St feemed to me in my dream that I prefled wine out of grapes. And the o-
ther faid, It feemed unto me in my dream that I carried bread os my head
whereof the birds did eat. Declare unto us the interpretation of our dreams
for we perceive that thou art a beneficent perfon. J o se ph anfwered, No food'
wherewith ye may be nourifhed, fhall come unto you, but I will declare unto
you the interpretation thereof, before it come unto ■ you-*. T\m knowledie
is apart of that which my L o r d hath taught me : for $ have left the r e l ig io n
of people who believe not in G o d , and who deny the life to come; and I
follow the religion of my fathers, A b r a h a m , and I s a a c , and J a c o b . I t
is not lawful for us to affociate any thing with G o d . This knowledge of
the divine unity hath been given us of the bounty of G od towards u s , and to wards.
mankind but the greater part of men are not thankful. O my fel-
low-prifoners, are fundry lords better, or the only true and mighty God?
Ye worfhip not, befides him, other than the names which ye have named11
ye and your fathers, concerning which G od hath fent down no authoritative
proof; yet judgment belongeth unto G od alone; who hath commanded that
ye worfhip none befides him. This is. the right religion ; but the greater
part of men know it not. O my fellow - prifoners, verily the one of you
fhall ferve wine unto his lord, as formerly, but the-other fhall be crucified,
and the birds fhall eat from off his head. The matter is decreed concerning
which ye feek to be informed. And J ose th faid unto him whom he judged
to be the perfon who fhould efcape of the two, Remember me in the prefence
of thy lord. But the devil caufed him to forget to make mention of
J o s e ph unto his lorde | wherefore he remained in the prifon fome yearsd. And
the king of E g t p t ‘ faid, Verily I faw in my dream feven fat kine, w h ich
feven lean kine devoured, and feven green ears of corn, and other feven withered
ears. O nobles, expound my vifion unto me,; if ye be able to interpret a
vifion. They anfwered, They are confufed dreams; neither are we fkilled
in the interpretation of fuch kind of dreams. And J o s e ph 's fellow-pri f ner
,% S ib o y f f r 1 who
* No food wherewith ye may be nourijhed, fhall
come unto you, bui I w ill declare unto you the interpretation
-thereof) before it come unto you. ] The
meaning of this paffage leem is to be, eithèr that
jofeph, to Ihew he ufedno arts of divination , or
' aftrology, promifes to interpret their dreams to
them, immediately, éven before they fhould eat a
fingle meal; or elfe, he here offers tp prophéfy
to them beforehand, the quantity and quality of
the vi&uals which fhould be brought them, as
a tafte of his skill.
h See chap. 7. p. 123. not.’g.
c But the devil caufed him to forget to mention
Jofeph unto his lord;] According to the explication
of fome, who take the pronoun him to.
rékte to Jofeph, this paffage may be rendred,
But the devil.caufed him (i. e. Jofeph) to forget to
make his application unto his Lo r d ; and to beg the
good offices of his, fellow-prifoner for his deliverance,
inftead of relyihg oh G od alone, as if became
a prophet, efpecialiy, to have done 1.
d. Some years;] . The original word fignifyirig'
any number from three to nine, or ten, the <5om-
mon opinion is that Jofeph remained in prifon fe-.
ven years j tho’ fome fay he was confined no lcfs
than twelve years 2.
: c The king o f Egypt;] This prince, as the
oriental writers generally agree, was Riyan, the
fon of al Watid the Amalekite 3, who was converted
by Jofeph to the Worfhip of the true God,
and died in the life’ time of that prophet. But
fome pretend that the Pharaoh of Jofeph arid of
Mofes, were one and the fame perfon, and that
he lived (or rather reigned) four hundred years 4.
