning we can discern the
+difference between God and man. When a mortal harbors the intention to
+do an injury to an enemy, he lies in wait for the moment when he can
+strike an unexpected blow. But God is outspoken. He warned Pharaoh and
+the Egyptians in public whenever a plague was about to descend, and
+each warning was repeated by Moses for a period of three weeks,
+although the plague itself endured but a single week.
+
+As Pharaoh would not lay the warning to heart, the plague announced by
+Moses was let loose upon him and his people—the waters were turned into
+blood. It is a well- known proverb, "Beat the idols, and the priests
+are in terror." God smote the river Nile, which the Egyptians
+worshipped as their god, in order to terrify Pharaoh and his people and
+force them to do the Divine will.
+
+To produce the plague, Aaron took his rod, and stretched out his hand
+over the waters of Egypt. Moses had no part in performing the miracle,
+for God had said to him, "The water that watched over thy safety when
+thou wast exposed in the Nile, shall not suffer harm through thee."
+
+Aaron had scarcely executed the Divine bidding, when all the water of
+Egypt became blood, even such as was kept in vessels of wood and in
+vessels of stone. The very spittle of an Egyptian turned into blood no
+sooner had he ejected it from his mouth,[176] and blood dripped also
+from the idols of the Egyptians.[177]
+
+The transformation of the waters into blood was intended mainly as a
+punishment for the oppressors, but it was at the same time a source of
+profit for the oppressed. It gave the Israelites the opportunity of
+amassing great wealth. The Egyptians paid them large sums for their
+water, for if an Egyptian and an Israelite drew water from the same
+trough, the portion carried off by the Egyptian was bound to be
+useless, it turned into blood. To be sure, nothing helped the Egyptians
+in their distress, for though they drank water from the same cup as an
+Israelite, it became blood in their mouth.
+
+However, this plague did not impress Pharaoh as a punishment inflicted
+in the name of God, because with the help of the Angels of Destruction
+the magicians of Egypt produced the same phenomenon of changing water
+into blood. Therefore he hearkened not unto the words of Moses.[178]
+
+The next was the plague of the frogs, and again it was Aaron that
+performed the wonder. He stretched forth his hand with his rod over the
+rivers, and caused frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt. Moses,
+whose life had been preserved by the water, was kept from poisoning his
+savior with the reptiles. At first only a single frog appeared, but he
+began to croak, summoning so many companions that the whole land of
+Egypt swarmed with them. Wherever an Egyptian took up his stand, frogs
+appeared, and in some mysterious way they were able to pierce the
+hardest of metals, and even the marble palaces of the Egyptian nobles
+afforded no protection against them. If a frog came close to them, the
+walls split asunder immediately. "Make way," the frogs would call out
+to the stone, "that I may do the will of my Creator," and at once the
+marble showed a rift, through which the frogs entered, and then they
+attacked the Egyptians bodily, and mutilated and overwhelmed them. In
+their ardor to fulfil the behest of God, the frogs cast themselves into
+the red-hot flames of the bake-ovens and devoured the bread. Centuries
+later, the three holy children, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, were
+ordered by Nebuchadnezzar to pay worship to his idols on penalty of
+death in the burning furnace, and they said, "If the frogs, which were
+under no obligation to glorify the Name of God, nevertheless threw
+themselves into the fire in order to execute the Divine will concerning
+the punishment of the Egyptians, how much more should we be ready to
+expose our lives to the fire for the greater glory of His Name!"[179]
+And the zealous frogs were not permitted to go unrewarded. While the
+others were destroyed from Pharaoh and the Egyptian houses at the
+moment appointed as the last of the plague, God saved those in the
+bake-ovens alive, the fire had no power to do them the least harm.[180]
+
+Now, although the Egyptian magicians also brought up frogs upon the
+land of Egypt through the help of demons, Pharaoh nevertheless declared
+himself ready to let the people go, to sacrifice unto the Lord. The
+difference between this plague and the first was, that water turned
+into blood had not caused him any personal inconvenience, while the
+swarms of frogs inflicted physical suffering, and he gave the promise
+to Moses to let Israel go, in the hope of ridding himself of the pain
+he experienced. And Moses in turn promised to entreat God for him on
+the following day. It could not be done at once, because the seven
+days' term had not yet elapsed. The prayer offered by Moses in behalf
+of Pharaoh was granted, all the frogs perished, and their destruction
+was too swift for them to retire to the water. Consequently the whole
+land was filled with the stench from the decaying frogs, for they had
+been so numerous that every man of the Egyptians gathered together four
+heaps of them.[181] Although the frogs had filled all the market-places
+and stables and dwellings, they retreated before the Hebrews as if they
+had been able to distinguish between the two nations, and had known
+which of them it was proper to abuse, and which to treat with
+consideration.[182] Beside sparing the Hebrews in the land of Egypt,
+the frogs kept within the limits of the land, in no wise trenching upon
+the territory of the neighboring nations. Indeed, they were the means
+of settling peaceably an old boundary dispute between Egypt and
+Ethiopia. Wherever they appeared, so far extended the Egyptian domain;
+all beyond their line belonged to Ethiopia.
