the men into Joseph's house. 18. And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph's house; and they said, On account of the money that was returned in our bags at the first time are we brought in; that he may throw himself upon us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses. 19. And they approached the steward of Joseph's house, and they spoke with him at the door of the house, 20. And said, Pray sir, we came down the first time to buy corn for food: 21. And it happened, when we came to the halting-place, that we opened our bags, and, behold, every man's money was in the mouth of his bag, our money in its full weight: and we have brought it back in our hand. 22. And other money have we brought down in our hand to buy corn for food: we do not know who put our money in our bags. 23. And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father hath given you the treasure in your bags: I have received your money. And he brought Simeon out to them. 24. And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave provender to their asses. 25. And they made ready the present before Joseph came at noon: for they

productions in a year of dearth and famine; and it has been asserted that their introduction renders the scarcity in Canaan historically questionable. But it may be observed, that almost all of them require for their growth heat rather than moisture, and that some develop themselves even to greatest advantage in dry years and in a dry soil. Besides, as they are all articles of luxury, stores might have been preserved from preceding years.

15-31. The brothers arrived in Egypt without an accident, and appeared before Joseph. They were conducted into his house, where his steward at once astonished and calmed them by mentioning "their God and the God of their father," and restored to them their brother Simeon. They familiarised themselves with the strange thought of being objects of hospitality under the inhospitable roof of an

heard that they should there eat a meal. 26. And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and prostrated themselves before him to the ground. 27. And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive? 28. And they said, Thy servant our father is well, he is still alive. And they bowed and prostrated themselves.

29. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me? And he said, God be gracious to thee, my son. 30. And Joseph hastened; for his love was warmed for his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there. 31. And he washed his face, and went out, and restrained himself, and said, Set on the meal. 32. And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the

Egyptian dignitary; and soon the easy affability with which they were addressed by the grand-vizier completely banished their anxieties. But when Joseph saw Benjamin, the sudden vehemence of his feelings threatened at once to destroy the plans which he had prudently devised for the correction of his brothers; and he hastened into another apartment to seek relief by

tears.

32-34. It is known that while many eastern nations, like the later Greeks and Romans, during their meals, reclined on their couches (xviii. 4), the Egyptians are generally represented as sitting (ver. 33), although they had couches of the most varied designs and the most elegant shapes. The antipathy harboured by the Egyptians against strangers was proverbial; they would on no account consent to eat with them at the same table; and Herodotus remarks, in this respect, that no Egyptian man or woman will use the knife, spit, or caldron of a Greek, or taste of the flesh of a pure ox that has been divided by a Grecian knife; because, as that author observes, the Egyptians show the greatest reverence to cows which are

sacred to Isis, whereas the Greeks will kill them; this was one of the reasons why all foreign shepherds were a horror to the Egyptians (xlvi. 34); and Moses advanced, as a pretext for his request, "we shall sacrifice before the Egyptians animals which it is in their eyes an abominable crime to kill; and they will stone us." But this was certainly not the motive for Joseph's separation from his brothers. For the meal was prepared in his own house and by his own servants; the dishes were all placed upon his table, from which he sent portions to the brothers; it is, therefore, impossible to suppose that animals held sacred in the district of Joseph's residence had been killed for this feast. Animal food formed, indeed, a part of this entertainment (ver. 16); but it is an assertion which at present scarcely deserves a refutation, that the Egyptians entirely abstained from the use of meat; for though there was scarcely an animal which was not held sacred in some province, there was, perhaps with the only exception of the cow, none which was not killed and eaten in other parts of the land (see on Exod. p. 108). The reason of the

Egyptians who were eating with him, by themselves: for the Egyptians cannot eat a meal with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. 33. And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his primogeniture, and the youngest according to his youth and the men marvelled one at another. 34. And he sent portions to them from himself: but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of the portions of all the rest. And they drank, and were merry with him.

separation lies in the spirit of exclusiveness reigning in the Egyptian castes. Joseph not only sat removed from his brothers, but even from the Egyptians who formed his household. Though he was in every regard an Egyptian, and his suite probably included persons of high station, they doubtless did not belong to the caste of priests into which Joseph, by his marriage, seems to have been received. So there were three, and perhaps more, different tables in the same apartment; and the Hindoos, in this respect very much resembling the Egyptians, are so anxiously careful in their separation, that the members of one caste abhor to touch the utensils out of which the individuals of another caste have eaten.-Joseph, wishing to appear, in the eyes of the brothers,

as possessed of extraordinary and almost supernatural gifts, to their utmost astonishment, placed them in the exact order of their birth; but though by this circumstance he might for a moment have disturbed their ease, he soon restored it by his heart-winning cordiality. He sent to Benjamin portions five times larger than those served to the rest, which distinction was too obvious to be mistaken or overlooked by the brothers; for larger shares at meals were among the Hebrews and other ancient nations a usual mode of showing preference and marked honour. Joseph wished, indeed, to keep his brothers in constant attention, and vividly to impress upon them that they were connected with him by a tie at once powerful and enigmatical.

CHAPTER XLIV.

1. And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men's bags with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his bag's mouth. 2. And put my cup, the silver cup, into the mouth of the bag of the youngest, and the money of his purchase of And he did in accordance with the word that

corn.

