Pgs. 35-47
Ch. 1-6
THE TARGUM OF ONKELOS
ON
THE BOOK BERESHITH
OR
GENESIS.
SECTION I.
BERESHITH BARA ELOHIM.
I. In the first times[1]
the Lord created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was waste and empty,
and darkness was upon[2]
the face of the abyss; and a wind from before the Lord blew upon the face of
the waters. And the Lord said, Let there be light; and there was light. And the
Lord saw the light that it was good. And the Lord distinguished between the
light and between the darkness. And the Lord called the light the Day, and the
darkness He called the Night. And there was evening, and there was morning, Day
the First.
And the Lord said, Let
there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it distinguish between
waters and waters. And the Lord made the expanse, and distinguished between the
waters which were under the expanse, and between the waters which were above
the expanse: and it was so. And the Lord called the expanse the Heavens. And it
was evening, and it was morning, the
Second Day.
And the Lord said, The
waters shall be collected under the heavens into one region, and the dry land
shall appear. And it was so. And the Lord called the dry land Earth, and the
place of the collection of waters He called Sea. And the Lord saw that it was
good. And the Lord said, The earth shall bring forth grass; the plant whose
germ‑seed[3]
is to be sown; the fruit‑tree making fruit according to its kind, whose
germ‑seed is in it upon the earth;‑and it was so. And the earth put
forth grass; the herb, whose germ‑seed is sown after its kind; and the
tree making fruit, whose seed is in it after its kind. And the Lord saw that it
was good. And it was evening, and it was morning, Day the Third.
And the Lord said,
There shall be Lights in the expanse of heaven, to distinguish between the day
and the night; and they shall be for signs and for times, for the numbering of
days and years. And they shall be for luminaries in the expanse of heaven to
shine upon the earth;‑and it was so. And the Lord made the two great
luminaries: the greater luminary to rule in the day;[4]
and the smaller luminary to rule in the night, and the stars. And the Lord set
them in the expanse of heaven to shine upon the earth, and to rule in the day
and in the night, and to distinguish between light and darkness. And the Lord
saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning, Day the
Fourth.
And the Lord said, Let
the waters generate[5]
the moving creature (having) life; and the fowl which flieth over the earth on
the face of the expanse of heaven. And the Lord created the great taninia and
every living animal which moveth, which the waters generated according to their
kind, and every fowl which flieth according to his kind; and the Lord saw that
it was good. And the Lord blessed them, saying, Spread abroad and become many,
and fill the waters of the seas; and let the fowl become many on the earth. And
it was evening, and it was morning, Day the Fifth.
And the Lord said, Let
the earth produce the living animal after its kind, cattle, and reptile, and
beast of the earth, according to its kind;‑and it was so. And the Lord
mad, the beast of the earth after its kind, and cattle after their kind, and
every reptile of the earth after its kind; and the Lord saw that it was good.
And the Lord said, Let us make Man in Our image, as Our likeness; and shall
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and
over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every reptile which moveth
upon the earth. And the Lord created the Adam[6]
in His image, in the image of the Lord[7]
He created him; male and female He created them. And the Lord blessed them, and
said to them, spread abroad, and become many, and fill the earth, and be strong
upon it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the
heavens, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And the Lord
said, Behold, I have given to you every plant which seedeth gerrn‑seed
which is upon all the earth; and every tree in which is the fruit of the tree
which seedeth germ‑seed; unto you it shall be for food, and unto every
beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the heavens, and to every reptile upon
the earth in which is the breath of life, every green herb to eat; and it was
so. And the Lord saw all that He had made, and, behold, it was very steadfast.
And it was evening, and it was morning, Day the Sixth.
II. And the heavens
and the earth and all their host were completed. And the Lord finished in the
Seventh Day His work which He had wrought, and rested in the Seventh Day from
all His work which He had wrought. And the Lord blessed the Seventh Day and
made it holy, because in it He rested from all His work which the Lord had
created to make. These are the memorials[8]
of the heavens and the earth., when they were created in the day when the Lord
God made the earth and the heavens. And all trees of the field were not yet in
the earth, and every herb of the field had not yet sprung up, because the Lord
God had not caused rain to come upon the earth, and there was no man to
cultivate the ground. And a mist[9]
ascended from the earth, and moistened all the face of the ground. And the Lord
God created Adam from dust of the ground, and breathed upon his face the breath
of lives, and it became in Adam a Discoursing Spirit. And the Lord God planted
a garden in a region of pleasantness[10]
in the time of the beginning, and He made to dwell there the man whom He had
created. And the Lord God caused to grow from the earth every tree desirable to
look upon, and good for food, and the Tree of Life (Lives) in the midst of the
garden, and the Tree of whose fruit they who eat know between good and evil.
And a river went forth from Eden to water the garden,[11]
and from thence it was divided and became four heads of rivers[12]
(or four chid rivers). The name of the first is Pishon,[13]
that which encompasseth all the land of Havilah, where is gold; and the gold of that land is good; there is bedalcha and
burilla‑stones. And the name of the second river is Gichon,[14]
which encompasseth all the land of Kush.[15]
And the name of the third river is Digelatlh,[16]
which goeth to the east of Athur.[17]
And the fourth river is Pherat. And the Lord God took Adam and placed him in
the garden of Eden to culture it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded Adam,
saying, Of every tree of the garden eating thou mayest eat; but of the tree of
whose fruit they who eat know between good and evil thou shalt not eat; for in
the day that thou eatest of it dying thou shalt die.[18]
And the Lord God said, It is not right that Adam should be solitary; I will
make for him a helper as for his sake (or, as suited to him: Hebrew, kenegdo,
as his counterpart). And the Lord God created from the earth every beast of
the field and every fowl of the heavens, and brought them to Adam to see what
he would call him; and every (name by) which Adam called the living animal,
that was its name. And Adam called the name of all cattle, and of the fowl of
the heaven, and of every beast of the field; but to Adam was not found a helper
as for him. And the Lord God threw a sleep upon Adam, and he slept; and He took
one of his ribs, and filled with flesh in place thereof; and the Lord God
builded the rib which He took from Adam into Woman, and He brought her unto
Adam. And Adam said, This now (this time) is bone of my bone, and flesh of my
flesh: this shall be called Woman, because from her husband this was taken.
Therefore shall a man forsake the couch (beth mishkeb, the sleeping‑house)
of his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be
of one flesh. And they were both naked, Adam and his wife, and were not
ashamed.
III. And the serpent (chivja)
was more crafty than all the animals of the field which the Lord God bad made.
And he said to the woman, Is it in truth (that) the Lord said, You shall not
eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, Of the
fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but of the fruit of the tree which
is in the midst of the garden,[19]
the Lord hath said, You shall not eat of it, nor approach to it, lest you die.[20]
And the serpent said to the woman. Not to die will you die: for it is manifest
before the Lord, that in the day in which you eat of it your eyes will be
opened, and you will be (ki‑rabrebin) as the Great‑ones,
knowing good and evil. And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and
that it was salutary to the eyes, and a tree desirable to con. template; and
she took of its fruitage (aiba) and ate; and she gave to her husband
with her, and he ate. And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew
that they were naked; and they sewed for themselves the leaves of the fig‑tree,
and made for themselves cinctures. And they heard the voice of the Word of the
Lord God walking in the garden in the evening of the day;[21]
and Adam and his wife hid themselves from before the Lord God among the trees
of the garden. And the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, Where art thou?
And he said, The voice of Thy Word heard I in the garden, and I was afraid,
because I (was) naked, and I would hide. And He said, Who showed thee that thou
wast naked? Of the tree of which I commanded that eating of it thou shouldst
not eat, hast thou eaten? An Adam said, The woman whom Thou gavest (to be) with
me, she gave to me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said to the
woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent led me
astray, and I did eat. And the Lord God said to the serpent, Because thou hast
done this, more accursed art thou than all cattle, and than all the beasts of
the held; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and the dust shalt thou eat all the
days of thy life. And I will put enmity between thee and between the woman, and
between thy son and her son. He will remember thee, what thou didst to him (at)
from the beginning, and thou shalt be observant unto him at the end.
And to the woman He
said, Multiplying, I will multiply thy sorrows and thy pains. In sorrow shalt
thou bring forth children; and unto thy husband shall be thy desire, and lie.
shall rule over thee. And unto Adam He said, Because thou hast obeyed the word
of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree (about) which I commanded thee, saying,
Thou shalt not eat of it, accursed is the ground on thy account. With labour
shalt thou eat from it all the days of thy life. Thorns and thistles it shall
put forth for thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of
thy face shalt thou eat bread, until that thou return to the earth, because
from it thou wast created; for dust thou art, and to dust thou wilt return. And
Adam called the name of his wife Hava, because she was the mother of all the
children of men. And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife vestments of
honour upon the skin of their flesh, and clothed them. And the Lord God said,
Behold, man is become singular (or
alone,[22]
yechid) in the world by himself, knowing good and evil; and now,
lest he stretch forth his hand and take also of the Tree of Life, and eat, and
live for ever; ......and the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden to
till the ground from whence he had been created. And He drove out the man, and
before the garden of Eden he caused to dwell the kerubaya, and the sharp
sword which revolved to keep the way of the
Tree of Life.
IV. And Adam knew Hava
his wife, and she conceived, and gave birth to Kain; and she said I have
acquired the man from before the Lord. And she added to give birth to his
brother, Habel. And Habel was a shepherd of the flock, and Kain a man working
on the ground. And it was at the end (or complement) of days, that Kain brought
of the product of the earth an oblation before the Lord; and Habel he brought
also of the first‑born of his sheep and of their fatlings. And there was
acceptableness before the Lord in Habel and in his oblation; but in Kain and
his oblation there was not acceptableness. And it was greatly displeasing to
Kain, and his countenance was downcast. And the Lord said to Kain, Why art thou
displeased, and why is thy countenance downcast? If thou doest thy work well,
is it not remitted to thee? and if thou doest not thy work well, thy sin unto
the day of judgment is reserved, when it will be exacted of thee, if thou
convert not: but if thou convert, it is remitted to thee. And Kain spake with
Habel his brother; and it was in their being in the field that Kain arose
against Habel his brother, and killed him. And the Lord said to Kain, Where is
Habel thy brother? And he said, I know not; am I the keeper of my brother? And
He said, What hast thou done? The
voice of the blood of generations which were to come from thy brother
complaineth before Me, from the earth! And now, accursed art thou from the
earth, which hath opened her mouth and received the blood of thy brother from
thy hand. When thou tillest the earth., it shall not add to give its virtue to
thee; a castaway and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth. And Kain said
before the Lord, Greater is my guilt than may be forgiven. Behold, Thou hast
rejected me this day from the face of the earth, and from Thy presence it is
not possible to hide; and I shall be a castaway and a wanderer in the earth,
and any one who findeth me will slay me. And the Lord said to him, Therefore
any one who killeth Kain,‑unto seven generations it shall be exacted of
him. And the Lord set unto Kain a sign, lest any one who found him should kill
him. And Kain went out from before the Lord, and dwelt in the land of the
wanderer and outcast,[23]
which was made for him in the beginnings in the garden of Eden. And Kain knew
his wife, and she conceived and bare Hanoch, and he became the builder of a
city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son Hanoch. And
there was born to Hanoch Irad, and Irad begat Mahujael;[24]
and Mahujael begat Methusael, and Methusael begat Lemek. And Lemek took unto
him two wives, the name of the one Ada, and the name of the second Zillah. And
Ada bare Javal; he was the master (rab) of all dwellers in tents and
lords of cattle. And the name of his brother was Juval. He was the master[25]
of all who play upon the mouth of the pipe, who know the song of the harp and
of the organ. And Zillah also, she bare Tuval‑kain, the master of all
them who understand the working of brass and iron.[26]
And the sister of Tuval‑kain was Naamah.[27]
And Lemek said to his wives Ada and Zillah, Hear my voice, wives of Lemek,
attend to my words: I have not slain a man, that on his account I should bear
the condemnation of death; or destroyed a young man, that on his account my
posterity should be consumed. If seven generations are suspended unto Kain,
will there not be to Lemek his son seventy and seven? And Adam knew yet his
wife, and she bare a son, and called his name Sheth; Because, said she, the
Lord hath given me another son instead of Habel, whom Kain slew. And to Sheth also
was born a son, and he called his name Enosh. Then in his days the sons of men
desisted (or forbore) from praying in the name of the Lord.
V. This is the book of
the generations of Adam. In the day that the Lord God created man, in the
resemblance of Elohim[28]
He made him; male and female He created them; and He blessed them, and called
their name Man, in the day that they were created. And Adam lived a hundred and
thirty years, and begat in his resemblance (one) who was like to himself, and
he called his name Sheth. And the days of Adam after he had begotten Sheth[29]
were eight hundred years, and be begat sons and daughters. And all the days of
Adam which he lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.
And Sheth lived a
hundred and five years, and begat Enosh. And Sheth lived after he had begotton
Enosh eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the
days of Sheth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died.
And Enosh lived ninety years, and begat
Keinan. And Enosh lived after he had begotten Keinan eight hundred and fifteen
years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Enosh were nine
hundred and five years, and he died.
And Keinan lived
seventy years, and begat Mahalalel. And Keinan lived after he had begotten
Mahalalel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters. And all
the days of Keinan were nine hundred and ten years, and be died.
And Mahalalel lived
sixty and five years, and begat Jered. And Mahalalel lived after he had
begotten Jered eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.
And all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety and five years, and
he died.
And Jered lived an
hundred and sixty and two years, and begat Hanok. And Jered lived after he had
begotten Hanok eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the
days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty and two years, and he died.
And Hanok lived sixty
and five years, and begat Methushelach. And Hanok walked in the fear of the
Lord,[30]
after he had begotten Methushelach, three hundred years, and begat sons and
daughters. And all the days of Hanok were three hundred and sixty and five
years. And Hanok walked in the fear of the Lord; and he was not; for the Lord
had not made him to die.[31]
And Methushelach lived
an hundred and eighty and seven years, and begat Lemek. And Methushelach lived
after he had begotten Lemek seven hundred and eighty and two years, and begat
sons and daughters. And all the days of Methushelach were nine hundred and
sixty and nine years, and he died.
And Lemek lived a
hundred and eighty and two years, and begat a son. And he called his name
Noach, saying, This shall console us from the works and from the labour of our
hands from the earth which the Lord bath cursed. And Lemek lived, after he had
begotten Noach, five hundred and ninety and five years, and begat sons and
daughters. And all the days of Lemek were seven hundred and seventy and seven
years, and he died.
VI. And Noach was a
son of five hundred years, and Noach begat Shem, Cham, and Japheth. And it was
when the sons of men had begun to multiply upon the earth, and daughters were
born to them, that the sons of the mighty[32]
saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful, and took to them wives of
all whom they pleased.[33]
And the Lord said, This evil generation shall not stand before me for ever,
because they are flesh, and their works are evil. A term (or length) will I
give them, an hundred and twenty years, if they may be converted. Giants were
in the earth in those days; and also when, after that the sons of the mighty
had gone in unto the daughters of men, there were born from them giants who
from of old were men of name.
And the Lord saw that
the wickedness of man had multiplied in the earth, and that every formation (or
image) of the thought of his heart was only evil every day. And it repented the
Lord in His Word that He had made men upon the earth. And He said, (in His
Word,)[34]
that He would break their strength according to His pleasure. And the Lord
said, Man whom I have made will I blot out[35]
I from the face of the earth;‑from man to the beast, to the reptile, and
to the fowls of heaven; because it repenteth Me in My Word that I have made
them. But Noach found mercy before the Lord.
Pg. 47-57
Ch. 6-11
SECTION II
ELEH TOLEDOTH NOACH.
These are the
memorials of Noach. Noach was a man righteous and perfect in his generation; in
the fear of the Lord walked Noach. And Noach begat three sons, Shem, Cham, and
Yapeth. And the earth was corrupted before the Lord, and the earth was filled
with violences.[1] And the Lord saw the earth,
and, behold, it was corrupt, because all flesh had corrupted, each one, his way
upon the earth.
And the Lord said to
Noach, The end of all flesh cometh before Me, because the earth is filled with
violences from the face of their wicked works; and, behold, I will destroy them
with the earth. Make thee an ark with the wood of cedar; dwellings shalt thou
make in the ark, and overlay it within and without with pitch. And thus shalt
thou make it: three hundred cubits shall be the length of the ark, fifty cubits
its breadth, and thirty cubits its height. A light shalt thou make to the ark,
and at a cubit shalt thou complete it above, and the door of the ark thou shalt
place in its side. Lower dwellings, second and third, shalt thou make in it.
And I, behold, I do bring the deluge of waters upon the earth to destroy all
flesh in which is the breath of life from under the heavens. Every thing that
is on the earth shall die. And I will establish My covenant with thee; and thou
shalt enter into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and the wives of
thy sons with thee. And of all that liveth of all flesh two and two of all that
enter into the ark to abide with thee, male and female shall they be. Of fowl
according to its kind, and of cattle according to her kind, and of every
creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of all shall enter with thee to
abide. And thou, take with thee of all food which is eaten, and gather to be
with thee; and it shall be for thee and for them to eat. And Noach did
according to all which the Lord had commanded him, so did he.
VII. And the Lord said
to Noach, Enter thou and all the men of thy house into the ark; for thee have I
seen righteous before Me in this generation. Of all clean animals take thou
seven and seven, male and female; and of animals not clean, two and two, male
and female. Also of the fowls of heaven, seven and seven, male and female, to
continue the seed upon the face of all the earth. Because yet a time of seven
days and I will cause rain to descend upon the earth forty days and forty
nights, and I will blot out every subsistence[2] which I have made upon all the
face of the earth. And Noach did according to all that the Lord had instructed
him. And Noach was a son of six hundred years; and the deluge[3] of waters was upon the earth.
And Noach entered, and his sons, and his wife, and the wives of his sons with him, into the ark from before the
water of the deluge. Of animals
clean, and of animals not clean, and of birds, and of all which creepeth upon
the earth, two and two, they entered with Noach into the ark, male and female,
as the Lord had instructed Noach. And it was at the time of seven days, and the
waters of the deluge were upon the earth. In the six‑hundredth year of
the life of Noach, in the second month, in the seventeenth day of the month,
in that day were all the springs of the great abyss upbroken, and the windows
of heaven opened, and the rain came down upon the earth forty days and forty
nights. In that very day entered Noach, and Shem, Cham, and Yapheth, sons of
Noach, and the wife of Noach, and the three wives of his sons with them, into
the ark; they, and every animal after his kind, and all cattle after its kind,
and every, reptile which creepeth upon the earth after its kind, and every fowl
after its kind, every bird, every one that flieth: and they entered with Noach
oach into the ark, two and two of all flesh in which is the breath of life; and
they, entering, male and female of all flesh, entered, as the Lord had
commanded him, and the Lord protected them by His Word.[4] And there was a deluge forty
days upon the earth, and the waters increased, and took up the ark, and it was
lifted up above the earth. And the waters prevailed and increased mightily upon
the earth, and the ark went upon the faces of the waters. And the waters
prevailed most mightily over the earth, and all the high hills were covered
which were under all the heavens. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail,
and the mountains were covered; and all flesh died which moved upon the earth,
of fowl, and of cattle, and of the wild beast, and of every reptile which
creepeth upon the earth, and every man. Everything in whose nostrils was the
breath of the Spirit of life, of all which was upon the dry ground, died. And
every subsistence was blotted out that was upon the faces of the earth, from
man to the beast, to the reptile, and to the fowl of heaven, it was blotted out
from the earth, and Noach was left alone, and they who were with him in the
ark. And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.
VIII. And the Lord remembered Noach, and
every living thing, and all the cattle which were with him in the ark; and the
Lord caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters rested, and the
springs of the abyss were shut, and the windows of the heavens, and the rain
from the heavens was restrained, and the waters turned from on the earth, going
and returning; and the waters diminished from the end of a hundred and fifty
days. And the ark rested on the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the
month, upon the mountains of Kardu.[5] And the waters went and
diminished until the tenth month: in the tenth, on the first of the mouth, the
heads of the mountains appeared. And it was at the end of forty days, and Noach
opened the windows of the ark which he had made. And he sent forth a raven, and
going he went out, and returned until the waters were dried upon the earth. And
he sent forth a dove from (being) with him, to see whether the waters were
lightened (or consumed) from the surface of the earth. But the dove found no
rest for the dividing of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark,
because the waters were upon all the earth; and he stretched forth his hand,
and took her, and brought her to be with him in the ark. And he prolonged[6] yet seven days, and afterward
added to send forth the dove from the ark. And the dove came to him at the time
of evening, and, behold, a leaf of olive broken off was in her mouth; and Noach
knew that the waters were lightened from upon the earth. And he prolonged yet
other seven days, and sent forth the dove, and she added not to return to be
with him again. And it was in the six‑hundredth and first year, in the
beginning of the first month, the waters were dried from off the earth; and
Noach removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the faces of
the ground were dry. And in the second month, in the seventeenth day of the
month, the earth was fully dry.
And the Lord spake
with Noach, saying: Go forth from the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons,
and the wives of thy sons with thee. Every living thing which is with thee of
all flesh, of fowl, and of cattle, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon
the earth, bring forth with thee, and they shall generate in the earth, and
spread abroad and multiply upon the earth. And Noach went forth, and his sons,
and his wife, and the wives of his sons with him; every animal, every reptile
and bird, everything which moveth upon the earth after their kind, went forth
from the ark.
And Noach builded an
altar before the Lord, and took of every clean beast and of every clean bird,
and uplifted an offering upon the altar. And the Lord received with approval
his oblation; and the Lord said in His Word,[7] I will not add to curse again
the earth on account of the guilt of man, because the creations of the heart of
man[8] are evil from his infancy;[9] and I will not add again to
smite every living thing as I have done. Yet all the days of the earth, seed‑time
and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall
not cease.
IX. And the Lord
blessed Noach and his sons, and said to them, Spread abroad, and multiply, and
fill the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every
beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the heavens, in all which creepeth
upon the earth, and in all fish of the sea; into your hands shall they be
delivered. Every moving thing that liveth, for you it shall be to eat; as the
green herb I have given you the whole. But the flesh with its life‑blood
you shall not eat. And also your blood of your lives will I require, from every
beast will I require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of the man who
sheddeth the blood of his brother will I require the life of man. Whoso
sheddeth the blood of man, by witnesses, upon the sentence of the judges, his
blood shall be shed; because in the image of the Lord[10] made He man. And you, spread
abroad and multiply; bring forth in the earth and multiply therein.
And the Lord spake to
Noach, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant
with you and with your children after you, and with every living thing which is
with you, of fowl, of cattle, and of every beast of the field that is with you,
of all going forth from the ark of every animal of the earth. And I will
establish My covenant with you, and all flesh shall not again be consumed by
the waters of a deluge, nor shall there be again a deluge to destroy the earth.
