(Fortune). And Zilpah, Leah's maid, bare Jacob a second son. And Leah said: Happy am I, for women will call me happy. And she called his name Asher (Happy). And Reuben went in the days of wheat-harvest and found love-apples in the field, and he brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said unto Leah: Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's love-apples. But she said unto her: Is it a small matter that thou hast taken away my husband, and wouldest thou take away my son's love-apples also? And Rachel said: Therefore shall he lie with thee tonight for thy son's love-apples. And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said: Thou must come in unto me, for surely I have hired thee with my son's love-apples. And he lay with her that night. And Leah said: Now will my husband dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons. And Rachel conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Joseph (Adding), and said: Yahweh will add to me another son. And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban: Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place and to my country. Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served thee, and let me go; for thou knowest my service which I have done thee. And Laban said unto him: If now I have found favor in thine eyes, stay; I have divined that Yahweh hath blessed me because of thee. And he said: Appoint thine own wage, and I will give it. And he answered him: Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle have prospered with me; for little belonged to thee before I came, and now it is increased to a multitude; and Yahweh hath blessed thee since my coming. And now, when shall I provide for my own house also? Then said he: What shall I give thee? And Jacob said: Thou shalt not give me anything; if thou wilt do for me this thing, I will again keep thy flock. I will pass through all thy flock to-day, removing thence every speckled and spotted one, and every black one among the lambs and the speckled and spotted among the goats, and this shall be my hire. So shall my uprightness answer for me in future, when thou comest to consider my wages; every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the sheep, will have been stolen by me. And Laban said: behold, let it be according to thy word. And he removed that day the he-goats that were striped and spotted, and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and all the black among the sheep, and gave them into the hands of his sons. And he put three days' journeys between himself and Jacob; and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flock. Then Jacob took him rods of fresh poplar and of the almond and the plane-tree, and peeled white streaks in them and made the white on the rods appear; and he set the rods which he had peeled before the flocks in the gutters [watering-troughs] where the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink. And the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth striped, speckled and spotted. And Jacob separated the lambs. . and put all the black in Laban's flock; and he set his own flock apart, and did not put them near Laban's cattle. And when the stronger conceived, Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods; but when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in. So the feebler were Laban's and the stronger, Jacob's. And the man increased exceedingly in wealth and had much cattle, and maid-servants and men-servants, and camels and asses. Then he heard the words of Laban's sons, saying: Jacob hath taken away all that was our father's, and from that which was our father's hath he gotten all this wealth. And Yahweh said unto Jacob: Return unto the land of thy fathers and to thy kindred, and I will be with thee. Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels; and he drove away all his cattle. Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep. And Rachel stole the teraphim (household gods) which were her father's So he fled with all that he had; and set his face toward the mount of Gilead. Then Laban took his kinsmen with him and pursued after him seven days' journey, and overtook him in the mountain. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mount; and Laban with his kinsmen also pitched in Mount Gilead. And Laban said unto Jacob: Why didst thou flee secretly and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth and with songs, with tabret and with harp? And now, if thou wouldst needs be gone, because thou didst long sorely for thy father's house, why hast thou stolen my gods? And Jacob said to him: With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live; seek out for thyself whatever of thine is with me, and take it (for Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them). So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tents of the two maid-servants; but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah's tents, and entered into Rachel's. Now Rachel had taken the teraphim and put them in the camel's saddle, and was sitting upon them. And Laban searched all the tent but found them not. And she said to her father: Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise in thy presence, for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched, but found not the teraphim. Then Jacob was wroth and chode with Laban; and Jacob answered and said to Laban: What is my trespass, what my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me? Now thou hast explored through all my household goods, what hast thou found of all the furnishings of thy house? Set it here before my kinsmen and yours, that they judge betwixt us two. These twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she-goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten. That which was torn of wild beasts I brought not to thee; I myself bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day or by night. Thus I was; by day the drought consumed me and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from mine eyes. Then answered Laban and said: Come, let us make a covenant between us, I and thou, and let it be a witness between me and thee. Then Jacob said unto his people: Gather stones. And they took stones and made a heap; and they did eat there upon the heap. And Laban said: This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. And Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha (Heap of Witness, Aram.) but Jacob called it Galeed (Heap of Witness, Heb.) and Mispah (Watchtower); for he said: May Yahweh watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another. And Laban said to Jacob: Behold this heap (and behold this pillar), which I have set up between me and thee. This heap be witness that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap unto me for harm. The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of our fathers judge between us. Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom. And he commanded them, saying: Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau. Thy servant Jacob saith thus: I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now. And I have oxen and asses and men-servants and women-servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in his sight. And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying: We came to thy brother Esau, and he also is coming to meet thee, and four hundred men with him. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and the herds and the camels into two bands, and said: If Esau come to the one company and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape. And Jacob said: O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, Yahweh! which didst say unto me, Return unto thy country and to thy kindred, and I will do thee good; I am not worthy of the least of all Thy mercies and of all the truth which Thou hast showed unto Thy servant; for with my staff passed I over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands. Deliver me, I pray Thee, from the hand of my brother Esau; for I fear him, lest he come to smite me and the mother with the children. And Thou didst say, Surely I will do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude. And he rose up that night and took his two wives and his two women-servants and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok. And Jacob was left alone. And there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was strained as he wrestled with him. And he said: Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said: I will not let thee go unless thou bless me. And he said unto him: What is thy name? And he said: Jacob. And he said: Thy name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel; for thou hast striven with God and with man and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said: Tell me, I pray, thy name. And he said: Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place, Peniel (The face of God); for he said: I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. And the sun rose upon him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped upon his thigh. And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau came and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids. And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost. And he himself passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times until he came near to his brother. And Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him; and they wept. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children, and said: Who are these with thee? And he said: The children which God hath graciously given to thy servant. Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves. And Leah also with her children came near and bowed themselves; and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they also bowed themselves. And Esau said: What is all this band of thine that I met? And he said: To find grace in the sight of my lord. And he said: I have enough, my brother; Let that thou hast be thine. And Jacob said: Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then take thou my present at my hand; forasmuch as I have seen thy face, as one seeth the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me. Take, I pray thee, my gift that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it. And he said: Let us take our journey and let us go, and I will go before thee. And he said unto him: My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and I have flocks and herds with their young, and if they overdrive them one day all the flock will die. Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant; and I will lead on softly, according to the pace of the cattle that are before me, and according to the pace of the children, until I come unto my lord unto Seir. And Esau said: Let me now leave with thee some of the folk that are with me. And he said: Why so? let me find grace in the sight of my lord. So Esau turned back that day on his way unto Seir. But Jacob journeyed to Succoth and built him booths for his cattle; therefore the name of the place is called Succoth (booths). And Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem. Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. And when Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the land, saw her, he took her and lay with her and humbled her. And his soul clave unto Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel and spake kindly to her. And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his cattle in the field; and Jacob held his peace until they were come. And the sons of Jacob came in from the field and when the men heard it they were very grieved, and their anger burned exceedingly because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter, which thing ought not to be done. But Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren: Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me, that will I give. Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me; but give me the damsel to wife. And they said unto him: We can not do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for this were a reproach unto us. Only under this [condition] will we consent; if ye will be like us and circumcise every male among you. And the young man delayed not to do so, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter. And he was honored above all the house of his father. Then two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword and came upon the city unawares, and slew all the males. And they slew Hamor and Shechem, his son, with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went out. Then said Jacob unto Simeon and Levi: Ye have troubled me in making me loathsome among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and I being few in number, they will gather themselves together against me, and slay me, I and my house. And they answered: Should he deal with our sister as with a harlot? Then Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Beth-el, he and all the people with him. And he built there an altar, and called the place El-Beth-el (the God of Bethel); because there God had appeared unto him when he fled from the face of his brother. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He had talked with him, even a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink-offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon. And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond MigdolEder (the Tower of the flock). And it came to pass, while Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Israel heard of it. And Jacob came to Mamre, unto Isaac his father. And Isaac died; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. SECTION IV. The Sale of Joseph to the Ishmaelites and his Career in Egypt. (Genesis, xxxvii, 3a, 4, 13-18, 25-27, 28c, 31-35; xxxix-xli, 41-44, 46b-48, 54-56; xliii-xliv; xlv, 1a, 4, 5a, 7a, 9b, 10-12, 14, 19, 21b, 27a, 28; xlvi, 1a, 28ff; xlvii, 1-4, 5d-6, 27a, 13-26, 29-31; xlviii, 1-2, 8-11; 1, 1-11, 14. Materials. The same as before. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him and could not speak to him peaceably. And Israel said unto Joseph: Are not thy brethren shepherding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said: Here am I. And he said to him: Go, I pray thee, and see if it be well with thy brethren and well with the flocks, and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron and he came to Shechem. And a certain man found him and behold, he was wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, saying: What seekest thou? And he said: I seek my brethren; tell me, I pray thee, where they are shepherding. And the man said: They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan. Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. And they sat down to eat bread. And they lifted up their eyes and looked; and behold, a company of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. And Judah said unto his brethren: What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites; and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph's tunic, and killed a buck of the goats, and dipped the tunic in his blood, and brought it to their father, and said: This have we found. Know now whether it be thy son's tunic or not. And he knew it, and said: It is my son's tunic; an evil beast hath devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces. And Jacob rent his clothes and put sackcloth upon his loins and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said: I will go down into the grave to my son, mourning. And his father wept for him. But Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him out of the hands of the Ishmaelites which had brought him down thither. And Yahweh was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that Yahweh was with him, and that Yahweh made all that he did to prosper in his hand. And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. And from the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, Yahweh blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of Yahweh was upon all that he had in the house and in the field. And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not what he possessed, save the bread that he did eat. And Joseph was of a fine figure, and goodly to look upon. Now it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast |