JOSEPH AND A S ENATH

THE CONFESS I ON AND PRAYER OF ASENATH

DAUGHTER OF PENTEPHRES THE PR IEST

y

wh—m

E’

W . B RO O K S

L O N D O NS O C I E T Y F O R P R O M O T I N G

C H R I S T I A N K N O W L E D G EN EW Y O R K : T H E M A CM I L L AN C O.

1918

XVI

XVII

CONTENT S

INTRODUCTIONASENATH IS SOUGHT IN MARRIAGE BY THE

KING ’S SON AND MANY OTHERSTHE TOWER IN WHICH ASENATH LIVES IS

DESCRIBEDJOSEPH ANNOUNCES HIS COMING TO PENTE

PHRES

PENTEPHRES PROPOSES TO GIVE ASENATH TOJOSEPH IN MARRIAGE

JOSEPH ARRIVES AT PENTEPHRE S’ HOUSE

ASENATH SEES JOSEPH FROM THE WINDOWJOSEPH SEES ASENATH AT THE WINDOWJOSEPH BLESSES ASENATHASENATH RETIRES AND JOSEPH PREPARES

TO DEPARTASENATH REJECTS THE EGYPTIAN GODS ANDABASES HERS‘ ELF

ASENATH RESOLVES TO PRAY TO THE GODOF THE HEBREWS

ASENATH’S PRAYERASENATH ’S PRAYER ( continued)THE ARCHANGEL MICHAEL VI SITS ASENATHMICHAEL TELLS ASENATH THAT SHE SHALL

BE JOSEPH’S WIFEASENATH FINDS A HONEYCOMB IN HER

STOREHOUSEMICHAEL DEPARTS

XXIV .

XXVI

XXVII .

XXVIII .

XXIX .

CONTENTS

ASENATH ’S FACE IS TRANSFORMEDJOSEPH RETURNS AND IS RECEIVED BYASENATH

PENTEPHRE S RETURNS AND WISHES TOBETROTH ASENATH TO JOSEPH

,BUT

JOSEPH RESOLVES TO ASK HER HANDFROM PHARAOH

THE MARRIAGE OF JOSEPH AND ASENATHASENATH I S INTRODUCED TO JACOBPHARAOH ’S SON TRIES TO INDUCE SIMEONAND LEVI TO KILL JOSEPH

PHARAOH’S SON CONSPIRES WITH DAN ANDGAD TO KILL JOSEPH AND SEIZ EASENATH

PHARAOH ’S SON GOES TO KILL HIS FATHER,

BUT I S NOT ADMITTED . NEPHTHALIMAND ASHER PROTEST TO DAN ANDGAD AGAINST THE CONSPIRACY

THE CONSPIRATORS KILL ASENATH’SGUARDS AND SHE FLEES

THE MEN WITH PHARAOH ’S SON AND THOSEWITH DAN AND GAD ARE KILLED ;AND THE FOUR BROTHERS FLEE TOTHE RAVINE AND THE IR SWORDS ARESTRICKEN FROM THEIR HANDS

DAN AND GAD ARE SPARED AT ASENATH’SENTREATY

PHARAOH ’S SON DIES . PHARAOH ALSODIES AND JOSEPH SUCCEEDS HIM

APPENDIX OF PASSAGES NOT CONTAINEDIN THE GREEK TEXT

PAC E

INTRODUCT ION

B IBLIOGRAPHY

THE“ Book o f Joseph and A senath

,or

,as it

i s otherwise cal led,the “ Confession and P rayer o f

A senath,

” was made known to the medieval wor ldin the SpeculumH zlfz‘or z

'

ale o f Vincent o f Beauvai s

(cz'

rc. and a French version o f his text,made

by John de Vigny in the fourteenth century, wasprinted in 149 5 , and a German vers ion in I 5 39 anI celandic vers ion also exists in MS . in the Br itishMuseum .

1 Vincent’s text was published byFabric ius in his Cod . P seudepzlgr . V. T andfol lowed by a Greek fragment from the Oxford MS .

Baro cc . 148 ( 1 7 1 3 About thirty years agothe pre sent Provost o f E ton (Dr. M . R. James)found in two MS S . in the l ibrary of Corpus Col lege ,Cambridge (2 8 8 and 424) the Latin text (obviouslytranslated from Greek) o f Which V incent

’s is anepitome ; i n 1 8 89

—90 M . Batiffo l publ ished the

complete Greek text from three Vatican and two

Oxford MS S .,

2 together with the Latin text, suppl ied by D r. James , W i th a learned and il luminating

1 Add. 1 1068 (dated2 Vat . Gr. 803 (A) , Palat . Gr. 1 7 (B ) , M. 364, B odl. Barocc .

148 (C ) , if] . 147 (D ) . Ano ther M S. ex ist s at Mt . Atho s, andthere is amodern Greek epitome in the seventeen th-cen turyBod ] . MS . Ro e 5 . I take the referen ce s fromBat iffol.

INTRODUCTION

introduction (S tud z’

a P at r z'

st z'

ca ,fasc . i., and in

1 898 a new edit ion o f the Greek (inaccessible tome) was publ ished by V .M. Istrin in the Anti

quarian Publ icat ions o f the S l av Commissio n o f

the Moscow A rchaeo logical Soc iety . A Syriacversion is i ncorporated in the compi lation knownunder the name o f Z acharias Rhetor, publ ished inLand ’s A necdota Syr z

'

am,Vo l. I I I . where

it is preceded by What purports t o be a letteraddressed to Moses o f Ingila (known as hav ingt ranslated the Glaphyra o f Cyri l o f A lexandria intoSyriac after 5 in which the wri ter states thathe has found the work in a very old Greek book

,

apparently at Rhesaina,at any rate in Mesopotamia

,

and asks fo r a translation and an explanatio n o f

the al legory and the answer o f Moses .3

From this we know that the Syriac vers ion wasmade not later than 569 (the date o f “ Z achariasand that it was translated from the Greek

,which

must therefo re be presumed to be the original,and

,

as it was found in a very o ld boo k,must have been

composed con siderably earl ier . A Latin translationo f the Syriac by G . Oppenheim was publ ished atBerl in in 1 8 8 6. A n A rmen ian vers ion o f the workappeared in the Mekhitaris t Journal Bazmaz ep,

No s.

xl i i i ., xliv. (Venice , 1 8 8 5 and the latter part o fthe same text was publ ished by A . Carriere , witha Frenchtranslatio n

,i n the N oz weaux Me

’

langes

1 The publ ished tran slat ion s of Z acharias omit the booko f Asenath. A comple te text o f the who le compilation ,

w ithLatin tran slation , bymyse lf fo r the Corpus S cr . Or . C/zr . is

n ow in the pre ss.2 W right , Syriac L iterature , p . I 1 2 .

3 Z ach. Rh. i. 4—6 .

INTRODUCTION

Or z'

éntaux (Paris , The A rmen ian wasrepubl i shed by Bas i le in the Apocr . A rm. V. T.

(Venice, and an old S l avonic version , editedby S . Novakovic, appeared in S tarz

'

ne, the j ournal o fthe Agram Academy o f S ciences , No . ix.

, in 1 8 77.

Besides these,E thiopic and A rabic versions are

known to have existed , and a Latin translation o f

the Arabic (dated 1460) is preserved at Vienna.

CONTENTS

In the Book o f Genesi s Asenath is mentionedthree t imes on ly ; once it is stated that Pharaohgave Joseph A senath daughter o f Potipherah

,pr iest

o f On,to w ife

,and in the other two places She is

said to have borne Manassehand Ephraim toJoseph ;

3 but out o f these d ry bones the elaborateromance contained in our Book o f A senath hasbeen constructed . Here A senath i s representedas a maiden o f surpassing beauty whose hand i ssought by the young men o f highest posit ion inthe land

,among them the e ldest son o f the king

,

but she l ives in sec lusion in a tower and regardsal l men Wi th contempt . One day Joseph, Whil egoing round the land to col lect corn

,announces

his intention o f paying‘

Po tiphe raha vis i t , and1 Inacce ss ible tome ; perhaps on ly a repr in t. The Armen ian ve r sion ismen tioned by John the D eacon , who

re fo rmed the calendar in 108 5 (Bat iffo l) . An Englishtran slat ion of the Armen ian exists in Tbe Uneanon z'eal Wr z

’

lz’

ngs

of t/ze 0.T. found in Me A rmen ian MS S of Me L z’

érary ofS t . Laz arus

,tran slated in to Englishby Rev . Dr . Jacque s

Issaverdens (Ven ice , pp . 92 ff.2 Vind. 473 9 .

