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1876 Bx.



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464



BtTtttth



Abraham of.
nrinff Qp hit
Bon UMCM m




1805 B.a



1802 B^



Sarah dies at the age of 127 years, and was buried
in the field of Macpelach.

Abraham sends Eliezer, his steward, into Meso-
potamia, to procure a wife for his son Isaac, who
was now 40 years old, when Eliezer brought
Rebekah, the daughter of Bethel, grandson of
Nahor, and it appeared that she proved to be Abra-
ham's brother's grand-daughter.



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TwelfthlMiL

Rebekahdimw
ing water for
Abraham's Gik



After haying provided a wife for his son Isaac,
Ahraham married again a woman called Keturah
(the Jews insist upon it that it was HagaT)j she
hronght him six children, who, when grown op, he
portioned ofl^ and sent them eastward into Arahia
Deserta.

Ahout this period Shem, the son of Noah dies ;
he was the next to Japheth and older than Ham ;
he left five sons, who peopled the finest provinces
of the East.

Rehekah is harren for nineteen years, hut, in
answer to the prayers of Isaac unto the Lord, she
hecame pregnant with two children ; these strug-
gling together in her womh, she consulted the Lord
hy prayer, who informed her that the elder should
be subject to the younger. At the birth, the first.



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1817 BA



466

being raddy and hairy, he was, in consequ^ice,
called Esau; the other, holding the heel of his
brother, was called Jacob (the healer). Esau
delighted in hunting, but Jacob was a plain homely
man, and resided in tents.

Abraham dies, and is buried by his sons in the
caye at Macpelah, in a city beyond Jordan, which
city Judas Maccabeus took and sacked.



lUrUenth
ModaL

Abraham tmri*
•d by his Soni
in theOftfv al




At this period there was a famine in the land,
and Esau, returning from the fields, found himself
so faint that he sold his birthright to his brother
Jacob for a mess of red pottage, for Esau always
despised his own birthright, This deception, how-
ever, was planned by Rebekah, the mother, and
rather against the feelings of Jacob, who informed
his mother that if the father discovered the decep-



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467

tion, it would bring upon him a curse instead of a
blessing. Esau being a hairy man, Rebekah
brought unto her son Jacob some of Esau's clothes,
and covered his hands with the skins of goats ; she
then dressed some savoury meat, and gave it to
Jacob, to invoke his father to eat of it Isaac,
however, said unto him. Art thou my very son
Esau ? for thy voice seems the voice of Jacob, but
thy hands are the hands of Esau. And he disco-
vered him not, and blessed him, and said. Be lord
over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow
down to thee.




1756 M.
Fonrtoentli



sblMtinc
Jaoob intUtS
of Rmu.



Jacob had scarcely left his father, when Esau
returned. Esau informed his father of the decep-
tion, and craved a blessing also. And Isaac said.
Behold thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the



V V



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468

earth, and by thy sword thou shalt live, and serve
thy brother Jacob ; but it shall come to pass that
thou shalt have the dominion, and then thou shalt
break the yoke from oflF thy neck.

Esau now married the daughter of £lom the
Hittite, which much grieved both Rebekah and
Isaac, for she was a Canaanitish woman.

It came to the knowledge of Rebekah that Esau
threatened that, after his father's death, he would slay
his brother Jacob ; she therefore informed Jacob
of his brother's wrath, and persuaded him to go to
the house of Bethel, where her father still resided.
Jacob went from Beer-sheba, and travelled towards
Haran, and tarrying until night, he took a stone on
the spot, and laid it for a pillow, and went to sleep.
He dreamed a dream that a ladder was set upon the
earth, and that the top of it reached up to heaven,
and that the angels of God were ascending and
descending upon it ; and that the Lord stood above,
and said. In thy seed all the families of the earth
shall be blessed. And Jacob rose up in the morn-
ing, and set the stone on end for a pillar, poured
oil upon it, and called the place " Bethel.'*

On Jacob arriving at the well at Haran, he
is entertained by Laban, the brother to Rebekah.
Laban had two daughters, Rachel and Leah. Jacob
covenanted for Rachel to be his wife, on serving
Laban seven years, but as it was the custom in
Syria not to marry the second daughter before the
first-bom, he deceived Jacob, and presented his
eldest daughter Leah. Jacob covenanted to serve
seven years more, and then to marry Rachel. Leah
brought forth Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah ;
and Rachel brought forth Joseph and Benjamin.

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469

Jacob, however, was not upon the best t^rms with
Laban at this period, for the flocks of Jacob in-
creased and multiplied exceedingly, whilst those of
Laban did not increase. Jacob, perceiving Laban's
jealousy, separated from him, taking with him his
two wives, children, and flocks.

