The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginsburg, translated from the German manuscript by Henrietta Solled, Volume 2, Bible Times and Characters from Joseph to Exodus. Preface The arrangement and presentation of the material in this volume are the same as in Volume 1. 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 2 up to the death of Moses, but the legendary material clustering around the life and death of Moses is so abundant that practical considerations demand of the division of this material in order not to make the second Volume 2 bulky. The division chosen is a natural one. This volume closes with the Exodus and contains the deeds of Moses and Egypt while the following volume will deal with Moses and 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 Ginsburg, New York, March 28, 1910. Jacob was not exempt from the lot that falls to the share of all the pious, whenever they expect to enjoy life and 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 it would be at rest at last. Then he came to the loss of Joseph that inflicted him 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 prostolites, in accordance with the examples set by him, Abraham, and Isaac, did he consider worthwhile having lived, and this happy time was of short duration. And while Joseph was notched away, but eight years had collapsed since his return to his father's house, and yet it was only for the sake of Joseph that Jacob had been willing to undergo all the troubles and adversity connected with his rejoin in the house of Lebanon. 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 of Jordan for the Israelites was a 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 is the one whom Jacob transmitted the instruction and knowledge that he had received from his teachers, Shem and Abair. The whole course of his son's life was but a reputation of his father, 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, though also Joseph's mother. Like Jacob, Joseph was born circumcised, as the father was a shepherd to 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 brother. The father was the favourite son as compared with his brother, so was the son who has compared with his brother. 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 Wales. The father and the son were both blessed with wealth. Great things were announced to the father in a dream, so also the son, as the father went to Egypt and put an end to famine, so the son, as the father exacted the one promise for his sons to bury him in the Holy Land, so also the son. The father died in Egypt, there also a death to the son, the body of the father. 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 provided for his father Jacob during a period of seventeen years. Until he was seventeen years old, Joseph frequented the Bed Hamid Rosh. He became so learned to keep good in part to his brother in the holoclote he had heard from his father, and in this way he may be regarded as their teacher. 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. 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 they ate flesh torn from a living animal, and he charged them with casting their eyes upon the daughters of the Canaanites and giving them contemptuous treatment to the sons of the handmaids of Bilal and Zippal, whom they called slaves. For these groundless actualizations Joseph had to pay dearly.  It 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 rich and slaughtering the kid of the ghost with the blood of which they besmeared his coat of many colors. End of The Favorite Son. Joseph hated by his brethren. Joseph's tailbearing against his brother made them hate him. Among all of them, Gad was particularly wrathful and for good reason. Gad was a very brave man and one of these to pray 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 only 30 days for he was 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 the 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 the bear. He had 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 the father's substance. To the resentment of the brethren was out of their envy of Joseph because their father loved him more than all of them. Joseph's beauty 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 this distinguishing him among his children. As a token of his great love for him, Jacob gave Joseph a coat of many colors, so light and delicate it could be crushed and concealed in the closed palm of one hand. The Hebrew name of this garment, Pasim, conveys the story as the sale of Joseph. The first letter, Pei, stands for Parfar, his Egyptian master. Samekh stands for Sokhrim, the merchant man that brought Joseph to the company of the Ishmaelites whom his brethren had sold him. Yud stands for the same Ishmaelites and men for the Midianites that obtained him from the merchant men and then disposed of him to Parfar. But Pasim has yet another meaning, clefts. His brethren knew that the Red Sea would be cleft in twain in the 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 the hymn, it must be said in their favor that they were not of the sullen and spiteful nature. They did not hide their feelings, they proclaimed their enmity openly. Once Joseph dreamed a dream that he could not refrain from telling to his brethren. He spoke and said, Here I pray you this dream which I have dreamed. Behold, you gathered fruit, so did I, your fruit rotted, but mine remained sound.  You will keep the truth as to my fate from the knowledge of my father, but I will stand fast as a reward for your self-denial of my mother, and you will prostrate yourselves five times before me. The brethren refused at first to listen to the dream, but when Joseph urged them again and again they gave heed to him and said, Shalt thou indeed roheine over us? Shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? God put an interpretation into their mouths that was to be verified in the posterity of Joseph, Jeroboam and Janu, two kings that Joth and Joshua and Gideon, two judges have been among his descendants corresponding to double the emphatic expressions used by his brethren interpreting the dream. Then Joseph dreamed another dream, how the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed down before him. Then Jacob, to whom he told it first, was rejoiced over it, for he understood his meaning properly. He knew that he himself was just ignited by the sun, the name which God had called him when he lodged overnight on the holy site of the temple. He heard God say to the angels at that time, The sun has come, the moon stood for Joseph's mother, the stars for his brethren, for the righteous her as the stars. Jacob was so convinced by 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, Bilal, who had raised him. Jacob wrote the dream in a book, recording all the circumstances, the day, the hour, the place, for the Holy Spirit cautioned him, take heed for all these things will surely come to pass. But when Joseph repeated the dream to his brethren in the presence of his father, Jacob rebuked him, saying, I am thy brethren, that has some sense, but I am thy mother, that is inconceivable, for thy mother is dead. These words of Jacob called forth a reproof from God. He said, Thus thy descendants will in time come to seek to hinder Jeremiah in the delivering of his prophecies. Jacob may be excused. He had spoken in this way only in order to avert the enemy in hate of his brethren from Joseph, but they envied and hated him because he knew that the interpretation put upon the dream by Jacob would be realized. End of Joseph Hated by His Brethren Chapter 1 Part 2 of The Legends of the Jews Volume 2 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Scott Sherris, Atlanta, Georgia, USA The Legends of the Jews Volume 2 by Rabbi Louis Ginsburg Joseph Cast Into the Pit Once the brethren of Joseph led their father's flocks to the pastors of Shechem, and they intended to take their ease and pleasure there. They stayed away a long time, and no tidings of them were heard. Jacob began to be anxious about the fate of his sons.  