+
+Pharaoh was like the wicked that cry to God in their distress, and when
+their fortunes prosper slide back into their old, impious ways. No
+sooner had the frogs departed from him, his houses, his servants, and
+his people, than he hardened his heart again, and refused to let Israel
+go. Thereupon God sent the plague of the lice, the last of those
+brought upon Egypt through the mediation of Aaron. Moses could have no
+part in it, "for," said God, "the earth that afforded thee protection
+when she permitted thee to hide the slain Egyptian, shall not suffer
+through thine hand."[183]
+
+The Egyptian magicians having boasted that they were able to produce
+the first two plagues,—an empty boast it was, for they did not bring
+them about with their enchantments, but only because Moses willed them
+to do it,—God put them to shame with the third plague. They tried in
+vain to imitate it.[184] The demons could not aid them, for their power
+is limited to the production of things larger than a barley grain, and
+lice are smaller. The magicians had to admit, "This is the finger of
+God." Their failure put an end once for all to their attempts to do as
+Moses did.
+
+But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and God spake to Moses, saying, "This
+wicked fellow remains hard of heart, in spite of the three plagues. The
+fourth shall be much worse than those which have preceded it. Go to
+him, therefore, and warn him, it would be well for him to let My people
+go, that the plague come not upon him."[185]
+
+
+
+
+THE PLAGUES BROUGHT THROUGH MOSES
+
+
+The fourth plague was also announced to the king early in the morning
+by the river's brink. Pharaoh went thither regularly, for he was one of
+the magi, who need water for their enchantments.[186] Moses' daily
+morning visits were beginning to annoy him, and he left the house
+early, in the hope of circumventing his monitor. But God, who knows the
+thoughts of man, sent Moses to Pharaoh at the very moment of his going
+forth.
+
+The warning of the plague that was imminent not having had any effect
+upon Pharaoh, God sent the fourth plague upon Egypt,[187] a mixed horde
+of wild animals, lions, bears, wolves, and panthers, and so many birds
+of prey of different kinds that the light of the sun and the moon was
+darkened as they circled through the air. These beasts came upon the
+Egyptians as a punishment for desiring to force the seed of Abraham to
+amalgamate with the other nations. God retaliated by bringing a mixture
+upon them that cost them their life.[188]
+
+As Pharaoh had been the first of the Egyptians to lay evil plans
+against the children of Israel, so he was the first upon whom descended
+punishment. Into his house the mixed horde of beasts came first of all,
+and then into the houses of the rest of the Egyptians. Goshen, the land
+inhabited by the Israelites, was spared entirely, for God put a
+division between the two peoples. It is true, the Israelites had
+committed sins enough to deserve punishment, but the Holy One, blessed
+be He, permitted the Egyptians to act as a ransom for Israel.
+
+Again Pharaoh expressed his willingness to let the children of Israel
+sacrifice unto their God, but they were to stay in the land and do it,
+not go outside, into the wilderness. Moses pointed out to Pharaoh how
+unbecoming it would be for the Israelites to sacrifice, before the very
+eyes of his people, the animals that the Egyptians worshipped as gods.
+Then Pharaoh consented to let them go beyond the borders of his land,
+only they were not to go very far away, and Moses, to mislead him,
+asked for a three days' journey into the wilderness. But, again, when
+Moses had entreated God on Pharaoh's behalf, and the horde of wild
+beasts had vanished, the king hardened his heart, and did not let the
+people go.
+
+The cessation of the fourth plague was as miraculous as the plague
+itself. The very animals that had been slain by the Egyptians in
+self-defense returned to life and departed from the land with the rest.
+This was ordained to prevent the wicked oppressors from profiting by
+the punishment even so much as the value of the hides and the flesh of
+the dead animals. It had not been so with the useless frogs, they had
+died on the spot, and their carcasses had remained where they
+fell.[189]
+
+The fifth plague inflicted by God upon the Egyptians was a grievous
+pestilence, which mowed down the cattle and beasts chiefly, yet it did
+not spare men altogether. This pestilence was a distinct plague, but it
+also accompanied all the other plagues, and the death of many Egyptians
+was due to it.[190] The Israelites again came off unscathed. Indeed, if
+an Israelite had a just claim upon a beast held by an Egyptian, it,
+too, was spared, and the same good fortune waited upon such cattle as
+was the common property of Israelites and Egyptians.
+
+The sixth plague, the plague of boils, was produced by Moses and Aaron
+together in a miraculous way. Each took a handful of ashes of the
+furnace, then Moses held the contents of the two heaps in the hollow of
+one of his hands, and sprinkled the ashes tip toward the heaven, and it
+flew so high that it reached the Divine throne. Returning earthward, it
+scattered over the whole land of Egypt, a space equal to four hundred
+square parasangs. The small dust of the ashes produced leprosy upon the
+skin of the Egyptians,[191] and blains of a peculiar kind, soft within
+and dry on top.[192]
+
+The first five plagues the magicians had tried to imitate, and partly
+they had succeeded. But in this sixth plague they could not stand
+before Moses, and thenceforth they gave up the attempt to do as he did.
+Their craft had all along been harmful to themselves. Although they
+could produce the plagues, they could not imitate Moses in causing them
+to disappear. They would put their hands into their bosom, and draw
+them out white with leprosy, exactly like Moses, but their flesh
+remained leprous until the day of their death. And the same happened
+with all the other plagues that they imitated: until their dying day
+they were afflicted with the ills they produced.[193]
+
+As Pharaoh had wittingly hardened his heart with each of the first five
+plagues, and refused to turn from his sinful purpose, God punished him
+thereafter in such wise that he could not mend his ways if he would.
+God said, "Even though he should desire to do penance now, I will
+harden his heart until he pays off the whole of his debt."
