B-GENISIS 36-40
Pgs. 285-300
SECTIONIX. VAYESHEV. And Jakobdwelt in peace in the land of the sojourning of his fathers, in the land ofKenaan. These are the generations of Jakob. Joseph was a son of seventeenyears. He had come forth from the school, and was a youth brought up with thesons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpha his fathers wives. And Joseph broughttheir evil report; for he had seen them eat the flesh that had been torn bywild beasts, the ears and the tails; and he came and told it to his father. AndIsrael loved Joseph more than all his sons, because the likeness of Josephresembled his own, and he made him a figured robe. [JERUSALEM. A figured robe.]And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren,and they cherished enmity against him, and were unwilling to speak peacefullywith him. And Joseph dreamed a dream, and declared it to his brethren, and theyadded yet to keep enmity against him. And he said to them, Hear now this dreamwhich I have dreamed. Behold, we were binding sheaves in the midst of thefield, and lo, my sheaf arose, and stood upright; and, behold, your sheavessurrounded and bowed to my sheaf. [JERUSALEM. Were binding sheaves.] And hisbrothers said to him, Art thou thinking to reign over us, or dost thou expectto have rule over us? And they added yet to keep enmity against him, for hisdream and for his words. And he dreamed again another dream, and told it to his brothers, andsaid, Behold, I have dreamed yet a dream, and lo, the sun, and the moon, andeleven stars, bowed to me. And he related it to his father and to his brethren:but his father rebuked him, and said to him, What dream is this that thou hastdreamed? Shall I, and thy mother, and thy brethren, really come and bow beforethee to the ground? And his brothers envied him; yet his father kept the sayingin his heart. And hisbrothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shekem. And it was at the time ofdays that Israel said to Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed in Shekem? But I amafraid lest the Hivaee come and smite them,because they smote Hamor and Shekemand the inhabitants of the city. Come now; and I will send thee to them And he said, Behold me. And he said, Go, seethe welfare of Your brethren, and the welfare of the flock, and return me wordto the deep Counsel. But he sent him according to the deep counsel which wasspoken to Abraham in Hebron; for on that day began the cativity of Mizraim. And Joseph arose, and came to Shekem. And Gabriel in the likeness of a manfound him wandering field. And the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?And he said, I seek my brothers; show me, pray, where they feed. And the mansaid, They have journeyed hence: for I heard beyond the Veil, that behold fromto-day would begin the servitude to the Mizraee; and it was said to themin prophecy, Hivaee would seek to set battle in array against them. Thereforesaid they, we will go unto Dothan. And Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan. Andthey saw him from afar, before he had come nigh to them, and plotted againsthim to kill him. And Shimeon and Levi, who were brothers in counsel, said eachman to his brother, Behold, this master of dreams cometh. And now come let uskill him and throw him into one of the pits and say that an evil beast bathdevoured him; arid we shall see what will be the interpretation of his dreams. And Reuben heard, and delivered him from their hands, and said, Wewill not kill him nor become guilty of his blood. And Reuben said, Let us notshed innocent blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but the hand ofthe slayer stretch not forth against him; because he would deliver him fromtheir hand, and restore him to his father. And when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his garment, thefigured garment that was on him, and took and threw him into the pit; but thepit was empty, no water was therein, but serpents and scorpions were in it. Andthey sat around to eat bread. And they lifted up their eyes, and looked, andbehold a band of Arabians [JERUSALEM. A band of Saracens] were coming fromGilead with their camels, carrying wax, resin, balsam and stacte, proceeding togo into Mizraim. And Jehuda said to his brethren, What profit of mammon shouldwe have if we killed our brother, and covered his blood? Come, let us sell himto the Arabians, and our hands shall not be upon him to kill him; for ourbrother is our own flesh. And his brethren agreed. And the Midianite men,masters of business, passed by; and they drew and brought up Joseph out of thepit, and sold Joseph to the Arabians for twenty mahin of silver; and theybought sandals of them. And they brought Joseph to Mizraim. And Reubenreturned to the pit; for he had not been with them to assist when they soldhim, because he had sat fasting on account that he had confounded the couch ofhis father; and he had gone and sat among the hills, that he might return tothe pit and bring him up for his father, if haply he might avert his anger. Butwhen he had returned, and looked, and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit, herent his clothes, and returned to his brethren, and said, The youth is not; andI,whither shall