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.  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 I am. Jacob dismissed Joseph with the injunction that he journeyed only by daylight, saying furthermore, Go now, see whether it will 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. 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. 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. 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. Gabriel in human shape appeared before him and asked him, What seekest thou? And he answered, I seek my brethren. Where to the angel replied, Thy brethren have given up the divine qualities of love and mercy. 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 now would be the first to be subjected to it. Then Gabriel led Joseph to Dothan. 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. 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.   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 brothers, 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 Rubin 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 him in order that Joseph's rescue might be accomplished, and the pits remained dry until Joseph was safe in the hands of the Ishmaelites. Rubin had several reasons for interceding on 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, Rubin was grateful to Joseph for having reckoned him among the 11 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. First Rubin 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 treaties 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. Then Rubin 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 pardoned for the transgression he had committed against Jacob. His good intention was frustrated, yet Rubin was rewarded by God, for God gives an recompense not only for good deeds, but for good intentions as well. As he was the first of the brethren of Joseph to make an attempt to save him, so the city of Bezzar and the tribe of Rubin was the first of the cities of refuge appointed to safeguard the life of the innocent that seek help. Furthermore, God spoke to Rubin, saying, As thou wasst 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. The brethren accepted Rubin'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 awful. As though this were not enough torture, Simon bade his brethren fling great stones at Joseph. In his later dealings with his brother, Simon, Joseph showed all the forgiving charitableness of his nature. When Simon was held in Durantz 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. 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. However, the reptiles could do him no harm. God heard his cry of distress, and kept them in hiding in the clefts and 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, Ruben, Simon, Levy, my brethren, deliver me, I pray you from this dark place unto which you have cast me. Though I had 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?  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 to 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 Baoshat's distance. 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 faith 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. 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 condemning the Lord. 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 traveling 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 journeying, and he will be lost among the peoples of the earth. Let us follow the custom of former days, for Kana'an too, the son of Ham, was made a slave for his evil deeds, and so will we do with our brother Joseph. The Legends of the Jews Vol. 2 by Rabbi Louis Ginsburg. The Sale While the brethren of Joseph were deliberating upon his fate, seven Midianite-ish 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.  We threw the lad into the pit, because he was disobedient. Now then, we turn our slave to us. The Midianites replied, What? This lad, you say, is your slave, your servant? More likely, it is that you are all 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.  Unafrightened, the Midianites drew their weapons, and amid war whoops they prepared to enter into a combat with the sons of Jacob. Then Simon grows up, and with the 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 not be 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 you not that you cast this lad into the pit because he was a rebellious spirit? What now will you do with it, unsubordinate 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. 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 Ahushveru 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 and Egypt. 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 had 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. The merchant men 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 hanging 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 while he was ruler over Egypt. As an atonement for the twenty pieces of silver taken by his brethren exchanged for Joseph, God commanded that every firstborn 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. 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 refuses to raise up a name in Israel unto his brother that hath died without having a son, shall have his shoe loosed from his foot, and his face shall be spat upon.  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 traveling 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. CHAPTER I. ORG. Recording by Jonathan Trachtenberg. The Legends of the Jews, Vol. 2 by Rabbi Louis Ginsburg, 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. These aromatic substances were well suited to Joseph, whose body emitted a pleasant smell, so agreeable and pervasive that the road along which he traveled 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. 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. 