+
+Pharaoh had observed that whenever he walked on the brink of the Nile,
+Moses would intercept him. He therefore gave up his morning walk. But
+God bade Moses seek the king in his palace in the early hours of the
+day and urge him to repent of his evil ways. Therefore Moses spake to
+him as follows, in the name of God: "O thou villain! Thou thinkest that
+I cannot destroy thee from the world. Consider, if I had desired it,
+instead of smiting the cattle, I might have smitten thee and thy people
+with the pestilence, and thou wouldst have been cut off from the earth.
+I inflicted the plague only in such degree as was necessary to show
+thee My power, and that My Name may be declared throughout all the
+earth. But thou dost not leave off treading My people underfoot.
+Behold, to-morrow when the sun passes this point,"—whereat Moses made a
+stroke upon the wall— "I will cause a very grievous hail to pour down,
+such as will be only once more, when I annihilate Gog with hail, fire,
+and brimstone."
+
+But God's lovingkindness is so great that even in His wrath He has
+mercy upon the wicked, and as His chief object was not to injure men
+and beasts, but to damage the vegetation in the fields of the
+Egyptians, He bade Moses admonish Pharaoh to send and hasten in his
+cattle and all that he had in the field. But the warning fell on
+heedless ears. Job was the only one to take it to heart, while Pharaoh
+and his people regarded not the word of the Lord. Therefore the Lord
+let the hail smite both man and beast, instead of confining it to the
+herbs and the trees of the field, as He had intended from the first.
+
+As a rule, fire and water are elements at war with each other, but in
+the hailstones that smote the land of Egypt they were reconciled. A
+fire rested in the hailstones as the burning wick swims in the oil of a
+lamp; the surrounding fluid cannot extinguish the flame. The Egyptians
+were smitten either by the hail or by the fire. In the one case as the
+other their flesh was seared, and the bodies of the many that were
+slain by the hail were consumed by the fire. The hailstones heaped
+themselves up like a wall, so that the carcasses of the slain beasts
+could not be removed, and if the people succeeded in dividing the dead
+animals and carrying their flesh off, the birds of prey would attack
+them on their way home, and snatch their prize away. But the vegetation
+in the field suffered even more than man and beast, for the hail came
+down like an axe upon the trees and broke them. That the wheat and the
+spelt were not crushed was a miracle.
+
+Now, at last, Pharaoh acknowledged, and said, "The Lord is righteous,
+and I and my people are wicked. He was righteous when He bade us hasten
+in our cattle from before the hail, and I and my people were wicked,
+for we heeded not His warning, and men and beasts were found in the
+field by the hail, and slain." Again he begged Moses to supplicate God
+in his behalf, that He turn the plague away, and he promised to let the
+children of Israel go. Moses consented to do his will, saying, however:
+"Think not that I do not know what will happen after the plague is
+stayed. I know that thou and thy servants, ye will fear the Lord God,
+once His punishment is removed, as little as ye feared Him before. But
+to show His greatness, I will pray to Him to make the hail to cease."
+
+Moses went a short distance out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread
+abroad his hands unto the Lord, for he did not desire to pray to God
+within, where there were many idols and images. At once the hail
+remained suspended in the air. Part of it dropped down while Joshua was
+engaged in battle with the Amorites, and the rest God will send down in
+His fury against Gog. Also the thunders ceased at Moses' intercession,
+and were stored up for a later time, for they were the noise which the
+Lord made the host of the Syrians to hear at the siege of Samaria,
+wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight.[194]
+
+As Moses had foreseen, so it happened. No sooner had the hail stopped
+than Pharaoh abandoned his resolve, and refused to let Israel go. Moses
+lost no time in announcing the eighth plague to him, the plague of the
+locusts. Observing that his words had made an impression upon the
+king's counsellors, he turned and went out from Pharaoh, to give them
+the opportunity of discussing the matter among themselves. And, indeed,
+his servants urged Pharaoh to let the Israelites go and serve the Lord
+their God. But, again, when Moses insisted that the whole people must
+go, the young and the old, the sons and the daughters, Pharaoh
+demurred, saying, "I know it to be customary for young men and old men
+to take part in sacrifices, but surely not little children, and when
+you demand their presence, too, you betray your evil purpose. It is but
+a pretense, your saying that you will go a three days' journey into the
+wilderness, and then return. You mean to escape and never come back. I
+will have nothing more to do with the matter.[195] My god Baal-zephon
+will oppose you in the way, and hinder you on your journey." Pharaoh's
+last words were a dim presentiment. As a magician he foresaw that on
+their going forth from Egypt the children of Israel would find
+themselves in desperate straits before the sanctuary of
+Baal-zephon.[196]
+
+Pharaoh was not content with merely denying the request preferred by
+Moses and Aaron. He ordered them to be forcibly expelled from the
+palace. Then God sent the plague of the locusts announced by Moses
+before. They ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees
+that the hail had left, and there remained not any green thing. And
+again Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron, to ask their forgiveness, both
+for his sin against the Lord God, in not having hearkened unto His
+word, and for his sin against them, in having chased them forth and
+intended to curse them. Moses, as before, prayed to God in Pharaoh's
+behalf, and his petition was granted, the plague was taken away, and in
+a rather surprising manner. When the swarms of locusts began to darken
+the land, the Egyptians caught them and preserved them in brine as a
+dainty to be eaten. Now the Lord turned an exceeding strong west wind,
+which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea. Even those
+they were keeping in their pots flew up and away, and they had none of
+the expected profit.[197]
+
+The last plague but one, like those which had preceded it, endured
+seven days. All the time the land was enveloped in darkness, only it
+was not always of the same degree of density. During the first three
+days, it was not so thick but that the Egyptians could change their
+posture when they desired to do so. If they were sitting down, they
+could rise up, and if they were standing, they could sit down. On the
+fourth, fifth, and sixth days, the darkness was so dense that they
+could not stir from their place. They either sat the whole time, or
+stood; as they were at the beginning, so they remained until the end.