I go, and how shall I see the look of my father’s face? Butthey took the garment of Joseph, and killed a kid of the goats, because hisblood is like the blood of a man, and they dabbled the garment in the blood.And they sent it by the hand of the sons of Zilpha and of the sons of Bilhahthe figured garment; and they brought it to their father, and said, This havewe found; know now, whether it be thy son’s garment, or not. And he recognisedit and said, It is my son’s garment: a beast of the wilderness hath notdevoured him, neither hath he been slain by the hand of man; but I see by theHoly Spirit, that an evil woman standeth against him. [JERUSALEM. And hediscerned it and said, It is my son’s garment: yet a wild beast hath notdevoured him, neither is my son Joseph slain ; but I see by the Spirit of thesanctuary, that an evil woman standeth against him. And Jakob rent his clothes,and wrapped sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And allhis sons and all the men of his house arose and went to console him; but herefused to receive consolation, and said, For I will go down to my son mourningto the house of the grave. And Izhak his father also wept for him. But theMidianites sold him in Mizraim to Potipliar a captain of Pharoh, a captain ofthe guards.[1] <\l >[JERUSALEM. To Potiphar an officer ofPharoh, a captain of the guards.[2] <\l >]
XXXVIII. It was at that timethat Jehuda bad gone down from his property, and separated himself from hisbrethren, and had inclined to a man an Adullemite whose name was Hira, thatJelluda saw there the daughter of a merchant man whose name was Shuva, and heproselyted her, and entered with her. And she conceived and bare a son, andcalled his name Er[3] <\l >, because he was to die without achild. And she conceived again, and bare a son, and called his name Onan[4] <\l >,because his father would have to mourn for him. And she added, and bare a son,and called his name Shela, because her husband had forgotten her[5] <\l > and was in cessation when she bare him.[JERUSALEM.And it was that she ceased.] And Jehudatook a wife for Er his firstborn, a daughter of Shem the great, whose name wasTamar. But Er the firstborn of Jehuda was evil before the Lord because he hadnot given his seed unto his wife, and the anger of the Lord prevailed againsthim, and the Lord slew him. And Jehuda said unto Onan, Enter thou to thybrother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed unto the name of thy brother.And Onan knew that they would not call the children after his name, and it was,when he entered to the wife of his brother, that he corrupted his work upon theearth, that he might not raise up children to his brother’s name. And what hedid was evil before the Lord and he cut off his days also. And Jehudasaid to Tamar his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow in thy father’shouse, till Shela my son be grown up. For he said, Lest he also die as hisbrethren Tamar went and remained in herfather’s house. And days multiplied and the daughter of Shuva, Jehuda’s wife, had died, andJehuda was comforted. And Jehuda went up to the shearing of his flock, he andHira his friend the Adullemite, to Timnath. And it was told to Tamar, saying,Behold, thy father-in-law cometh up to Timnath to shear his flock.And she put the dress of her widowhood from her, and covered herself with aveil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the dividing of the road where all eyessee, upon the way of Timnath. For she knew that Shela was grown up, yet she hadnot been given to him to be his wife. And Jehuda saw her; but she seemed in hisface as an harlot,[6] <\l > because she had provoked him to angerin his house, and Jehuda did not love her.[JERUSALEM. For she had enwrapped herface.] And he inclined to her in the way and said, Let me now go in with thee:for he knew not that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said Whatwilt thou give me to go in with me? And he said, I will send thee a kid of thegoats from the flock. And she said, If thou wilt give me a pledge until thoushalt have sent. And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she answered,Thy seal, and thy mantle, and thy staff which is in thy hand. And he gave(them) to her, and went in with her; and she conceived by him. And she aroseand went, and put her veil from her, and put on the dress of her widowhood AndHehuda sent the kid of the goats by the hand of his friend the Adullemite, tobring back the pledge from the hand of the woman; but he found her not. And heasked the men of the place, saying, Where is the harlot who was in the sight ofthe eyes by the way ? And they said, There is no harlot here. And he returnedto Jehuda and said, I could not find her: and the men of the place also saidthat no harlot was there. And Jehuda said, Lest she should have taken thepledge, lest we become a laughing stock, behold, I have sent this goat, andthou canst not find her. And it was at the time of three months, that she was known to be withchild: and it was told to Jehuda, saying Tamar thy daughter-in-lawhath committed fornication and, behold, she is with child by fornication. AndJehuda said, Is she not the daughter of a priest. Let her be brought forth andburned.