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, oh father, father! Another one of the caravan, tired of his lamentations, beat him, causing only the more tears in wails, until the youth, exhausted by his grief, was unable to move on. Now all the Ishmaelites and 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 sepulcher. Joseph hastened to his mother's grave, and throwing himself across it, he groaned and cried, saying, oh mother, mother! That dist 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, oh 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, oh 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 depth, 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 not, for the Lord is with thee, oh 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 hast had a free man as a 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 camel 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 are trespasses? That such things will fall us. One of them said to the others, For adventure 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.  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, four 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 to 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. No sooner was the sale of Joseph an accomplished fact than the sons of Jacob repented of their deed. They even hastened after the Medanites to ransom Joseph, but their efforts to overtake them were in vain, and they had to accept the inevitable. Meantime Reuben had rejoined his brethren. 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. 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 had 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 to 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 to any human being what they had 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.  In expiation of this act of deception it was ordained that a kid be used as an atonement sacrifice when the tabernacle was dedicated. Simon opposed this suggestion. He did not want to relinquish Joseph's coat, and he threatened to hew down anyone 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, We shall say that thou didst execute the evil deed thyself. At that Simon surrendered it, and naftily 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 lay long 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 naftily 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. There, too, 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 had 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.  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 in 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. 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 Dina could not survive their grief. Bilhah passed away the very day whereon the report reached Jacob, and Dina 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. 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 did thou devour my son Joseph, without any fear of the God of the earth, and without taking any thought of the grief, thou would spring 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 avenges 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 my known 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 son's 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 hath 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. 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 Ruben, Ram, Nissen, and so for each of his twelve sons. Then he addressed the stones and bade them bowed down before the one marked with Ruben's name, constellation, and month, and they did not move. He gave the same order regarding the stone marked for Simon, and again the stone 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. 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 Ruben 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. And as God kept the truth a secret from Jacob, Isaac did not feel justified in equating 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 for manifesting grief, because he knew that Joseph lived. 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 all of them 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 sons 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 son by entering into a new marriage, for he had made the promise to his father-in-law to take none besides 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. Besides 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. 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. In his mourning Jacob put sackcloth upon his loins, and therein he 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. End of Chapter 1 Part 4 Chapter 1 Joseph Part 5 of the Legends of the Jews, Volume 2 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Legends of the Jews, Volume 2 by Rabbi Louis Ginsburg 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 brethren and conceal his blood? And now you say, The sin lies at my door. The brethren continued to argue, But it was thou that did say, Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and we followed thy advice. Hats thou said, Let us restore him to his father, we had heeded these words of thine as well. The brethren hereupon deprived Judah of indignity, for hitherto he had been their king, and they also excluded him from their fellowship, and he had to seek his fortune alone. Through the mediation of his chief shepherd, Hyra, he became acquainted with the Canaanites king of Adulam, 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 Abdullamite king gave a banquet in his honor, at which his daughter, Bathshua, poured the wine, and, intoxicated by wine and passion, Judah took her and married her. Judah's action may be compared to that of the lion, who passes a carrion in needs of it, though a kerr 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. The Holy Spirit cried out against Judah when he married the Canaanite woman of Abdullam, saying the glory of Israel went down in Adulam. The first-born son of Judah from this marriage was named Eir, the childless, a suitable name for him that died without begetting any issue. At Judah's desire Eir married Tammer, a daughter of Eiram, the son of Shem, but because she was not a Canaanites woman, his mother used artifices against her, when he did not know her, and an angel of the Lord killed him on the third day after his wedding. Then Judah gave Tammer to his second son Onan, the marriage taking place before the week of the wedding festivities for Eir had elapsed. A whole year Onan lived with Tammer 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. 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. Now Judah conceived the plan of marrying Tammer to his youngest son, Shella, but his wife would not permit it. She hated Tammer because she was not of the daughters of Canaan like herself, and while Judah was away from home, Bathshua chose a wife for her son, Shella, from the daughters of Canaan. Judah was very angry at Bathshua for what she had done, and also God poured out his wrath upon her, for on account of her wickedness she had to die, and her death happened a year after that of her two sons. Now that Bathshua was dead Judah might have carried out his wish and married Tammer to his youngest son, but he waited for Shella to grow up, because he feared for his life, seeing that Tammer 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, Tammer knew she was appointed to be the Ancestris of David and of the Messiah, and she determined to venture upon an extreme measure in order to make sure of fulfilling her destiny. Accordingly, when the Holy Spirit revealed to her that Judah was going up to Timna, she put off from her the garments of her widowhood and sat in the gate of Abraham's tent, and there she encountered Judah. 