Now Jacob sent messengers before him into the
land of Seir, adjoining the Dead Sea, the country
and residence of Esau. He also sent his servants
before him, with presents of goats, rams, sheep, &c.,
to appease his brother Esau, and his servants were
commanded to tell Esau that their master, Jacob,
was behind.

Jacob sent the remaining part of his flocks over
the river Jabbok, and his wives and the remainder
of his servants, when Jacob was left alon'e all the
night without crossing the river, and there he
wrestled with an Angel until the breaking of the
day. During this wrestling, the Angel touched
the hollow part of Jacob's thigh, which immedi-
ately withered. The Angel then blessed Jacob,
and told him that his name was changed from
Jacob to Israel — that is, a prince with God; and
left him.

It is a curious circumstance that the Jews to this
day strictly observe a custom to abstain from eating
the hind limbs.

In the morning, Jacob proceeded with his wives
and children, and shortly he saw at a distance his
brother Esau coming with many hundred servants.
Jacob, his wives, &c., bowed seven times to the
ground ; then Esau ran forward to meet Jacob, and
fell on his peck and kissed him.



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470



TOtMBth

Mtdd.
BtnonnllfMion




Rachel died in labour of Benjamin ; she was
buried at Bethlehem, and Jacob erected a monu-
ment for her.
1785 B. c. Jacob resolyes to return to his parents in Canaan,
and put away all strange gods and idobu Isaac
liyed twenty-two years after his son's arriyal, and
died at the age of 180 years.

Esau removed from Edom to Mount Seir, taking
with him his three wives and seven sons ; and the
sons of these sons were styled Dukes in the land of
Edom ; and these were the Kings that reigned in
the land of Edom, before there reigned any other,
Esau being the father of the Edomites. Jacob now
dwelt in the land of Canaan, and loved his son
Joseph more than any of his children, he being the
son of his old age j this caused his brothers to be



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471

jealous of him^ and to hate him. Joseph dreamed a
dream, and told it to his brothers, saying. We were
together binding sheaves of com in the fields, and,
lo, my sheaf stood upright, and your sheaves round
about paid obeisance to my sheaf. And they hated
him the more for this saying.

Israel (before called Jacob) said unto Joseph, go
and seek thy brethren, who are feeding their fiocks
in Shechem ; and when they saw Joseph afar ofi;
they said one to another, Let us slay Joseph, and cast
him into a pit, and we can say to our father Jacob
that a wild beast hath devoured him ; but Reuben
said, ** shed no blood.'' They then stripped him of
his coat, which was of mant/ colours^ and they let
him down into an empty pit. At this moment a im b.c.
company of Ishmaelites was passing by, coming
from Gilead, with their camels laden with spices ;
and Judah said. Let us sell him to these Ishmaelites ;
and there passed at the same time Midianites, mer-
chant men : and they lifted Joseph out of the pit,
and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces
of silver.



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472



Siztatnth
MedaL

JoMph'i br«-
thrm Mning
him to the lah-
mMlitat.




Reuben, howeveii returned to the pit with the
intent to save Joseph, but finding that he was gone,
he was full of sorrow, and told his brethren, and
said. Whither shall I go ? The rest took Joseph's
coat and dipped it in the blood of the kid, and
brought it to their father, and said, Joseph must
have been devoured by an evil beast ; and Israel,
full of affliction, put on sackcloth, and mourned
for hi» son many days. The Ishmaelites took him
into Egypt, and sold him to Potiphar, the captain
of Pharaoh's guard.

Joseph was now placed in the house of Potiphar,
the captain of Pharaoh's guard, and the Lord made
all that Joseph did prosper in his hands. Potiphar,
seeing this, made him overseer over his house, and
over all that he had. Potiphar's wife conceived a



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473

criminal passion for him, and solicited him, and
pressed him so strongly, that Joseph could not
escape from her but by leaving his cloak in her pos-
session. Seeing herself despised, she cried out that
the young Hebrew had offered her violence, exhi-
biting the cloak to Potiphar as a proof of her asser-
tion. Potiphar, crediting the evidence, threw Joseph
into prison, where, from his good conduct, he was
soon appointed by the prison-keeper as overseer of
the prisoners. It so occurred that two of the king's
officers, the butler and the baker, having displeased
Pharaoh, they were placed in the same prison for
their misconduct. It appears that both the butler
and the baker dreamed a dream, and the butler
communicated his dream to Joseph, that a vine was
before him, and it had three branches with clusters
of grapes, and Pharaoh's cup was in his hand, that
he pressed the grapes into Pharaoh's cup, and gave
it him to drink. Joseph said unto the butler that
the three branches are three days, and that within
three days Pharaoh shall restore thee to thy place.

