Книга четвертая. Иосиф и его время

There is no person in history who, due to his wonderful fate, full of extraordinary vicissitudes, would be more interesting and sympathetic than the person of Joseph. The story about him is an incomparable epic of a meek, pure and noble soul, which in itself constitutes the greatest happiness, elevating a person above all the vicissitudes of life. In terms of the simplicity of the concept, surprisingly combined with the extraordinary nature of the circumstances, the depth of the psychological analysis that runs throughout the entire story, and the consistency of the characters, this legend, considered even simply from a literary point of view, constitutes a pearl in the literary treasury of mankind 180 . While being completely true to psychological laws, it is also true to historical laws. All its details so accurately depict the features of contemporary cultural and historical life, as it is now revealed on the stone monuments of former Egyptian and eastern antiquity in general, which undoubtedly constitutes a precious source for scientific Egyptology. In itself, in its entirety, the biblical story about him is so well known to everyone that there is no need to retell it here, but it is enough to trace how it, in all its details, coincides with the data of the latest scientific discoveries and research in the field of ancient Eastern and especially Egyptian life 181. Filled with adventure, Jacob's life was already moving towards the limit of human existence. He was about a hundred years old when he, having a large family and owning significant wealth, consisting of herds of various livestock, thought to calmly go to his forefathers. But Providence was preparing new trials for him, and precisely through his most beloved son, Joseph. In biblical history, Joseph first appears to us as a seventeen-year-old youth (Gen. 37:2 et seq.) As a beloved son, he was constantly with his elderly father and only occasionally visited his brothers, who were engaged in shepherd work and moved with their flocks from one pasture to another. Simple-minded and innocent, with childish naivety, returning home, he told his father about the various bad deeds of his brothers, who were not distinguished by any particular height of morality. They naturally hated him for this, and their hatred flared up the more strongly the more they saw that their elderly father did not hide his special love for Joseph, as “the son of his old age” and, moreover, the eldest son of his beloved wife Rachel, now mourned by him. The elder really openly showed his special love for Joseph and made him a special “multi-colored robe,” long and perhaps from the best Egyptian materials. In the east, where centuries-old customs are invariably preserved, beloved children are still dressed in the same way. Clothes are made from fabric of different colors, which are elegantly combined according to the dictates of fashion and taste. Such clothing could at the same time serve as a sign that Jacob intended to make Joseph the heir of his property, especially in view of the fact that the older brothers had brought terrible dishonor to their father. In any case, all this together aroused anger in the older brothers along with envy of Joseph. This evil feeling boiled so much in the hearts of the brothers that it only needed an opportunity to manifest itself in action. Placed in completely exceptional circumstances, Joseph naturally could not help but recognize in his young soul a certain superiority of himself over his brothers, and he saw two dreams that, as if in response to his own thoughts, foreshadowed a great future for him. In ancient times, dreams were recognized as one of the means of higher revelation, and therefore, when Joseph saw these dreams, he involuntarily thought about them and told them to his father and brothers. The image of the first of his dreams was taken from the agricultural life, and the image of the second from the shepherd life of the chosen family. In the first dream, Joseph, along with the rest of his brothers, was in the harvest field (from which it can be seen that Jacob, like his father Isaac, was partly engaged in farming), and Joseph’s sheaf stood upright, and his brothers’ sheaves bowed before him. In the second dream, they were all tending their flocks, and at this time the sun, moon and eleven stars bowed to the star of Joseph. These dreams were so clear in their meaning that they decisively aroused hatred in the brothers towards their younger brother, the young man, and even Jacob himself remarked indignantly: “What is this dream that you saw? Shall I and your mother and your brothers come to worship you to the ground? Neither the patriarch himself, nor even more so his sons, could foresee what prophetic meaning lay in these dreams, and therefore they felt only bewilderment and annoyance, which among the brothers finally turned into mortal hatred of Joseph, so that they decided to get rid of such a hated rival at all costs. And the opportunity soon presented itself. Moving with their flocks from one place to another, the sons of Jacob one day went further from their father’s headquarters than usual, near Shechem. Having not received news from them for a long time, Jacob decided to send Joseph to them in order to find out through him whether everything was all right with them. The obedient young man immediately set off on his journey. He had to take the route that was the usual caravan route between Damascus and Egypt. But in the direction from Damascus, this path passed through the plain of Ezdrilon and, at the exit from it, deepened into a gorge, which is the only passage through the mountain range of the Mount Ephraim. It was there that Yengannim, the newest Jennin, lay. Behind Jennin there is now the hill of Dutan, ancient Dothan, i.e. "double tank". Its location is now exactly known 182. It was, according to the description of travelers, an excellent place for grazing herds. His fertility was wonderful. Now only cactus is found on this hill, but a few years ago it was like an artificially planted orchard, replete with lemons, oranges and pomegranate apples 183 . There are still two wells there, one of which is known as “Khap-yub-Yusuf” i.e. Khan of Joseph's grave. It was in this very place that Joseph found his brothers. Seeing them from afar, the young man, with his characteristic simplicity of heart, hurried to convey to them greetings from his father and, in a brotherly way, wished them peace, according to Eastern custom. But the hearts of his brothers were not filled with such feelings. Seeing him also from afar, they exchanged mocking remarks among themselves, saying: “Here comes the dreamer!” But this mockery was only a weak expression of the bloodthirsty hatred that boiled in their chests at the sight of their hated brother. The duration of separation not only did not calm it down, but on the contrary intensified it, and under the current circumstances, a bloodthirsty thought could easily flash through the brothers - now to deal with the dreamer, especially since the remoteness and desolation of the area made it possible to hide traces of the crime. And so they decided to kill him. “Let’s go now,” they said among themselves, and kill him, and throw him into some ditch, and say that a predatory beast ate him; and we will see what will happen from his words.” But the elder brother Reuben rebelled against such a decision, and as a result, the brothers, when the unsuspecting Joseph approached them, took off his multi-colored clothes and simply threw him into the ditch - just in case. Eastern pastures still abound with similar ditches, or rather pits. These are dried up wells, as well as simple pits that were artificially prepared in order to store water in them during rainy times during drought. Due to their bottle-like shape, which made it impossible to escape, these ditches often served as places of imprisonment, and the Hebrew word for these ditches also serves to designate a prison (Exodus 12:29, Exodus 24:22, Jeremiah 37:16). Extraordinary events often originate in a very simple case, as was the case with Joseph. When the older brothers, having thrown him into the ditch, were wondering what to do with him next, an Arab caravan appeared in the distance, pulling with a load of fragrant herbs - styrax, balsam and frankincense - towards Egypt, and he decided the fate of Joseph. The cruel brothers sold him to Arab merchants. This whole legend constitutes a surprisingly true picture of local eastern life, which in its general outlines continues to this day. Just as thousands of years ago, so now, the caravans of the “Ishmaelites” stretch from Syria and Arabia towards Egypt, carrying there “styrax, balm and palm”, and both then and until very recently these caravans capture along the way everything that comes to hand and from which they can make a more or less profitable turn for themselves. The boy of the English traveler Baker was taken away by an Arab caravan under almost exactly the same circumstances as Joseph: when he was tending goats, the Arabs captured him, hid him in a bag of fragrant herbs and sold him into slavery in Cairo. Trade in fragrant goods was very extensive between the Nile Valley and neighboring countries, which abounded in them. In Egypt, these goods were required in large quantities - for embalming mummies, for smoking, and also for various purifications. Each church in Egypt had a special laboratory where raw materials were processed for various uses, and in one of these laboratories a list of 200 substances was found, among which were the first two substances mentioned in the biblical story, namely, styrax and balsam, of which the first was obtained from Palestine, Armenia and Persia, and the second from the balsam tree in Gilead. Ladon was extracted from the leaves of a special rose that grows in Syria and Arabia, and is often found in tombs containing mummies. “You only have to go to Egypt,” says the famous Egyptologist, to see similar caravans arriving from the east to the banks of the Nile. They are immortalized with images on monuments” 184. The Ishmaelites bought Joseph for twenty pieces of silver; this is the same price that was subsequently set by Moses for a slave from five to twenty years of age. Thus, for centuries, the price of slaves remained unchanged. As for the very existence of slavery in Egypt, it is proven by numerous images of male and female slaves of all kinds on monuments and even by a special kind of manuscripts that have survived to this day, in which slave owners offer a reward to anyone who brings back runaway slaves to them. One of these manuscripts represents a similar announcement on the part of Prince Atefamen, son of Pharaoh Ramses II, the great overseer of the works of prisoners of war. That among the slaves there were undoubtedly Jews and other peoples of the Semitic race is clearly demonstrated by the fact that the slaves are often called by the Hebrew name “ebed.” By the way, slaves from Syria 185 were especially in great demand in the bazaars of Memphis and Thebes and the highest prices were offered for them, just as it was in ancient Rome. Since Joseph was a Syrian, acquiring him was a godsend for the Ishmaelites and they could fetch a particularly good price for him on the Egyptian market. How much such slaves were valued can be judged even by the agreement concluded by Ramses II with the Hetites, according to which slaves who fled to Syria should be returned to Egypt 186, and in addition, a letter from one scribe to his father, the prophet Ramess in Hermopolis, has survived, in which he describes all his adventures during the search for a runaway slave 187. Syrians and blacks were used primarily to run in front of the chariots of their masters in the streets. With a gilded cane or whip in hand, they cleared the way and guided the horses. Joseph was purchased by "Potiphar (Pentephrius), Pharaoh's courtier, captain of the bodyguard." The name of Potiphar is completely Egyptian and means “dedicated to Ra - the sun god,” whose worship was concentrated in Heliopolis, in the south of lower Egypt, not far from Memphis, the favorite residence of the pharaoh of the time of Joseph, who was the great patron of the cult in honor of the god Ra. The court of this pharaoh, like all other pharaohs, was crowded with dignitaries of all kinds - secret councilors, royal relatives, masters of horses, directors of court music, astrologers and dream-readers, librarians, ministers of public buildings and tombs, palace managers, palace and state treasurers, and also, to list no more, fan-bearers, who apparently were the highest dignitaries in courtyard and usually occupied a place on the right side of the pharaoh. On the left side, as the weaker side and requiring cover, stood the highest military ranks, who made up special bodyguards, at whose disposal there was also a detachment of two thousand soldiers who received better pay than ordinary ordinary soldiers. But Potiphar was hardly the leader of this detachment, since the detachment changed every year, and he lived permanently in Memphis. Most likely, he was the head of the Egyptian state police, which formed one of the army corps and primarily carried out public police service 188. The police force in Egypt was numerous and well organized already in the most ancient times and had numerous responsibilities. The law required that every resident present himself annually to the police commander of his district and give testimony about the means by which he lived, and any false testimony was punishable by death. Egypt was a country of bureaucracy and all kinds of writing. The entire population of each “nome” or district was enumerated annually by scribes into special lists at appointed times, and slaves were also included in these lists. On one of the monuments of the 19th dynasty there is a painting depicting a similar census 189. The police, of course, had a lot of work to do. She was obliged to find and punish criminals, pursue and catch fugitive slaves, guard numerous prisoners of war and oversee the proper execution of public works imposed on the people by laws, as well as oversee the public works of slaves. Such a complex service required a large number of people, and therefore, next to the scribes and officials, whose duties were to carry out trials and reprisals, even in the time of Abraham, a special gendarmerie corps was formed, initially from foreigners, and other detachments of foreign warriors, recruited in Sardinia and other countries, were added to it, which formed part of the state and personal guard of the pharaoh. These detachments required a special commander, who, like the heads of other parts of the administration, was assigned to the court, with the loud title of “the eyes of the king of upper and the ears of the king of lower Egypt.” In all likelihood, this was the position that Potiphar occupied, because with this position were connected those duties that are attributed to him in the biblical narrative, namely the duties of looking after prisons and those imprisoned in them, punishing criminals and carrying out all sorts of judicial sentences 190 . By his agility, honesty, and success in carrying out all his assignments, Joseph justified the general view of the Egyptians regarding the special dignity of Syrian slaves. He gained “favor in the eyes” of Potiphar, as a result of which he “set him over his house and gave all that he had into his hands.” A similar position, as a boss over slaves and manager of the entire household, can be constantly found on the monuments and literature of ancient Egypt. Every large and rich house had such a ruler over the slaves and over the household, and Joseph took exactly this position in the house of Potiphar. Whether the quantity of grain is being measured, or metal is being weighed, or any construction or agricultural work is going on in general, the images usually show an overseer or head of the farm with a small cane in his hand or with a writing board and a pen behind his ear. He also had assistants, but the chief overseer was usually placed incomparably higher than all his subordinates and bore the honorary title of “ruler of the house.” Such an honorable position often developed in them extreme ambition, and one papyrus tells of one warden that, driven by ambition, he indulged in magic, which led him to a bad end. On the walls of the tombs of all rich Egyptians there are images of similar “rulers of the house”, quite corresponding to the position of Joseph in the house of Potiphar 191. These tombs reproduce before us the entire economy and the entire internal home life of Egyptian dignitaries and rich people - and this life was so complex that the position of overseer or “ruler of the house” was very difficult, associated with great responsibility. The Egyptian courtiers were unusually rich and some of them list in detail their wealth in its various forms in the inscriptions on their tombs. One eg. declares that he had 835 oxen, 220 cows and calves, 760 donkeys, 2,235 sheep and 974 goats, and another declares that he had 405 cattle of the first kind, and 1237 of the second, 1360 of the third, 1220 calves, etc., geese, ducks and pigeons being counted in the thousands 192 . Country houses and gardens, as depicted on tombstones, were distinguished by their particular luxury and wealth, and these premises had so many storerooms of all kinds that a special housekeeper or caretaker was absolutely necessary. The rooms were overflowing with vessels and utensils of all kinds, gold and silver plates, dry fish, bread, vegetables 193, etc. In such a huge household, the agility and honesty that distinguished Joseph should have been highly valued, and indeed Potiphar found in him such a faithful and reliable servant that he could completely entrust him with the entire management of his house and “with him he knew nothing except the bread that he ate (Gen. 39:6), and only because the strict Egyptian laws of ceremonial purity did not allow a foreigner, especially from a pastoral people, to touch the objects of direct consumption of the Egyptians. With his high moral dignity and economic abilities, Joseph was also distinguished by his stateliness and beauty (Gen. 39:6), which did not fail to attract the attention of the pampered luxury and idleness of Potiphar’s wife. His reluctance to satisfy her with voluptuousness caused understandable revenge and slander, thanks to which Joseph was imprisoned. On the basis of this story, objections have often been made to the truth of the story, namely that it does not correspond to the actual position of women among the ancient Egyptians. But the images now discovered on tombs and churches show the complete inconsistency of this objection. Women in Egypt were not at all alienated from men; on the contrary, they constantly interacted with men in everyday life, as can be seen in the images taken by Wilkinson 194 . In one of them, guests of both sexes sit together in one company, in their best clothes, with lotus flowers in their hands for smelling, and slaves surround everyone with bowls. The table is overflowing with all kinds of treats - fruits, cookies, game and vessels of all kinds for drinks; naked dancers amuse the guests with their dances to the sounds of the music of a women's orchestra: one of them plays the flute, and all the rest rhythmically clap their hands and apparently sing songs. Another image also shows a society of men and women. Slaves put various neck decorations on the guests, others carry napkins to those who need them to wipe their lips or hands. In general, women in Egypt enjoyed great freedom and advantages; according to Herodotus, they went to the market to do their shopping, while the men sat at home and spun, and the responsibility of caring for elderly parents fell on daughters, not sons 195 . Diodorus even asserts that on the banks of the Nile the queen was revered more than the king, and that wives dominated their husbands, from whom, at the time of marriage, a promise was taken to obey their wives - and this strange establishment is partly confirmed by monuments 196. The wife is often called "the lady of the house" or "the great lady of the house" and the name of the mother usually stands alongside the name of the father, and sometimes before it, and sons are often called only by the name of their mothers 197. At many ceremonial receptions of foreign ambassadors, the queen stands in front. In almost all tombs and coffin papyri, husband and wife sit side by side, as if united not only in this life, but also in the afterlife; Many tomb paintings show husband and wife sitting on a bed, with the husband hugging his wife or vice versa. Spouses on monuments often declare with particular expressiveness mutual tenderness, and wives are mourned as “wholly devoted to their husbands,” as “lovers of their husbands,” as “palms of love” that overshadow him. Reigning women are already mentioned in the annals of ancient times and often achieved great glory as rulers, being considered, like the pharaohs, as divine beings during their lifetime. Upon death, women were given more honors than men, and female mummies were usually more richly embalmed, decorated and more luxuriously buried than male mummies. Marriage on the banks of the Nile was sacred. Husband and wife ate and lived together, rather than in separate rooms, as was the case among other Eastern peoples, and divorce was difficult. Infidelity was considered one of the mortal sins, and the soul of every woman had to answer before the judges of the dead as to whether she had violated fidelity to her husband. True, in Egypt, as in other eastern countries, concubines and entire harems were not unknown; the pharaohs, like all eastern despots, had “houses of women” under the supervision of eunuchs, and noble dignitaries completely followed their example; but in no case were these concubines considered on an equal footing with the legitimate wife, who usually sits next to her husband at feasts, and the other women amuse him with their songs and dances. Considering the strictness of the marriage laws that ensured marital fidelity, the custom that allowed women in society to expose their right breasts and generally dress in very transparent materials cannot but seem strange. Thus, it was quite consistent with Egyptian customs that Joseph often met in the house with his mistress, and perhaps even one of his duties was to accompany his mistress on her ceremonial appearances in society or in the church, as one papyrus represents, where one noble beauty is depicted going to the church of Ptah: she is accompanied by fifty virgins and one slave - undoubtedly the leader of the rest of the slaves, like Joseph. Despite the high respect for marriage, cases of violation of the duty associated with it were nevertheless quite common in Egypt. As a result, Egyptian women were not famous in ancient times for any special virtues, and strong prejudice against them prevailed everywhere 198 . And indeed, the very freedom that women enjoyed, surrounded by the immoral influences of the Egyptian religious cult, as well as the strange custom of dressing in transparent materials, were not very favorable for the development of high morality. The images on the tombs show that they were drowning in luxury and pleasure, spending whole days in pleasure, surrounded by crowds of slaves who unquestioningly fulfilled all their whims and caprices. It is not surprising, therefore, that such an idle life led to various excesses, the images of which are full of the walls of various Egyptian churches 199 . A striking confirmation of the external side of the biblical story of Joseph in his relation to Potiphar’s wife is a remarkable Egyptian document known as the “Tale of Two Brothers.” The light thrown by this literary work of ancient Egypt on many circumstances of the story of Joseph is so interesting that it can be given here in its most essential features. At the same time, it is worth keeping in mind that all ancient languages ​​and literatures, not excluding Hebrew, knew nothing about those reticences and softenings in expression that are characteristic of modern literature, and therefore used such words and expressions that may confuse us now, but which at that time did not amaze or confuse anyone. Language is a mirror of morals, and just as there was no modern artificiality in morals, so there was none in the language, which named things directly and with immediate simplicity, as it appeared in reality. 200 “The Tale of Two Brothers” was compiled around the 15th century BC. during the reign of Menephtha, son of Ramses II, Sesostris of the Greek historians, for the entertainment of this prince, later known as Pharaoh Seti II. Its author was the scribe Ennana, one of the officials of Pharaoh's treasury. The same papyrus manuscript that belonged to the young prince, who was then the heir to the throne, has survived to us and in two places contains his full title: fan-bearer on the left side of the king, royal scribe, infantry general, eldest son of the king, Seti, Meri-Pta. Found in Egypt and brought to Italy at the beginning of this century, this papyrus was purchased first by Madame Orbigny, and then, after her death in 1857, by the administration of the British Museum, which in 1868 published an exact facsimile of it. It contains 19 pages of text, each containing 10 lines of extremely beautiful hieratic writing. This is how this story reads. 1. “Once there were two brothers from the same mother 201 and from the same father: Anup 202 was the name of the eldest son, Bill was the name of the youngest. Anupu had his own house, had a wife, and his younger brother lived with him in the guise of a servant. He made him clothes and tended his flocks in the fields; he worked for him, threshed and did all the field work. This younger brother was an excellent worker; and there was no such thing in all the land 203 . 2. And many days after this, when the younger brother went after the oxen according to his custom every day, he returned to his house every evening laden with all kinds of herbs of the field, and when he came home, he laid up the herbs before his elder brother, who sat with his wife; he ate, drank and slept in his stable with his excellent oxen. 3. And when the earth was illuminated, and when the next day came, he baked bread and offered it to his elder brother, and drove his oxen to graze in the fields. When he was tending his oxen, they told him: “The grass is good in such and such a place”; and he, having heard this from them, drove them to the best pasture, which they desired. So the oxen he herded became very beautiful; they multiplied a lot. 4. And when the time came for field work, the elder brother said to him: “Prepare for us tools for work, because the land has been freed from water 204 and is now good for cultivation. You too go to the field with the seeds and we will work tomorrow morning”; so he said. 5. The younger brother did everything as the older brother said. 6. When the earth was illuminated and the next day arrived, they went into the field with their tools, began to work, and their hearts rejoiced much, much from their work, and they did not leave work. 7. And many days after that they were again on the field and working. 8. The elder brother sent his younger brother, saying: “Run, bring us seeds from the village.” The younger brother went and found his older brother's wife brushing her hair. 9. He says to her: “Get up, give me some seeds to take to the field, because my elder brother, sending me, said: see that you do not delay.” 10 She answers him: “Go, open the storehouse yourself, take what you need, otherwise my hair will get disheveled along the way.” 11. The young man went into his stable, took a large jug, because he had the intention of capturing a lot of seeds, filled it with bread and oats, and came out of there with his burden. 12. Seeing him, his wife says to him: “How much bread is on your shoulders”? He answered her: three measures of oats and five measures of bread, eight in total - that’s how much is on my shoulders. This is how he answered her. 13. She turned to him with these words, saying: “In truth, great strength is in you, because I see your strength every day”! And her heart knew him with the knowledge of lust. 14. She stood up, grabbed him and said to him: “Let's go, let's relax together for an hour!” If you agree to this, then I will make you beautiful clothes” 205. 15. The young man became like a panther at noon with great rage, because of the evil words that she said to him, and she was much, much afraid. 16. He spoke to her, saying: “But you are like a mother to me, and your husband is like a father to me!” The one who is my elder brother, he keeps me alive! Oh, what a horror you told me! don’t say it again, and I won’t tell anyone, and I won’t reveal it from my lips to a single person.”206 He heaped his burden on himself and went into the field. 17. When he arrived to his elder brother, they began to finish their work. 18. When evening came, when the eldest brother returned to his house, and the younger brother remained with his oxen, with instructions to look after everything in the field and then drive his herd to spend the night in the stables in the village, then the eldest brother’s wife was frightened by the words she had spoken. 19. She smeared herself all over with black and became as if beaten by some villain in order to tell her husband: your younger brother committed violence against me when her husband returned home in the evening according to his daily custom. Upon arrival at his house, he found his wife lying and sick, as if from violence; she did not give him water in his hands, according to daily custom; she didn’t come out to shine a light on him, and her bed was in the dark. The husband says to her: “Who spoke to you?” She answers him: “No one spoke to me except your younger brother. When he came to get some seeds for you, he, finding me sitting alone, said to me: let's go, let's sit together for an hour; decorate your head. This is what he told me, but I did not listen to him and answered: but am I not your mother? and your elder brother, is he not like a father to you? That's what I told him. He got scared and beat me so that I wouldn’t tell anyone about it 207. And if you let him live any longer, I will die; because look, when he comes in the evening, and I will complain about his bad words, all this will reveal itself. 20. The elder brother became like a midday panther: he sharpened his knife and took it in his hands 208. 21. The elder brother hid behind the door of his stable to kill his younger brother when he came in the evening and would drive his oxen into the stable. And when the sun had set, and the younger brother, loaded with all sorts of field herbs, according to daily custom, went home, the cow, who was walking ahead of everyone, at the entrance to the stable, said to her shepherd: “Behold, your older brother is waiting for you with a knife to kill you; save yourself from him." 22. When he heard what the cow walking in front told him, and the second one said the same to him, he looked under the door of his stable and noticed the legs of his older brother, hiding behind the door, with a knife in his hand; he laid his burden on the ground and began to run as fast as he could, while his older brother rushed after him with a knife. 23. The younger brother cried out to Fra-Garma-huti 209, saying: “My good lord, you distinguish between the false and the true!” And Fra heard all his complaints, and ordered deep water to appear between him and his elder brother, and it was filled with crocodiles. One of them ended up on one side, and the other on the other side of the water, and the older brother extended his hand twice to strike twice, but even these two times he did not kill his younger brother. Here's exactly what happened. 24. The younger brother turned to him across the river, saying: stay here until dawn. When the Sun rises, I will pray with you to him so that he will restore the truth, because I will never be with you again, I will no longer be in the places where you will be and I will go to the Acacia Valley” 210. The next morning the younger brother was justified in the slander and castrated himself before his older brother. Then, the following details are completely miraculous in nature and have no direct connection with the story of Joseph. Therefore, we will present only those passages that provide the opportunity for comparison with the biblical narrative, especially the conclusion, which has some similarities with the story of the victim of the slander of Potiphar's wife. 29. “The younger brother, shouting to the older brother, said: “You have imagined a bad thing!” You didn't remember a single good thing I did for you. Go to your house, take care of your animals, because I will no longer live in the place where you will be: I will go to the Acacia Valley. But do this for me: take care of me if you find out that anything happens to me. I will speak my heart, I will put it on the top of a flowering acacia tree, and if the acacia tree is cut down and my heart falls to the ground, you come look for it; when you walk seven years in search of it, do not lag behind, but when you find it, put it in a vessel of fresh water; then I will live again and be freed from the evil done to me 211. And you will find out exactly what happened to me when they put a mug of beer in your hands and it begins to foam: don’t stay a moment longer after this happens to you.” 30. “He went to the valley of Acacia, and his elder brother returned to his house, putting his hand on his head, sprinkled with ashes 212. When he arrived at his house, he killed his wife, threw her to be eaten by dogs and remained in sorrow for his younger brother.” Then it goes on to tell how the younger brother, after various vicissitudes, finally, like Joseph, achieves high honors for his virtues and takes revenge on all his enemies. This is, in a nutshell, “a tale of two brothers.” The victim of the slander of Anup's wife is thus, like Joseph, rewarded for his virtues by receiving high honors, so that this story bears a very significant similarity to the story of Joseph. But the character of the latter is undoubtedly more beautiful and more self-possessed. While the story says that the younger brother takes revenge on his enemies, Joseph limits himself only to doing good to everyone, even to those who did him harm (namely his brothers) and sees the action of Providence where the young Egyptian saw nothing but the malice of women. Is there any closer relationship between the story of the son of Jacob and the “tale of two brothers” than that which is noticeable in their general similarity? Ebers answered this question positively in one remarkable place, where he says: “Certainly the basis and tone of these two stories are completely identical. The style of the hieratic papyrus has such a biblical flavor that when translating it one involuntarily has to use the sayings of St. Scriptures. In our opinion, this story, taken as a whole, should be considered proof of the Egyptianness, so to speak, 213 of the story that occupies us. But is it possible to see an echo of the story of Joseph in the Orbigny papyrus? Did the scribe Ennana create this tale based only on his own imagination? Aren't these two narratives completely independent of each other? Nothing can be said with certainty in this regard, but the nature of the common events in these two stories, events that are reproduced in other places, makes it seem that the latter author did not borrow anything from the first. The story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife is in fact a story of human passion, a story that finds echoes in many other tales of antiquity. As for the mutual relationship of these two legends, it is most natural to think, as some Egyptologists admit, that the Egyptian story is only a later echo of the story of Joseph, which, due to its extraordinary nature, naturally struck the imagination of the people and, passed on from generation to generation, could finally serve as a plot for an independent Egyptian story. This assumption most simply and naturally explains the otherwise difficult question of the general similarities and, at the same time, the differences that are noticeable in these two legends 215. Believing his wife’s slander, Potiphar “flared with anger and delivered Joseph to the prison where the king’s prisoners were imprisoned.” The Egyptians called this prison the White Castle, and the ancient historians, Thucydides 216 and Herodotus 217, mention its existence in Memphis, and this city itself was often called the “city of the White Castle.” It was a kind of fortress, containing barracks for the garrison, several churches and many places of imprisonment, and it was under the command of a special military engineer, known as the general commander of the walls and fortifications of Memphis. The fortress was so strong that a thousand years later Cambyses was forced to take it by regular siege. Potiphar, as Minister of Police, was undoubtedly the commander of this fortress or “prison house,” as it is called in the Hebrew original. Joseph, presumably, was imprisoned in a section of the fortress where state criminals who required stricter supervision were kept: ordinary criminals were placed in other parts of the building. Potiphar did not have the power to take his life, since ancient Egyptian laws protected the lives of slaves from the violence of their masters, but he could castrate him or give him a thousand sticks if he wanted. But he did not take advantage of this right, which made it clear that, unable to disbelieve his wife’s story about the insult inflicted on her, he nevertheless retained his affection for Joseph and, by sending him to prison, left it to the time to clarify the truth. But even the suspicious eye of the prison governor soon saw the innocence of this prisoner, and therefore Joseph soon occupied the same comparatively honorable position in the prison as he occupied in Potiphar’s house, which entailed