3 Gen . xli . 45 , 50 ; xlvi . 20.

INTRODUCTION

Potipherah suggests to Asenath a project o f

marryinghe r to Jo seph . This she rejec ts withano utbu rst o f scornful anger and returns to the tower

,

but on seeing Joseph en ter the court she dec lareshim to be a son o f God and is struck with remorse.Jo seph having seen her at the window , She i scal led down to greet him

,and

,when he i s told

that she is his host’s virgin daughter, he acceptshe r as his s ister ; but, when she is ordered to kisshim

,refuses to al lowhe r to appro ach as being an

idolater,but prays fo r the bless ing o f God uponhe r. He then departs

,promising to return a

week later,and A senath spends the intervening

t ime in fasting and humil iat ion and final ly in

prayer. The archangel Michael then v i s itshe rand announces that she shal l be Joseph’s wife ,after which he produces a m iraculous honeycombfrom which he giveshe r to eat

,and then says that

she has now eaten the bread o f l ife and'

d runk thecup o f immortal ity and been anointed with thechri sm o f i ncorruption . Afte r Michael ’s departureJoseph is announced

,and A senathgoes o ut to

meet him,and

,Joseph having al sohad a vis i t from

the archangel,they meet as affianced bride and

bridegroom . Potipherah then returns from hiscoun try house

,where he has been spend ing the

interval , and states that he wi l l summon the gueststo the marr iage-feast immed iately , but Joseph saysthathe must return to Pharaohand obtain Ase

nath’s hand fromhim.1 The marriage is thencelebrated at the k ing’s court

,Jacob and his family

come to Egypt and A senath is presented to them ,

1 Nece ss itated by Gen. xli. 45 .

INTRODUCTION

and the book ends with a story o f the frustratio no f a plot by Pharaoh’s son

,with the ass istance o f

Dan and Gad,to k i l l Joseph and get po ssess io n

o f A senath .

CoMPo s ITION AND OBJECT

That the book in i ts present Shape is the worko f a Christian wri ter wil l be at once recognised byany reader

,the references to the sacred bread and

cup and chri sm,

1 by which the ceremonies o f theEucharist and Confirmation are clearly meant

,

being sufficient to place the fac t beyond doubt ;but to this may be added the exal tation o f virgin itywhich we find throughout the book

,and the promi

nence o f the doctri ne o f forgiveness,

2 which,though

not unknown to the Jews , wou ld hardly be madeso conspicuous

'

in a Jewish work .

3 A t the sametime

,however

,there are passages which betray the

hand o f a Jewish writer. Thus,i n the description

o f A senath at the beginning it i s said that she boreno resemb lance to the Egyptian women but was inevery respect l ike the Hebrew women

,

“ tal l asS arah, and comely as Rebecca

,and beautifu l as

Rachel,

” and in the account o f Michael ’s vis i t thereis a strange passage in which' the angel says“ Take now the mantle from thine head

,fo r that

thou ar t to-day a pure virgin,and thi ne head is as

o f a young man ” 4 though the Christian practice

1 Chs. viii xv ., xvi ., xix.

2 Chs. xxiii .,xxvii i.

,xxix .

3 Again in the addit ion to Ch. xvi. given by BD and theversion s ( see Sec t ion “THE TEXT ”) the Sign of the Cro ssis indicated.

4 Ch. xv.

INTRODUCTION

was the o pposite o f this, that virgins should bevei led . Tertul l ian , however, i nhis treatise , De

Ve/ana’

z'

s Virginians, argues against men who co n

tended that v irgins should no t be veiled,

1 and onthe strength o f thi s M. Bat iffo l infers that it wasthe custom among the Montan ists o r some s im ilarsect not to vei l virgins , and that o ur book was

written i n c irc l es in which thi s custom prevai led .

There is,however

,no evidence fo r the existence o f

the prac tice among Chri st ians outs ide Africa, while ,o n the other hand

,i t seems to have been a regular

customamong Jews and other S em itic peoples toleave their women ’s faces exposed whi le they wereunmarried, and to put on the vei l when they marriedas a S ign that they were the exc lus ive property o f

their husbands ;2 and

‘ we may , therefore, fairlyassign a Jewish origin to the passage in question .

A nother s imilar trace occurs in an earl ier part o f

the bo o k,Where Potipherah says to Joseph : “ Our

daughter i s as thy S ister,

” to which Joseph answersIf She i s your daughter

,and is a virgin

,l ethe r

come,fo r that she is my s ister

,and I lo vehe r from

to-day as my sister.” 3 Here

,again

,I am in formed

that i t i s common among Semitic peoples tointroduce the daughter o f the house to a guest as“ your s ister

,

” 4 perhaps on the ground that the heado f the household is in the position o f a father to al l

1 Cf. also De 0rat ., xxi. , xxn .

2 I owe this info rmation t o Dr. H . M. Léon , who beside sbe ing a good Hebrew scho lar livedmany years in theTgrk ishempire , and state s that the practice still exists there .

Ch. vii.4 This al so I owe to Dr. Le'on .

INTRODUCTION

who are in it,and we may therefore ascribe this

passage, with the exception o f the words “and i s a

virgin ”

( a Chr i st ian attempt to convert the relat ionship into a spir itual one) , to a

mJewishauthor. To

the same hand we shou ld natural ly attribute thelong-winded descriptions o f the splendour o f

A senath’s apartments and attire,o f Joseph’s char iot

and apparel,and o f Asenath’s beauty after her

'

transformation ,1 which have a truly Oriental r ingabout them ,

reminding us o f the Apocalypse ; Whi lethe last

,with its exaggerated E astern imagery

,

natural ly recal l s the S ong o f Songs . We are,

therefore,just ified i n assuming that o ur book is a

Chri st ian revis ion o f a Jewish produc tion,and

,

though the Jewish text i s completely lost,we are able

from var ious sources to d iscover approximatelywhat it contained . The statement o f the book o f

Genes is that Joseph married the daughter o f

an Egyptian pr ies t, when compared with Abraham’scare to find a wife fo r I saac among his own kindred

,

and the gr ief o f I saac and Rebecca at Esau’smarriage to a H i ttite and their fear lest JacobShould take a wife fromthe daughters o f the land ,natural ly caused considerable d ifficu l ty to therabbin ic commentators , and an ingenious storywas invented to account fo r i t. The Targum o f

Jonathan,i n i ts commentary on Gen . xl i . 45 , has

the fol lowing : “ Pharaoh gave him to W ifeAsenath whom D inah had had by Shechem , whomthe wife o f Putifar prince o f Tanis had brought up,

”

whi le according to Rabbi E l iez er ( eighth-

century) ,1 Chs. iii., iv.

,V., xviii.