+The last day of darkness overtook the Egyptians, not in their own land,
+but at the Red Sea, on their pursuit of Israel. The darkness was not of
+the ordinary, earthly kind; it came from hell, and it could be felt. It
+was as thick as a dinar, and all the time it prevailed a celestial
+light brightened the dwellings of the children of Israel, whereby they
+could see what the Egyptians were doing under cover of the darkness.
+This was of great advantage to them, for when they were about to go
+forth from the land, and they asked their neighbors to lend them
+raiment, and jewels of gold and jewels of silver, for the journey, the
+Egyptians tried to deny having any in their possession. But the
+children of Israel, having spied out all their treasures during the
+days of darkness, could describe the objects they needed with accuracy,
+and designate their hiding-places. The Egyptians reasoned that the
+words of the Israelites could be taken implicitly as they spoke them,
+for if they had had any idea of deceiving them, asking for a loan when
+they intended to keep what they laid hands on, they might have taken
+unobserved during the days of darkness whatever: they desired. Hence
+the Egyptians felt no hesitation in lending the children of Israel all
+the treasures they asked for.[198]
+
+The darkness was of such a nature that it could not be dispelled by
+artificial means. The light of the fire kindled for household uses was
+either extinguished by the violence of the storm, or else it was made
+invisible and swallowed up in the density of the darkness. Sight, that
+most indispensable of all the external senses, though unimpaired, was
+deprived of its office, for nothing could be discerned, and all the
+other senses were overthrown like subjects whose leader has fallen.
+None was able to speak or to hear, nor could anyone venture to take
+food, but they lay themselves down in quiet and hunger, their outward
+senses in a trance. Thus they remained, overwhelmed by the affliction,
+until Moses had compassion on them again, and besought God in their
+behalf, who granted him the power of restoring fine weather, light
+instead of darkness and day instead of night.[199]
+
+Intimidated by this affliction, Pharaoh permitted the people to go, the
+little ones as well as the men and the women, only he asked that they
+let their flocks and their herds be stayed. But Moses said: "As thou
+livest, our cattle also shall go with us. Yea, if but the hoof of an
+animal belongs to an Israelite, the beast shall not be left behind in
+Egypt." This speech exasperated Pharaoh to such a degree that he
+threatened Moses with death in the day he should see his face again.
+
+At this very moment the Lord appeared unto Moses, and bade him inform
+Pharaoh of the infliction of the last plague, the slaying of the
+first-born. It was the first and the last time that God revealed
+Himself in the royal palace. He chose the residence of Pharaoh on this
+occasion that Moses might not be branded as a liar, for he had replied
+to Pharaoh's threat of killing him if he saw his face again, with the
+words, "Thou hast spoken well; I will see thy face again no more."
+
+With a loud voice Moses proclaimed the last plague, closing his
+announcement with the words: "And all these thy servants shall come
+down unto me and bow down themselves unto me, saying, Get thee out: and
+all the people that follow thee; and after that I will go out." Moses
+knew well enough that Pharaoh himself would come and urge him to lead
+Israel forth with as great haste as possible, but he mentioned only the
+servants of the king, and not the king himself, because he never forgot
+the respect due to a ruler.[200]
+
+
+
+
+THE FIRST PASSOVER
+
+
+When the time approached in which, according to the promise made to
+Abraham, his children would be redeemed, it was seen that they had no
+pious deeds to their credit for the sake of which they deserved release
+from bondage. God therefore gave them two commandments, one bidding
+them to sacrifice the paschal lamb and one to circumcise their
+sons.[201] Along with the first they received the calendar in use among
+the Jews, for the Passover feast is to be celebrated on the fifteenth
+day of the month of Nisan, and with this month the year is to begin.
+But the computations for the calendar are so involved that Moses could
+not understand them until God showed him the movements of the moon
+plainly. There were three other things equally difficult, which Moses
+could comprehend only after God made him to see them plainly. They were
+the compounding of the holy anointing oil, the construction of the
+candlestick in the Tabernacle, and the animals the flesh of which is
+permitted or prohibited.[202] Also the determination of the new moon
+was the subject of special Divine teaching. That Moses might know the
+exact procedure, God appeared to him in a garment with fringes upon its
+corners, bade Moses stand at His right hand and Aaron at His left, and
+then, citing Michael and Gabriel as witnesses, He addressed searching
+questions to the angels as to how the new moon had seemed to them. Then
+the Lord addressed Moses and Aaron, saying, "Thus shall My children
+proclaim the new moon, on the testimony of two witnesses and through
+the president of the court.[203]
+
+When Moses appeared before the children of Israel and delivered the
+Divine message to them, telling them that their redemption would come
+about in this month of Nisan, they said: "How is it possible that we
+should be redeemed? Is not the whole of Egypt full of our idols? And we
+have no pious deeds to show making us worthy of redemption." Moses made
+reply, and said: "As God desires your redemption, He pays no heed to
+your idols; He passes them by. Nor does He look upon your evil deeds,
+but only upon the good deeds of the pious among you."[204]
+
+God would not, indeed, have delivered Israel if they had not abandoned
+their idol worship. Unto this purpose He commanded them to sacrifice
+the paschal lamb. Thus they were to show that they had given up the
+idolatry of the Egyptians, consisting in the worship of the ram.[205]
+The early law was different from the practice of later times, for they
+were bidden to select their sacrificial animal four days before the day
+appointed for the offering, and to designate it publicly as such, to
+show that they did not stand in awe of the Egyptians.