And the Lord said, This is the sign of the covenant which I appoint (give)
between My Word, and between you, and between every living soul that is with
you unto perpetual generations. I have set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be
for a sign of the covenant between My Word and between the earth. And it shall
be that when clouding I becloud the earth, the bow shall be seen in the
cloud,and I will remember the covenant which is between My Word, and between
You, and between every living soul of all flesh; and there shall not be again
the waters of a deluge to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud,
and I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between the Word
of the Lord andbetween every living soul of all flesh that is upon the earth.
And the Lord said, This is the sign of the covenant which I have established
between My Word and between all flesh which is upon the earth.
And the sons of Noach
who went forth from the ark were Shem and Cham and Yapheth: and Cham is the
father of Kenaan. These three are the sons of Noach and from them was the whole
earth Overspread. And Noach began to be a man working on the earth;[11] and he planted a vineyard,
and he drank of the wine,[12] and was drunk; and he was
uncovered in the midst of his tent. And Cham the father of Kenaan saw the
nakedness of his father, and he showed to his two brethren without. And Shem
and Yapheth took a mantle, and laid it upon the shoulders of both, and went
backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were
averted, and the nakedness of their father they saw not. And Noach awoke from
his wine, and knew that which his youngest son had done unto him; and he
said:--
Accursed be Kenaan,
A working servant
shall he be to his brethren. And he said:--
Blessed be the Lord
the God of Shem,
And Kenaan shall be
servant unto them.
The Lord shall enlarge
Yapheth,[13]
And be shall make his
Shekinah to dwell in the tabernacles
of Shem:
And Kenaan shall be
servant unto them.
And Noach lived after
the deluge three hundred and fifty years. And all the days of Noach were nine
hundred and fifty years; and he died.
X. And these are the
generations of the sons of Noach, Shem, Cham, and Yapheth; and sons were born
to them after the deluge. The sons of Yepheth, Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and
Yavan, and Thuval, and Meshek, and Tiras. And the sons of Gomer, Ashkenaz, and
Rephath, and Thogarmah. And the sons of Yavan, Elishah and Tharshish, and
Dodanim. From these were the isles (nagvath) of the peoples
divided in their lands, each according to his language, according to their
families in their nations. And the sons of Cham, Kush, and Mizraim, and Phut,
and Kenaan. And the sons of Kush, Seba, and Chavilah, and Sabetha, and Raamah,
and Sabtekah. And the sons of Raamah, Sheba and Dedan. And Kush begat Nimrod:
he began to be a powerful man in the earth. He was a powerful man before the
Lord: therefore it is said, Like Nimrod the man of might before the Lord. And
the head (beginning) of his kingdom was Bavel, and Erek, and Akad, and Kalneh
in the land of Bavel.[14] From that land he went forth
to Athura,[15] and built Nineveh, and the
city of Rechov,[16] and Kalach,[17] and Resen,[18] between Nineveh and Kalach,
which was a great city. And Mizraim begat the Ludaee, and Anamaee, and
Lehabaee,[19] and Naphtuhaee, and
Pathrusaee, and Kasluchaee, from whom came forth the Pelishtaee and Kaputkaee.
And Kenaan begat Zidon
his firstborn, and Cheth, and the Jebusaee, and Amoraee, and Girgashee, and
Hivaaee, and Arkaee, and Antasaee, and Arvadaee, and Zemaraee, and Chamathaee:
and afterwards the seed of the Kenaanaee were scattered abroad. And the
frontier of Kenaanaah was from Zidon, coming to Gerar and to Azza, coming unto
Sedom, and Amorah, and Admah, and Zeboim, unto Lasha. These are the sons of
Cham, according to their progenies, to their languages, in their lands, in
their peoples.
And of Shem was born:
(also he is the father of all the sons of Eber, and the brother of Yapheth the
Great:) the sons of Shem, Elim, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.
And the sons of Aram, Uz, and Chul, and Gether, and Mash. And Arphaxad begat
Shelach; and Shelach begat Eber. And to Eber were born two sons: the name of
the one was Peleg: because in his day the earth was divided. And the name of
his brother was Yoktan. And Yoktan begat Almodad, and Shaleph, and
Chatsarmaveth, and Yarech, and Chadoram, and Uzal, and Dikelah, and Obal, and
Avimael, and Sheba, and Ophir, and Chavilah, and Yobab: all these are the sons
of Yoktan. And their dwelling was from Mesha,[20] coming to Sephar, an eastern
mountain. These are the sons of Shem,[21] according to their progenies,
according to their languages, in their lands, in their peoples. These are the
progenies of the sons of Noach, by their generations, in their peoples: and by
them were the peoples outspread in the earth after the deluge.
XI. And all the earth
was of one language and one speech. And it was in their migrations[22] at the beginning, that they
found a plain in the land of Babel., and dwelt there. And they said, a man to
his companion, Come, let us cast bricks and bake them in the fire. And they had
brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. And they said, Come, let us build a
city, and a tower, the bead of it coming to the pinnacle of the heavens. And we
will make to us a name, lest we be dispersed upon the face of all the earth.
And the Lord was revealed to punish the work of the city and the tower which
the sons of men had builded. And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one and
the language one with all of them: and this is what they begin to do. And now
nothing will be restrained from them of what they imagine to do. Come, We will
be manifest, and will confuse their language there, that a man shall not bear
the language of his companion. And the Lord dispersed them from thence upon the
face of all the earth, and they were restrained from building the city.
Therefore the name of it is called Confusion,[23] because the Lord there
confused the tongue of all the earth, and from thence the Lord dispersed them
upon the face of all the earth.
These are the
generations of Shem. Shem was a son of a hundred years, and he begat Arphaxad,
two years after the deluge. And Shem lived after he had begotten Arphaxad five
hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And Arphaxad lived thirty and five
years, and begat Shelach. And Arphaxad lived after he had begotten Shelach four
hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.
And Shelach lived
thirty years, and begat Eber. And Shelach lived after he had begotten Eber four
hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
And Eber lived thirty
and four years, and begat Peleg. And Eber lived after he had begotten Peleg
four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.
And Peleg lived thirty
years, and begat Reu. And Peleg lived after he had begotten Reu two hundred and
nine years, and begat sons and daughters.
And Reu lived thirty
and two years, and begat Serug. And Reu lived after he had begotten Serug two
hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters. And Serug lived thirty
years, and begat Nachor. And Serug lived after he had begotten Nachor two
hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
And Nachor lived twenty
and nine years, and begat Terach. And Nachor lived after he had begotten Terach
a hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.
And Terach lived
seventy years, and begat Abram, Nachor, and Haran. And these are the
generations of Terach. Terach begat Abram, Nachor, and Haran; and Haran begat
Lot. And Haran died before Terach his father in the land of his nativity, in
Ura of the Kasdaee. And Abram and Nachor took to them wives: the name of the
wife of Abram, Sara; and the name of the wife of Nachor, Milcha, daughter of
Haran the father of Milcha and the father of Yiska. And Sara was barren, she
had no child. And Terach took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, the son
of his son, and Sara his daughter‑in‑law, wife of Abram his son,
and went forth with them from Ura of the Kasdaee to go to the land of Kenaan.
And they came to Charan, and dwelt there. And the days of Terach were two
hundred and five years, and Terach died in Charan.
Pgs. 58-68
Ch. 12-17
SECTION III.
LECH LECHA.
XII. AND the Lord said
to ABRAM, Go thou away from thy country, and from the house of thy father, to
the land which I will show thee. And I will make thee to (be) a great people,
and will bless thee, and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed. And I
will bless him who blesseth thee, and him who curseth thee I will curse; and
through thee all the progenies of the earth shall be blessed. And Abram went
away, according as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram
was a son of seventy and five years in his forthgoing from Charan. And Abram
took Sara his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all the possessions which
they possessed, and the souls whom they had made subject to the law in Charan,
and went forth to go into the land of Kenaan; and they came unto the land of
Kenaan. And Abram traversed through the land unto the place of Shekim[1] unto the plain of Moreh;[2] and the Kenaanah was then in
the land. And the Lord revealed Himself unto Abram, and said, To thy sons will
I give this land. And he builded there an altar before the Lord who had been
revealed to him. And he ascended from thence to the mountain east of Beth El,
and spread out his tabernacle, having Beth El on the west and Ai on the east;
and he builded there an altar before the Lord, and prayed in the name of the
Lord. And Abram migrated, going and migrating to the south.
And there was a famine in the land, and Abram
went down to Mizraim, to sojourn
there, because the famine was strong in the land. And it was that as he drew
nigh to enter Mizraim he said to Sara his wife, Behold, now I know that thou
art a woman beautiful in sight; and it will be that when the Mizraee see thee
they will say, This is his wife; and they will kill me, and thee will they
reserve. Say now, thou art my sister, that it may be well with me through
thee, and my life may be preserved through thy words. And it was that when
Abram had entered into Mizraim, the Mizraee saw the woman that she was
singularly fair; and the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and extolled her to
Pharaoh; and the woman was taken to the house of Pharaoh. And Abram was well
treated on account of her. And he had sheep, and oxen, and asses, and servants,
and maidens, and camels. And the Lord brought upon Pharaoh great plagues, and
upon the men of his house, for the affair of Sara the wife of Abram. And
Pharaoh called Abram and said, What is this that thou hast done to me ? Why
didst thou not show me that she is thy wife? Why saidst thou, She is my sister,‑so
that I would have taken her to me to wife? And now, behold thy wife: take, and
go. And Pharaoh instructed the men concerning him, and they, conducted him
away, and his wife, and all that he had.
XIII. And Abram went
up from Mizraim, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, unto
the south. And Abram was exceeding strong in cattle, in silver, and in gold;
and he proceeded according to his encampments from the south, and unto Bethel,
unto the place where he had spread his tabernacle at the first, between Bethel[3] and Ai; to the place of the
altar which he had there made at the first: and Abram prayed there in the Name of the Lord. And Lot
also, who went with Abram, had sheep and oxen and tents. And the land could not
support them, that they might dwell together. And there was contention between
the shepherds of the flock of Abram and the shepherds of the flock of Lot; and
the Kenaanah and: the Pherizaah then dwelt in the land. And Abram said to Lot,
Let there not now be contention between me and thee, and between my shepherds
and thy shepherds; for men, brethren, are we. Is not all the land before thee?
Separate now from me: if thou to the north, I to the south; and if thou to the
south, I to the north. And Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of
Yardena that it was altogether a watered place, before the Lord had destroyed Sedom
and Amorah,‑as the garden of the Lord, as the land of Mizraim coming
unto Zoar. And Lot chose to him all the plain of Yardena; and Lot went forth
before, and they were separated each man from his brother. Abram dwelt in the
land of Kenaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and extended unto
Sedom. And the men of Sedom were wicked in their riches, and guilty in their
bodies before the Lord greatly. And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot was
separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes and see, from the place where thou
art, thence to the north and to the south, and to the east and to the west; for
all this land that thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy children for
ever. And I will place thy children numerous as the dust of the earth; so that
as it is not possible for a man to number the dust of the earth, so also thy
sons shall not be numbered. Arise, go through the land, in its length and in
its breadth; for unto thee will I give it. And Abram spread (his tent), and
came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre which is near Hebron,[4] and builded there an altar before the Lord.
XIV. And it was in the
days of Amraphel, king of Babel, Ariok, king of Elasar, Kedar‑laomer,
king of Elam, and Thidal, king of peoples, (that) they made war with Bera, king
of Sedom, and with Birsha, king of Amora, Shenab, king of Admah, Shemeber, king
of Zeboim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar. All these were assembled at the
plain of the field, which is (now) the place of the sea of salt. Twelve years
they had served Kedar‑laomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
And in the fourteenth year came Kedar‑laomer, and the kings who were with
him, and smote the giants who were in Ashtaroth Karnaim, and the mighty who
were in Chemta, and the terrible ones who were in Shaveh Kiryathaim, and the
Horaee who were in the mountain of Seir, unto the plain of Paran which lieth
upon the desert. And they turned, and came to the plain of the division of
judgment, which is Rekam, and smote all the fields of the Amalkaah, and also
the Amoraah who dwelt in Ein‑gadey.[5] And the king of Sedom, and the
king of Amoraah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboim, and tile king
of Bela, which is Zoar, went forth and set the battle in array against them in
the plain of the field, with Kedar‑laomer king of Elam, and Thidal,[6] king of peoples, and Amraphel,
king of Babel, and Ariok, king of Elasar; four kings against five. And the
plain of the field had many pits, from which, they raised asphalta; and the
kings of Sedom and Amorah fled, and they fell there; and they who remained fled
to the mountain. And they took all the possession of Sedom and Amorah, and, all
their food, and went. And they captured Lot and his substance, son of the
brother of Abram, and went. And he had dwelt in Sedom. And (one) came from
those escaped, and showed to Abram the Ivraah; and he had
remained in the plain of Moreh Amoraah, the brother of Eshkol and brother of
Aner; and they were Abram's men of covenant. And Abram heard that his brother
had been captured; and he armed the young men born in his house, three hundred
and eighteen, and pursued unto Dan. And he divided against them by night, he
and his servants, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hoba,[7] which was northward of
Damasek. And he recovered all the substance, and Lot also, the son of his
brother; and his substance he recovered, the women also, and the people. And
the king of Sedom came out to meet him after returning from the smiting of
Kedar‑laomer and the kings who were with him, at the plain of Mephana,
which was the king's place of racing. And Malki‑zedek, king of
Yerushelem,[8] brought forth bread and wine (chemar),
and he was minister (meshamesh) before EL ILLAAH,[9] and he blessed him, and said:
"Blessed be Abram before El Illah,
Whose possession is heaven and earth;
And blessed be El Illah,[10]
Who hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand."
And he gave him one in
ten of the whole. And the king of Sedom said to Abram, Give me the souls, and the
substance take thou. And Abram said to the king of Sedom, I have uplifted my
hands in prayer before the Lord God most
high, whose possession is heaven and earth: if from a thread unto the sole
of a sandal I take of all that is thine, (and not that thou shouldst say, I
have enriched Abram,) except of the food for the young men, and the share of
the men who went with me, Amer, Eshkol, and Mamre, these will receive their
shares.
XV. After these things
the word (pithgama) of the Lord came to Abram in prophecy,[11] saying, Fear not, Abram: My
Word (Memra) shall be thy strength, and thy exceeding great reward. And
Abram said, Lord God, what wilt Thou give me, and I go without a child: and
this son of business (bar phargama) who is in My house is the Damasekah
Elieser? And Abram said, Behold, Thou hast not given me a child, and, behold,
the son of my house is my heir. And, lo, the word (pithgama) of the Lord
was with him, saying, This shall not be thy heir, but a son whom thou shalt
beget will be thine heir. And He led him without, and said, Behold now the
heavens, and number the stars, if thou art able to number them; and He said to
him, So will be thy sons.[12] And he believed in the Word
of the Lord, (Memra da Yeya,) and He reckoned it to him unto
justification. And He said to him, I am the Lord, who brought thee forth from
Ura of the Kasdaee, to give thee this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord
God, by what may I know that I shall inherit it? And He said to him, Bring Me
three calves, and three goats, and three rams, and a turtle dove, and the young
of a pigeon. And he brought before Him all these. And be divided them equally,
and set the divisions a division against his fellow; but the birds he did not
divide. And the fowl descended upon the divisions, and Abram drave them away.
And it was sunset, and sleep fell upon Abram: and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him. And He said
unto Abram, Knowing thou shalt know that thy sons will be sojourners (or
aliens) in a land not theirs, and they will serve among them; and they will
afflict them four hundred years. And the people whom they will serve I will
judge, and go forth with much substance. And thou shalt be gathered to thy
fathers in peace, and shalt be buried[13] in good old age. And in the
fourth age (or generation) they will return hither; because not (yet) complete
is the guilt of the Amoraah. And it was at the going away of the sun, and there
was darkness. And behold a furnace that burned, and a flame of fire which
passed between those divisions. In that day the Lord compacted with Abram a
covenant, saying, To thy sons will I give this land; from the river of Mizraim
unto the great river, the river of Pherat,[14] the Shalmaee, and the
Kenizaee, and the Kadmonaee, and the Hittaee, and the Pherizaee, and the
Gibbaraee, and the Amoraee, and the Kenaanaee, and the Girgashaee, and the
Yebusaee.
XVI. And Sara wife of
Abram had no child; and she had an handmaid, a Mizretha, and her name was
Hagar. And Sara said to Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from
childbearing; go in now to my handmaid, if, perhaps, I may have sons from her.
And Abram received the word of Sara. And Sara wife of Abram took Hagar her
handmaid, the Mizretha, at the end of ten years of Abram's dwelling in the land
of Kenaan, and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife; and he went in
unto Hagar, and she conceived, and she saw that she had conceived, and her
mistress was despised in her eyes. And Sara said to Abram, I have (a cause of)
judgment[15] against thee. I have given my
handmaid to thee, and she seeth that she hath conceived, and I am despised in
her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee. And Abram said to Sara, Behold,
thy handmaid is in thy hand, do to her as is pleasing in thine eyes: and Sara
afflicted her, and she fled from before her. And the Angel of the Lord found
her at the fountain of water in the wilderness, at the fountain in the way of
Hagra. And he said, Hagar handmaid of Sara, whence comest thou, and whither art
thou going? And she said, From before Sara my mistress do I escape. And the
Angel of the Lord said to her, Return to thy mistress and be subject[16] under her hand. And the Angel
of the Lord said to her: Multiplying I will multiply thy sons, and they shall
not be numbered for multitude. And the Angel of the Lord said to her, Behold,
thou hast conceived, and shalt give birth to a son, and thou shalt call his
name Yishmael, because the Lord hath heard thy prayer. And he will be
untameable by man, and he will be needy to every one, and also all men will be
needy to him, and before the face of all his brethren will he dwell. And she
prayed in the Name of the Lord who had spoken with her; and she said: Thou art
Eloha, seeing all:[17] for she said, I also have
begun to see after that He hath been revealed to me. Therefore she called the
name of the well, The well at which appeared the Angel of the Covenant: behold,
it is between Rekam and Hagra. And Hagar bare to Abram a son, and Abram called
the name of his son whom Hagar bare Yishmael. And Abram was son of eighty and
six years when Hagar bare Yishmael unto Abram.
XVII. And Abram was son of ninety and nine
years: and the Lord was revealed to Abram, and said to him, I am EI‑shadai ;[18] serve before Me, and be
perfect;[19] I and I will set a covenant
between My Word and thee, and I will multiply thee exceedingly much. And Abram
fell on his face: and the Lord spake with him, saying, Behold, I have dedicated
My covenant with thee, and thou shalt be the father of many peoples, and thy
name shall no more be called Abram; but thy name shall be Abraham, because the
father of many peoples have I appointed (given) thee. And I will spread thee
abroad very greatly, and I will appoint to thee that assemblies and kings who
shall rule the peoples, from thee shall come forth. And I will establish My
covenant between My Word and thee, and thy sons after thee unto perpetual
generations, to be unto thee a God, and to thy sons after thee. And I will give
to thee and to thy sons after thee the land of thy habitation, all the land of
Kenaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be unto them Eloha. And the
Lord said to Abraham, And thou My covenant shalt keep, thou and thy sons after
thee in their generations. This is My covenant which you shall keep between My
Word and you and thy sons after thee, to circumcise every male that is among
you. And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be for
the sign of the covenant between My Word and you. And the son of eight days
shall be circumcised among you; every male in your generations, born in the
house, or bought with money, of every son of the peoples, who is not of thy
sons, circumcising you shall circumcise the one born in the house, and him
bought with money; and it shall be My covenant in your flesh for a covenant for
ever. And the male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that
man shall perish from the people (because) he hath made void My covenant.
And the Lord said to
Abraham, The name of Sara thy wife shall not be called Sara, for Sarah shall be
her name: and I will bless her, and I will also give thee a son from her; and I
will bless her, and assemblies and kings which have dominion over peoples from
her shall be. And Abraham fell upon his face and rejoiced, and said in his
heart, Will the son of a hundred years have a child, and Sarah the daughter of
ninety years bring forth? And Abraham said before the Lord, O that Yishmael may
be established before thee! And the Lord said, In verity Sarah thy wife shall
bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name Izhak; and I will establish My
covenant with him for an everlasting covenant to his sons after him. And
concerning Yishmael I have accepted thy prayer. Behold, I have blessed him, and
I will spread him abroad very greatly. Twelve princes will he beget, and I will
set him (as) a great people. But My covenant I will establish with Izhak, whom
Sarah shall bear to thee, at this time, in the year following. And when He had
ended to speak with him, the Glory of the Lord[20] ascended up from Abraham. And
Abraham took Yishmael his son, and every one born in his house, and every one
bought with his money, every male, the men of the house of Abraham, and
circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in that very same day when the Lord had
spoken with him. And Abraham was son of ninety and nine years, when he
circumcised the flesh of his foreskin. And Yishmael his son was son of thirteen
years, when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised. In that same day Abraham
was circumcised, and Yishmael his son, and all the men of his house, (whether)
born in his house, or bought with money from the sons of the Gentiles, were
circumcised with him.
Pgs. 68-80
Ch. 18-22
SECTION IV.
VAIYERA.
XVIII. AND the Lord
was revealed to him in the Vale of Mamre; and he sat in the door of the tent
while the day was hot. And lie lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold,
three men stood towards him; and he saw, and ran from the door of the tent to
meet them, and worshipped upon the earth. And he said, Lord, if now I have
found favour in Thine eyes, pass not, I pray, from Thy servant. Accept now a
little water, and wash your feet, and recline under the tree, and take a
mouthful of bread, and strengthen your hearts, afterward you shall pass on;
because for this you have come over unto your servant. And He said, So do as
thou hast spoken. And Abraham hastened to the tent to Sarah, and said, Make
haste with three seyin of the flour of meal, mix and make cakes. And to the
herd ran Abraham, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave to a young man,
and he hastened to dress him. And he took butter and milk, and the calf which
he had prepared, and set before them, and he waited upon them under the tree,
and they ate. And He said to him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold,
in the tent. And He said, Returning I will return to thee, according to the
time that you shall revive, and, behold, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And
Sarah heard in the door of the tent,
and it was behind Him. And Abraham and Sarah were old and advanced in days, and
with Sarah had ceased to be the way of women. And Sarah laughed within herself,
saying, After that I am old shall I have a child, and my lord (being also) old?
And the Lord said to Abraham, Wherefore laughed Sarah, saying, Can it be in
truth that I shall bring forth, and I being old? What word is hidden from
before the Lord? At the time I will return to thee, according to the time that
you shall revive, and Sarah shall have a son. And Sarah denied, saying, I
laughed not: for she was afraid. And He said, No, but thou didst laugh . . . .