INTRODUCT ION

Jacob had a plate tied round the chi ld’s neck,with

the name o f God on it, and turnedhe r out , and thearchangel Michael carried her to the house o f Poti

phe rah.1 The d ifficul ty was therefore removed bymaking A senath o f Hebrew birth onhe r mother’sS ide

, and new l ight i s thrown on the passage alreadyc i ted which representshe r as resembl ing theHebrews rather than the Egyptians , and compareshe r to Sarah

,Rebecca

,and Rachel

,and we see the

reason fo r the c lose connexion in which Asenath i sbrought to S imeon and Levi

,the two who had

avenged D inah upon the men o f Shechem,o fwhom

in the story o f Joseph as given in Genesis S imeonplays only a passive part and Levi no part at all .2

M . Bat iffo l thinks that the passage found in theSyriac and A rmenian in which A senath is made tokiss Jacob “ as one who returneth from war to hishouse after a long time

,

” 3refers to the recognit ion

o f the relatio nship , and that some Greek scribeomitted i t because in the Chri stian rev i s ion no meaning could be attached to i t but i t wou ld be unsafet o depend upon this . On the other hand

,I cannot

with M . Bat iffo l regard the vis i t o f Michael as

a Chri s tian addition . I have al ready shown that

the passage in which Asenath is told to removehe r vei l i s probably Jewish , and as , accord ing to thestory told by E liez er

,Michael broughthe r to Egypt

,

1 P irée‘

a’e Rabbi E liez er , Eng . tran s . by G . Friedlande r

,

ch. xxxvii i .2 It IS wo rthno ting that the prohibition againstmarrying

a strange woman i s in the Book o f Jubilee s (ch. xii .) connec tedw iththe story o f S imeon and Levi.

3 Ch. xxi i .

INTRODUCTION

we may infer that in the Jewish work the objectwas to reveal the secret o fher birth and so removethe impediment to her marriage to Joseph but

,as

in the Christian revision the impediment o f al ienbirth was transformed into an impediment o f alienrel igio n , the same purpose is there effected byconverting her to Judaism

,o r rather to Chri stianity

,

fo r the language o f the angel has a Christ ian cast,

and,as stated above

,the mystic honeycomb mani

fest ly represents the Euchari st. To the Chri stianreviser the point on which the original story turns

,

the marriage o f Joseph tohis niece,was horrifying

,

and the story o f A senath’s birth was thereforeal together suppressed , and a spiritual re lat ionshipon the basi s o f a common virginity substituted

,

and the praises o f Virgin ity and o f penitence,which

in the monastic ideal was closely connected with it,

occupy a large port ion o f the book,though the very

fact that the heroine is married and bears chi ldreni s evidence that the author i s adapting an olderdocument in which virginity was held in lessest imation .

[KOhler in The jew isn Encyclopwa’ufl regards

our book as essential ly Jewish in character,but

subjec ted to sl ight Chri stian revision .

“I t contains a Midrashic story o f the convers ion o f Ase

nath,the wife o f Joseph

,and o fher magnanimity

towardher enemies — a story typical o f theconversion o f a heathen to Judaism . This seemsto us to be the correct view . The Jewish features

“

are pronounced . Thus the transformation of the111. 1 72-176.

INTRODUCTION

name Asenathinto “ City o f Refuge ” i s sug

gested in a characteri stical ly Mid rashic way bythe inversio n o f the Hebrew namemos which

,by

tran sposition o f the letters,was made to readmm“ shehas taken refuge,

” and would natural ly suggest Dilp=

“ place o f refuge .

”Asenath

becomes the “ City o f Refuge ” because throughhe r many Genti les should take refuge under thewings o f the divine Shek inah

,and

“underhe r

wal ls those that turn to God,the Most H igh

,

Should find protection'

in repentance. The ideathat the proselyte who has left country , friends andrelations “ fo r the sake o f v irtue and hol i nessfinds a c i ty o f refuge in I srael ’s rel igion has ac lose paral le l in Phi lo

,who says (De Monarc/rzia

,i .

7) that such proselytes“ ought not to be left

desti tute o f some other c it ies,and homes and

friends,but there ought to be places of refuge

always ready fo r those who come over to religion .

”

Another indication o f the fundamental ly Jewishcharacter o f our book is the fact that throughoutno other S aviour or Fo rgiver o f S in i s men t ionedthan the God o f I srael . J

Kohler holds that the Rabbin ic view accordingto which A senath was represented to be a daughtero f D inah (and therefore a true I srael i te) i s later,and superseded the earl ier View ( represented inour book ) that A senath was a proselyte fromheathen ism . I t was an attempt to obviate theobj ectionable fact that Joseph should have marrieda heathen wife.

“ The book as a whole,Kohler conclude s,

be longs to the He l len istic propaganda l i terature

INTRODUCT ION xv i i

by which Jewish wri ters endeavoured to win thenon-Jewish world fo r

‘ the Jewish faith , while atthe same t ime eager ly representing their Hebrewancestors as e

physical as wel l as moral heroes .”

I n its original Jewish (Greek) form it probablybelongs to a much ear l ier date than the fifthcentury ; perhaps , at the latest, to the early yearso f the second century A.D.

—Edd .]

DATE AND PLACE OF ORIGIN

A S to the date and'

place o f wri t ing,we have

seen that the book was in existence some time before

569, and the terms in whichthe Syriac wri terrelates the d iscovery are i nterest ing

,but unfo rtun

ately obscure. The suppo sed author o f the letterto Moses o f Ingila i s represented assaying that he

found it “ i n the library o f the memorable bishopswho were cal led the family o f Beth Beruya (P) , fromthe c i ty o f Rhesaina, i n the possess ion o f a boy

of their kin ,” where we Should probably not press

from ” to its stric t mean ing,but suppose that the

book was found at Rhesaina, and Be ruya (B r W a)probably stands fo r Berrhoea (A leppo) .1 Hencewemay perhaps conj ec ture that on the expu l s iono f the Monophysites in 5 19 the bishop o f Berrhoea(Anton inus ) took his books o r those o f his see withhim

,and that in the wr i ter’s t ime they were in the

possess ion o f a young kinsman o fhis at Rhesaina.

2

1 Syr . Halab . Greek name s are some time s used in Syriacin stead of the native forms, and in vi ii . 4 “

Z achariashimse lfuse s Eme s ” fo r Eme sa in place of Hems.

2 S o Mara of Amida tookhis books t o Alexandria, whenceafterhis deaththey were carried-back to Amida (Z ach.Rh. viii.

B

xv i i i INTRODUCTION

On account o f the prom inence given to S t .Michael ,M. Bat iffo l suppo ses the wo rk to have been wri ttenin Cen tra l Asia Mino r, where S t . Michael wasspec ial ly hono ured but I have Shown thatMichael ’s v isi t was probably in the Jewish original

,

and the E astern charac ter o f the work makes i tmo re natural to refer i t to those Eastern co untriesin which i t is fi rst found

,while the fact that it was

wri tten in Greek i s strong evidence fo r a Syrianrather than a Mesopotamian origin , and thi s theoryga in s further suppo rt if I am right in inferring thatthe book found by the Syrian writer came fromBe rrhoea. M . Bat iffo l thinks it was probably wri ttenin the fi fth centu ry, but there is no positive evidencefo r the date .

1

CHARACTER OF THE WORK

The Syriac writer regards the work as anal legory ; but , as the end o f Moses

’ answer is lost ,we do no t know the detai l s o f his explanation ,though from what remains it would seem thathesupposed it to

'

represent the union o f the Lo goswith a human soul . From this point o f view Josephmay be cons idered as standing fo r Christ , andM. Bat iffo l suggests three possible interpretation s

o f the figure o f A senath— ( I ) the Church , ( 2 ) theconverted soul , and (3 ) Virgin ity— and decides infavour o f the l ast

,but i t wou ld be outside the scope

o f this in troduct ion to d iscuss the matter he re.I n spite o f the turgid style and the weari some

1 As the Syriac write r call s the bo ok found at Rhesaina‘ve ry Old ,” it canhardly be later . M. Bat iffol would placethe J ewishwo rk in the fourthcen tury .

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INTRODUCTION

four versions the Latin in the earlier part c lo selyfol lows the Greek

,but becomes shorter as i t pro

ce eds, unti l at the e nd i t i s a mere epitome and theS lavon ic i s also much shortened . Of the other twothe A rmen ian is the longer 1 and the nearer to theGreek

,though it contains many passages found in

other vers ions,but absent in o ur Greek text. Of

the Greek MSS . B D contain a shorter text thanthe others

,and often agree with the vers ions in

their omiss ions,but i n Ch. xvi. they have a long

insertion which is found in different forms in theversions and is almost certainly original .2

THE PRESENT TRANSLATION

I have translated from Bat iffol’s text except in afew places where it i s obvious ly wrong . To giveal l the variants would occupy much too muchspace and make the notes almost unintel ligible

(perhaps at some future t ime we may be givena complete critical ed ition o f the book in which al lthe vers io ns wi l l be inc luded in ful l ) , and fo r thepurpose o f this series I have thought it enough torecord the variants in passages in which the Greektext is unsupported and a few others which therei s special reason fo r recording, and the passagescovered by the variants are marked in the text bya half-bracket at the beginning and the referencenumber at the end . Longer in sert ions contained inthe versions are given in an Appendix.