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 Ancestris of Isaiah and his father Amos as well, both of whom were prophets and of royal blood. Judah passed Tammer without paying any attention to her, and she raised her eyes heavenward and said, O Lord of the world, may God 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. With prophetic caution Tammer demanded that, as a pledge for the reward he promised her, he leave her with his signet, his mantle, and his staff, the symbols of royalty, judgeship, and messiahship, the three distinctions of the descendants of Tammer 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, Tammer could not be found, and he feared to make further search for her lest he be put to shame. But Tammer, who soon discovered that she was with child, felt very happy and proud, for she knew that she would be the mother of kings and redeemers. 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 in the least considerable indignity, was the first to give a decision, for thus it is prescribed in criminal cases that the prominent judges overaw 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 as the punishment ordained by the law for a high priest's daughter that leads an unchaste life. The preparations for her execution were begun. In vain Tammer 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 ring a confession from her father-in-law. She raised her eyes to God, and prayed, I supplicate thy grace, O God, thou who giveest ear to the grive the distressed in the hour of his need, answer me, that I may be spared to bring forth thee 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 sucker her. He put the pledges in a place in which Tammer 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 I am 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 a confession thereof. Then Judah rose up, and he said, With your permission, my brethren, and ye men of my father's house, I make it known that with what measure a man meets it shall be measured unto him, be it for good or for evil, but happy the man that acknowledges 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 mantel, 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 shall perish in a fire that can be extinguished than I should be cast into hellfire which devoureth other fires. Now then I acknowledge that Tamar is innocent.  Then a heavenly voice was heard to say, You are both innocent. It was the will of God that it should happen. The open confession of Judah induced his oldest brother Ruben to make public acknowledgment of the sin he had committed against his father, for he had kept it a secret until then. Tamar gave birth to twin sons, Perez and Zara, both resembling their father in bravery and piety. She called the first Perez, mighty, because she said, Thou didst show thyself of great power, and it is meat and proper that thou shouldst be strong, for thou art destined to possess the kingdom. The second son was called Zara because he appeared from out of the womb before his brother, but he was forced back again to make way for Perez. These two, Perez and Zara, were sent out as spies by Joshua, and the line that Ray had bound in the window of her house as a token to the army of the Israelites she received from Zara. It was the scarlet thread that the midwife had bound upon his hand to mark him as the child that appeared first and withdrew. The Wives of the Sons of Jacob Judah was the first of the sons to 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, so 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 Adolam, the residence of his friend Hira, or as he was later called, Hyrum, 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 land 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. In the same year, the year of Joseph's misfortune, all his other brethren married too. Reuben's wife was named El Yoram, the daughter of the Canaanite Usi of Timna. Simon married his sister Dina first, and then a second wife. When Simon and Levi massacred the men of Shechem, Dina 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. Dina bore her brother a son, and from her union with Shechem, the son of Hymor, spring a daughter, Asenath by name, afterward the wife of Joseph. When this daughter was born to Dina, 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 bounded about the neck of the girl, and he put her under a thorn-bush 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 traveled 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, before she took off the amulets 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. Besides the son of Dina, Simon had another son, whose name was Saul, by Buna, the damsel he had taken captive in the campaign against Shechem. Levi and Issacar married two daughters of Jobob, the grandson of Eber, the wife of the former was named Adina, the wife of the latter, Arita. Dan's wife was Effulet, a daughter of the Moabite Hamudan. For a long time their marriage remained childless. Finally they had a son, whom they called Hashim. Gad and Naftali married women from Heran, two sisters, daughters of Amoram, a grandson of Nahor. Naftali's wife, Meremit, was the elder of the two, and the younger, the wife of Gad, was named Uzit. Asher's first wife was Adan, the daughter of Efflal, a grandson of Ishmael. She died childless, and he married a second wife, Hadorah, a daughter of Abimeel, the grandson of Shem. She had been married before, her first husband having been Malkiel, also a grandson of Shem, and the issue of this marriage was a daughter, Sarah, by name. When Asher brought his wife to Canaan, the three-year-old orphan, Sarah, came with them. She was raised in the house of Jacob, and she walked in the way of Pius' children, and God gave her beauty, wisdom, and sagacity. Zebulun's wife, Merocha, the daughter of Molad, a grandson of Midian, the son of Abraham, by Ketura. For Benjamin, when he was but ten years old, Jacob took Malkiel to wife, the daughter of Aram, the grandson of Tara, 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 Ketura, and by her also he had five sons. 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 the 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, by 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.  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 a person she had heard from the units. 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 into 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 shopkeeper protested his innocence, and he could not be made to recede from his assertion that a company of fish-mail-lights 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 Unix, for he was third in the 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 was 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 also had 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 master 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 suched 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. 