And the men arose thence, and looked towards the face of Sedom; and Abraham
went with them to accompany them. And the Lord said, Shall I conceal from
Abraham what I am doing? And Abraham shall be indeed a people many and strong,
and in him shall all the peoples of the earth be blessed; because it is
manifest before me that he will instruct his children, and the men of his house
after him, to keep the ways which are right before the Lord, to do
righteousness and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which He
hath spoken concerning him. And the Lord said, The cry[1] of Sedom and Amorah [is heard
before Me] because it is great, and the guilt of them is very mighty: I will
now see, and will judge, whether they do according to the report of them which
hath ascended before me. I will deal with them thoroughly unless they convert;
but if they convert, I will not punish. And the men turned away from thence,
and went toward Sedom. And Abraham yet ministered in prayer before the Lord.
And Abraham approached, and said, Wilt Thou, in anger, destroy the righteous
with the guilty ? If perhaps there be fifty righteous within the city, wilt
Thou in anger destroy and not forgive the place for the fifty righteous who are
within it? More true are Thy judgments than that Thou shouldst do a thing like
that, to destroy the just with the guilty, and that the just should be as the
guilty! Thy judgments are true! Can the Judge of all the earth but do justice?
And the Lord said, If I find in Sedom fifty righteous in the midst of the city,
I will spare all the place for their sake.[2] And Abraham answered and said,
Behold, I have done a great thing, to speak before the Lord, and I dust and
ashes! Perhaps of the fifty righteous there may be wanting five: shall all the
city perish through five? And He said, I will not destroy, if I find there
forty and five. And he added yet to speak before Him, and said, Perhaps forty
may be found there. And He said, I will not make the end on account of the
forty. And he said, Let not the anger of the Lord now kindle, and I will speak.
Perhaps thirty shall be found there. And He said, I will not make the end if I
find there thirty. And he said, Behold, I have done a great thing to speak
before the Lord: perhaps twenty shall be found there. And He said, I will not
destroy for the sake of twenty. And he said, Let not now the anger of the Lord
kindle, and I will speak only this time: perhaps ten may be found there. And He
said, I will not destroy for the sake of the ten! And the Glory of the Lord
ascended when He had ceased to speak with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his
place.
XIX. And two angels
entered into Sedom in the evening; and Lot sat in the gate of Sedom. And Lot
saw, and arose to present himself before them, and he bowed with his face to
the earth. And he said, I pray my lords (ribboni) to turn aside unto the
house of your servant and lodge, and wash your feet; and rising early you shall
go on your way. And they said, Not so, but in the wide place will we lodge. And
he was greatly in earnest with them, and they turned aside with him, and
entered into his house: and he made them a supper, and dressed unleavened cakes
for them, and they ate. As yet they had not slept; and the men of the city, the
men of Sedom, gathered against the house, from the youth unto the old man, all
the people from the extremes; and they cried to Lot, and said to him, Where are
the men who came to thee to‑night? Bring them forth to us, and we will
know them. And Lot went out to them to the gate, and the door he shut after
him. And he said, I pray you, my brethren, do not (so) wickedly. Behold, now, I
have two daughters, who have not known man, I would bring them to you, and you
should do to them what pleases in your eyes; only to these men do nothing,
because they have entered under the shadow of my dwelling.[3] And they said, Go in, however!
And they said, One came to sojourn, and, behold, he judgeth judgment! Now will
we do worse to thee than to them; and they prevailed against the man, against
Lot, greatly, and came nigh to shatter the door. And the men put forth their
hands, and brought in Lot to be with them in the house, and shut the door. And
the men who were at the gate of the house they smote with blindness,[4] from the little to the great,
and they were wearied to find the gate. And the men said to Lot, Whomsoever
thou hast yet here, thy son-in‑law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and
all that thou hast in the city, lead out from the place: for we will destroy
this place, because their cry is great before the Lord, and the Lord hath sent
us to destroy it. And Lot went forth, and spake with his sons‑in‑law,
the takers of his daughters, and said, Arise, come forth from this place; for
the Lord will destroy the city. And he was as a trifler in the eyes of his sons‑in‑law.
And it was as the morning rose that the angels were urgent upon Lot, saying,
Arise, take thy wife and thy two daughters who are found faithful with thee,
lest thou be smitten with the punishment of the city. But he delayed; and the
men laid hold of his hands, and of the hand of his wife, and of the hand of his
two daughters; for the Lord had mercy upon him; and they brought him forth, and
set him without the city. And it was when he had brought them without, he said,
Be merciful on thy life, look not behind thee, and stand not in all the plain,
escape to the mountain for deliverance, lest thou perish. And Lot said to them,
Be entreated, O Lord; behold now, Thy servant hath found mercy before Thee, and
Thou hast magnified Thy goodness which Thou hast shown me in saving my life,
and I cannot take refuge in the mountain, lest evil befall me, and I die.
Behold now, this city is nigh, to flee there; and it is (but) small; let me now
escape thither. Is it not small? and my life shall be sustained. And He said to
him, Behold, I have accepted thee[5] in this thing also, in that I
will not overthrow the city for which thou hast prayed. Haste, escape thither;
for I cannot do anything until thou be come thither. Therefore be called the
name of the city Zoar.[6] The sun had come forth upon
the earth, and Lot entered Zoar. And the Lord rained upon Sedom and upon Amorah
sulphur and fire from before the Lord from the heavens, and destroyed those
cities and all the plain, and all the dwellers in the cities and the herbage of
the earth. And his wife looked
behind her, and she became a statue of salt. And Abraham ascended in the
morning[7] to the place where he had
ministered in prayer before the Lord; and he looked toward Sedom and Amorah,
and upon all the place of the plain land, and saw, and, behold, the smoke of
the land went up as the smoke of a furnace. And it was when the Lord destroyed
the cities of the plain, that the Lord remembered Abraham, and sent Lot from
the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.
And Lot went up from Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters
with him: for he feared to dwell in Zoar; and he dwelt in a cavern, he and his
two daughters. And the elder said to the younger, Our father is aged, and there
is no man in the earth to go in unto us according to the way of all the earth.
Come, we will pour father wine, and will lie with him, and raise up sons[8] from our father. And they
poured their father wine in that night; and the elder went in and lay with her
father; and he knew not, in her lying down nor in her rising up. And it was in
the day which followed that the elder said to the younger, Behold, I lay
yesterday with the father: let us give wine also in the night, and go thou in,
lie with him, and we will raise up sons from our father. And they gave that
night also wine to their father, and the younger arose and lay with him; and he
knew not, in her lying down nor in her rising up. And the two daughters of Lot
conceived from their father; and the elder brought forth a son, and called his
name Moab: he is the father of the Moabaee unto this day. And the younger also
brought forth a son, and she called his name Bar Ammi: he is the father of the B'ni Ammon unto this day.
XX. And Abraham
migrated from thence to the southern land, and dwelt between Rekam and Hagra;[9] and he sojourned in Gerar.[10] And Abraham said of Sarah his
wife, She is my sister. And Abimelek, king of Gerar,[11] sent and took Sarah. And the
word came from the presence of the Lord to Abimelek in a dream of the night,
and said to him, Behold, thou diest, on account of the woman whom thou hast
taken, and she a man's wife. But Abimelek had not come nigh her. And he said,
Lord, wilt Thou also kill the innocent people? Did he not say to me, She is my
sister? And she also said, He is my brother. In the rectitude of my heart, and
the cleanness of my bands, have I done this. And the Lord said to him in a
dream, It is also manifest to Me that in the integrity of thy heart thou hast
done this, and I have also restrained thee from sinning before Me;[12] therefore I have not
permitted thee to approach to her. And now return the mares wife; for he is a
prophet, and he will pray for thee, and thou shalt live. But if thou wilt not
return (her), know that dying thou shalt die,[13] thou, and ail who are thine.
And Abimelek arose in the morning, and called all his servants, and spake all
these words before them; and the men feared greatly. And Abimelek called
Abraham, and said to him, What hast thou done to us, and in what have I sinned
against thee, that thou shouldst have brought upon me and upon my kingdom a
great sin?[14] Works which are not worthy to
be done hast thou done with me. And Abimelek said to Abraham, What sawest thou,
that thou didst this thing? And
Abraham spake, Because I said, Perhaps the fear of the Lord is not in this
place, and they will kill me on account of my wife. Nevertheless, in truth she
is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and
she became my wife. And it was, when the people erred after the works of their
hands, the Lord did bring me near to the fear of Himself, from (among) the
house[15] of my father. And I said to
her, This is thy favour which thou canst do for me; in every place through
which we pass, say of me, He is my brother. And Abimelek took sheep, and oxen,
and servants, and handmaidens, and gave to Abraham, and returned to him Sarah
his wife. And Abimelek said, Behold, my land is before thee: where it is
pleasant in thine eyes, dwell. And to Sarah he said, Behold, I have given a
thousand seleen of silver to thy brother; behold, that is to thee a veil[16] of honour, for my having sent
to take thee, and to see thee, and all that is with thee; and concerning all
whatever thou hast spoken thou art reproved. And Abraham prayed before the
Lord, and the Lord healed Abimelek, and his wife, and his handmaids, and they
were revived: for the Lord had shut all the wombs of the house of Abimelek, on
account of Sarah, the wife of Abraham.
XXI. And the Lord
remembered Sarah as He had said; and the Lord did unto Sarah according as He
had spoken. And Sarah conceived and bare unto Abraham a son in his old age, in
the time of which the Lord had told him. And Abraham called the name of his son
who was born to him, whom Sarah bare to him, Izhak. And Abraham circumcised
Izhak his son (when) the son of eight days, as the Lord had commanded him. And
Abraham was the son of a hundred years when Izhak his son was born to him. And
Sarah said, The Lord hath made me to have gladness; every one who heareth will
give me joy. And she said, Faithful is He who spake unto Abraham, and certified
that Sarah should suckle children; for she hath born a son in his old age. And
the child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast in the day when
Izhak was weaned.[17] And Sarah observed the son of
Hagar the Mizritha, whom she bare to Abraham, deriding. And she said, Cast out
this handmaid and her son; for the son of the handmaid shall not inherit with
my son, with Izhak. And the word was evil exceedingly in the eyes of Abraham,
on account of his son. And the Lord said to Abraham, Let it not be evil in
thine eyes concerning the youth and concerning thine handmaid. All that Sarah
saith to thee receive from her, because in Izhak shall thy sons be called to
thee. And also the son of the handmaid will I set for a people, because he is
thy son. And Abraham rose up in the morning, and took bread and a skin of
water, and gave to Hagar, setting upon her shoulder, and the youth,[18] and dismissed her. And she
went, and wandered in the desert of the well of Shava (Beara de Shava). And the
water was finished from the skin; and she laid the youth under one of the trees,
and went and sat over against, as far off as a bow flight: for she said, I
cannot see the death of the child . . . . And she sat over against, and lifted
up her voice and wept. And the voice of the youth was heard before the Lord;
and the Angel of the Lord called to Hagar from the heavens, and said to her,
What to thee, Hagar? Fear not, for the voice of the youth is heard before the
Lord in the place where he is. Arise, take up the youth and strengthen thine
hand in him,[19] because for a great people
have I appointed him. And the Lord opened[20] her eyes, and she saw the
well of waters, and went and filled the skin with water, and gave the youth to
drink. And the Word of the Lord was the Helper of the youth, and he grew and
dwelt in the wilderness, and became a master of the bow. And he dwelt in the
wilderness of Paran, and his mother took for him a wife from the land of
Mizraim.
And it was in that
time that Abimelek and Phikol, chief of his host, spake to Abraham, saying, The
Word of the Lord is thy Helper in everything thou doest; and now swear to me
here, by the Word of the Lord, that thou wilt not be false with me, nor with my
son, nor with my son's son; and that according to the good which I have done to
thee thou wilt do with me and with the land in which thou art a sojourner. And
Abraham said, I will swear. And Abraham reproved Abimelek, on account of the
well of waters which the servants of Abimelek had taken by force.[21] And Abimelek said, I knew not
if this thing had been done, and thou also hadst not shown me, nor have I
heard, but this day. And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave to Abimelek, and
they struck both of them a covenant. And Abraham made seven lambs stand apart;
and Abimelek said to Abraham, What are these seven lambs which thou hast made
to stand apart? And he said, That thou mayest take the seven lambs seven lambs
from my hand, to testify for me that I have digged that well. Therefore he
called that place Beer Shava, because there they sware together. And they
struck a covenant at Beer Shava. And Abimelek and Phikol,[22] the chief of his host, arose,
and returned to the land of the Phelishtaee. And he planted a tree[23] in Beer Shava, and prayed there
in the name of the Lord, the Most High God.[24] And Abraham sojourned in the
land of the Phelislitaee many days.
XXII. And it was after
these things that the Lord tempted Abraham; and He said to him, Abraham! And he
said, Behold, I am. And He said, Take now thy son, thy only, whom thou lovest,
Izhak, and go into the land of worship, and offer him before Me there, a burnt
offering, upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee. And Abraham arose
in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him,
and Izhak his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and
went to the place of which the Lord had spoken to him. And in the third day
Abraham lifted, up his eyes, and saw the place from afar. And Abraham said to
his young men, Wait you here with the ass, and I and the young man will ascend
yonder and worship, and return to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt
offering, and laid on Izhak his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the
knife, and they went both of them as one. And Izhak spake to Abraham his
father, and said, Father! And he said, Behold, I am, my son. And he said,
Behold the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? And
Abraham said, The lamb for the burnt offering is revealed before the Lord, my
son. And they went, both of them, as one. And they came to the place of which
the Lord had told him. And Abraham builded there the altar, and set in order
the woods, and bound Izhak his son, and laid him upon the altar above the
woods. And Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to cut off his
son. And the Angel of the Lord called to him from the heavens, and said,
Abraham, Abraham! And he said, Behold, I am. And he said to him, Stretch not
out thy hand upon the youth, neither do any thing to him: for now I know that
thou fearest the Lord, and that thou hast not spared thy only son[25] for Me. And Abraham lifted up
his eyes after these (words), and saw, and behold, one ram, holden in the bush
by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him for a burnt
offering instead of his son. And Abraham worshipped and prayed there in that
place, and said before the Lord, Here shall generations worship: wherefore it
shall be paid in that day, In this mountain Abraham worshipped before the Lord.[26] And the Angel of the Lord
called to Abraham the second time from the heavens, and said, By my Word have I
sworn, saith the Lord, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not spared
thy only son, therefore, blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will
multiply thy sons as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the sea
shore; and thy sons shall inherit the cities of their enemies. And all the
peoples of the earth shall be blessed through thy son: forasmuch as thou hast
received My word. And Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and
went together unto Beer Shava, and Abraham dwelt in Beer Shava.
And it was after these
things it was shown to Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcha, also, hath born sons to
Nachor, thy brother: Uts his first‑born, and Booz his brother, and Kemuel
the father of Aram, and Kesed, and Chazu, and Phildash, and Yedlaph, and
Bethuel. And Bethuel begat Revekah. These eight bare Milcha to Nahor, brother
of Abraham. And his concubine, whose name was Reuma, she also bare Tebach, and
Gacham, and Tachash, and Maaka.
Pgs. 80-88
Ch. 23-25
SECTION V.
CHAIYEY SARAH.
XXIII. AND the life of
Sarah was a hundred and twenty and seven years, the years of the life of Sarah.
And Sarah died in Kiryath‑arba, which is Hebron, in the land of Kenaan.
And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to lament her. And Abraham rose up
from the presence of his dead, and spake with the sons of Hittah, saying, I am
a guest and a sojourner with you: give me the possession of a sepulchre with
you, that I may bury my dead from before me. And the sons of Hittah answered Abraham,
saying to him, Receive from us Ribbona; a prince before the Lord art thou among
us; in the best of our sepulchres bury thy dead. No man of us will refuse his
sepulchre to thee for the burial of thy dead. And Abraham rose and bowed to the
people of the land, the sons of Hittah. And he spake with them, saying, If you
are willing in your minds that I should bury my dead from before me, receive
from me, and request[1] for me of Ephron bar Zochar
that he will give me the Double Cavern,[2] which is in the side of his
field: for the full amount (shelim) of silver he shall give it to
me among you for the possession of a sepulchre. But Ephron was sitting in the
midst of the sons of Hittah; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham before the
sons of Hittah, of all entering the gate of the city, saying, No, my lord;
receive of me; I will present to thee the field and the cavern which is in it;
to thee will I present it; in sight of the sons of my people will I present it
to thee. Bury thy dead. And Abraham bowed before the people of the land. And he
spake with Ephron before the people of the land, saying, Nevertheless, if thou
wilt do me a grace, receive from me; I will give money for the field; take of
me, and I will bury my dead there. And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,
My lord, receive of me: the land is worth four hundred sileen of silver;
between me and thee what is it? Bury thy dead. And Abraham agreed with Ephron,
and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver of which be had spoken before the sons
of Hittah, four hundred sileen of silver, which is received in merchandise in
every city.[3] And Ephron confirmed the field
in which is the double cavern which is before Mamre; the field, and the cavern
that is therein, and all the trees which were in the field, in all its
boundaries round about, to Abraham, for a purchase, in the sight[4] of the sons of Hitah, of all
entering the gate of the city. And after this Abraham buried Sarah his wife in
the double cavern of the field which is before Mamre, that is Hebron, in the
land of Kenaan. And the field and the cavern which is in it were confirmed to
Abraham for the possession of a sepulchre from the sons of Hittah.
XXIV. And Abraham was old, (and) advanced in
days, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said to his
servant, the elder of his house, who had authority over all which was his, Put now thy hand under my thigh, and I
will adjure thee by the Word of the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the
earth, that thou wilt not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Kenaanaee
among whom I dwell. But to my country and to my kindred thou wilt go, and take
a wife for my son Izhak. And the servant said to him, Perhaps the woman will
not be willing to come after me to this land,‑returning am I to return
thy son to the land from which thou hast gone forth? And Abraham said to him,
Take care that thou return not my son thither; the Lord, the God of heaven, who
took me from the house of my father and from the land of my birth, and who
spake to me, and sware to me, saying, I will give thee this land, will send His
angel before thee, and thou wilt take a wife for my son from thence. And if the
woman be not willing to come after thee, thou shalt be absolved from this my
oath; only cause not my son to return thither. And the servant put his hand
under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter.
And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his lord and went. And all the
goods of his master were in his hand. And he arose and went to Aram, which is
upon Phrath, the river, to the city of Nachor. And he made the camels rest
without the city at a well of waters in the evening time, at the time when they
came forth to fill. And he said, Lord God of my master Abraham, let it, I pray,
be opportune with me this day, and deal thou graciously with my master Abraham.
Behold, I stand by the fountain of waters, and the daughters of the men of the
city will come forth to draw water. Let the maiden to whom I shall say, Reach
thy waterpot, I pray, that I may drink; and she say, Drink, and I will also
give thy camels drink,‑be she whom Thou hast prepared for Thy servant,
for Izhak: and in this I shall know that Thou hast dealt graciously with my
master. And it was while he had not ceased to speak that, behold,
Revekah came forth, (she) who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcha, wife of
Nachor, brother of Abraham, and her pitcher upon her shoulder. And the maiden
was very fair to behold; a virgin, and man had not known her; and she descended
to the fountain, and filled her pitcher, and came up. And the servant hasted to
her presence; and said, Let me taste, I pray, a little water from thy pitcher.
And she said, Drink, Ribboni; and she made haste, and held her pitcher upon her
hand, and gave him to drink. And when she had ended giving him drink, she said,
For thy camels also I will draw, until they shall have enough to drink. And she
hastened and poured out her pitcher into the place of watering, and ran again
to the well to fill, and she filled for all his camels . And the man wondered
at her, gazing silently, to know whether the Lord had prospered his way or not.
And it was when the camels had drunk enough, the man took a ring (qadasha) of
gold weighing a shekel, and two bracelets (sherin) for the hand weighing
ten sileen of gold. And he said, Whose daughter art thou? Tell me, I pray,
whether there be room in thy father's house sufficient for us to lodge? And she
said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcha, whom she bare to
Nachor. And she said to him, There is much straw and provender with us, also
room enough to lodge. And the man kneeled, and worshipped before the Lord, and
said, Blessed be the Lord the God of my master Abraham, who hath not withheld
His grace and His truth from my master; and me hath the Lord led in a right way
to the house of my master's brother. And the maiden ran and showed these things
to her mother's house. And Revekah had a brother whose name was Laban; and
Laban ran to the man without at the fountain. And it was when he saw the ring and
the bracelets upon the hands of his sister, and heard the words of Revekah his
sister, saying, As this spake the man with me, that he came to the man, and,
behold, he stood by the camels at the fountain; and he said, Enter, blessed of
the Lord;[5] why standest thou without? and
I have a prepared house and a proper place for the camels. And the man entered
the house, and he loosed the camels, and gave straw and provender for the
camels, and water to wash his feet, and the feet of the men who were with him.
And they set before him to eat. And he said, I will not eat until I have spoken
my words. And he said, Speak. And he said, I am a servant of Abraham; and the
Lord hath blessed my master much, and increased, and hath given to him sheep
and oxen, silver and gold, servants and handmaidens, camels and asses. And
Sarah the wife of my master bare a son to my master after she was old, and he
hath given to him all that he hath. And my master adjured me, saying, Thou
shalt not take a wife for my son from the daughters of Kenaan in whose land I
dwell; but thou shalt go to my father's house, and to my kindred, and take a
wife for my son. And I said to my master, Perhaps the woman will not come after
me. And he said to me, The Lord before whom I worship will send His angel with
thee, and will prosper thy way, and thou shalt take a wife for my son from my
kindred and from my father's house. Then shalt thou be absolved from my oath
when thou hast gone to my kindred: and if they will not give unto thee, thou
shalt be absolved from my oath. And I came this day to the fountain, and I
said, Lord God of my master Abraham, if now it is pleasing before thee to prosper
the way in which I go, behold, I stand at the fountain of waters, and a damsel
may come forth to fill; and I will say to her, Give me to drink, I entreat, a
little water from thy pitcher; and she shall say to me, Both for thee and thy
camels also I will fill,‑let her be the wife whom the Lord hath ordained
for my master's son. And I had not left speaking in my heart, when, behold,
Revekah came forth, with her pitcher upon her shoulder, and went down to the
fountain and filled. And I said to her, Let me now drink. And she hastened and
let down her pitcher, and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels also drink.