1 Chs. xxv.—xxviii. are ,however, almo st who lly omitted ;

see no te to Ch. xxv .

2 S ee p. 8 1 , n . 4.

JOS EPH AND AS ENATH

THE CONFESSION AND PRAYER OF ASENATH ,

DAUGHTER OF PENTEPHRES THE PRIEST 1

Asen athis sought in Mar r iage by the Kin g ’s

S on an dmany o ther s .

I . IN the first year o f plenty, inq

the se condmonth

,on the fifth o f the month

,Pharaoh sent

Joseph to go round al l the land o f Egypt and inthe fourth month o f the first year

,on the eighteenth

o f the month,Joseph came to the borders o f Hel io

po l is,and he was gather ing the corn o f that country

as the sand o f the sea. And there was a certainman in that city by name Pent ephres, who was apriest o f Hel iopolis and a satrap o f Pharaoh

,and

chief o f al l Pharaoh’s satraps and princes ; andthi s man was exceeding r i chand very sage andgentl e

,and he was al so a counsel lor o f Pharaoh

,

because he was prudent’

beyo nd al l Pharaoh’spri nces. And he had a virgin daughter

,by name

Asenath,o f eighteen years , tal l and comely, and

beaut ifu l to beho l d exceedingly beyond everyvirgin upon the earth. Now A senath herself bareno l ikeness to rthe virgins 2 the daughters o f the

1 The t itle varie s in the MS S . The Prayer Of Asenath,i i? gag

/e n by Bat ifl‘

ol, is in none of them. The text fo llows B .

x3» f e a rfB D version s om.

4 f'

1 7)r.

JOSEPH AND ASENATH

Egyptians,but was in al l th ings l ike the daughters

o f the Hebrews,being tal l as Sarah and comely as

Rebecca and beaut iful as Rachel ; and the fameo fhe r beauty spread abroad into al l that land andun to the ends o f the world , so that by reason o f

thi s al l the sons o f the princes and the satrapsdes ired to wo oher

,nay, and the sons o f the kings

also,al l young men and mighty

,and there was

great strife among them because o fhe r,and they

essayed to fight against one another. And Pharaoh’sfi rstbo rn son also heard about her, and he co n

t inued entreating his father to givehe r tohimtowife and saying tohimGive me

,father

, A senath ,the daughter o fPen tephres, the rfirst man 1 o fHel iopol is to wife .” And his father Pharaoh said to himWherefore dost thou on thy part seek a wifelower than thyself when thou art king o f al l th island ? Nay,

but 10 ! the daughter o f JoacimtheK ing o f Moab is betrothed to thee, and she herselfi s a queen and beaut iful to behold exceed ingly.

Take then this one to thyself to W ife .

The Tow e r in whichAsen athlives isd escr ib ed .

I I . But A senath set at naught and Scorned everyman

,being boastful and haughty

,and never had a

man seenhe r,i nasmuch as Pe n t ephre s had inhis

house a tower adjoin ing, great and high exceedingly,

and above the tower was a loft containing tenchambers. A nd the first chamber was great and

” ! Lat . Syr. S lav. prie st ” ; in Arm. the sen tence is

shorten ed.

ASENATH’

S TOWER

very lovely and paved with purple stone s , and thewal ls the reof we re faced with precious and manycoloured stones

,and the roof also o f that chamber

was o f gold . And within that chamber gods o f

the Egyptians,whereof was no number

,gold

and s i lver,were fixed , and all those A senath wo r

shipped , and she feared them , and she perfo rmedsacrifices to them every day. And the secondchamber also contained al l Asenath’s adorn ingand chests

,and there was gol d i n i t

,and much

s i lver and gold-woven raiment un l imited,

and

stones choice and o f great pr ice , and fine garmentso f l i nen , and al l the adornment o fher virgin ity wasthere. And the third chamber was A senath’ss torehouse

,contain ing al l the good things o f the

earth . And the remain ing seven chambers theseven virgins who m inistered to A senath occupied ,each one having one chamber , fo r that they wereo f the same age

,born on the same n ight with

Asenath,and she loved them much; and they

were also beautiful exceed ingly as the stars o f

heaven,and neve r d id a man converse with them

o r a male child .

Now A senath’s great chamber where her vir

ginity was fosteredhad three windows ; and thefirst window was very large, l ook ing over the courtto the east ; and the second looked toward thesouth

,and the third looked over

’

the street .1 And

a golden bedstead stood in the chamber lookingtoward the east ; and the bed was laid with

Syr. Arm. ins.

“to the no rth,” S lav. to the

ithas above in place o f south,

” “north

JOSEPH AND ASENATH

purple stuff i nterwoven withgo ld,the bed being

woven o f scarl et and c rimson stuff and fine l inen .

On . this bed A senath alone slept , and n everhadman o r other woman sat thereon . And therewas also a great court adjoin ing the house al l round

,

and an exceeding high wal l round the court bui l to f great rectangu lar stones ; and there were alsofo ur gates in the court o verl a id with i ron

,and

these were kept each by eighteen strong youngmen armed and there were al so planted along thewal l fair trees o f al l kinds and al l bearing frui t,their fru it being ripe

,fo r it was the season o fhar

vest ; and there was al so a r ich foun t o f 1 waterspr inging from the right o f the same court ; andbeneath the fount was a great c i stern receiv ing thewater o f that fount

,whence there went

,as it were

,

a r iver through the m idst o f the court and it

watered al l the trees o f that court .

Josephann oun ceshis Coming t o P en t ephr es .

I I I . And i t came to pass in the fi rst year o f theseven years o f plenty

,i n the fourth month

, OKL‘the

twenty-eighth 2 o f the month, that Joseph came tothe borders o f Hel iopolis col lect ing the corn o f thatd istric t. And

,when Joseph drew near to that c i ty

,

he sent twelve men before him to Pen tephre s, thepriest o f Hel iopol i s

,saying : “ I wi l l come in to

thee to-day,because i t i s the time o f noon and o f

the midday meal,and there is great heat o f the

Lat. Syr . in sert “ l iving,

” S lav. “abundan t ” ; Arm. om.

water .

Ve rs ion s e ighteen th.”

JOSEPH’

S VISIT ANNOUNCED 2 5

sun,and that I may cool myself under the roo f o f

thine house. And Pentephres, when he heardthese things

,rejoiced with exceeding great joy

,and

said “ Blessed be the Lord God o f Joseph,because

my lord Josephhath thought me worthy. A nd

Pe ntephres cal led the overseer o f his house andsaid to him Haste and makemine house ready

,

and prepare a great d inner,because Josephthe

mighty one o f Go d come th to us to-day.

”And

,

when A senath heard thathe r father andmotherhad come from the possess ion o f their i nher i tance

,

She rejoiced greatly 1 and said “ I wil l go and seemy father and mother

,because they have come

from the possess ion o f our i nher i tance ” ( fo r that itwas the harvest-season ) . And A senath

‘hastei r in toher chamber wherehe r robes lay 2 and put on a finel inen robe made o f crimson stuff and in terwovenwith gold

,and girded herself witha golden gird le

,

and bracelets roundhe rhand/

Sg g flandfi

about her feeta“

She put golden roundhe r neck shew

cast an ornament o f great price and precious stones,which were embel l i shed on al l s ides

,having al so

the names 3 o f the go ds o f the Egyptians everywhere engraved on t hem

,both on the bracelets

and the stones ; 4 and She put also a t iara on ”he rhead and bound a diadem roundhe r temples andcoveredhe r head with a mantle.

wronghere , but Lat . Arm. Slav.image s o f all the ido l s we re

fo rmed upon thems imilarly Arm. S lav.