Tamar was brought forth to be burned, and she searched for the threepledges, but found them not. Uplifiting her eyes to the heavens above, she thussaid, Mercy I implore from Thee, 0 Lord: answer Thou me in this hour of need,and enlighten mine eyes to find thethree witnesses; and I will dedicate unto Thee from my loins three saints who shall sanctify Thy name, and descend tothe furnace of fire in the plain of Dura. In that hour the Holy One, blessed be He, signed to Michael, whoenlightened her eyes, that she found (the witnesses) and took and cast thembefore the, feet of the judges, and said, The man to whom these pledges belongis he by whom I am with child. Yet though I may be burned I do not make him manifest:nevertheless the Lord of the world will cause him in his heart to acknowledgedthem, and will deliver me from this great judgment.
Now when Jehuda saw them, he recognised them, and said in his heart, It isbetter for me to be ashamed in this world that passeth away, than be ashamed inthe faces of my righteous fathers in the world to come. It is better that Iburn in this world by a fire that is extinguished, than burn in the world tocome with fire devouring fire. For measure is set against measure.[7] <\l >This is according to that which I said to Jakob my father, Know now the robe ofthy son; so am I now constrained to hear at the place of judgment, Whose arethis seal and mantle and staff ?
AndJehuda, acknowledged and said, Tamar is innocent; she is with child by me. Andthe Bath kol fell from heaven, and said, From before Me was this thing done,and let both be delivered from judgment. And Jehuda said, Because I gave hernot to Shela my son, hath this happened to me. But he added not to know heragain.
[JERUSALEM. 19. Her veil. 25. Tamar was brought forth to be burned withfire; and she sought the three witnesses but found them not. She lifted up hereyes on high and said For mercy I pray before the Lord. Thou art Hebrews, 0 LordGod, who answerest the afflicted in the hour of their affliction ; answer me inthis the hour of my affliction, and I will dedicate to thee three saints in thevalley of Dura, Hananva, Mishael, and Azarya.
[In that hour the Word of the Lordheard the voice of her supplication and said to Mikael Descend, and let hereyes have light....When she saw them, she took them, and cast them before thefeet of the judges, saying By the man to whom these belong I am with child. Butthough I may be burned I declare him not, but confide in the Ruler of all theworld the Lord who is witness between me and him, that He will give to theheart of the man to whom these belong, to acknowledge whose are these hisring, and mantle, and staff.
[And Jehuda recognised the three witnesses, and arose upon his feet andsaid, I pray you, my brethren, and ye men of the house of my fathers, to hearme. With the measure that a man measureth shall it be measured to him; whethergood measure or evil; and blessed is every man who confesseth his works.Because I took the coat of Joseph my brother and dipped it into the blood of agoat, and brought it before the feet of my father and said to him, Know nowwhether this be thy son’s coat or not, the measure is according to the measure,and the rule to the rule. Better is it for me blush in this world than to blushin the world to come; better to burn with a fire that goes out, than to burn inthe fire devouring fire. Let Tamar my daughterin-law be spared. She hathnot conceived a child by fornication, but because I did not give to her Shelamy son.
