youngest brother go down with us, we will set out together; otherwise, without him we dare not see the man's face. 27 Whereunto he answered: You know that my wife bore me two. 28 One went out, and you said: A beast devoured him: and hitherto he appeareth not. 29 If you take this also, and any thing befall him in the way, you will bring down my grey hairs with sorrow unto hell. 30 Therefore if I shall go to thy servant our father, and the boy be wanting (whereas his life dependeth upon the life of him) 31 And he shall see that he is not with us, he will die, and thy servants shall bring down his grey hairs with sorrow unto hell. 13 You shall tell my father of all my glory, and all things that you have seen in Egypt: make haste and bring him to me. 14 And falling upon the neck of his brother Benjamin, he embraced him and wept: and Benjamin in like manner wept also on his neck. 15 And Joseph kissed all his brethren, and wept upon every one of them: after which they were emboldened to speak to him. 16 And it was heard, and the fame was abroad in the king's court: The brethren of Joseph are come: and Pharao with all his family was glad. 17 And he spoke to Joseph that he should give orders to his brethren, saying: Load your beasts, and go into the land of Chanaan, 18 And bring away from thence your father and 32 Let me be thy proper servant, who took him kindred, and come to me: and I will give you all into my trust and promised, saying: If I bring him the good things of Egypt, that you may eat the not again, I will be guilty of sin against my father marrow of the land. for ever. 33 Therefore I thy servant will stay instead of the boy in the service of my lord, and let the boy go up with his brethren. 34 For I cannot return to my father without the boy, lest 1 be a witness of the calamity that will oppress my father. CHAP. XLV. Joseph maketh himself known to his brethren: and sendeth for his father. TOSEPH could no longer refrain himself before Jo 19 Give orders also that they take waggons out of the land of Egypt, for the carriage of their children and their wives: and say: Take up your father, and make haste to come with all speed: 20 And leave nothing of your household-stuff: for all the riches of Egypt shall be yours. 21 And the sons of Israel did as they were bid. And Joseph gave them waggons according to Pharao's commandment: and provisions for the way. 22 He ordered also to be brought out for every one of them two robes; but to Benjamin he gave many that stood by: whereupon he com-three hundred pieces of silver with five robes of! manded that all should go out, and no stranger be the best: present at their knowing one another. 2 And he lifted up his voice with weeping, which the Egyptians, and all the house of Pharao heard. 3 And he said to his brethren: I am Joseph: is my father yet living? His brethren could not answer him, being struck with exceeding great fear. 4 And he said mildly to them: Come nearer to me. And when they were come near him, he said: I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. 23 Sending to his father as much money and raiment, adding besides ten he-asses to carry off all the riches of Egypt, and as many she-asses, carrying wheat and bread for the journey. 21 So he sent away his brethren, and at their departing said to them: Be not angry in the way. 25 And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Chanaan to their father Jacob. 26 And they told him, saying: Joseph thy son is living: and he is ruler in all the land of Egypt. Which when Jacob heard, he awaked as it were 5 Be not afraid, and let it not seem to you aout of a deep sleep, yet did not believe them. hard case that you sold me into these countries: for God sent me before you into Egypt for your preservation. 6 For it is two years since the famine began to be upon the land, and five years more remain, wherein there can be neither plowing nor reaping. 7 And God sent me before, that you may be preserved upon the earth, and may have food to live 8 Not by your counsel was I sent hither, but by the will of God: who hath made me as it were a father to Pharao, and lord of his whole house, and governor in all the land of Egypt. 9 Make haste, and go ye up to my father, and say to him: Thus saith thy son Joseph: God hath made me lord of the whole land of Egypt: come down to me, linger not. 27 They on the other side told the whole order of the thing. And when he saw the waggons and all that he had sent, his spirit revived, 28 And he said: It is enough for me, if Joseph my son be yet living: I will go, and see him before I die. CHAP. XLVI. Israel, warranted by a vision from God, goeth 2 He heard him by a vision in the night calling him, and saying to him: Jacob, Jacob. And he answered him: Lo, here I am. 10 And thou shalt dwell in the land of Gessen: 3 God said to him: I am the most mighty God and thou shalt be near me, thou and thy sons, and of thy father: fear not, go down into Egypt, for I thy sons' sons, thy sheep, and thy herds, and all will make a great nation of thee there. things that thou hast. 4 I will go down with thee thither, and will II And there I will feed thee (for there are yet bring thee back again from thence: Joseph also five years of famine remaining) lest both thou shall put his hands upon thy eyes. perish, and thy house, and all things that thou hast. 5 And Jacob rose up from the well of the oath: 12 Behold, your eyes, and the eyes of my bro- and his sons took him up, with their children and ther Benjamin see that it is my mouth that speak-wives in the waggons, which Pharao had sent to eth to you. carry the old man, 6 And all that he had in the land of Chanaan: and he came into Egypt with all his seed: 7 His sons, and grandsons, daughters, and all his offspring together. * His grey hairs. That is, his person, now far advanced in years. With sorrow unto hell: the Hebrew word for hell is here Sheol, the Greek Hades: it is not taken for the hell of the damned; 8 And these are the names of the children of but for that place of souls below where the ser- Israel, that entered into Egypt, he and his children. vants of God were kept before the coming of His first-born Ruben, Christ. Which place, both in the scripture and in the creed, is named hell. The well of oath. Bersabee. HEN Joseph went in and told Pharao, say 9 The sons of Ruben: Henoch and Phallu and Ting: My father and brethren, their sheep Hesron and Charmi. 10 The sons of Simeon: Jamuel and Jamin and Ahod, and Jachin and Sohar, and Saul the son of a woman of Chanaan. 11 The sons of Levi: Gerson and Caath and Merari. 12 The sons of Juda: Her and Onan and Sela and Phares and Zara. And Her and Onan died in the land of Chanaan. And sons were born to Phares: Hesron and Hamul. 13 The sons of Issachar: Thola and Phua and Job and Semron. 14 The sons of Zabulon: Sared and Elon and Jahelel. 15 These are the sons of Lia, whom she bore in Mesopotamia of Syria with Dina his daughter. All the souls of her sons and daughters, thirtythree. and their herds, and all that they possess, are come out of the land of Chanaan: and behold they stay in the land of Gessen. 2 Five men also the last of his brethren, he presented before the king: 3 And he asked them: What is your occupation? They answered: We thy servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers. 4 We are come to sojourn in thy land, because there is no grass for the flocks of thy servants, the famine being very grievous in the land of Chanaan: and we pray thee to give orders that we thy servants may be in the land of Gessen. 5 The king therefore said to Joseph: Thy father and thy brethren are come to thee. 6 The land of Egypt is before thee: make them dwell in the best place, and give them the land of 16 The sons of Gad: Sephion and Haggi and Gessen. And if thou knowest that there are inSuni and Esebon and Heri and Arodi and Areli.dustrious men among them, make them rulers 17 The sons of Aser: Jamne and Jesua and over my cattle. Jessuri and Beria, and Sara their sister. The sons of Beria: Heber and Melchiel. 18 These are the sons of Zelpha, whom Laban gave to Lia his daughter. And these she bore to Jacob, sixteen souls. 19 The sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife: Joseph and Benjamin. 20 And sons were born to Joseph, in the land of Egypt, whom Aseneth the daughter of Putiphare priest of Heliopolis bore him: Manasses and Ephraim. 21 The sons of Benjamin: Bela and Bechor and Asbel and Gera and Naaman and Echi and Ros and Mophim and Ophim and Ared. 22 These are the sons of Rachel, whom she bore to Jacob: all the souls, fourteen. 23 The sons of Dan: Husim. 24 The sons of Nephtali: Jaziel and Guni and Jesser and Sallem. 25 These are the sons of Bala, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter: and these she bore to Jacob: all the souls, seven. 26 All the souls, that went with Jacob into Egypt, and that came out of his thigh, besides his sons' wives, sixty-six. 27 And the sons of Joseph, that were barn to him in the land of Egypt, two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob, that entered into Egypt, were seventy. 23 And he sent Juda before him to Joseph, to tell him; and that he should meet him in Gessen, 29 And when he was come thither, Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet his father, in the same place: and seeing him, he fell upon his neck, and embracing him, wept. I 30 And the father said to Joseph: Now shall die with joy, because I have seen thy face, and leave thee alive. 31 And Joseph said to his brethren, and to all his father's house: I will go up, and will tell Pharao, and will say to him: My brethren, and my father's house, that were in the land of Chanaan, are come to me: 32 And the men are shepherds, and their occupation is to feed cattle: their flocks, and herds, and all they have, they have brought with them. 33 And when he shall call you, and shall say: What is your occupation? 34 You shall answer: We thy servants are shepherds, from our infancy until now, both we and our fathers. And this you shall say, that you may dwell in the land of Gessen, because the Egyptians have all shepherds in abomination. CHAP. XLVII. Jacob and his sons are presented before Pharaoh: he giveth them the land of Gessen. The famine forceth the Egyptians to sell all their possessions to the king. 7 After this Joseph brought in his father to the king, and presented him before him: and he blessed him. 8 And being asked by him: How many are the days of the years of thy life? a 9 He answered: The days of my pilgrimage are hundred and thirty years, few, and evil, and they are not come up to the days of the pilgrimage of my fathers. 