And I drank, and the camels also she watered. And I asked her and said, Whose
daughter art thou? and she said, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of
Nachor, whom Milcha bare to him. And I set an ornament on her face, and
bracelets upon her hand, and bowed down and worshipped before the Lord, and
blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham who had led me in a true way, to take
the daughter of my master's brother for his son. And now, if you will act with goodness and truth with my master, show me;
and if not, I will turn to the right or to the left. And Laban answered, and
Bethuel, and said, From before the Lord the word hath come forth: we have no
power to say to thee either evil or good. Behold, Revekah is before thee; take
(her) and go; and let her be the wife of thy master's son, as the Lord hath
spoken. And it was, when the servant of Abraham heard these words, he
worshipped on the earth before the Lord. And the servant brought out vessels of
silver and vessels of gold and vestments, and gave to Revekah, and presents
gave he to her brother and to her mother. And they ate and drank, he and the
men who were with him, and they lodged and arose in the morning. And he said,
Send me to my master. And her brother said, and her mother, Let the maiden
abide with us a season of time, or ten months; after that she shall go. And he
said to them, Keep me not back: the Lord will direct my way, and I will proceed
to my master. And they said, We will call the maiden, and hear what she will
say. And they called Revekah, and said to her, Wilt thou go with this man? and
she said, I will go. And they dismissed Revekah their sister, and her nurse,
and the servant of Abraham, and his men. And they blessed Revekah, and said to
her, Thou art our sister; be thou (multiplied) unto thousands and myriads, and
may thy children inherit the cities of those who hate them. And Revekah arose,
and her maidens; and they rode upon camels, and went after the man. And the
servant took Revekah and went. And Izhak ascended in coming from the well over
which the Angel of Life (malak qayama, " the Eternal Angel")
had appeared; and he dwelt in the land of the south. And Izhak went forth to pray
in the field, at the presence of the evening; and he lifted up his eyes, and
looked, and, behold, the camels came. And Revekah lifted up her eyes, and saw
Izhak; and she bowed herself on the camel. And she said to the servant, Who is
the man who is walking in the field to meet us? And the servant said, He is my
master. And she took a mantle and covered herself. And the servant recounted to
Izhak all the things which he had done. And Izhak brought her to the
tabernacle: and he saw, and, behold, her works were right as the works of Sarah
his mother. And he took Revekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. And Izhak was comforted after his
mother.
XXV. And Abraham
added, and took a wife, and her name
was Keturah; and she bare to him Zimran, and Yokshan, and Medan, and Midyan,
and Yeshbach, and Shuvach. And Yokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan; and the sons of
Dedan have been in camps and tabernacles and islands.[6] And the sons of Midyan, Eipha,
and Epher, and Hanok, and Abidah, and Eldaah: all these the sons of Keturah.
And Abraham gave all that he had unto Izhak. But to the sons of the concubine
of Abraham gave Abraham portions, and sent them from his son Izhak, while he
yet lived, eastward in the land of the sunrise. And these are the days of the
years of the life of Abraham that he lived, an hundred and seventy and five
years. And Abraham expired, and died in a good old age, aged, and full of days;
and he was gathered unto his people. And Izhak and Ishmael his sons buried him
in the twofold cave in the field of Ephron bar Zochar, the Hittah, which is
before Mamre; the field which Abraham bought from the sons of Hittah: there
they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. And it was after the death of Abraham
that the Lord blessed Izhak his son, and Izhak dwelt at the well over which the
Eternal Angel had appeared. And these are the generations of Ishmael bar
Abraham, whom Hagar the Mizretha, the handmaid of Sarah, bare to Abraham. And
these are the names of the sons of Ishmael by their names in their generations.
The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, and
Mishma, and Duma, and Massa; Hadad, and Thema, Yetoor, Naphish, and Kedemah.
These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names in their villages and
their towns, twelve chiefs of their peoples.[7] And these are the years of the
life of Ishmael, a hundred and thirty and seven years. And he expired and died,
and was gathered to his people. And they have dwelt from Havilah unto Hagra,
which looketh toward Mizraim, reaching unto Athoor. In the presence of all his
brethren he dwelt.
Pgs. 88-96
Ch. 25-28
SECTION VI.
TOLEDOTH.
AND these are the
generations of Izhak bar Abraham. Abraham begat Izhak; and Izhak was a son of
forty years when he took Revekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramite of Padan
Aram, the sister of Laban the Aramite, to be his wife. And Izhak. prayed before
the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord hearkened to his
prayer, and Revekah his wife conceived. And the children struggled in her womb;
and she said, If thus, why have I conceived? And she went to seek instruction
before the Lord: and the Lord said to her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two
kingdoms from thy womb shall be divided, and (one) kingdom (shall be) stronger
than (the other) kingdom, and the greater shall be subject to the less. And her
days were fulfilled to give birth. And, behold, twins were in her womb. And the
first came forth red, all of him as a garment (covering) of hair; and they
called his name Esau. And afterwards came forth his brother, and his hand
grasped the heel of Esau, and they called his name Jakob.[1] And Izhak was sixty years old
when he begat them. And the youths grew; and Esau was a man of idleness, a man
going out into the field; and Jakob was a man of peace, a minister of the house of instruction. And Izhak
loved Esau, because he ate of his hunting, and Rivekah loved Jakob. And Jakob
dressed pottage, and Esau came from the field, and he was faint. And Esau said
to Jakob, Let me taste now of that red, that red! for I am faint: (therefore he
called his name Edom:[2]) and Jakob said, Sell this day
thy birthright to me. And Esau said, Behold, I am going to die, and what is
this birthright to me?[3] And Jakob said, Swear to me to‑day;
and he sware to him and he sold his birthright to Jakob. And Jakob gave to Esau
bread and pottage of lentiles. And he ate and drank, and arose, and went: and
Esau despised the birthright.
XXVI. And there was a
famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham;
and Izhak went to Abimelek, king of the Philistaee, to Gerar.[4] And the Lord appeared to him
and said, Go not down into Mizraim,[5] remain in the land as I have
told thee; dwell in this land, and My Word shall be to thee for a helper; and I
will bless thee. For to thee and to thy son will I give all these lands; and I
will confirm the oath that I have sworn to Abraham thy father; and I will
multiply thy son as the stars of heaven, and will give thy son all these lands,
and through thy son shall all the peoples of the earth be blessed, because
Abraham obeyed My word, and kept the keeping of My word, My commandments, My
covenant, and My law. And Izhak dwelt at Gerar; and the men of the place asked
respecting his wife. And he said, She is my sister; for he feared to say, My
wife, lest the men of the place should kill him on account of Revekah; for she
was of beautiful aspect. And it was when be had been there many days that
Abimelek the king of the Philistaee looked from a window, and, behold, Izhak
was sporting with Revekah his wife. And Abimelek called Izhak and said,
Nevertheless, behold,
she is thy wife: why
then hast thou said, She is my sister? And Izhak said to him, Because I said,
Lest I be killed on account of her. And Abimelek said, What is this that thou
hast done to us? It might have been that some one of the people had lain with
thy wife, and thou wouldst have brought upon us the guilt. And Abimelek
commanded all the people saying, Whoever injureth this man shall surely be put
to death. And Izhak sowed in the land, and found in that year a hundred fold on
that which he had expended, (or estimated,) and the Lord blessed him; and the
man increased, and went on multiplying and increasing, until he had increased
greatly. And he had flocks of sheep, and herds of cattle, and many servants;
and the Philistaee were envious of him. And all the wells that the servants of
his father had digged in the days of Abraham the Philistaee stopped up, and
filled with dust. And Abimelek said to Izhak, Go from us; for thou art much
stronger than we. And Izhak went thence, and sojourned in the vale of Gerar,
and dwelt there. And Izhak returned, and digged the well of water which they
had digged in the days of Abraham his father, and which the Philistaee had
stopped after the death of Abraham; and he called their names after the names
by which his father had called them. And the servants of Izhak digged in the
valley, and found there a well of flowing[6] waters. And the shepherds of
Gerar strove with the shepherds of Izhak, saying, The water is ours; and he
called the name of the well Contention, because they had contended with him. And they digged another
well, and they strove also on
account of it, and he called the name of it Hatred. And he went up from thence,
and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name
of it Spaciousness. For he said, Because now hath the Lord enlarged us, and we
shall spread abroad in the land. And he went up from thence to Beershava; and
the Lord appeared to him in the night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy
father; fear not: for in thy help is My Word; and I will bless thee, and will
multiply thy sons for the sake of Abraham My servant. And he builded there an
altar, and prayed in the name of the Lord. And he spread there his tabernacle;
and the servants of Izhak digged there a well. And Abimelek came to him from
Gerar, and a company of his friends, and Phikol[7] the chief of his host. And
Izhak said to him, Why have you come to me, when you have hated me, and sent me
from you? And they said, Seeing we have seen that the Word of the Lord is for
thy help; and we have said, Let the oath which was between our fathers be now
confirmed between us and thee, and let us enter into a covenant with thee, that
thou do us no evil, as we have not injured thee, and as we have done thee only
good, and we will leave thee in peace; thou art now blessed of the Lord. And he
made them a feast, and they ate and drank. And they arose in the morning and
covenanted, each man with his brother; and Izhak dismissed them, and they went
from him in peace. And it was in that day that the servants of Izhak came and
showed him concerning the well that they had digged. And they said to him, We
have found water. And he called it Sheva, (the swearing). Wherefore the name of
the city is Beer‑sheva unto this day.
And Esau was the son
of forty years, and he took to wife Jehudith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite,
and Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite; and they were rebels and irritators
against the word of Izhak and Revekah.
XXVII. And it was,
when Izhak was old, and his eyes were darkened from seeing, that he called
Esau, his eldest son, and said to him, My son. And he said to him, Behold, I
am. And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day that I shall die: and
now take thy weapons, thy knife and thy bow, and go out into the field, and
hunt me venison, and make me food[8] I such as I like, and bring it
to me, and I will eat, and my soul shall bless thee before I die. And Revekah
listened as Izhak was speaking with his son Esau. And Esau went into the field
to hunt venison to bring it. And Revekah spake to Jakob, her son, saying,
Behold, I have heard thy father speaking with Esau thy brother, saying, Bring
me now venison, and make me food, and I will eat and bless thee in the presence
of the Lord before I die. And now, my son, obey me in what I command thee. Go
now to the flock, and take thee from thence two good goat‑kids, and make
them into food for thy father such as he loves, and carry in to thy father,
that he may eat, and bless thee before he die. And Jakob said to Revekah his
mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. It may
be that my father will feel me, and I shall be in his eyes as a deceiver, and
shall bring upon me curses, and not blessings. And his mother said to him, Unto
me it hath been said in prophecy, that there shall be no curses upon thee, my
son; only obey me, and go, and take for me. And he went, and
took, and brought to his mother, and his mother made food such as his father
loved. And Revekah took the vestments of Esau her elder son, (which were)
clean, and were with her in the house, and clothed Jakob her younger son. And
with the skins of the kids she covered his hands, and upon the smoothness of
his neck. And she gave the food and the bread that she had made into the hand
of Jakob her son. And he went in to his father, and said, Father! And he said,
Behold me. Who art thou, my son? And Jakob said to his father, I am Esau, thy
firstborn: I have done as thou hast told me. Arise now, turn thyseIf, and eat
of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Izhak said to his son, What is
this, thou hast so quickly found, my son? And he said, Because the Lord thy God
prepared it before me. And Izhak said to Jakob, Draw near now, and I will feel
thee, my son, whether thou be my son Esau or not. And Jakob drew near to Izhak
his father, and he felt him, and said, The voice is the voice of Jakob; but the
hands are the hands of Esau. And he could not be known, because his hands were
hairy, like the hands of Esau his brother; and he blessed him. And he said, But
art thou my son Esau? And he said, I am! And he said, Bring before me, and I
will eat of my sons venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he offered to
him, and he did eat; and he brought him wine, and he drank. And Izhak his
father said to him, Approach now, and kiss me, my son. And he approached, and
kissed him, and he smelled the fragrance of his vestments, and blessed him, and
said, Lo, the smell of my son is as the fragrance of a field which the Lord
hath blessed. And the Lord shall give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the
goodness of the earth, and abundance of corn and of wine. Let the peoples serve
thee, and kingdoms be subservient to thee: be thou chief of thy brethren, and
let the sons of thy mother worship thee: cursed shall they be who curse thee,
and blessed shall they be who bless thee!
And it was when Izhak
had completed to bless Jakob, and Jakob had, going, only gone out from Izhak
his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. And he had also
made food, and he brought it to his father, and said to his father, Arise, my
father, and eat of thy son's venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Izhak his
father said to him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn,
Esau. And Izhak was wonderstruck with exceeding great wonder, and said, Who was
he who prepared venison, and brought it to me, and I have eaten of all before
thou camest, and I have blessed him? and blessed shall he be. When Esau heard
the words of his father, he cried a cry, great and bitter exceedingly. And he
said to his father, Bless me, also, me, father! And he said, Thy brother came
with subtilty, and hath received thy blessing. And he said, Rightly is his name
called Jakob, he hath dealt subtilly with me these two times; my birthright he
took, and, behold, now he hath received my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not
left me a blessing? And Izhak answered, and said to Esau, Behold, I have set
him a chief over thee, and all his brethren I have given to him for servants,
and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and for thee now what can I do, my
son? And Esau said to his father, Hast thou but one blessing, father? Bless me,
me also, my father. And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. And Izhak his father
answered and said to him, Behold, thy habitation shall be of the best of the
earth, and of the dew of heaven from above.
And by thy sword shalt thou live, and thy brother obey; and it will be that
when his sons shall have transgressed the words of the law, thou wilt cast his
yoke from off thy neck. And Esau kept enmity towards Jakob for the blessing
wherewith his father had blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, The days of
mourning for father draw near and I wilt kill Jakob my brother. And the words
of Esau her eldest son were shown to Revekah, and she sent and called Jakob her
younger son, and said to him, Behold, Esau thy brother plotteth against thee to
kill thee. And now, my son, receive from me, and arise and go to Laban my
brother at Haran, and dwell with him a few days, until thy brother's wrath turn
away, until the anger of thy brother turn from thee, and what thou hast done to
him be forgotten; and I will send and bring thee thence. Why should I be
bereaved of both of you in one day? And Revekah said to Izhak, I am grieved in
my life at the sight of the daughters of Hittah. If Jakob take a wife of the
daughters of Hittah, like these of the daughters of the land, what to me is
life?
XXVIII. And Izhak
called Jakob and blessed him. And he commanded him, and said to him, Thou shalt
not take a wife from the daughters of Kenaan; arise, go to Padan Aram to the
house of Bethuel the father of thy mother, and take to thee from thence a wife
of the daughters of Laban, the brother of thy mother. And the All‑sufficient
God bless thee, and make thee to increase and multiply, and become an
assemblage of tribes; and give the blessing of Abraham to thee and thy sons
with thee, that thou mayest inherit the land of thy habitation which the Lord
gave to Abraham. And Izhak sent Jakob away, and he went to Padan Aram to Laban
bar Bethuel, the Aramite, the brother of Revekah, the mother of Jakob and Esau.
And Esau, when he saw that Izhak had blessed Jakob, and sent him to Padan Aram
to take from thence a wife, and, as he blessed him, commanded him, saying, Thou
shalt not take a wife from the daughters of Kenaan, and that Jakob had obeyed
his father and his mother, and had gone to Padan Aram, Esau, considering that
the daughters of Kenaan were evil in the eyes of Izhak his father, went to
Ishmael, and took Mahalath, daughter of Ishmael bar Abraham, the sister of
Nebaioth, over his wives, unto him to wife.
Pgs. 96- 108
Ch.28-31
SECTION VII.
VAYETSE YAAKOV.
AND Jakob went forth
from Beersheva, and went to Haran; and he arrived at a place, and lodged there,
because the sun had gone. And he took of the stones of the place, and set his
pillow, and lay down in that place. And he dreamed: and, behold, a ladder was
planted in the earth, and the head of it reached unto the height of heaven;
and, behold, the angels of the Lord ascended and descended upon it; and,
behold, the Glory of the Lord stood above it, and He said, I am the God of
Abraham thy father, and the God of Izhak. The land where thou sleepest, unto
thee will I give it, and unto thy sons. And thy sons shall be many as the dust
of the earth, and shall prevail to the west and to the east, and to the north
and to the south; and through thee shall all the kindreds of the earth be
blessed, and through thy sons. And, behold, My Word shall be for thy help, and
I will keep thee in every place whither thou goest, and I will bring thee again
to this land; for I will not leave thee until I have done what I say to thee.
And Jakob awoke from his sleep, and said, Verily the Glory of the Lord dwelleth
in this place, and I knew it not. And he feared and said, How awful is this
place! This place is not common (ground), but a place where there is
pleasantness before the Lord; and this is nigh the gate of heaven. And Jakob
rose up early in the morning, and took the stone which he had set for his
pillow, and set it up, a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he
called the name of that place The House of God (Beth‑el). But Luz was the
name of the city at the first. And Jakob vowed a vow, saying, If the Word of
the Lord will be my help, and will keep me in that way in which I go, and will
give me bread to eat, and raiment to wear, and bring me again in peace to the
Lord shall be my God. And at this stone which I have set up (as) a pillar, will
I worship before the Lord; and of all that Thou shalt give me, the tenth will I
separate before Thee.
XXIX. And Jakob lifted
up his feet, and came to the land of the children of the East. And he looked,
and saw a well in a field; and, behold, three flocks of sheep lying near it,
because from that well they watered the flocks; and a great stone was upon the
mouth of the well. And thither all the flocks were gathered together; and they
withdrew the stone from the mouth of the well, and watered the flock, and
returned the stone upon the mouth of the well unto its place. And Jakob said to
them, My brethren, whence are you? And they said, We are from Haran. And Jakob
said to them, Know you Laban bar Nachor? And they said, We know. And he said,
Hath he peace? And they said, Peace; and, behold, Rahel his daughter cometh
with the flock. And he said, Behold, the day is yet great, it is not time to
gather the cattle; water the sheep, and go to the pasture. And they said, We
cannot till all the flocks are gathered, and we remove the stone from the mouth
of the well, and water the flock. While he spake with them, Rahel came, with
the flock of her father; for she was a shepherdess. And it was, when Jakob saw
Rahel the daughter of Laban, the brother of his mother, and the flock of Laban
the brother of his mother, that Jakob went near, and withdrew the stone from
the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban, his mother's brother. And
Jakob kissed Rahel, and lifted up his voice and wept. And Jakob showed Rahel
that he was the son of her father's sister, and that he was the son of Revekah.
And she ran and showed to her father. And it was when Laban heard the hearing
of Jakob the son of his sister, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and
kissed him, and brought him into his house; and he narrated to Laban all these
words. And Laban said to him, Thou art, however, my near (kinsman), and thou
art my flesh. And he abode with him a month of days. And Laban said to Jakob,
Because thou art my brother, shalt thou serve me for nothing? Tell me, what
shall be thy wages? And Laban had two daughters, the name of the elder Leah,
and the name of the younger Rahel. And the eyes of Leah were beautiful;[1] but Rahel was admirable in
form, and beautiful in aspect. And Jakob loved Rahel, and he said, I will serve
thee seven years for Rahel thy younger daughter. And Laban said, It is better
that I give her to thee than give her to another man; reside with me. And Jakob
served for Rahel seven years; and they were in his eyes as a few days, inasmuch
as he loved her. And Jakob said to Laban, Give me my wife; for the days of my
service are fulfilled, and I will go to her. And Laban assembled all the men of
the place, and made a feast. And it was in the evening, that he took Leah his
daughter, and introduced her to him, and he entered to her. And Laban gave her
Zilpha his handmaid unto Leah his daughter, to attend on her. And it was in the
morning, and, behold, she was Leah! And he said to Laban, What is this that
thou hast done to me? Was it not for Rahel that I served thee? and why hast
thou been false with me? And Laban said, It is not so done in our place, to
give the younger before the elder. Fulfil this week, and I will give thee also
that, for the service that thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. And
Jakob did so, and fulfilled the week of this; and he gave him Rahel his
daughter to be his wife. And Laban gave to Rahel his daughter Bilhah her
handmaid to wait upon her. And he went in also to Rahel, and he loved Rahel
more than Leah. And he served yet with him seven other years. And the Lord saw
that Leah was hated, and He gave her to conceive, but Rahel was barren. And
Leah conceived and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben;[2] for she said, Because my
affiiction was manifest before the Lord; for now will my husband love me. And
she conceived again and bare a son, and she said, Because it was heard before
the Lord that I had hatred, and He gave me this also; and she called his name Shemeon.[3] And she conceived again and
bare a son: and she said, This time will my husband adhere to me; for I have
born him three sons: therefore she called his name Levi.[4] And she conceived again and
bare a son; and she said, This time will I give praise before the Lord: therefore
she called his name Jehudah.[5] And she ceased (stood) from bearing.
XXX. And Rahel saw
that she did not bear unto Jakob; and Rahel envied her sister, and she said to
Jakob, Give me children; and if not, I die. And the anger of Jakob was incensed
against Rahel, and he said, Why ask of me? Is it not before the Lord that thou
shouldest ask, who hath denied thee the generation of the womb? And she said,
Behold my handmaid Bilhah, go in unto her, and she shall bear, and I also shall
nourish (children), and be builded up from her. And she gave him Bilhah her
handmaid to wife; and Jakob went in unto her, and Bilhah conceived, and bare to
Jakob a son. And Rahel said, The Lord hath judged me, and hath also received my
prayer, and given me a son: therefore she called his name Dan.[6] And Bilhah the handmaid of
Rahel conceived again, and bare a second son to Jakob. And Rahel said, The Lord
hath received my request: when I entreated in my prayer, I desired that I might
have offspring as my sister, and also it is given me. And she called his name
Naphtali.[7] And Leah saw that she had
ceased from bearing, and she took Zilpha her handmaid, and gave her to Jakob to
wife. And Zilpha the handmaid of Leah bare a son to Jakob, and Leah said, There
cometh prosperity; and she called his name Gad.[8] And Zilpha the handmaid of
Leah bare a second son to Jakob; and Leah said, Praise shall be mine; now will
women praise me; and she called his name Asher.[9] And Reuben went in the days of
wheat harvest, and found mandrakes[10] in the field, and he brought
them to Leah his mother. And Rahel said to Leah, Give me now of thy son's
mandrakes. And she said to her, Is it a little that thou hast taken my husband,
and thou wilt take also my son's mandrakes? And Rahel said, Therefore shall he
lie with thee at night for thy son's mandrakes. And Jakob came in from the
field at evening, and Leah went out to anticipate him, and said, With me thou
wilt go in, because with hire have I hired thee, with the mandrakes of my son;
and he lay with her that night. And the Lord received the prayer of Leah, and
she conceived, and bare to Jakob a fifth son. And Leah said, The Lord hath
given me my reward, because I gave my handmaid to my husband. And she called
his name Issakar.[11] And Leah conceived again, and
bare a sixth son to Jakob. And Leah said, The Lord hath given me a good
portion.[12] This time will the habitation
of my husband be with me, because I have born him six sons: therefore she
called his name Zebulon.[13] And afterward she bare a
daughter, and called her name Dinah.[14] And the remembrance of Rahel
came before the Lord, and the Lord received her prayer, and gave her to
conceive. And she conceived and bare a son, and she said, The Lord hath taken
up[15] my reproach. And she called
his name Joseph,[16] saying, The Lord shall add to
me another son.