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 wasst a slave? See, we have information that thou art the son of a powerful man in Canaan, and thy father mourns for thee in sat-cloth. Joseph was on the point of divulging his secret, but he kept to 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 not be 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 the chief of the Unix liberated him from prison, and dismissed all parties concerned. With the permission of her husband, Potiphar's wife sent a Unix 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 Unix, 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 Unix 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 Unix might not be put to shame. Thus Joseph became the slave of the idolatrous priest Potiphar, or Potiphara, as he was sometimes called. He had secured possession of the handsome youth for a lewd purpose, but the angel Gabriel mutilated him in such a manner that he could not accomplish it. His master soon had occasion to notice that Joseph was as pious as he was beautiful, for whenever he was occupied with his administrations he would whisper a prayer, O Lord of the world, Thou art my trust, Thou art my protection. Let me find grace and favour 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, Does Thou purpose to cast a spell upon me? Nay, replied the youth, I am beseeching God to let me find favour 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 hypocrites he would say, I would rather have wine mixed with absent, 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 ought that was with him, keeping back nothing from Joseph but his wife. Seeing that the shekenna 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. Accordingly he provided instruction for him in the arts, and ordered him to have better fare than the other slaves. 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 fortune 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.  Thus Joseph's secret wish was fulfilled that he might be permitted to prove his piety under temptation, as the piety of his father's had been tested. Joseph and Zulinka. Throw the stick up in the air, and 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. 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. 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 on 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 the same to me 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 practised, and though he gave the poor and the sick the fool to portion 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 lead 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 that fear him should 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. Where at Joseph's garment and he said, O woman, fear the Lord, and do not execute this evil deed, that thou mayest not bring destruction down upon myself, 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 said it before him, he saw the image of a man handing him a sword together with the dish, and worn 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 the 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 has 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 husbands concubine astejo, thy rival will maltreat thy children, and extirpate thy memory from the earth. These words gently spoke and had the opposite effect of those intended. They only inflamed her passion more by feeding her hopes. She said, There, seeest thou, dust love me now. It's a ficeth for me that thou takeest 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. His mistress, or as she was called Zulaika, 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. Zulaika, 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 will they be to look upon in the grave. Zulaika, how lovely and pleasant are thy words. I pray thee, take thy heart, 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. Zulaika, 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. Zulaika, 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. 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 executed the 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 lucid the prisoners, or I will put heavy labour upon thee that will bend thee double, whereupon Joseph the Lord raises up them that are bowed down, or I will blind thine eyes, whereupon Joseph the Lord openeth the eyes of the blind. 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 that would make an adulterer of me, that would 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 her 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 where 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 desires 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 the visions of the night unto those that love him. Thus to 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 firstborn son Reuben, on account of an immoral act, and gave it to me. Where I to fulfill thy desire I would share the fate of my brother Reuben. With such words Joseph endeavored to cure the wife of his master of the wanton passion she had conceived for him, while he took ye 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 her to sanctify the name of God, blessed be he, before the whole world. It was this feeling of his that Zulanka could not comprehend. And when finally, carried away by passion, she told him in unmistakable language what she desired, and he recoiled from her. She said to Joseph, Why dost thou refuse to fulfill 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? As the Lord liveth I will not commit the crime thou bidest me to 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 Zulanka 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, that thou lackest nothing? Was not thy husband a prince great and esteemed in the sight of the king? Is it possible that thou canst want ought of what thy heart desireeth?" Zulanka answered them, saying, This day shall it be made known to you whence cometh the state in which 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 weighed 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 not knowing what they were doing, they continued to look upon the beauty of Joseph without turning their eyes away from him. Then Zulanka said unto them, What have you done?  