10 And blessing the king, he went out. 11 But Joseph gave a possession to his father and his brethren in Egypt, in the best place of the land, in Ramesses, as Pharao had commanded. 12 And he nourished them, and all his father's house, allowing food to every one. 13 For in the whole world there was want of bread, and a famine had oppressed the land, more especially of Egypt and Chanaan. 14 Out of which he gathered up all the money for the corn which they bought, and brought it in to the king's treasure. 15 And when the buyers wanted money, all Egypt came to Joseph, saying: Give us bread: why should we die in thy presence, having now no money? 16 And he answered them: Bring me your cattle, and for them I will give you food, if you have no money. 17 And when they had brought them, he gave them food in exchange for their horses, and sheep, and oxen, and asses: and he maintained them that year for the exchange of their cattle. 18 And they came the second year, and said to him: We will not hide from our lord, how that our money is spent, and our cattle also are gone: neither art thou ignorant, that we have nothing now left but our bodies and our lands. 19 Why therefore shall we die before thy eyes? we will be thine, both we and our lands: buy us to be the king's servants, and give us seed, lest for want of tillers the land be turned into a wilderness. 20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt, every man selling his possessions, because of the greatness of the famine. And he brought it into Pharao's hands: 21 And all its people from one end of the borders of Egypt, even to the other end thereof, 22 Except the land of the priests, which had been given them by the king: to whom also a certain allowance of food was given out of the public stores, and therefore they were not forced to sell their possessions. *The last. Extremos. Some interpret this word of the chiefest, and most sightly: but Joseph seems rather to have chosen out such as had the meanest appearance, that Pharao might not think of employing them at court, with danger of their morals and religion. 1 23 Then Joseph said to the people: Behold, as 8 Then seeing his sons he said to him: Who you see, both you and your lands belong to Pha-are these? Tao: take seed, and sow the fields, 24 That you may have corn. The fifth part you shall give to the king: the other four you shall have for seed, and for food for your families and children. 9 He answered: They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said: Bring them to me, that I may bless them. 10 For Israel's eyes were dim by reason of his great age, and he could not see clearly. And when they were brought to him, he kissed and 25 And they answered: Our life is in thy hand: only let my lord look favourably upon us, and we embraced them, will gladly serve the king. 11 And said to his son: I am not deprived of 26 From that time unto this day, in the whole seeing thee: Moreover God hath shown me thy land of Egypt, the fifth part is paid to the kings, seed. and it is become as a law, except the land of the 12 And when Joseph had taken them from his priests, which was free from this covenant. father's lap, he bowed down with his face to the ground. 27 So Israel dwelt in Egypt, that is, in the land of Gessen, and possessed it: and grew, and was multiplied exceedingly. 13 And he set Ephraim on his right hand, that is, towards the left hand of Israel: but Manasses 23 And he lived in it seventeen years: and all on his left hand, to wit, towards his father's right the days of his life came to a hundred and forty-hand, and brought them near to him. seven years. 14 But he stretching forth his right hand, put it 29 And when he saw that the day of his death upon the head of Ephraim the younger brother: drew nigh, he called his son Joseph, and said to and the left upon the head of Manasses who was him: If I have found favour in thy sight, put thy the elder, changing his hands. hand under my thigh; and thou shalt show me this kindness and truth, not to bury me in Egypt: 15 And Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph, and said: God, in whose sight my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, God that feedeth me from my youth until this day: 30 But I will sleep with my fathers, and thou shalt take me away out of this land, and bury me in the burying-place of my ancestors. And Joseph 16 The Angel that delivereth me from all evils, answered him: I will do what thou hast com-bless these boys: and let my name be called upon manded. them, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth. 31 And he said: Swear then to me. And as he was swearing, Israel adored God, turning to the bed's head. CHAP. XLVIII. 