Aggada -- Translations into English; Bible. Old Testament -- Legends; Jewish legends; Midrash -- Translations into English
"His son Isaac did likewise when he went to Gerar, and he dwelt there,
and his strength prevailed over the army of Abimelech, and he intended
to make the kingdom of the Philistines to stumble, by saying that
Rebekah his wife was his sister.
"Jacob also dealt treacherously with his brother, and took his
birthright and his blessing from him. Then he went to Paddan-aram, to
Laban, his mother's brother, and he obtained his daughters from him
cunningly, and also his cattle and all his belongings, and he fled away
and returned to the land of Canaan, to his father.
"His sons sold their brother Joseph, and he went down into Egypt and
became a slave, and he was put into prison for twelve years, until the
former Pharaoh delivered him from the prison, and magnified him above
all the princes of Egypt on account of his interpreting the king's
dreams. When God caused a famine to descend upon the whole world,
Joseph sent for his father, and he brought him down into Egypt his
father, his brethren, and all his father's household, and he supplied
them with food without pay or reward, while he acquired Egypt, and made
slaves of all its inhabitants.
"Now, therefore, my lord king, behold, this child has risen up in their
stead in Egypt, to do according to their deeds and make sport of every
man, be he king, prince, or judge. If it please the king, let us now
spill his blood upon the ground, lest he grow up and snatch the
government from thine hand, and the hope of Egypt be cut off after he
reigns. Let us, moreover, call for all the judges and the wise men of
Egypt, that we may know whether the judgment of death be due to this
child, as I have said, and then we will slay him."
Pharaoh sent and called for all the wise men of Egypt, and they came,
and the angel Gabriel was disguised as one of them. When they were
asked their opinion in the matter, Gabriel spoke up, and said: "If it
please the king, let him place an onyx stone before the child, and a
coal of fire, and if he stretches out his hand and grasps the onyx
stone, then shall we know that the child hath done with wisdom all that
he bath done, and we will slay him. But if he stretches out his hand
and grasps the coal of fire, then shall we know that it was not with
consciousness that he did the thing, and he shall live."
The counsel seemed good in the eyes of the king, and when they had
placed the stone and the coal before the child, Moses stretched forth
his hand toward the onyx stone and attempted to seize it, but the angel
Gabriel guided his hand away from it and placed it upon the live coal,
and the coal burnt the child's hand, and he lifted it up and touched it
to his mouth, and burnt part of his lips and part of his tongue, and
for all his life he became slow of speech and of a slow tongue.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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