And the king faid, Bring him unto me: I will take him into my own peculiar fer-
vice. And when J oseph was brought unto the king, and he had difcourfed withlnm
he faid, Thou art this day firmly eftabliftied with us, and Jhdlt be intrufted
with our affairsa. J oseph anfwered, Set me over the ftore-houfes of the land •
for I will be a fkilful keeper thereof. Thus did we eflablifh J o s e p h in the land
that he might provide himfelf a dwelling therein, where he pleafed. We beftow
our mercy on whom we pleafe, and we fuffer not the reward of the right-
eous to perifh : and certainly the reward of the next life is better, for
thofe who believe, and fear G od. Moreover J o s e p h ’ s brethren cameb , and
went
4 And -when Jofeph was brought unto the king,
&c.] The commentators fay, that Jofeph being
taken out of prifon, after he had wafhed and
changed his cloaths, was introduced to the king,
whom he faJuted in the Hebrew tongue, and on
the king’s asking what language that was, he
anfwered, that it was the language of his fathers.
This prince, they fay, underftood no lefs than
feventy languages, in every one of which he
difcourfed with Jofeph, who anfwered him in the
fame ; at which the king greatly marvelling, de-
iired him to relate his dream, which he did, describing
the moft minute circumftances : where-
-upon the king placed Jofeph by him on his throne,
and made him his Wazir, or, chief minifter.
Some fay that his matter K itfir dying about this
time,-he-not only fucceeded him in his place,
but, by the king’s command, married.the widow,
his late miftrefs, whom he. found to be a virgin,
and who bare him Ephraim and Manaffes x. So
that according to this tradition, Ihe was the fame
woman who is called Afenath by Mofes. This
fuppofed marriage, which authorized their
amours, probably incouraged the Mohammedan
divines to make ufe of the loves of Jofeph and
Zoleikha-, hs an allegorical emblem of the fpiri-
tual love between the Creator and the creature,
GoO and the foul; juft as the Chriflians apply
the fo'ng of Solomon to the fame myftical pur-
pofe 2.
b Moreover JofephV brethren came, &c.J Jofeph,
being made Waztr, governed with great
wifdom ; for he not only caufed juftice to be impartially
adminiftred, and incouraged the people
to induftry. and the improvement of agriculture
'during the feven years of plenty, 'but began and
pOrfedted feversil works of great' benefit ; the natives
at this 'day afcribing to the patriarch Jofeph
almoft all the ancient works of public utility
throughout the kingdom; ;as particularly the rendering
the province of al Feyyum, from a Handing
1 Idem, K itab tafasjr, IAc.
L i i 'riot. in Alfrdgan. p. 175, &c.
205, & tom. iii. p. 53. $
pool or marlh, the moft fertile and beft cultivated
land in all Egypt3. When the years of famine
came, the effects of which were felt not only in
Egypt, but in Syria and the neighbouring1 countries,
the inhabitants were obliged to apply to
Jofeph for corn, which he fold to them, firft for
their money, jewels, and ornaments, then for
their cattle, and lands, and at length for their
perfons ; fo that all the Egyptians in general became
Haves to the king, tho’ Jofeph, by his con-
fent, foori releafed them, and retufned;them their
fubftance. The dearth being felt in the land of
Canaan, Jacob :fent all his fons, except only Ben-
jamin, into Egypt for corn. On their arrival,
Jofeph (who well, knew them) asked’ them whi)
they were, faying he fufpedted them to be fpies;
but they told him they came only to buy provi-
fions, and that they were all the fons of an ancient
man, named Jacob, who was alfo a-prophet.
Jofeph then asked how many brothers
there were of them ; they anfwered, Twelve;
but that one of them had been loft in a defart.
Upon which he enquired for the .eleventh brother,
there being no more than ten of them
prefent. They faid, he was a lad, and with their
father, whofe fondnefs forhim would not fuffer
him to accompany them in their journey. At
length Jofeph asked them, who .they had to
vouch for their -veracity.; but they'told him they
knew no man who could vouch for them mEgypt.
Then, replied 'he, one;of you fhall ftay behind
with me as a pledge, and the. others may return
home with their provifions; and when ye come
again, ye fhall bring your younger brother with
you, that I may know ye have told me the truth.
Whereupon, It being in vain to difpute the matter,
they caft lots who fhould ftay behind, and
the lot fell upon Simeon. -When they departed,
Jofeph gave each of them a camel, and another
for their brother 4.
D ’H e r b -e l o t , Bibl. Orient, art. Joufbuf. 3 E1. Go-
L K i r c h e r , Oedip. Mgypt. vol. 1 ..p. 8 . ucas, Key. tom. ii- p-
A l Beidawi.
went in unto him > and he knew them, but they knew not him. And when
he had furnifhed them with their provifions, he faid, Bring unto me your
brother, the fon of your father : do ye not fee that I give full meafure,
and that I am the moft hofpitable receiver of guefts ? But if ye bring him
not unto me, there fhall be no corn meafured unto you from me, neither
ihall -ye approach my prefence. They anfwered, We will endeavour to obtain
him of his father, and we will certainly perform what thou requireft.
And J oseph faid to his fervants, Put their money * which they have paid for
their corn, into their facks, that they may perceive it, when they ihall be
returned to their family: peradventure they will come back unto us. And
when they were returned unto their father, they faid, O father, it is forbidden
to meafure out corn unto us any more, unlefs we carry our brother B e n j
am in with tts: wherefore fend our brother with us, and we Ihall have corn
meafured unto us ; and we will certainly guard him from any mifchance.
J acob anfwered, Shall I truft him with you with any better fuccefs than I
trufted your brother J oseph with you heretofore ? But G od is the beft
guardian; and he is the moft merciful of thofe who fhew mercy. And when
they opened their provifions, they found their money had been returned unto
them ; and they faid, O father, what do we defire farther ? this our
money hath been returned unto us: we will therefore return, and provide corn
for our family: we will take care of our brother s and we fhall receive a
camel’s burthen more than we did the laft time. This is a fmall quantity11.
J acob faid, I will by no means fend him with you, until ye give me a
folemn promife, and fwear by G od that ye will certainly bring him back
unto me, unlefs ye be encompafied by fome inevitable impediment. And when
they had given him their folemn promife, he faid, G od is witnefs of what
we fay. And he faid, My fons, enter not into the city by one and the fame
gate ; but enter by different gates. But this precaution will be of no advantage
unto you againft the decree of G od ; for judgment belongeth unto G od
alone : in him do I put my truft, and in him let thofe confide who feek in
whom to put their truft. And when they entred the city, as their father had
commanded them, it was of no advantage unto them againft the decree of
G o d s and the fame ferved only to fatisfy the defire of J a c o b ’ s foul, which he
had charged them to perform: for he was indued with knowledge of that which
we had taught hims but the greater part of men do not underftand. And
when they entred into the prefence of J o s e p h , he received his brother
C c 2 B e n -.
a Their money ;] The original word fignifying
not only money, but alfo goods bartered or given
in exchange for other merchandize, fome
commentators tell us, that they paid for their
corn, not in money, but in ftioes and drefled
skins
b This is a fmall quantity.] The meaning may
be, either that the com they now brought was
not fufficient for the fupport of their families, fo
that it wasnecelfary for them to take another journey
; or elfe, that a camel’s load more or lefs was
but a trifle to the king of Egypt. Some fuppofe
thefe to be the words of Jacob, declaring it was
too mean a conftderation to induce him to part
with his fon.