1-5. It seems almost an unnatural callousness on the part of Joseph that he did not make himself known to his brothers at the repast in his house. He evidently felt uncommon delight in the scene; he revelled in wonderful recollections and brilliant anticipations; his sagacious mind at once perceived the transparent tissue

which connected his dreams with their marvellous realisation; the wine had opened his lips; yet his heart remained closed and steeled; and he coldly dismissed his brothers as if they were total strangers. However, a scene of recognition at the festive board would have materially weakened the effect of his well-devised scheme,

Joseph had spoken. 3. When morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses. 4. When they had left the city, and had not yet gone far, Joseph said to his steward, Rise, pursue after the men; and when thou overtakest them, say to them, Wherefore have you returned evil for good? 5. Is not this it of which my lord drinketh, and whereby he surely divineth? You have done evil in what you did.-6. And he overtook them, and he spoke to them those words. 7. And they said to him, Wherefore doth my lord say these words? God forbid that thy servants should do a thing like that: 8. Behold, the money which we found in the mouths of our bags, we returned to thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of the house of thy lord silver or gold? 9. With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, let him die, and we also will be bondmen to thy lord. 10. And he said, Is it now indeed right according to your words? he with whom it is found shall be my servant; but you shall be blameless.

and it would have destroyed the character of his mission, which made him the medium of retribution for his brothers, At the meal Joseph was,in a certain respect, not their superior but their equal, “they drank, and they were merry with him"; still more, they were his guests, and therefore objects of sacred attention; he would, under such circumstances, not have been able to act with rigid justice; the solemn plan of correction, so grandly commenced, would have ended in a trifling compromise; and from the sphere of Divine thought it would have sunk into the ordinary circle of human weakness. Therefore, Joseph gathered once more all his energy; adopted measures by which the character of supernatural interference would become most striking; and assumed more than ever the appearance of a superhuman sage. The ancient Egyptians, and still more, the Persians, practised a mode of divination from goblets. Small pieces of gold or silver, together with precious stones, marked with strange figures and signs, were thrown into the vessel; after

11. And they hastened and

which, certain incantations were pronounced, and the evil demon was invoked; the latter was then supposed to give the answer, either by intelligible words, or by pointing to some of the characters on the precious stones, or in some other more mysterious manner. Sometimes the goblet was filled with pure water, upon which the sun was allowed to play; and the figures which were thus formed, or which a lively imagination fancied it saw, were interpreted as the desired omen: a method of taking auguries still employed in Egypt and Nubia. The goblets were usually of a spherical form; and from this reason, as well as because they were believed to teach man all natural and many supernatural things, they were called “ celestial globes." Most celebrated was the magnificent vase of turquoise of the wise Jemsheed, the Solomon among the ancient Persian kings, the founder of Persepolis; and Alexander the Great, so eager to imitate eastern manners, is said to have adopted the sacred goblets also.

6-12. But Joseph, though deprived of

took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack. 12. And he searched, and began with the eldest, and finished with the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin's bag.-13. And they rent their clothes, and loaded every man his ass, and returned to the city. 14. And Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house; and he was still there: and they fell before him on the ground. 15. And Joseph said to them, What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that such a man as I can certainly divine? 16. And Judah said, What shall we say to my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we justify ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord's servants, both we, and he in whose hand the cup hath been found. 17. And he said, God forbid that I should do so: the man in whose hand the cup hath been found, he shall be my servant: but servant but you go up in peace to your father. 18. Then Judah stepped near to him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my

his cup, was yet able to divine, and to fix upon the brothers as the offenders. The latter, not believing in superstitious auguries, could value the goblet only in so far as it was of precious metal; without, therefore, adverting to the chief charge of the steward, they simply protested, that as they had honestly returned the money found in their sacks, it was most improbable that they should steal silver or gold; and so certain were they of each other's innocence, that they unanimously declared, that he who had committed the theft should suffer death, while all the rest should be slaves to the vice-roy. But the steward, with an affected air of equity, reproved their impetuosity and exaggeration, observing that, in common justice, the thief alone should be forced to serve as slave, while the others would be regarded as innocent: for his sole object was to separate Benjamin from his brothers.

13-17. Their unspeakable grief when the cup was found assumed the violence of mourning; and far from agreeing to the proposal of the steward, they, without

delay, returned to the royal city. As Judah had become a surety for Benjamin, he this time headed the caravan. Joseph, receiving his brothers with a speech of cruel and haughty irony, branded their desire of deceiving his divine infallibility, as a work of folly and infatuation. Now the relation between Joseph and his brothers had reached the highest point of preternatural mystery; the one appeared to have discovered what lies absolutely beyond the reach of human knowledge and ability; and the others were overpowered by feelings of humble submission. They attempted no reply or excuse; Benjamin did not remonstrate against the disgraceful imputation; and Judah, without denying his brother's guilt, simply referred the strange concatenation of events to the inscrutable will and interference of God, who had found out their iniquity.

18-34. But when Joseph firmly in sisted upon detaining Benjamin alone, while the others should at once return to their father" in peace," Judah, tormented as he was by the most bitter pangs and