[The Bath kol came forth from heaven, and said, Both of you are acquittedin the judgment. The thing was from the Lord. And he added not to know her.] But it was in the time of her giving birth, that, behold, twins were inher womb. And it was in being born that the child stretched forth his hand; andthe midwife took it, and bound it with a scarlet thread, saying, This came thefirst. And after the child had withdrawn his hand, behold, his brother cameforth, and she said, With what great power hast thou prevailed, and for theewill it be to prevail; for thou wilt possess the kingdom. And she called hisname Pharets. And afterward came forth his brother, upon whose hand was boundthe scarlet thread, and she called his name Zarach.
XXXIX. But Joseph was brought down into Mizraim; and Potiphar,[8] <\l > . . . a man of Mizraim, a chief of Pharoh, a chief of the executioners,bought him with the pledge[9] <\l > of the Arabians who had brought himdown thither. And the Word of the Lord was Joseph’s Helper, and he became aprosperous man in the house of his Mizraite master. And his master saw that theWord of the Lord was his Helper, and that the Lord prospered in his hand allthat he did; and Joseph found favour in his eyes, and he served him, and heappointed him superintendent over his house, and all that he had he deliveredin his hands. [JERUSALEM. And he delivered in his hands and appointedhimsuperintendent.] And it was from the time he appointed him superintendent over hishouse, and over all that he had, the Lord prospered the house of the Mizraitefor the sake of the righteousness of Joseph, and the blessing of the Lord wason all that he had in the house and in the field. And he left all that he hadin Joseph’s hand, and took no knowledge of anything of his, except his wifewith whom he lay.
AndJoseph was of goodly form and beautiful aspect. And it was after these thingsthat the wife of his master lifted up her eyes to Joseph, and said, Lie withme. But he refused to come near her, and said to his master’s wife, Behold, mymaster taketh no knowledge of what is with me in the house, and all he hath hedelivereth into my hand; there is none in the house greater than I nor hath herestricted me from anything but thyself, because thou art his wife: and how canI do this great wickedness, and become guilty before the Lord ? And it was whenshe spake with Joseph this day and the next, and be hearkened not to her to liewith her, lest with her be should be condemned in the day of the great judgmentof the world to come; it was on a certain day that he entered the house toexamine the tablets of his accounts, and there was no man of the house within;that she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left hisgarment in her hand, and went forth into the street. And when she saw that hehad left his garment in her hand, and had gone forth into the street, that shecalled the men of the house and said, See this, which the Hebrew man hath donewhom your master hath brought to mock us. He came in to lie with me, and Icried with a high voice. And when he heard that I lifted up my voice, he lefthis garment with me, and went forth into the street. And she let the garmentremain until his master came into his house; and she spake to him according tothese words, saying The Hebrew servant whom thou broughtest to us came in to meto mock me. [JERUSALEM. And it was whenI thundered with my voice.] And whenhis master heard the words which his wife spake with him, saying, According tothese things did thy servant to me, his wrath became strong. And Joseph’smaster took counsel of the priests, who put him not to death, but delivered him into the house of thebound, where the king’s prisoners were bound; and he was there in the house ofthe bound. [JERUSALEM. In the prison house.] And the Word of the Lord wasJoseph’s Helper, and extended mercy to him, and gave him favour in the eyes ofthe captain of the prison. And the captain of the prison confided all theprisoners who were in the house to Joseph’s hands, and whatsoever was donethere he commanded to be done. It was not needful for the captain of the prisonto watch Joseph, after the custom of all prisoners, because be saw that there wasno fault in his hands; for the Word of the Lord was his Helper, and that whichhe did the Lord made it to prosper.
XL. And after these things it was shown, saying The chief of thebutlers of the king of Mizraim, and the chief of the bakers, have offended;having taken counsel to throw the poison of death into his food, and into hisdrink, to kill their master the king of Mizraim. And Pharoh was angry when heheard concerning his two servants, the chief cup-bearer and the chiefbaker. And he gave them in ward in the house of the chief executioner, theprison house where Joseph was confined. And the chief executioner intrustedJoseph with them, and he served them, and they were certain days in the houseof custody. And theydreamed a dream, both of them, each man his dream in one night, each man hisown dream, and the interpretation of his companion’s dream, the butler and thebaker of the king of Mizraim who were confined in the prison. And Joseph cameto them in the morning, and saw them, and, behold, they were troubled. AndJoseph asked the chiefs of Pharoh who were with him in the custody of hismaster’s house, saying, Why is the look of your faces more evil to-daythan all the other days that you have been here? And they said to him, We havedreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter for it. And Joseph answered, Arenot the interpretations of dreams from tile Lord? Tell it now to me. And thechief of the butlers related his dream to Joseph, and said to him, I saw in mydream, and, behold, a vine was before me. And in the vine were three branches;and as it sprouted it brought forth buds, an immediately they ripened intoclusters, and became grapes. And I gave the cup of Pharoh into my hand, and Itook the grapes, and expressed them into Pharoh’s cup, and gave the cup intoPharoh’s hand. And Joseph said to him, This is the end of the interpretations ofthe dream. The three branches are the three Fathers of the world, Abraham,Izhak, and Jakob, the children of whose sons are to be enslaved in Mizraim inclay and brick (work,) and in all labour of the face of the field: butafterwards shall the be delivered by the the hand of three shepherds. As thouhast said, I took the grapes and expressed them into Pharoh’s cup, and gave thecup Into Pharoh’s band: It is the vial of wrath which Paroh (himself) is todrink at the last. But thou, the chief butler shalt receive a good rewardconcerning the good dream which thou hast dreamed; and the interpretation ofit, to thyself, is this: The three branches are three days until thyliberation. At the end of three days the memory of thee will come before Pharohand he will lift up thy head with honour, and restore thee to thy service, andthou wilt give the cup of Pharoh into his hand, according to thy former customin pouring out[10] <\l > for him.
[JERUSALEM. And Josephsaid, This is the interpretations of the dream : The three branches are thethree Fathers of the world, Abraham, Izhak, and Jakob the children of whosesons will be enslaved in the land of Mizriam and will be delivered by the bandof three faithful pastors,[11] <\l > who may be likened to the clusters. And whereas thou hast said,I took the grapes and expressed them into the cup of Pharoh and gave the cupinto Pharoh’s hand: It is the cup of retribution which Pharoh is to drink atthe last. As to thyself, the chief of the butlers, thou wilt not lose thyreward; for this dream which thou hast dreamed is good. Nevertheless theinterpretation of the dream (as relating to himself) Joseph had not told him; butafterwards he explained it, when it pleased him. And Joseph said to him, Thethree branches are three days.]
Joseph, leaving his higher trust[12] <\l > and retainingconfidence in a man, said to the chief butler, But be thou mindful of me whenit shall be well with thee, and act kindly by me, and remember me beforePaharoh and obtain my deliverance from this prison house. For I was verilycarried away dishonestly from the land of the Hivraee and here also I havedone nothing evil, that they should put me in prison. And the chief baker, when he understood the interpretation of hiscompanion’s dream, seeing that he had interpreted well, began to speak with animpatient tongue, and said to Joseph, I also saw in my dream, and, behold,three baskets of fine cakes were upon my bead; [JERUSALEM. And, behold, threebaskets of hot loaves were upon my bead ;] and in the upper basket of alldelicious meat for Pharoh made by the confectioner and the birds ate them fromthe basket upon my head.