very important consequences for him. Chapter 23. Joseph the Dream Interpreter More than ten years have passed since Joseph was sold by his brothers to Egypt, where he experienced many vicissitudes in his fate. Now he was in prison and, although he enjoyed the favor of the governor of the prison, but, apparently, this Egyptian dungeon was supposed to forever bury the golden dreams of his youth, once aroused in him by dreams. But Providence, with an invisible hand, led his chosen one along a path that was to lead Joseph to unexpected greatness, more wonderful than what was predicted for him in his dreams. In the same prison in which Joseph was imprisoned, a short time later two important court dignitaries were also imprisoned, namely the chief cupbearer and the chief baker 218. Their positions, as Egyptian monuments show, were extremely important. Both of them had the great responsibility of protecting the life of the pharaoh from poisoning. The position of the first in particular gave him constant access to the pharaoh, who drank only what he accepted from his hands, and the baker was obliged to take care not only of supplying the court with all kinds of cakes and cookies that the Egyptians loved to feast on, but also to ensure that no harmful substances were mixed with them for a criminal purpose. Any oversight in this regard brought upon them the wrath of the pharaoh, who ordered them to be imprisoned in a state prison. Finding themselves in such a sad situation, they were naturally extremely preoccupied with their fate, and in this mood they were extremely alarmed by the dreams they had. Numerous monuments indicate that the Egyptians generally attached very important importance to dreams. One tells that Prince Bakhtansky, as a result of a dream he had, sent back to Egypt the god Khons, sent to him by the pharaoh to heal his daughter 219. Another tells how King Meneftha had a dream before the battle in which the god Ptah appeared to him and forbade him to advance 220. One inscription, discovered in the ruins of Napata, tells how Pharaoh Miamun, in the year of his accession to the throne of Egypt and Ethiopia, saw in a dream two serpents, one in his right hand and the other in his left. Waking up, he demanded that the sages immediately interpret this dream for him, and they explained it this way: “You control the south, and the north will obey you. The crowns of both countries will shine on your head, and you will rule the entire earth throughout its entire length and breadth" 221. Dreams were sent by the god Thoth, and receiving them was considered so important that special rules were drawn up by which one could achieve one or another dream. It is very natural, therefore, that both dignitaries, who fell into disgrace with the king, were greatly agitated by their dreams and tried to interpret them for themselves. Not having the opportunity, due to strict imprisonment, to see the priests, who alone could interpret dreams, they were of course very happy when Joseph undertook to interpret for them the dreams that greatly occupied them. The cupbearer's dream represents a purely Egyptian picture. He saw a vine with three branches; it developed, color appeared on it, berries grew and ripened on it, which he squeezed into a bowl and served to Pharaoh. Drinks from grape juice were prepared in Egypt in the most ancient times, even before the kings of the shepherd tribe of the Hykses 222. The pyramid tombs, dating back much earlier than Joseph's life, show in their pictures how grapes were gathered from laden vines into baskets, 223 and how the juice was squeezed out of them into various vessels. In the tombs of Thebes there is an image of a large garden with vineyards in the middle; boys scare away birds from ripe grapes, and men, singing songs, crush grape bunches dumped in a huge vat with their bare feet. Above them is a roof with hanging ropes, which the workers grab hold of and jump into the vat, and the juice flows out through two holes below into prepared vessels. The owner stands right there, counting the vessels, putting them in a book and arranging them in rows in his cellar. That this juice was consumed both in a simple and fermented state is shown by various images of festivals, at which women have a double lotus flower, as a sign of intoxication, or, in great exhaustion, are taken away from a feast by slaves 224 . Men, of course, were even less distinguished by moderation: one was carried from the feast by three slaves on their heads; the other is carried in an even more uncomfortable manner, with his head resting on the chest of one slave, and his legs thrown over the shoulders of another 225. The workers were usually given portions of bread and wine, which were given to the priests in double quantities. In the city of Bubastis, on the outskirts of the land of Goshen, an annual festival took place, which often attracted up to seven hundred thousand people, and here everyone drank more wine during it than during the whole year 226. Another similar holiday was celebrated in the church of Gatora, the goddess of love, in Dendera, and bore the significant name of the “feast of drinkers,” and the goddess herself was often called the “goddess of drunkenness” or even the “goddess of drunkards” 227. “The people of Dendera are drunk with wine,” says the inscription describing this holiday. Pharaoh Ramses III, in his record of gifts to the gods, mentions that in Thebes he brought them numerous vineyards and many gardeners from prisoners of war to cultivate them, and in addition he donated up to 200,000 vessels of distilled wine to various churches. Where wine and its use had a similar sanction, there, of course, everyone was given the freedom to enjoy it. Drunkenness, however, was strongly denounced and despised. The drunkard was called a “church without God” or a “house without bread,” and men were carefully indoctrinated to avoid this weakness. Nevertheless, many drank to such an extent that they no longer knew anything and could not even speak. The kings, however, whose lives were under the supervision of the high priests, had their own portion of wine, the size of which was determined by their sacred leaders. But, of course, it was not easy to keep the despot within the prescribed limits, although apparently the pharaoh of the described time did not leave them and consumed only unfermented juice, just squeezed from the berries 229. The scene depicted in the dream is almost literally repeated in the text of the inscription of the Church of Edfu discovered by Ebers: the pharaoh stands with a bowl in his hand, and under him the words: “they squeeze the grapes into water and the king drinks” 230. Joseph interpreted the butler's dream in the sense that in three days the butler would be pardoned, returned to his position and would continue to serve the cup to Pharaoh, and at the same time asked him that, if the prediction was fulfilled, he would remember Joseph and intercede for him before Pharaoh. Encouraged by such a happy interpretation of his brother’s dream, the baker joyfully told Joseph his dream. He dreamed that he had three lattice baskets on his head. In the upper basket were all sorts of provisions for Pharaoh's table, and the birds flew in and pecked at them. The baker's dream is no less true to Egyptian life, even in its details. "Baskets of white bread" are often found in images in churches and tombs. Egypt was famous for the production of wheat, which was the main product of the country. Huge fields sown with wheat are depicted in paintings of the Egyptian sky. Even such a detail as carrying bread baskets on the head is quite true to Egyptian life. Monuments show that ordinary burdens were mostly carried on shoulders, but bread workers were a notable exception and are usually depicted with bread baskets on their heads. A papyrus dating back to the time of the Jews in Egypt mentions four bakers of the pharaoh, of whom one is called “chief,” and the importance of his position can be judged by the fact that at a certain time he had to deliver no less than 114,064 portions of grain to the court storehouses 231 . By a strange coincidence, mention of bread is found in the fortress where Joseph was imprisoned: one inscription speaks of “bread baked in the White Castle” in Memphis. Having told his dream, the baker waited with joyful trepidation what the young dream interpreter would tell him. “In three days,” Joseph explained to him, “Pharaoh will take off your head and hang you on a tree, and the birds of the air will peck your flesh from you.” The baker's sentence that he would be beheaded, that his body would be raised on a tree and given to the birds to be eaten, was the most cruel that could be pronounced over an Egyptian, and shows especially great guilt, real or imaginary, on the part of the unfortunate courtier. The destruction of the body was tantamount to the destruction of all hope for eternity, because the preservation of the body was considered an essential condition for the possibility of an afterlife. Decapitation, preceded by canings, was a common punishment, but only particularly important criminals were deprived of embalming. When the body was given to dogs to be eaten, as was done with the criminal wife “in the story of two brothers,” then this was the most terrible punishment among the Egyptians. Joseph's predictions came true over both courtiers on the "birthday of Pharaoh." It was a big holiday on the banks of the Nile. Birthdays in general in ancient times were celebrated with great solemnity, especially the birthdays of kings. One inscription says that the birthday of Ramses II caused joy in heaven 232. The priests gathered in the churches, the prisoners were given forgiveness and there was a great feast worthy of a monarch, whom his subjects worshiped as God. After the feast, surrounded by his courtiers and the dignitaries of the churches, he distributed his favors or inflicted punishments at his discretion, and on one of these holidays, Pharaoh “returned the chief cupbearer to his former place, and he put the cup into the hand of Pharaoh, and hanged the chief baker (on a tree), as Joseph interpreted to them.” Two years have passed since the great cupbearer again received royal favor and prospered; in this position, he completely forgot about Joseph, and only one dream of his master filled him again about the one who had once been with him in prison and so happily interpreted his dream for him. Pharaoh had two dreams in a row in one night. He first dreamed that while walking along the banks of the Nile, he saw seven fat cows grazing among the reeds. Then seven skinny cows came out of the river and devoured them. Having fallen asleep again, the king had a second dream. He dreamed of seven ears of corn, good and full, coming out of one stalk, and seven other ears of corn, empty and burned by the east wind, which devoured the first seven. These dreams are of deep interest because of the striking correspondence they show with Egyptian life. The Nile is called in them simply a river (yeor), since in the Egyptian event told for the Egyptians, it did not require another name, just as the Euphrates throughout its entire vicinity is also called simply a river. The name used by Moses to designate the vegetation bordering the banks of the Nile (agu) is also a purely Egyptian name. Aga in hieroglyphic inscriptions means “green,” due to the identifying sign that follows it, and denotes any algae or greenery along the river bank. Agi in Coptic has exactly the same meaning. As for the first dream, it fully reflects Egyptian life. For a resident of the Nile Valley, there was nothing more natural than to think about the river, the nurse of his country; about cows, which were found in abundance throughout the country and under the guise of which the Egyptians imagined their main national goddess - the goddess Isis; finally about grain plants, which constituted the main source of Egypt's wealth. Both were in the closest correlation with the peculiarities of the worldview and life of the ancient Egyptians. The symbol of the cow is exclusively Egyptian in nature. “The Egyptians,” says Plutarch, “considered the cow to be a kind of image of Isis and the earth.” Clement of Alexandria complements this explanation: “the heifer,” he says, “is a symbol of the earth, agriculture and nutrition” 233. Plutarch then says: “between the stars, Sirius is sacred to Isis, since it gives us moisture.... Just as the Nile, according to the Egyptians, is the outflow of Osiris, so, according to them, the earth is the body of Isis, not earth in general, but only that which the Nile fertilizes.... From this very union, in their opinion, Horus is born, and this Horus is the airy warmth that revives and nourishes all creatures.” The seven-fold number of cows represents a special feature of local color, which was discovered only in recent times by research, which provides striking evidence of the accuracy with which Egyptian forms of thought and life are reproduced in this legend. Isis is often represented as surrounded by seven cows, a mysterious number which is denoted by the same word in Egyptian, Hebrew and Sanskrit 234 . Osiris is also sometimes depicted in the company of seven cows, his wives. During the summer solstice, cows were circled seven times around his church. Monuments also often present pictures of cows bathing in the Nile and coming ashore to graze on the coastal grass. Then the harvest and failure of the harvest in Egypt, both now and in ancient times, completely depended on the degree of the Nile flood. Tillage should always go hand in hand with periodic irrigation of the soil, which replaces both rain and fertilizer. The annual flood of the river, long before Joseph, was a direct source of Egyptian civilization, because the need for an extensive system of canals, for monitoring the border boundaries of individual areas, often destroyed by floods, early on forced us to turn to astronomy, as the only guarantor of the correct measurement of time, as well as to architecture and geometry, with the help of which it would be possible to build dams and draw a network of canals from the river. In view of this, it is as remarkable as it is natural that in the Egyptian religion, which consisted of several separate cults that were significant only in certain areas of the country, the cult of Isis and Osiris, closely associated with the phenomena of the Nile, was recognized throughout Egypt. At the beginning of the flood, he was called Osiris - "fertilizer of the earth", and was personified under the guise of a bull, and during the full flood, he received the name of his sister and wife Isis, the "fruitful mother", or Gator, the "goddess of fertility", and both of these goddesses were idolized under the guise of a cow or a cow's head, as can be constantly seen on the monuments. As a result, when cows of one kind or another came out of the Nile, in the imagination of the Egyptians this fact took on a certain meaning regarding the upcoming harvest. The great importance the Egyptians attached to the Nile is shown by the fact that the Nile was constantly sung in religious and poetic hymns. Some of them are so remarkable in this regard that samples of them can be given here: O you who appeared on this earth, And which you come into the world, To give life to Egypt! You produce darkness during the day whenever you want, Sprinkler of the gardens created by the sun, Giver of life to all creatures, You flow around the earth in all places, God Nepra, grain producer. God Fta, illuminating the entire dwelling. Lord of the harvest, when you rise to the flooded lands, No bird dares to steal useful goods. Creator of bread, producer of barley, You preserve the churches forever 235. Blessed be the good God, Heaven's beloved Nile, Father of the gods of the sacred nine 236, The fullness of wealth and food of Egypt, He himself gives life to everyone, Riches spill along his path, And abundance is in his fingers, The pious rejoice at his coming. Nobody knows where you're from But the day you come and open up You are the master of all fish and gifts, And you give abundance to Egypt. The Circle of Nine Saints don't know where you're from, You are their life; for when you come, And their altars are filled, And they rejoice as soon as you appear 237. The second dream of the pharaoh was only a continuation and confirmation of the first, and it also reproduces a purely Egyptian picture. The seven-spike stalk is a well-known multi-spike variety of wheat, which still grows in Egypt; and the east wind, which dried up the other seven ears of corn, is the famous scorching east wind Khamzin, which often even now dries up and devastates the fields of the Nile Valley with its fiery breath. As a result, this dream also had to have a certain meaning for a country like Egypt, which was the wheat granary of the world, but in which the sultry hamzin with its fiery breath often dried up the ears of vast expanses of fields. In view of the importance that the Egyptians usually attached to dreams, it is clear that the significant dreams seen by the pharaoh “confused his spirit,” and he called “all the wise men of Egypt and all her wise men,” demanding from them the interpretation of these dreams. With the king, there was always a council of priests of various ranks, who guided every step of his everyday life and interpreted to him the will of the gods, as it manifested itself in signs, visions and signs of the sky. Each large church had its own college of priests, who were under the command of one of the chief high priests; the most worthy of them was selected to the court, to the retinue of the pharaoh, and the chief of them was the high priest of the gods of Egypt. When questions of great importance were to be resolved, which in this case were the dreams of the pharaoh, then the constant council of the court priests was reinforced by the heads of all the large churches of the country, and they were all called together to resolve the king’s perplexities or doubts. The priests were divided into several classes, of which the biblical text mentions only two: the Magi and the Wise Men. They did not recognize the gift of direct revelation, but to resolve certain issues they retired to secluded places, where they tried to find this or that interpretation in sacred books and mysterious rituals, and this work, as one must assume, was difficult and slow. That is why, when all the wisdom of the Egyptian magicians turned out to be powerless in interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh, and Joseph interpreted them without references in books, through the highest direct inspiration, he immediately aroused such surprise and respect for his mysterious personality. When indeed all the wise men and magicians of Egypt were powerless to explain to Pharaoh the dreams he had seen, then only the chief cupbearer remembered Joseph and reported to Pharaoh how this young Jew had once miraculously predicted dreams for him along with his ill-fated companion in misfortune. Hearing about this, Pharaoh, completely occupied with his dreams, ordered Joseph to be immediately called to him, and he was indeed “hastily taken out of prison.” Despite his haste, however, he had to first “shave and change his clothes” before introducing himself to the pharaoh. According to the laws of Egyptian ceremonial, no one could present himself to the king without being “clean” in all respects, that is, anyone receiving such a great honor had to shave his entire body, wash thoroughly and put on clothes of impeccable cleanliness. Joseph was to act as the interpreting priest, and all priests were required to be completely hairless, except in cases of mourning, and in general all Egyptians who wanted to be pure had to undergo the same purification. As a result, both priests and common people usually wore wigs to cover their clean-shaven skulls, as well as artificial beards, while an unshaven chin was considered a sign of a foreigner or a person of low position and dubious life. The large masses of hair on the heads of the Egyptians, as depicted on the monuments, are simply a work of art, as are the long beards that distinguish the Egyptian kings and priests. As a result of this Egyptian custom, the barber in the Nile Valley (gaku) ​​was one of the busiest workers in the country. In a curious letter from one scribe, describing to his son the severity of various everyday situations, it says: “The barber shaves until the night; when he sits down to eat, then only he leans on his hands (to rest); he goes from house to house to find something to do; he wrings his hands to fill his stomach, like bees, which eat the products of their labors” 238. The Louvre Museum houses one Egyptian razor that was found in the ruins. “This razor,” says De Rouge. “It’s very curious in the sense that, apart from the length, it is exactly similar to English razors. This is one of the extremely interesting proofs of the stability of forms in production. Its blade was also preserved, since this type of bronze apparently was little subject to rust” 239. The common people, of course, did not undergo such purification every day; he shaved only under particularly solemn circumstances. This explains the existence of numerous mummies with long hair. Joseph also did not shave in prison as a sign of grief or because of his slave status, but now he had to cleanse himself before appearing before Pharaoh. This remark, made in the book of Genesis, is all the more striking because, as Ebers noted, the name shaven (bald) was considered offensive by the Jews (2 Kings 2:23). Therefore, even the most rigid and most hostile rationalists, like Volan, to the biblical narrative, found themselves forced to recognize a completely Egyptian feature in this narrative. Joseph also had to change his clothes before appearing at court. The priests were in charge of all the ceremonies at court receptions, and the king, although completely autocratic, had to follow their advice in many respects. They did not allow anyone to approach him without observing all the rules of purification that they themselves observed. And they not only performed frequent ablutions, twice a day and twice a night, says Herodotus, but they often put on new clothes, which had to be washed every time. At the Pharaoh's court there were special laundry soapers, headed by a special boss; a large number of such soapers was necessary due to these strict rules regarding cleanliness. Joseph, therefore, must have worn his usual shenti, a kind of coarse apron worn by people of lower station, as can be seen from various images on Egyptian monuments, and was dressed in linen garments. In this form he appeared to Pharaoh. Pharaoh told him two dreams he had seen, and the young Jew, inspired from above, explained them to him. Apart from members of the priestly caste, it was generally difficult for anyone to dare to interpret dreams, especially the dreams of the pharaoh, because a slave who engaged in secret knowledge assigned exclusively to the priestly class was subject to death. Therefore, it was a very bold and dangerous thing for Joseph to act as a dream interpreter. But his interpretation so coincided with the views of the Egyptians themselves, and the advice he offered in the event of lean years was so businesslike and reasonable that all fears should have immediately dissipated. Pharaoh's dream, according to Joseph's interpretation, foreshadowed the onset of famine after seven years of harvest. An insufficient flood of the Nile was always accompanied by crop failure, and when it was combined with a strong khamzin, which destroyed the last shoots, famine inevitably followed, which happened more than once before the dreams of the pharaoh, as can be judged from various inscriptions. Since Pharaoh’s double dream clearly indicated the onset of these two conditions, threatening a terrible disaster, that is why the interpretation made by Joseph so amazed both Pharaoh himself and those around him, and at the same time immediately aroused concern about how to avoid the impending disaster. If this pharaoh was the famous Apapi II in Egyptian history, a king who, incidentally, as a member of a shepherd dynasty that held special religious views, tried to completely displace the Egyptian religion in order to establish his own cult in its place, then he should have rejoiced no little at the sight of how a young Jew, just released from prison, amazed and confused the recognized sages of Egypt with his wisdom. But Joseph, of course, did not attribute to himself the wisdom of dream interpretation. The priests also attributed their wisdom to their gods, especially Thoth, their special deity, but they gave such interpretations, as we said above, not directly, but through a long study of their sacred books, which, according to their belief, were the work of the god Thoth himself. Joseph did not need to resort to such external means: the true God revealed to him the meaning of dreams, which were His own providential inspiration, and it was this divine revelation that made such an amazing impression on everyone. Chapter 24. Joseph, the high dignitary of Egypt Pharaoh and his court, being amazed by the inspired interpretation of mysterious dreams and appreciating the wisdom of a statesman in Joseph’s advice, could not find a more suitable person for this position than the young dream interpreter himself. Apapi II showed Joseph his satisfaction and his gratitude with generous honors and gifts. As often happened in the countries of the ancient East, an insignificant slave was immediately made a great dignitary of the country, its absolute ruler. “And Pharaoh said to Joseph: Since God has revealed all these things to you, there is no one so understanding and wise as you. You will be over my house; and all my people will keep your word; only in the throne will I be greater than you” (Gen. 41:38, 40). Such an extraordinary rise of an insignificant slave might seem incredible, but history provides quite a bit of evidence of this, as well as completely parallel examples. Herodotus tells an example of a completely similar unexpected rise of one person and the awarding of the greatest honors to him. Pharaoh Rampsenit, amazed by the dexterity and intelligence of the son of a mason who stole his treasure, expressed his pleasure by giving him expensive gifts and even marrying his daughter to him 240. A similar case is presented by the story of a certain Sinekh. Sineh came from the Amu tribe. He lived under the first two pharaohs of the XII dynasty (Amenemat and Osertesen), and having entered their service, he rose to great honors. Having then fled from Egypt and spent a long time abroad, namely in Palestine, upon his return he again entered into favor and became “an advisor among the king’s dignitaries, among the elect; advantage was given to him among the courtiers; He was placed in the prince’s house and prepared a tomb for himself among the tombs of great dignitaries.” Having told everything that Pharaoh did for him, Sinech also says: “he told me to my face: rule Egypt in order to multiply everything that is good in it... Be with me, my eye will be kind to you. He named me the ruler of his young warriors and married me to his eldest daughter; he allowed me to choose a place in his country, to choose from what belonged to him, on the border of another country... I received bread, maut and wine every day, roast beef, dried geese and, in addition, all kinds of game. And I gave him and continue to give him income from my plantations" 241. The monuments provide many other similar examples. Let us give another story that presents a feature directly similar to the detail of the story of Joseph, which will be discussed below, namely about the awarding of a gold necklace to him. In the inscription of Aames, the chief of the sailors, an important personality from the time of the 18th dynasty, we read: “I received gold seven times from the king as a gift, in front of the whole country, as well as male and female slaves... We fought on the Pategu Canal at Avaris, and there I received rewards. I won. This was reported to the royal chronicler, and then I was given an expensive gold necklace. I fought for the second time in this place and for the second time I received a reward. I was victorious, and the precious gold was given to me a second time. I had the battle of Takamita, south of this city, and took a man prisoner. To capture him, I plunged into the water, and in order to avoid the road through the city, I crossed the water with him. This was mentioned to the royal chronicler, and I once again received gold as a gift. We took Avaris, and I captured a man and three women, four people in all." The next lines of this inscription contain a list of many other feats and similar gifts, and then we read in it: “I brought two officers whom I took captive on the ship “Plague” 242 (the ship of the shepherd kings), and then I was given five heads for my share and five hundred 243 lands for my own city. The same was done to the entire army of sailors... I was elevated to the rank of “royal warrior.” I was elevated to the dignity of chief of sailors" 244. This inscription proves how generous the pharaohs were with gifts and honors in relation to their favorites and how much the actions of Pharaoh Apapi in relation to Joseph were in agreement with the general character and customs of the kings of the country. On one monument of the Turin Museum we find another remarkable example. It is all the more interesting because the person to whom it is dedicated has many similarities with Joseph. This person is called Bek on the monument, a name that means “slave.” Beka says that he fulfilled his duties towards his parents, but does not name them, probably because he was of foreign origin. He became the favorite of one pharaoh, who is also not named. This Pharaoh showered him with his favors and made him especially the head of the public granaries. By a strange accident, extremely unusual on Egyptian monuments, this monument does not contain a single word in honor of the gods worshiped in the Nile Valley. “Such a monument,” says one learned Egyptologist, “could have been erected precisely on the grave of Patriarch Joseph.” 245 Many other documents testify in a similar way to the generosity of the kings of Egypt towards their favorites. Shaba in particular noted one remarkable, completely Egyptian feature in the biblical narrative, namely the expression of Pharaoh to Joseph: “all my people will keep your word,” literally: “they will kiss your lips.” He considers this expression of the Pharaoh to be an indication of the elevation of Joseph to the dignity of a dignitary, called in Egypt “the supreme mouth.” “This title,” he says, “is already known to us from the inscription of the 18th dynasty, published by Brugsch in his collection of monuments. One high dignitary, named Tenuna, is called there “the great supreme mouth of the whole country.” This is a dignitary to whom the pharaoh entrusted supreme power. The biblical narrative exactly reproduces this detail from the state customs of Egypt when it puts into the mouth of Pharaoh the expression: “All my people will depend on your lips; Only by the throne will I be higher than you.” When Set-Nekt wanted to share his power with Ramses III, he elevated him to precisely this dignity of “the supreme mouth of the land of Egypt” 246. Then began the ceremony of raising Joseph to this high dignity. First of all, Pharaoh took the ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, which was a sign of his elevation to the rank of first minister of the country. All Egyptians of high rank wore rings, which at the same time served as a seal for them. Many similar rings were found in the tombs, which can be seen in all the main museums in Europe. Then they gave him fine linen, i.e. made of fine linen, clothes that constituted the clothing of the priests of the highest class in Egypt, and these clothes meant his acceptance into the sacred caste. Such fine linen clothes, worn by priests, were a sign of special purity. Mummies were wrapped in the same materials as the purest ones. Finally, a gold chain was placed around Joseph’s neck, which was considered the official sign of his power. This testimony is also in full accordance with Egyptian customs. All great Egyptian dignitaries were adorned with neck chains or necklaces. It is worth noting at the same time that this such an interesting detail from the history of Joseph, now confirmed by newly discovered monuments, again overthrows the critical mockery of the rationalists, brilliantly proving at the same time that even if the most learned rationalist critics were so grossly mistaken in their attacks on this part of the book of Genesis in the 19th century, then it was impossible for anyone other than Moses, several centuries later in Palestine, to write history so correctly, full of such small details, and without any archaeological pretense, expressed with the precision of a person describing everything that happens before his eyes. The famous critic Bohlen said contemptuously about this part of the story: “it is hardly necessary to notice that these luxury items, especially carved stones, belong to a later era” 247. Never has unbelief received a more humiliating exposure; We now have witnesses at hand who will raise their voices in defense of the Bible. De Rouget, describing several precious ornaments kept in the historical hall of the Egyptian Museum in the Louvre and, among others, a hawk of exemplary carving, covered with small feathers of azure stone, carnelian or green feldspar, set in gold, concludes thus: “such and such jewels were known to the contemporaries of Moses. From this it is clear that the art of cutting gold, setting precious stones, and engraving on the hardest substances had been brought to a high degree of perfection by the time the Israelites lived in Egypt.”248 The tomb of Beni-Ghassan depicts slaves each holding in their hands some object intended for clothing or adornment of their master. The first holds one of those necklaces with which the neck and chest of kings and nobles are always decorated. Egyptian gods are also always decorated with necklaces. Necklaces were sometimes brought to them as a religious gift. On the monument of King Gorsintef of the XXVI dynasty, the pharaoh is depicted bringing two gold necklaces of various kinds to the god Amen-Ra. His sister is also depicted bringing a necklace to the same god 249. In the Egyptian Museum of the Louvre there is a curious and extremely interesting image dating from the first years of the reign of Seti I, the father of Ramses II. This monument depicts a scene that exactly reproduces the scene of Joseph's elevation to the rank of first minister. The pharaoh sits on a special balcony and, stretching out his hands to his favorite Gorham, addresses him with the following words: “His Majesty said to the eunuchs near him: give a lot of gold to your favorite, the caretaker of the palace Gorham; so that he has a long life, a good old age; so that he has no rivals; so that he may not be despised in the palace, so that his lips may be healthy; so that his foot may go to the magnificent tomb.” While Seti spoke in this manner, two dignitaries of his court carried out his command and placed a magnificent necklace around Gorham's neck. The necklaces were often in several rows, as can be seen from the example of those discovered in tombs. They generally consisted of symbolic objects, such as sacred fish, lizards, the eye of Osiris, and lotus flowers. Gold chains of elegant cord work were sometimes as delicate as only the best jewelers of the present time can prepare. The clasps of the necklaces often consisted of a small lock that held very tightly. The head of a hawk was often used to decorate those ends of the robe that were on the shoulders (like an epaulette). The new dignitary on the described monument, receiving an honorary necklace, raises his hands in a sign of joy and with the following words thanks the king for the great honor shown to him: “And the keeper of the seal, the keeper of the royal palace, Gorham the truthful: you have exalted me magnificently, O beloved king and good as Ammon! May you always live like your father Ra, completing your course; oh king! who appears as Horus among men, who brought me into his presence, delighting me with his gifts... I, insignificant, became great by your grace; I have reached a happy old age, without reproach.” The honor shown to Gorham by his lord Seti I was so pleasant that he wanted to preserve the memory of it as the happiest event in his life, and depicted it on the funerary monument, for which this image serves as the only decoration. Joseph received from the pharaoh even much more signs of dignity and honor than Gorham from Seti I. The pharaoh “ordered to take him on the second of his chariots and proclaim before him: abrek (bow down).” Kings and other nobles are very often depicted on monuments riding in chariots, accompanied by a large retinue, and this honor given to Joseph is again in exact accordance with Egyptian customs. The word "abrek", preserved in the biblical narrative, is purely Egyptian. It is translated by the word “bow,” and it is remarkable that this very word has been preserved in Egypt to this day and is still used as a symbol to force camels to bow when loading or unloading them 250. Along with his rank, Joseph received from the pharaoh a new Egyptian name, Tsafnaf-Paneah. The meaning of this name has not yet been determined with sufficient certainty, but it is in some consonance with the Egyptian words meaning; "abundance of life" or "savior of life." One of the Theban princes, by the way, in one royal protocol is given the title “nourisher of the world,” and this title is depicted precisely in the words Tsaf-En-To - a word, obviously, very close to the new name of Joseph. At the same time, in the mouths of the Egyptians of Joseph’s time, this name was equivalent to the name of “the ruler of the dwelling of the one who lives,” the region of God Ankh, who was also called the great living God. It may have preserved a reflection of the idea of ​​the true God, which unconsciously continued to live in Egypt, just as the same idea was preserved in the time of Abraham in individuals in Canaan, as seen in the example of Abimelech and Melchizedek. Brugsch says that this name of the deity is the only one in Egypt that excludes the idea of ​​idolatry. And it would not be strange if this name applied to Jehovah, since the eastern outskirts of the Delta had long been inhabited by Semitic settlers and nomadic shepherds, and they might have brought with them the idea of ​​a living God. If we accept Brugsch’s explanation that the name given to Joseph means “ruler of the Setroite nome,” that is, the district on the northeastern outskirts of Egypt, where such religious beliefs were preserved, then it will be very significant that Joseph was entrusted with the management of this particular district, as being under the special protection of the living God. Determining his position, Joseph himself said that it was made in Egypt by Ab-en-perao, which indicates its high importance in relation to the personality of the pharaoh. This title is purely Egyptian, and it is often found in ancient papyri in the application to the highest dignitaries of the king. Some texts preserved in the British Museum, written by sacred scribes for the dignitaries of the pharaohs, mention these ab-en-perao, and their high rank can be judged by the reverence with which they are spoken of. To complete the dignity of the new royal favorite, the only thing missing was a brilliant marriage for him, and it was arranged by the pharaoh himself. Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of Iliopolis, was given in marriage to Joseph, and Joseph was thus finally accepted into the highest class of the country. The daughter of Potiphera was called Asenath, that is, the seat of Neifa, the great goddess of Sais. Examples of such marriages for royal favorites are also not uncommon in Egyptian monuments, and there were even cases when the pharaohs themselves married off their daughters to their new favorites, as is also known from the above story of Sinekh. All these honors thus bestowed upon Joseph were only external signs by which the king of Egypt testified that he was entrusting Joseph with supreme power. “And he set him over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said to Joseph: I am Pharaoh; Without you, no one will move his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt." 251 Twelve or thirteen years had passed since Joseph was carried away from his native country and sold into slavery in Egypt, where he had now, after wonderful vicissitudes, achieved the highest position and power. He was still a young man of thirty years of age and was a member of the court staff of priests with a golden chain assigned to his high rank around his neck and with a pharaoh's ring on his hand, was the actual ruler of the greatest and richest country of the then known world. He had two sons who gave him the opportunity to blot out the bitter memories of the past, Manasseh, who “made him forget all his misfortunes,” and Ephraim, so named because “God made Joseph fruitful in the land of his suffering” (41:51, 52). At a certain time, the years of plenty arrived, as Joseph had predicted, and he stocked up enormously. These years were also followed by seven years of famine. The people soon felt a shortage of bread and, in extreme need, began to turn to Pharaoh. And Pharaoh, having then fully understood all the wisdom of Joseph, directed all those who were hungry to Joseph, saying to them: “Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.” “And there was a famine throughout all the land: and Joseph opened all the barns and began to sell grain to the Egyptians. And the famine increased in the land of Egypt” (Gen. 41:54–56). In view of such a miraculous elevation of a young Israelite slave to the supreme government rank of a great monarchy, the question naturally arises who was the Pharaoh who so generously rewarded Joseph for his divinely inspired wisdom. According to most learned Egyptologists, he belonged to a foreign people known as the Hyxes, i.e. Shasu kings or shepherds. Their history is not yet fully known, although the memory of them was preserved by the Egyptian chronicler Manetho. Excavations in recent years have led to the discovery of statues of some of them at Tanis in the Delta. These statues were made by native artists, but they represent a foreign type. The Hyxes worshiped the god Set or Typhon. The Salye papyrus tells about the last time of their rule. An inscription in the tomb of Aames, chief of the seafarers at El-Kab, describes an attack made by the Egyptians by land and sea on their fortress of Avaris. The Turin Papyrus also contains the names of some of them. The slab found at Tanis and the inscription depicting one small lion discovered at Baghdad also belong to their era. Their rule in Lower Egypt lasted for more than 400 years. They were expelled by the ancient kings of Egypt, who, first pushed to the south, finally again conquered all their former possessions. The war, started by the last kings of the XVII dynasty, was ended only by the kings of the XVIII, after the death of Joseph. The Egyptians, in order to express the horror instilled in them by these usurpers, did not call them anything other than aat-u, i.e. ulcer. We do not know positively who these Shasu were, the people led by the shepherd kings. These were undoubtedly not Jews, as I. Flavius ​​imagined, carried away by national ambition. The Bible does not contain a single word that could favor this assumption, and the native monuments completely contradict it. Whether these were nomadic tribes of the desert, as some people think, or Phoenician colonists who settled in the Delta and moved to Egypt under the pressure of the tribes that surged into Arabia and Canaan, as Ebers thinks, is difficult to say. All that seems most plausible is that these Sati or Shasu were a nomadic people from the desert, who, before conquering Egypt, lived without a fixed abode, engaged partly in robbery and partly in cattle breeding, as the Bedouins now live. Their very name Shasu means robbers 252. But whatever their origin, it is certain that in the time of Joseph they were already completely civilized and had adopted all the customs of the kings whose throne they had taken possession of. “They quickly became accustomed to native customs,” says Maspero. “Even if they were superior to the Egyptians in military and political relations, they recognized themselves as inferior to their subjects in terms of moral and mental culture. Their kings soon found that it was much more profitable for them to wisely use the conquered country than to plunder it, and since none of the conquerors could understand the complex system of Egyptian finance, they had to use Egyptian scribes both in financial matters and in administration in general. Once admitted to the Egyptian school, the barbarians quickly adopted the entire civilized life of the country. The court of Pharaoh was again restored by the shepherd kings with all its splendor and pomp, with all the variety of court dignitaries, great and small; the royal form of Cheops and Amenemata was assigned to the foreign names of Gannas and Apapi" 253. It is this assimilation by the Hyks of all Egyptian customs that allows us to confirm the story of Joseph with the customs and documents of the times of the pharaohs. In Tanis, the capital of their dominion, sphinxes and statues were found, which have preserved images of some of them for us. The large granite sphinx located in the Louvre was brought from this city. It dates back to the time of the middle monarchy; but he bears the imprint of one of the shepherd kings. The type of these sculptural images fully confirms that of all other monuments and testifies, together with them, to their Semitic origin. “Their eyes are small,” says Mariette, who was excavating the ruins of Tanis, “the nose is large and humpbacked, although at the same time flattened, the cheekbones are prominent and at the same time bony, the chin is also protruding, and the mouth is remarkable in that it goes down at the ends. The general character of the face shows the coarseness of its constituent features, and the shaggy hair with which the head is covered, completely buried in it, gives the monument an even more remarkable appearance.” The common origin must naturally have made the Hyxes predisposed in favor of all Semites. “If during the time of the pharaohs the peoples of Syria moved en masse to the land of Egypt, which treated them as subjects and perhaps slaves, then this migration movement should have intensified even more during the time of the shepherd kings. The new newcomers actually found on the banks of the Nile people of the same tribe as them, who, it is true, turned into Egyptians, but nevertheless did not lose the memory of their language and their origin. They were received all the more joyfully because the victors felt the need to strengthen themselves among the population hostile to them. The palace of these kings was more than once opened to advisers and Asian favorites; Aliens from the Syrian or Arab steppes often visited the fortified camp of Avaris. Invasions, famine, civil wars - all this prompted not only individuals, but also entire families and tribes to move to Egypt." 254 The political state of Egypt at the time of Joseph thus explains to us in part the reception that was made by Pharaoh first to him and then to his family, regardless of even the prophetic wisdom of Joseph and his divine patronage 255. One very ancient tradition, which has every right to be recognized as authentic, testifies that the Gic king to whom Joseph explained dreams was called Apophis or Apapi 256. This is obviously one of those Apapi, perhaps the one who decorated Tanis and whose monument was recently opened by Marchette. According to Brugsch, Joseph’s arrival in Egypt also occurred in the middle of the 18th century BC, that is, during the era of the second dynasty of shepherd kings. He even thinks that Apapi II was precisely the king “who elevated Joseph to a degree of high dignity, which gave him the opportunity later to show special favors to his brothers upon their arrival in Egypt from the land of Canaan” 257. But in general the history of this era is still very little known. The horror that foreign dominion inspired in the Egyptians prompted them to destroy everything that could remind them of them, and the names of the kings of the Hyks were carefully smeared and erased on those monuments where they were carved by these usurpers. Nevertheless, it was partially possible to restore, although not perfectly, the list of shepherd kings. Among them we meet at least two Apapis. The one to whom Joseph explained his dreams is probably the most famous of them, namely Apapi II. Apapi II is one of the shepherd kings who most imitated the pharaohs in their passion for monuments and who in this respect did the most honor to the rule of the Hykses. These Semites made an invasion of the Nile Valley during the XIV native dynasty. They took Memphis and captured all of Lower Egypt. After their victory, they elected one of their leaders, Shilat, as their king. He established a government between them and himself established his seat in Memphis, which he chose as his capital. The Hykses had to endure more than two centuries of struggle in order to finally subjugate the kings of Thebes. The five shepherd kings: Bnon, Apahna, Apapi I, Iannas and Asses spent their entire lives in this struggle. Asses managed to overthrow the XV dynasty and became the complete master of both Lower and Upper Egypt. More than once during the 16th dynasty, the Thebans tried to overthrow this yoke, but to no avail. They were happier in this regard under Apapi II. During the reign of this particular Gik king, the war began, which after him ended with the expulsion of the shepherds from the Nile Valley. Apapi II loved luxury and stately buildings; he also loved the national religion of his ancestors. As for the Egyptians, the motivation that forced them to take up arms was precisely a religious motivation, as well as a dispute regarding the distribution of waters. Apapi wanted to force all his subjects, whatever their origin, to recognize the only god Sutekh, the national deity of the Hyks 258 . Near his palace he erected a magnificent church for him, the same, no doubt, from which Mariette discovered several ruins. The Thebans refused to betray their gods, and the consequence was war. As for the meaning of Sutekh himself, although there are different opinions in this regard, there is no doubt that this is one of the Semitic gods, in the genus of the Syrian Baal. According to the authoritative English Egyptologist Birch, Sutekh means “the only true God, different from all other Gods.” If so, then this circumstance could shed very important light on why the Pharaoh who exalted Joseph often spoke in purely biblical language and showed familiarity with the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bone God (though of course not in a perfect form). From here, his joy also becomes clear that the proud Egyptian priests suffered extreme defeat from the young Israeli, who surpassed them with his wisdom in the interpretation of dreams, and the reason for the Pharaoh’s extraordinary trust in Joseph, who was immediately elevated to the highest state dignity for his wisdom, becomes clear. Chapter 25. Joseph and his brothers The famine that visited the Nile Valley made itself felt in the surrounding countries that were completely economically dependent on Egypt. Therefore, when, with the onset of famine, local supplies were depleted, according to custom, caravans from different countries flocked to Egypt to buy bread. The sons of the elderly Jacob were also forced to go to Egypt, which at that time was already conducting an extensive grain trade with Canaan and with all other neighboring countries. It was, of course, difficult for them to recognize Joseph, now mature and surrounded by all the courtly Egyptian splendor; They themselves wore the old shepherd's clothes, which Joseph remembered so well, and therefore he immediately recognized them as brothers. But there was no Benjamin between them. Didn't they kill or sell Rachel's other son, his only maternal brother? – a heavy thought flashed through him. In order to let them feel at least to some extent the severity of the state in which he himself had once been placed by them, and also to find out the truth about his younger brother, Joseph could not find a better way to declare them spies. Therefore, showing that he did not know them, “he spoke sternly to them and said to them: Where did you come from? They said: buy food from the land of Canaan.” “And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had about them; and he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to spy out the weak points of this land” (Gen. 42:7–9). Egypt indeed constantly had to fear an enemy attack from the northeast, to prevent which the eastern border of Egypt was protected by a large fortified wall from Suez to the Mediterranean Sea, similar to the wall with which China was protected from the attacks of the Mongols. Such a statement should have immediately struck fear into the brothers, and they timidly answered him: “No, our lord; Your servants have come to buy food, we are all children of one man; we are honest people; Your servants were not spies." But Joseph strictly continued to insist on his suspicion and repeated three times that they were spies, despite the fact that the brothers cited further details to justify themselves, saying that there were only twelve brothers, one of them was gone (how painful it was for them to remember this!), and the youngest remained with their father. Ignoring these excuses, Joseph demanded from them some tangible proof of the correctness of his words and said: “This is how you will be tested: I swear by the life of Pharaoh, you will not leave here unless your younger brother comes. Send one of you, and let him bring your brother; and you will be detained, and it will be revealed whether you have the truth; and if not, then I swear by the life of Pharaoh that you are spies.” “And he put them in custody for three days.” It is remarkable that Joseph swore by the life of Pharaoh, and this is completely in accordance with Egyptian customs. The pharaoh was idolized in Egypt and the oath with his life was considered the most powerful and binding. Such an oath in Egypt was maintained until the 12th century, it was used by caliphs, and its violation entailed death 259. Calling his brothers to him three days later, Joseph had mercy on them and changed his mind in the sense that, to prove the truth of their words, they were to leave only one hostage. It was the second brother Simeon who was left as a hostage, and not the elder Reuben, and by this perhaps Joseph wanted to remind the latter of his good feelings, which forced him to once try to save his brother’s life. This whole event made an extremely difficult impression on the brothers. Their conscience spoke to them, and they clearly saw this as a punishment for their cruelty to their brother. “And they said to one another, “As if we are being punished for sin against our brother; we saw the suffering of his soul when he begged us, but we did not listen to him; That’s why this grief befell us.” At the same time, the brothers, speaking aloud to each other in the presence of Joseph in Hebrew, did not realize that Joseph fully understood their language, since hitherto they had spoken to him through an interpreter. And Joseph, having heard their conversation, could not stand it and, moving away from them, began to cry. And then, having ordered Simeon to be tied up, he released the rest to their homeland, secretly ordering at the same time to put back into their bags the silver that they had paid for the purchased bread. It was bitter for the elderly Jacob to listen to the story conveyed to him by his sons about the harsh treatment of them by the Egyptian ruler, who left one of them as a hostage; but it was even harder to part with Benjamin. Necessity, however, forced me to decide on this. He released Benjamin, but at the same time wanted to appease the Egyptian ruler with his gifts. This is completely in accordance with Eastern custom, which required bringing gifts to those in power. But nothing could be simpler and more primitive when Jacob, as such gifts to an Egyptian court dignitary drowning in luxury, sent “the fruits of their land: some balsam and some honey, styrax and palmetto, pistachios and almonds” (Gen. 23:2). The “honey” is, of course, not bee honey, but what the Arabs call dibs, condensed grape syrup, which is still in great use in Egypt, where it is brought annually from Hebron by a caravan of 300 camels 260 . Jacob's grief from fear of losing the last son of his beloved Rachel; the ardent assurance of Reuben and Judah that they take full responsibility for his safety; the question of silver, which by some incomprehensible accident ended up in their bread bags - all this constitutes a deeply touching scene from history. But an even more unexpected scene was to unfold before these poor, frightened Canaanites when, upon arriving in Egypt with Benjamin, they were demanded directly into the palace of the Egyptian ruler. The houses of noble Egyptians were surrounded by high walls, decorated with paintings, and access to them was through huge gates with high pillars from which long flags fluttered. The gate led to a vast paved courtyard, flanked by spacious passages supported by thin painted columns. From the palace itself, a back door led into extensive gardens, with rows of fruitful trees and vines, bushes and flower beds, and with all kinds of vegetation. Palms, sycamores, acacias, figs, pomegranates and jasmines provided luxurious vegetation. In the middle there was a huge pool, the water from which, through a mechanism driven by oxen, spilled throughout the garden under the supervision of gardeners. Most often, the garden adjoined the Nile or one of its canals, and luxurious steps led to a magnificent pier, at which stood a yacht, which served as one of the favorite pleasures of the Egyptian aristocracy. The house itself, usually of vast size, was mostly one-story, and sometimes several floors. Almost all the rooms on the lower floor had separate doors leading to a special veranda or gallery, supported by painted columns and running along the entire house on the garden side. Next to it there were extensive storerooms for supplies of all kinds. The outer walls of the house were decorated with paintings and rich ornaments of all kinds. The furnishings were quite consistent with the appearance. Sofas, couches and couches of all kinds, often of valuable wood, trimmed with ivory and gold, revealed the grace of taste with their varied forms and images of lions, sphinxes, horses and other animals; then, of all sizes and designs, elegant carved chairs in ivory frames amazed with their luxury and richness. On the side tables stood goblets of exquisite Assyrian workmanship and beautiful vases of flowers; the fragrance spread throughout all the rooms, and the foot stepped softly on the rich carpets or lion and leopard furs that covered the floors. The servants were numerous. Crowds of slaves were ready for any, the most whimsical services of their master. A council of priests was in charge of religious rites in the house, along with scribes and astronomers. The trusted slave was in charge of the entire household, constantly appearing with a carved cane in his hands and in charge of the entire staff of slaves, among whom were: gardeners, tailors, barbers, porters, watchmen, hunters, bathhouse attendants, bakers, carpenters and specialists of all kinds. Slaves were engaged in yarn, sewing and knitting. Acrobats and dancers, harpists and singers tried to disperse the evening boredom of their masters when they stayed at home, and did not go out for a ride in a rich yacht along the Nile, or in luxurious chariots along the streets of the city. The Egyptian's table was abundant with meat and game of all kinds, but he, like the Jew, could not stand pork; he loved cookies and biscuits of all kinds. Dinners ended with fruits, grapes, figs and dates, as dessert. Wine and beer were favorite drinks. He dressed in clean white linen, wore sandals on his feet or even walked barefoot, but he wore a lot of chains, bracelets and cufflinks of all kinds, testifying to his wealth, as a special sign of his dignity. Such luxury of the Egyptian ruler, of course, should have blinded and plunged the poor shepherds, accustomed to the simple life of tents, into confusion and awe, and their confusion knew no bounds when they were called to dinner with a courtier, whose position seemed unattainable to them even in thought. They were led into a richly decorated dining room, glittering with gold and flowers and decorated with royal splendor. The serving slaves placed garlands of roses on the guests' shoulders and wreaths of blooming lotuses on their heads, while others served wine and food from buffets. Choirs of musicians entered the dining room during dinner to play harps, flutes and tambourines, and dancers appeared with them to amuse the company with dances and songs. Perhaps Joseph did not completely allow such luxury, but the inexorable law of ceremoniality in a country like Egypt necessarily made his house similar to the houses of all other Egyptian court dignitaries. When Joseph himself came out to his brothers, they, according to Eastern custom, bowed to the ground and presented him with the gifts they had brought. It is remarkable that exactly the same scene is represented in one image dating back to the 18th dynasty. It depicts several people from the Rotennu tribe bringing gifts to the king or a great dignitary in exactly the same situation as was the case at this second meeting of the brothers with Joseph. One might think that this picture depicts exactly the scene described in the biblical narrative, if the number of those presenting themselves to the dignitary here were not more significant. This image shows just a few foreigners, some of whom bow and stand with their hands raised, as a sign of special prayer, while others directly bow to the ground. Then they lay gifts at the feet of the pharaoh and apparently beg for his mercy. The persons following them still stand and hold in their hands gold and silver vessels, also apparently filled with various products of their country. It is true that the Bible does not say that Joseph’s brothers offered their gifts in silver and gold vessels, but the existence of such vessels among the chosen family is indicated by the fact that earlier, in the time of Abraham, his steward Eliezer, among other gifts to Isaac’s bride, took with him both gold and silver vessels (Gen. 24:53). The entire costume and facial features of the Rotennu tribe in this image clearly indicate the affinity of these newcomers with the Jews. Having accepted gifts from his brothers, Joseph asked them about their health and said: “Is your father, the old man about whom you spoke, healthy? Is he still alive? The brothers, seeing such a change in the address of the once strict dignitary to them, joyfully answered: “Your servant, our father, is healthy; still alive,” and then they bowed to him again. “And Joseph lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said: Is this your youngest brother, of whom you told me?” Having received an affirmative answer, Joseph touchingly told him, “May the mercy of God be with you, my son.” At the sight of Benjamin, a brotherly feeling began to boil in Joseph, and he had to retire to the inner chambers to hide the tears that were appearing. He was doubly happy for Benjamin and for his brothers, that they were not as cruel to their younger brother as they had once been to him. With purely oriental agility, the animals for the upcoming dinner were killed; Water was brought so that each guest could wash his feet, as required by the rules of Egyptian politeness 261. During dinner, Joseph sat at a separate table, as required by the dignity of his high rank, which did not allow him to eat with ordinary people. Nearby there was also a separate table for the Egyptians, who were also not allowed by custom to sit with unclean foreigners. Egypt was the China of the ancient world and, like it, shunned, as far as possible, relations with other countries, considering all other peoples, no matter how civilized, as unclean barbarians. Food was served to the guests from the host's table, as required by the ceremony, and Joseph at the same time allocated the largest portion to Benjamin, as was generally done in the east in relation to persons enjoying the special favor of the host. The dinner amazed the poor shepherds of Canaan with its luxury and wealth, and in order to get rid of the embarrassment that had taken hold of them, they, according to the everyday writer, “drank and drank contently” with their high-ranking host (Gen. 43:34). Having shown his brothers such a great honor and such an unexpected mercy for them, Joseph nevertheless wanted to once again put them to the test and make sure how truly sincere their feelings were towards their brother Benjamin. For this purpose, he ordered his last precious cup to be tied into a bag, so as to have a reason to once again subject these foreigners to grave charges. Egyptian palaces and houses of noble dignitaries were filled with all kinds of expensive furniture and precious objects. There were especially many different vases and bowls, which served both for use at the table and as luxury items. Many similar accessories were found in the tombs, and they can be seen in all the great museums of Europe. Vessels and bowls were made of gold, bronze, alabaster, enameled faience, clay and glass. Some are made extremely beautifully, sometimes in the form of a corolla of an opening flower, and sometimes in the form of the head of some animal or bird. Among the green and blue faience vessels in the Louvre Museum, a vessel made of blue mass, reminiscent of the Assyrian style, attracts attention. This vessel represents a lion with an open mouth, which in its paws holds in front of it some small four-legged animal with a broken head. The lion's eyes are made of glass with a metal plate; small fangs in the gums show that the lion's teeth were made of some other substance. In the same museum, one also notices one golden bowl with the inscription of the name of Pharaoh Thotmes III, one of the greatest kings of Egypt of the 18th dynasty. The bottom of this bowl is decorated with a garland of papyrus flowers, with fish depicted in the middle. An image of this kind was chosen to show that this cup was intended for water. And indeed, if you fill it with water, it looks like something like a small pond, at the bottom of which you can see small fish and various algae. This bowl weighs about one pound. The outer part of the vase is engraved with a one-line hieroglyphic inscription. There are also vases made of silver, but they are much less common than gold ones. Joseph, of course, had quite a few such beautiful works of Egyptian art. To make sure of the true disposition of his brothers in relation to Benjamin, he ordered the steward of his house to put his best silver cup in the bread bag of his youngest son Jacob, and then, when they set off, he ordered to catch up with them and accuse them of stealing this cup. The manager of the house carried out this order exactly. Having caught up with the brothers, he severely accused them of theft, demanded a search, and when the cup was found in Benjamin’s bag, he began to reproach them for paying Joseph evil for good and stealing his expensive silver cup. “Isn’t this the one from which my master drinks,” he said, “and he tells fortunes with it? It was a bad thing you did” (Gen. 44:5). This place was at one time subject to such serious objections that some researchers even suggested making a change in the text or in the translation; because there seemed to be an indication of a custom here, an example of which was not found in other authors. The very reference to fortune telling through a cup seemed strange, and since it was really impossible to give parallel examples, some researchers directly questioned this entire story as inconsistent with reality. But the latest research in this regard fully confirms the truth of the biblical narrative, showing that fortune telling through the cup was a custom not only among the Egyptians, but also among many surrounding peoples. This custom, according to travelers, exists even now in Egypt. Norden, in describing his journey, tells a remarkable incident in this regard. Varam, the local head of the tribe, addressing the travelers, stated that he had been telling fortunes with his cup and from this fortune-telling he learned that they were spies who had come to see how it would be easier for them to invade his country and subjugate it. The traveler could calm the suspicions of the head of the tribe only when he offered him very significant gifts. Examples of the existence of such a custom can be cited not only in Egypt, but also in all surrounding countries of the East. In one Chinese work written in 1792 and containing a description of Tibet, among the fortune-telling means used in this country, fortune-telling by means of a bowl of water is mentioned, by looking into which one can allegedly recognize what is about to happen 262 . The Persians also seem to have considered the cup one of the main instruments of divination; their poets constantly refer to the history of one famous fortune-telling cup, which in the beginning was the property of the demigod Dzhemshid; from him it passed into the hands of Solomon and Alexander and was, as it were, the reason for their success and their glory. According to one legend, the same cup was allegedly in the hands of Joseph. All these examples confirm the very possibility of fortune telling through the cup. To this can be added the testimony of St. Ephraim the Syrian, the most ancient of the Syrian fathers, who says that in his time it was also customary to tell fortunes over bowls, namely when, striking them, they put their ear to them in order to recognize the future by their sound. Fortune telling by means of a cup was performed either as Ephraim the Syrian describes, or water was poured into it and then pieces of gold, silver and pearls, or other precious materials were thrown in, and then, according to the position that these jewelry occupied, they tried to guess the future or hidden things. As for the steward’s statement that the cup over which his master Joseph was telling fortunes was found in Benjamin’s bag, then, of course, there is no need to believe that Joseph actually engaged in such fortune-telling or even indulged in Egyptian magic. This statement represents only the assumption of the steward himself, an assumption quite natural in his mind, in view of the prevalence of such a custom among Egyptian dignitaries, and with this statement he only wanted to increase the guilt of the brothers, trying to show them what a precious cup they stole from Joseph. Being struck by such a terrible surprise, the brothers tore their clothes and, again loading their donkeys, which had been unpacked on the occasion of the search, returned to the capital. They had no choice but to go again to Joseph and beg him for mercy. The first of them went to Joseph, Judah, who made a solemn promise to Jacob to bring back his brother Benjamin alive and well. When Joseph came out to them, they fell to the ground before him. Joseph said to them: “What have you done? Didn’t you know that a person like me would certainly guess right?” Judas answered: “What should we say to our lord? what to say? what is the excuse? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. Here we are, our master’s servants, both we and the one in whose hands the cup was.” In order not to upset their father with the loss of Benjamin, they were all ready to remain in slavery to Joseph. But Joseph did not want such injustice: “No,” he said, “I will not do this; the one in whose hands the cup was found will be my slave, and you go in peace to your father.” Then, in despair, Judah came closer to Joseph and in extreme emotion, clearly reflected in the very tone and manner of his speech, said to him: “My lord, let your servant speak a word in the ears of his master, and do not be angry with your servant, for you are also like Pharaoh. We told our lord that we have an elderly father, and he has a younger son, a son of old age, whose brother died, and he was left alone by his mother, and his father loves him. You said to your servants: Bring him to me so that I can look at him. We said to our lord: the boy cannot leave his father, and if he leaves his father, he will die. But you said to your servants: if your younger brother does not come with you, then you will no longer appear before me.” Having then told about the difficulty and sadness with which Jacob finally agreed, under the pressure of severe need, to let his youngest son go to Egypt, Judah continued: “Now, if I come to your servant our father, and the boy with whose soul his soul is connected is not with us, then he, seeing that there is no boy, will die; and your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father with sorrow to the grave. Moreover, I, your servant, undertook to answer for the boy to my father, saying: if I do not bring him to you, and put him before you; then I will remain guilty before my father all the days of my life. So, let me, your servant, instead of the boy, remain a slave to my master, and let the boy go with his brothers. For how can I go to my father when the boy is not with me? I would have seen the disaster that would have befallen my father.” This unusually touching scene fully proved the brothers’ devotion and love for their elderly father: they were ready to sacrifice themselves so as not to upset Jacob with the loss of his beloved son Benjamin. Seeing this, Joseph could not resist any longer. Unable to hide his feelings any longer, he ordered everyone around him to leave and then, to the amazement and horror of the Canaanite shepherds, “he sobbed loudly, so that the Egyptians and all the house of Pharaoh heard about it.” “And Joseph said to his brothers: I am Joseph, is my father still alive?” But this discovery struck his brothers with such horror that their tongues became numb, and at first they could not answer him. “His brothers could not answer him, because they were embarrassed before him.” To encourage them, Joseph said to them, “Come to me.” And then he repeated to them again: “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now do not be sad and do not regret that you sold me here; because God sent me before you to preserve your life. For now there are two years of famine on earth: there are still five years left, during which they will neither yell nor reap. God has placed me before you to leave you on earth and preserve your life through great deliverance. So, it was not you who sent me here, but God, who made me the father of Pharaoh (ab-en-perao), and lord over all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Go quickly to my father and tell him: This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord over all Egypt; come to me without delay. Tell my father about all my glory in Egypt, and about everything that you have seen; and bring my father here quickly.” Then he, to prove the truth of his words, “fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and cried, hugging them.” Only then did the brothers loosen their tongues and dare to speak to him. When Pharaoh learned about this story of his beloved courtier, he transferred his affection towards him to his entire family and expressed a desire for them all to move to Egypt. The brothers were given chariots, gifts were made to each of them with a change of clothes, and for Benjamin five changes and three hundred pieces of silver. Joseph sent to his father “ten donkeys laden with the best produce of Egypt, and ten donkeys laden with grain, bread and provisions for the journey” (Gen. 45:23). The news brought to Jacob was so unexpected for him that, depressed by the vicissitudes of life, the elder did not want to believe him; only when he saw the chariots sent for him, “his spirit came to life,” and he exclaimed with extraordinary energy: “Enough!” my son Joseph is still alive; I’ll go and see him before I die!” And so, the caravan of the children of Israel quietly stretched towards Egypt, accompanied by the entire house of Jacob, consisting of seventy souls, with all their numerous households and herds. The days of grief for Jacob were over, he looked cheerfully into the future and cried with joy in anticipation of meeting Joseph, who had mourned him for so long, with bitter tears. Having passed the heights of Beersheba, where Jacob made a sacrifice to God and was rewarded with a vision of the Lord, confirming to him the covenant with his fathers and encouraging him with His help and protection, the caravan entered the northeastern district of Egypt, Goshen. Hearing about the approach of the caravan, Joseph got into his chariot and, surrounded by a brilliant retinue, rode out to meet his elderly father, and when he saw him, he “fell on his neck and wept on his neck for a long time, and the old man, encouraged, exclaimed: now, having seen your face, I will die, for you are still alive!” The powerful pharaoh honored the elderly father of his high dignitary with a special audience. The meeting between them was touching in its simplicity and sincerity. Pharaoh asked the elder about his age, and Elder Jacob briefly reviewed his much-tested life. With touching simplicity and dignity, Jacob told the powerful monarch about his life. In comparison with the life of his ancestors, his own life was short - only 130 years, while Abraham lived 175 years, Isaac 180. But this was too much for the vicissitudes and sorrows that befell him. His whole life was a “wandering”, like life in general, and even more so for him, a dweller in tents, constantly moving with his herds from one place to another. Pharaoh was touched by this meeting and asked for blessings from the elder. The new newcomers settled in the Goshen district, which was distinguished by excellent pastures. There they could live at a distance from the Egyptians, who were alienated from communication with shepherd tribes, although not shepherd occupations in general, since they themselves, not excluding the pharaoh, had huge herds of all kinds of livestock. The monuments depict a mass of livestock belonging to government and private owners. Hatred of foreign pastoral tribes was further intensified by the domination of the shepherd kings, and even under one of the latter, which was the Pharaoh of the time of Joseph, local customs and prejudices remained so strong that it was impossible to allow the settlement of a shepherd family in one of the more inland districts of the country. Pharaoh, however, was glad to find among the newcomers people who knew the shepherd's business, and chose from among them the main overseers of his flocks. How large these herds were can be judged by the fact that Ramses III donated no less than 91,223 heads of various livestock to the churches of the city of Thebes, and up to 45,600 heads to the churches of Iliopolis. Thus, God’s prediction to Abraham was fulfilled that “his descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs,” where, as was confirmed to Jacob on his way to Egypt, a great nation was to come from them. Chapter 26. Joseph's Administration When Joseph's brothers arrived in Egypt with their father, the famine was still raging severely, and had it not been for the wise measures taken by the minister of Pharaoh Apapi II, who made large reserves during harvest years that exceeded the usual grain harvests, this famine would have entailed countless victims. Joseph, among other positions, also had supervision of the royal granaries. This position was very important at the court of the pharaohs. We know the names of several individuals who were in charge of the Egyptian granaries. Thus, mention is made of one “royal dignitary in charge of the granary,” namely Hemnecht. Another dignitary, bearing the same name and the same title, is known to us from a figurine from the Miromarsky Museum. The third was called Khemga and lived during the time of Pharaoh Amenophis III. The inscription on his tomb reads: “Khemga, master of the granaries.” It is clear from it that this position placed the dignitary in direct relations with the tsar and that he had at his disposal various classes of workers who collected taxes in kind; he bore an honorary title, meaning that he was entrusted with the supervision of the country; he called himself "the eyes of the king in the cities of the south and his ears in the regions of the north." In the British Museum there is a monument of black granite belonging to one keeper of the public granaries, who was called Mentotept, son of Nefertot. On this monument he is depicted standing and holding in his hands a stick and a special kind of scepter. Sacred history shows us how Joseph corrected his position as overseer of the granaries. “And he gathered all the grain of the seven years that were fruitful in the land of Egypt, and laid the grain in the cities; in every city he laid the grain of the fields surrounding it” (Gen. 41:48). All the details of the agricultural industry are now precisely known to us from Egyptian images, from the way in which the fields were cultivated and sown, to the storage of grain in granaries. In the Egyptian department of the Louvre Museum there are plaster images brought from a Theban tomb, in which you can see how four slaves pulled a plow, plowing the ground. A more common method of arable farming was to cultivate the land with the help of oxen. Nearby, others were cultivating the soil with hoes. Along with the image in the museum you can also see real hoes, which were used in Egypt several centuries ago to loosen the soil. Most of these hoes are made of ebony, since this tree was strong enough to cultivate the soft mud of the Nile Valley. After cultivating the soil a little, the Egyptians sowed, often directly scattering the seeds and driving domestic animals through this sown soil. In the images of some tombs, such as Gizech, one can see how sheep were used for this purpose. At Beni-Ghassan one can see the image of three men armed with sticks driving a herd of rams and sheep, forcing them to pass through the sown soil and thus blocking the crops. When the harvest time came, the reapers began to collect grain and cut off the ears with a sickle, examples of which can also be seen in the Louvre. One of the frescoes in the Louvre depicts this work in detail. It also depicts women bringing provisions with workers. Behind the reapers, women and children were gathering ears of corn and tying them into sheaves. Not far from the workers, there are clay jugs on special tripods, containing fresh water, with which the reapers refreshed themselves while working. Then the sheaves were carried to a special place, which served as a threshing floor and where oxen were prepared to thresh them. This work was usually completed about a month after the harvest. During this work, the workers were entertained by songs. In 1828, Champollion found one of these songs on the tomb of Eiletia, and it reads like this: Grind your own bread, Grind your own bread; O oxen, thresh for yourself, O oxen, thresh for yourselves; Measure for your masters. The threshed bread was then winnowed using the wind, which carried away dust and chaff. Then the bread was measured, a special scribe accurately recorded its quantity, and finally it was usually transported by ship along the Nile, or along one of the canals, to the granaries, where it was stored. The granaries were large conical-shaped rooms that were located along one line and closed from above, from where they were filled. One hole, in the form of a small quadrangular window, was usually located at the bottom or in the middle of the granary and was intended either for taking bread or for ventilating the granary. In similar granaries of various cities of Egypt, Joseph collected the excess harvest of the fertile years. In the dry climate of this country, grain bread was preserved perfectly. In the Louvre Museum you can still see grains of grain that were found in Egyptian tombs and were thus forty centuries old. The grains extracted from Egyptian tombs, despite such antiquity, nevertheless retained the germs of life and sprouted when sown. Therefore, for Joseph there was nothing easier and more convenient than to preserve bread during the seven years of famine. The famine came, just as it was predicted. In the land of Canaan, the cause of such a disaster was drought; in the Nile Valley it usually depended on the insufficiency of the Nile flood, which served as the main fertilizer of the soil, so that sterility reigns everywhere where only its beneficial waters do not reach. Some modern historians think that the number seven should not be taken in the strict sense of the word, since this number in Egyptian was often used as an indefinite number, and at the same time, a seven-year famine seems hardly plausible. “We are inclined to think,” says the famous Egyptologist Ebers, “that this number is rather symbolic than historical, because while everything here is consistent with the actual state of things, the series of seven years during which the Nile reached its most normal height, and seven other years during which it never reached them, is an unheard-of thing and can hardly be considered reconcilable with the laws of nature.” To this we can first of all say that it could not have been difficult for the omnipotence of God to give Egypt seven consecutive years of abundance and the same number of years of barrenness; but apart from this, there are no sufficient grounds that would prevent us from accepting this biblical number in its strict sense. Ovid even speaks of nine years of famine in this country 263. Pliny, in one well-known place, also says that Egypt, if the Nile did not reach 12 cubits during the flood, was already suffering from famine. He feels hunger even at 13 cubits, but rejoices at 14, has complete security at 15 and complete contentment at 16. “The greatest height of the flood,” says Abd-Allatif, “is 16 full cubits.” Such a spill is called “Sultan’s water” because when the spill reaches this point, a special tax is taken from the lands in favor of the king; At this time, almost half of all lands are flooded, and the collection is enough to abundantly feed the inhabitants throughout the year. If, on the contrary, the flood is below 16 cubits, then the area of ​​​​land subject to flooding turns out to be insufficient; the harvest cannot satisfy all the needs of the year, and there is a more or less significant shortage of grain, depending on how far below 16 cubits the water stops 264. History knows of several famines caused by insufficient flooding. There is one known famine that lasted seven years, like the famine during the time of Joseph, namely from 1064 to 1071, under the caliph El-Mustansir-Billa. In the year 596 of Gejra (in 1199 AD), the river, says Abd-Allatif, rose only 12 cubits 21 fingers - an extremely rare thing. In fact, we do not know that from the beginning of Gejra to the present time the flood of the Nile stopped at such a low point, if the same had not happened in 356, when it stood 4 fingers even lower than this height.” Abd-Allatif talks in detail about all the horrors that accompanied the famine of 596. Residents of villages and districts flocked to the main cities of the regions; very many settled in Syria, Maghreb, Gedja and Yemen. The plague was soon added to the famine. “The poor, oppressed by hunger, which was increasingly increasing, ate all kinds of carrion, corpses, dogs, excrement and droppings of animals. Some went even further and ate their small children. It was not uncommon to capture a family enjoying eating fried or boiled children. I myself saw a small roasted child in a basket... When the poor began to eat human flesh, the horror and amazement that accompanied such extraordinary dinners were such that these crimes became the subject of general conversation, but subsequently everyone became so accustomed to this disgusting food that some made it a permanent food for themselves, feasting like a king and even stocking it. Night has come. A little after the hour of prayer, which takes place when the sun has just disappeared from the horizon, a young slave was playing with a recently weaned child belonging to a wealthy family. When the child was near her, one beggar grabbed him at the moment that this slave turned away from him, immediately ripped open his stomach and immediately began to eat his raw meat. In Misra, a few days later, 30 women were roasted, of which not a single one had not eaten several children... For the most part, it was women who were captured at the scene of such crimes, a circumstance that, in my opinion, proves that women have less dexterity than men and cannot avoid and hide from searches with such speed. When they burned one unfortunate man in the belief that he had eaten human flesh, then the next morning his corpse was eaten: he was eaten all the more willingly because all of his meat was fried, so there was no need to boil it. This atrocity of eating each other became so common among the poor that many died in this manner. In one cauldron they found two or three children or even more. One day they found a large cauldron in which ten hands were boiled, just as legs of mutton are boiled. They saw one old woman eating a small child and justifying herself by saying that it was her daughter’s son, and not a boy strange to her, and that it was better for her to eat him herself than for him to be eaten by others... How many poor people died from exhaustion and hunger - only God can know about this.” 265 From this picture of one famine in Egypt one can see from what horrors Joseph, with his foresight, saved the subjects of Pharaoh, and why the Arabs, because of the wise measures with which he managed to prevent the terrible results of a long drought, call him “the pearl of rulers” 266. The monuments of ancient Egypt also contain no little evidence of the disasters of famine that that country suffered from time to time. In Beni-Gassan, on the tomb of Ameni, who died in the 43rd year of the reign of Osortesen I and was the ruler of the province of Sa, the following is said: “during my reign there was no famine, and no one suffered want under my rule, because I forced all the fields of the nome of Sa in the south and north to be cultivated; I established a special order for the life of the population, offering them food in such a way that no one died of hunger” 267. In an even more ancient document, in the instructions to King Osortesen I, attributed to Pharaoh Amenematus I, the author equally boasts that he delivered his people from hunger: “I commanded the cultivation of the country as far as Abu (Elephantine), I spread joy to Adu (the delta), I am the creator of the three kinds of grain, the friend of Neprat (the deity of grain bread). Through our prayers, the Nile always gave floods to all our fields: no one went hungry with me” 268. “It is interesting to note,” says Birch, “that in the Abydos tombs of this time (the Twelfth Dynasty) several dignitaries were buried who were in charge of grain grain in the royal granaries. The mention of these dignitaries in hieroglyphic inscriptions naturally leads one to assume that they were appointed to this position during the famine years in order to take measures against the recurrence of such disasters 269 . Brugsch even believes that he found on the monuments of Egypt a memory of the very famine that raged in the time of Joseph. One Egyptian, named Baba, says in an inscription on the wall of his tomb El-Kabe that during the famine, which lasted several years, he was able to feed not only his large family, but also the inhabitants of the entire region where he lived. “I was,” he says in his epitaph, “a man of a gentle heart, without anger; the gods gave me prosperity on earth; my fellow citizens wished me health and life in the city of Kaba. I punished the evildoers. I had many children in my city during my days, because I produced 56 children, large and small. I had the same number of beds, as many chairs, as many tables for them; I had 120 barrels of grain bread and all kinds of food; milk was milked from 3 cows, 52 goats and 8 donkeys; incense was consumed for one gin and two bottles of oil. If anyone objects, believing that everything I say is just self-praise, then I call God Mont as a witness that I am speaking the truth. I prepared all this in my house. I have prepared more than enough fermented milk in jugs and beer in the cellar for a gin. I stored up grain, loving the good God, and was careful during sowing time. When the famine came, which lasted for many years, I distributed grain to the city during each famine year” 270. Judging by this tombstone inscription, Baba did in his district or city on a small scale what Joseph did for all of Egypt, i.e. took measures to prevent disasters during years of crop failure. Thus Joseph, by his wise foresight, saved Egypt from the horrors of famine. But at the same time, in purely political forms, he took advantage of this famine in order to strengthen and establish the power of the Gik kings, which at that time, apparently, was greatly shaken. The Pharaoh's minister gradually forced the Egyptians to hand over to him all their precious metals, their herds and finally their lands, excluding only the lands belonging to the priests. The pharaoh himself took care of the maintenance of the priests: “there is no scribe who would not receive food from the king’s house,” the Salye papyrus says significantly 271. Nevertheless, he left the people themselves to take care of cultivating their own fields on condition of paying the Pharaoh a fifth of the income. This is the only act that we know about from Joseph’s administration, besides the measures that he took against famine: this act is very important, and it has more than once been the subject of very harsh, but little substantiated judgments from a well-known party of historians. What we know about property rights in Egypt in the subsequent era fully confirms the story of the Bible. The land in Egypt, according to the testimony of Diodorus Siculus, was divided into three parts, of which one belonged to the kings, the other to the priests and the third to the soldiers. A certain tax was levied on these lands in favor of the state, with the exception of the priestly lands, which is mentioned in the book of Genesis (47:22). It does not say anything about similar advantages for warriors, but subsequently similar privileges were granted to them. Herodotus says that they had the right to own a certain amount of land (twelve aruras) free of taxes, and undoubtedly in return for the salary due to them. The mass of the population could not thus become the owner of the land. “On the sculptures,” says Wilkinson, “no one is visible as owners except kings, priests and warriors.” Egyptology indirectly confirms the fact of the transfer of Egyptian land into the ownership of the pharaohs, although it does not say who made this transition. It establishes the fact that in the ancient and middle periods of Egyptian history there existed in Egypt a kind of feudalism, very similar to the feudalism of the Middle Ages, which manifested itself in frequent unrest and led to the fact that the feudal lords sometimes completely refused to recognize the power of the pharaoh. Nomes were, as it were, hereditary principalities that were in the possession of several large families and could pass from one to another through marriage or inheritance under the condition that the new owner was confirmed in the rights to his new acquisition by the reigning sovereign 272. In the modern period of history after the Hyxes, we no longer find traces of this feudal organization. Joseph apparently dealt her a decisive blow, transferring the property of the entire country into the king’s power, excluding only the priestly possessions. Ramses III in the great Harris Papyrus presents himself as the owner of all the land of Egypt. “I,” he says, “planted trees and bushes throughout the country, and allowed people to enjoy their shade... I gave food to the whole country: poor and rich, mortal men and women... I again took care of the country, which was devastated: the country was again saturated during my reign. Work for him (his son, Ramses IV), as one man, in every kind of work... Do all work for him with your hands. You will be rewarded from him with daily food.” “The reward promised here to the Egyptians for their labors,” says Shaba, “is the content that Pharaoh promised to provide them with. This maintenance, provided by the king, was the usual privilege of state dignitaries and priests. Speaking about this privilege in general, Ramses promises to extend it to everyone. Due to the order of land ownership that was established by Patriarch Joseph, all lands belonged to the pharaoh. Hence, in a sense, it could really be said that the king provided food for all his people.” 273 One of the newest critics finds inaccuracy in this part of the biblical narrative. “For Joseph to make his lord and master the owner of all the land of Egypt,” he says, “this is a monstrous story that could only have arisen in the imagination of some Ephraimite. Is it necessary to remind that the Egyptians at all known times were the owners of their lands, and since the coin was unknown, they paid taxes in kind, which were collected by scribes accompanied by detectives armed with a classic club” 274? But obviously this critic never read the following passage from Herodotus: “They say that King Sesostris divided the land of Egypt among all the Egyptians, giving each of them an equal share, and received his main income from the rent that the owners of the land had to pay him annually” 275. This is evidence that cannot be ignored without sufficient evidence. And this division of the Egyptian soil took place after Joseph, since Sesostris or Ramses II Meiamun lived much later than Joseph. Thus, until this time in Egypt, according to Herodotus, there was no private property, and all the land apparently belonged to the pharaoh, as Joseph established. The father of history also confirms the testimony of the Bible that the Egyptian priests were not subject to this tax. However, on the issue of land ownership, it is worth noting that the sacred writer does not say that the pharaoh had the exclusive and unconditional right to land ownership in Egypt. He could become only a legal owner, leaving the lands behind their previous owners, but only forcing them to pay a fifth of the income as tax (Gen. 47:23, 24). This measure thus simply amounted to an increase in tax. From one letter from Amenemath to Pentaur it is clear that in his time the tax "was a tenth of the harvest"; in Joseph's time this tax was raised to a fifth. Even assuming that the native kings of the Nile Valley never oppressed their subjects in the same way as is said about the Gik king, is it surprising if the foreign kings turned out to be more cruel and pretentious than the native kings? The simplest political considerations could prompt them to take advantage of the famine in order to completely subjugate the defeated people. In Egypt, and always, the population was in a more or less oppressed state. Under the pharaohs of the shepherd dynasty, the natives, however, apparently were not subjected to special oppression; only prisoners of war were mostly exposed to hard work. A tax equal to a fifth of the income, as imposed by Joseph, was not really too great for Egypt, and the centralization of property in the hands of the government was in some respects even a wise administrative measure adopted for the benefit of the whole country. Michaud, in his excellent study of landed property in Egypt, rightly observes that property could never be established in the Nile Valley in the same way as in other countries, and that it was limited by the very force of things. The fertility and profitability of the field there depend entirely on the general measures taken to regulate the flooding of the river. And these measures can only be taken by the supreme power, because all private efforts would be insufficient to achieve a more or less important result. The wonderful works performed by the pharaohs to prevent the insufficiency or excess of the Nile floods could never have been the work of any personal efforts of their subjects. The common good thus required that the king should have a right of property that others did not and should not have. “If landed property has always been insignificant in this country,” Michaud says, then the explanation for this circumstance should not be sought solely in the encroachment of despotism, in government coups, in the invasions and cruelty of barbarians. By carefully examining what exactly determines the fertility or sterility of the soil there, we will understand for the first time that the ownership of lands there should not have been subject to the same conditions and the same laws as in other countries. In all other countries, landed property receives its price from nature and from the location of the land, from the influence of weather, from the labor and enterprise of man; all this does not apply to the Nile, and the lands, with their rich works, in the words of Herodotus, there constitute the true gift of the river. But in order for these benefits to spread throughout Egypt, the Nile constantly needed a powerful hand to break through canals and direct its fruitful waters everywhere; the distribution of river waters required great public efforts and measures on the part of the supreme power; it was necessary for the government itself to take charge of this, and this order of things, of necessity, had to modify the very right of land ownership” 276 . As if to confirm this, tradition also attributes to Joseph the honor of the sewers of Egypt. It is very possible, in view of the above circumstances, that it is not mistaken in this regard. As for the measures taken by Joseph in general, the actions of the Egyptian ruler cannot be judged by the customs and practices now dominant in Europe (especially Western). The Romans, the founders of law, also had the concept of public fields (ager publicus). “The military law of antiquity, says one authoritative researcher, did not leave property to the vanquished. Rome used this right even more moderately than other states, but it still used it, and the successive conquests of various parts of Italy accumulated in its hands a huge land holding... This possession was inalienable: in order to take away a part of it, the republic either sold it at auction, or even without special conditions gave the owner permission to live and work on it, while demanding a small remuneration. When explaining the biblical fact under consideration, one must not forget that in the time of Joseph the Egyptians were a conquered people in relation to the Hykses. However, it can be argued without contradiction that Joseph, in view of the considerations expressed above, provided a service to the Egyptians themselves by making the pharaoh the exclusive owner of their lands. “In all of Turkey,” says Michaud, discussing land ownership in Egypt, “they don’t know what land ownership is. I have not met either in Smyrna, or in Constantinople, or in all of Asia Minor a pasha, bey or great dignitary who would consider cultivated land among his wealth; with the exception of a few shifliks or military estates, to which the government provides special government assistance, they know nothing of what we call landed estates, lands that could be leased with some benefit. The peasant population lives in villages, not knowing who owns the land from which they feed. Lands that are famous for their special fertility are never sold and are always valued at only a very moderate price. In all Ottoman provinces, when they want to acquire land property with some security in order to pass it on to their children, they almost always give it to the property of the mosque. Mosques become like mortgage companies for any property that the owner cannot hide.” Here we see, as it were, a continuation of the privileges that the priestly lands enjoyed in Egypt. “I do not want to say,” continues Michaud, “that landed property is generally unknown in Turkey, but the measures taken to secure the use of it, in any case, prove that it is little respected and that it is considered an institution that must take care of its own provision and seek protection from God. However, land ownership is respected no more by the people themselves than by the government. Throughout my entire journey, I did not notice anywhere that private individuals were embarrassed to appropriate for themselves everything that the land produces. This is precisely the reason why the entire surrounding area of ​​Istanbul, which could have been covered with harvest if it had been cultivated, remains almost completely without any cultivation, and that the capital of the great Ottoman Empire is surrounded for several miles by almost desert. The farmer, in all the places where he has settled, does not protect his fruits or his crops from plunder of all kinds, just as he does not protect them from elemental scourges or birds of the air. During my walks around Cairo, I often saw how our donkey drivers freely went to the gardens with onions and cucumbers, stocked up on all sorts of vegetables and calmly went into the city, burdened with such booty; This kind of robbery is commonplace and almost always goes unpunished” 278. Thus, when judging the measures taken by Joseph, one must keep in mind that these measures, which may seem so incongruous with the requirements of the latest legislation and the modern social system, were in full accordance with the morals and customs of the East. One statement in the book of Leviticus can serve to confirm everything that is said here, and to show at the same time how the whole Pentateuch is filled with allusions to Egyptian customs. Speaking about land ownership, Moses, among other things, solemnly proclaims: “land should not be sold forever; for the land is Mine; you are strangers and sojourners with Me” (Lev. 25:23). When we take this point of view, everything will serve to praise Joseph, especially when we compare his behavior with the behavior of other rulers of the country. Even now, the Viceroy of Egypt usually buys up almost all of their lands from his subjects in case of extreme need for money. Megemet-Ali acted even more directly and simply took them by force. In general, it is known that “the peasants of Egypt never had any other property than their huts, their dovecotes, oxen, ploughs, and a few plots of land lying around the villages. They could always be considered as workers, used for field work, or as a kind of mercenaries, cultivating the estates of others. During the time of the Mamelukes, the fellahans had lands that they owned under the condition of paying certain taxes; but they could neither pass them on to their children nor sell them; they could not dispose of them in any way. Megemet Ali left the fellahin in almost the same position as he found them: instead of cultivating the land at the expense of the multizim or mosques, they cultivate it only at the expense of the pasha. Megemet-Ali, having seized all power into his own hands, put himself in the place of all these private owners who were land owners before him” 279. To clarify this issue, some details are not uninteresting. “Under Megemet Ali,” says another researcher, “there was no free trade. The Viceroy was, as it were, the sole owner of Egypt, and all the fellahs were his tenants. Each village was obliged to sow a certain surface of the land with cotton, and all, without exception, the production of the soil, except for a certain amount of grain grain assigned to feed the inhabitants and feed the animals, went to the shuns or government stores built in various places in the country, and from these stores the Viceroy issued grain to the villages on credit at an arbitrary price that went in his favor, and sold it to his trading agents, the trading houses of Alexandria, or generally for private consumption. The accounts of each village, kept by greedy scribes, were compiled annually, and the excess income, excluding all costs, went to the benefit of the villagers, who, in this order of things, often found themselves debtors to the state.” “Four million fellahs, who are fed by the land of the pharaohs, work and work for one person - the Khedive, who absorbs, so to speak, all of Egypt for himself. A farmer who belongs to an ancient tribe that has withstood the upheavals of centuries does not belong to himself, just as the land does not belong to him; born to continually obey, pay and produce, he has no will of his own. The Egyptian fellah is nothing more or less than a beast of burden; The Khedive is the general ruler of the entire country” 280. From all that has been said, we can reasonably conclude that the measures taken by Joseph were fundamentally humane and were in the interest of the country itself and its inhabitants. They were not so much an innovation as a legitimate affirmation of an already existing order of things, with the goal of maintaining the rule of the victors over the vanquished, which by that time had already begun to waver. Joseph's measures led to the official recognition by the latter of the right of dominion and property of the Hyxes. “How unreasonable it would be to reproach Joseph for his course of action, this does not require any further evidence,” says the learned researcher, to whom even rationalists will not deny authority, namely Ewald 281. In these circumstances, Joseph discovered that deep insight and that breadth of vision that generally distinguish this statesman. With his wisdom, he led all the subjects of the king of the shepherd dynasty, who had hitherto little obeyed their masters, to the fact that they first paid the pharaoh all their money, then ceded to him their herds, their lands; finally, when they no longer had anything left to buy the bread necessary for food, they completely gave themselves to him. But the wise minister of the pharaoh very moderately used the benefits that his prudent policy provided him: not only did he not make the Egyptians slaves, but he also did not appropriate to the pharaoh all the lands sold to him, but actually left them with the old owners and limited himself to only raising the tax in favor of the king to a fifth of the income. Chapter 27. The last days of the life of Jacob and Joseph Jacob lived for another seventeen years in the country of his new habitation, namely in the land of Goshen allotted to him. But now the time has come for him to move to an even more distant country - to the afterlife. Feeling that the time for such a migration was approaching, Jacob sent for Joseph, but not with the purpose of expressing any bitter regrets, or even saying goodbye at all, as usually happens under such circumstances. Israel, as it is again so expressively called here, was preparing for another great feat of faith. On his deathbed he still held fast to the promises of God regarding the possession of the earth and everything that connected with it; and he took an oath from his son to bury him with his fathers in the cave of Machpelah. Having received from him a solemn promise in this regard, "Jacob bowed in prayer over the head of his bed." But there was one more important thing to do. Joseph's sons had not yet been formally adopted into the family of Jacob. The two eldest of them, Manasseh and Ephraim, were to become heads of separate tribes, because Joseph, according to his significance in the fate of the chosen family, was to have the right of the firstborn, namely the right to two parts in Israel. Therefore, when, soon after his meeting with his father, Joseph was informed that the aged Jacob had suffered his final fatal illness, he hastened to bring his two sons to him so that they could be confirmed as joint heirs with the other sons of Jacob. In this case, Joseph clearly showed his faith. Instead of seeking honors for his sons at the court of Egypt, he openly refused all such honors in order to share the share of his despised shepherd family. For the first time here we encounter a blessing accompanied by the laying on of hands 282 . The elder lovingly kissed his grandchildren and, hugging them, remarked to Joseph: “I did not expect to see your face; but God showed me your children too.” But Jacob's eyes were weak, and when Joseph brought his two sons close to his aged father, placing Manasseh, as the eldest, on the old man's right hand, and Ephraim, as the youngest, on his left, he attributed to the weakness of his sight the fact that Israel crossed their hands, placing the right on Ephraim, and the left on Manasseh. But Jacob acted this way with intent, and he acted prophetically in doing so. Events subsequently proved the truth of his prophecy. During the time of Moses, however, there were still 20,000 more people in the Manasseh tribe than in Ephraim (Num. 26:34, 37). But this comparative multiplicity was already in a completely opposite ratio during the time of the Judges; and always after that the tribe of Ephraim was, next to Judah, the most powerful tribe in Israel. But what strikes us most in this event is precisely how much all the feelings, memories and views of the dying old man were imbued with his faith. He no longer dwells on difficult thoughts about his “evil” days in his past life. All his recollection of the old days is now limited only to the recollection of the love and goodness of God, who guided him in all his “wanderings.” These feelings of his were fully expressed in the words of blessing when he