feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them."

And he said to him:-"Here am I."

And he said to him:-"Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again."

So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron,* and he came to Shechem. And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying:-"What seekest thou?" And he said: "I seek my brethren; tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks." And the man said:"They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan.'

995

And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan. And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. And they said one to another :"Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now, therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams."

And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said:-"Let us not kill him." And Reuben said unto them:-"Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him;" that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again.

4. See Narrative iii. Foot-note.

5. In northern Palestine.
6. Eldest of the sons of Jacob.

And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him; and they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmaelites' came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.

And Judah said unto 'his brethren :-"What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh." And his brethren were content.

Then there passed by Midianites" merchantmen ; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver and they brought Joseph into Egypt.

And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. And he returned unto his brethren, and said: "The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?" And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped

7. Arabs, or Bedouins, the children of Ishmael, son of Abraham and Haga.

8.

The region east of the Jordan river.

9. Spicery, etc., gums and balsams, the product of southern Arabia and east Africa. They were in great demand for medicinal and embalming purposes and were burned as disinfectant perfumes.

10. Another of the older sons of Jacob.

11. Ishmaelites.

the coat in the blood; and they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said: "This have we found: know now whether it be thy son's coat or no."

And he knew it, and said: "It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces." And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said:-"For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning." Thus his father wept for him.

13

And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard.

12. i. e.

They sent the coat by messenger who "brought it to their (the brother's) father."

13. The name by which the King of Egypt was generally known.

VII

JOSEPH'S REVENGE ON HIS BRETHREN

(Genesis xlii-xlv)

Introductory Note.-Joseph, sold as a slave in Egypt, is bought by Potiphar, captain of Pharaoh's guard, who makes him steward of his household. Being falsely accused of crime, Joseph is thrown into prison. In the prison Joseph had for fellow captives two high officers of Pharaoh's court; and his skill in dream interpretation enabled him to predict that one of the noblemen would be restored to his honors and dignities and that the other would suffer an ignominious death. Each of these predictions was verified by the event. Some time after, Pharaoh himself was perplexed by a dream in which he saw "seven kine," "well fleshed and well favored," devoured by seven "lean kine." No Egyptian being able to interpret this dream, which was repeated the second night in a slightly different form, the official who had been restored to favor bethought himself of the young Hebrew interpreter of dreams in the prison. Joseph, brought before Pharaoh, explained the King's dream as indicating seven years of remarkable plenty in the land to be followed by seven years of famine. Pharaoh determined to take full advantage of the foreknowledge of so important a series of events, and made Joseph a commissioner to buy and store the surplus grain of the fruitful years. Joseph's success in this office was such that when the famine came and his storehouses contained all the grain there was in the land, he was looked upon as the actual ruler of Egypt, Pharaoh having given up to him the entire control of the affairs of government.

Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons: "Why do ye look one upon another?" And he said:—“Behold, I have heard that

there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die."

And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt. But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said: "Lest peradventure mischief befall him."

And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan. And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth. And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them:-"Whence come ye?" And they said:-"From the land of Canaan to buy food."

And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them:-“Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come."

And they said unto him:-"Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies."

And he said unto them:-"Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come."

And they said:--"Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and,