Joseph answered and said, This is its interpretation. The threebaskets are the three enslavements with which the house of Israel are to beenslaved. But thou, the chief of the bakers, wilt receive an evil award, by thedream which thou hast dreamed. And Joseph explained it, as it was proper in hiseyes and said to him: This is its interpretation to thyself. The three basketsare three days until thy death. At the end of three days, Pharoh with the swordwill take away thy head from thy body, and will hang thee upon a gibbet, andthe birds will cut thy flesh from thee. [JERUSALEM And he said to him, Thethree baskets are the three heavy enslavements which are to happen to the houseof Israel in the land of Mizriam in clay and in bricks, and in all work on theface of the field. It will be that Pharoh kin, of Mizriam will decree evildecrees against Israel and throw their children into the river. NeverthlessPharoh will perish, and his host be destroyed, but the sons of Israel will goforth redeemed with uncovered head. And thou, the chief of the bakers wiltreceive punishment; for this dream which thou bast dreamed is evil. But theinterpretation of the dream Joseph did not (at once) make known to him; butafterwards Joseph expounded it, When it pleased him. And Joseph said to him,This is the interpretation of the dream. The three baskets are three days.] And it was on the third day, the nativity of Pharoh that he made afeast to all his servants. And he lifted up the bead of the chief butler, andthe bead of the chief baker, in the midst of his servants. And be restored thechief butler to his butlership, because he found he had not been in thatcounsel. And he gave the cup into Pharoh’s hand. But the chief baker he hanged,because he had taken counsel to kill him, even as Joseph had expounded to them.
Butbecause, Joseph had withdrawn from[13] <\l > the mercy that is above, and had puthis confidence in the chief butler, he waited on the flesh. Therefore the chiefbutler did not remember Joseph, but forgat him, until from the Lord came thetime of the end that he should be released. [JERUSALEM. Joseph left the mercyabove, and the mercy beneath, and the mercy which accompanied him from hisfather’s house, and put his confidence in the chief butler: he trusted in the flesh,and the flesh be tasted of, even the cup of death. Neither did he remember thescripture where it is written expressly, Cursed shall be the man who trustethin the flesh, and setteth the flesh as his confidence. Blessed shall be the manwho trusteth in the Name of the Word of the Lord, and whose confidence is theWord of the Lord. Therefore the chief butler did not remember Joseph, butforgat him, until the time of the end came that he should be released.] [1]Shalita Òruler.Ó
[1]Sapuklatoria, Òspiculators, javelin men.Ó
[1]Er Ònaked,destitue.Ó
[1]Onan, Òsorrow,Ó or Òiniquity.Ó
[1] TheChaldee verb shelah is either Òcessavit,Ó Òdestitue,Óor Òreject,vel oblitus est.Ó
[1]Ke-naphkathbara, Òas an outcast.Ó
[1]Mekelakebel mekela [1] Ihave omitted two clauses in this chapter [1]Quandoservos vendbebantur emporti dare sponsionem quod illos furati sint.--Castel, fol. 2889 [1] Or,Òcommingling.Ó
[1] Or,Òrulers.Ó
[1]Rochetsana, Òconfident.Ó
[1]Shabak, Òhad foresaken.Ó
[1] <\l >Shalita Òruler.Ó
[2] <\l >Sapuklatoria, Òspiculators, javelin men.Ó
[3] <\l >Er Ònaked,destitue.Ó
[4] <\l >Onan, Òsorrow,Ó or Òiniquity.Ó
[5] <\l > The Chaldee verb shelah is either Òcessavit,Ó Òdestitue,Ó or Òreject,vel oblitus est.Ó
[6] <\l >Ke-naphkath bara, Òas an outcast.Ó
[7] <\l >Mekela kebel mekela [8] <\l > I have omitted two clauses in thischapter [9] <\l >Quando servos vendbebantur emportidare sponsionem quod illos furati sint.--Castel,fol. 2889 [10] <\l > Or, Òcommingling.Ó
[11] <\l > Or, Òrulers.Ó
[12] <\l >Rochetsana, Òconfident.Ó
[13] <\l >Shabak, Òhad foresaken.Ó