said: “God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, God who has shepherded me since I existed until this day, the Angel who delivered me from all evil, bless these youths; let my name be called upon them and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” In this threefold reference to God as the Establisher of the covenant, as the Shepherd and as the Angel of the Redeemer, one cannot help but see a clear anticipation by Israel of the truth regarding the Holy Trinity. Having finished his blessing to his grandchildren, Jacob gave his son Joseph, as an advantage over his brothers, that plot near Sychar (John 4:5), ancient Shechem, which he had once bought from the sons of Heth; but this area, as he predicted, he, that is, in the person of his descendants, would have to take again with sword and bow from the hands of the Amorites. It was on this very site of Joseph, many centuries later, that the divine Shepherd and Redeemer rested when He revealed the secret of His Divinity to the sinful Samaritan woman (John 4). At the same time, Jacob once again solemnly expressed his faith in the promise given to him and his fathers. “Behold,” he said, “I am dying, and God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers.” This is how people end, but the word and promise of God endures forever! But then the last hour of the patriarch’s life came, and he gathered all his twelve sons around his deathbed in order to express to them his last blessings and wishes. The words he spoke to them consisted partly of blessings and partly of predictions. Before him, in a prophetic vision, pictures of the life of those tribes for which his sons were to become ancestors unfolded; and what he saw he set forth in his blessings to each son. These prophetic paintings, of course, cannot be considered accurate depictions of any one specific period or even event in the history of Israel. These were rather outlines of the life of tribes in its general direction than predictions about individual events, or about the history of Israel as a whole, and the definition that is generally given to prophetic visions is especially applicable to them, that these are precisely “pictures drawn without perspective,” that is, such pictures in which the viewer cannot accurately determine the comparative distance from himself of various objects. It is not superfluous to note that in general, in the blessings of Jacob, the future character and history of one or another tribe, apparently, are inferred from the name of the ancestor. Both this and the very content of the blessing constitute an irresistible proof of their authenticity, that they do not at all belong to any subsequent era, but were expressed by Jacob himself. If, along with criticism, we were to assume that these blessings were expressed at some other later period in the history of Israel, then by this assumption we would put ourselves in an insoluble difficulty; because these blessings are applicable to the tribes only in their condition, as Jacob himself saw them. They could not have been written in any other later period, since in this case each later writer would have said something completely inapplicable to one or another of the tribes, and in any case could not have used such expressions regarding all of them. Jacob began to distribute his blessings one by one, starting with Reuben, to whom he said: You are my strength and the firstfruits of my strength, The height of dignity and the height of power and... This should have been the position of Reuben, as the firstborn, if he had not been deprived of this right by the rage of his passions and his subsequent sins. So Jacob continued: “But you raged like water, You won't have an advantage. For you have ascended to your father's bed; You have desecrated my bed, The next oldest were Simeon and Levi. Their foolish cruelty at Shechem, from which Jacob shuddered in horror even on his deathbed, made them brothers or partners in crime. Since they united to commit evil, God will scatter them in Israel, so that they will not form independent and integral tribes. And indeed, we know that even at the second numbering of Israel (Num. 26:14), Simeon turned out to be the smallest tribe. In the last blessing of Moses (Deut. 33) Simeon is not even mentioned at all. And in the Promised Land itself, this tribe, apparently, never received a completely definite plot, but owned only a few cities within the borders of the tribe of Judah (I. Josh. 19: 1–9). Finally, we know that some of the families of Simeon’s tribe, especially those that grew and became powerful, subsequently left the Holy Land and settled outside its borders (1 Chronicles 4:38–43). The tribe of Levi also did not receive any possession in Israel, but only their dispersion served not as a curse for them, but as a blessing - due to their elevation to priestly dignity. This dispersion of the two tribes was the significant answer which God, in His righteous providence, made to the attempt of their ancestors to avenge the honor of their race by carnal means and material weapons: Their swords are instruments of cruelty. Let not my soul enter into their counsel, And may my glory not join in their robbery. For in their anger they killed the husband, And according to their desire, they cut the veins of the calf. Cursed be their anger, for it is cruel; And their rage, for it is fierce; Having thus deprived the three elder brothers of their advantages and possessions, and given Joseph a double share in the land, Jacob then solemnly granted the other advantages of the birthright to Judah. He will be the leader, the “lion.” Just as the lion is the king of the forests, so Judah was to receive royal power through David to the son of David, that Shiloh, to whom, as the “lion” of the tribe of Judah, all nations were to show honor and obedience. In the same way, Judah will be endowed with the fullness of earthly riches, and these earthly blessings themselves were symbols of the spiritual riches placed in the possession of Judah. The entire description here is fulfilled by Messianic predictions, which were later confirmed in the prophecy of Balaam (Num. 23:24; 24:9, 17); it was then applied to David (Ps. 89:20–37) and from him was gradually transferred to further historical figures, until it was finally realized in Jesus Christ, “who rose up from the tribe of Judah” (Heb. 7:14), that “our world”, which “made both one” (Eph. 2:14) and who “will reign until He has put all enemies under His feet.” (1 Cor. 15:24), - “a lion from the tribe of Judah, the root of David, who must conquer completely” (Rev. 5:5). In this blessing of Judah we see for the first time how the prophecy is derived from the meaning of the name itself: “Judas, your brothers will praise you. Your hand is on the back of your enemies; Your father's son will bow down to you. From the spoil my son will rise. He bowed down and lay down like a lion And like a lioness: who will raise him? The scepter will not depart from Judas And the lawgiver from between his feet, Until the Conciliator comes 283, And to Him is the submission of the nations. He ties his colt to the vine, And to the vine of the best grape of the son of his donkey. And in the blood of the grapes is your robe. His eyes sparkle with wine, And his teeth are white from milk.” As a local explanation of this wealth in the area of ​​Judah, it can be pointed out that the best wine in Palestine was produced near Hebron and Engedi 284 , and that some of the best pastures were south of Hebron, near Tekoa and Carmel 285 . The next blessing was given to Zebulun, and it is also associated with his name as “dwelling,” although it must be borne in mind that this blessing did not imply a literal prediction about the boundaries of the inheritance of this tribe, because the possession of the tribe of Zebulun, as can be judged from Nav. 19:10–16, never actually touched the Mediterranean Sea, although it extended to Lake Galilee: “Zebulun will live by the shore of the sea, And at the pier of the ship, and its border is as far as Sidon." The meaning of the blessing is obviously that the Zebulun tribe would not be so much an agricultural tribe as a trading one, and it is very possible that it served as a trade intermediary between the other tribes and the Phoenicians, supplying the latter with raw materials and thus indirectly participating in their maritime trade. Next up was Issachar. His name means “reward” or “rent,” and it served as a symbol of the character of the tribe that descended from him, since in its rich inheritance, in lower Galilee, this tribe preferred quiet work to power and dominion: Lying between the channels of water, And he saw that peace was good And he bowed his shoulders to bear the burden, And he began to work to pay the tribute.” The blessing of Dan, whose name means “judgment,” also had his name as its starting point. Although Dan was only the son of a maidservant, he did not have to remain behind his brothers, but could “give judgment” to his people, that is, Israel - which, perhaps, refers to such people as the judge Samson, who came from this particular tribe: “Dan will judge his people, As one of the tribe of Israel. Dan will be a serpent on the road, So its rider will fall backwards." There is a highly mysterious and important hint in this blessing. We need not give here a full explanation of this comparison of Dan with a serpent and with that kind of adder, which, being completely sandy in color, remains unnoticed until it inflicts its mortal wound. But one cannot help but see that here it is mysteriously pointed to that Antichrist, whose activity is fully described in the Apocalypse, where, for an inexplicable reason, the name of Dan is omitted from the list of tribes (Rev. 7:5–8). It is also remarkable that after indicating this subsequent fate of Dan, Jacob turns to God with a prayer: “I hope for Your help, O Lord.” In this prayer he not only expresses his personal faith and hope, but communicates his confidence to his descendants. One of the oldest Jewish commentaries, or rather periphrases 286, puts it in the following form: “My soul does not expect deliverance from Gideon the son of Joash, because it was only temporary; nor deliverance from Samson, because it was only temporary; but deliverance through the Messiah, the son of David, whom, according to your word, you promised to send to your people, the children of Israel; It is this Thy salvation that my soul thirsts for.” The blessing to Gad alludes to a related word meaning oppression. His tribe will have to settle on the east side of the Jordan. There it will be subject to frequent attacks by foreigners, but it will gather its forces and push them back: “Bastard, the crowd will crowd him, But he will push her on her heels.” The blessing of Asher obviously points to the special fertility of the possessions of this tribe, stretching from Mount Carmel to the land of Tire, which district was famous for its wealth of bread and butter: “For Asher his bread is too fat, And he will deliver the royal dishes." The blessing to Nephealim points to the courageous beauty and mobility of the people, as well as their mental gifts: "Nephealim - tall terebinth, Spreading beautiful branches" 287. Finally, Jacob moves on to the name of his beloved Joseph. Seeing him in him, it was as if his whole heart was agitated with an excess of feelings. He first describes its fruitfulness, like a fruitful tree planted over a spring, and then describes its power, as if received from God himself; and finally pours out a rich blessing, richer than any of his ancestors poured out: “Joseph is the branch of the fruitful tree, A branch of a fruitful tree above the spring; Its branches extend over the wall. They upset him and shot him, And the archers fought against him; But his bow remained strong, From the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. From there is the Shepherd and the stronghold of Israel, From God your father, who will help you. From the Almighty who bless you Blessings from heaven above, The blessing of the abyss that lies below, Blessing of the breasts and womb, With the blessings of your father, Which exceeds the blessings of the ancient mountains And pleasant eternal hills. Let them be on Joseph's head, And on the crown of the chosen one among his brothers.” Finally, a blessing was given to the last son Benjamin: In the morning he will eat catch, And in the evening, divide the spoils and... In order to understand the meaning of this blessing, one must keep in mind the subsequent history of the tribe of Benjamin, which presents many examples of cruelty and rapacity 288 . Having finished his blessings, Jacob once again turned to his sons with his last dying testament, so that they would certainly bury him in the cave where his great ancestors, Abraham and Isaac, were buried. “And Jacob finished his testament to his sons, and laid his feet on the bed, and died, and was gathered to his people.” After the first mourning of the deceased patriarch, Joseph, as a high-ranking Egyptian dignitary, immediately ordered that his father be embalmed according to Egyptian custom. “And Joseph commanded his servants the doctors to embalm his father, and the doctors embalmed Israel.” As the first dignitary of the state and a high dignitary of the priestly class, Joseph had at his disposal the doctors for whom Egypt was famous and who constituted a special rank in the priestly class. The body was taken to a special country premises designated for embalming, and remained in the hands of specialists in this matter for 40 days. After this, mourning continued for another 30 days, so that the entire mourning lasted 70 days, only two days less than mourning for the king 289, and then the desire of the deceased to be taken to Canaan could be fulfilled. The days of mourning in Joseph's house were spent in abstinence from all pleasures and luxuries, from bathing, wine, expensive dishes and rich clothes; the hair on the head and beard was not shaved at this time, and special mourning clothes were worn 290. Joseph then asked Pharaoh for permission to solemnly conduct the remains of his father for burial in the land of Canaan, and the procession solemnly moved off. If this funeral procession, at least when leaving Memphis, was modeled on the funeral processions of noble Egyptian dead, then it can be reconstructed on the basis of existing gravestone images. She was undoubtedly large and brilliant (Gen. 50:7). Courtiers and dignitaries rode in it in their chariots; Joseph's slaves were in a long line; Jacob's entire family rode on several prepared carts and donkeys, and the entire cortege was guarded and augmented by a detachment of Egyptian horsemen. Having reached Goren-gaa-tad at the Jordan, the funeral procession stopped, and Joseph mourned his father for the last time. The weeping continued for seven days, as happens now in some areas east of the Jordan and Lebanon. According to the biblical description, one can think that the procession moved to Canaan not along the direct route through El-Arish to Beersheba, which Jacob arrived in Egypt, but along a long circuitous road, south of the Dead Sea, through the land of Moab and Ammon - the same road that the descendants of Jacob under the leadership of Moses and Joshua were later to go to Canaan. The cave of Machpelah, a few days later, received the body of the great deceased, and there the mummy of Jacob, as one might think, lies in its entirety even now. Upon returning to Egypt, an unworthy suspicion arose in the souls of Joseph's brothers. What if, they thought, now that their father was dead, Joseph decided to take revenge on them for the evil that he had once received from them? But they knew little of the heart of their great brother and little appreciated his motives. To prevent the expected vengeance, they even sent a message to Joseph: “your father bequeathed before his death, saying: so say to Joseph: forgive your brothers the guilt and their sin, since they did you evil, and now forgive the guilt of the servants of your father God.” But Joseph was extremely upset that such suspicion had sunk into the soul of his brothers. Hearing this news, Joseph wept bitterly, and when the brothers who came to him fell to the ground before him, as if abandoning themselves to his complete mercy, Joseph, with brotherly friendship, said to them: “Do not be afraid, for I fear God. Behold, you have plotted evil against me. But God turned it into good to do what it is now: to save the lives of a great number of people. So do not be afraid, I will feed you and your children.” And then, through brotherly conversation, he completely dispelled their gloomy doubts and calmed them down. Joseph's subsequent life is little reported in the biblical narrative. It only says that he lived another 54 years and had the consolation of seeing his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, whom he loved and cherished, as is natural for deep old men, whose fading life seems to be rekindled at the sight of the young life of their descendants. Faithful to the end to the promise handed down from his fathers, Joseph was not carried away by any special dreams of strengthening his well-being in Egypt, where he enjoyed extraordinary honors and glory at all times, and even on his deathbed he turned his gaze to the land of his fathers. His last testament was the same as his father's last testament, namely, that his brothers should carry his bones out of Egypt when God brought them out again to Canaan. He thus renounced Egypt and chose the share of Israel for himself, renouncing the present in order to strive for the future. This was truly a great feat of faith, worthy of the feat of his fathers. “And Joseph died a hundred and ten years old.” Bunsen, based on a preconceived opinion according to which such a long life is physically impossible, claims that “the news of Joseph’s life of one hundred and ten years cannot be considered historically correct,” and he himself determines the number of years of his life to be no more than 78 years 291. But now, with greater acquaintance with Egyptian monuments and papyri, we have clear evidence that the Egyptians considered the hundred-and-ten-year period to be the most ordinary limit of human life; and since such a view can be traced back for several centuries - from the time of the death of Joseph, which became a proverb among the Egyptians, there is nothing incredible in the fact that this view was formed due to the high respect that the Egyptians had for their great benefactor. In the British Museum, an inscription belonging to a court dignitary named Cancer, who lived during the reign of Ramses the Great (in the 14th century BC), reads as follows: “thanks to Onophris, who granted me peace in the tomb after one hundred and ten years of life on earth.” In the Munich Museum, on a statue of one high priest of Ammon, who lived during the reign of Pharaoh Seti in the 15th century. BC, the inscription contains a prayer that Ammon would grant his servant “a happy life of one hundred and ten years.” The same idea is conveyed by another inscription in the British Museum, carved on black stone in hieratic characters instead of hieroglyphs and marked with the 21st year of the reign of Amenophis III (in the 16th century BC): it speaks of the blessedness promised to especially virtuous people in “those days when they will be laid in graves after one hundred and ten years of life.” The same view of the limit of human life among the ancient Egyptians is often found in open papyri. Thus, in the papyri stored in the British Museum under the name Anastasi, we find one flattering address to some high dignitary. In this address the following expressions are found: “You approach the beautiful Amenti (the resting place of the dead) without decrepitude, without weakening; You have lived a hundred and ten years on earth, but your members are still strong.” These expressions closely remind us of the description of the death of the great lawgiver of the people of Israel: “Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died; but his sight was not dimmed, nor his strength wasted” (Deut. 34:7). There are other indications of the same limit to human longevity, and we think it worthwhile to relate them here, since they belong to an earlier period of Egyptian history and are instructive in several other respects. Based on a papyrus found about thirty years ago at Thebes and now in the Bibliothèque Nationale of Paris, the Egyptologist Shabat, 292 who has presented a complete translation of its contents, reports the following: This papyrus is a philosophical treatise written by a person named Ptagotep, in the reign of the pharaohs Asset and Snufru, kings of the fourth dynasty, and therefore six centuries before the time of Moses. Ptagotep is the eldest son of Asset, and since his father is still alive, he says of himself that he “has reached one hundred and ten years of life at the court of the king among the nobles of the earth.” His father, therefore, at that time was at least one hundred and thirty years old, and perhaps more. And since the time of his life dates back to the period even before the time of Abraham, we can conclude from this that at that time the limit of human life between the Egyptians, as well as between the biblical patriarchs of that time, was even much wider than it was already by the time of Joseph. In addition, the Egyptologist Mariette showed in his description of the tombs belonging to the first six dynasties that the form of benevolence then was not the same as we find it after Joseph, expressing the desire “to receive peace in the tomb after a happy life on earth of one hundred and ten years,” but the following: “to receive peace after a happy and long life to a very old age,” without an exact designation of the number of years 293. Based on these data, we can reasonably believe that the Egyptian monuments fully confirm the biblical narrative regarding the years of Joseph’s life. As a great dignitary, he was of course embalmed and placed in a special ark in Egypt. The Egyptians usually placed the embalmed corpses of their friends and dignitaries in special wooden boxes and carefully lowered them into tombs, or kept them in special rooms in their houses. Joseph's mummy remained in this state until the Israelites left Egypt, then was taken by his descendants to Canaan and finally buried on a plot of land in Shechem, once purchased by Jacob. There his grave is marked and now under the shadow of Mount Ebal 294 . Some researchers recognize this place as the exact site where Joseph was buried. If this is so, then under the layer of earth there should be a sarcophagus and the mummy of Joseph itself, in the exact form in which it was placed there more than 3,000 years ago. Chapter 28. The Authenticity of Joseph's Story The Egyptological discoveries outlined above are so striking in terms of confirming the biblical narrative that they involuntarily confused critics who had hitherto taken a negative view of the particulars of this narrative. In order to maintain ground, they found themselves forced to change tactics and began to attack the story of Joseph from a different angle. Now it turned out to be impossible to attack her in the same way as previous critics did, such as for example. Bolen and Tuch, who argued that it contains a lot of inconsistency and inaccuracy. Egyptology has brilliantly refuted all such false assurances. It has now been established beyond doubt that the book of Genesis is faithful to the reality depicted in all points, and if there are any errors for which it was reproached, then they exist not in the biblical narrative, but in ancient and modern historical writings, which were usually preferred to biblical authority. Nowadays, even among rationalists, there are almost no people who would not recognize in the biblical narrative about Egypt a completely accurate reflection of Egyptian life. One might even say that some of them were completely confused by these discoveries. When Ebers published the first volume of his famous work “Egypt and the Pentateuch of Moses” in 1868, he prefaced it with the following wonderful words: “It is not without embarrassment that I publish this difficult work. To the believers and friends of the Bible I will doubtless be of some service; but on the other hand, I cannot hide that I would like to support the harshest criticism. I offer, so to speak, against my own wishes, to those who would like to close the door of the sacred book to free criticism, much that will be pleasant to them, because I show that the story of Joseph in particular, even in its smallest details, extremely accurately depicts the condition of ancient Egypt. Thus, in Germany the authenticity of Joseph's story is no longer seriously disputed. Despite this, criticism has not yet decided to accept its Mosaic origin and admit that it is the work of a single author, and therefore resorts to new and different assumptions. This is what one of the latest German commentaries on the book of Genesis says. “The narrator turns out to be quite familiar with the morals, customs and concepts of Egypt; he does not have a single detail that could serve as proof of the contrary; some descriptions and indications are surprisingly true and amazing. It is clear that during the stay of the Israelites in Egypt this story of Joseph received a strong Egyptian imprint, and if some details were or could have been forgotten, then the memory of them could easily have been refreshed in the time of the kings, thanks to what then became immediately known about Egypt... Meanwhile, it is impossible to decide how much the author described the state of Egypt at the time of Joseph according to true tradition, and how much - under the influence of the subsequent state of Egypt” 296. From this recognition it is clear that German criticism generally admits the historical nature of Joseph’s life, and in this respect it serves as a reflection of the majority of German writers, to whom Ewald, Hitzig and others can be counted. But some writers, despite the obviousness of the evidence presented by Egyptology, continue to adhere to the previous denial and go so far as to even deny the very existence of Joseph. The French writer Jules Suri holds the same opinion, having recently expressed his views in a number of articles that have gained particular fame due to the very widespread use of the magazine 297, which opened its pages to him for these articles. In his article on “Tales and Novels of Ancient Egypt”, among other stories, he placed the story of Joseph, the beloved son of the patriarch Jacob. In the very first lines he directly states: “It is interesting to recall the plot and method of several romances or primitive Egyptian stories, such as: “The Tale of Two Brothers,” “The Tale of the Predestined Prince,” “The Romance of Setna,” and “The Episode of the Flower Garden”; but one must not forget the beautiful Hebrew legend of Joseph, which is distinguished by a completely imitative, if not entirely Egyptian style.”298 But to this we can first of all say that in the story about Joseph, in fact, the least of all is Egyptian, both in form and in the very development of ideas. Most of the action, however, takes place in Egypt; everything that Moses tells about this country is distinguished by amazing accuracy, but all this does not at all have an Egyptian style and not only does not prove that Moses’ story is a story, but, on the contrary, proves that it is a true story. Is it possible for example Can you imagine a greater difference in tone and philosophical and religious worldview than what is found between the Genesis account of Joseph and the “tale of the two brothers” cited above? – If, therefore, the latest French criticism continues to express such unfounded judgments, then one cannot help but see in this a noticeable prejudice, which does not want to open its eyes and face the truth directly, but continues to blindly follow the critical positions expressed earlier. By the way, in such a noticeable prejudice one cannot help but see the influence on the latest French criticism on the part of Renan, who, as shown above, having lagged behind the progressive progress of science, continues to insist on his previous conclusions, attracting his young followers to support them by hook or by crook. But it is remarkable that, despite all the efforts of negative criticism to refute the authenticity of the biblical narrative, its truth turns out to be too amazing to be obscured by any heaps of imaginary scholarship, and it makes its way to the light even in the very works of negative critics. So, from the point of view of Suri himself, the sale of Joseph to Egypt as a slave; the offices he filled in Potiphar's house; the behavior of his master's wife towards him and his own behavior; the dreams of the pharaoh and the explanation of these dreams - all this is completely within the limits of historical probability and positively one cannot deny a single particular, if only to exclude, according to it, one phenomenon (it will be discussed below), which supposedly contradicts everything that the monuments and archeology of ancient Egypt testify to us. Is Joseph's extraordinary rise after interpreting Pharaoh's dreams more likely to attract negative criticism? Not at all. Everything that is told about the famine from which Egypt suffered is equally consistent with historical data. Thus, according to the consciousness of criticism itself, the entire basis of the story of Joseph finds complete justification in monuments and archeology and is completely confirmed by the research of Egyptologists, despite all the attacks of criticism. In view of this, we are absolutely right to say, together with Ebers, that “everywhere we find the amazing accuracy of the Bible in all the details that it gives us regarding Joseph (namely, his sale to Egypt). In this whole episode, it may be added, as in the rest of his history, we certainly do not encounter anything that would not find the strictest correspondence at the court of the pharaoh in the best times of the monarchy. But even such statements by scientific experts are not yet enough to convince unbelieving critics. Seeing herself forced to recognize the historical basis of the story of Joseph, she nevertheless seeks a way out of this difficult situation and finds it in a special logical device. According to critics, this general fidelity of the story of Joseph to the actual historical reality of Egypt does not at all speak for the historical reality of the story itself, since some modern writer, intelligent and educated, could very easily compose a purely imaginary legend on the basis of a completely historical one. This position immediately reveals its artificiality, but criticism uses it to place the composition of the story several centuries later than the event itself in an era, which, however, it does not dare to define more precisely. It is limited only to the fact that it places the edition of the history of Joseph in the era after the division of the chosen people into two kingdoms and to the time of the establishment of the kingdom of Israel as hostile to the kingdom of Judah. Thus, Suri attributes this story to a narrator or several narrators from the tribe of Ephraim (he himself has not yet decided the question regarding the number of authors). But can we seriously assume, we ask him, that the Israelis - “storytellers” who lived far from Egypt and so long after the era to which they attribute the event, who did not know how to read hieroglyphs or papyri, who had no idea of ​​historical criticism at all - can we seriously assume that such people were able to describe with amazing accuracy and fidelity the morals, customs and, in general, the life of the pharaohs and their subjects? Only against the Bible can one allow oneself to make such incredible assumptions. It is known that narrators and even historians, who had to talk about events remote from them in place and time, more than once made, before the historical-critical study of our time, many anachronisms, errors and geographical and historical inaccuracies of all kinds. Truly, it is difficult to point out a miracle more striking than the fact that some writer of the “Northern Kingdom of Palestine,” an Ephraim narrator, could write his story far from Egypt and long after the era described, without making the slightest mistake against the actual state of a country he had never seen before and a completely unique and alien people. And that the accuracy of the biblical narrative in describing Egypt is really great and amazing, this is evident from the fact that even such a petty critic as Suri, who studied this entire subject with an obviously preoccupied thought, could not point out anything except one (and even then dubious) error in detail. It must be admitted that this is very little, less than he himself admitted in his short essay, where there are several obvious errors in detail, although he was armed with all the resources of scientific criticism and archaeology 300. But we will now see that the only error that he, in his opinion, saw in the biblical narrative is completely imaginary. What, then, could prompt the author of the “Tales of Ancient Egypt” to assume the thing that makes his position so incredible, namely, that the story of Joseph was written only after Rehoboam by some Ephraimite? Doesn't this stem solely from the desire to deny the authenticity of the Pentateuch and thus deal a blow to Christianity? I would not like to believe this, but how to explain all this when we encounter all such improbabilities and similar contradictions? As for evidence, there is nothing to demand. The author limits himself to a general statement: “it is now admitted that one Jewish writer edited the book of Genesis and other books of the Pentateuch, often connecting together in a completely mosaic manner stories drawn from two large sources: from the book about the origin of the world and from another more extensive source, which itself can be reduced to two elements.” Who exactly admits this, it is obvious by itself, namely the German rationalists, who do not recognize anything supernatural at all and who are therefore not taken seriously even in Germany, but who, like Bernstein, have accomplished, in the eyes of Suri, a great merit by discovering that in the history of the patriarchs and the sons of Jacob there is nothing other than a symbol of the struggle between the sanctuaries of Jerusalem and Bethel! But finally, even if the author of the story about Joseph was an Ephraimite, it would not follow at all that his story is a fictional story, since the most captious criticism admits that the book of Genesis was compiled at least from ancient documents, and true history can be written long after the event. Meanwhile, the writer of the story about Joseph does not at all speak like a mythologist. Instead of glorifying the ancestors of the Israelites, as might be expected from a man separated from the kingdom of Judah, he attributes to them great crimes, which a mythologist would never do; and quite the contrary, he only glorifies Judas, that Judas who, according to the imagination of the rationalists, was the object of hatred of the author of the story, but to whom he in reality gives the noblest role. It was Judas, according to this narrative, who opposed the intention to kill Joseph, and Judas was the hero of one of the most beautiful scenes, precisely the one where he expressed his desire to remain a captive in Benjamin’s place. You can be sure that the most inveterate rationalist cannot read without deep emotion the speeches that this supposed Ephraimite put into the mouth of Judah (Gen. 37:26; 44:14-34). Suri forgot to mention these speeches, but they are in the Bible, and no criticism can exclude them from there. Such fabrications do not exist, and only truth could speak like this through the mouth of the Ephraim writer, if only he had ever existed. After this, it would hardly be worth even mentioning the arguments that the author of “Tales of Ancient Egypt” cites in his favor, since they do not even deserve refutation; but we will present them to show what kind they are. “The story of Joseph,” he says, “edited by several Ephraim writers who had talent higher than the scribe Hienna, was only one of the popular legends of the kingdom of Israel. It is known that the prophets do not make any allusion to this story, which would be extremely surprising if they saw in it something other than a fable flattering the ambition of the tribe of Ephraim. We have no right to demand greater faith in it than Isaiah showed in this regard.” The silence of the prophets regarding the biblical story of Joseph seems surprising to the critic, and he hastens to derive from it an argument for denying the very authenticity of the story of Joseph. But the simplest reflection is enough to see how groundless such conclusions are. If the prophets were generally concerned with historical tales from the lives of the ancestors of their people, then their silence about Joseph might have some significance; but what is surprising if they do not talk about those subjects about which they never had to talk? If it could be proven that Isaiah did not really believe the story of Joseph, then one could agree with this; but when Suri says that “one cannot demand more faith from him than Isaiah had in this regard,” then he is stating a thing that he obviously does not know. The prophets, he assures, did not see in all that the book of Genesis tells us about Joseph anything other than “a fable flattering the ambition of the tribe of Ephraim.” If this had been their opinion, they certainly would not have been slow to make it clear in their reproaches with which they so often had occasion to address the tribe of Ephraim. In general, this very statement, taken as a whole, is completely false, and the critic would easily be convinced of this for himself if he seriously studied the Bible. True, Isaiah does not call Joseph by name, but he mentions the settlement of Israel in Egypt, where he was called by Joseph 301. The Prophet