+
+With a heavy heart the Egyptians watched the preparations of the
+Israelites for sacrificing the animals they worshipped. Yet they did
+not dare interpose an objection, and when the time came for the
+offering to be made, the children of Israel could perform the
+ceremonies without a tremor, seeing that they knew, through many days'
+experience, that the Egyptians feared to approach them with hostile
+intent. There was another practice connected with the slaughter of the
+paschal lamb that was to show the Egyptians how little the Israelites
+feared them. They took of the blood of the animal, and openly put it on
+the two side posts and on the lintel of the doors of their houses.[206]
+
+Moses communicated the laws regulating the Passover sacrifice to the
+elders, and they in turn made them known to the people at large. The
+elders were commended for having supported the leader at his first
+appearance, for their faith in Moses caused the whole people to adhere
+to him at once. Therefore God spake, saying: "I will reward the elders
+for inspiring the people with confidence in Moses. They shall have the
+honor of delivering Israel. They shall lead the people to the Passover
+sacrifice, and through this the redemption will be brought about."[207]
+
+The ceremonies connected with the Passover sacrifice had the purpose of
+conveying instruction to Israel about the past and the future alike.
+The blood put on the two side posts and on the lintel of their doors
+was to remind them of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and the bunch of
+hyssop for sprinkling the blood on the doors was to imply that,
+although Israel's position among the peoples of the earth is as lowly
+as that of the hyssop among the plants, yet this little nation is bound
+together like the bunch of hyssop, for it is God's peculiar
+treasure.[208]
+
+The paschal sacrifice afforded Moses the opportunity for inducing the
+children of Israel to submit themselves to circumcision, which many had
+refused to do until then in spite of his urgent appeals. But God has
+means of persuasion. He caused a wind to blow that wafted the sweet
+scents of Paradise toward Moses' paschal lamb, and the fragrance
+penetrated to all parts of Egypt, to the distance of a forty days'
+journey. The people were attracted in crowds to Moses' lamb, and
+desired to partake of it. But he said, "This is the command of God, 'No
+uncircumcised person shall eat thereof,' " and they all decided to
+undergo circumcision. When the Lord passed through the land of Egypt,
+He blessed every Israelite for his fulfilment of the two commands, the
+command of the paschal sacrifice and the command regarding
+circumcision."
+
+The Lord performed a great miracle for the Israelites. As no sacrifice
+may be eaten beyond the borders of the Holy Land, all the children of
+Israel were transported thither on clouds, and after they had eaten of
+the sacrifice, they were carried back to Egypt in the same way.[210]
+
+
+
+
+THE SMITING OF THE FIRST-BORN
+
+
+When Moses announced the slaying of the first-born, the designated
+victims all repaired to their fathers, and said: "Whatever Moses hath
+foretold has been fulfilled. Let the Hebrews go, else we shall all
+die." But the fathers replied, "It is better for one of every ten of us
+to die, than the Hebrews should execute their purpose." Then the
+first-born repaired to Pharaoh, to induce him to dismiss the children
+of Israel. So far from granting their wish, he ordered his servants to
+fall upon the first-born and beat them, to punish them for their
+presumptuous demand. Seeing that they could not accomplish their end by
+gentle means, they attempted to bring it about by force.[211]
+
+Pharaoh and all that opposed the wishes of the first-born were of the
+opinion that the loss of so inconsiderable a percentage of the
+population was a matter of small moment. They were mistaken in their
+calculation, for the Divine decree included not only the first-born
+sons, but also the first-born daughters, and not only the first-born of
+the marriages then existing, but also the first-born issuing from
+previous alliances of the fathers and the mothers, and as the Egyptians
+led dissolute lives, it happened not rarely that each of the ten
+children of one woman was the first-born of its father. Finally, God
+decreed that death should smite the oldest member of every household,
+whether or not he was the first-born of his parents.[212] What God
+resolves is executed. At the exact instant marking the middle of the
+night, so precise that only God Himself could determine and discern it,
+He appeared in Egypt, attended by nine thousand myriads of the Angels
+of Destruction who are fashioned some of hail and some of flames, and
+whose glances drive terror and trembling to the heart of the beholder.
+These angels were about to precipitate themselves into the work of
+annihilation, but God restrained them, saying, "My wrath will not be
+appeased until I Myself execute vengeance upon the enemies of
+Israel."[213]
+
+Those among the Egyptians who gave credence to Moses' words, and tried
+to shield their first-born children from death, sent them to their
+Hebrew neighbors, to spend the fateful night with them, in the hope
+that God would exempt the houses of the children of Israel from the
+plague. But in the morning, when the Israelites arose from their sleep,
+they found the corpses of the Egyptian fugitives next to them.[214]
+That was the night in which the Israelites prayed before lying down to
+sleep: "Cause us, O Lord our God, to lie down in peace, remove Satan
+from before us and from behind us, and guard our going out and our
+coming in unto life and unto peace,"[215] for it was Satan that had
+caused frightful bloodshed among the Egyptians.[216]
+
+Among the slain there were, beside the Egyptian first- born, also the
+first-born of other nationalities residing in Egypt, as well as the
+Egyptian first-born dwelling outside of their own land.[217] Even the
+long dead of the first-born were not spared. The dogs dragged their
+corpses out of their graves in the houses, for it was the Egyptian
+custom to inter the dead at home. At the appalling sight the Egyptians
+mourned as though the bereavement had befallen them but recently. The
+very monuments and statues erected to the memory of the first-born dead
+were changed into dust, which was scattered and flew out of sight.