JOSEPH AND ASENATH

P en t ephr e s pr oposes t o give Asenatht oJosephin Mar r iage .

IV . And thereupon 1 she hasted and went downthe stairs fromhe r lo ft and came tohe r father andmother and kissed them . And Pe ntephres and hiswife rejoiced over their daughter A senath 2 withexceed ing great joy

,fo r that they beheld her

adorned and embel l ished as the bride o f God ; and

they brought forth all the good things which theyhad brought from the possess ion o f their inher itance and gave themto their daughter and Asenathrejoiced over al l the good things

,

rover the latesummer fru i t and the grapes and the dates andover the doves

,and over the mulberries and the

figs , because they were al l fair and pleasant t o

taste .3 A nd Pe n tephres said to his daughterA senath : Chi ld .

”And She said :

“ Here am I ,my lord . A nd he said tohe r : S i t downbetween us

,and I wi l l speak to thee my words .”

And she sat down between her father andhe rmother

,and Pe ntephreshe r father took hold o fhe r

r ight hand with his right hand and kissed it tende rly and said : Dearest chi ld .

”And she said to

him :“Here am I

,my lord father. And Pen tephre s

said to her : Lo ! Joseph,the mighty one o f God ,

cometh to us to-day,and thisman is ruler o f al l

@Gr . eie’

o ii'r w BD version s om. ; SO always except p. 3 5 ,re Bhas it .

Arm. the fruit s are d iffe rent. “ D ove sbut Lat . agree s . S lav. om. dove s

and the .

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JOSEPH AND ASENATH

things Pen tephres was ashamed to speak furtherto his daughter A senath about Joseph

,fo r that she

answeredhimwi th boastful ness and anger.Jo sephar r ive s at P en t ephr e s ’ House .

V . And 10 ! a young man o f Pe n tephre s’ servan t ssprang in , and he saith to him :

“ Lo ! Josephstandeth before the doors o f our court . And

when A senath heard these words she fled from theface o fhe r father and mother and wen t up in to theloft , and she came in tohe r chamber and stoodat the great window look ing east to see Josephcoming intohe r father’s house . And Pen tephrescame out and his wife and all their kind red andtheir servants to meet Joseph ; and , when thegates o f the court that l oo ked east. were opened

,

Joseph came in seated in the second Chariot o f

Pharaoh and there were yoked four horses whitel i ke snow with golden bits

,and the chario t was

fashioned al l o f pure gold . And Joseph was C l adin a tun ic white and rare

,and the robe that was

thrown round him was purple, made o f fine l ineninterwoven with gold

,and a golden wreath was

uponhis head,and round his wreath were twelve

choice stones,and above the stones twelve golden

rays , and in his r ight hand a royal staff, which hadan ol ive branch outstretched , and there was abun

dance o f fru it thereon . When,then , Joseph had

come into the court and the doors the reof hadbeen shut, and every strange man and womanremained outside the court , fo r that the guards o f

ASENATH SEES JOSEPH

the gates drew to and c losed the doors , Pe ntephrescame andhis wife and al l the ir kindred excepttheir daughter A senath

,and they made obeisance

to Joseph upon their faces upon the earth ; and

Jo seph descended fromhis chariot and gre etedthem with hishand .

Asenathse es Josephfr omthe W in d ow .

V I . A nd when A senath saw Joseph she was

sore pricked in the soul andhe r heart was crushed,

andhe r knees were loosed andhe r who l e bodyt rembled and she feared with great fear

,and then

she groaned and said i nhe r heart : “ A l as memiserable ! where now shal l I

,the wretched one

,go

away ? or where shal l I be hidden fromhis face ?o r how shal l J oseph the son o f God see me

,fo r

that on my part I have spoken ev i l things abouthim ? A l asme miserable ! whither shal l I goaway and behidden

,because he himself seeth

every hid ing-place,and knoweth al l things

,and no

hidden thing escapeth him by reason o f the greatl ight that is i n h im ? And n ow may the God o f

Joseph be grac ious t o me because i n ignorance Ihave spoken wicked words against him . Whatnow Shal l I

,the wretched one

,fol low ? 1 rHave I

not 2 said : ‘ Jo seph cometh,the . son o f the shep

herd from the land o f Canaan ’

? Now therefore

his canhardly be correc t. Lat . S lav .

“ How do I

now appear, themo st Arm. “ What shal l IS imilarly Syr .me

,who Arm.

7}

30 JOSEPH AND ASENATH

he hath come to us inhis chariot as the sun fromheaven

,and he ente red our house to-day

,and he

shineth into i t l ike l ight upon the earth . But I am

fool ish and bold , because I scorned him and spakeev i l words about h im and d id not know thatJoseph is a son o f God . Fo r who among menwi l l ever beget such beauty

,o r what womb o f

woman wi l l give birth to such l ight ? Wretchedam I and fool ish

,because I have spoken evi l words

to my father. Now,therefore , le t my father give

me to Joseph fo r an handmaid and a bondwomanrather

,and I wi l l be in bondage to him fo r ever .

”

Jo sephse es Asen athat the W ind ow .

V II. And Joseph came into the house o f Pente

phres and sat upon a chair. And they washed hisfeet

,and se t a tab le beforehimseparately, fo r that

Joseph did not eat with the Egyptians , s ince thiswas an abomination to him . And Joseph lookedup

'

rand saw A senath peeping out ,1 and he saith to

Pent ephres : “Who is that woman who i s standingin the loft by the window ? Let her go away fromthis house . Fo r Joseph feared

,saying : “ Lest she

herself also annoy me. For al l the wives anddaughters o f the princes and the satraps o f al l theland o f Egypt used to annoyhimi n order that theymight lie with him but many wives and daughterso f the Egyptians also

,as many as beheld Joseph

,

were d istressed on account o fhis beauty 2 and the

Ve rs ion s om.t . Arm. ins. but J. de spised them.

JOSEPH SEES ASENATH 3 1

envoys whom the women sent tohimwith gold ands i lver and prec ious gifts Joseph sent back withthreaten ing and insult

,saying : “ I wi l l not sin i n

the s ight of the Lord God and the face o f my fatherI srael .” Fo r Joseph had God 1 alway before hiseyes and ever 1 remembered the inj unctions o f

his father ; fo r Jacob often spake and admonishedhis son Joseph and al l h is sons : “ Keep yoursel ves

,

chi ldren , securely from a strange woman so as no tto have fel lowship withher

,fo r fe l lowship withhe r

i s ru in and destruc tion . Therefore Joseph said“ Let that woman depart from this house.” And

Pen tephres said to him :“ My lord

,that woman

whom thou hast seen standing in the loft is not astranger

,but is o ur

2 daughter,one who hateth

every man , and no other man hath ever seenhersave thou only to-day ; and , if thou W ishest , lord ,3She shal l come and speak to thee

,fo r that our

daughter i s as thy sister .” And Joseph rejoicedwithexceeding great j oy

,fo r that Pen tephres said :

She is a virgin hating every man .

” 4 And Josephsaid to Pe n t ephres and his wife : “ If she is yourdaughter

,and is a virgin

,le ther come , fo r that She

i s my sister,and I lovehe r from to-day as my

sister.”

B D Lat . Syr . Arm. om. in S lav. the sen tence is

D Lat . Syr. S lav. ins.

D ve rs ion s om.ins.

“andhe said inhismind, ‘ If she is a v irginman , sheherse lf wil l never annoyme ’” simi

larly Syr. Arm.

JOSEPH AND ASENATH

Josephb lesse s Asen ath.V I I I . Thenhe r mo ther wen t up into the loft andbro ught A senathto Jo seph , and Pe n tephres said tohe r : K iss thy bro ther

,because he also is a virgin

even as thou to-day,and hateth every strange

woman even as thouhatest every strange man .

”

A nd Asenath said to Joseph : Hail,lord

,blessed

o f Go d Mo st H igh .