Ezekiel expressively mentions one circumstance from the life of Joseph 302. History books confirm the facts told in the book of Genesis more than once. The latter testify that Joseph, before his death, took an oath from his brothers that they would carry his bones to the promised land when they had to leave Egypt. The book of Exodus tells us that the Israelites actually carried them out at the time of their deliverance, and in the book of Joshua we read that they buried them at Shechem 303 . This circumstance deserves all the more attention because it always provided the Israelites with tangible proof of the actual existence of Joseph, whose remains they preserved in a grave that was in full view of everyone. The sacred writers spoke of Joseph in this way whenever the opportunity presented itself. In one of the psalms, summarizing the primitive history of Israel, even a complete outline of the life of Rachel’s son is presented: “God,” it says there, “has called a famine on the earth; every stalk of grain was destroyed. He sent a man before them; Joseph was sold as a slave. They bound his feet with shackles; His soul entered into iron until his glory was fulfilled; the glory of the Lord tested him. The king sent and allowed him, the ruler of the nations, and freed him. The lord made him over his house and ruler over all his possessions, so that he could instruct his nobles according to his soul and teach his elders wisdom. Then Israel came to Egypt and Jacob moved to the land of Ham" (Ps. 104:16-23). How then, after such a clear presentation of the story of Joseph in the psalms, can it be said that “the prophets make no allusion to this story”? Only criticism blind to the truth can speak like this. Let us pay special attention in the above Psalm to the words: “He sent a man before them.” These words are important in one respect that deserves special attention. They actually make us understand that the story of Joseph is by no means some kind of insertion artificially squeezed into the general narrative of the book of Genesis. His slavery and his rise in Egypt explain one of the remarkable events in the life of the people of Israel, that is, their settlement in Egypt; these individual facts are also closely connected with the general history of the Israelites and give us the key to it. Even if we had no other evidence of the reality of Joseph’s story, even then in these significant lines it would be confirmed with sufficient convincing for any unprejudiced reader. Moses dwells at length on the details of the life of Rachel's son in Egypt because of the deep impression it made on the souls of all the sons of Jacob, and because of the influence it had on their future; he undoubtedly could have shortened it, but the very length of the narrative shows us that if it acquired such dimensions, it was because the memory of all these facts was still vivid in everyone’s memory. Of course, critics may argue that although Joseph's story explains an entire important period in the history of the people of Israel, it is nevertheless just a simple story. But in order to have the courage to come up with such paradoxical propositions, one must completely lose sight of the fact that without Joseph the Jews would never have left the country of Canaan, would never have settled in Egypt, would never have owned the land of Goshen, where their very name was recently found on monuments; it must be remembered that if later they were persecuted, it was because a new dynasty arose that did not know Joseph - in other words, a native dynasty that succeeded in expelling a foreign dynasty, the Hyx dynasty, to which belonged the king who elevated Joseph to the position of first minister; we must forget that these Ephraimites, about whom we are told so much, derived their name from the son of Joseph himself, and that if the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, each became the head of a special tribe in the people of Israel by an exclusive privilege, which was not given to any other son of Jacob, then there must necessarily have been a reason for this privilege, and this reason could only be the story of Joseph itself, as it is told in the Bible. All these facts are undoubted, true and irrefutable, and no sophistry, no denial, no matter how bold or crazy, can ever shake them. Since the truth of the narrative of the book of Genesis is so firmly established, then even if the rationalists managed to notice some error in the details in the presentation of the narrative, what would follow from this from the historical and critical point of view, which alone concerns us here? Positively nothing. Anyone who discovers several inaccuracies e.g. in Thiers's "History of the Empire", this does not at all prove that this whole "history" is a simple story and that Napoleon I never existed. No one has the right to conclude from one particular error that the entire narrative is false. Errors in detail, which Suri claims to have discovered in the book of Genesis, cannot at all prove his position; but upon closer examination, even these errors discovered by him turn out to be simple inventions of his imagination. The only mistake, in the proper sense of the word, that he allegedly noticed was Joseph's appropriation of the soil of all Egypt to Pharaoh during a time of famine. But this is a mistake which, as we saw above, is fully confirmed by the historical circumstances of the case. Another inaccuracy that he allegedly noticed in the biblical story is that Joseph’s master, Potiphar, is called in this story “saris,” that is, “eunuch.” Seizing this fact with joy, the critic solemnly declares that there were absolutely no eunuchs in Egypt. But this is the same mistake as the one he made before, because the existence of eunuchs in Egypt can be proven with positive certainty 304. After this, it would hardly be worthwhile to subject Suri's critical objections to further analysis if these critical fabrications had not found a place in a journal so widespread not only in France, but also outside its borders. “We have here,” he says, “a double story about the main event in the life of Joseph: on the one hand, on the advice of Reuben, he was thrown into a pit, taken out from there by Midianite merchants who arrived from Gilead, taken to Egypt and sold to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s eunuch, the commander of the state prison. On the other hand, on the advice of Judah, Jacob’s beloved son was sold for 20 shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who sold him to some Egyptian, and not to the ruler of the fortified house, and the wife of this Egyptian tried to seduce Joseph” 305. Here the usual methods of German rationalist criticism, which has long been famous for its boundless arbitrariness in dissecting the Pentateuch, are obviously repeated here. But could there be anything easier than the unification and reconciliation of these, in the opinion of critics, contradictory facts? Joseph's brothers, blinded by hatred, did not at first retreat even from fratricide: they wanted to kill him, while Reuben, with a secret desire to save him, persuades them not to shed his blood, but to throw him into a dry well, where he will die of hunger. Judas, horrified by the very thought of this crime, convinces the brothers to take their younger brother out of the well and advises them to take revenge on him not by killing him, but by selling him into slavery. Where is the contradiction here? Verse 37:28 of the book of Genesis proves that the Midianites or Ishmaelites are only two names for the same tribe, and the word “Ishmaelites” was undoubtedly a common name for them, used to designate impersonally all the nomads of the desert. The master to whom Joseph was sold is always called Potiphar and the eunuch, “chief of the guard” 306 ; hence it becomes positively difficult to understand how the author of “Tales of Ancient Egypt” discovered two separate persons in him. In view of all this, we have the right to assert that all attacks on the authenticity of the story of Joseph have no basis. There is no part of the sacred books where the truth appears with such brilliance and such irresistibility. All the details in it are so precise, so consistent with the data of Egyptology, that it is absolutely impossible that they were invented by some Jew, and even less that they were written by some Israeli who did not grow up and was not educated in Egypt. If irreligious prejudices were not stronger than reason itself, then what critic, noticing this wonderful correspondence of the biblical story with the discoveries of Egyptology, would not exclaim: “This story was obviously written by the son of Abraham, who was brought up in Egypt at the court of the pharaohs.” Never in reality could a simple trip to Egypt have given the author of the book of Genesis such an accurate knowledge of all the manners and customs of the country. To obtain such knowledge, it was absolutely not enough to live among the fellahim; it was necessary to live near the kings in order to describe the customs and morals of the court in this way. Of all the Israelites we know of, Moses alone met the required conditions, and he fulfilled them to perfection. In this case, do we not have the right to conclude that Moses wrote the story of Joseph, as is confirmed by the universal tradition of entire millennia? To get out of this difficulty, Dilman points, among other things, to the relations in which the Jews could have been with Egypt during the time of the kings after Solomon. But he loses sight of the fact that such temporary relations could not provide the deep knowledge about the country that is suggested by the book of Genesis. In that era when, in the absence of grammars and dictionaries, of which they had no idea, it was so difficult to know the language of the Egyptians, and when their very writing was an impenetrable secret for foreigners, by what miracle could a distant Israeli penetrate with such perfection all the secrets of the Pharaonic civilization? Even such a great man as Herodotus, the father of history, who traveled to Egypt to study the customs and laws of this country, made mistakes, and made mistakes more than once. How is it that an Israelite, an Ephraimite, or some other person, who obviously had no special intention of writing the history of Egypt and speaking about this country only in the form of hints, how did he, among all the ancient writers, not fall into any error? If Moses is the author of the book of Genesis, then everything is explained without difficulty; with any other hypothesis all this will remain inexplicable. Let them not point us to an archaeological story or a novel. An archaeological story in this era is a complete anachronism. Moreover, the narrator’s imagination in this case is by no means guaranteed against mistakes. One has only to read, for example. the story of Sethos, compiled by Abbot Terrason in the last century, 307 and it will immediately be seen into what errors even the members of the first learned societies fell when they tried to talk about Egypt in absentia. Even now, after all the discoveries made in our century, nothing is more difficult than compiling an archaeological story of Egyptian life. One must be such a learned German Egyptologist as Ebers, wholly devoted to the reading of hieroglyphs and who traveled to Egypt several times, to write such stories as “The Daughter of the Egyptian Pharaoh” or “Warda,” and yet, even in these stories one cannot help but notice a number of errors, if only in the sense that they transfer the ideas and passions of our century to the soil of Egypt. But who can seriously claim that such Egyptologists and archaeologists existed among the Israelite people after the time of Solomon! Thus, every unprejudiced person has every reason to recognize what the universal tradition asserts, namely, that the composition of the Pentateuch belongs to Moses, and this can only serve as the most simple and satisfactory explanation of why the story of Joseph reproduces Egyptian life in all its details with such perfection and with such accuracy, as is increasingly confirmed by the latest research and discoveries. Chapter 29. Inner life in the patriarchal era With the death of Jacob and Joseph, the patriarchal era of biblical history ends. Its distinctive feature was the direct and immediate communication of the patriarchs, i.e. the main leaders and fathers of the chosen family (patriarch - father-boss) with God and their management of the people on the basis of those directly communicated moral rules, which were already recognized by everyone, although they had not yet been reduced to formal legislation, except for its primary outlines in the “Noahic Laws”. This was the experience of morally paternal government in its best and simplest form. In the history of the patriarchal era, three separate stages in God's relationship to people clearly appear. After the fall of the first parents and their loss of the primitive blissful state of innocence, God, having given them the promise of a future Savior, gave them the freedom to choose between humble obedience and sinful resistance to Him. Already among their first sons we see division: righteous Abel suffers martyrdom from the wicked Cain; then the offspring of the latter apparently takes precedence over the pious offspring of Seth, and the first period ends with general corruption, which made the terrible punishment on all humanity inevitable in the flood. After the flood, God concluded a new covenant with the righteous Noah, as the ancestor of the new humanity, and he was promised God's long-suffering until the end of time. But as a result of this long-suffering, sin again entered the world, a terrible arrogance appeared among people who, by building a “tower to heaven,” wanted to express their contempt for heaven. The plan was destroyed and the peoples were scattered, but this led to the oblivion of the true God, and in place of true religion, crude idolatry reigned everywhere. Then, in order to preserve the true religion and the great promise associated with it about the Savior of the World, God chooses a new righteous man to make him the ancestor of a chosen race that has the true faith. This covenant with Abraham represents the third stage in the history of the patriarchal era, and it is distinguished by the frequent appearances and promises of God to the ancestors and heads of the chosen race. In these phenomena, the essence of God is gradually revealed, who is not only the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but “God Almighty” (Gen. 17:1; 28:3; 35:11), “Judge of all the earth” (Gen. 18:25), and in numerous promises the great idea of the future Deliverer, as the seed in which all nations will be blessed, is fully developed ( Gen. 22:18). At the same time, the very life of the patriarchs, due to the sublimity and purity of their faith, according to the constant guidance of God’s Providence, represented such a highly edifying example of the implementation of the highest virtues that, as a result, it received educational significance in relation to many mysteries in the future destinies of God’s economy in the world. Thus, the seedless birth of the Savior was symbolically depicted in the barrenness of Sarah and Rebecca; the union of divine and human nature in Him - in the ladder seen by Jacob; His suffering, suffered by Him from His people, but which later became a source of blessing for all mankind - in the adventures of Joseph; His death on the cross and resurrection are in the sacrifice of Isaac; His eternal priesthood is in Melchizedek; different states of law and grace - in the different fate of Ishmael and Isaac; grace given to the pagans, but lost to the Jews - in the blessing of Jacob and Esau, and so on. This entire era with its majestic representatives is a proto-educational mirror in which the future destinies of the church and the world were clearly reflected. The faith of the patriarchs found its outward expression in worship. But worship in this era had not yet received definite forms and consisted mainly of making sacrifices on the first stone that came across, although at the same time, the altar once made received sacred significance for the following time, so that it was chosen for sacrifices by subsequent patriarchs, preferably over other altars, and served as a place for special phenomena and visions (which, for example, was the altar in Bethel). The altar itself for the sacred service was consecrated through a libation of oil, and the service began with special preparation, which consisted of washing the body and changing clothes (Gen. 35:2). Special vows gave some altars a particularly sacred meaning in the sense of a permanent “house of God,” that is, a kind of church, for the maintenance of which tithes of property were given (Gen. 28:20–22). Since the time of Abraham, a special rite was introduced as a means of entry into the Old Testament church, namely the rite of circumcision, which as a sacrament meant cleansing from previous sinfulness and impurity, foreshadowing at the same time internal circumcision or mortification of the flesh and the birth of a spiritual man. The very patriarchal life of the chosen clan was protected by the observance of certain regulations. All the wealth of the promises was transferred by birthright, received through a special blessing, the sanctity of marriage was protected and all confusion with idolaters was rejected (Gen. 34:7, 13, 31; 38:24; 26:34, 35; 27:46; 38:1, 6-9). Obedience and respect for parents were considered the highest and most important virtues, which is clearly evident in the history of those individuals who were subjected to punishment and punishment for violating them (Ham). Family life in general was characterized by primitive simplicity; the marriage itself was completely unsophisticated and was concluded with the blessing and instructions of the parents, although at the same time there are examples of willful marriages (for example, the marriage of Esau), which led to family discord and discontent. At the same time, patriarchal life is generally no stranger to examples when original sin was reflected in the obvious dominance of the flesh, leading to a departure from the previous institutions of God. We see this even in such great and holy personalities as Abraham and especially Jacob, of whom the first, in addition to his wife, had a concubine (although the concubine arose from pious motives to have heirs of the best promises), and the second was a bigamist, for which he suffered various severe trials, as natural consequences of this deviation from the original law of married life (monogamy). In the civil sphere, the patriarchal form of government completely dominated. It consisted in the fact that the power to manage all civil affairs was concentrated in the head of the family or clan. The patriarch, as the head of the family, was at the same time the sole decider of all matters that arose between members of his family or clan. He completely controlled the fate of his children and household members, carried out trials and reprisals, had the right of life and death (Gen. 38:24), and in case of external danger he was a commander (like Abraham), for whom the right of war and peace was recognized. But all these rights and obligations did not yet have a fully defined character, and all stemmed only from the natural position of the father in the family, obliged to take care of the protection and well-being of his family. Here we see humanity in its adolescence. The patriarchs are peaceful shepherds who move from one place to another to find better pastures, and their only beasts of burden are camels and donkeys. The horse was still unknown to them, and it was for the best, since with its appearance the shepherd tribes always develop a tendency towards raids and predation. Agriculture was still poorly developed and was only a temporary and occasional occupation. They had no land ownership. Abraham bought land for himself only for burial, and only Jacob acquired ownership of the plot for his tent. There were no provisions for life, as a result of which famine often forced people to move to neighboring countries (mainly to Egypt, as the breadbasket of the ancient world). In the time of Jacob, however, a fairly regular grain trade apparently had been established between Egypt and neighboring countries, and there were trading caravanserai along the way. Trade caravans appeared throughout the vast space between Egypt and Mesopotamia, and there was a lively trade in spices and other products of the east, as well as fish, which were imported into Egypt in large quantities. By the time of Abraham we see the beginnings of barter coin, although in the form of pieces of a known metal with its value determined by weight; under Jacob there are a kind of “coins”, and his sons are already well acquainted with the circulating pieces of silver, for which they sold their brother Joseph. As for enlightenment, from the entire history of the patriarchal era it is clear that although the patriarchs are primarily wandering shepherds, at the same time they show traces of a fairly high culture, partly due to the influence of neighboring peoples, of which some, such as for example. The Egyptians were already at a high level of civilization, and partly as a result of the original development of the chosen family, distinguished by high spiritual talents. Thus, tradition attributes to Abraham high knowledge in astronomy and mathematics, which he allegedly taught to the Egyptians. There are no traces of writing in the proper sense, although there is no sufficient reason to doubt its existence, especially since it undoubtedly already existed in the countries neighboring Palestine. In any case, there is evidence of the existence of personalized seals, which involve the inscription of a name or some conventional signs (Gen. 38:18, 25). In such general terms, the life of the patriarchs of the chosen family is presented, who were the exclusive bearers of the true religion and the great promise of the Savior associated with it, and therefore were under the special guidance of the Providence of God. This providential activity of God among the chosen race will become even more clear and striking if we compare the situation in which the surrounding pagan world was, left to its own strengths and desires. As the light of true religion gradually flared up in the consciousness of the chosen race, spiritual darkness increasingly settled in the rest of the pagan world and dark idolatry intensified. By the end of the patriarchal era, these two worlds had already completely developed into two special kingdoms, and in the last of them, idolatry, especially among the masses of the people, was finally established, although it took on various forms in different countries. In Mesopotamia, idolatry became so developed and widespread that it even invaded the pious house of Terah, Abraham’s father, and we find the existence of household idols (teraphim) in the house of Abraham’s brother Nahor and especially the latter’s grandson Laban. As for the general nature of religious speculation, Sabeism, that is, the idolization of the heavenly bodies, prevailed there, as in Arabia, under various names and forms. At the same time, it is remarkable that in Mesopotamia and especially Chaldea, traces of how religion gradually deviated from the original truth and degenerated into crude idolatry were preserved. In a very vague idea they were presented with a single supreme God, Il or Ra, the creator of pre-temporal chaos. In this chaos, vaguely identified with Il itself, there were three principles - matter, desire and mind. They divided among themselves and from this came peace. These principles, in turn, were personified in the form of three gods: Anu - matter, Ben - desire and Noah - mind. From this first trinity the second is born, but it is already clearly degenerating into purely planetary deities: Samas - the god of the sun, Sin - the god of the moon and Bin - the god of airspace. Each of these gods has a wife, who, however, are identical with them, and then follow the minor planetary gods: Nin (Saturn), Bel-Merodach (Jupiter), Nergal (Mars), Ishtar or Pana (Venus) and Heaven (Mercury). These gods were followed by many even smaller gods, the significance of which is very difficult to determine, but which already constituted the last degree of darkening of the original religious truth. The number of gods also increased because each city had its own special patron god, who was considered the main one there, regardless of the main system. Thus Merodach, the god of the planet Jupiter, was the local deity of Babylon, and with the rise of this city he became the main one and merged with Bel. Serving all these gods and especially Ishtar (Astarte) was of a grossly sensual nature, turning into complete debauchery, performed in honor of the gods and goddesses in the very churches and churches. The same Sabeanism, but with its expansion into the idolization of nature in general, was the dominant type of idolatry of the Canaanite peoples, among whom the life of the patriarchs mainly passed. The main deity of the Hittites (whom Abraham first met upon entering the land of Canaan) was the goddess Istar or Ashtoreth (Astarte), whose idolatry was performed under the guise of the most vile licentiousness. Other Canaanite tribes also idolized Bel or Baal (the sun) under various names - El, Moloch, Adoni. As in all similar religions, which constitute a complete deviation from the original truth, the people idolized their own passions and lusts under the guise of these gods, giving them, as it were, the stamp of divine permission. To appease the wrath of the gods, they made human sacrifices and, guided by the opinion that the more expensive the offering, the greater the mercy the offerer could count on, erring madmen sacrificed their children to idols, maidens sacrificed their chastity, and so on. Under the influence of this immoral cult, wickedness reached such an ugly degree as we see it in the inhabitants of the cities of the Sodom Pentate City, who incurred the terrible wrath of God. Religious and moral life in Egypt stood at a higher level, but even then only in the upper classes of the country and especially the famous Egyptian priesthood, where religion reached significant heights, showing that the spark of truth and ancient traditions was still smoldering under the yoke of pagan error. In their highest mental understanding, the Egyptians rose to the understanding of one God, who has neither beginning nor end. The sacred hymns of the Egyptians say about this God that “He is the only Fruitmaker in heaven and on earth, but He Himself is not begotten; God is one in truth, who gives birth to himself, who exists from the beginning, who created everything, but was not himself created.” This supreme one God was called differently: in Thebes - Ammon-Ra, in Memphis Fta. But one in itself, this supreme God is at the same time not only a father, but also a mother and a son, and therefore, as it were, threefold in his being, representing three principles. Maut, the feminine principle, is at the same time the wife of Ammon-Ra, and he himself, like his son, Khons, is at the same time the same Ammon, because he creates everything from himself. Ammon-Ra, Maut and Khons constitute the highest trinity, the single highest deity, about which one Egyptian book (papyrus) says: “He gives life to the fish in the water, the bird in the sky, gives breath to the fetus in the egg. He gives life to reptiles, gives life to birds, for reptiles and birds are equal in his eyes. He makes provisions for the mouse in its hole and feeds the bird on the branch. Be blessed for this, the one and only multi-armed one.” The entire outer world was a manifestation of this supreme deity. As a result, every natural phenomenon was sacred. This is how the upper classes in Egypt understood deity. But for the masses, such a concept was unbearable and too abstract. Therefore, ordinary people made independent gods for themselves from various manifestations of deity. Hence there is an almost endless series of living gods, whose symbols were various objects of inanimate nature, birds and animals. One of the main deities of this series was the Nile, identified in the minds of the people with the god Api or Osiris, whose wife was Isis (earth). The incarnation of Osiris was the living apis bull, which from a simple symbol turned into an independent deity in the minds of the people, and the priests said about him that he is born every twenty-five years from a heifer, impregnated by lightning and remaining virgin, despite his birth. Other deities personified various beneficent or formidable forces of nature, such as the beneficent sun (Ra), the sun as a scorching destroyer of life (Mont), the destroyer of light - Set, and so on, and the personification of various gods were the hawk, ibis, crocodile, goat, cat, which were also sometimes revered as independent deities. The multiplication of gods was again facilitated here by the fact that each city with its own district certainly worshiped its own special god. Here, obviously, religious thought had already descended to the crudest stage of idolatry. In accordance with religion, moral life stood at the same low level, in which the most vile vices dominated, which found encouragement in the very ritual of a crude and immoral cult. Such was the religious and moral state of the pagan peoples, and in comparison with them, the chosen family of patriarchs was truly a lamp, shining brightly among the deep religious and moral darkness of the surrounding humanity. In terms of time, the patriarchal period (from the calling of Abraham to the migration of Jacob to Egypt) covers more than two centuries. There is not enough data to accurately determine it. We only have the testimony of St. Paul that 430 years passed from the great promise to Abraham to the publication of the Law of Sinai. This figure is also indicated in Ex. 12:40 verse, which says: “And the time in which the children of Israel (and their fathers) dwelt in Egypt (and in the land of Canaan - as added in the Greek text of the translation of seventy interpreters) was four hundred and thirty years.” In the revelation to Abraham himself, the same period is defined as a round number of four hundred years. If we assume that the duration of the period of the Israelites' stay in Egypt was approximately equal to the duration of the patriarchal period of wandering from the calling of Abraham to the migration of Jacob to Egypt, then half of this figure, namely 215 years, will approximately determine the duration of the patriarchal period, which is quite consistent with the years of life of the patriarchs and is confirmed by Jewish traditions. Although the entire world surrounding the chosen family was immersed in crude idolatry, which took on more and more sensual forms as historical life progressed, even among this general darkness, here and there there remained bright spots, showing that in the pagan world sparks of true piety and knowledge of God still glimmered here and there. The providential action of God, focused with special love on the chosen race, at the same time extended to the rest of humanity, and it also, although in other ways, through the paths of error, was directed towards the same goal to which the chosen race was striving. Just as the sun, illuminating the entire earth, nevertheless pours out all its warming and illuminating power onto some countries, while allowing others only to use the reflections of weak and indirect rays, so Providence, as a certain people stands closer to the center of spiritual truth, does not equally extend its guiding action, without leaving, however, without supreme help on the path to truth and goodness, none of those who truly strive for them. And if the pagan peoples, who strayed from the sun of religious truth, were in darkness and the shadow of death, then those individual righteous people who preserved the true faith and “walked with God” stood out all the more clearly among them. There were quite a few such righteous people. In the land of Canaan, such a great righteous man was Melchizedek, whose spiritual greatness was recognized even by the head of the chosen family - Abraham, and at a later time in one of the neighboring countries another famous righteous man, Job, appeared, whose life is described in a special book bearing his name. He was truly the greatest righteous man and an example of faith and patience, which could not be shaken by any machinations of the primordial enemy of the human race, and his story is a worthy addition to the patriarchal era. Job lived in the land of Uz. Where exactly this land was located is unknown; but most modern researchers believe that it was a region lying between Idumea, Palestine and the Euphrates. That this was a vast area, not limited to the location of any one people or tribe, is sufficiently indicated by the testimony of the prophet Jeremiah about the existence of several kings of Uz (Jer. 25:20). The inhabitants of this country consisted of mixed tribes, among whom were Hamites and Semites, attracted here by the benefits of the terrain along which large caravan routes ran between Egypt on the one hand and Mesopotamia on the other, along with southern branches leading to the richest oases of inner Arabia. In this vast region, as a result, there were quite a few extremely rich people, whose wealth consisted of herds that found extensive pastures in the surrounding steppes, and in various treasures, as the result of brisk trade with surrounding countries. It is clear that on such a large commercial and industrial route, along which the best and richest works were exchanged between the greatest and richest countries in the world, even nomadic life received greater stability and constancy. Rich leaders and leaders of nomadic tribes, feeling the convenience of a more sedentary life with its peace and luxury, acquired permanent dwellings or estates in the vicinity of cities, from which they often visited the cities themselves, enjoying no little honor in them. Job was in exactly this state. He was an extremely rich man, so that in this respect he was “more famous than all the sons of the east.” His main wealth consisted of vast herds of all kinds of livestock, so that he had “seven thousand small cattle, three thousand camels, five hundred pairs of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and a lot of servants.” The very character of these cattle shows that Job was not a nomad in the proper sense of the word. If small livestock also indicates that Job was engaged in cattle breeding on an extensive scale, then the large number of pack animals he had, such as camels and donkeys, as well as agricultural animals, such as oxen, clearly indicates that Job conducted extensive caravan trade, and at the same time was engaged in crops. With his caravans, as one might think, he often personally undertook trips to surrounding countries, and there are direct indications that he visited the Sinai Peninsula, saw the famous Egyptian mines there, from which metals were transported to different countries; I also visited the banks of the Nile, saw crocodiles and hypopotamuses (hippopotamuses) living there, saw pyramids and the richest cities of the dead, and was generally familiar with the customs, judicial procedures and way of life of both Egypt and other neighboring countries. As a result of such wide enterprises, Job’s well-being was unparalleled and he enjoyed all the benefits of a peaceful, contented and happy life. He had seven sons and three daughters, who formed a close-knit family, increasing the happiness of the pious father. Job himself, as a man who acquired all his great wealth through personal labor and enterprise, retained his usual simplicity in his life; but the younger generation, having already been born and raised in prosperity, naturally no longer had the opportunity to appreciate this primitive simplicity and spent their time in continuous amusements and feasts. This life became such a common and constant occurrence that the sons of Job, each living in a separate house, even distributed the feast days among themselves so that everyone and their sisters would gather in turn at each one until this feast circle ended, after which it would begin again from the first. Job himself did not take part in such feasts and, on the contrary, treated them as hobbies of his youth, so that at the end of each feast circle he usually brought cleansing sacrifices to God for his children, in the natural assumption that they could have sinned in something during the feast. As for the period of Job’s life, although it is as impossible to determine it exactly as it is to determine his place of residence, there are clear signs that make it possible to confidently determine this period with approximate accuracy. Everything in this narrative, from the way of life to the general worldview of the characters, indicates that this is still happening in the patriarchal era, but already towards the end of it, when traces of the transition to the next stage in the historical life of mankind are noticeable. The very life expectancy of Job, who lived at least 200 years, also points to the patriarchal period, after which human life was significantly shortened, so that the maximum age of people became 110 or 120 years. In his book, for all the height of his worldview, nothing is said about the Sinai legislation, which otherwise would certainly be familiar to him and would provide new material for his sublime thoughts. The coin used at this time was of a completely primitive nature, and is called kesita, exactly the same word as the coin used by Jacob when he bought the field. Since this word means lamb, then obviously this coin means either a directly corresponding animal that served as a walking means of exchange, or rather metal ingots made in the shape of lambs or equivalent to lambs. In any case, this coin is primitive, such as was only used in the patriarchal era. The musical instruments mentioned