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 Zulanka, 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? Zulanka answered them, Daily do I endeavor to persuade him, but he will not consent to my wishes. I have promised him everything that is fair, yet 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 an account of the love that she bore Joseph, and they advised her all the time to try and entice the youth. On a certain day, when Joseph was doing his master's work in the house, Zulanka came and fell suddenly upon him. But Joseph was stronger than she, and he pressed her down to the ground. Zulanka wept, and in a voice of supplication and in bitterness of soul she said to Joseph, Has thou ever known, seen, or heard of a woman my peer in beauty, let alone a woman with beauty exceeding mine? Yet I tried daily to persuade thee, I fall into decline through love of thee, I confer all this honor upon me, and now 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 me 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 me, 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. Zulanka, however, was not discouraged. She continued her solicitations unremittingly, day after day, 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. The Ledges of the Jews Vol. 2 by Rabbi Louis Ginsburg Joseph Resists Temptation Seeing that she could not attain her object by entreaties or tears, Zulanka 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, Zulanka remained at home under the 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 perfumed the hall and the whole house with Cassia and frankincense, spread myrrh and aloes all over, and afterward set 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 Zulanka sat and saw all she had done, he turned back. His mistress, perceiving it, called out to him, What ailet 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 Zulanka stood before him suddenly in all her beauty of person and magnificence of raiment, and repeated the desire of her heart. It was the first and 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 Lea, 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 honour through sinful conduct? For no, 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. Astonished at the swift change in his countenance, Zulanka said, My friend, a true love, why art thou so affrighted that thou art near to swooning? I see my father. Where is he? Why, there is none in the house.  Joseph fled forth, away from the house of his mistress, the same house in which a four-time wonders had been done for Sarah kept a captive there by Pharaoh. But hardly was he outside, when the sinful passion again overwhelmed him, and he returned to Zulanka's chamber. Then the Lord appeared unto him, holding the ebb and shatia in his hand, and said to him, If thou touches 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, but Zulanka caught him by his garment, and she said, As the king liveth, if thou wilt not fulfill 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 dyest.  Zulanka'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. 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. 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 a morality before her husband, and then he would be thrown into prison. Zulanka 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. But Zulanka 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 had brought in unto my house, and who attempted to do violence to me today. You had scarcely gone away to the festival when he entered the house, and making sure that no one was there 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 rage against Joseph they went to their master and reported to him what had come to pass. In the meantime, the husbands of Zulika's friends had also spoken to Potiphar at the instigation of their wives and complained of his slave that he molested them. 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, may as 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. These words she spoke at the moment of conjugal intimacy with Potiphar, and when she was certain of exerting an influence upon her husband. Potiphar gave credence to her words, and he had Joseph flugged 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 today on account of a false accusation by the hands of these uncircumcised impious men? God opened the mouth of Zuleka'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?  This is the true tale of that which did happen. And the child proceeded to tell all that had passed, how Zuleka 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 the priest said 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 Zuleka 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 Zuleka 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 Zuleka's fair name. 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 the endurance lest a taint cling to my children. The Legends of the Jews, Volume 2 by Rabbi Lewis Ginsburg Joseph in prison By way of punishment for having traduced to his ten brethren before his father, Joseph had to languish for ten years in the prison to which the wiles of producers had in turn condemned him. 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 hay, which occurs twice in the name of God, was added to his name. He had been called Joseph, but now he was also called Jehoseph. 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.  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. Thus she had the opportunity of visiting Joseph in his cell and trying to persuade him to do her will. She would say, This in 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 executed judgment for the oppressed. I will push matters so far that all men will hate thee. The Lord loveth the righteous. I will sell thee into a strange land. The Lord preserveth the strangers. 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 do like a continued for a long time. But when finally she saw that all her hopes were vain, she let him alone. 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. In many other ways the jailer showed himself kindly disposed toward Joseph. Seeing the youth's zeal and contentiousness in executing the task 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. 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. 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. This 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 there too was Joseph. The chief Butler and the chief baker had been confined in prison ten years when they dreamed a dream, both of them, but as for the interpretation each dreamed only that of the other one's dream. In the morning when Joseph brought them water for washing he found them sad, depressed in spirits, and in the matter 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 me them, I pray you. It was as a reward for ascribing greatness and credit to him unto whom it belonged that Joseph later attained to his lofty position. 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, 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 baked meats for Pharaoh, and the birds do 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, Medea, 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 referenced to his person, but it was unfavorable to him, because through his dream Joseph had been made acquainted but the suffering Israel would have to undergo, and all came to pass as Joseph had said on the third day. The day whereon he explained the meaning of their dreams to the two distinguished prisoners, a son was born into 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. For Pharaoh's counselors 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. Likewise it appeared that the butler had had no part in 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.