”And Joseph said to her :

“ God who qu ickeneth al l things shal l bless thee,

damsel .” 1 Pe n tephres saith then to his daughterAsenath :

“ Come and kiss thy brother. WhenA senath then came up

2 to k iss Joseph,Joseph

stretched forth his r ight hand,and laid i t onhe r

breast betweenhe r two paps (fo r her paps werealready stand ing forth rlike lovely apples andJoseph said “ I t i s not meet fo r a man thatworshippeth God

,who blesseth with his mouth the

l iving God ,and eateth the blessed bread o f l ife

,and

drinketh the blessed cup o f immortal ity,and is

ano in ted with the blessed unct ion o f incorruption,

to k iss a strange woman ,who blesseth withhe r

mouth dead and deaf idols and eateth from theirtable the bread o f strangling and dri nketh fromtheir l ibation the cup o f deceit and is anointed withthe unct ion o f destruct ion ; but the man that wo rshippethGod wil l kiss his mother and the sister whoi s bo rn o f his mother and the s isterwho is born o fhistribe 4 and the wife who share thhis couch

,who bless

ve rs ion s om.aweey (B D ,

so vers ion s ) is c learly co rrect, no t ammoeu.om. ; B C D S lav. om. “ be tweenve rs ion s Ins. andhis kin.

”

1x] JOSEPH’S DEPARTURE

with their mouth the living God . Likewise also i t i snot meet fo r a woman that worshippe th God to kiss

a strange man,fo r that this is an abomination in

the s ight o f the Lord God .

”And

,when A senath

heard these words from ~ Joseph,she was sore

d istressed and groaned ; and , as she was looking'

steadfastly at Joseph with her eye s open , they werefi l led with tears . And Joseph

,when he saw her

weeping,

1 pitied her exceedingly, fo r that he wasmild and merc ifu l and one who feared the Lord .

Then he l ifted uphis r ight hand aboveher head andsaid : “ Lord God o f my fathe r I srae l , the MostHigh and the m ighty God

,who quickenedst al l

things and cal ledst from the darkness to the l igh tand from e rror to truth and from death to l ife

,

bless thou this virgin also,and quicken her

,and

renew her with thy holy 2 spirit,

3 and lether eatthe bread o f thy life and dr i nk the cup o f thybless ing

,and numberher with thy people whom

thou cho sest before al l things we re made,and le ther enter in to thy re st which thou preparedst fo r

thin e elect, and lether live in thine e ternal lifefor ever.”

Asenathret ir es an d Jo sephpr epar es tod epar t .

IX . And Asenath rej oiced over the blessingJoseph with exce great j oy. Then SheB vers ions om. 6 B version s om.Lat . ins. “

and remw iththinehiddenhandlarly Syr . Arm.Lat . Syr . Arm. omS lav . om. c lause .

B D ve rs ion s om.

34 JOSEPH AND ASENATH [x

hasted and came up i ntohe r lo ft by hersel f, andfel l Upo nhe r bed in infi rmi ty, fo r that there was inhe r joy and sorrow and great fear ; and a co ntinuoussweat rwas poured overhe r 1 when she heard thesewo rds from Joseph

,and when he spake t ohe r in

the name o f God Mo st High. Then she wept withgreat and bitter weeping

,and she turned in pen i

tence fromhe r gods whom she was wont to wo rship

,and the ido l s

,which she spurned

,and waited

fo r even ing to come. B ut Jo sephate and drankand he toldhis serving-men to yoke the horses totheir chariots

,and to 2 go round al l the land . And

Pen tephres said to Joseph : “ Let my lord lodgehere 3 to-day

,and i n the morning thou shalt go thy

way. And Joseph said Nay,but I wil l go away

to-day , fo r that this i s the day on which God beganto make al l His created things

,and o n the eighth

day I also return to you and wil l lodge here.”

Asenathr ejects the Egypt ian G ods an d

ab ase she r self.X . And

,when Josephhad left the house

,

Pent ephres a l so and al lhis kindred departed totheir inheritance, and A senath was left alone withthe seven virgins

,l istless and weeping ti l l the sun

set ; and she neither ate bread no r drank water,

B C ve rsion s om.D “

the chario ts , fo rhe said , ‘ I will go away andrly versio n s .

ou shouldmean “ there .

” B D Lat . Arm. S lav. om.in o ratio obliqua and the wo rd is

repre sen ted by “withthem.”

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JOSEPH AND ASENATH [x

me be sti l l . And , when the virgins had departed ,each tohe r own chamber

,Asenath rose and

opened the doo r o fhe r bed room qu ietly,and went

away intohe r second chamber where the chests o fher adornment were,and she openedhe r coffer

and took a black and sombre tun ic which she puton andmourned whenhe r firstborn brothe r d ied.Having taken

,then

,thi s tun i c

,she carried i t into

her chamber, and again shut the door securely,and put the bolt to from the side. Then , therefore,A senath put o ff her royal robe , and put on themourning tunic , and loosedhe r golden girdle r andgirded herself with a rope

,

1 and put o ff the t iara ,that is the mitre

,fromhe r head , l ikewise al so the

d iadem,and the chain s from her hands andhe r

feet were also al l la id upon the floor. Then she takethhe r cho ice robe and the golden girdle and the mitreandhe r diadem ,

and she cast them through thewindow that looked toward the north

,to the poor.

And thereupon she took al lher gods that were inhe r chamber,the gods o f gold and o f s i lver whereof

there was no number,and brake them up into

fragments,and cast them through the window to

poormen and beggars . And again Asenath tookher royal d inner and the fatlings and the fish andheifer’s flesh

,and al l the sacrifices o fher gods

,and

the vessels o f the wine o f libation,and cast them

al l through the window that looked north as foodfo r the dogs .2 And after these things she took

N 0

, .C1/ Ve rS Ions om.C9 Lat . ins.

“o f strange rs ; fo r she said : How shallmy

dogs eat o f the supper Of the sacrifice o f ido l s ? But tho sedogs of strangers shall eat it ’” s imilarly Syr. Arm.

ASENATH RESOLVES TO PRAY 3 7

the leathern Cover contain ing the c inders andpoured them upon the floor ; and thereupon shetook sackcloth and girded her loins ; and She loosedalso the net o f the hair o fhe r head and sprinkledashes overhe r head . And She strewed cindersalso upon the floor

,and fel l upon the c inders and

kept beating her breast constantly withher handsand weeping al l the n ight wi th groaning unti l themorn ing. And , when A senath aro se

'

in the morning and saw

,and lo the cinders were beneathhe r

as clay fromhe r tears , she again fel l uponhe r faceupon the c inders til l the sun se t . Thus A senathdid fo r seven 1 days , rnot tasting aught whateve r.2

Asenathr esolves t o pr ay t o the G od of theHeb r ew s .

XI . And on the eighth day, when the dawn cameand the birds were already chirping and the dogsbarking at the passers-by,

A senath lifted upherhead a l i tt le from the floor and the c i nders whereon She was seated, fo r that she was exceedingweary 3 and had lost the power o fher l imbs fromhe r great humil iation ; 4 fo r A senath had waxedweary and faint and her strength was fai l ing, andthereupon She turned toward the wal l

,S i tt ing under

the window that looked east,and her head She

2(1 I omit 7 05 3 , which15 c learly wrong .

Z4§ ! Lat . o fherhumiliation ”; .Syr Arm. ins. and ate no

/ bread and drank no water,

” Syr. adding In the seven daysof the pass ion ofher soul and ofherhumiliat ion .

”

3 I read nexpmcvfa for Ke tcknxvfa ; so versIOns.

2g 4 Syr . ins.

“and fasting and abstinence ” ; similarly Lat .

rm. Fo r if. to Asenath(p . 40, l . 2 ) S lav.has and

stre tched outherhands and looked toward the east and said.7, r

3 8 JOSEPH AND ASENATH [x1

laid uponhe r bosom , twin ing the fingers o f herhands overhe r r ight knee ; andhe r mouth wasshut

,and she Opened it n o t du ring the seven days

and duri ng the seven n ights o f her humi l iat ion .

