himself, he enquired who they were; and pretending to be dissatisfied with their account of themselves, he accused them of being spies, and cast them into prison. Joseph probably wished to recal their former wickedness to their remembrance, and to produce contrition by calamity; and if this were his intention, he appears to have succeeded; for "they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother-therefore is this distress come upon us (h)." At the end of three days he sent for them out of prison, and supplied them with corn; but he detained Simeon, and bound him in the presence of his brothers. The rest he dismissed, commanding them to come back into Egypt with their youngest brother, to prove the truth of what they had asserted; and promised that he would then restore Simeon, and suffer them to traffic in the land.

When Jacob was informed of every thing which had passed in Egypt, he was astonished, and grieved to the soul. He recollected the loss of his favourite son Joseph; he lamented the detention of Simeon; and declared that he would not part with Benjamin. But the severity of the famine in Canaan, and the impossibility of procuring corn from any place except Egypt, at length induced him to send Benjamin thither, with his other sons, for a fresh supply. Upon their return to Egypt, Joseph immediately ordered a feast to be prepared for them at his own house. When he received them there, the sight of his brother Benjamin (i), and the answers which they gave to his enquiries after their father Jacob, affected him so much, that "he sought where to weep; and entered into his chamber and wept (k)." But when he had (h) Gen. c. 42. v. 21.

(i) Benjamin was nearest his own age, and was the only one of his brothers by the same mother, namely, Rachel.

(k) Gen. c. 43. v. 30.

composed himself, he returned, and entertained them with great kindness, distinguishing Benjamin with particular marks of regard. Before they departed the next morning, Joseph privately ordered his steward to put his silver cup with the corn-money into Benjamin's sack; and when they had gone out of the city, they were by Joseph's direction pursued, overtaken, and charged with ingratitude and theft. Conscious of their innocence, they proposed, "that with whomsoever the cup was found he should die, and the rest become bondmen to Joseph (1).” And when, upon examination, the cup was found in Benjamin's sack, they expressed the greatest surprise and concern, and all readily returned to Joseph, who reproached them with seeming indignation. The address of Judah to his unknown brother on this trying occasion, is one of the most beautiful examples of natural eloquence it is possible to imagine. He recalled to Joseph's mind every thing which had passed when they were before in Egypt; related to him Jacob's distress at parting with Benjamin; stated the fatal consequences which must follow to their aged parent, if Benjamin did not return into Canaan; and offered himself to remain a bondman instead of Benjamin; "For how," added he, "shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father (m).”—“ Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians, and the house of Pharaoh, heard. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph.(1) Gen. c. 44. v. 9.

Doth my father yet live?-and his brethren could not answer him, for they were troubled at his presence (n)." Joseph, perceiving their distress, endeavoured by every expression of kindness to comfort them, and desired that they would go again into Canaan, and bring their venerable parent and all his family, that they might be placed in the land of Egypt, and partake of every good thing which the land afforded. And they returned into Canaan, and told their father that Joseph was alive, and governor of Egypt. The account appeared so incredible to Jacob, that he was with difficulty persuaded of its truth; but being at length convinced, he exclaimed in a transport of joy and gratitude, "It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive. I will go and see him before I die (o).”— And Jacob, and all his family, with their cattle and goods, set out for Egypt. And as they rested at Beersheba, God appeared unto Jacob in a dream, and said, "Fear not, Jacob, to go down into Egypt, for I will there make of thee a great nation. I will go down with thee into Egypt, and I will also surely bring thee up again (p); and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes (q)."

When Jacob arrived in Egypt, his whole family, including Joseph and his two children, amounted 1706. to seventy persons (r); and by the manage(n) Gen. c. 45. v. 1. &c.

(0) Gen. c. 45. v. 28.

(p) That is, his posterity. Scripture frequently mentions parents and children as the same persons. But it may be observed, that this promise was literally fulfilled, for Jacob was buried in the land of Canaan.

(q) Gen. c. 46. v. 3 and 4.

There now went to Egypt, Jacob himself, and sixty-four sons and grandsons, together with one daughter, Dinah, and one grand-daughter, Sarah; these sixty-seven persons, added to Joseph and his two sons, who were already in Egypt, make up the number exactly seventy.

ment of Joseph, who we may presume acted in this instance under divine direction, they were placed in the land of Goshen. This land was suited to their occupation as shepherds; here they grew and multiplied exceedingly, and continued a people distinct from the Egyptians, "for every shepherd was an abomination unto the Egyptians (s).”—Jacob lived there seventeen years; and before he died, he declared, in the spirit of prophecy, the future condition of all his children, and foretold that the Messiah should descend from Judah (t). He commanded Joseph to bury him in the land of Canaan, in the field of Machpelah, where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah, were all buried, intimating by this command his faith in the promise of God, that his seed should possess the land of Canaan. The body of Jacob was, by the permission of Pharaoh, carried from Goshen, and buried by his sons with great solemnity in the land of Canaan. Joseph returned with his brothers into Egypt, and continued to treat them with the same uniform kindness which they had experienced from him during the life of their father. He died there at the age of one hundred and ten years, having immediately before his death, solemnly assured his brethren of his faith in the promises of God (u): "I die and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land, unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and ye shall carry up my bones from hence (x)."

1689.

1635.

The descendants of Jacob multiplied to so great

(s) Gen. c. 46. v. 34.

(t) Gen. c. 49. v. 8, &c.

(u) It has been supposed that Joseph repeated this promise of deliverance out of Egypt with the same prophetic spirit with which his fathers were endued.

a degree, that, about sixty years after the death 1573. of Joseph, the king, who then reigned over Egypt, became jealous of their numbers, and endeavoured to check their increase, by imposing heavy tasks upon them, and by reducing them to a state of severe slavery. But finding that these attempts had not the proposed effect, he ordered their midwives to destroy all the male children of the Israelites at the time of their birth. The midwives refused to obey these inhuman orders, and the Israelites continued to increase. Then the king commanded his people to cast into the river all the male children of the Israelites. And a woman of the tribe of Levi, whose name was Jochabed, and whose husband's name was 1571. Amram, hid her son for three months; but being unable to conceal him any longer, she put him in a basket, and laid it by the side of the river. Soon after, the king's daughter came down to bathe in the river, and having discovered the child, concluded that it was one of the Hebrew children, and had compassion upon him. The sister of the child, who had been watching at a distance to see what became of him, now coming up, offered to go and call one of the Hebrew women, who might nurse the child for the king's daughter, and having received permission, she brought the mother of the child; and Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "take this child away, and nurse him for me, and I will give thee thy wages (y)." Thus was the child committed to the care of his own mother; and when he was grown to a certain age, he was carried to Pharaoh's daughter, who called him Moses, and treated and educated him as her own son. Thus was the destined lawgiver of the Jews miraculously preserved, and fitted by "all the learning of the Egyptians" for (y) Ex. c. 2. v. 9.