B e n j a m i n as his gueft, and faid, Verily I am thy . brother S: be not
therefore afflidted for that which they have committed againft us. And when he
had furnifhed them with their provifions, he put his cup b in his brother
B e n j a m i n ’s fack. Then a cryer cried after them faying, O company of
travellers, ye are furely thieves. They faid, (and turned'back unto them,)
What is it that ye mifs ? They anfwered, We mifs the prince’s cup : and
unto him who fhall produce it, Jhall be given a camel’s load of corn; and I
will be furety for the fame. J o s e ph 's brethren replied, By G o d , ye do w e l
know, that we come not to aft corruptly in the land% neither are w e
thieves. The EGrpriANS faid, What ihall be- the reward of him, who Jhall
appear to have ftolen the cup, if ye be found liars ? ' J o s e ph s brethren anfwered,
As to the reward of him, in whofe fack it fhall be found, let him
become a bondman in fatisfaftion for the fame : thus do we reward the unjuft,
who are guilty of theftd. Then he began by their facks, before be
fearcbed the fack of his brother ' ; and he drew out the cup from his brother’s
fack. Thus did we furniih J o s e p h with a ftratagem. It was not lawful
for him to take his brother for a bondman, by the law of the king of E-
Grprf, had not G o d pleafed to allow it, according to the offer of his brethren.
We exalt to degrees of knowledge and honour whom we pleafe : and there is
one who is knowing above all thofe who are indued with knowledge. His
brethren faid, If B e n j a m i n be guilty of theft, his brother J o s e ph hath b e e n
alfo guilty of theft heretofore8. But J o s e p h concealed thefe things in his m i n d ,
i and
a He received bis brother Benjamin as bis gueft,
&c,] It is related that Jofeph, having invited his
brethren to. an entertainment, ordered them to
be placed two and two together ; by which
means Benjamin, the eleventh, was obliged to lit
alone, and burfting into tears, faid, I f my brother
Jofepb were alive, he would have fat with
me. Whereupon Jofepb ordered him to be feat-
ed at the fame table with himfelf, and when the
entertainment was over, difmilfed the reft, ordering
that they Ihould be lodged two and two
in a houfe, but kept Benjamin in his own apartment,
where he palled the night. The next day
Jofepb asked him, whether he would accept of
himfelf for his brother, in the room of him whom
he had loft; to which Benjamin replied, Who
can find a brother comparable unto tbee? yet
thou art not the Jon o f Jacob and Rachel. And
upon this Jofepb difcovered himfelf to him 1.
b His cup;] Some imagine this to be a meafure
holding a Sad (or about a gallon,) wherein they
ufed to meafure corn, or give water to the beafts.
But others take it to be a drinking-cup of lilver,
or. gold.
c Ye well know that we came not to aft corruptly,
&c.] Both by our behaviour among you, and
our bringing again our money which was returned
to us without our knowledge.
d Thus do we reward tbofe who are guilty if
theft j] This was the method, of punching theft
ufed by Jacob and his family: for among the
Egyptians it was punilhed in another manner.
e He began by their facks, &c.] Some'fuppofe
this fearch was made by the perfon whom jofepb
fent after them j others by Jofepb himfelf, when
they were brought back to the city.
f It was not lawful for him to take his, brother
for a bondman by the law o f Egypt j] For there
the thief was not reduced to fervitude, but was
fcourged, and obliged to reftore the double of
what he had ftolen *.
2 His brother Jofeph hath been guilty of theft
heretofore ;] The occalion of this fufpicion,- it is
faid, was, that Jofeph having been brought up
by his father’s lifter, Ihe became fo fond of him,
that when he grew up, and Jacob defigned to
take him from her, Ihe contrived the. following
ftratagem to keep him. Having a girdle which
had once belonged to Abraham, Ihe girt it about
the child, and then pretending Ihe had loft it»
caufed ftrift fearch to be made for it j and it being
at length found on Jofeph, he was adjudged,
according to the abovementioned law of the family,
to be delivered to her as her property.
Some,
1 ^/Beidawi, 2 Idem, Jallalo’bbin.
d did not difcover them unto them : and he faid within himfelf. Ye are
a worfe condition than us two ; and G o d beft knoweth what ye difcourfe
1 bout. They faid unto J o se ph , Noble lord, Verily this lad^ hath an aged father
; wherefore take one of us in his ftead; for we perceive that thou art
a beneficent perfon. J o s e ph anfwered, G o d forbid that we fhould take any
other than him with whom we found our goods ; for then Jhould. vie cert
a i n l y M unjuft. And when they defpaired of obtaining B e n j a m in , they retired
to confer privately together. And the elder of them * faid,^ Do ye not
k n o w that your father hath received a folemn promife from you, in the name
of G o d ; and how perfidioufly ye behaved heretofore towards J o s e p h ?
Wherefore I will by no means depart the land of E g y p t , until_ my father
give me leave to return unto him, or G o d maketh known his will to me ;
for he is the beft judge. Return ye to your father, and fay, O father, verily
thy fon hath committed theft; we bear witnefs of no more than what we
k n o w , and we could not guard againft what we did not forefee: and do thou
inquire in the city, where we have been, and of the company of merchants,
with whom we are arrived, and thou wilt find that we fpeak the truth. And
when they were returned, and had fpoken thus to their father, he faid, Nay
but rather ye your felves have contrived the thing for your own fakes: but
patience is moft proper for me ; peradventure G o d will reftore them all b
unto me ; for he is knowing and wife. And he turned from them and faid,
Oh how am I grieved for J o s e p h ! And his eyes became white with mourning
c, he being opprefled with deep forrow. His fons faid, By G o d , thou wilt
not ceafe to remember J o s e p h , until thou be brought to death s door, or
thou be aftually deftroyed by excejfive affliction. He anfwered, I only repre-
fent my grief, which I am not able to contain, and my forrow unto G o d ;
but I know by revelation from G o d that which ye know not . O my fons,
go and make inquiry after J o s e p h and his brother ; and defpair not of the
mercy of G o d ; for none defpaireth of G o d ’ s mercy, except the unbelieving
people. Wherefore J o s e ph 's brethren returned into E g y p t : and when they
came into his prefence they faid, Noble lord, the famine is felt by us and
our family, and we are come with a fmall fum of money ': yet give unto
us
Some, however, fay that Jofepb aflually Hole an nual weeping; which, very much weakened his
idol of gold, which belonged to his mother’s fa- fight, or, as lome pretend; made him quite blind2:
ther, and deftroyed it j a ftory probably taken d 1 know by revelation from G o d , that^ which
from Rachel's Healing the images of Laban: and ye know not i] viz. That Jofepb is yet alive i of
others tell His that he onceftole a goat, or a hen, which fome tell us he was aflured by the angel
to give to a poor man 1. of death in a dream ; tho’ others fuppofe he dea
The elder o f them;] viz. Reuben. But fome pended on the completion of Jofepb's dream,
think Simeon, or Judah to be here meant; and whith muft have been fruftrated, had he died
in ftead of the elder, interpretit, the moft prudent before his brethren had bowed down before
of them. him 3 . : 1' -
b Reradventure G o d w ill reftore them all, &c.] e A fmall fum of money', j Their money being
i. e. Jofeph, Benjamin, and Simeon. 1 clipped and adulterated. Some, however, imagine
c His eyes became white;] That is, the pupils they did not bring money, but goods to barter,
loft their deep blapkneis, and became of a pearl fuch as wool and butter, or other commodities
colour, (as happens in fuffuiions,) by his conti- of fmall value 4.
1 Jallalo’ddin. 2 A l Beidawi. 3 Idem. 4 Idem.