And she said in her heart , no t open inghe r mouthWhat shal l I do

,I the lowly one

,o r where shal l

I go ? A nd with whom again shal l Ihe reafte r findrefuge ? F

o r to whom shal l I speak,

1 the v irginthat i s an orphan and desolate and abandoned byal l and hated ? All now have come to hate me

,

and among these even my father and mymo ther,fo r

that I spurned the gods with loath ing and madeaway with them and have given them r to thepoor 2 to be destroyed by men . For my father andmy mother said : “ Asenath i s not our daughter.But allmy kin al so have come tohate me , and al lmen

,fo r that I have given the ir gods to destruction .

And I have hated every man and al l who wooedme

,and now in this m ine humil iation I have been

hated by al l and they rejoice over my tr ibulation .But the Lord and God o f the mighty Josephhateth al l who worsh ip the idols , for that he i s ajealous God and terr ibl e, r

as I have heard,

2

against al l who worship strange gods whence hehath hatedme also , because I worshipped deadand deaf idols and blessed them .

r But now haveI shunned their sacr ifice, and my mouth hathbecome estranged from their table , 3 and I have no

QLat . Syr. or (and) what shal l I say Arm. om.g

ab Syr . Arm. om.Lat

“and Ihave eaten of the ir sacrifice s andmymouthhathbeen po lluted by the sacrifice s of ido ls ” S imilarly

, butlonge r

, Syr. Arm.

ASENATH RESOLVES TO PRAY 3 9

courage to cal l upon the Lo rd God o f heaven,the

Most High and powerful o ne o f the mighty Jo seph,

fo r thatmy mouth i s pol luted from the sacrifice so f the idols. But I have heard many saying thatthe God o f the Hebrews is a true God

,and a

l iving God,and amerc iful God and pitifu l and

long-suffering and fu l l o f mercy and gentle,and

one who reckoneth not the S in o f aman whoi s humble

,and espec ial ly o f one who s inneth in

ignorance,and convic te thnot o f l awlessnesses in

the time o f the affl ict ion o f a man that is affl ic tedaccord ingly I ral so

,the humble one

,

1 wil l be boldand wil l turn to him and seek refuge withhimandconfess al l my sin s to him and pour out mypetit ion before him ,

and he wil l have mercy on mymisery. Fo r who knoweth if he wi l l see this minehumil iation and the desolat ion o f my sou l and pityme

,and wi l l see also the o rphanhood o f my

wretchedness r and Virgin i ty 1 and defend me ? fo rthat

,

ras I hear,1 he i shimself a father o f orphans

and a consolation o f the affl i cted and a helper o fthe persecuted . But in any case I ralso thehumble one 1 wil l be bold and wil l cry to him .

”

Then A senath rose up'

fromthe wal l where she wass i tt ing

,a d raised herself uponhe r knees rtoward

the eas and 3 d irec ted r e es toward heaven§T

and openedhe r mouth and said to GodLat Syr . Arm. om.Lat .

“to the w indow s looking eas t ” ; s imilarly Arm.

Arm.havehere an in sertion see Appendix.ns.

“raisedherse lf uponher knee s and , l ifting

JOSEPH AND ASENATH

Asen ath's P r aye r .

X I I. lFThe prayer and con fess ion o f Asenath 1

Lord GOd o f the righteous, who createdst the

ages and givest l ife to al l things,Who gavest

the breath o f l ife to al l thy c reation , who broughtestthe invis ible things out into the l ight, who madestal l things and madest manifest things that d id n o t

appear,who lift edst up the heaven and foundedst

the earth upon the waters , who fixedst the greatstones upon the abyss o f the water, which Shal l notbe submerged but are unto the end doing thy wi l l

,

fo r that thou,Lord

,saidst the word and al l things

came into being,and thy word

,Lord

,is the l ife o f

al l thy creatures,to thee I flee for refuge , Lord my

God,

rfrom henceforth,

2 to thee wil l I c ry,Lord

,

and to thee wi l l I confess my sins , to thee wil l Ipour out my petit ion , Master, and to thee wil lI reveal my lawlessnesses . Spare me

,Lord

,spare

,

fo r that I committed many sins against thee,I d id

lawlessness and ungod l iness, I have spoken thingsnot to be uttered

,and wicked in thy sight ; my

mouth,Lord

,hath been pol luted from the sacr ifices

o f the idols o f the Egyptians, and from the table o ftheir gods : I s inned , Lord , I s inned in thy sight,rboth in knowledge and 3 in ignorance I did ungodliness i n that I worshipped dead and deaf idols

,and

I am not worthy to open my mouth unto thee,Lord

,

I the miserable Asenath daughter o f PentephresD Lat. Syr . Arm. om.Version s om.Lat . Syr .Arm. om. ; S lav. om. “ bo thigno ran ce .

ASENATH’

S PRAYER

the priest,the Virgin and queen

,who was once

proud and haughty and one that prospered in myfather’s 1 riches above al l men

,but now an orphan

and desolate and abandoned o f al l men . To theeI flee

,Lord

,and to thee I offer my petit ion

,and

unto thee wi l l I cry. Del iver me from them thatpursue me, Master, before I be taken by them ; fo r ,as an infant in fear o f some one flee thto h is fatherand mother

,and his father stretcheth out his hands

and catcheth him up against his breasé W flthou

,Lord

,stre tch out thine rundefiled and terrible 3

hands upon me l ike a chi ld-loving father, andcatch me rout o f the hand o f the suprasensualenemy.

4 For 10 ! the ancrent and savage and cruell ion pursueth me

,fo r that he is father o f the gods

o f the Egyptians,and the gods o f the idol-maniacs

are his chi ldren,and I have come to hate them

,and

I made away with them,because they are a l ion’s

chi ldren,and I cast al l the gods I

"

o f the Egyptians "1

from me and d id themaway,and the l ion , o r their

father the devil , in wrath against me is trying toswal low me up . But thou , Lord , deliver me fromhishands

,and I shal l be rescued from hismouth

,

lest he tear me asunder and cast me into the flameo f fi re

,and the fire castme into storm ,

and thestorm prevai l overme in darkness and cast meinto the depth o f the sea

,and the great beast who

is from everlasting swal low me up, and I perish fo r

Syr. Arm. om. ; S lav 0m. and Lord, and .

Arm. expand the S imile ; see Appx.

rsion s om.

JOSEPH AND ASENATH

ever. Del iver me , Lord , befo re al l these thingscome uponme ; del iverme , Master

,the desolate

I”

and defen celess,1 fo r that my father andmymotherhave den ied me and said ,‘

Asenath is notour daughter,

’ because I brake their gods in piecesand made away with them , as having whol ly hatedthem . And now I am an orphan and desolate

,

and I have no o ther hope save thee,Lord

,no r

another re fuge save thy mercy , thou fr iend o fme n,

because tho u on ly art fa ther o f the orphans and

champion o f the persecuted and helper o f theafflicted . Have mercy on me, Lord , rand keepme pure and virgin ,

2 the fo rsaken and orphan, fo r

that thou only, Lord ,2 art a rsweet and 2 good and

gentle father. Fo r what father i s sweet and goodas thou

,Lord ? Fo r 10 ! al l the houses o f my

father Pen tephre s which he hath givenme fo r aninher i tance are fo r a time and van i sh ing ; but thehouses o f thine inher i tance, Lord , are i ncorruptibl eand eternal .”

Asen ath’s P raye r (con tinued ) .

XI I I . “ V i s i t,Lord

,mine humil iation and have

mercy on r mine orphanhood and pity 3 me,the

afflicted . Fo r 10 I,Master, fled from al l and sought

refuge with thee r the only fr iend o f men . LO 4 Il eft al l the good things o f the earth and soughtrefuge with thee, Lord , i n sackc loth and ashes , naked

y r. Arm. om. ; Lat . om. “ before defence le ssom. clause .

yr. Arm. om. S lav . om. Have thou,Lo rd .

”

yr . Arm. om. ; S lav . om. sen tence .

yr. Arm. om. ; S lav. om. “the so litary.”