17 And Joseph seeing that his father had put his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, was much displeased: and taking his father's hand he tried to lift it from Ephraim's head, and to remove it to the head of Manasses. Joseph visiteth his father in his sickness, who adopteth his two sons Manasses and Ephraim, and blesseth them, preferring the younger be- 18 And he said to his father: It should not be fore the elder. so, my father; for this is the first-born: put thy AFTER these things, it was told Joseph that right hand upon his head. his father was and he set out go to 19 But he refusing, said: I know, my son, I him taking his two sons Manasses and Ephraim.know: and this also shall become a people, and 2 And it was told the old man: Behold, thy son shall be multiplied: but his younger brother shall Joseph cometh to thee. And being strengthened, be greater than he: and his seed shall grow into he sat on his bed. nations. 3 And when Joseph was come in to him, he 20 And he blessed them at that time, saying: In said: God almighty appeared to me at Luza, thee shall Israel be blessed; and it shall be said: which is in the land of Chanaan: and he blessed God do to thee as to Ephraim and as to Manasses And he set Ephraim before Manasses. me, 21 And he said to Joseph his son: Behold, I die, and God will be with you, and will bring you back into the land of your fathers. 4 And said: I will cause thee to increase and multiply, and I will make of thee a multitude of people: and I will give this land to thee, and to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession. 22 I give thee a portion above thy brethren, 5 So thy two sons who were born to thee in the which I took out of the hand of the Amorrhite, land of Egypt, before I came hither to thee, shall with my sword and bow. be mine. Ephraim and Manasses shall be reputed to me as Ruben and Simeon. CHAP. XLIX. . his death. 6 But the rest whom thou shalt have after them, Jacob's prophetical blessings of his twelve sons: shall be thine, and shall be called by the name of their brethren in their possessions. Rachel died from me in the land of Chanaan in you the things that shall befall you in the last 7 For, when I came out of Mesopotamia, AN Jacob called his sons, and said to them: Gather yourselves together that I may tell the very journey, and it was spring time: and I days. was going to Ephrata, and I buried her near the way of Ephrata, which by another name is called Bethlehem. 2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, O ye sons of Jacob; hearken to Israel your father: 3 Ruben my first-born, thou art my strengthf and the beginning of my sorrow; excelling in gifts, greater in command. 4 Thou art poured out as water, grow thou not:‡ * To the bed's head. St. Paul, Heb. xi. 21. following the Greek translation of the Septuagint, reads adored the top of his rod. Where note, that the same word in the Hebrew, according to + My strength, &c. He calls him his strength, the different pointing of it, signifies both a bed and as being born whilst his father was in his full a rod. And to verify both these sentences, we strength and vigour: he calls him the beginning must understand that Jacob leaning on Joseph's of his sorrow, because cares and sorrows usually rod adored, turning towards the head of his bed: come on with the birth of children. Excelling in which adoration, inasmuch as it was referred to gifts, &c. because the first-born had a title to a God, was an absolute, and sovereign worship: but inasmuch as it was referred to the rod of Je seph, as a figure of the sceptre, that is, of the royal dignity of Christ, was only an inferior and relative honour. double portion, and to have the command over his brethren, which Ruben forfeited by his sin; being poured out as water, that is, spilt and lost. Grow thou not. This was not meant by way of a curse or imprecation; but by way of a pro because thou wentest up to thy father's bed, and didst defile his couch. 5 Simeon and Levi brethren; vessels of iniquity waging war. 6 Let not my soul go into their counsel, nor my glory be in their assembly: because in their fury they slew a man,* and in their self will they undermined a wall. 7 Cursed be their fury, because it was stubborn: and their wrath, because it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and will scatter them in Israel. 8 Juda, thee shall thy brethren praise: thy hand shall be on the necks of thy enemies: the sons of thy father shall bow down to thee. 9 Juda is a lion's whelp:† to the prey, my son, thou art gone up: resting thou hast couched as a lion, and as a lioness; who shall rouse him? 10 The sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till he come that is to be sent, and he shall be the expectation of nations. 11 Tying his foal to the vineyard, and his ass, O my son, to the vine. He shall wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape. 12 His eyes are more beautiful than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk. 13 Zabulon shall dwell on the sea-shore, and in the road of ships, reaching as far as Sidon. 14 Issachar shall be a strong ass lying down between the borders. 15 He saw rest that it was good; and the land that it was excellent: and he bowed his shoulder to carry, and became a servant under tribute. 16 Dan shall judge‡ his people like another tribe in Israel. 