in the book are of the same ancient nature. Only three types of them are mentioned, and moreover, those that, according to the biblical narrative, were the most ancient primitive invention, namely the zither, the pipe and the tympanum 308. Quite according to patriarchal custom, Job was not only the head of his family, but also the priest of his house, so that he personally offered sacrifices to God to atone for the sins of his children. The religious state of the surrounding peoples clearly reveals the features of the primitive stage of the pagan worldview, when people, having deviated from the true knowledge of God, began to see gods in the heavenly bodies and worshiped them. At the same time, there are signs showing that the patriarchal era was already approaching its end and was even moving into the next stage of historical life. Thus, horses are not yet mentioned among Job’s possessions, just as there were none at all in the patriarchal era; but Job already knew about its existence among neighboring peoples, where it was used primarily for military purposes and predatory raids, as was the case in Arabia, and with the invasion of the Hykses in Egypt. Then, Job was already familiar with writing, and not only carved on stone, but also written (19:23, 24), and Job undoubtedly became acquainted with such writing in Egypt. But even in Job’s homeland, writing was apparently already in widespread use, since there are indications of written legal proceedings, which already testifies to the high development of citizenship and civilization. The history of mankind has obviously already moved far from the primitive era and quite a few revolutions have swept over it, which have significantly changed the entire structure of life in comparison with how it seemed in the time of Abraham, and from this we can think that the history of Job’s life dates back to the first period of the chosen family’s stay in Egypt. And so Job, endowed for his faith and his piety with all the blessings of earthly life, lived in complete contentment, enjoying family happiness and prosperity. His blessed home represented, as it were, the realization, as far as possible for man, of primeval bliss, once lost by our ancestors, but in its individual parts not remaining unconditionally inaccessible to those who in their lives realized, to one degree or another, primitive righteousness and preserved the true faith. But just as the once real Eden, so now this family paradise aroused envy in the primordial enemy of humanity - Satan, who, as the prince of the surrounding pagan world, could not tolerate the presence of such a great righteous man among him, and he used all the machinations of his hellish cunning to destroy this blessed house. The whole world is under the constant supervision of God as a Provider, and His servants are invisibly present everywhere, supporting piety and holiness in people and offering prayers to the Almighty for the human race. But along with the angels, as servants of good, there is constant work on earth by the forces of evil, which with malicious persistence sow evil and discord, undermining the moral strength of humanity. Carrying out this hellish work, Satan tirelessly goes around the earth, sowing seeds of wickedness everywhere and enticing the weak with temptations and all kinds of trials that hellish cunning is capable of. But all his intrigues turned out to be powerless to shake Job’s faith and piety, and Satan, in his powerless anger, decided to resort to slandering him before God. And so, on one of the great days of God’s providential activity, when providential councils take place in the higher world, “the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord; Satan also came among them.” “And the Lord said to Satan: Where did you come from? And Satan answered the Lord, “I walked on the earth and walked around it.” Just as angels go around the entire earth, spreading the providential forces of good throughout it, so Satan goes around it with the same jealousy, everywhere sowing his favorite seed of evil, sin and destruction. During this round, Satan, of course, more than once angrily fixed his gaze on the blessed house of such a righteous man as Job was, and each time he left him fruitlessly, because “this man was blameless, just and fearing God, and shunned evil.” Foreseeing this failure of Satan, the Lord, as if to mock the powerlessness of the spirit of malice before the integrity of the righteous, asked him: “Have you paid your attention to My servant Job? For there is no one like him on earth, a blameless, just, God-fearing man who shuns evil.” This question and the accompanying definition of Job’s righteousness from the lips of God himself pierced the evil soul of Satan like a sword, and he, in his powerlessness, resorted to blatant slander. Recognizing Job's righteousness and fear of God, Satan, in the face of God himself and His angels, boldly decided to slander the great righteous man and, in some way, reproach the angels, who were allegedly not insightful enough about the true reason for this fear of Job. Angels constantly report to God about Job’s deeds of righteousness and praise him before Him as an unparalleled righteous person on earth, but in fact, all of his righteousness is based on a low sense of self-love, on the desire to retain for himself the prosperity that he enjoys on earth. “Is Job fearing God for nothing? - Satan said boldly. “Have you not surrounded him, and his shares, and all that he has?” You blessed the work of his hand, and his flocks spread throughout the earth. But stretch out Your hand and touch everything that he has, will they bless You? The accusation was impudent and false, and therefore it was necessary to punish him and expose him so that his falsity would be witnessed before all the angels who heard this accusation, before all the people who knew the righteous man, and, moreover, by Job himself, who, as the accused, had to justify the disinterestedness of his righteousness and thereby expose the falsity of the daring slanderer and man-hater. As a result, the Lord decided to allow Satan to subject his great righteous man to temporary trials and tribulations. “And the Lord said to Satan: Behold, all that he has is in your hand; just don’t stretch out your hand on him (personally). The hellish eyes of Satan flashed with the evil fire of joy and he, in anticipation of the pleasure that finally fell to his lot in relation to the hitherto adamant righteous man, immediately set off on his destructive work. When this providential council took place in heaven, no one on earth had the slightest premonition about the decision made there. Everything went on as before, the house of righteous Job enjoyed complete prosperity, and in view of the unparalleled virtue and fear of God of the patriarch himself, everything seemed to promise unbreakable happiness in the future. But everything was soon to change. Storm clouds were gathering over the blessed house. Satan had already set in motion all the forces of hell, and his obedient slaves from everywhere sought to carry out the work of destruction entrusted to them. And so, just as sometimes a destructive clap of thunder is heard from a clear cloudless sky, followed by new and new blows in quick succession, all erupting over the same fertile valley, which had just previously enjoyed undisturbed silence and the gentle light of the life-giving sun, so a whole series of terrible disasters broke out over Job’s house - all the more terrible because they fell without the slightest warning, with complete surprise and suddenness. Job's children, as usual, gathered at their elder brother's for the next feast and spent their time with cheerful carefreeness, without the slightest premonition of the disaster that was already gathering and was ready to break out over them. Job himself had just previously made a cleansing and propitiatory sacrifice for his merry children and, of course, treated their youthful amusements with loving paternal condescension. And so, suddenly a messenger comes running to him and in terrible alarm informs him that a great disaster has befallen him: while his workers were engaged in arable land on oxen and donkeys were grazing nearby, they were unexpectedly attacked by desert predators, those terrible Bedouins who now constitute the horror of civilians - namely, the Sabeans, who prowled on their Arabian horses along all the outskirts of the desert and carried out robberies and murders. They attacked the workers of Job, captured and drove away all the cattle, and the workers themselves, who wanted to resist them, cut them all down with the edge of a sword, so that only this messenger of disaster was saved. Job, of course, was well acquainted with the possibility of such predatory attacks, but this attack was obviously more devastating than one could have imagined, and when Job perhaps began to think about how best and quickly to equip the pursuit of predators, another equally alarmed messenger came to him and said to him: “The fire of God fell from heaven, and scorched the sheep and the youths, and devoured them; and I alone was saved to tell you.” This calamity was already of such a nature that it could not be corrected and it indicated heavenly wrath. At such news, Job must have thought greatly; but when this messenger was still conveying to him the details of the death of his herds, a third messenger came and, in the same horror, told him that his camels, grazing under the supervision of the workers, were attacked by Chaldeans who were passing in three detachments from some military expedition, they took the camels with them, and the shepherds who thought of resisting were destroyed by all, so that only the messenger who came running to report this disaster remained alive. These three terrible news were truly like thunderclaps that suddenly burst overhead from a completely clear cloudless sky. By them, the greatest and most glorious rich man of the East was immediately deprived of his entire fortune and, what is most difficult of all, was deprived of the very sources of enrichment and prosperity. For the ancient eastern man, herds of various types of livestock were the same as for the newest rich people the paper of joint-stock companies, and deprivation of it, especially as complete as it was with Job, meant the same thing as the complete depreciation of these papers or their destruction. Thus, from the greatest rich man, Job was immediately reduced by these three blows to the status of a poor man, who had nothing left but a home; and this dwelling, in the absence of any means to maintain its former splendor, was bound to inevitably undergo rapid decay and desolation, since poverty gives the once magnificent chambers a much more miserable and terrible appearance than that of poor huts. So the blow for Job was great and heavy. But he still had consolation: he had seven sons, who, as an extraordinary blessing from God, could be a source of joy and consolation for him in his old age. True, they were brought up in luxury and were unaccustomed to work, so that the disaster that now befell Job could be felt with particular severity by them, especially by their daughters, who knew nothing but constant entertainment in the house of their loving brothers. But still, seven adult sons are great wealth in the east. Need could awaken energy in them, they would take up work and, thanks to their father’s previous connections, they could improve their everyday circumstances; they can marry rich brides, daughters can marry rich grooms, and thus, if not for Job himself, then for the younger generation, everyday circumstances can improve over time. But when Job, under the heavy blows of fate, naturally sought consolation in such and similar considerations, a fourth messenger appeared, and he, without allowing the third to finish, was in a hurry to tell his master even more terrible news. “Your sons,” he said in awe, and your daughters ate and drank wine in the house of their firstborn brother; and behold, a great wind came from the desert and swept through the four corners of the house, and the house fell on the youths, and they died; and I alone was saved to tell you.” Righteous Job was struck like thunder: his last hope collapsed, everything that constituted and could constitute his happiness disappeared. Now not only did he not have any wealth, but he did not even have children, who could now be his only consolation. The grief that befell him was apparently beyond human strength, and Job could not bear not to express it outwardly. He “rose up and tore his outer garment, shaved his head (as a sign of grief), and fell to the ground.” The invisible culprit of his misfortunes was ready to rejoice, anticipating victory, since Job apparently was not able to withstand these blows and could easily now grumble at God. But Satan was wrong. Job “fell to the ground” not in order to burst into murmur in this state, but in order to worship the Lord God, who has mercy and punishes. Instead of any grumbling, Job humbly and with boundless trust in God said: 309 Thus the vile slander of Satan was completely defeated. Job fully proved that he was not righteous because of his prosperity and earthly wealth, and he blessed God even under the heavy blows of the disasters that befell him. When in the new heavenly council the Lord God pointed out this steadfastness of his great righteous man, who so victoriously withstood a difficult test and exposed the deceit of Satan, the original misanthrope was not embarrassed by this defeat, but began to boldly assert that the test that befell Job was not yet so severe that he could immediately reveal his hypocritical piety - especially since all these disasters did not concern Job personally, but only the goods that belonged to him. But if you touch him, his “bones and flesh,” then he will hardly bless the Lord. This slander was too impudent and deceitful to be left without refutation, and then the Lord deigned to make Job once again the instrument of his triumph over Satan. “And the Lord said to Satan: Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his soul.” Once again sparkling his hellish eyes with malicious joy, Satan “departed from the presence of the Lord” to begin his destructive work. The point now was to justify his vile slander before God at all costs and destroy the righteous, and therefore Satan strained all the forces of his hellish ingenuity to hit Job with such a blow that he would not be able to withstand. And so he chose for this purpose the most disgusting and terrible disease known in the East, namely leprosy, which, giving a person over to decay alive, deprived him of all hope of recovery and made him a most miserable creature, since his very presence in the company of people became impossible and he was forced to retire into helpless solitude in order to spend the remaining days of his miserable, suffering existence in bitter despair. And indeed, Satan “smote Job with fierce leprosy from the sole of his foot to the very top of his head.” The great sufferer had to withdraw from the society of people, “and he took himself a tile to scrape himself with it, and sat down in the ashes (outside the village).” His suffering was truly terrible. Having once been the most famous and richest of all the sons of the east, Job was now the poorest, most pitiful, abandoned and miserable creature. Now he had no one and nothing except a pitiful shard and the scabs he raked up. True, his wife still remained, but her plight would only depress him even more. Once the rich mistress of a great and glorious house, who did not know what need was, and who spent her life in complete contentment, universal respect and constant joy, she was now forced to bear heavy day labor to feed herself and her unfortunate husband, and every day she looked forward to the sun finally setting, so that she could calm down from the back-breaking labors that depressed her and upset her health; but even then she had only one consolation left - to visit her suffering husband, who lay covered in scabs and worms and without any shelter. It is not surprising that she finally could not bear this condition and began to grumble against God. In her impatience, it even seemed strange to her how Job himself had hitherto remained the same righteous man, and seeing his firmness, she irritably exclaimed to him: “You are still firm in your integrity. Blaspheme God and die!” Job’s situation, in her opinion, was so terrible that he could no longer expect anything from God, so it would be even better for him to incur the final punishment, at least through blasphemy against God, namely death, which could now only be a desired deliverer from his plight. No matter how painful it was for the righteous man to hear such blasphemous speeches from his wife, who once shared with him the joys of a blessed family life, he did not hesitate now, and turned to his wife with the reproach she deserved, telling her: “You speak like one of the madmen. Will we really accept good from God, but not evil?” And again he blessed God, who has mercy and punishes according to his inscrutable definition. Days after days passed, and the misfortunes lay a terrible burden on the sufferer, and the slightest relief was not foreseen from anywhere. These disasters in themselves were unbearably difficult, but their inner side gave them an even sharper sting. In his terrible solitude, spending his nights under the open starry sky, the great sufferer, of necessity, had to think a lot about his fate. Here he was once rich, famous and happy; Now he is poor, abandoned by everyone and unhappy: what could be the reason for such a terrible change? Just the thought of this should have made him shudder, because a picture of some injustice in God’s economy was involuntarily drawn before him. In ancient times, until later times, the general belief prevailed that disasters constituted a direct punishment for the corresponding sins committed by the sufferer himself, and sometimes by his parents and ancestors. Most of all, of course, the sufferer himself could incur the wrath of God in the form of disasters through his sins, and therefore, no matter how righteous he was in appearance, he was considered so only while he was prosperous; and when he was subjected to such terrible disasters, everyone around him involuntarily thought that he had committed some dark, secret sin. Such a view, rooted in the principle of equal retribution for good or evil, was so widespread that it found an echo even in the Law of Moses, where there was a direct decree on retribution by equal for equal (“an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”) and more than once the opinion was expressed about earthly prosperity or disaster as a direct blessing or punishment for the corresponding deeds. Among the Jews, this view persisted until later times, and the greatest teacher of Judaism, Hillel, eloquently expressed it when, seeing the skull of an unknown person floating on the water, he exclaimed: “You are drowned because you yourself drowned someone; but the one who drowned you will himself be drowned in turn! And so, when Job mentally reviewed his life, the question involuntarily should have arisen before him: what did he do to deserve such unprecedented misfortune? All his life he strived for righteousness, and indeed, as it were, he was already enjoying its fruits, enjoying earthly prosperity. If earthly prosperity was a well-deserved reward for his righteousness and piety, then where is the reason for the suffering that befell him, and did he deserve it? Satan undoubtedly counted on this logical inconsistency when he began his terrible experience, and hoped that Job’s piety would not stand up to this logic of the human mind and the sufferer would doubt the justice of God. But if those around Job, and even his wife, really either doubted the justice of God, or even suspected Job of some secret dark sins, then Job himself, feeling that he was right before God, did not waver for a moment in his faith in the truth of God and defeated the logic of human folly with boundless firmness in his trust in God. Nevertheless, the true cause of the disaster remained incomprehensible to him. They did not know what happened in heaven and what glorious triumph was prepared for him in the future, and therefore, consoled only by the purity of his immaculate conscience, he resignedly endured his plight. Chapter 31. Job's conversation with friends The hundred-year-old rumor, which quickly spreads news of all more or less outstanding events along the caravan routes of the East, spread everywhere the terrible news about the terrible ruin and disaster that befell the once famous rich man Job. He had many friends who carried on extensive enterprises with him and maintained close communication. They also heard rumors about Job's misfortune, and three of them, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, decided to visit him to verify the truth of the incredibly terrible rumor. These were, apparently, the same rich heads of tribes and came from surrounding countries. Eliphaz was from Teman, an Edomite city about eight miles from Petra, a city famous for its trading caravans. Bildad was a Sabean: he apparently descended from the family of Shuah, the son of Abraham, through Keturah. The country of the Shuahites or Sachaites appears to be identical with what Ptolemy calls Saccaeus (5:15), and was thus located in desert Arabia, east of Batanea. The third friend, Zophar, was a Naamite, that is, from Naamah, a city located not far from the subsequent borders of the tribe of Judah. Thus, these friends were all, in a way, Job’s neighbors and were probably in trade relations with him, which became the source of their friendship. They, like Job, were not idolaters, but were obviously familiar with true religion, although not to the same extent as Job, to whom perhaps they owed their religious knowledge. And so, when they arrived to look at their once happy friend, then, seeing him in the terrible state of poverty and leprosy and not daring to come close to him, they cried out in horror and sobbed, silently suffering with grief for seven days at the sight of their ill-fated friend. According to Eastern custom, they each tore their outer clothing and threw dust over their heads towards the sky. The sight of them finally loosened the tongue of Job, hitherto bound by misfortunes, and the sufferer for the first time showed how difficult it was for him to endure his situation, and cursed the very day of his birth and the very night of his conception, saying: "Perish the day on which I was born, And the night on which it is said: man was conceived! May God not demand him from above, And may no light shine upon him! May darkness and the silence of death darken it, Let them fear it like scorching heat! That night, may darkness possess it, May it not be counted in the days of the year, Let it not be included in the number of months! Oh, that night, may it be deserted; Let no joy enter into it, May those who curse the day curse her, Capable of waking Leviathan, Let the star of her dawn fade: Let her wait for the light, and it does not come, And may she not see the eyelashes of the lady, Because I did not close the doors of my mother's womb, And she did not hide sorrow from my eyes! Why didn't I die when I came out of the womb? And did not die when he came out of the womb? Why did the tribes accept me? Why did I have to suck nipples? Now I would lie down and rest; I would sleep, and I would be calm” 310. Friends began to console the sufferer. They undoubtedly sympathized deeply with their ill-fated friend in his terrible grief; but their sympathy inevitably lost a significant part of its warmth due to the thoughts that involuntarily swarmed in their hearts regarding the cause of these sufferings of Job. Coming from the prevailing idea in ancient times about the relationship between sin and punishment, they were far from thinking that the suffering they mourned was completely undeserved. They couldn't help but think that Job was being punished for some serious secret crime. But since to express this directly would mean to further intensify Job’s already terrible suffering, his friends began to gradually direct his thoughts towards this particular conviction of his own, in order to incline him to self-examination and repentance. Eliphaz was the first to speak, and he began to clarify his truth with remarkable skill and tenderness, so as not to irritate Job's already terrible wounds. Convinced of Job’s guilt, he nevertheless tried to spare him as much as possible in revealing this guilt to him. He reminded him of his former position, pointing out how different it was from his present position, and at the same time hinted at the involuntary suspicion that follows from the comparison of these situations as to the reason for the change in them. As his thoughts develop, he begins to present them more openly, moving to a more and more clear statement of the causes of the disaster. In his opinion, only the wicked, struck by the righteous wrath of God, are subject to terrible disasters. Man, in any case, is not pure before the Almighty, and hence he is doomed to disaster. Therefore, he cannot, even without committing a daring sin, consider himself completely righteous before God. In order to justify this opinion, Eliphaz declares that he had a secret suggestion that shook his spirit, and he heard a voice saying to him: “Is man more righteous than God? And is a husband purer than his Creator? So He does not trust His servants; And He sees shortcomings in His Angels, Moreover, in those who live in churches made of clay, Which are destroyed faster than moths. Between morning and evening they disintegrate; You won't see them disappear completely. Do not their virtues perish with them? They die without achieving wisdom." 311. Hence, according to Eliphaz, Job, instead of cursing the day and night of his birth and thus being angry at God’s justice, should humbly turn to God and seek in His infinite mercy the source for his pardon. At least Eliphaz himself would have done this in Job’s situation: Who does great things And unsearchable, wonderful without number; Gives rain to the face of the earth, And sends water on the face of the fields; He brings the downtrodden to heights, And those who mourn rise to salvation. Blessed is the man whom God admonishes, And therefore do not reject the Almighty’s punishment. And His hands heal” 312. Hearing such speech from the lips of his friend, Job felt a grave grief, which made his suffering even more depressing. Such a clear hint of the deservedness of his suffering pierced his heart as if with the edge of a sword, and he exclaimed: “Oh, if only my cries were truly weighed, And along with them they put my suffering on the scales! It would surely pull over the sand of the seas! That is why my words are furious. For the arrows of the Almighty are within me; The horrors of God have taken up arms against me: Does a wild donkey bray on the grass? Does a bull moo at his mash? Do they eat tasteless things without salt? And is there any taste in egg white? What my soul did not want to touch, This constitutes my disgusting food. Oh, when would my wish come true, And God fulfilled my desire! Oh, if God would deign to crush me, He stretched out His hand and struck me down!” 313 Job does not want to get into arguments regarding the deservedness or undeservedness of his suffering, but he cannot help but deny that he has ever acted in bad faith before God; he cannot restrain his crying, because no one has ever suffered as he suffers. His very friends seem to be digging a hole for him; their first words of consolation were like a passing stream that gurgled and left a dry bottom that promised to give beneficial moisture. Why does God visit the worthless son of dust with such terrible punishment, even if he sinned? Why should He not forgive rather than punish such a helpless creature (6:10, 7? With such a speech Job gave a new weapon into the hands of his reasoning friends, since he apparently accused God of injustice, at least in relation to himself. As a result, Bildad began to speak and began to prove that it was wicked for a person to even think that God could be unjust. “How long will you talk like this?” The words of your mouth are a stormy wind! Is God perverting the judgment? And the Almighty turns the truth? If your sons have sinned against Him, So He delivered them into the hand of their iniquity. And you will pray to the Almighty; From now on He will stand over you, And he will pacify the dwelling of your righteousness. For ask the previous generations, And delve into the observations of their fathers. And they will tell you from their hearts; Does reed grow without moisture? Does reed grow without water? It is still in its freshness and not cut, And before any grass dries up. Such are the ways of all who forget God; And the hope of the hypocrite will perish; And his confidence is the spider's house; He leans against his house and cannot stand; He will grab hold of it and will not hold on” 314. God cannot do anything without reason and unjustly; and since suffering always represents punishment for known sin, He obviously cannot punish the innocent. Let Job, therefore, repent, that his sufferings may be removed by divine mercy, before final destruction may befall him, as it befalls all fools who imagine that they can prosper without the help of God. At the same time, Bildad points to the widespread belief in ancient times that every sinner is on the way to certain and sudden destruction; but if Job turns to God with repentance, then happiness can again come for him, and sorrowful crying lips can again be filled with joyful exclamations (8), It became clear to Job that he had completely failed to convince his friends of his complete innocence, and that it was thus useless to reason with them in this regard. Therefore he refrains from openly arguing with them, but cannot refrain from discussing the main points in their speeches. He does this more as if speaking to himself than by answering them; admitting what in his opinion was true in their words, but at the same time not caring about protecting himself from their reproaches. He fully recognizes everything that was said by them about divine omnipotence and human weakness, since he is aware of this even better than his friends themselves. He knows all this, but does not want to say anything, although he is convinced of his innocence, since God, if he wants, can go even further and subject him to even greater punishment. Realizing this, instead of thinking with consolation about the omnipotence of the Almighty and the weakness of man, he rather finds in this circumstance the source of his deepest sorrow. The wisdom of his friends sounds like mockery to him and he responds to it with bitter irony. Nevertheless, his clear and calm conscience cannot allow him to remain silent, although he knows the danger he is exposed to. He must say freely and openly what he thinks about the mysterious and apparently contradictory ways of God. He cannot think about them the way his friends do, and so he bursts out with poisonous, almost desperate bitterness against them. “My soul is disgusted with my life; I will speak in the sorrow of my soul. I’ll tell God: don’t blame me! Tell me why You are fighting me? Why are you looking for vice in me? And you try to find out the sin in me, Although you know that I am not a lawless person, And that there is no one to deliver me from Your hand? Your hands worked on me, And they formed me all around, - And why did You bring me out of the womb? When no one's eyes had yet seen me. Let me, if not the former, He was transferred from the womb to the tomb. To cheer me up a little Before I leave - and without returning - To the land of darkness and the shadow of death, What is the darkness of the shadow of death, Where it’s dark as darkness itself” 315. Having poured out his bitterness, Job again plunged into sad silence. Seeing that the words of the first two friends were not able to shake Job’s confidence in his self-righteousness, finally the third friend, Zophar, who also wanted to express his opinion and advice, spoke. Being the youngest of the three, he would rather remain silent, but Job’s tone, more and more self-confident and, as it seemed to him, daring, forces him to say his word. He hoped to end this whole dispute with his unexpected intervention in the conversation, and began directly with Job's accusation: “Isn’t it possible to give an answer to many words, And is the verbose man right? Will your idle talk keep men silent? So that you mock and there is no one to shame you? You said: my judgment is correct, And opened His mouth to you? And did he reveal to you the secrets of wisdom? Oh, you should have suffered twice as much! So know what God is for you Some of your iniquities have been forgotten. Can you find God by research? Can you completely comprehend the Almighty? He is above the heavens - what can you do? Deeper than the underworld, what can you find out? 316 Zophar, despairing of the possibility of resolving the controversial issue by human wisdom, expresses the desire for God Himself to appear and silence the man who did not want to admit that disasters befell him as punishment for his sins. This desire of his was in reality a recognition of his and his friends’ powerlessness; the consciousness that God alone can prove the correctness of their firm conviction that some secret, if not open, sin was the cause of all the misfortune for the sufferer. If Job himself also allows this, then everything can change for the better; but if he continues to renounce his sinfulness, then something even worse may follow for him. Zophar's speech, which was meant to strike down Job's arrogance and incline him to a humble consciousness of his sinfulness, had precisely the opposite effect, since in Job's mind it immediately turned into a victorious weapon against his opponents, and instead of humbling him, apparently for the first time brought him out of his depressed state of mind. How can a person, proud of his innocence and even his trust in God, allow himself to be reproached that he suffers much less than he deserves for his sins? He still clings to the idea that God acts towards him as a strong man might act towards a weak one who is unable to oppose him, and apparently thinks that his friends speak so bitterly only because they, lacking the proper nobility in themselves, are inclined to take the side of the strong against the weak. But he cannot think that God, in any way, could do anything unjust in allowing constant suffering, or even in allowing his friends to reproach Job so unreasonably. They turned their testimony against him to the Almighty; Job also now appeals to Almighty God for his own benefit, and complains to Him against them for their unfounded accusation. They have fallen into the great error of asserting that prosperity or calamity is a direct sign of divine mercy or divine wrath, and thus in reality they are rewards and punishments. In reality, this is far from the case: “The robbers’ tents are quiet, And safe among those who provoke God, Which, as it were, carry God in their hands." 317. This question is so difficult that it cannot be resolved as simply as friends did, because the unsearchable wisdom of God reigns throughout the world, and God acts not according to human reflection, but in accordance with the laws of His own providential activity. “He has power and wisdom, Before Him are those who err and deceive. He leads the advisers into rashness, He strips the bandages of kings, And he ties a belt around their loins. Princes are deprived of their dignity; Takes away the tongues of the lofty, Covers the famous with shame, And weakens the strength of the mighty. Reveals the deep from the midst of darkness, And brings the shadow of death to light. He multiplies nations and destroys them, He scatters nations and gathers them. Takes away the minds of the heads of the people of the earth, And leaves them to wander in the desert, where there is no way. They grope in darkness without light, And they stagger like drunks” 318. In view of such an unsearchable providential activity of God, Job has no choice but to completely place himself at the disposal of Providence, and he sees the only deliverance for himself in the grave. He will calmly wait until all the days appointed for his life have passed, when a change may come for him. But even now he does not lose final hope for a brighter future, since beyond the grave the light of a better world may shine for him. He believes that the hand of God, capable of powerfully striking, is also capable of saving. He therefore trusts in God, even if He kills him; he knows that Jehovah will become his salvation in due time. As for those who reproach him, they are gossipers of lies and useless enemies. However, he cannot remain silent even after this. His misfortunes overpower his will. Why would God crush some plucked leaf and pursue some dry straw? Why would He send suffering to a person who, “like rot, disintegrates, like moth-eaten clothing?” Then Job again plunges into sadness bordering on despair: "A man born of a woman, Short-lived and full of sorrows: Like a flower it comes out and falls; He runs away like a shadow and doesn't stop. And to him You, having opened Your eyes, And are you bringing me to judgment with you? Who will be born clean from an unclean? None. And the number of its Months is with You; If You set a limit for him, Then avoid him; let him rest until he finishes, Like a mercenary, for his day" 319. Job's situation is difficult and, apparently, hopeless; but even from the darkness of this hopelessness a ray of hope breaks through. Does human existence really end here and there will be nothing after? Can't God remember him even now that he's in the dust? Everything in nature lives with hope: "There is hope for the tree, What is it, even if it is cut down, And industries will not stop coming out of it. Even if its root is tired in the ground, It gives off shoots and puts out branches, As if replanted” 320. In view of this, the thought involuntarily arises that a person is not completely deprived of future hope, even with the most severe suffering of the present. But this hope is dark, and Job ends his argument with words of deepest sorrow: And my soul suffers” 321. Job's friends, however, did not want to give up their conviction, and returned again to their subject, trying to clarify before the sufferer his guilt. Eliphaz again begins to speak first, as the chief of the three friends and the one with the greatest experience and wisdom. Finding the sufferer unduly proud and rebellious, he tries to humble him and show his sinfulness even in the arrogance that he showed in his speeches. He tells Job that his own words accuse him, that he has shown a manifest lack of fear of God, and has responded to the speeches of his friends with words of deceit. But he has no reason to behave so arrogantly, either towards his friends or especially towards God. Every person, even in his best condition, is a sinner, and what right does Job have to address God with such an arrogant spirit and allow such words to come out of his mouth? And then Eliphaz, from his worldly experience and wisdom, draws a terrible picture to depict the fact that all suffering is, in the end, only God’s punishment. There is no creature that is sinless before God: “What is a man that he should be pure, And that he who is born of a woman may be righteous? So He doesn’t trust His saints, And the heavens are unclean in His sight: The more unclean and corrupt a person is, Drinking iniquity like water. I will tell you, listen to me; I'll tell you what I saw And they did not hide what they heard from their fathers, To whom alone was the land given, And among which no stranger walked: The wicked torment himself all his days, And the number of years is hidden from the oppressor; In the midst of the world the destroyer comes against him. And his property will not survive, And his gain will not spread throughout the earth. Its branches will be dried up by fire And he will be carried away by the breath of his lips. Let the lost one not trust vanity, For vanity will also be his reward. On the wrong day he will die, And its branches will not turn green. He will shed his unripe berries like a vine, And, like an olive tree, it will shake off its color. Thus shall the house of the wicked be desolate And fire will consume the tents of bribery. He conceived evil and gave birth to lies, And his womb prepares deception." 