+Moreover, their slaves had to share the fate of the Egyptians, and no
+less the first- born of the captive that was in the dungeon, for none
+was so low but he hated the Hebrews, and rejoiced when the Egyptians
+decreed their persecution.[218] The female slaves that ground corn
+between mill-stones were in the habit of saying, "We do not regret our
+servitude, if only the Israelites are gagged, too.[219]
+
+In dealing out punishment to these aliens in the land of Egypt, God
+showed that He was at once the Master of the land and the Lord over all
+the gods of the nations, for if the slaves and the captives of war had
+not been smitten, they would have said, "Mighty is our god, who helped
+us in this plague."[220] For the same reason all the idols of the
+Egyptians were swept out of existence in that night. The stone idols
+were ground into dust, the wooden idols rotted, and those made of metal
+melted away,[221] and so the Egyptians were kept from ascribing their
+chastisement to the wrath of their own gods. Likewise the Lord God slew
+the first-born of the cattle, for the Egyptians paid worship to
+animals, and they would have attributed their misfortunes to them. In
+all these ways the Lord showed them that their gods were but vanity.
+
+
+
+
+THE REDEMPTION OF ISRAEL FROM EGYPTIAN BONDAGE
+
+
+Pharaoh rose up in the night of the smiting of the first- born. He
+waited not for the third hour of the morning, when kings usually arise,
+nor did he wait to be awakened, but he himself roused his slaves from
+their slumber, and all the other Egyptians, and together they went
+forth to seek Moses and Aaron.[222] He knew that Moses had never spoken
+an untruth, and as he had said, "I will see thy face again no more," he
+could not count upon Moses' coming to him. There remained nothing for
+him to do but go in search of the Israelitish leader.[223] He did not
+know where Moses lived, and he had great difficulty and lost much time
+in looking for his house, for the Hebrew lads of whom he made inquiries
+when he met them in the street played practical jokes on him,
+misdirected him, and led him astray. Thus he wandered about a long
+time.[224] all the while weeping and crying out, "O my friend Moses,
+pray for me to God!"
+
+Meanwhile Moses and Aaron and all Israel beside were at the paschal
+meal, drinking wine as they sat and leaned to one side, and singing
+songs in praise of God, the Hallel, which they were the first to
+recite. When Pharaoh finally reached the door of the house wherein
+Moses abode, he called to him, and from Moses the question came back,
+"Who art thou, and what is thy name?"—"I am Pharaoh, who stands here
+humiliated."—Moses asked again: "Why dost thou come to me thyself? Is
+it the custom of kings to linger at the doors of common folk?"—"I pray
+thee, my lord," returned Pharaoh, "come forth and intercede for us,
+else there will not remain a single being in Egypt."—"I may not come
+forth, for God bath commanded us, 'None of you shall go out of the door
+of his house until the morning.' " —But Pharaoh continued to plead: "Do
+but step to the window, and speak with me," and when Moses yielded to
+his importunities, and appeared at the window, the king addressed these
+words to him: "Thou didst say yesterday, 'All the first-born in the
+land of Egypt will die,' but now as many as nine-tenths of the
+inhabitants have perished."[225]
+
+Pharaoh was accompanied by his daughter Bithiah, Moses' foster-mother.
+She reproached him with ingratitude, in having brought down evil upon
+her and her countrymen. And Moses answered, and said: "Ten plagues the
+Lord brought upon Egypt. Hath evil accrued to thee from any of them?