And it was when Rahel
had born Joseph, that Jakob said to Laban, Send me away, that I may go to my
place, and to my land. Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served
thee, that I may go: for thou knowest the service with which I have served
thee. And Laban said to him, If now I have found grace in thine eyes, I have
proved that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake. And he said, Certify[17] thy wages with me, and I will
give. And he said to him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and what thy
flocks have been with me; for thou hadst few before me, and they have increased
into a multitude: and the Lord hath blessed thee for my sake.[18] But now, what shall I do also
for my (own) house? And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou
shalt not give me anything; but if thou wilt do with me this matter, I will
return, and, pasturing thy flocks, will keep (them). I will pass through all
thy flocks to‑day, and set apart from them every lamb streaked and
speckled, and every black lamb among the lambs, and the streaked and speckled
among the goats, and they shall be my wages. And my righteousness shall be
testified in the day following, when thou wilt come upon my reward that shall
be before thee: every one which is not streaked or speckled among the goats,
and black among the lambs, that shall be (as if) stolen by me. And Laban said,
Let it be according to thy word. And he set apart that day the he‑goats
of various colour, and all the goats which were speckled or spotted, every one
which had (some) white in him, and all that were black among the lambs: and he
gave them into the hand of his sons. And he set a walk of three days between
them and Jakob; and Jakob pastured the flock of Laban which remained. And Jakob
took to him rods of white poplars, and of almond, (or hazel,) and of plane
tree, and peeled in them white peelings, (so that, where) peeled, the white
which was in the rods appeared. And he fixed the rods that he had peeled in the
canals, in the place of the watering of waters, the place to which they brought
the flocks to drink, to be over against
the flocks, that they might be incited when they came to drink. And the sheep
were incited before the rods, and the sheep brought forth with chequered feet
and streaked. And Jakob separated the lambs, and set before the sheep which
were various‑coloured and all that were black among the sheep of Laban;
and placed them for himself a flock apart, not mixing them with the sheep of
Laban. And it was that whenever the early (prime) sheep conceived, Jakob placed
the rods before the eyes of the sheep in the canals, that they might conceive
before the rods: but before the late sheep he did not place them. And (so) the
late ones were Laban's, and the prime ones Jacob's. And the man increased very
greatly, and had a multitude of flocks, and handmaids, and servants, and
camels, and asses.
XXXI. And he heard the
words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob hath taken all that was our father's; and
of that which was our father's he hath gotten all these possessions. And Jakob
saw the looks of Laban,[19] and, behold, they were not
with him as yesterday, and the time before. And the Lord said to Jacob, Return
to thy country and to thy native (place): and My Word shall be for thy help.
And Jacob sent and called Rahel and Leah to the field with his flocks: and he
said to them, I see the looks of your father, that they are not with me as
yesterday and the time before; and the God of my father hath been to my help.
And you know that with all my strength I have served your father; but your
father hath lied to me, and hath changed my wages ten times; but the Lord hath
not permitted him to hurt me. If now he said, The streaked shall be thy wages;
then all the flock bare streaked: and if now he said, The chequered shall be
thy wages; all the flock bare chequered. And the Lord hath separated them from
the cattle of your father, and hath given (them) to me. And it was at the time
when the flocks conceived, I lifted up my eyes, and saw in a dream, and,
behold, the rams which leaped upon the flock were chequered, streaked, and
speckled. And the angel of the Lord said to me in a dream, Jacob. And I said,
Behold, I am. And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which
leap upon the flock are chequered, streaked, and speckled: because all that
Laban hath done to thee is manifest before Me. I am Eloha,[20] who appeared to thee at
Bethel, where thou didst anoint the pillar, and where before Me thou didst
swear the oath: arise now, go from this land, and return to the land of thy
birth. And Rahel and Leah answered and said to him, Have we yet a portion or
inheritance in our father's house? Are we not accounted as strangers by him?
for he hath sold us, and hath devoured our money also. Therefore, all the
wealth that the Lord hath separated from our father is ours and our children's:
and now all that the Lord hath said to thee, do. And Jakob arose, and lifted up
his sons and his wives upon camels; and led all his herds and all his substance
which he had obtained, his herds and his substance which he had obtained in
Padan Aram, to go unto Izhak his father in the land of Kenaan. And Laban had
gone to shear his flock: and Rahel took the images[21] that were her father's. And
Jakob concealed from Laban the Aramite, and showed him not that he went. And he
went, he and all that were his; and he arose and passed the Phrat, and set his
face toward the mountain of Gilead. And it was shown to Laban on the third day
that Jakob had gone. And he took his brethren with him, and Pursued after him;
going seven days; and he overtook him in the Mountain of Gilead. And a word
came from before the Lord to Laban the Aramite in a dream of the night, and He
said to him, Beware, lest thou speak with Jakob from good to evil. And Laban
overtook Jakob; and Jakob had spread his tent in the mountain; and Laban made
his brethren abide in the mountain of Gilead. And Laban said to Jacob; What
hast thou done, that thou hast hidden from me, and taken away my daughters, as
captives of the sword? Why didst thou conceal thy going, (or conceal thyseIf to
go,) and didst hide it from me, and not show me, that I might then have sent
thee away with mirth, and with hymns,[22] and with tambourines, and
with harps? Nor didst thou suffer me[23] to kiss my sons and my
daughters. Now hast thou done foolishly. It is in the power of my bands to do
evil with thee: but the God of thy father spake to me in the evening, saying,
Beware lest thou speak to Jakob from good to evil. And now, (though) going thou
wouldest go, because desiring thou bast desired the house of thy father, why
hast thou taken my religion?[24] And Jakob answered and said to
Laban, Because I feared; for I said, Lest thou shouldst take away thy daughters
from me. The place where thou shalt find thy religious things shall not abide:
before our brethren ascertain thou what of thine is with me, and take to thee.
But Jakob knew not that Rahel had carried them away. And Laban entered into the
tent of Leah,[25] and into the tent of the two
concubines, but found not; and he went forth from the tent of Leah, and entered
the tent of Rahel. But Rahel had taken the images, and laid them in the
panniers[26] of the camels, and sat upon
them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found not. And she said to her
father, Let it not be displeasing in the eyes of my lord, that I am not able to
rise before thee; for the way of women is upon me. And he scrutinized, but
found not the images. And Jakob was angry, and contended with Laban. And Jakob
answered and said to Laban, What is my guilt my crime, that thou hast pursued
after me? Now that thou hast searched all my things,[27] what hast thou found, of all
the things of thy house? Set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, and
they shall decide between us both. These twenty years have I been with thee;
thy ewes and thy goats have not failed, and the rams of thy flock I have not
eaten. The wounded I have not brought to thee; what was deficient in number,
from my hand hast thou required it. I have watched by day, and I have watched
by night. (Thus) have I been; in the day the heat devoured me, and the frost
came down upon me at night, and sleep passed away from my eyes. These twenty
years have I served in thy house; fourteen years for thy two daughters; and six
years for thy sheep; and thou hast changed my wages ten times. Unless the God
of my fathers, the God of Abraham, and He whom Izhak hath feared,[28] had been my helper, even now
thou hadst sent me away empty: but my labour, and the travail of my hands, have
been manifest before the Lord, and He rebuked thee in the evening. And Laban
answered and said to Jakob, The daughters are my daughters, and the sons my
sons, and the sheep are my sheep, and all whatsoever thou seest is mine; and to
these, my daughters, what can I do
this day, or unto their children which they have born? And now come, let us
enter into a covenant, I and thou, and it shall be for a witness between me and
thee. And Jakob took a stone, and set it up as a pillar. And Jakob said to his
brethren, Collect stones; and they took stones, and made a mound,[29] and ate there upon the mound.
And Laban called it Yegar Sahadutha,[30] but Jakob called it Gal-Ed.[31] And Laban said, This mound
testifieth between me and thee to‑day. Therefore he called the name of it
The Heap of Witness, and The Observatory;[32] for he said, The Word of the
Lord will observe between me and thee, when we are hidden (each) man from his
neighbour. If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take wives over
my daughters, no man is with us; see, the Word of the Lord is witness between
me and thee. And Laban said to Jakob, Behold this mound and this pillar, which
thou bast erected between me and thee. This mound and pillar are a witness,
that I will not pass over this mound to thee; and that thou shalt not pass over
this mound and this pillar, to do me evil. The God of Abraham and the God of
Nachor shall judge between us, the God of their fathers.[33] And Jakob sware by Him whom
Izhak his father feared.[34] And Jakob sacrificed victims
in the mountain, and called his brethren to eat bread; and they ate bread, and
tabernacled in the mountain. And Laban arose in the morning, and kissed his
sons and his daughters, and blessed them, and went; and Laban returned to his
place. And Jakob went on his way, and the angels of the Lord met him. And when
Jakob saw them, he said, This is a host[35] from before the Lord; and he
called the name of the place Mahanaim.
Pgs. 108-119
Ch. 32-36
SECTION VIII.
VAYISHLACH.
AND Jakob sent
messengers before him to Esau his brother to the land of Seir,[1] in the region of Edom; and he
instructed them, saying, So shall you tell to my lord, to Esau: Thus saith thy
servant Jakob, With Laban I have dwelt, and have tarried, until now. And I have
oxen, and asses, sheep, and servants, and handmaids, and have sent to show my
lord, to find grace in thine eyes. And the messengers returned to Jakob,
saying, We came to thy brother, to Esau; and he cometh also to meet thee, and
four hundred men with him. And Jakob feared greatly, and it distressed him. And
he divided the people that were with him, and the sheep, and oxen, and camels,
into two hosts, and said, If Esau come to the one host and smite it, the host
that is left may escape. And Jakob said, God of my father Abraham, and God of
my father Izhak, the Lord, who didst say to me, Return to thy country and to
thy native place, and I will do thee good; less are my righteousnesses than all
the mercies and all the benefits which Thou hast performed unto Thy servant: for
alone I passed this Yardena, and now I have become two bands. Deliver me now
from the hand of my brother, from the band of Esau; for I am afraid of him,
lest he come and smite me, and the mother with the children. And Thou hast
said, In doing good I will do good with thee, and will make thy sons many as
the sand of the sea which cannot be numbered for number. And he housed there
that night, and took of that which came to his hand, an offering for Esau his
brother; goats two hundred, rams twenty, ewes two hundred, and rams twenty,
camels giving milk and their young ones thirty, cows forty, and bulls ten, she‑asses
twenty, and colts ten. And he gave them into the hand of his servants, herd by
herd separately, and said to his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space
between herd and herd. And he commanded the foremost, saying, If Esau my
brother meet thee, and ask thee, saying, Whose art thou? and, Whither goest
thou? and, Whose are these that are before thee? thou shalt say, They are an
offering of thy servant Jakob, which he hath sent to my lord, to Esau; and,
behold, he also cometh after us. And he instructed also the second and the
third, and all of them who followed the herds, saying, According to this word
you shall speak with Esau, when you find him; and say also, Behold, thy servant
Jakob cometh after. For he said, I will quiet his anger by the offering that
goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.
And the offering went over before his face, and he himself lodged that night in
the camp. And he arose in the night, and took his two wives, and his two
concubines, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jubeka; and he took
them and made them pass over the torrent, and made what was his to pass over.
And Jakob remained
alone; and a Man wrestled with him till the morning ascended. And he saw that
he prevailed not with him, and he touched the hollow[2] of his thigh, and the hollow
of Jacob's thigh was dislocated[3] in wrestling with him. And he
said, Let me go;[4] for the morning ascendeth. And
he said, I will not let Thee go, unless Thou bless me. And He said to him, What
is thy name? And he said, Jakob. And He said, Thy name shall be no longer
Jakob, but Israel; for a prince art thou before the Lord, and with men, and
thou hast prevailed. And Jakob asked Him, and said, Show me now Thy Name! And
He said, Why dost thou ask My Name? And He blessed him there. And Jakob called
the name of the place Peniel: because I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to
face, and my soul hath been saved! And the sun arose upon him as he passed over
Penuel, and he went lame upon his thigh. Therefore the sons of Israel do not
eat the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this
day, because He touched the hollow of Jakob's thigh in the sinew that shrank.
XXXIII. And Jakob
lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred
men; and he divided the children with Leah, and with Rahel, and with the two
concubines. And he set the concubines and their children first, and Leah and
her children after, and Rahel and Joseph after them. And he passed over before
them, and bowed to the earth seven times, until he came nigh to his brother.
And Esau ran to meet him,[5] and embraced him, and fell
upon his neck, and kissed him; and they wept. And he lifted up his eyes, and
saw the women and the children, and said, What are these to thee? And he said,
The children whom the Lord hath given to thy servant. And the concubines approached,
they and their children, and bowed. And Leah also approached and her children,
and bowed; and afterward Joseph and Rahel approached, and bowed. And he said,
What to thee is all this troop which I have met? And he said, To find mercy in
the eyes of my lord. And Esau said, I have much, my brother; let what is thine
own profit thee.[6] And Jakob said, I pray thee,
if I have now found mercy in thine eyes, that thou wouldst accept the present
from my hand, because I have now seen thy face as the vision of the face of the
Great, and thou art pleased with me. Receive, I pray, my offering which is
brought to thee, because the Lord hath been merciful to me, and because I have
all. And he was urgent on him, and he took it. And he said, Let us journey and
go, and I will go along with thee. And he said, My lord knoweth that the little
ones are tender, and the sheep and kine giving milk are with me; and if they
overdrive them one day, all the flock may die. Let my lord pass on before his
servant, and I will lead on quietly, according to the foot of the little ones,
according to the foot of the work that is before me, and according to the foot
of the sucklings, until I come to my lord at Seir.[7] And Esau said, Let me leave
with thee of the people who are with me. And he said, Why should this be? Let
me find grace in the eyes of my lord. And Esau returned that day on his way to
Seir. And Jakob journeyed to Succoth, and builded him an house, and made
tabernacles for his cattle; therefore he called the name of the place Succoth.[8]
And Jakob came in
peace to the city of Shekem, which is in the land of Kenaan, in his coming from
Padan Aram, and he abode near the face of the city. And he bought the
possession of the field where he had spread his tent, of the hand of the sons
of Hamor, the father of Shekem, for a hundred lambs. And he raised there an
altar, and offered service upon it before God, the God of Israel.
XXXIV. And Dinah, the
daughter of Leah, whom she bare to Jakob, went forth to see the daughters of
the land. And Shekem bar Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, and
took her, and lay with her, and humbled her. And his soul took pleasure in
Dinah the daughter of Jakob, and he loved the damsel, and spake to the heart of
the damsel. And Shekem spake to Hamor his father, saying, Take to me this
damsel for a wife. And Jakob heard that he had polluted Dinah his daughter. And
his sons were with his flocks in the field; and Jakob was silent until they
were come. And Hamor the father of Shekem came forth to Jakob to speak with
him. And the sons of Jakob came up from the field when they heard. And the men
were indignant and very angry, because shame had been wrought in Israel by his
lying with the daughter of Jacob; for so it should not have been done. Hamor
spake with them, saying, The soul of Shekem my son hath pleasure in your
daughter; give her now to him to wife. And marry with us, and take our
daughters to you; and the land shall be before you; inhabit and do business in
it, and possess it. And Shekem said to her father and to her brethren, Let me
find favour in your eyes, and what you shall tell me I will give. Multiply upon
me dowry and present, and I will give as you may tell me; but give me the
damsel to wife. And the sons of Jakob answered Shekem and Hamor his father, and
with subtlety they spake, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. And they
said to them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to a man
uncircumcised; for that (would be) a reproach to us. Nevertheless in this we
will agree with you, if you will be as we are, by circumcising every male among
you, and we will give our daughters to you, and your daughters will we take to
us, and will dwell with you and be one people. But if you will not consent to
us to be circumcised, we will take our daughter and go. And their words were
pleasing in the eyes of Hamor, and in the eyes of Shekem the son of Hamor. And
the young man delayed not to do the thing, because he delighted in the daughter
of Jakob, and he was more honourable than all his father's house. And Hamor
came, and Shekem his son, to the gate of the city, and spake to the men of the
city, saying, These men are friendly[9] with us, and they may dwell in
the land, and do business in it,[10] and the land, behold, it is
wide (on both) hands before them; their daughters we will take to us for wives,
and our daughters we will give to them. Only in this will the men agree with us
to dwell with us, to be one people, in every male of us being circumcised, as
they are circumcised. Their flocks, and their possessions, and all their
cattle, will they not be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell
with us. And every one who went out of the gate of his city received of Hamor
and of Shekem his son, and they were circumcised, every male, every one who
went out of the gate of his city. And it was on the third day, when their pains
were strong upon them,[11] that the two sons of Jakob,
Shemeon and Levi, the brothers of Dinah, took each man his sword, and came upon
the city, which dwelt in security, and slew every male, and Hamor and Shekem
his son they killed with the edge of the sword. And they brought Dinah out of
the house of Shekem, and went. And the sons of Jakob came up to the spoil of
the slain, and sacked the town, because they had defiled their sister. Their
sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and all that was in the city and the field, they took. And all their
substance, and all their little ones, and their wives, they captured and
spoiled, and all which was in the house. And Jakob said to Shemeon and Levi,
You have troubled me, in putting strife between me and the inhabitants of the
land, the Kenaanites and the Perrezites, and I a people (few) for number; and
they will gather against me, and smite me, and I shall perish, I and the men of
my house. And they said, As with an outcast should he deal with our sister?
XXXV. And the Lord
said to Jakob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there, and make there an altar
unto Eloha,[12] who appeared to thee when in
thy flight from before Esau thy brother. And Jakob said to the men of his
house, and to all who were with him, Put away the gentile idols[13] that are among you, and
purify; and change your raiment; and we will arise and go up to Bethel, and I
will make there an altar unto Eloha, who heard my prayer in the day of my
distress, and whose Word was my helper in the way that I went. And they gave
Jakob all the gentile idols that were in their hands, and the jewels that were
in their ears, and Jakob hid them under the terebinth which was near Shekem.
And they journeyed; and fear from before the Lord was upon the peoples in the
cities surrounding them; and they followed not after the sons of Jakob. And
Jakob came to Luz, which is in the land of Kenaan, which is Bethel, he and all
the people who were with him. And he builded there an altar, and called the
place El Bethel, because the Angel of the Lord had appeared to him there when
he fled from before his brother. And Deborah, the nurse of Revekah, died, and was buried below Bethel, in the
declivity of the vale;[14] and he called the name of it,
The vale of weeping.[15]
And the Lord appeared
unto Jakob again when he had come from Padan Aram, and blessed him. And the
Lord said to Jakob, Thy name shall be no more Jakob, but Israel shall be thy
name; and he called his name Israel. And the Lord said to him, I am El Shadai;
increase and multiply; a people and an assemblage of tribes shall be from thee,
and kings who shall reign over the peoples shall come forth from thee. And the
land that I gave to Abraham and to Izhak I will give unto thee, and to thy sons
after thee, will I give the land. And the glory of the Lord ascended above him,
in the place where He had spoken with him. And Jakob erected a pillar in the
place where He had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and outpoured libations
upon it, and poured oil thereon. And Jakob called the name of the place where
the Lord bad spoken with him Bethel. And they journeyed from Bethel, and there
was yet a space of land[16] to come unto Ephrath; and
Rahel travailed, and had hard (pain) in her birth-labour. And as she travailed
in her labour, the midwife said to her, Fear not, for also this to thee is a
son. And it was in the going forth of her soul, for she died, that she called
his name The son of my woe;[17] but his father called him
Benjamin.[18] And Rahel died, and was
buried in the way of Ephrath, which is Beth‑Lechem. And Jakob erected a
pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of the tomb of Rahel unto this day.
And Israel proceeded and spread his tabernacle beyond the tower of Adar. And it
was while Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, the
concubine of his father. And Israel heard it.
And the sons of Jakob
were twelve. The sons of Leah, the firstborn of Jakob, Reuben, and Shemeon, and
Levi, and Jehudah, and Issakar, and Zebulon. The sons of Rahel, Joseph and
Benjamin. The sons of Bilhah, the handmaid of Rahel, Dan and Naphtali; and the
sons of Zilpha, the handmaid of Leah, Gad and Asher. These are the sons of
Jakob, who were born to him in Padan Aram. And Jakob came unto Izhak his
father, unto Mamre, the city of Arba, which is Hebron; for Abraham and Izhak
had dwelt there. And the days of Izhak were an hundred and eighty years. And
Izhak expired and died, and was gathered unto his people, old and content with
days; and Esau and Jakob his sons buried him.
XXXVI. And these are
the generations of Esau, who is Edom. Esau took his wives from the daughters of
Kenaan: Ada, daughter of Helon the Hittite, and Ahalivama, the daughter of Ana,
the daughter of Sibeon the Hivite, and Basemath, the daughter of Ishmael, the
sister of Nebaioth. And Ada bare to Esau Eliphaz; and Basemath bare Reuel; and
Ahalivama bare Jehus, and Jaalam, and Korach. These are the sons of Esau who
were born to him in the land of Kenaan. And Esau took his wives, and his sons,
and his daughters, and all the souls of his house, and his flocks, and all his
cattle, and all his substance which he had gotten in the land of Kenaan, and
went into another land from before Jakob his brother; because their substance
was too great for them to dwell together, and the land of their habitation
could not sustain them with regard to their cattle. And Esau dwelt in the
mountain of Seir.[19] Esau is Edom. And these are
the generations of Esau, the father of the Edomai, in the mountain of Seir,
these are the names of the sons of Esau: Eliphaz, the son of Ada, the wife of
Esau; Reuel, son of Basemath, the wife of Esau. And the sons of Eliphaz were
Theman, Omar, Zepho, and Gaetam, and Kenaz. And Thimna was the concubine of
Eliphaz bar Esau, and she bare to Eliphaz Amalek. These are the sons of Ada, the
wife of Esau. And these are the sons of Reuel, Nahath and Zara, Shamma and
Meza. These are the sons of Basemath, the wife of Esau. And these are the sons
of Ahalivama, the daughter of Ana, the daughter of Zebeon, the wife of Esau;
and she bare unto Esau Jehus, and Jaalam, and Korach. These are the chiefs[20] of the sons of Esau. Of the
sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau, Rabba Theman, Rabba Omar, Rabba Zepho,
Rabba Kenaz, Rabba Korach, Rabba Gaetam, Rabba Amalek. These are the chiefs of
Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Ada. And these are the sons
of Reuel bar Esau: Rabba Nachath, Rabba Zarach, Rabba Shamma, Rabba Meza. These
are the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Basemath,
the wife of Esau. And these are the sons of Ahalivama, the wife of Esau: Rabba
Jehus, Rabba Jaalam, Rabba Korach. These are the chiefs of Ahalivama, the
daughter of Ana the wife of Esau. These are the sons of Esau, and these are
their chieftains. He is Edom.
These are the sons of
Seir, the Chorites,[21] the inhabitants of the land,
Lothan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Ana, and Dishon, and Etser, and Dishan.
These are the chieftains of the Choraai, the sons of Seir, in the land of Edom.
And the sons of Loti were Hori and Hemaim, and the sister of Lotan was Timna.
And these are the Beni Shobal, Alvan, and Manahath, and Ebal, Shephi, and Onam.
And these are the sons of Zebeon, Aya and Ana; he is Ana who found the giants[22] in the desert while he tended
the asses of his father Zibeon. And these are the children of Ana, Dishon, and
Ahalivania the daughter of Ana. And these are the sons of Dishan: Hemdan, and
Eshban, and Jethran, and Keran. These are the sons of Etser: Bilan, and Zaavan,
and Akan. These are the sons of Dishan: Huts and Aran. These are the chieftains
of the Choraai: Rabba Lotan, Rabba Shobal, Rabba Zebeon, Rabba Ana, Rabba
Dishon, Rabba Etser, Rabba Dishan. These are the chieftains of the Choraai,
according to their principalities in the land of Seir.
And these are the
kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before that kings reigned among the sons
of Israel: Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was
Dinhava. And Bela died, and instead of him reigned Yobab the son of Zerah of
Botsra. And Yobab died, and instead of him reigned Husham, of the land of the
south. And Husham, died, and instead of him reigned Hadad, the son of Bedad,
who slew the Medianae in the fields of Moab; and the name of his city was
Avith. And Hadad died, and in his stead reigned Simlah of Masereka. And Simlah
died, and in his stead reigned Shaul of Rechovoth,[23] which is on the Ph'rat. And
Shaul died, and in his stead reigned Baal‑Chanan bar Akbor. And Baal‑Chanan
bar Akbor died, and in his stead reigned Hadar, and the name of his city was,
Pau; and the name of his wife Mehetavel, the daughter of Matered, the daughter of a changer of gold.[24] And these are the names of
the chieftains of Esau, after their kindreds, by their places, with their
names: Rabba Timna, Rabba Alvah, Rabba Jetheth, Rabba Ahalivama, Rabba Elah,
Rabba Phinon, Rabba Kenez, Rabba Teman, Rabba Mabzar, Rabba Magdiel, Rabba Iram:
these are the chieftains of Edom, after their habitations in the land of their
possessions. He is Esau, the father of the Edomites.
Pgs. 119-128
Ch. 37-40
SECTION IX.
VAYESHEV.
XXXVII. AND Jakob
dwelt in the land of the habitation of his father, in the land of Kenaan. These
are the generations of Jakob. Joseph was a son of seventeen years; he kept the
flock with his brothers; and he had been brought up with the sons of Bilhah,
and with the sons of Zilpha, the wives of his father; and Joseph brought their
evil report to his father. But Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons,
because he had in him a wise son, and he made him a variegated robe.[1] And his brothers saw that
their father loved him better than all his brethren, and they hated him, and
were not willing to speak with him peaceably. And Joseph dreamed a dream, and
showed it to his brothers, and they hated him the more.[2] And he said to them, Hear now
this dream which I have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the midst
of the field, and lo! my sheaf arose and became upright, and, behold, your
sheaves stood around and worshipped my sheaf. And his brothers said to him, Is
it thy fancy reigning to reign over us? or a shultan, dost thou think to govern
us? And they added yet to hate him for his dreams and for his words. And he
dreamed yet another dream, and described it to his brothers, saying, Behold, I
have dreamed a dream again; and lo, the sun, and the moon, and eleven stars
worshipped me. And he described it to his father and to his brethren; and his
father rebuked him[3] and said to him, What dream is
this that thou hast dreamed? Am I and thy mother and thy brothers to come and
worship thee on the earth? And his brothers envied him; but his father kept the
word. And his brothers went to tend the flock of their father in Shekem. And
Israel said to Joseph, Do not thy brothers tend the flock in Shekem? Come, I
will send thee to them. And he said. Behold me. And he said to him, Go now, and
see the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and return me
word. And he sent him from the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shekem. And a man
found him, and, behold, he wandered in the field. And the man inquired of him,
saying, Whom seekest thou? And he said, I look for my brothers: show me, I
beseech thee, where they feed. And the man said, They have gone hence; for I
heard them say, We will go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and
found them in Dothan. And they saw him from afar; and before he came nigh, they
devised against him to kill him. And they said, a man to his brother, Behold,
this master of dreams cometh. And now, come, we will kill him, and cast him
into one of the pits; and will say an evil beast hath devoured him, and we
shall see what will be the end of his dreams. And Reuben heard, and delivered
him out of their hands, and said, Let us not slay his life. And Reuben said, Do
not shed blood; cast him into this pit in the wilderness, but stretch not forth
a hand against him,‑that he might deliver him from their hands to bring
him back to his father. And it was when Joseph had come to his brethren that
they took off his robe, the variegated robe which was upon him, and they took
him and cast him into the pit; but the pit was empty, no water was in it. And
they reclined to eat bread. And they lifted up their eyes and looked, and,
behold, a band of Arabaee[4] were coming from Gilead, with
their camels bearing spices,[5] and resin,[6] and myrrh,[7] to go down to Mizraim. And
Jehuda said to his brethren, What gain[8] should we have by killing our
brother and covering his blood? Come, and we will sell him to the Arabaee, and
our hand shall not be upon him; for he is our brother, our flesh. And his
brethren hearkened to him. And there passed by Midianite men, (gabree Mid‑ya‑naee,)
merchants, and they drew and lifted up Joseph from the pit, and sold Joseph
to the Arabaee for twenty of silver; and they brought Joseph into Mizraim. And
Reuben returned to the pit, and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit. And he rent
his clothes, and returned to his brethren, and said, The youth is not; and I,
whither shall I go? But they took Joseph's robe, and killed a kid of the goats,
and dabbled the robe in the blood. And they sent the variegated robe, and they
brought to their father, and said, This have we found; know now whether it is
the robe of thy son, or not. And he knew it, and said, It is my son's robe; an
evil beast hath devoured him: slain, slain is Joseph! And Jakob rent his
clothes, and wrapped sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many
days. And all his sons, and all his house, arose to comfort him; but he refused
to take comfort, and said, For I will go down unto my son, mourning into Sheol.
And his father wept for him. And the Midianites sold him in Mizraim to
Potiphar, a prince of Pharoh, chief of the killers.
XXXVIII. And it was at
that time that Jehuda went down from his brethren, and turned aside to an
Adulamite man whose name was Hira. And Jehuda saw there the daughter of a
merchant man whose name was Shuva, and he took her and went in with her; and
she conceived and bare a son, and he called his name Her; and she conceived
again, and bare a son, and called his name Onan. And she added again, and bare
a son, and called his name Shelah; and he was in Kezib when she bare him. And
Jehuda took a wife for Her his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. And Her the
firstborn of Jehuda was evil before the Lord, and the Lord caused him to die.
And Jehuda said to Onan, Go in with the wife of thy brother, and associate with
her, and raise up seed to thy brother. And Onan knew that after his name the
seed would not be called; and it was that when he went in with the wife of his
brother, he corrupted his way upon the earth that he might not raise up seed
unto his brother; and what he did
was evil before the Lord, and he caused him also to die. And Jehuda said to
Tamar his daughter‑in‑law, Remain a widow in thy father's house
until Shelah my son be grown up. For he said, Lest he also die like his
brothers: and Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house. And after many days
the daughter of Shuva, Jehuda's wife, died: and Jehuda was comforted; and he
went up to the shearers of his sheep, he and Hira the Adulamite his friend unto
Timnath. And it was shown to Tamar, saying, Behold, thy father‑in‑law
cometh to Timnath to shear his sheep. And she laid aside the dress of her
widowhood, and covered herself with a mantle (or a large veil), and adorned
herself,[9] and sat in the dividing of
Aynin[10] which is in the way to
Timnath. For she saw that Shelah had grown up, and she had not been given to
him for a wife. And Jehuda saw her, and thought that she was an outcast,
because she had covered her face. And he declined to her by the way, and said,
Give me now to go in unto thee; for he did not know that she was his daughter‑in‑law.
And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come to me? And he said,
I will send thee a kid of the goats from the flock. And she said, If thou wilt
give me a pledge until thou send. And he said, What is the pledge that I shall
give thee? And she said, Thy seal‑ring, and thy scarf,[11] and thy staff that is in thy
hand. And he gave to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him. And she
arose, and went, and put off the veil from her, and dressed herself in the
dress of her widowhood. And Jehuda sent the kid of the goats, by the hand of
his friend the Adulamite, to receive the pledge from the hand of the woman; but
he could not find her. And he inquired of the men of the place, saying, Where
is the harlot who was in Aynin upon the way? And they said to him, There is no
harlot here. And he returned to Jehuda, and said, I could not find her; the men
of the place also said there is no harlot there. And Jehuda said, Let her take
it to her, lest we be in contempt: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not
found her. And it was three months, and it was showed to Jehuda, saying, Tamar
thy daughter‑in‑law hath committed fornication, and, behold, she is
with child by fornication. And Jehuda said, Bring her out, and let her be
burned. And she was brought out. And she sent to her father‑in‑law,
saying, By the man to whom these belong I am with child. And she said,
Acknowledge now, whose are these, the seal, the scarf, and the staff? And
Jehuda acknowledged and said, She is justified in having conceived from me,
because I have not given her Shelah my son. And he added not again to know her.
And it was the time of her giving birth, and, behold, twins were in her womb.
And it was in giving birth that one of them put forth a hand; and the midwife
took and tied scarlet upon his hand, saying, This came the first. And it was
when he had drawn back his hand that his brother came forth: and she said, How
much greater strength is with thee, that thou hast prevailed! And she called
his name Pharets. And afterwards came forth his brother who had the crimson on
his hand, and she called his name Zarah.
XXXIX. But Joseph was
brought down into Mizraim, and Potiphar, a chief of Pharoh, a chief of the
killers, a Mizraite man, bought him from the hand of the Arabaee who had
brought him down thither. And the Word of the Lord was the helper of Joseph,
and he became a prosperous man, and was in the house of his Mizraite master.
And his master saw that the Word of the Lord was his helper, and that all that
he did the Lord prospered in his hand. And Joseph found favour in his eyes, and
he served him. And he appointed him over his house, and all that he had he
delivered into his hand. And it was from the time that he appointed him over
his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the house of the
Mizraite for Joseph's sake, and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he
had, in the house and in the field. And he left all that belonged to him in the
hand of Joseph; and he knew of nothing that was with him, except the bread
whcih he ate. Now Joseph was of goodly appearance, beautiful in aspect. And it
was after these things that the wife of his master lifted up her eyes to
Joseph, and said, Lie with me. But be refused, and said to his master's wife,
Behold, my master knoweth not what is with me in the house, and all that he
hath he hath delivered unto my hand; there is no one in this housegreater than
I, and be hath not prohibited anything from me but thyself, because thou art
his wife: and how can I do this great wickedness and become guilty before the
Lord? And it was when she spake with Joseph daily that he would not hearken to
her to lie with her, or be with her. And it was about this day that he came
into the house to examine the writings of his affairs, and no man of the men of
the house was there in the house. And she laid hold of his garments, saying,
Lie with me. But he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and went forth into
the street. And she called to the men of her house, and spake to them, saying,
See, he brought us a Hebrew man to mock at us. He came in to me to lie with me;
and I cried with a high voice. And it was when he heard that I lifted up my
voice and cried, he left his robe with me, and fled and went forth into the
street. And she let his robe remain with her until his master came into his
house. And she spake with him these words, saying, The Hebrew servant whom thou
broughtest us came in to me to mock at me. And it was when I lifted up my voice
and cried, he left his robe with me and fled into the street. And when his
master heard the words of his wife which she spake with him, saying, According
to these things hath thy servant done to me, his anger waxed strong, and his
master took Joseph, and delivered him to the house of the bound, where the
prisoners of the king were bound; and he was there in the house of the bound.
But the Word of the Lord was the helper of Joseph, and showed him mercy, and
gave him favour in the eyes of the captain of the prison. And the captain of
the prison gave into the hand of Joseph all the prisoners who were in the house
of the bound, and all that they did there was done according to his word. The
captain of the prison saw no fault in his hand, because the Word of the Lord
was his helper, and that which he did the Lord made to prosper.
XL. And after these things
the cup‑bearer and the baker of the king of Mizraim offended their
master, the king of Mizraim. And Pharoh was angry with two of his chiefs, with
the chief of the cupbearers and with the chief of the bakers. And he gave them
into ward in the house of the captain of the executioners (killers) in the
house of the prison, the place where Joseph was confined. And the captain of
the executioners appointed Joseph with them, and he ministered to them, and
they were certain days in ward. And they dreamed a dream, both of them, each
man his dream in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his
dream, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Mizraim, who were confined in
the house of the bound. And Joseph came to them in the morning, and saw them,
and, behold, they were melancholy. And he asked the chiefs of Pharoh who were
with him in ward, in his master's house, saying, Why are your faces evil to‑day?
And they said to him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of
it. And Joseph said to them, Are not interpretations from before the Lord?
Relate it now to me. And the chief of the cupbearers related his dream to
Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me, and in the
vine were three branches: and it was, as it sprouted, it produced buds, and,
having flowered, ripened clusters of grapes. And the cup of Pharoh was in my
hand; and I took grapes and expressed them into Pharohs cup, and gave the cup
into Pharoh's hand. And Joseph said to him, This is the interpretation: the
three branches are three days. At the end of three days, Pharoh will remember
thee[12] and restore thee to thy
service, and thou wilt give the cup into Pharoh's hand, according to thy former
custom when thou wast cupbearer to him. But let remembrance of me be with thee
when it shall be well with thee, and do me favour, I beseech thee, and remember
me before Pharoh, and deliver me from this prison. For I was verily taken by
fraud from the land of the Hivraee, and here have I done nothing evil that I
should be imprisoned. And when the master of the bakers saw that he had
interpreted pleasantly, he said to Joseph, I also (was) in my dream, and,
behold, three baskets of confectionery[13] were upon my head, and in the
upper basket were all (sorts of) food for Pharoh, the work of the baker; and
the birds ate them from the basket that was on my head. And Joseph answered and
said, This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days; at
the end of three days will Pharoh remove thy head from off thee, and will hang
thee upon a gibbet, and the birds will eat thy flesh from off thee. And it was
on the third day, the day of the nativity of Pharoh, that he made a feast for
all his servants and he took the, head[14] of the chief cupbearer and
the head[15] of the chief of the bakers in
the midst of his servants. And he restored the cupbearer to his office, and he
gave the cup into Pharoh's hand. And the chief of the bakers he hanged, as
Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember
Joseph, but forgat him,
Pgs. 128-139
Ch. 41-44
SECTION X.
VAYEHI MEKETS.
AND it was at the end
of two years that Pharoh dreamed, and, behold, he stood by the River. And,
behold, there came up from the River seven oxen, goodly in appearance, and fat‑fleshed;
and they grazed in the meadow.[1] And, behold, seven other oxen
came up from the river after them, evil in appearance, and leanfleshed; and
they stood beside them by the bank of the the river. And the evil‑looking
and lean‑fleshed oxen ate up the seven well‑looking and fat ones:
and Pharoh awoke. And he slept, and dreamed a second (time); and, behold, seven
ears rose up from one stalk, large and good, and, behold, seven ears, thin, and
blighted (with the) east (wind), sprang up after them. And the seven wasted
ears devoured the seven large and full ears. And Pharoh awoke, and, behold, a
dream. And when it was morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called
all the magicians[2] of Mizraim, and all the wise
men;[3] and Pharoh related the dreams
to them, but they could not interpret them to Pharoh. And the chief of the
cupbearers spake to Pharoh, saying, My faults I do remember this day. Pharoh
was displeased with his servants, and gave me into custody at the house of the
chief executioner, and the chief baker with me. And we dreamed a dream in one
night, I and he, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, we
dreamed. And with us there was a Hebrew youth, a servant of the chief
executioner; and we recounted to him, and he explained to us our dreams, to
each man according to his dream be explained; and according as he had explained
to us, so it was: me he restored to my service, and him he hanged. And Pharoh
sent, and called Joseph, and made him hasten from the prison; and he dressed
his hair,[4] and changed his garments, and
came unto Pharoh. And Pharoh said to Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there
is no one to interpret it. And I have heard of thee, saying, that thou hearest
a dream, and dost interpret it. And Joseph answered Pharoh, saying, Not from my
wisdom, but from before the Lord, will there be an answer of peace unto Pharoh.
And Pharoh spake with Joseph, saying, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the
bank of the River; and, behold, from the River rose up seven oxen, fat‑fleshed
and goodly in appearance, and they grazed in the meadow.[5] And, behold, seven other oxen
came up after them, lean and most evil in appearance, so wanting in flesh, that
their like I have not seen in all the land of Mizraim for badness. And the lean
oxen and evil ones ate up the seven first fat oxen. And they entered into their
stomachs; but it could not be known that they had entered into their stomachs,
for their appearance was bad as before; and I awoke. I saw in my dream, and,
behold, seven ears of corn arose on one stalk, full and good. And, behold,
seven (other) ears, hard, thin, and blasted (with the) east (wind), sprang up
after them. And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears. And I told it to
the magicians, but there was no one who could show it to me. And Joseph
answered Pharoh, The dream of Pharoh is one. That which the Lord is about to do
He hath showed to Pharoh. The seven good oxen are seven years; and the seven
good ears of corn are seven years; the dream is one. And the seven lean and
evil oxen which came up after them are seven years; and the seven ears, thin,
and blasted with the east wind, are seven years of famine. This is the word
which I have spoken to Pharoh. What the Lord is about to do, He hath showed to
Pharoh. Behold, there come seven years of great plenty in all the land of
Mizraim. And after them will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty in
the land of Mizraim will be forgotten, and the famine will consume the people
of the land. And plenty will not be known in the land for that famine which
will be afterward; for it will be very mighty. And forasmuch as the dream was
repeated to Pharoh twice, it is a confirmed thing before the Lord, and the Lord
will hasten to do it. And now let Pharoh look out a prudent and wise man, and
appoint him over the land of Mizraim. Let Pharoh do this, and appoint officers
(lit., faithful men) over the land, and let them sow the land of Mizraim
in the seven years of plenty, and collect all the produce of those good years
that come, and lay up provision
under the hand of Pharoh's officers, and
preserve it in the cities: and it will be provision for the people of the land
in the seven years of famine that are coming in the land of Mizraim, that the
people of the land may not be consumed by the famine. And the thing was good in
the eyes of Pharoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. And Pharoh said to his
servants, Can we find a man like this, in whom is the spirit of prophecy from
the Lord? And Pharoh said to Joseph, Since the Lord hath made all this known to
thee, there is none more prudent or wise than thou; thou shalt be appointed
over my house, and by thy word shall all my people be governed;[6] only in the throne of this
kingdom will I be more honourable than thou. And Pharoh said to Joseph, See, I
have appointed thee over all the land of Mizraim. And Pharoh took off his ring
from his hand, and set it upon Joseph's hand, and clothed him in a robe of
lawn,[7] and put a chain of gold upon
his neck. And he made him ride in his own second chariot,[8] and they proclaimed before him,
This is the father of the king;[9] and he appointed him over all
the land of Mizraim. And Pharoh said to Joseph, I am Pharoh; and without thy
word shall no man lift up his hand to hold a weapon, nor his foot to mount a
horse, in all the land of Mizraim. And Pharoh called the name of Joseph, The
man to whom mysteries are revealed.[10] And he gave him Asenath, the
daughter of Poti Phera,[11] prince of On, to be his wife;
and Joseph went forth ruling over the land of Mizraim. And Joseph was a son of
thirty years when he stood before Pharoh, king of Mizraim. And Joseph went out
from before Pharoh, and passed through
all the land of Mizraim.
And the inhabitants of
the land collected in the seven years of plenty the provision into granaries.
And he collected all the provision of the seven years which was in the land of
Mizraim, and laid up the provision in cities, in the midst of each city the
provision of the land surrounding it. And Joseph gathered provision as the sand
of the sea, exceeding much, until he ceased to number, for it was without
number. And unto Joseph were born two sons, (before the year of famine came,)
which Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, prince of On, bare to him. And Joseph
called the name of the firstborn Menasheh;[12] because the Lord hath made me
to forget all my labour and all my father's house. And the name of the second
he called Eph‑ra‑im;[13] because the Lord hath made me
to increase in the land of my servitude. And the seven years of plenty which
were in the land of Mizraim were completed. And the seven years of famine began
to come, as Joseph had said; and the famine was in all the lands, but in all
the land of Mizraim there was bread. Yet all the land of Mizraim was famished,
and the people cried before Pharoh for bread: and Pharoh said to all the
Mizraee, Go unto Joseph, and what he shall say to you, do. And the famine was
over all the face of the land; and Joseph opened all the granaries in which was
the corn, and sold to the Mizraee, and the famine became mighty in the land of
Mizraim. And all the inhabitants of the earth came into Mizraim to buy corn of
Joseph, because the famine was mighty in all the earth.
XLIII. And Jakob saw
that corn was sold in Mizraim, and Jakob said to his sons, Whylook you (on each
other)?[14] And he said, Behold, I have
heard that corn is sold in Mizraim: go
down thither, and buy us from thence, and we shall live, and not die. And the
ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy corn from Mizraim; but Benjamin, the
brother of Joseph, Jakob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest death
should befall him. And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among them who came;
for the famine was in the land of Kenaan. And Joseph, who was ruler over the
land, was he who sold the corn to all the people of the earth. And the brothers
of Joseph came, and bowed before him with their faces upon the ground. And
Joseph saw his brothers, and knew them, and considered what he should say to
them. And he spake with them severely, and said to them, Whence come you? And
they said, From the land of Kenaan, to buy corn. And Joseph knew his brothers,
but they did not know him. And Joseph remembered the dreams which he had
dreamed of them; and he said to them, You are spies; to see the ruin[15] of the land are you come. And
they said, No, my lord, (ribboni,) thy servants are come
to buy corn. We are all the sons of one man. Right (men) are we; thy servants
are not spies. But he said to them, No, but you are come to see the ruin of the
land. And they said, Thy servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man, in
the land of Kenaan; and, behold, the youngest is with our father to‑day,
and one is not! And Joseph said to them, That is what I have told you, saying,
You are spies; by this you shall be proved: by the life of Pharoh you shall not
go hence, until your youngest brother be come hither. Send one of you, and
bring your brother; but you shall be bound, and your words shall be proved,
whether you have spoken the truth; if not, by the life of Pharoh, you are
spies. And he put them in the house of custody three days. And Joseph said to
them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear before the Lord. If you be
true, let one of your brethren be bound in the prison ; and go you, carry the
provision which is needed in your house, and bring your youngest brother to me,
and your words will be verified, and you shall not die. And they did so. And
they said, a man to his brother, We are verily guilty concerning our brother;
that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he implored us, and we would not
hearken to him: therefore is this distress come upon us. And Reuben answered
them, saying, Did not I tell you, saying, Do not sin against the youth? but
you, would not hearken. Thus, behold, his blood is required. But they knew not
that Joseph heard; for there was an interpreter between them. And he turned
himself away from them, and wept. And he returned and spake to them, and took
Shemeon from them, and bound him before their eyes. And Joseph commanded to
fill their vessels with corn, and return their money (that of each) man in his
sack, and give them food in the way. And he did so by them. And they laid their
corn upon their asses, and went thence. And one opened his sack to give provender
to his ass at the house of lodging,[16] and saw his money, and,
behold, it was in the mouth of his package; and he said to his brothers, My
money is returned, and, behold, it is in my package. And the knowledge of their
hearts failed, and they were each of them confounded, saying, What is this
which the Lord hath done to us? And they came to Jakob their father in the land
of Kenaan, and showed him all that had happened to them, saying, The man, the
lord of the country, spoke hardly with us, and dealt with us as spies of the
land. And we told him, We are true men, not spies: we are twelve brothers, sons of one father: one is not, and
the youngest is today with our father in the land of Kenaan. And the man, the
lord of the country, said to us, By this I shall know that you are true men.
