Legends of Old Testament characters, from the Talmud and other sourcesBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Religion
Legends of Old Testament characters, from the Talmud and other sources
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Bible. Old Testament -- Legends; Jewish legends
So he bought him for twenty pieces of silver; thus each of the brothers
obtained two drachmæ, and therewith they bought shoes.[410] To this the
prophet Amos refers in two places (ii. 6; viii. 6), and in the Testament
of the Twelve Patriarchs, which is received as canonical by the Armenian
Church, Zebulun relates the same circumstance, that the brethren
supplied themselves with sandals from the money which they got by the
sale of Joseph.
Joseph went along with the Ishmaelites till they passed his mother’s
tomb; then his grief overcame him, and he burst forth into bitter tears
and cried, “O mother, mother! I am an outcast and a slave, I the child
of the wife Jacob loved. When thou wast dying, thou didst show me to my
father, and bade him look on me, and be comforted for my loss. O mother,
mother! hast thou no thought of thy son? Awake and see the miserable
condition of thy child; shake off thy sleep; be my defence against my
brethren, and comfort my father. Awake and stand up to judge my quarrel,
awake and plead my cause with God! awake and look upon the desolation of
the soul of my father who cherished thee, and who for fourteen years
served a hard bondage for his beloved Rachel! Console him, I pray thee,
and, by the voice that he loves, soothe the grief of his last days.”
It was moonlight, and the caravan was resting.
A low voice issued from the tomb. “My son! my son Joseph! my child! I
have heard the voice of thy crying. I know all thou hast suffered, my
son, and my grief is as deep as the sea. But put thy trust in God, who
is the help of thy countenance and thy God! Rise, my child, and have
patience. If thou knewest the future, thou wouldst be comforted.”[411]
One of the chiefs of the caravan, wearied with the cries of Joseph, came
to drive him from the tomb, but suddenly a dark and threatening cloud
appeared in the sky over his head, and he desisted in fear.
In the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Benjamin says that a man
struck Joseph as he lagged on the way, whereupon a lion fell upon the
man and slew him.
The sun was about to set, when the caravan entered Heliopolis, the chief
city of Egypt, which was then under the government of Rajjan, an
Amalekite. Joseph’s face shone brighter than the mid-day sun; and as
this new light from the east shone in the city, and cast the shadows
towards the declining sun, all the women and damsels ran out upon the
terraces or to the windows to see.
Next day he was placed for sale before the palace of the king. All the
wealthy ladies of Heliopolis sent their husbands or relations to bid for
the beautiful youth, but he was purchased by Potiphar, the king’s
treasurer,[412] who was childless, and designed making Joseph his
adopted son and heir.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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