322. Thus, in this speech, Eliphaz expressed even more clearly that Job was undoubtedly suffering for some grave sin. His suffering increases precisely because he does not want to confess his sin. The sufferer makes no attempt in his reply to directly refute this charge. He is too depressed by moral sorrow because even his friends rebel against him on the day of his sorrow. Apparently everything is directed by God to worsen his situation: his very friends and neighbors have turned into enemies, and apparently only death alone can give him peace from his misfortune. God gave him over to the wicked and turned the hands of the wicked against him. He cast him into the dust and made him the target of his wrath. And yet Job still remains convinced of his innocence: “My face turned purple from crying, And on my eyelids is the shadow of death; For all this, there is no theft in my hands, Earth! don't cover my blood And let there be no place for my cry. And now here in heaven is my witness And my intercessor is in the highest! Oh, if man could have a contest with God, As the son of man is with his neighbor! For my years are coming to an end And I set off on a path of no return. Intercede, vouch for me before Yourself! Otherwise, who will vouch for me? For You have closed their hearts from understanding, And that’s why you don’t let them triumph. Who condemns his children to be prey, The children's eyes are fading. He made me a proverb to the people My eye is clouded with grief, And all my members are like a shadow. The righteous will be amazed at this, And the innocent will be indignant at the hypocrite. But the righteous will hold fast to his way, And pure hands will be more and more affirmed. Come forward, all of you, and come; I will not find a wise man among you." 323. In this last speech, the patriarch utters some bitter words in response to previous reproaches from his friends. He tells them directly that there is no one among them wise enough to properly discuss the sufferer's situation. This remark again awakens in his friends the desire to reproach Job’s arrogance, and Bildad bursts out at him with new reproaches, attributing his irritability to the wild despair of a man who, feeling his guilt, does not want to admit it. But let him not deceive himself. The light of the wicked will disappear; evil of every kind will surely destroy it. No matter how the wicked rebel against the deservedness of their fate, this rebellion will ultimately be futile and will only lead to even more terrible destruction, their memory will disappear from the earth, and their name will not remain on the street 324. Dejected by physical and moral suffering, the heart of the righteous man had endured everything until now, and he was even capable of responding with reproach to reproach, but finally he was unable to endure such unjust reproaches any longer. Bitter words, he answers his friends, are now inappropriate. Let them only think of the sufferings he endures, and they will no longer haunt him and torment his heart: “How long will you torment my soul, You've embarrassed me ten times already And don't be ashamed to crowd me. If I really made a mistake, Then my mistake will remain with me. If you want to lord it over me, And reproach me with my shame, Then know that God has overthrown me And he surrounded me with His net." 325. And then, depicting the horror of his situation, the righteous man, in unbearable grief, turned to the feeling of compassion of his friends: "Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, For the hand of God touched me. Why do you persecute me like God? And you cannot get enough of my flesh? Oh, if only my words were written down! If only they were written in a book! With an iron chisel and the word, They were carved in stone for eternity! And so, when physical and moral suffering were apparently ready to completely crush the spirit of the righteous man, a new hope from another world flashed in his soul. Hope for the future Redeemer was resurrected in him, and Job, shaking off all the burden of moral torment, exclaimed enthusiastically: “I know that my Redeemer lives, And on the last day He will rise from the dust This is my disintegrating skin; And I will see God in my flesh. My eyes, not the eyes of another, will see Him." 326. Having thus expressed his faith in the future Redeemer and finding in this faith consolation for his despairing heart, Job concluded with a sincere request that his friends finally stop tormenting him with their reproachful speeches: “My heart is melting in my chest! You should say: Why are you following him? It's as if the root of evil was found in me. For the sword is the avenger of iniquity, And know that there is judgment." 327. But neither Job’s suffering nor his entreaties were able to soften the hearts of his friends, ossified in sophistry and prejudice. From among them Zophar again emerges, who considers it his duty to even more persistently express to Job his opinion regarding the correspondence between sin and punishment. A sinner, he says, may prosper for a while, but his death will be all the more terrible and hopeless. The triumph of the wicked is short-lived; the joy of the godless lasts only for a moment. Hasn’t the experience of life shown this since ancient times, from the time man began to live on earth? Heaven in due time exposes the guilty, and the earth rises up against the wicked. All the possessions of their house perish, carried away by the flood of the wrath of God on the day when it comes: “This is the portion of the wicked man from God, And the inheritance assigned to him by the Almighty" 328. But Job again has a ready answer to this accusation, and he turns everything said to his own advantage. The very opinion that the wicked prosper in this life can speak for his own innocence, and not against him. It is certain that the wicked often prosper, but it is no less true that the pious and righteous often experience disaster. If his friends think that the guilty always find his punishment here, then others think just the opposite. Everything in reality is dark and incomprehensible in this life, everything is a mystery to man in the ways of God. As a result, his friends are by no means right when they try to establish in their own way the relationship between human affairs and God’s justice: “How do you want to console me empty? There is only one lie left in your answers.” 329. Then, irritated by Job’s intransigence, his friends finally throw off all restraint and, in order to justify their opinion, begin to openly denounce Job for his untruths. The first to make such an accusation is Eliphaz, the wisest and oldest among his friends, and he, turning to Job, expresses the following accusations directly to his face: “It’s true, your malice is great, And there is no end to your iniquities; It’s true that you took pledges from your brothers for nothing, And he took off clothes from half-naked people; He did not give water to drink to the thirsty one, And he refused bread to the hungry; And you gave land to a strong man, And the dignitary settled on it; You sent the widows away with nothing, And he left the orphans empty-handed; And you were suddenly outraged by horror, Or the darkness in which you can't see anything And many waters covered you." 330. Then, in order to direct Job to the path of virtue, Eliphaz addressed him with an admonition: “Get close to Him, and you will be calm, Through this, good will come to you. And put His words in your heart. If you turn to the Almighty, You will remove iniquity from your tent. And you will turn shining metal into dust, And into the stones of the streams is Ethiopian gold. And the Almighty will be your gold And your shining silver, For then you will rejoice in the Almighty, And you will lift up your face to God." 331. Such an appeal to Job was even more painful for him, and each of the accusations made by Eliphaz was like a red-hot arrow to his heart. Suppressed by grief, Job no longer had enough spirit to justify himself against such unfounded accusations against him, and in his response speech he continued to develop his thoughts about the mystery of God’s ways, while more likely speaking out loud to himself than answering his friends. His whole soul yearns for an open solution to his case from God: “Even now my speech is bitter; My suffering is heavier than my groans. Oh, if I knew where to find Him And where to approach His throne. I would lay my case before Him And my mouth would be filled with excuses. I would know the words with which He would answer me, And I would understand what He would tell me. Is He really in full power? Would you compete with me? Oh no, if only He would pay attention to me. Then the righteous could compete with Him, - And I would forever receive freedom from my Judge” 332. But Job despairs of the possibility of a personal appearance of God to resolve this issue. God, apparently, deliberately withdrew in order to leave everything in mysterious indecision. And now everything is again immersed in an impenetrable mystery. This very secret supported his friends in their accusations against the sufferer, and Bildad again repeated the accusation previously expressed. But this accusatory speech was now clearly a powerless repetition of already refuted positions, and therefore, at the end of the speech of the third friend, all the friends finally fell silent, and Job himself, feeling his moral triumph over the opinions of his friends, once again expresses the consciousness of his innocence and at the same time expresses unshakable confidence in God even during his deepest misfortune. He cannot believe in the constant prosperity of the wicked just like his friends, but he feels that the mystery of God’s ways can only be resolved by that real wisdom, which alone is capable of ensuring true earthly happiness and clarifying the ways of divine economy; and this wisdom can only be received from God through pious submission to Him. And then Job, continuing the thread of his reasoning, shows that all his suffering is not a punishment for his sins, but must have some deeper source. He depicts his former prosperity and puts it in connection with righteousness and the good use that he made of his goods. He once enjoyed universal respect and great influence, but now people despise him. Misery of every kind oppresses him and all his hopes have disappeared. Nevertheless, even in the days of his happiness he never indulged in any evil passions; he ruled his home with dignity, showed kindness to everyone, was honest as a citizen, and never forgot his duties to God and his neighbors. He was never a hypocrite and was never guilty of secret violence and oppression. Therefore, if he now suffered, then only God can explain the reason for this 333. When in this way all the opinions of friends were expressed regarding the view that prevailed in ancient times on the direct correspondence between virtues and prosperity on the one hand, and sins and disasters on the other, and were significantly shaken by Job, who overthrew such a view and left the solution to the question of the vicissitudes in human life to God himself, then, as if to generalize all these reasonings, a new interlocutor, Elihu, came forward. He was still a young man, and therefore, although he was present at the interview of his friends with Job, he had not yet interfered in their competition, considering himself too young to interrupt the reasoning of his elders. But when their conversation finally ended and its result was indecisive, because each of the interviewees remained unconvinced, then he could not endure it any longer, and, understanding more deeply the ways of God’s economy, he “flared with anger at Job because he justified himself more than God; and he was inflamed with anger at his three friends because they did not find anything to answer, and meanwhile they accused Job.” Therefore, when Job finished his speech, he stepped forward and, addressing all his interlocutors, said to them: “I am young in years, and you are old; And I was afraid to tell you my opinion. I told myself: let the days speak, And many years teach wisdom. And the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding. It is not perennials that are only wise, And it’s not old people who understand the truth, Therefore, I say: listen to me, I will tell you my opinion and I" 334 And then in his speech, reviewing the opinions expressed, he justifies the justice of God and finds out that such a righteous man as Job did not constantly enjoy prosperity for his virtues because he also had shortcomings, and he was guilty of rash speeches against God. Suffering, however, does not constitute a direct consequence for sins, but is a general test appointed in order to make a person better and renew him. Even nature itself teaches us faith in the righteousness of God. Meanwhile, during the conversation and reasoning, a storm arose, and thunder roared, and from the storm the voice of God was heard to Job, reproaching the reasoning friends for wanting to penetrate into the incomprehensible advice and intentions of the Almighty. The Lord answered Job from the storm and said: “Who is this one who darkens providence with words without meaning? Gird up your loins now like a man; I will ask you, and you explain to Me: Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Who put the measure on it, if you know Or who pulled the rope along it? On what are its foundations established? Or who laid its cornerstone, With the general rejoicing of the morning stars, When did all the sons of God shout for joy? Who closed the sea with gates, When it was expelled, it came out as if from the womb, When I made a cloud his clothing And I confirmed to him My decree, And he erected bars and gates, And he said: Hitherto you will come and not pass over, And here is the limit to your arrogant waves” 335? Then, with extraordinary power, continuing to reveal the mystery of the divine economy in nature and humanity, God continued to say: When wild goats are born on the rocks. Can you calculate the months of their pregnancy? And do you know the time of their birth? They bend, giving birth to their children, They leave and do not return to them. Who let the wild donkey go free? And who loosed the bonds of the onager, To whom I have appointed the steppe as a home, He chuckles at the city crowd And he doesn’t hear the driver’s screams. Can you scare him away like a locust? The snoring of his nostrils is terrible! Digs the ground with his foot and admires the strength, He laughs at danger and is not timid, And he doesn't turn away from the sword. In impulses and rage he swallows the earth, And cannot stand when the trumpet sounds. At the sound of the trumpet, he will make a voice: goo-goo! Loud voices of leaders and shouting. Will he who competes with the Almighty still teach? He who reproaches God, let him answer him." 336. Job humbly replied that he was aware of his insignificance, and left the decision of the whole matter to the omnipotence of God. Then God, once again showing the pitiful insignificance of man who dares to accuse the Creator of injustice, expressed His anger at the wrong judgment of his friends, and only their sacrifices and the intercession of righteous Job for them justified them before God. So, the test was completed and at the same time the false judgments of people about the justice of God were refuted. The destinies of God's Providence are incomprehensible to the limited human mind, and in vain it strives to understand the incomprehensible, applying the measure of its earthly everyday conditions to the heavenly economy. The ways of God are not like the ways of men, and His counsels are beyond the understanding of men. Trying with their simple minds to understand the cause of the disaster that befell Job, people reasoned only within the limits of their earthly conditions, and, explaining the matter in accordance with their earthly views, they lost sight of the fact that in the inaccessible sky there could be other more sublime views, there could be a more sublime point of view from which the very suffering of man could serve as an instrument for the glorification of God, the triumph of good over evil, and together with the happiness of man. This is exactly what happened with Job. He became an instrument of the triumph of God over Satan. Satan intended to denigrate and humiliate the honor of God by boldly declaring that the righteous are pious only out of earthly self-interest and thus deceive God. In order to maintain his honor and expose the deceit of the original slanderer and misanthrope, God allowed Satan to subject the great righteous man to a terrible test for his own exposure, and the righteous man brilliantly proved the sincerity of his piety, having withstood the great test and thus serving as an instrument of the triumph of God over Satan, good over evil and truth over lies. If people could penetrate behind the heavenly curtain and see what exactly happened there, then they would see that all of Job’s great sufferings had the highest providential significance, and Job himself, as having become an instrument of this providential activity, in his very sufferings received even greater benefits than what he enjoyed during his prosperity: because then he supported the honor of God on earth with his piety, but now with his suffering he supported his honor in heaven. Satan was severely defeated and no longer dared to come out with his daring slander against the righteous man of God. But when the great providential experience was completed, the slander was dispelled and Satan was defeated, then the righteous man, who served as the instrument of this triumph and the glory of God, was to receive a reward. His feat was great, and his reward should have been the same. And just as quickly disasters befell Job, his prosperity began to be restored even faster. “And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.” With prosperity, human affections also returned. Little by little, “all his brothers and all his sisters and all his former acquaintances began to return to him, and ate bread with him in his house, and grieved with him, and consoled him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him, and they each gave him a kesita and a gold ring.” Job's well-being was not only restored to its previous extent, but his main wealth - livestock - was returned to him twice as much as before. Now he no longer had seven, but fourteen thousand small livestock, six thousand camels, the caravans of which again began to move between Egypt and Mesopotamia; a thousand pairs of oxen cultivated his land and a thousand donkeys produced masses of dairy products. Job also restored his former family life: he again had seven sons and three daughters, “and there were no such beautiful women in all the earth as Job’s daughters,” to whom he allocated parts of the inheritance on an equal basis with his sons. And Job’s life itself, in order to provide him with the opportunity for complete satisfaction for the suffering he endured, was continued twice as long as before, so that after the test he “lived another hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons to the fourth generation.” Already fully a great patriarch, surrounded by a large family of sons, grandsons, great-grandsons and great-great-grandsons, the great righteous man died: “and Job died in old age, full of days.” “The image of Joseph, says such a brilliant connoisseur of literature as Goethe, seems to us calm and soft, smiling and immersed in thoughts, but at the same time some elusive line of melancholy runs through him, which gives him an irresistible charm. He stands above all his brothers not only in the high rank to which Pharaoh elevated him, but also in the sublimity of his thoughts and the greatness of his soul. Hence, all of us, reading the story of his life, involuntarily feel the same passion for Joseph that his father Jacob showed.” Vigouroux, t. II, p. 2. The story of Joseph is superimposed in Ch. 37:1. book Genesis. Robinson, Biblical Researches, t. III p. 122. All this was destroyed twenty years ago by the army of the Kaymakan of Nailus (Shechem) during the capture of Arraba. Guerin, Description de la Palestine, Samarie, 1875, 2 vols., p. 219. Ebers, Aegypten, pp. 290, etc. Dumichen, Tempelinschriften, Edfu, taf. 52–75. Geographische Inschriften, Tf. 80–100. Many other fragrant substances are found in various tombs near the pyramids. The three substances named in the Bible still constitute the main item of trade between the East and Egypt. Vigouroux, vol. II, p. 17. Ebers, Aegypten, p. 294. Maspero, Histoire ancienne, Paris, 1876, p. 223. Chabas, Melanges egyptologiques, 3 cep. Vol. I p. 231. Vigouroux, vol. II, p. 28. Wilkinson, vol. II. P. 33. Ebers, Aegypten, pp. 295–303. Life 37:36; 39:1. Prisses d'Avennes, Monuments Egyptiens (1847) pl. 41, Wilkinson, vol. II, p. 136. Hengstenberg, Die Bucher Moses, p. 23. Ebers, p. 304. Brugsch, Gräberwelt, page 43. Wilkinson, vol. II, p. 129, Ebers, p. 304. Wilkinson, vol. I, p. 142, 143. One of the oldest papyri (pairus Prissa) calls a woman a vessel of all worthlessness, a bag of all deceit and lies. The Harris Papyrus classifies women among the animals that eat flesh and drink blood, tigers, lions and leopards. On monuments you can see images of women so drunk that they are unable to stand upright. And there are also scenes that go beyond the possibility of any description. For a complete translation of this news, see volume IV of the popular publication Les Lirreratures populaires de toutes nations, Paris, 1882. The translation belongs to the famous Egyptologist Maspero. Polygamy was allowed in Egypt, although it was not always customary among ordinary residents. Often a rich man, having children from one legal wife or from one concubine, gave her in marriage to some subordinate, who also had children from her in turn. Therefore, it was not superfluous to say, speaking of these two brothers, that they “were of one mother and one father." The primacy here given to the mother over the father was a common occurrence in Egypt: noble people always pointed to the maternal lineage in preference to the paternal lineage. One can often read such titles: "Usortesen, born of the lady Monkhil," or else: “Sesustri, born of Lady Ta-Amen,” and at the same time the father’s name was often completely omitted. The original form of the divine name from which the Greeks and Latins made Anubis. Egypt was divided into two halves (Peshui), into two lands (Tui), each of which was considered to constitute a separate country of the north (To-Mera) and a country of the south (To-Res or To-Kemat). Both of these countries together were sometimes called Kimit, “black land,” and sometimes To-r-Ter-v, “the whole land.” This is an allusion to the end of the Nile flood. The corresponding part of the biblical narrative reads like this: “And his master’s wife turned her eyes to Joseph, and said, “Sleep with me” (Gen. 39:7). “But he refused, and said to his master’s wife: Behold, my master knows nothing in the house with me, and everything that he has has given into my hands; there is no more than me in this house; and he has not forbidden me anything except you, because you are his wife; how can I do this great evil and sin before God?” - When she spoke this way to Joseph every day, and he did not listen to her in order to sleep with her and be with her, it happened one day that he entered the house to do her work, and none of the household was here in the house; she grabbed him by his clothes and said, “Lie with me.” But he, leaving his clothes in her hands, ran and ran out” (Gen. 39:8-12). "When she saw that he had left his robe in her hands and ran out, she called to her household and said to them: 'Look, he has brought a Jew to us to mock us. He came to lie with me, but I cried out with a loud voice; and when he heard that I raised a cry and screamed, he left his robe with me and ran and ran out" (Gen. 39:13–18). “But when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, Thus hath thy servant done unto me, his anger was kindled: and his master took Joseph, and put him into prison” (Gen. 39:19, 20). The Egyptians called the sun Ra, and with the male member Pra or Fra. They considered each of the phases of his movement as a special manifestation of his being, to which various divine forms and names correspond. They call it before sunrise Ashum, at sunrise - Garma-Khuti (Horus on two horizons), at noon - Ra-Shu-Angur-Gor, and at sunset - Shu and Novri-Tum. Fra-Garmakhuti is thus a mythological image for the expression of the sun. From Garmahuti the Greeks made Garmachis. The Valley of Acacia appears to have had some relation to the Funerary Valley, where Amion, the god of Thebes, made annual visits. It is very likely that the Acacia Valley is a mystical name for the afterlife. Joseph expresses the opposite feelings in the following words to his brothers who sold him: “But now do not be sad, and do not regret that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve your lives” (Gen. 45:5). This is one of the most common signs of grief in Egypt, as well as throughout the east. Usually people, struck by some kind of sadness, collected dust or sprinkled it on their heads and smeared their faces. AEgypticität is a word invented by Ebers to denote the “thoroughly Egyptian character” of the story. Ebers, Aegypten, pp. 314, 315. We have excluded from this passage the hypothesis in which Ebers suggests that the story of Joseph was not written by Moses and was edited only long after the “tale of the two brothers.” Greek legends also present several stories parallel to the stories of Potiphar's wife. See Rosenmuller, A. und N. Morgenland Bd. I, p. 185. Joseph's belonging, as a Jew, to one of the unclean shepherd nations should have increased his guilt. Herod., III, 13, 91, Ebers, Aegypten, p. 311. Both Potiphar and these gardeners are called eunuchs in the Hebrew script; but although there were eunuchs at the Egyptian court, in relation to these dignitaries such a name was probably a simple title of office, indicating their special closeness to the king. In inscriptions from the time of Ramses II in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. Lenormant, La Divination, p. 144. It is worth noting that until recently, rationalistic criticism, based on Herodotus’ mistake that there were no vineyards and no wine produced in Egypt, happily pointed to this biblical narrative, finding in it a gross error against reality and, as a result, denying its authenticity. Thus, even in our century, Bohlen, in his critical interpretation of the book of Genesis, triumphantly pointed out this "error" of the biblical historian. The latest discoveries, however, have completely changed the matter; they really proved the "error", but not on the part of the biblical narrator... Herodotus, II, 37, 60, 122, 133, 168. Durch Gosen, pp. 18, 182, 480. Wilkinson, vol. I, p. 41. Ibid. p. 53. Michaelis, Mosaisches Recht, vol. IV, p. 70. Ebers, Aegypten, p. 326. Records of Past, vol. VI, pp. 24–70. Papyrus quoted by Ebers, p. 326. The cups of wealthy Egyptians were often very valuable. They were made from gold alabaster, finely polished clay or glass and were given the most elegant forms. Chabas, Inscriptions, p. 3. Plutarch, De Isid. Et Osiride, § 39, edit. Parthey, p. 68. Clement of Alexandria, Strom. V, 7, Izdu Minya, vol. IX, column. 69. Egypt sefeth, Heb. Seba, Skt. sapt. Hence it is almost invariably repeated in all modern languages. Vigouroux, t. II, p. 110. That is, nine gods: Shu, Tefnut, Seb, Nut, Osiriz, Horus, Isis, Nephthys and Set. See Records of the Past, X, p. 37. Macpero, Ηistoire ancienne, b. 123. See Lenormant, Histoire ancienne, vol. III, p. 57 Records of the Past, vol. II pp. 149, 150. Ulcer is probably the name of the ship. Hundred is probably a land measure. Records of the Past, t. VI, pp. 7–10. Chabas, Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archeology, vol. V, 1877, pp. 459–474. Chabas, Recherches sur la XIX-e dynastie, pp. 14, 15. Bohlen, Die Genesis eräutern, on Gen. 41:42. De Rouge, Notice des monuments egyptiens, Salle historique, virtin H. 1855, pp. 62, 63. Records of the Past, t. VI, p. 86. Chabas, Etudes sur L'antiquite historique, pp. 408–412. Life 41:41, 44. The repetition of the expression: “the whole earth” is remarkable. This expression is often found on Egyptian monuments in the sense of referring to the whole of Egypt. "The name Shasu was a general generic name applied to the Arab tribes or Bedui who lived in the desert between Syria and the northeastern border of Egypt." The name itself comes from the root sasa (sasah), “to devastate,” “to plunder,” which is used in the Bible to express the predatory invasions of the Bedunians, as well as to designate the robbers themselves (Judges 2:14, 16; 1 Samuel 21:1; 2 Kings 17:20; Ps. 43:11, etc.). Maspero, Histoire ancienne des peoples de I'Orient, p. 172. Maspero, Histoire ancienne des peoples de I'Orient, p. 133. “The elevation of a foreigner to the high dignity occupied by Joseph,” says Birch, is most easily explained by the fact that Egypt at that time was under the dominion of the Hyxes ... and its history must have remained unknown to the native dynasty, which expelled from the soil of Egypt these hated Hyxes with their customs and orders. S. Birch, History of Egypt, pp. 76, 77. John of Antioch, Fragm. 39, in Muller, Fragmenta bistoricorum graecorum, t. IV, p. 555: Gregory Sincellus (Chronographie, edit. Dindorf, 1829, p. 115) says: “everyone agrees that Joseph ruled Egypt under Athophis” (Αφώφειος). Brugsch, Histoire of I'Egypte, t. I, p. 80. The Salya papyrus says: “And King Apapi made the god Set his master, and he did not serve any other god that was in Egypt.” Rosenmuller, A. and N. Morgenland, Bd. I, 201. Delitsch, Genesis, t. II, p. 106. Wilkinson, t. I, page 76. Nouveau Journal asiatique, October, p. 261. Dicitur Aegyptos caruisse juvantibus arva Imbribus, Atque annos sicca fuisse novem. De Art. Am. I, 647–8. Abd-Allatif, Relation de I'Egypte, trad. S. de Sacy, p. 330. Abd-Allatif, Relation de l'Egypte, trad. S. de Sacy, p. 360–369. In the year 457 of Gejra there was also a famine in Egypt, no less terrible than the famine of 596, and during it even the caliph himself died of hunger. Makrizi, per. Katrmera, vol. II, pp. 401 et seq.; Hengstenberg, Die Bücher Mose's, p. 35. Ebers, Aegypten ubd die Bucher Mose's, p. 356, note. 1. Birch, History from the Monuments of Egypt, p. 62. Maspero, Histoire ancienne des peoples de I'Orient, p. 102. Brugsch, Histoire de l'Egypte, 2nd ed., vol. I, pp. 176 et seq. This inscription has no date. Brugsch places it in the eighteenth dynasty on the basis of the decorations and writing of the tomb, and also on the basis of the time of the neighboring tomb, which belongs to a dignitary named Aamesu, who lived under King Amosis or Aames and had for his father a certain Baba, a contemporary and dignitary of King Raskinen. This Baba may be the same one who is buried next to him. Brugsch is all the more confident that the famine mentioned by Baba is identical with that mentioned in the book of Genesis, since famines of this kind were very rare in Egypt. Maspero, Histoire ancienne des peoples de I'Orient, p. 121 Chabas, Recherches sur la XIX-e dynastie, 1873, pp. 68–75. Jules Soury, Revue des deux mondes, 15 February 1875 p. 815. Mischaud, Correspondance d'Orient, t. VIII. Paris, 1835, lettre CLXVIII, pp. 63–65. Champagny, Les Césars, 4th edit. 1868, t. Ι, pp. 26–27. “The soil of the provinces belongs to the property of the Roman people or of Caesar; we have only temporary possession or use,” says the legal adviser Gaius, Institut II, 7. The philosopher Seneca also says: “by civil law everything belongs to the king, and everything that the king owns is divided among the various owners... Under a good ruler, everything belongs to the king by right of royalty, to individuals by right of property.” De Benef., VII, 5. Michaud, ibid., vol. VII, pp. 66, 67. Michaud, ibid., pp. 69, 68. John Ninet, La culture des terres en Egypte, in Revue des deux mondes, 1st December 1875, pp. 581–582, 590, 591. Ewald, Geschichte des Volkes Israels, 3 edit. t.I, p. 593. Ewald justifies the authenticity of the biblical account of Joseph's actions solely by quotations from Greek classical authors. The laying on of hands was also an essential act in the offering of sacrifices. The offerer laid his hands on the sacrifice and confessed his sins, as if transferring them to the sacrifice and substituting the sacrificial animal in place of himself. In Hebrew, Shiloh is Shiloh. The newest critics translate this passage as follows: “until he comes to Shiloh.” But such a translation, contradicting all ancient translations, deprives the place itself of any meaning. Shiloh was never the place of residence of Judah, and in general, over time, it lost all historical significance. Therefore, the ancient understanding remains valid, and the Reconciler is the promised Messiah. Onkelos directly translates this passage: “Till the Messiah comes, to whom is the kingdom.” Number 13:23 ; Song 1:14. 1 Sam. 25:2; 2 Par. 26:10; Am. 1:1. Jerusalem Targum in the most correct edition. “Nephealim is a slender chamois, He speaks beautiful sayings." See Judges 5:14; 20:16 ; 1 Par. 8:40; 12:2; 2 Par. 14:8; 17:17, as well as the story of Saul and Jobathan. Wilkinson, vol. II p. 374. Wilkinson, vol. II p. 374; Ebers, Durch Gosen, p. 529. "Place of Egypt" III, p. 342, English ed. Revue Archiologique, 1858, p. I et seq. See also Lenormant, Histoire, vol. II, p. 89. Revue Archiologique, 1868, p. 388. Thomson, The Land and the Book, p. 473; Trans. Soc. Bid. Arch. Vol. II; pp. 80–82. Ebers, AEgypten, p. XI, XII. Dillmann, Die Genesis, 1875, p. 418. Revue des deux mondes, for 1875. Revue des deux mondes, February 15, 1875, pp. 791 et seq. Let us note in passing that the learned critic dresses Joseph in Egypt in the multi-colored robe that his father once sewed for him, although it is known that his brothers took off this robe and, having dipped it in the blood of a goat (Gen. 37:34), in order to make Jacob think that a wild beast had torn his son to pieces, they sent it in this form to their father. “Joseph fled,” says Suri, “leaving his robe in the hands of Potiphar’s wife, that famous robe that had already aroused the envy of his brothers and which forced them to sell him into slavery.”(Etudes historiques, p. 165) By what miracle did this “famous robe” end up on Joseph again after it was returned to Jacob? (Gen. 37:33). How could Joseph wear these same clothes until they allegedly remained in the hands of Potiphar’s voluptuous wife? – That’s how accurate the “scientific” criticism is, trying in every possible way to undermine confidence in the accuracy of the biblical narrative!.. Is. 52:4; n. Life 45:13; 46:6. Ezek. 47:13; n. Life 49:4. Life 50:24 ; Ref. 13:19; Nav. 24:32. The existence of eunuchs in Egypt, an inevitable phenomenon in all countries where polygamy existed, is evidenced by numerous monuments. In the images themselves, it is clearly possible to distinguish eunuchs from ordinary men by the characteristic features of their eunuch physiognomy. Such images can also be seen on the famous Beni-Ghassan tombs. Revue des deux mondes, 1875, p. 808. Sethos, histoire ou vie, tirée des monuments, anecdotes de l’ancienne Egypte, 1731, 3 vol. in 12. Abbot Terrason (1670–1750) was a professor of Greek and Latin philosophy at the French college, a member of the French Academy and the Academy of Sciences. Compare Job. 30:31; 21:12 from Gen. 4:21, 31:27.