Leave one of your brethren with me, and take the corn which is needed in your
house, and go, and bring your youngest brother to me, and I shall know that you
are not spies: and when you (will be proved to) be true men, I will give up
your brother to you., and you shall trade in the land. And it was, as they
emptied their sacks, behold, each man's money was bound up in his sack; and
when they and their father saw the envelopes of their money, they were afraid.
And Jakob their father said to them, Me have you made desolate; Joseph is not,
and Shemeon is not (here), and Benjamin you would take away; upon me are all
these! And Reuben spake with his father, saying, Thou shalt put my two children
to death if I do not bring him back to thee. Deliver him into my hand, and I
will return him to thee. But he said, My son shall not go down with you; for
his brother is dead, and he alone remains; and if death should befall him in
the way in which you will go, you will bring down my grey hairs with mourning
unto Sheol.
XLIII. But the famine
prevailed in the land. And it was when they had ended to eat the corn which
they had brought from Mizraim, that their father said to them, Return, and buy
for us a little corn. And Jehuda spake to him, saying, The man attesting
attested to us, saying, You shall not see my face unless your brother be with
you. If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee corn;
but if thou wilt not send, we will not go down: for the man told us, You shall
not see my face unless your brother be with you. And Israel said, Why did you
do me this evil, in showing the man that you have a brother? And they said, The
man asking asked us concerning our family,[17] saying, Is your father yet
alive ? Have you a brother? And we showed him according to the word of these
things: knowing could we know that be would say, Bring your brother to me? And
Jehuda said to Israel his father, Send the youth with me, and let us arise and
go, that we may live and not die, we, and thou, and our little ones. I will be
the pledge for him; of my hand shalt thou require him; if I do not bring him
back to thee, and set him before thee, let mine be the sin with thee all the
days. For except we had delayed in this, we might now have returned twice. And Israel
their father said to them, If then it is to be, do this: take of what is
praiseworthy[18] in the land in your vessels,
and carry down to the man an offering; a little gum, and a little honey, storax
and ladanum, nuts and almonds; and silver, two for one take in your hands, even
the. silver which was returned in the mouth of your bags take back in your
hands; perhaps it was an oversight. And take your brother, and arise, return to
the man; and God the Almighty give you favour before the man, that he may
release to you your other brother and Benjamin. And I, when desolated, shall be
desolate! And the men took that offering, and the money two for one took they
in their hands; and they took Benjamin, and arose, and went down into Mizraim,
and stood before Joseph. And Joseph saw Benjamin with them; and he said to him
who was appointed over his house, Bring the men into the house, and kill a killing[19] and prepare; for the men
shall eat with me at dinner. And the man did as Joseph had said; and the man
brought the men into Joseph's house. And the men were afraid because they were brought into the, house of
Joseph; and said, It is on account of the money that was returned in our
baggage at first, that we are brought in, that he might domineer over us,[20] and find occasion against us, and take possession of us as slaves,
and seize upon our asses. And they drew near the man who was set over Joseph's
house, and spake with him at the gate of the house, and said, We entreat my
lord (to hear us). Descending we came down at first to buy corn. And it was
while we were at the resting‑place, we opened our baggage, and, behold, a
man's silver was in the mouth of the bag; the silver in its weight. But we have
returned it in our hand. And other silver have we brought in our hand to buy
corn. We knew not who put the silver in our baggage. And he said, Peace be to
you: fear not; your God, and the God of your father, gave you treasure in, your
bags; your money came to me. And he brought out Shemeon to them. And the man
brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave water, and they washed their
feet, and he gave provender for their asses. And they made ready the offering
against the entrance of Joseph to dinner: for they had heard that there they
were to eat bread. And Joseph entered the house, and they brought to him the
offering which was in their hands into the house; and they bowed to him upon
the ground. And he saluted them,[21] and said, Is your father
well, the old man you spake of? Is he yet alive? And they said, It is well with
thy servant our father, he is yet alive; and they bowed and worshipped. And he
lifted up his eyes, and saw Benjamin his brother, the son of his mother; and he
said, Is this your youngest brother of whom you spake to me? And he said, Mercy
from the Lord be upon thee, my son.[22] And Joseph made haste, for
his bowels were commoved over his brother, and he sought (where) to weep; and
he entered into the chamber, the place of sleeping, and wept there. And he
washed his face, and came out, and was comforted, and said, Put on bread; and
they set for him alone, and for them alone, and for the Mizraee who ate with
him, alone. For the Mizraee might not eat bread with the Hivraee, because the
animals that the Mizraee worshipped the Hivraee did eat. And they reclined
before him, the chief according to his chiefship, and the less according to his
minority; and the men wondered, each man at his companion. And portions were
brought from him, and set before them, and greater was Benjamin's portion than
the portions of them all five portions. And they drank and were merry with him.[23]
XLIV. And Joseph
commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men's bags with corn as
much as they can carry, and put each man's money in the mouth of his baggage.
And put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the youngest one's baggage, and
his purchase‑money. And he did according to Joseph's word which he spake.
The morning lightened, and the men were sent away, they and their asses. They
had not gone far from the city, when Joseph said to him who was set over his
house, Arise, follow after the men, and overtake them, and say to them, Why
have you rendered evil for good? Is it not this from which my lord drinketh,
and, behold, by which inquiring he inquireth?[24] You have done the thing that
is evil. And he overtook them, and spake with them these words. And they said, Why does my lord speak
these words? Be it far from thy servants
to do according to this thing! Behold, the money which we found in the
mouth of our baggages we brought to thee again from the land of Kenaan; how
then should we steal from the house of thy lord vessels of silver, or vessels
of gold? With whomsoever of thy servants it is found, let him die; and we also
will be servants to my lord. And he said, According to your words, so let it
be. With whomsoever it is found, he shall be my servant, but you will be
acquitted. And they made haste, and brought down every man his baggage to the
ground; and every man opened his baggage. And he searched, beginning with the
greatest and finishing with the least; and the chalice was found in the baggage
of Benjamin. And they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and
returned to the city. And Jehuda entered and his brothers into Joseph's house,
for he was still there; and they fell before him on the ground. And Joseph said
to them, What work is this which you have done? Did you not know that a man like
me divining can divine? And Jehuda said to him, What shall we say to my lord?
What shall we speak? How shall we be justified? Before the lord there is sin
found in thy servants. Behold, we are the servants of my lord; we also and he
in whose hand the chalice hath been found. But he said, Far be it from me to do
so: the man in whose hand the chalice has been found shall be my servant; but
go you up in peace to your father.
Pgs. 140-148
Ch. 44-47
SECTION XI.
VAYIGGASH ALAIF YEHUDAH.
AND Jehuda came near
to him and said, We beseech my lord, let thy servant speak a word before my
lord, and let not thine anger be great with thy servant; for as Pharoh so art
thou. My lord asked his servants, saying, Have you a father or a brother? And
we told my lord, We have an aged father, and the youngest (son) is the son of
his old age; his brother is dead; and he only remains of his mother, and his
father loves him. And thou saidst to thy servants, Bring him down to me, and
let me set mine eyes upon him. And we told my lord, His father cannot part with
the youth; for if our father should part with him, he would die. And thou
saidst to thy servants, If your youngest brother come not down with you, you
shall not see my face again. And it was when we had gone up to our father, we
told him these words of my lord. And our father said to us, Return, and buy us
a little corn. And we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother go down
with us, we will go down; for we shall not be able to see the man's face unless
our youngest brother go down with us. And thy servant our father said to us,
You know that my wife bare me two (sons). One went forth from me, and I have
said, Dying he is dead; and I have not beheld him since. And if you take this
one also from me, and death happen to him, you will bring down my age with evil
unto sheol. And now, when I come to thy servant my father, and the youth be not
with us, and his soul loveth him as his (own) soul; when he seeth that the
youth is not with us, he will die; and thy servant will have brought down the
age of thy servant our father with mourning unto Sheol. For thy servant was
surety for the youth with our father, saying, If I bring him not to thee, let
my father hold me guilty all the days. And now let thy servant remain instead
of the youth, as the servant of my lord, and let the youth go up with his
brothers. For how can I go up to my father, and the youth be not with me?‑lest
I should see the evil that will come upon my father!
XLV. And Joseph was
not able to sustain all that was being upon him; and he cried, Let every man go
out from me; and no man stood with him, while Joseph made himself known to his
brethren. And he gave forth his voice with weeping; and the Mizraee heard, and
a man of Pharoh's house heard. And Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph! Is
my father yet living? And his brethren were not able to answer him a word, for
they were confounded before him. And Joseph said to his brothers, Come near now
to me. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold
into Mizraim. And now do not be troubled,[1] and let it not be afflictive
in your eyes that you sold me hither; for to sustain life did the Lord send me
before you. For these two years hath famine been in the land, and there are yet
five years in which there will be neither seed nor harvest. And the Lord sent
me before you to set a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great
deliverance. And now, it was not you who sent me hither, but (it was) from
before the Lord, who hath set me to be a father[2] unto Pharoh, and to rule all
the men of his house, holding power over all the land of Mizraim. Hasten,
(then,) and go up to my father, and say to him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, The
Lord hath set me ruler over the Mizraim: come down to me, delay[3] not, and thous halt dwell in
the land of Goshen, and be near me, thou, and thy sons, and thy sons' children,
and thy sheep and thy oxen, and all that thou hast. And I will nourish thee[4] there; for there are yet five
years of famine, lest thou, and the men of thy house, and all that thou hast,
be wasted away. And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother
Benjamin, that in your language I speak with you. And you will show my father
all my glory in Mizraim, and all that you see; and make haste, and bring down
my father hither. And he fell upon the neck of Benjamin his brother, and wept;
and Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers, and wept over
them; and afterward his brothers discoursed with him. And a voice was heard in
the house of Pharoh, saying, The brothers of Joseph are come. And it was
pleasing in the eyes of Pharoh, and in the eyes of his servants. And Pharoh
said to Joseph, Tell my brethren, Do this; lade your beasts and go; carry into
the land of Kenaan; and take your father and the men of your house and come to
me, and I will give you the good of the land of Mizraim, and you shall eat the
good of the land. And (now) thou art commanded, this do. Take to you out of the
land of Mizraim waggons for your children, and your wives; and bring your father,
and come. And let not your eye look wistfully upon your furniture; for the good
of all the land of Mizraim is your own. And the sons of Israel did so; and
Joseph gave them waggons, according to the word of Pharoh, and he gave them
provisions for the way. And he gave to every one of them vestments for wearing;
and to Benjamin gave he three hundred shekels of silver, and five vestments for
wearing. And to his father he sent ten asses laden with the good things of
Mizraim , and ten she‑asses laden with corn, and bread and provisions for
the way. And he dismissed his brethren, and they went, and he said to them, Do
not contend by the way. And they went up from Mizraim and came into the land of
Kenaan, unto Jakob their father. And they showed him, saying, Joseph is yet
alive, and he ruleth over all the land of Mizraim! And these words were
uncertain[5] upon his heart, because he did
not believe them. And they told him all the words of Joseph which he had spoken
with them; and he saw the waggons that Joseph had sent to fetch him; and the
Holy Spirit rested upon Jakob their father. And Israel said, Great to me is the
joy! Joseph my son is yet alive; I will go, and behold him before I die.
XLVI. And Israel
journeyed, and all that he had, and came to Beershava; and he offered
sacrifices to the God of his father Izhak. And the Lord spake to Israel in a
vision of the night, and said, Jakob, Jakob. And he said, Behold, I am. And He
said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Mizraim; for a
great people will I make thee there. I will go down with thee into Mizraim, and
will surely bring thee up; but Joseph shall lay his hand upon thine eyes. And
Jakob arose from Beershava. And the sons of Israel carried Jakob their father,
and their children, and their wives, in the waggons which Pharoh had sent to
fetch them. And they took their flocks and their substance which they had
gotten in the land of Kenaan, and came to Mizraim, Jakob and all his sons with
him. His sons, and his son's sons with him, his daughters, and the daughters of
his sons, and all his seed, he brought with him into Mizraim.
And these are the
names of the sons of Israel which came into Mizraim, Jakob and his sons. The
firstborn of Jakob, Reuben. And the sons of Reuben., Hanuk and Phallu, Hesron
and Karmi. And the sons of Sheemon, Jemuel, and Janin, and Ahad, and Jakin, and
Zochar, and Shaul, the son of a Kenaanitha. And the sons of Levi, Gershon,
Kehath, and Merari. And the sons of Jehuda, Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and
Pharets, and Zarach. But Er and Onan had died in the land of Kenaan. And the
sons of Pharets, Heshron and Chamul. And the sons of Issakar, Tola, and Pheua,
and Job, and Semeron. And the sons of Zabulon, Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.
These are the sons of Leah, which she bare to Jakob in Padan Aram, and Dinah
his daughter; all the souls, his sons and his daughters, thirty and three. And
the children of Gad, Sephyon and Haggi, Shuni and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and
Areli. And the sons of Asher, Jemna, and Jesva, and Jesvi, and Beriah, and
Serach, their sister. And the sons of Beriah, Heber and Malchiel. These are the
sons of Zilpha, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and she bare these unto
Jakob, sixteen souls. The sons of Rahel, the wife of Jakob, Joseph and
Benjamin. And to Joseph were born in the land of Mizraim Menashe and Ephraim,
whom Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, prince of On, bare unto him. And the sons
of Benjamin, Bela, and Bekor, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Achi, and Rosh,
Muppim, and Huphim, and Arede. These are the sons of Rahel which were born to
Jakob; all the souls fourteen. And the sons of Dan, Hushim: and the sons of
Naphtali, Jahziel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shilem. These are the children of
Billah, whom Laban gave to Rahel his daughter, and she bare them to Jakob; all
the souls seven. All the souls which went with Jakob into Mizraim, which came forth from his loins, besides the wives of
Jakob's sons, all the souls, sixty and six. And the sons of Joseph, which were
born to him in Mizraim, two souls. All the souls of the house of Jakob which
went into Mizraim were seventy.
And he sent Jehuda
before him to Joseph, to make the way clear before him at Goshen, and he came
to the land of Goshen. And Joseph arrayed his chariot, and went up to meet
Israel his father in Goshen. And he saw him, and fell upon his neck, and wept.
And he wept still upon his neck! And Israel said to Joseph, I could‑die
at this time! I have consolation now that I have seen thy face; for thou art
yet alive. And Joseph said to his brothers, and to the house of his father, I
will go up and show Pharoh, and will tell him, My brethren and the house of my
father, who were in the land of Kenaan, have come to me. But the men are
shepherds of sheep: for the men are masters of flocks, and their sheep and oxen
and all that they have they have brought. And it shall be when Pharoh calleth
you, and shall ask you, What is your employment? you will say, Thy servants
have been men, the masters of flocks from our youth until now; both we and our
fathers: that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; because the Mizraee keep at
a distance all shepherds of flocks.
XLVII. And Joseph came
and showed Pharoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their sheep and
their oxen, and all that they have, are come from the land of Kenaan, and,
behold, they are in the land of Goshen. And of the extreme[6] of his brethren he took five
men, and made them stand before Pharoh. And Pharoh said to his brethren, What
are your employments? And they said to Pharoh, thy servants are shepherds; both
we and our fathers. And they said to Pharoh, To dwell in the land are we come
for there is no pasture for thy servants' flocks; for the famine prevails in
the land of Kenaan, and we pray thee let thy servants dwell in the land of
Goshen. And Pharoh spake to Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are
come to thee; the land of Mizraim is before thee in the best of it let thy
father and thy brethren dwell, (even) in the land of Goshen: and if thou know
any of them to be men of ability, appoint them to be chiefs over my flocks. And
Joseph brought Jakob his father, and presented him before Pharoh: and Jakob
blessed Pharoh. And Pharoh said to Jakob, How many are the days of the years of
thy life? And Jakob said to Pharoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are
a hundred and thirty years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my
life, and I have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my
fathers, in the days of their pilgrimage. And Jakob blessed Pharoh, and went
out from before Pharoh. And Joseph made his father and his brethren to dwell,
and gave them a possession in the land of Mizraim, in the best of the land, in
the land of Ramesis, as Pharoh had commanded. And Joseph sustained[7] his father and his brethren,
and all the house of his father, with bread, according to the mouth of the
family (of each). And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine
prevailed greatly, and the people of the land of Mizraim and the people of the
land of Kenaan failed before the famine. And Joseph collected all the money
which was found in the land of Mizraim and in the land of Kenaan, for the corn
which they bought. And Joseph brought the money into the house of Pharoh. And
the money was finished from the land of Mizraim and from the land of Kenaan;
and all the Mizraee came to Joseph, saying, Give us bread: for why should we
die before thee? for the money is finished. And Joseph said, Bring your cattle,
and I will give you provision, if your money is finished. And they brought
their cattle to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread for their horses, and for
their flocks of sheep, and for their herds of oxen, and for their asses, and for
all their cattle; he fed[8] them with bread for that year.
And that year was completed; and they came to him in the second year, and said
to him, We will not conceal it from our lord, but the money is ended, and (we
have delivered up) our cattle to our lord, and there is nothing left before our
lord but our bodies and our land. Why should we perish before thee, both we and
our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants
to Pharoh, and give us seed corn, that we may live and not die, and the land
may not be desolate. And Joseph acquired all the land of Mizraim for Pharoh;
for the Mizraee sold every man his portion, because the famine prevailed over
them, and the land became Pharoh's. And the people he made him[9] to pass from city to city,
from one end of the limit of Mizraim to the other. Only the land of the priests
he did not buy; for a portion (was given) by Pharoh to the priests: and they
ate their portion which Pharoh gave them; therefore they sold not their land.
And Joseph said to the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land
for Pharoh. Behold, (I give) you seed corn, that you may sow the land. And it
shall be, when it bringeth forth produce, that you shall give one in five to
Pharoh, and four parts shall be yours, of the corn of the field, that you and
the men of your house may eat, and your little ones have food. And they said,
Thou hast preserved us; may we find grace in the eyes of my lord, and we will
be the servants of Pharoh. And Joseph made it a statute unto this day over the
land of Mizraim, that one of five should be given to Pharoh; only the land of
the priests alone was not Pharoh's. And Israel dwelt in the land of Mizraim in
the land of Goshen, and possessed it: and they increased and multiplied
greatly.
Pgs. 148- 156
Ch. 47-50
SECTION XII.
VAYECHI.
AND Jakob lived in the
land of Mizraim seventeen years. And the days of the years of the life of Jakob
were a hundred and forty and seven years. And the days of Israel drew near to
die. And he called to his son, to Joseph, and said to him, If now I have found
favour in thine eyes, put, I beseech thee, thine hand under my thigh, and deal
with me in goodness and truth; nor bury me, I beseech thee, in Mizraim; but I
will sleep with my fathers; and thou shalt carry me from Mizraim, and bury me
in their sepulchre. And he said, I will do according to thy word. And he said,
Swear to me; and he sware to him. And Israel worshipped upon the pillow[1] of the bed.
XLVIII. And it was
after these words that it was said to Joseph, Behold, thy father is ill. And he
took his two sons with him, Menashe and Ephraim. And it was shown to Jakob, and
told (him,) Behold, thy son Joseph cometh to thee. And Israel was strengthened,[2] and he sat upon the bed. And
Jakob said to Joseph, El Shadai revealed Himself to me in Luz, in the land of
Kenaan, and blessed me; and He said to me, Behold, I will multiply thee, and
make thee great, and will set thee for an assembly of tribes, and will give
this land to thy sons after thee for an everlasting inheritance. And now thy two
sons which were born to thee in the land of Mizraim, before my coming to thee
into Mizraim, are mine; Ephraim and Menashe shall be as Reuben and Shimeon
before me. And the children whom thou mayest beget after them, who shall be
thine, after the name of their brethren they shall be called in their
inheritance.[3] And I, in my coming from
Padan, Rahel died by me in the land of Kenaan, in the way, while as yet there
was a space of ground to come unto Ephrath. And I buried her there, by the way
to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Israel saw the sons of Joseph, and said,
Who are these? And Joseph said to his father, They are my sons whom the Lord
hath given me here. And he said, Bring them now near to me, that I may bless
them. But the eyes of Israel were heavy from age, and he could not discern. And
he brought them near to him, and he kissed them, and embraced them. And Israel
said to Joseph, I had not hoped[4] to see thy face, and, behold,
the Lord hath showed me thy sons also. And Joseph led them from before him, and
worshipped with his face on the earth. And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim in
his right hand, on the left of Israel, and Menashe in his left hand, on the
right of Israel, and brought them to him. And Israel stretched out his right
hand, and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger; and his left
hand on the head of Menashe, using his hands designingly; (or, instructing his
hands;) for Menashe was the first‑born. And he blessed Joseph, and said,
The Lord, before whom my fathers Abraham and Izhak did serve; the Lord, who fed
me from my coming[5] unto this day; the Angel who
redeemed me from all evil, bless the youths; and let my name be called upon
them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Izhak; and as the fish of the sea
may they multiply[6] among the children of men upon
the earth! And Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of
Ephraim; and it was evil in his eyes. And he uplifted his father's hand, to
remove it from Ephraim's head, that it might rest on the head of Menashe. And
Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father; for this is the first‑born:
lay thy right hand on his head. But his father willed not, and said, I know, my
son, I know: he also shall be for a people, and he also shall be great; yet his
younger brother will be greater than he, and his sons shall have dominion among
the nations. And he blessed them in that day, saying, By thee shall Israel
bless, saying, The Lord set thee as Ephraim and as Menashe. And he set Ephraim
before Menashe. And Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I die; but the Word of the
Lord will be your Helper, and restore you to the land of your fathers. And I
will give thee one portion more than thy brethren, which I took from the band
of the Amoraah by my prayer and by my deprecation.