The chief baker said unto Joseph, I also was in
my dream, and behold I had three white baskets
on my head, filled with bake-meats for Pharaoh,
and the birds did eat thereof. And Joseph's inter-
pretation of the dream was that the three baskets
were three days, and that within three days shall
Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall
hang thee on a tree, and the birds of the air shall
eat thy flesh from off thee.

And it came to pass after two years that Pha-
raoh dreamed that he stood by the river, and behold
there came out seven well-fieivoured kine, and they



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474

fed in a meadow ; and behold there came out seven
lU-fiiYoured lean kine, and stood by the other kine,
and they eat up the seyen well-fa?oared &i kine.
So Pharaoh awoke.

Pharaoh dreamed a second tune. And behold
seven ears of com came upon one stalk, rank and
good ; and behold seven ears of com, blasted with
the east wind, sprung up after them. And the
seven thin ears of blasted com did devour and
swallow up the seven fuU-fed ears. And Pharaoh
awoke from his dream.

In the morning, however, his spirit was troubled,
and he sent for the wise men and magicians of
Egypt, but none could interpret the two dreams.
The chief butler now ventured to speak unto Pha-
raoh, saying that both himself and the chief baker
were put into the ward of the captain of the guards
and both of us dreamed a dream ; and a young
man, an Hebrew, servant to the captain of the
guard, also in the same prison, interpreted our
dreams, and said that I should be restored to office,
and the baker would be hanged.
1718 Bx. Then Pharaoh sent and had Joseph called from
prison ; and, after changing his raiment, he appeared
before Pharaoh. Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying,
[t is not in me ; God shall give Pharaoh an answer
of peace. Joseph said. Thy dream is, that God
hath shewn Pharaoh what he is about to do.



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475




Seventeenth
Medal.

The interpre-
tation of rha-
raoh*8 two
Dreama, bj
Joseph.



The seyen good fat kine are seven years, and the
seven ears of com are also seven years ; the dream
is one. Behold there shall come seven years of
great plenty, and there shall come after them seven
years of great famine, and all the plenty shall be
forgotten in the land of £gypt, and the famine shall
consume the land. Now, then, let Pharaoh look
out for a man discreet and wise, and set him over
the land of Egypt, and let him during the first
seven years lay up com in the cities, in the hands
of Pharaoh. And the thing seemed good in the eyes
of Pharaoh and all his servants. Pharaoh said.
Can we find such a one as this man Joseph is, one
in whom is the spirit of God ?

And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as
God hath shewed thee all this, tfiere is no one so



o a



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476

discreet as thou art. Thou shalt be over my house,
and according to thy word all my people shall be
ruled ; only on the throne will I be greater than thou.
And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put
it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures
of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck*

In the seven years of plenteousness, Joseph
bought up all the com, and put com and food in
warehouses in every city in Egypt

Pharaoh gave Joseph a wite, the daughter of
Poti-pherah, the priest of On, and before the years
of famine came she bore him two sons, Manasseh
and Ephraim.

The seven years of dearth now came on, as Joseph
predicted, and there was a famine over the face of
the earth, with the exception of the land of Pharaoh,
and all nations came into Egypt to buy com from
Pharaoh's steward. Jacob also sent ten of his sons
(leaving Benjamin behind) from the land of Canaan,
that they might live and not die. On their arrival,
they bowed themselves before Joseph, and they did
not know Joseph ; but Joseph knew them. He
said unto them. Whence came ye ? They answered.
From the land of Canaan, to buy food. And, on
being particularly interrogated, they informed Jo-
seph that they had another brother, named Benja-
min, who, being young, they had left behind, but
Joseph was no more.
1701 B.O. Joseph now ordered their sacks to be filled with

com ; but, he said, to know that they were true
men, he would retain Simeon, one of the ten, and
the rest should return home, with their asses laden,
and bring back their youngest brother, Benjamin.



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477

And behold, on their arrival at their father's, in
Canaan, they opened their sacks, and every one, to
his surprise, found the money also in his sack ; and
they were sore afraid, lest on their return it might
be said they had deceived the steward. Jacob,
therefore, sent them back again, with double the
money in each sack, and also great presents ; and
Jacob very reluctantly allowed them to take Ben-
jamin with them, and said, God Almighty give
you mercy before the man, that he may send you
back with your youngest brother Benjamin to me.
So they took double money, and also Benjamin,
and returned into Egypt. They informed the ruler or
steward of Joseph's house about the money which
they found in their sacks, and that their father was
yet alive. Joseph desired the steward to bring
them into his bouse, and on Joseph seeing his bro-
ther Benjamin with them, he released Simeon ;
and they sat down to eat in the same room with
Joseph, but at a diflFerent table, because at that day
the Egyptians might not eat bread with the He-
brews. They were arranged at table according to
their birthright, and he sent them messes to be set
before them, but Benjamin's mess was five times as
much as any one of them, and they marvelled one
with another, and they drank and were merry.