+Did one of them affect thee?" And when Bithiah acknowledged that no
+harm had touched her, Moses continued to speak, "Although thou art thy
+mother's first- born, thou shalt not die, and no evil shall reach thee
+in the midst of Egypt." But Bithiah said, "Of what advantage is my
+security to me, when I see the king, my brother, and all his household,
+and his servants in this evil plight, and look upon their first-born
+perishing with all the first-born of Egypt?" And Moses returned,
+"Verily, thy brother and his household and the other Egyptians would
+not hearken to the words of the Lord, therefore did this evil come upon
+them.[226]
+
+Turning to Pharaoh, Moses said: "In spite of all that hath happened, I
+will teach thee something, if thou desirest to learn, and thou wilt be
+spared, and thou wilt not die. Raise thy voice, and say: 'Ye children
+of Israel, ye are your own masters. Prepare for your journey, and
+depart from among my people. Hitherto ye were the slaves of Pharaoh,
+but henceforward ye are under the authority of God. Serve the Lord your
+God!' " Moses made him say these words three times,[227] and God caused
+Pharaoh's voice to be heard throughout the land of Egypt, so that all
+the inhabitants, the home-born and the aliens, knew that Pharaoh had
+released the children of Israel from the bondage in which they had
+languished. And all Israel sang, "Hallelujah, praise, O ye servants of
+the Lord, praise the Name of the Lord," for they belonged to the Lord,
+and no more were the servants of Pharaoh.[228]
+
+Now the king of Egypt insisted upon their leaving the land without
+delay. But Moses objected, and said: "Are we thieves, that we should
+slink away under cover of the night? Wait until morning." Pharaoh,
+however, urged and begged Moses to depart, confessing that he was
+anxious about his own person, for he was a first-born son, and he was
+terrified that death would strike him down, too. Moses dissipated his
+alarm, though he substituted a new horror, with the words, "Fear not,
+there is worse in store for thee!" Dread seized upon the whole people;
+every one of the Egyptians was afraid of losing his life, and they all
+united their prayers with Pharaoh's, and begged Moses to take the
+Israelites hence. And God spake, Ye shall all find your end, not here,
+but in the Red Sea!"[229]
+
+
+
+
+THE EXODUS
+
+
+Pharaoh and the Egyptians let their dead lie unburied, while they
+hastened to help the Israelites load their possessions on wagons, to
+get them out of the land with as little delay as possible. When they
+left, they took with them, beside their own cattle, the sheep and the
+oxen that Pharaoh had ordered his nobles to give them as presents. The
+king also forced his magnates to beg pardon of the Israelites for all
+they had suffered, knowing as he did that God forgives an injury done
+by man to his fellow only after the wrong- doer has recovered the
+good-will of his victim by confessing and regretting his fault.[230]
+"Now, depart!" said Pharaoh to the Israelites, "I want nothing from you
+but that you should pray to God for me, that I may be saved from
+death."[231]
+
+The hatred of the Egyptians toward the Israelites changed now into its
+opposite. They conceived affection and friendship for them, and fairly
+forced raiment upon them, and jewels of silver and jewels of gold, to
+take along with them on their journey, although the children of Israel
+had not yet returned the articles they had borrowed from their
+neighbors at an earlier time. This action is in part to be explained by
+the vanity of Pharaoh and his people. They desired to pretend before
+the world that they were vastly rich, as everybody would conclude when
+this wealth of their mere slaves was displayed to observers. Indeed,
+the Israelites bore so much away from Egypt that one of them alone
+might have defrayed the expense of building and furnishing the
+Tabernacle.
+
+On their leaving the land only the private wealth of the Egyptians was
+in their hands, but when they arrived at the Red Sea they came into
+possession of the public treasure, too, for Pharaoh, like all kings,
+carried the moneys of the state with him on his campaigns, in order to
+be prepared to hire a relay of mercenaries in case of defeat. Great as
+the other treasure was, the booty captured at the sea far exceeded
+it.[232]
+
+But if the Israelites loaded themselves down with goods and jewels and
+money, it was not to gratify love of riches, or, as any usurer might
+say, because they coveted their neighbors' possessions. In the first
+place they could look upon their plunder as wages due to them from
+those they had long served, and, secondly, they were entitled to
+retaliate on those at whose hands they had suffered wrong. Even then
+they were requiting them with an affliction far slighter than any one
+of all they had endured themselves.[233]
+
+The plagues did not stay the cruelty of the Egyptian oppressors toward
+the Hebrews. It continued unabated until the very end of their sojourn
+in the land. On the day of the exodus, Rachel the daughter of Shuthelah
+gave birth to a child, while she and her husband together were treading
+the clay for bricks. The babe dropped from her womb into the clay and
+sank out of sight. Gabriel appeared, moulded a brick out of the clay
+containing the child, and carried it to the highest of the heavens,
+where he made it a footstool before the Divine throne. In that night it
+was that God looked upon the suffering of Israel, and smote the
+first-born of the Egyptians,[234] and it is one of the four nights that
+God has inscribed in the Book of Memorial. The first of the four is
+that in which God appeared to create the world; all was waste and void,
+and darkness brooded over the abyss, until the Lord came and spread
+light round about by His word. The second night is that in which God
+appeared unto Abraham at the covenant of the pieces. In the third night
+He appeared in Egypt, slaying the first-born of the Egyptians with His
+right hand, and protecting the first-born of the Israelites with His
+left. The fourth night recorded will be that in which the end of the
+redemption will be accomplished, when the iron yoke of the wicked
+kingdom will be broken, and the evil-doers will be destroyed. Then will
+Moses come from the desert, and the Messiah from Rome, each at the head
+of his flock, and the word of God will mediate between them, causing
+both to walk with one accord in the same direction.
+
+Israel's redemption in future days will happen on the fifteenth of
+Nisan, the night of Israel's redemption from Egypt, for thus did Moses
+say, "In this night God protected Israel against the Angels of
+Destruction, and in this night He will also redeem the generations of
+the future."[235]
+
+Though the actual deliverance from Egypt took place in that night, the
+Hebrews did not leave the land until the following day.[236]
+
+During the same night God requited the Egyptians for their evil deeds
+in the sight of all the people, the night being as bright as day at the
+time of the summer solstice. Not one could escape the general
+chastisement, for by Divine dispensation none was absent from home at
+the time, so that none could fail to see the chastisement.[237]
+
+The angels in heaven learnt what was happening on earth. When they were
+about to begin their song of praise to God, He silenced them with the
+words, "My children on earth are singing now," and the celestial hosts
+had to stop and listen to the song of Israel.[238]
+
+Great as the joy of the Hebrews was at their deliverance from the
+Egyptian bondage, it was exceeded by that of Pharaoh's people at seeing
+their slaves depart, for with them went the dread of death that had
+obsessed them. They were like the portly gentleman riding an ass. The
+rider feels uncomfortable and longs for the moment of alighting, but
+his longing cannot compare in intensity with that of the ass groaning
+under the corpulent burden, and when their journey's end is reached,
+the ass rejoices more than his master. So the Egyptians were happier to
+be rid of the Hebrews than these were to be free.[239]
+
+In general, the Israelites were not in a joyous mood. The strength of
+men is readily exhausted, mentally and physically, by the strain of a
+sudden change from slavery to freedom. They did not recover vigor and
+force until they heard the angel hosts sing songs of praise and joy
+over the redemption of Israel and the redemption of the Shekinah, for
+so long as the chosen people is in exile, the Shekinah, who dwells
+among Israel, is also, as it were, in exile. At the same time, God
+caused the earth to exhale and send aloft a healing fragrance, which
+cured them of all their diseases.[240]
+
+The exodus of the Israelites began at Raamses, and although the
+distance from there to the city of Mizraim, where Moses abode, was a
+forty days' journey, yet they heard the voice of their leader urging
+them to leave the land. They covered the distance from Raamses to
+Succoth, a three days' march, in an instant. In Succoth God enveloped
+them in seven clouds of glory, four hovering in front, behind, and at
+the two sides of them, one suspended above them, to keep off rain,
+hail, and the rays of the sun, and one under them to protect them
+against thorns and snakes. The seventh cloud preceded them, and
+prepared the way for them, exalting the valleys and making low every
+mountain and hill.[241] Thus they wandered through the wilderness for
+forty years. In all that time no artificial lighting was needed; a beam
+from the celestial cloud followed them into the darkest of chambers,
+and if one of the people had to go outside of the camp, even thither he
+was accompanied by a fold of the cloud, covering and protecting
+him.[242] Only, that a difference might be made between day and night,
+a pillar of fire took the place of the cloud in the evening.[243] Never
+for an instant were the people without the one or the other to guide
+them: the pillar of fire glowed in front of them before the pillar of
+cloud retired, and in the morning the cloud was there before the fire
+vanished.[244] The clouds of glory and the pillar of fire were sent for
+the protection of Israel alone, for none beside, not for the heathen
+and not for the mixed multitude that went up with them; these had to
+walk outside of the cloud enclosure.[245]
+
+The cavalcade consisted of six hundred thousand heads of families
+afoot, each accompanied by five children on horseback, and to these
+must be added the mixed multitude, exceeding the Hebrews vastly in
+number.[246]
+
+So profound was Israel's trust in the Lord, that they followed Moses
+unmurmuringly into the wilderness, without supplying themselves with
+provisions.[247] The only edibles they took were the remains of the
+unleavened bread and the bitter herbs, and these not to satisfy their
+hunger, but because they were unwilling to separate themselves from
+what they had prepared lovingly at the command of God. These
+possessions were so dear to them that they would not entrust them to
+the beasts of burden, they carried them on their own shoulders.[248]
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LEGENDS OF THE JEWS, VOLUME II ***
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will
+be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
+law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
+so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the
+United States without permission and without paying copyright
+royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
+of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
+concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
+and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following
+the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
+of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
+copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very
+easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation
+of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project
+Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may
+do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected
+by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark
+license, especially commercial redistribution.
+
+START: FULL LICENSE
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
+Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
+www.gutenberg.org/license.
+
+Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+
+1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
+destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your
+possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
+Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
+by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the
+person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph
+1.E.8.
+
+1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
+paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this
+agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the
+Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
+of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual
+works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
+States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
+United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
+claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
+displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
+all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
+that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting
+free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm
+works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
+Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily
+comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
+same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when
+you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
+in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
+check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
+agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
+distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
+other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no
+representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
+country other than the United States.
+
+1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
+immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear
+prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work
+on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed,
+performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
+
+  This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+  most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
+  restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
+  under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
+  eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
+  United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
+  you are located before using this eBook.
+
+1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is
+derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
+contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
+copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
+the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
+redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
+either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
+obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm
+trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
+additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
+will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works
+posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
+beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
+any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
+to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format
+other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official
+version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm website
+(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
+to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
+of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain
+Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the
+full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+provided that:
+
+* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+  the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+  you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
+  to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has
+  agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
+  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
+  within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
+  legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
+  payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
+  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
+  Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
+  Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+  you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+  does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+  License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
+  copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
+  all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm
+  works.
+
+* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
+  any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+  electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
+  receipt of the work.
+
+* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+  distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than
+are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
+from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
+the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
+forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
+Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
+contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
+or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
+intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
+other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
+cannot be read by your equipment.
+
+1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
+with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
+with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
+lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
+or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
+opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
+the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
+without further opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO
+OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
+damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
+violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
+agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
+limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
+unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
+remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in
+accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
+production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
+including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
+the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
+or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or
+additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any
+Defect you cause.
+
+Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
+computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
+exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
+from people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future
+generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
+Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
+www.gutenberg.org
+
+Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
+U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's business office is located at 809 North 1500 West,
+Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up
+to date contact information can be found at the Foundation's website
+and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
+
+Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without
+widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
+DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular
+state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
+donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
+
+Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be
+freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
+distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of
+volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
+the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
+necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
+edition.
+
+Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
+facility: www.gutenberg.org
+
+This website includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+