XLIX. And Jacob called
his sons, and said, Gather together, and I will show you what will befall you
in the end of the days; assemble, and hearken, O sons of Jakob, and receive
instruction from Israel your father. Reuben, thou art my first‑born, my
strength, and the beginning of my power.[7] Thine should it have been
taking to take the three portions,‑the birthright, the priesthood, and
the kingdom: but because thou hast proceeded perversely,[8] behold, as water outpoured
thou wilt not prosper, neither wilt thou receive the excellent portion; because
thou wentest up to thy father's place of sleep: then, my son, didst thou become
profane, when thou wentest up to my bed.
Shimeon and Levi are
brothers; mighty men in the land of their sojourning, they did mightily.[9] My soul was not in their
secret; into their company to come I would not have descended from mine honour.
For in their anger they slew a slaughter, and in their wilfulness they razed
the wall of their enemy. Accursed[10] was their anger, for it was
strong, and their wrath, for it was relentless. I will divide them in Jakob,
and I will scatter them in Israel.
Jehuda, thou art
praise and not shame; thy brethren shall praise thee;[11] thy hand shall prevail against
thine adversaries, thine enemies shall be dispersed; they will be turned
backward before thee, and the sons of thy father will come before thee with
salutations. The dominion shall be (thine) in the beginning, and in the end the
kingdom shall be increased from the house of Jehuda, because from the judgment
of death, my son, hast thou withdrawn.[12] He shall repose, and abide in
strength as a lion, and as a lioness, there shall be no king that may cut him
off. He who exerciseth dominion shall not pass away from the house of Jehuda,
nor the saphra from his children's children for ever, until the Meshiha come,
whose is the kingdom, and unto whom shall be the obedience of the nations (or,
whom the peoples shall obey). Israel shall pass round about in his cities; the people shall build his temple, they will
be righteous round about him, and be doers of the law through his doctrine. Of
goodly purple will be his raiment, and his vesture of crimson wool with
colours.[13] His mountains shall be red
with his vineyards, and his hills be dropping with wine; his valleys shall be
white with corn, and with flocks of sheep.
Zebulon will dwell
nigh the haven of the sea; he will subdue provinces with ships, and will eat
the good of the sea, and his boundary shall come unto Sidon.
Issakar,[14] rich in substance, will have
his heritage between the boundaries; and he, seeing his portion that it is
good, and the land that it is fruit‑bearing,[15] will subdue the provinces of
the people, and disperse their inhabitants, and they who remain of them will
become servants to him and bringers of tribute.
From the house of Dan
will be chosen and will arise a man in whose days his people shall be
delivered, and in whose years the tribes of Israel have rest together. A chosen
man will arise from the house of Dan, the terror of whom shall fall upon the
peoples; (a man) who will smite the Philistines’ with strength, as the serpent,
the deadly serpent,[16] lurking[17] by the way, be will slay the
mighty of the Philistines host, the horsemen with the foot; he will weaken
(loosen) the horses and chariots, and throw their riders backward. For thy
salvation have I waited, O Lord!
From the house of Gad
will armed hosts go over the Jardena before their brethren to the battle ; and
with much substance will they return unto their land.
The land of Asher will
be good; and he shall be nourished with the dainties of kings.
In a good land will
the lot of Naphtali be cast, and his inheritance be fruitful; over them will
they give praise and benediction.[18]
Joseph is my son who
shall increase, my son who shall be blessed, as a vine planted by a fountain of
waters. Two tribes will come forth from his sons, and they shall receive a
portion and inheritance. The mighty men, the men of division, were bitter
against him; they afflicted him and sorely grieved him and his prophecy shall
be fulfilled in them, because he was faithful to the law in secret, and set his
confidence firmly. Therefore was gold laid upon his arm, and the kingdom was
strengthened and confirmed. This was to him from the mighty God of Jacob, who
by His Word pastureth the fathers and the children of the seed of Israel. The
Word of the God of thy father shall be thy Helper, and the All‑Sufficient
shall bless thee, with the blessings of the dew that descends from the heavens
above, with the blessings that spring from the depths of the earth beneath,
with the blessings of thy father and of thy mother. The blessing of thy father
shall be added upon the blessing with which my fathers blessed me; which the
princes who are of the world have desired: all of them shall be upon the head
of Joseph, and upon the man who was separated from his brethren.
Benjamin: in his land
will dwell the Shekina, and in his possession will the sanctuary be builded. In
the morning and evening[19] will the priests offer the
oblation, and at eventime divide the remaining portions of the residue of the
sacred things.
All these the tribes
of Israel are twelve; and this it is which their father spake to them, and
blessed them; according to the blessing of each man, blessed he them. And he
commanded them, and said to them, I am to be gathered unto my people; bury me
with my fathers in the cavern which is in the field of Ephron the Hitaah; in
the cavern which is in the double field over against Mamre, in the land of
Kenaan, which field Abraham bought of Ephron the Hitaah for an
inheritancesepulchre. There buried they Abraham and Sarah his wife; there
buried they Izhak and Revekah his wife; and there buried I Leah. The field, and
the cavern that is in it, purchased of the sons of Hitaah. And Jakob ceased to
instruct his sons, and drew his feet together in the bed, and died, and was
gathered unto his people.
L. And Joseph fell
upon his father's face, and wept over him, and kissed him. And Joseph commanded
his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father; and the physicians embalmed
Israel. And forty days were completed to him; for so are completed the days of
the embalmed; and the Mizraee mourned for him seventy days. And the days of his
mourning passed: and Joseph spake with the house of Pharoh, saying, If now I
have found favour in your eyes, speak, I pray, before Pharoh, saying My father
adjured me, saying, Behold, I die; in my sepulchre which I have prepared for me
in the land of Kenaan, there shalt thou bury me. And now let me go up, I pray,
and I will bury my father and return. And Pharoh said, Go up and bury thy
father, as he adjured thee. And Joseph went up to bury his father; and all the
servants of Pharoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Mizraim,
went up with him; and all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and the house
of his father: only the children, and the flocks, and the cattle, they left in
the land of Goshen. And with him went up, also, chariots and horsemen;[20] and there was a very great
host. And they came to the threshing‑floor[21] of Atad, which is beyond
Jardena, and lamented there with lamentations great and very strong. And he
made a mourning for his father seven days. And the inhabitants of the land of
Kenaan saw the mourning at the threshing‑floor of Atad, and said, This is
a mighty mourning of the Mizraee; therefore its name is called Abel Mizraim;
which is beyond Jardena. And his sons did as he had commanded them. And his
sons carried him into the land of Kenaan, and buried him in the cavern of the
Double Field, which Abraham bought for an inheritancesepulchre of Ephron the
Hitaah, before Mamre. And Joseph returned into Mizraim, he and his brethren,
and all who went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his
father. And the brethren of Joseph saw that their father was dead; and they
said, Perhaps Joseph will retain enmity against us, and requiting will requite
us all the evil which we did him. And they made visitation to Joseph, saying,
Thy father commanded before his death, saying, Thus shall you speak to Joseph,
I pray you to forgive the guilt of thy brethren and their sin wherewith they
did evil against thee. And now forgive, I beseech thee, the guilt of the
servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake with him.
And his brethren came and fell before him, and said, Behold, we are thy
servants. And Joseph said to them, Fear not, for I fear the Lord. When you
thought evil against me, before the Lord it was intended for good, to be done,
as at this day, for the preservation of much people. And now do not fear; I
will sustain you and your children. And he consoled them, and spake consolation
to their heart.
And Joseph dwelt in
Mizraim, he and his father's house. And Joseph lived an hundred and ten years.
And Joseph saw of Ephraim three sons; also the sons of Makir, the son of
Menashe, were born, whom Joseph brought up.
And Joseph said to his
brethren, I die; but the Lord remembering will remember you, and bring you up
from, this land to the land of which He sware to Abraham, to Izhak, and to
Jakob. And Joseph adjured the sons of Israel, saying, The Lord remembering will
remember you, and you shall carry my bones up from hence. And Joseph died, the
son of a hundred and ten years, and they embalmed him, and laid him in an ark
in Mizraim.
END OF ONKELOS ON BERESHITH.
[1] Al rish harsa, 'upon
the head of the bed."
[2] Sam. Vers. "strengthened
himself."
[3] Sam. Vers. "in their
divisions."
[4] Sam. Vers. "prayed."
[5] Sam. Vers. "from the
house of my nativity."
[6] Sam. Vers. "be spread
abroad."
[7] Sam. Vers. "the beginning
of my time."
[8] Or, "proceeded
deceitfully." Azalta lakabel appeka.
[9] Sam. Vers. "they
accomplished the fraud of their covenant."
[10] Sam, Vers. "proud."
[11] Sam. Vers. "love
thee."
[12] Or, "gone up."
[13] Or, "wool dyed bright
with colours."
[14] Sam. Vers. 'Issakar, an ass
sojourning, lying down between two burdens."
[15] Sam. Vers. "fat."
[16] Churman: "species
serpentis as cujus morsum nulla est medicina." --Castel. Root,
charem, "to devote to destruction."
[17] Sam. Vers. "erecting
itself."
[18] Sam. Vers. "Naphatali is
a hind sent forth, giving words of freedom."
[19] Pania. Conf. the
Ethiopic in Castel, under panu, col. 3021.
[20] Sam. Vers.
"footmen."
[21] :The house of barns,"
[1] Sam. Vers. "be not
afflicted."
[2] Sam. Vers. "a
friend."
[3] Sam. Vers. "stand
not."
[4] Sam. Vers. "I will give
thee sufficiency."
[5] Or. "faint."
[6] Of the entire number comprised
between the first and last?
[7] Sam. Vers. "sufficiently
fed."
[8] Sam. Vers. "he allotted
them bread."
[9] Thus literally following the
Hebrew.
[1] Or, "sedge."
[2] Harashee.
[3] Hakimaha.
[4] Vesafir-attonsus est.
[5] Or, "sedge."
[6] Sam. Vers. "be fed."
[7] Butz byssus.
[8] Sam. Vers. "double
chariot."
[9] Deen aba lemalka.
[10] Sam Vers. Temirithi gala,
"The Revealer of mysteries."
[11] Sam. Vers. "the daughter
of the Kohen Potiphera."
[12] From nashah, "to
forget."
[13] From pharah, "to
be fruitful."
[14] Lama tithchazun.
[15] Sam. Vers. "the shame of
the land."
[16] Beth mebatha.
[17] "Our generation."
[18] Medimshabach. Sam
Vers. "celebrated."
[19] Or, "a victim," niksatha.
[20] Sam. Vers. "lord it over
us."
[21] Lit. "asked for their
peace."
[22] Sam. Vers. "Elohim be
propitious to thee, my son."
[23] Lit. "were
drunken." Sam Vers. "were heavy."
[24] Badaqa mebadiq.
[1] Or, (Kitona da-passei,)
"a robe of pieces," i.e. coloured ones. Hebrew, Ketonath
passim. In the treatise Negaim xi. 7, we have pispesin, "small
pieces." Castel defined the Chaldee root pesa, "to
expand," and the Hebrew noun pisyona, "extension." Hence,
some would render Kitona da-passei, "a long robe;" or, as
Gesenius does the Hebrew, "a garment reaching down to the
extremities." Compare Jonathan and the Jerusalem Targum on the verse. The
Samaritan reads as the Hebrew. The Peschito has Kutino da pedyotha,
"a fringed garment;" the LXX. "a various robe."
[2] "Added to hate him."
[3] Sam. Vers. "was angry
with him."
[4] Heb and Sam.
"Ishmaelites."
[5] Sheaph,
"balsam." Heb. and Sam. nekoth, "spicery." LXX.
"perfumery." Aquila, storax.
[6] Quetaph,
"gum." Heb. tsere, probably opobalsamum.
[7] Letom. Heb. lot,
"the gum of the cistus." LXX. stacte.
[8] Lit. "What mammon?"
[9] Sam. Vers. "changed
herself."
[10] B'pharashoth Aynin,
"in a conspicuous (?) branching of the road." The Sam. Vers. has
"in the gate of Chasbim."
[11] Shosheph, "a
handerchief," sudarium.
[12] Sam. Vers. "will take up
thy reckoning, or account."
[13] Cheiru, (Heb. chori,)
"white bread."
[14] Sam. Vers. "the
account."
[15] Sam. Vers. "the
account."
[1] Sam. Vers. gabla, (gebel,)
"the mountain."
[2] Or, "the palm."
[3] Or, "moved."
[4] "Send me away."
[5] Or, "to prevent
him."
[6] Or, "propser with thine
own."
[7] Sam. Vers. "Gabla."
[8] 'Tabernacles."
[9] Shalemin.
[10] Yabedun ba sechorta.
[11] Sam. Vers. "when they
were wounded."
[12] Sam. Vers. "the Most
Mighty One."
[13] "The idols of the
peoples."
[14] Shephuli misera.
[15] Misar bekitha.
[16] Literally, kerub araah,
"an acre of ground." Some think that kerub araah means as much
land as can be ploughed in a day; a tract of ground.
[17] Bar de-wai.
[18] "Son of my right
hand."
[19] Sam. Vers. "Gabla."
[20] Ravrevee.
[21] Chor, "a cavern
in a mountain."
[22] Ith gibbaraia. Hebrew,
ha yemim, "the mules." The Sam. Vers. has am aimai,
"the Emim people."
[23] Sam. Vers. "Pathe."
[24] Bath Metsareph dahaba.
[1] Comp. Song i. 15.
[2] "Manifestation."
[3] "Hearing."
[4] "Union."
[5] "Praise."
[6] "Judgement."
[7] "Wrestled for."
[8] "Fortune,
prosperity." In Chaldee, "a fortunate star."
[9] "Happiness."
[10] Yavruchin. Hebrew, dudaim.
Septuagint, "apples of mandrakes" ("atropa mandragira,"
Linnaeus). The Samaritan expression is as the Hebrew, and the Peschito as the
Targum.
[11] "Wages."
[12] Sam. Vers. "God hath
helped me with good help."
[13] "Habitation."
[14] "Judgement."
[15] Or, "cleansed
away." See Castel, voce Kenash.
[16] "Addition."
[17] Or, "distinguish."
[18] Sam. Vers. "through my
help."
[19] Or, "the aspect of the looks
of Laban."
[20] Sam. Vers. "I am the
Most Mighty."
[21] Tsilmanaia. The word
in the Hebrew text (teraphim) is probably from the Aramaic teraph,
"to inquire."
[22] Sam. Vers. "with chief
or great things" (rabbonim).
[23] Sam. Vers. "nor didst
thou expect (or wait) that I might kiss."
[24] Dachatli.
[25] Sam. Vers. "and
diligently searched."
[26] The Hebrew kar answers
to the Arabic kuron, "a pannier, cradle, or chair, placed on each
side the camel."
[27] Or, "vessels."
[28] Sam. Vers. "the redeemer
of Izhak."
[29] Degura, "a
cumulus or mound;" from deger, Heb. dagar, "to collect,
pile up."
[30] "The Heap of
Whitness." The olddest specimen of Aramaic extent.
[31] Hebrew, "The heap of
Witness."
[32] Sakutha. Chald. from Seka,
aspexit, contemplatus est. The Hebrew Mizpeh.
[33] Sam. Vers. "the God of
Abraham."
[34] Sam. Vers. "by the
Redeemer of his father Izhak."
[35] Or, "camp."
[1] Ya-a-kov.
[2] "Red."
[3] Sam. Vers. "and what is
my business with the birthright?"
[4] Sam. Vers. "at
Askelon."
[5] Sam. Vers. "Nophig."
[6] Sam. Vers. "sweet."
[7] Here the Sam. Vers.
metaphrases the name into "Mimarkol," with the same import as
"Pumkol" in chap. xxi.
[8] Tavshelin, "stewed
meats."
[1] Sam. Vers. "consult
with."
[2] Mearath Kaphelta.
Hebrew, Mearath hamakphela, "the double cave;" root, kaphal,
"to couple."
[3] Or, "province."
[4] "By the testimony
of."
[5] Sam. Vers. "blessed of
the Lord who comest."
[6] Sam. Vers. "were Ritorim
and Amshakim and Amanim."
[7] Sam. Vers. "according to
their elevations."
[1] Kebelath.
[2] Sam. Vers. "I will
tolerate all the place."
[3] "Under the shadow of my
family." --Sam. Vers.
[4] Or, "with diziziness of
the eyes." Shabriria, which Castel defines, "Scotomata,
subita oculum tenebra cum vertigine."
[5] "Accepted thy face."
[6] Little.
[7] Sam. Vers. beshelu shoker,
"in the stillness of the morning."
[8] Sam. Vers. "and we shall
live in the sons of our father."
[9] Heb. "between Kadesh and
Shur."
[10] Sam. Vers.
"Askelon."
[11] Sam. Vers. "Shultan of
Askelon."
[12] Sam. Vers. "from
becoming unclean berfore Me."
[13] Sam. Vers. "perishing
thou shalt perish."
[14] Sam. Vers. "a great
pollution."
[15] Sam. Vers.
"tabernacle."
[16] Or, "covering of the
eyes."
[17] Sam. Vers. "in the day
of the (pelututh ) liberation of his son."
[18] Rabia, "a growing
child."
[19] Or, "on him;"
"hold him firmly." So the Latin Apprenhende manu tua eum. The
Samaritan Version has, "Take the youth, and fortify thy hand in him."
[20] Or, "illuminated."
[21] Sam. Vers. "had taken
fraudulently."
[22] Sam. Vers.
"Pumkol," a name meaning as the Hebrew form.
[23] Sam. Vers. "a
paradise."
[24] Sam. Vers.
"vision."
[25] Sam. Vers. "the son of
thy heart."
[26] Sam. Vers. "In the
mountain the Lord will see, will multiply."
[1] Sam. Ver. "unto the city
of Shekam."
[2] Sam. Vers. "the plain or
valley of vision."
[3] Sam. Vers. "between
Beth-chaila and Kaphrah."
[4] Peschito Syr. 'And Abraham
dwelt among the oak groves of Mare Amuroyo, which is Hebron."
[5] Sam. Ver.
"Haphinith."
[6] Sam. Ver. "Thidal,
king-shultan of the Chaimai."
[7] Sam. Ver. "Phoga."
[8] Sam. Ver. Malek Shalem.
[9] Sam. Ver. "And he was
Kohen of the Most Mighty."
[10] Sam. Vers. "the Most
Mighty, who, a shield, hath delivered," &c.
[11] The Sam. has also benabia,
"in prophecy."
[12] Sam. Vers. chalipik,
"thy successors."
[13] Sam. Vers. "gathered.'
[14] Sam. Vers. "the river of
Shalmah."
[15] Sam. Vers
"oppression."
[16] Sam. Vers. "humble
thyself."
[17] Sam. Vers. Ath chiulah
chezuah, "Thou the Mighty seest." The Syriac has, "Thou art
Aloha in vision."
[18] Sam. Vers. Anah Chiulah
Sapukah, "I am the Mighty, the Sufficient." Syr. El Shadai
Aloha.
[19] Shelim.
[20] Sam. Vers. "the Angel of
the Lord."
[1]Or, "rapines." Sam
Ver. "oppressions."
[2] Yekuma.
[3] Tuphana.
[4] Or, "The Lord
overshadowed them by His Word." The Samaritan has, "And the Lord
sealed over them."
[5] Sam Vers. Al teborah
Sarnedib, "Upon the mountains Sarnedib." The Peschito Syriac,
"Upon the mountians of Kardu" (Armenia).
[6] Veorik: the Samaritan text
has, Vajichel, "And he expected;" the Samaritan Version, Veamen,
"And he believed, or confided yet," &c.
[7] "Unto (rozch) his
mystery." --Sam. Vers.
[8] "The secret of the heart
of man." --Sam Vers.
[9] "His smallness," zeireia.
[10] Sam. Vers. "of
angels."
[11] Sam. "A man of
husbandry."
[12] Chamra, "red
wine;" Heb. Hayayin; Sam. Amrah.
[13] Yaphti Leia l'Yepheth.
Yapheth signifies "enlargement."
[14] Sam. Vers. "Zopha."
[15] "Astun."
[16] "Satkan."
[17] "Lakisa."
[18] "Aspa."
[19] "Enamim."
[20] "Misbal." --Sam.
[21] Sam. Vers. "This is the
portion of the sons."
[22] Heb. "their removal from
the east." Syriac, "It was while they ascended from the east."
[23] "Babel." Sam. Vers.
"Lilaq."
[1] Be-kadmin,
"in antiquities." The expression, when used, as here, in the plural,
is sometimes put for "eternity." Compare Onkelos on Deut. xxxiii. 27,
Eloha de-milkadmin, "the Eternal God," or, "God who is
from eternity," with Jonathan on Micah v. 2, "Messiah, . . whose name
is called (milkadmin) from eternity."
[2] Some
copies, "Darkness was outspread upon the face," &c.
[3] Lit.,
"son-seed."
[4]
Samaritan Version, "the plentitude of the greater light."
[5]
"Swarm with, produce abundantly."
[6] Sam.
Vers. "fashioned."
[7] Some
copies, "in the image of Elohim."
[8] Toledath,
"recitals, history."
[9] Or,
"cloud."
[10] Or,
"in Eden." Distinguish between the region and the garden.
[11] Sam.
Vers. "Paradise."
[12] Sam.
Vers. "islands."
[13] Sam.
Vers. "Phishon-kedoph."
[14] Sam.
Vers. "Askoph."
[15] Sam.
Vers. "Chophin."
[16] Sam.
Vers. "Kephlosah."
[17] Sam.
Vers. "Kingdom of Hatsphu."
[18] Sam.
Vers. "Consuming thou shalt be consumed."
[19] Sam.
Vers. "Paradise."
[20] Sam.
Vers. "be consumed."
[21] Sam.
Vers. "calling them in Paradise in the breathing of the day."
[22] Sam.
Vers. "as a branch."
[23] Sam.
Vers. "the land of Keli."
[24] Sam.
Vers. "Mihal."
[25] Sam.
Vers. "prince," or "chief."
[26] Sam.
Ver. "who melt and conjoin."
[27] Sam.
Ver. "Zalkipha."
[28] Sam.
Ver. "of angels."
[29] Sam.
Vers. "after he had begotten his substitute" (chalipha)
[30]
Peshito Syriac: "and Henok pleased God, after," &c.
[31]
Peshito, "Aloha took him." Sam. Vers. "the Angel took him."
[32]
Bnei rabrebaia. The Sam. Vers.
reads, "sons of the rulers."
[33] Other
copies, "that they chose."
[34] Some
copies omit this.
[35] Some
copies read, "And He said, I have created (them) good, that they might be
perfect on the earth; but they have not been perfect in (their) outspreading;
and the Lord said, I will blot out," &c.