3 See the Prelim* Difc. ƒ.8. 4 A l Bf<-
who had been delivered, faid, (Tor he remembred J o s e ph alter a certain fpace
of time,) I will declare unto you. the interpretation thereof; wherefore let
me go unto the perfon whq. will interpret it unto me. . And he went to the
trifon, and faid, O J o s e p h , thou man of veracity, teach us the interpretation
of feven fat kine, which feven lean kine devoured, and of feven green ears
of corn ; and other feven withered ears, which the king faw in his dreatn ; that I
may return unto, the men who have fent me, that, peradventure they may
underftand the fume. J o s e ph anfwered, Ye fhall fow feven years as ufual:
and the corn which ye fhall reap, do ye leave in its ear *, except a little whereof
ye may eat. Then fhall there come, after this, feven grievous years of fa-
tnine, which fhall confume what ye fhall have laid up as a provifion for the
fame, except a little which ye fhall have kept. Then fhall there come, after
this, a year wherein men fhall have plenty of rain b, and wherein they
fhall prefs wine and oyl. And when the chief butler had reported this, the king
faid, Bring him unto me. And when the meffenger came unto J o s e ph , he
faid, Return unto thy lord, and afk of him, what was the intent of the
women who cut their hands'; for my L ord well knoweth the fnare which
they laid for mei. And when the women were ajfembled before the king, he
faid unto them, What was your defign, when ye follicited J o s e p h to unlawful
love ? They anfwered, God be praifed! we know not any ill of him.
The nobleman’s wife faid, Now is the truth become manifeft: I follicited
him to lie with me ; and he is one of thofe who fpeak truth. And when
J oseph was acquainted therewith he faid, This difcovery hath been made, that
my lord might know that I was not Unfaithful unto him in his abfence,
and that God direfteth not the plot of the deceivers. * Neither? do I a^- XIII.
filutely juftify my felf': fince every foul is prone unto evil, except thofe . on
whom my L ord fhall fhew mercy, for my L ord is gracious and merciful.
C c And
■ 3 Ye Jhall have the corn in the ear, &c.] To
preferve it from the weevil 1.
b Wherein men fhall have plenty o f rain;] Not-
withftanding what fome ancient authors write to
the contrary 2, it often rains in winter in the
lower Egypt, and even fnow has been obferved
to fall at Alexandria, contrary to the exprefs af-
fertion of Seneca 3. In the upper Egypt indeed,
towards thé cataratts of Nile, it rains very fel-
dom 4. Some, however, fuppofe that the rains
here mentioned are intended of thofe which
Ihould fall in Ethiopia, and occafion the fwelling
of the Nile, the great caufe of the fertility of
Egypt; or elfe of thofe which flïbuld fall in the
neighbouring countries, which were alfo affliótéd
with famine during the fame time.
c Return unto thy L o r d , and ask o f him, &c.]
Jofeph, it feems, cared not to get out of prifon,
till his innocence was publickly known and declared.
It is obferved by the commentators, that
Jofeph does not bid the meffenger move the king
to inform himfelf of the truth of the affair, but
bids him direétly to ask the king, to incite him
to make the proper inquiry with the greater ear-
neftnefs. They alfo obferve that Jofeph takes
care not to mention his miftrefs, out of relpeft
and gratitude for the favours he had received
while in her houfe 5: ,
d The fnare which they had laid for me ;] Endeavouring
both by threats and perfuafions to in-
tice me to commit folly with my mittrefs.
e Neither do I abfolutely. juftify my fe lf;] According
to a tradition of Ebn Abbas, Jofeph had
no fooner fpoken the foregoing words, averting
his innocency, than Gabriel faid to him, What
not when thou waft deliberating to lie with her ?
Upon which Jofeph confeffed his jrailty $.
1 Idem. 2 P l a t o , in Tim wo. P o m p . M e l a . 3 N at.qtieeft.l.\.
Defer, of the pyramids, p, 74, &c. R a i ' s Collection of Travels, T. 2 . ƒ. 92,
6 Idem, i$c+
+ See G r e a v e sV
s Al B e id a ^v j ,