Now Joseph commanded the steward to fill the
men's sacks, and put every man's money again in
his sack's mouth; and in Benjamin's sack he com-
manded that, after the steward should put in the
com and the money, he also put into the sack's
mouth his (Joseph's) silver cup. Soon after they
were aU gone a short distance from the city, Joseph



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1702 D. c.
Eighteenth



M(



478

sent his steward after them, and who was to say.
Have ye done evil for good ? for where is the silver
cup out of which my lord drinketh ? And they
were all astonished, and said, In whichever sack
of thy servants it may he found, let him die, and
we will remain my lord's hondsmen. The steward
said. In whose sack it may he found, he shall be my
servant ; but ye shall be blameless. The cup was
was found in Benjamin's sack, and they were
brought back to Joseph, who immediately made
himself known to his brethren, and said, I am your
brother Joseph, whom ye sold into Egypt But be
ye not grieved, for God did send me before to pre-
serve your lives ; and Pharaoh has made me lord
over all his house.



JoiephmAk-
eth himself
known to his
Brethren.




And Joseph said. Go and tell my father of all



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479

my glory in Egypt, and bring down my father;
and thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and
thy children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and I
will nourish thee during the five years of famine.
And Pharaoh confirmed what Joseph had said. To
each brother Joseph gave change of raiment, but
to Benjamin he gave five changes, and also three
hundred pieces of silver.

And when they had arrived home, in Canaan,
they informed their father of all that Joseph had
done and said unto them ; he could not credit their
sayings, but when he saw the presents, and the
waggons which Joseph had sent to carry him, he
believed, and began his journey, and on arriving at
Beer-sheba, he offered sacrifice unto God. And
God spoke unto him and said, I am the God of
thy father, fear not, and go down into Egypt And
all the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt were
threescore and ten. And Joseph told all these
things to Pharaoh, and he presented five of his
brethren to Pharaoh, and set his father before Pha-
raoh, when Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh
said. In the best of the land make thy father and
brethren to dwell, and to be rulers over my cattle.
The famine continued, and the money of the Ca-
naanites, and also of the Egyptians, was all expended
in buying com; and Joseph now gave them com in
exchange for their cattle, horses, asses, and flocks ;
and the year following they sold unto Joseph all
their land for com, and afterwards themselves as
servants, so all the land of Egypt became Pha-
raoh's, except the lands which were assigned by
Pharaoh to the priests.



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480

All history shows that the priesthood formed the
highest and most privileged class in the state of
Egypt The Egyptians were divided into castes,
something like the Indians.

The priests were the first class, the military the
second, and the tradespeople the third, and so on ;
and every man was obliged to follow the trade or
profession of his father.

The highest castes considered themselves polluted
by holding communication with the lowest caste.
Joseph's father-in-law was a priest of On, a city in
Egypt; he was considered about the rank of a prince.
And Pharaoh was allowed one-fifth of all produce of
seed as a tax.
im B. c. Now the time grew nigh that Jacob must die,
and Jacob called together his twelve sons and
blessed them.

I. Reuben is deprived of his birthright, in con-
sequence of his crime.

2 and 3. Scattered to the outskirts for their
conduct at Shechem.

4. Judah shall possess pre-eminence.

5. Zebulon foretold to be of the maritime tribe.

6. Issachar for labour in the field.

7. Dan shall be a serpent in the way (Sampson
sprang out of this tribe).

8. Gad; this tribe to be the most violent in
Israel.

9. Asher ; fertile in com and wine.

10. Naphtali ; like a good tree that shoots forth
fine branches.

II. Joseph, his favourite son, and for future
blessings.

IS. Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf.

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481




Nineteenth
MedjO.

Jacob, on hit
Death-bed.

Ueaaing hu

Sona.



Joseph dies at the age of 110. He foretells the
departure of the Israelites from Egypt, and desires
to have his hones carried to his father's grave in
Canaan.

After Joseph's death in Egypt, the children of
Israel multiplied exceedingly ; but there now rose
up a Pharaoh who knew not Joseph, and ultimately,
finding that the children of Israel had increased so
much as to be in numbers more mighty than him-
selt^ he put taskmasters over them, and made them
build cities. But the more King Pharaoh afflicted
them, the more they multiplied ; therefore the King
commanded the midwives to kill all the Hebrew
male children, and cast them into the river.

END OF VOLUME 1.



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