17 Let Dan be a snake in the way, a serpent in the path, that biteth the horse's heels, that his rider may fall backward. 18 I will look for thy salvation, O Lord. 19 Gad being girded, shall fight before him: and he himself shall be girded backward. 20 Aser, his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield dainties to kings. 21 Nephtali, a hart let loose, and giving words of beauty. phecy, foretelling that the tribe of Ruben should not inherit the pre-eminences usually annexed to the first birth-right, viz. the double portion, the being prince or lord over the other brethren, and the priesthood: of which the double portion was given to Joseph, the princely office to Juda, and the priesthood to Levi. 22 Joseph is a growing son, a growing son and comely to behold: the daughters run to and fro}} upon the wall. 23 But they that held darts provoked him, and quarrelled with him, and envied him. 24 His bow rested upon the strong, and the bands of his arms and his hands were loosed, by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob: thence he came forth a pastor, the stone of Israel. 25 The God of thy father shall be thy helper, and the Almighty shall bless thee with the blessings of heaven above, with the blessings of the deep that lieth beneath, with the blessings of the breasts and of the womb. 26 The blessings of thy father** are strengthened with the blessings of his fathers; until the desire of the everlasting hillst should come; may they be upon the head of Joseph and upon the crown of the Nazarite‡‡ among his brethren. 27 Benjamin, a ravenous wolf, in the morning shall eat the prey, and in the evening shall divide the spoil. 28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: these things their father spoke to them, and he blessed every one, with their proper blessings. 29 And he charged them, saying: I am now going to be gathered to my people:§§ bury me with my fathers in the double cave, which is in the field of Ephron the Hethite, 30 Over against Mambre in the land of Chanaan, which Abraham bought together with the field, of Ephron the Hethite, for a possession to bury in. 31 There they buried him, and Sara his wife: there was Isaac buried with Rebecca his wife: there also Lia doth lie buried. 32 And when he had ended the commandments, wherewith he instructed his sons, he drew up his feet upon the bed, and died: and he was gathered to his people. CHAP. L. The mourning for Jacob, and his interment. Joseph's kindness towards his brethren. His death. ND when Joseph saw this, he fell upon his A father's face, Peping and kissing him 2 And he commanded his servants the physicians, to embalm his father. 3 And while they were fulfilling his commands, there passed forty days; for this was the manner Run to and fro, &c. To behold his beauty; whilst his envious brethren turned their darts against him, &c. *Slew a man, viz. Sichem the son of Hemor with all his people, Gen. xxxiv. mystically and His bow rested upon the strong, &c. That is, prophetically it alludes to Christ, whom their pos-upon God, who was his strength; who also loosed terity, viz. the priests and the scribes, put to death. his bands, and brought him out of prison to be the † A lion's whelp, &c. This blessing of Juda pastor, that is, the feeder and ruler of Egypt, and foretelleth the strength of his tribe, the fertility of the stone, that is, the rock and support of Israel. his inheritance; and principally that the sceptre **The blessings of thy father, &c. That is, and legislative power should not be utterly taken thy father's blessings are made more prevalent away from his race till about the time of the and effectual in thy regard, by the additional coming of Christ; as in effect it never was: which strength they receive from his inheriting the is a demonstration against the modern Jews, that blessings of his progenitors, Abraham and Isaac the Messiah is long since come; for the sceptrett The desire of the everlasting hills, &c has long since been utterly taken away from Juda. These blessings all looked forward towards Christ, Dan shall judge, &c. This was verified in called the desire of the everlasting hills, as being Samson, who was of the tribe of Dan, and began longed for, as it were, by the whole creation. to deliver Israel, Judges xiii. 5. But as this Mystically the patriarchs and prophets are called deliverance was but temporal and very imperfect, the everlasting hills, by reason of the eminence the holy patriarch (v. 18.) aspires after another of their wisdom and holiness. kind of a deliverer, saying: I will look for thy The Nazarite. This word signifies one salvation, O Lord. § Gad being girded, &c. It seems to allude to the tribe of Gad, when after they had received for their lot the land of Galaad, they marched in arms Defore the rest of the Israelites, to the conquest of the land of Chanaan: from whence they after wards returned loaded with spoils. See Josue and xxii. i. separated: and agrees to Joseph, as being separated from, and more eminent than, his brethren. As the ancient Nazarites were so called from their being set aside for God, and vowed to him. §§ To be gathered to my people. That is, I am going to die, and so to follow my ancestors that are gone before me, and to join their company in Hanother world. with bodies that were embalmed: and Egypt|| 15 Now he being dead, his brethren were afraid, mourned for him seventy days. And the time of the mourning being expired, Joseph spoke to the family of Pharao: If I have fond favour in your sight, speak in the ears of Pharao: 5 For my father made me swear to him, saying: Behold, I die: thou shalt bury me in my sepulchre which I have digged for myself in the land of Chanaan. So I will go up and bury my father, and return. 