After the .account of his birth (.30^' ), the next notice of Joseph's life which occurs is when he has grown into a lad, and (according to P) Ls 17 j'ears old (37-^'). His father's favourite,+ he ex- cites the envy of his elder brothers, which is increased by bis imprudence in coiiiinunicating to them the dreams, — both too manifcstlj' suggest- ive of future greatness (37'""), — of his brethren's sheaves bowing down to his, and of the sun, moon, and eleven stars making obeisance to him. Shortly afterwards, his brethren are keeping their fathers Hocks at Shecheni ; and Joscpli is .sent by his father from the broad 'vale,' in which Hebron lay (37"; cf. So'-"), to innnire after their welfare. He finds them at Dotlian (2 K 6'^), now Till Dntlinn, alHiut 15 miles X. of Shecheni, where the pasturage is still even richer than it is at Shectiem (Robinson, BR iii. 122). As they see him aiiproaching in the distance, thev plan to kill him, and so to frustrate for ever tfie, to them, unwelcome future portended by his dreams. At this point (■37-"') the composition of the narrative becomes apparent, and there are two divergent aecounta of the manner in which Joseph was rescued from their hands, and en me to be sold into Kgj'pt.t According to J, Jmlnh dis.suades his other brethren from carrying out their puriiose, and inilnces them to sell .loseph to a caravan of Jshmnclitis, who happened at the time to be Jiassin^ by, on their way from Gilead to Kgvpt ;§ and the Ishmaelites, upon their arrival in Egypt, sell him
* This lost distinction agrees with that which npt>eani in Exodus, where similarly it is only J who descril*ea Uie Urarlit^-e aa living a|iart In lioshen (s'-s; l«i).
t The CT5 njp; (also 2 S 131"'. u worn by princesuwi). the •coat of many colours' of AV (so LNX »»j«.Xk, Vulg. potj/Jitila), was more probably (I'esh. A<(. Symm. ; also l.XX Vulg. in 2 4 (;(,rM* ma^afrtf ', funlVd fn/dru)) a tunic having sleeves for the anns, and reaching to the feet (cf. HVm), lit. (if the Aram, ncnse of CD iimy be adople<l, for the word <loe« not occur other- wise in the llel). of the OT) a tunic o^ ptUmt (of the hailda) and solft {ot the feet),— the tunic onlinarily worn having no aleevea, and reaching onlv to the knees.
1 See, a)>ove, the |mrte which iHjIong to the two narratfvee.
( llolhan, it is to tie olwerviHl, lies uiw^n the caravnn-ronte leading from Iteth-sbean and Ji-xrvel to ItAiuleh and Egypt (Uob. I.e.); it was thiisa natural spot for the lahmaelitcdealcra Iravellinji from Gilead, to paaa.
T68
JOSEPH
JOSEPH
us a slave to an Etrj-ptian of rank. Aucorilinj; to U,, Reuben ' Josepli's eliletrt. biotlier, ilissiiailes the otiiers from carrying out tlieir plan ; at liis sug- gestion they cast Joseph into a pit, and MiUinnite merchantmen, passing by, t draw him up out of the [lit, without his brothers' knowledge, and sell him into Egypt to Potiphar, the 'captain of the guard.'J Keuben upon returning, after the meal (v.^^), to the pit, in the hope, no doubt, of being able now to send Joseph home secretly, is disconsolate to find it empty. His father's grief, upon receiving the blood-stained coat, which his brethren bring to him, as evidence of Joseph's death, is graphi- cally portrayed (vv'.*""" J).
IIow Joseph meanwhile fared in Egypt is re- counted by J in ch. 39, and by E in cii. 40 (in each case, with the exceptions noted above). The Egyptian, to whom the Ishmaelites sold him,§ finding him to be quick and trustworthy, appoints him 'over his house,' — i.e. makes him superin- tendent of his establishment, or his major dvmo, — and intrusts to him the whole of his domestic arrangements, so that 'with him — i.e. beside him — he knew not ought, save the bread that he did eat,' which, on account of religious scruples, would not in Egypt be naturally intrusted to the care of a foreigner (cf. 43''-''). Under Joseph's admin- istration, everything prospered in his master's house ; and the blessing of heaven rested visibly upon it (39''*). But Joseph was 'comely and well- favoured,' and attracted the notice of his master's wife : she makes advances to him, which he re- jects, saying nobly that he will neither betray the trust which liis master reposes in him, nor sin against God. The advances are repeated, but still meet with no response. In the end, enraged at what she considers as a slight received at Joseph's hands, she brings a false accusation against him before her husband ; and he is cast into the state- prison.ll There, however, J" is still with him : he wins the favour of the keeper of the prison, who finds he can place in him implicit confidence, and even commits the other prisoners to his charge (39'"^).
Shortly afterwards (ch. 40 E), two of the Pharaoh's officers, the chief of his cupbearers, or butlers, and the chief of his bakers, otl'ended the king, and they were placed in custody H in the house of the ' captain of the guard,' — i.e. Potiphar, who, according to Z1^ (also E), had bought Joseph of the Midianites. Joseph is appointed to wait upon them (40'') ; *• and, coming in to them one