and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast: and there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty. And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither." And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him. And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house saying, Joseph's brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph:-"Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan; and take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land. Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take your wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours." And the children of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.' To 7. See Outline Study, Note 53. Study Outline Study, Suggestion 3. all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment. And to his father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way. So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them :-"See that ye fall not out by the way." And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father, and told him, saying: "Jospeh is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt." And Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not. And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived: and Israel said: "It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.” VIII THE STORY OF MOSES (Exodus ii-iii) Introductory Note.-The children of Jacob (Israel) prospered in Egypt, and, in the course of generations, became a numerous people. They were divided into twelve tribes or houses, corresponding to and named for the twelve sons of Israel. Dynastic changes, however, in Egypt, reduced the Children of Israel to the position of ordinary Egyptian subjects, and they were treated as slaves. Finally, alarmed at the rapid increase of the Israelites, the King issued an edict that all male children born to them should be destroyed at birth. And there went a man of the house of Levi,' and took to wife a daughter of Levi. And the woman conceived, and bare a son; and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when she could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. And his sister stood afar off, to wit' what would be done to him. And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said: 1. See Introductory Note. 2. Give the meaning of the word. "This is one of the Hebrews" children." Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter:-"Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?" And Phafaoh's daughter said to her :—“Go.” And the maid went and called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her:-"Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages." And the woman took the child, and nursed it. And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said: "Because I drew him out of the water.” And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren. And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. And when he was out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong:-"Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow?" And he said:-"Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian?" And Moses feared, and said: -"Surely this thing is known." 3. This word is now synonymous with Israelite, but anciently it was a general name for the entire race of which the Israelites were one branch. 4. The meaning of the word Moses in the Hebrew language suggests this play on the word. Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. And when they came to Reuel their father, he said: -"How is it that ye are come so soon to-day?" And they said:"An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock." And he said unto his daughters:-"And where is he? why is it that ye have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread.” And Moses was content to dwell with the man; and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter. And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said: "I have been a stranger in a strange land." And it came to pass in the process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them. Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father - inlaw, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the 5. In the Arabian peninsula. |