6 And Pharao said to him: Go up and bury thy father according as he made thee swear. 7 So he went up, and there went with him all the ancients of Pharao's house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt. 8 And the house of Joseph with his brethren, except their children, and their flocks and herds, which they left in the land of Gessen. and talked one with another: Lest perhaps he should remember the wrong he suffered, and requite us all the evil that we did to him. 16 And they sent a message to him, saying: Thy father commanded us before he died, 17 That we should say thus much to thee from him: I beseech thee to forget the wickedness of thy brethren, and the sin and malice they practised against thee: we also pray thee, to forgive the servants of the God of thy father this wickedness. And when Joseph heard this, he wept. 18 And his brethren came to him: and worshipping prostrate on the ground, they said: We are thy servants. 19 And he answered them: Fear not: can we resist the will of God? 20 You thought evil against me; but God turn 9 He had also in his train chariots and horse-ed it into good, that he might exalt me, as at premen: and it was a great company. 10 And they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is situated beyond the Jordan; where celebrating the exequies with a great and vehemeat lamentation, they spent full seven days. sent you see, and might save many people. 22 And he dwelt in Egypt, with all his father's II And when the inhabitants of Chanaan saw house; and lived a hundred and ten years. And this, they said: This is a great mourning to the he saw the children of Ephraim to the third geneEgyptians. And therefore the name of that placeration. The children also of Machir the son of was called, The mourning of Egypt. Manasses were born on Joseph's knees. 12 So the sons of Jacob did as he had commanded them. 13 And carrying him into the land of Chanaan, they buried him in the double cave, which Abraham had bought together with the field for a possession of a burying place, of Ephron the Hethite, over-against Mambre. 14 And Joseph returned into Egypt with his brethren, and all that were in his company, after he had buried his father. 23 After which he told his brethren: God will visit you after my death, and will make you go up out of this land, to the land which he swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 24 And he made them swear to him, saying: God will visit you, carry my bones with you out of this place: 25 And he died being a hundred and ten years old. And being embalmed, he was laid in a coffin in Egypt. THE BOOK OF EXODUS. The second book of MOSES is called EXODUS, from the Greek word Eodos, which signifies going cat: because it contains the history of the going out of the children of Israel out of Egypt. The Hebrews, from the words with which it begins, call it VEELLE SEMOTH: These are the names. It contains transactions for 145 years; that is, from the death of Joseph to the erecting of the tabernacle. CHAP. I. The Israelites are multiplied in Egypt. They are THESE are the names of the children of 5 And all the souls that came out of Jacob's 7 The children of Israel increased, and sprung up into multitudes; and growing exceedingly strong they filled the land. 10 Come, let us wisely oppress them, lest they multiply, and if any war shall rise against us, join with our enemies, and having overcome us, depart out of the land. 11 Therefore he set over them masters of the works, to afflict them with burdens: and they built for Pharao cities of tabernacles,* Phithom, and Ramesses. 12 But the more they oppressed them, the more they were multiplied, and increased: 13 And the Egyptians hated the children of Israel, and afflicted them and mocked them: 14 And they made their life bitter with hard works in clay, and brick, and with all manner of service, wherewith they were overcharged in the works of the earth. 15 And the king of Egypt spoke to the midwives of the Hebrews, of whom one was called Sephora, the other Phua, 16 Commanding them: When you shall do the office of midwives to the Hebrew women, and the time of delivery is come: if it be a man child, kill it: if a woman, keep it alive. 17 But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded, but saved the men children. 18 And the king called for them, and said: 8 In the mean time there arose a new king over|| What is it that you meant to do, that you would Egypt, that knew not Joseph: 9 And he said to his people: Behold, the people of the children of Israel are numerous and stronger than we. save the men children? 19 They answered: The Hebrew women are * Of tabernacles, or of storehouses. 39 |