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JOSEPH AND ASENATH

have now known to have been deaf and dead idol s,

and I brake themi n pieces and gave them to betrampled o n by al l men

,and the thieves spo i led

them,who were gold and s i lver

,and with thee I

so ught refuge,Lord God

,

rthe only compassio nateo ne and friend o f men .

1 Forgive me,Lord

,fo r

that I committed many sins against thee in ig

no rance and have Spoken blasphemous wordsagain st my lord Joseph

,and knew not

,r I the

miserable,

1 thathe i s thy so n,Lord

,s ince the

wickedmen urged by envy said to me : ‘ Joseph isson o f a shepherd from the land o f Canaan

,

’

and Ithe miserable o ne have bel ieved them and goneastray

,and I set him at naught and have spoken

wicked things abouthim, not knowing that he isthy son . For who among men begat o r wil l everbeget such beauty ? or who else is such as he

,wise

and m ighty as the al l-beauteous Joseph ? But tothee

,Lord

,I commit him

,because fo r my part I

love him more than my sou l . Keep him safe inthe wisdom 2

o f thy grace,and comm itme to h im

fo r an handmaid and a bondwoman , that I maywash his fee t and make his bed and min ister to

him rand serve him,

3 and I wil l be a bondwomanto him fo r the times o f my life.

The Ar changel Michael visits Asenath.X IV. And , when A senath had ceased making

confession to the Lord , 10 ! the morning-star alsoa”

.

1 1 3 76 1 5 1011 8 om./ @Two leave s arehere lo st in S the lacuna reachingto p . 50, 1. 24. Lat . Arm. om.

VISIT OF MICHAEL 45

arose out o f the heaven in the east and A senath

saw i t and rej oiced and said Hath the Lo rd Godthen heard my prayer ? for that this star i s amessenger and herald o f the l ight o f the great 1

day .

” 2 And 10 ! hard by the morning-star theheaven was rent and a great and ineffable l ightappeared. And when she saw it A senath fel l uponhe r face upon the c i nders

,and straightway there

came toher a man from heaven,I"

send ing forthrays o f l ight

,

2 and stood abovehe r head . And ,r as

she lay onhe r face,the d ivine angel 4 rsaid toher,

A senath,stand up.

” 5 And she said “Who ishethat cal led me ? fo r that the door o f my chamberi s shut and the tower is high

,andhow then hath

he come into my chamber ? ” And he cal led heragain a se cond time

,saying

,A senath

,A senath .

”

And she said,Here am I , lord , tel l me who thou

art . And he said “ I am the chief captain o f theLord God and commander o f al l the host o f theMost High : stand up and stand upon thy feet,that I may speak to thee my words.

”

And shel ifted uphe r face and saw,

and lo ! a man in al lthings l ike unto Joseph

,in robe and wreath and .

royal staff,save that his face was as lightn ing, and

his eyes as the light o f the sun,and the hairs o f his

head as the flame o f fire ro f a burn ing torch ,6 and

Arm. om.t . ins. “ And she was stil l looking forth” ; S imilarlyLat . Arm. om. S lav. bright.”Lat . Arm. S lav. om.D Lat . S lav. calledher. Arm. om. stand up.

D Lat . Arm. S lav. om.

JOSEPH AND ASENATH

his hands and his feet l ike iron shin ing from fire ,

fo r as it were sparks proceeded both fromhis handsand fromhis feet. S eeing these things Asenath

feared and fel l onhe r face , runable even to standuponhe r feet , 1 fo r she became greatly afraid andallhe r l imbs trembled . And the man said tohe r :“ Be o f good cheer

,A senath

,and fear not ; but

stand up and stand upon thy feet,that Imay

speak to thee my words.” Then A senath stoodup and s tood uponher feet, and rthe angel 2 said tohe r : ! r Go without impediment into thy secondchamber and 3 lay as ide the black tun ic whereinthou art c lad

,and cast o ff the sackcloth from thy

loins,and shake out the c inders from thine head ,

and wash thy face and thine hands with pure 4

water and put on a white untouched robe 5 and girdthy loins with the bright girdle o f 6 virgin ity

,the

double one,and come again to me

,and I wi l l speak

to thee rthe words that are sent to thee from theLord .

” 7 Then A senath hasted and went into hersecond chamber

,wherein were the chests o fher

adorning, and opened her cof’fer and took a white

,

fine, untouched robe and put it on , having first puto ff the black robe

,and ungirded also the rope and

the sackc loth from her loins and girded herself ina bright

,double girdle o f her virgin ity

,one gird le

D Lat . S lav. “ beforehis fee t ” Arm. om.Arm. “

theman ”

(S lav.here he and so alwayso Syr. S lav .

D Lat . S lav om. ; Arm. Go and .

B D Lat . Arm. S lav. “ living.

”

Lat . ins.

“n ew and glorio us ” s imilarly Arm. S lav .

B D Lat . Arm. S lav. ins.

“thy.

”

Lat . Arm. “mywo rds S lav. om. “ fromthe Lo rd .

XV] FORETELLS ASENATH’

S MARRIAGE 47

abouthe r loins and another girdle abou ther breast.And she shook out al so the ci nders fromhe r headand washedhe r hands and face with pure water

,and

she took a mantle most beautiful and fine andveiledhe r head .

Michael t ells Asenaththat she shall b e

Jo seph's W ife .

XV . And thereupon she came to the I"

d ivine chiefcaptain 1 and stood before him

,and r the angel o f

the Lord 2 saith to her : “ Take now the man tlefrom thine head

,

3 fo r that thou art to-day a purevirgin

,and thine head is as o f a young man .

”And

A senath took it fromhe r head . And again thedivine angel saithtoher : Be o f good cheer

,

A senath,the virgin and pure

,fo r 10 the Lord God

heard al l the words o f thy confession 4 and thyprayer

,and he hath seen also the humil iation rand

affl iction 5 o f the seven days o f thine abstinence, fo rthat from thy tears much clay hath been formedbefore thy face upon these c inders . A ccordingly

,

5

be o f good cheer,Asenath

,the v irgin and pure

,fo r

10 ! thy name hath been written in the book o f

l ife and shal l not be blotted o ut fo r ever ; but fromthi s day thou shal t be renewed rand refashioned 6

and re-quickened, and thou shalt,

eat the b lessedbread o f l ife and dr ink a cup fi l led with immortal ity

Arm. S lav . man ” D “ange l .”

Arm. Lat . “the ange l ” ; S lav .

“he .

Arm. ins.

“and whereforehast thou done this ?”

om. ff. to “ Acco rdingly.”Arm. om.Lat . Arm. S lav. om.

JOSEPH AND ASENATH

and be anointed with the blessed unc tion o f incorrupt ion . Be o f good cheer, A senath2

,the virgin

and pure,lo ! the Lord God hath given thee to-day

to Josephfo r a bride , and he himself shal l be thybridegroom fo r ever . And no more henceforthrshal t thou 1 be cal led Asenath , but thy name shal lbe City o f Refuge ,

’

fo r that in thee many nationsshal l seek refuge and they shal l lodge under thywings

,and many nations shal l find shelter by thy

means,and upon thy wal ls they who c leave unto

God Most High through penitence shal l be keptsecure ; fo r that Pen itence i s daughter o f the MostH igh , and she herself entreateth God Most Highfo r thee every hour and fo r all that repent, S ince hei s father o f Pen itence, and She herself i s the comple t ion and overseer o f al l virgins

,lovrng you

exceedingly and besee ching the Most High fo ryou every hour

,and fo r 2 al l who repent she

wi l l provide a place o f rest in the heavens, andshe renewe the veryone who hath repented .

3 And

Pen itence is exceeding fair,a virgin pure and

gentle and m il d ; and therefore God Most Highlovethhe r

,and al l the angels reverehe r, and I

lovehe r exceedingly, fo r that she herself also is mySister, and as she loveth you virgin s I also love you .And 10 ! fo r my part I go to Joseph and wi l l speaktohimal l these 4 words concerning thee

,and he

wil l come to thee to-day and see thee and rejoice

Arm. S lav. shal l thy name .

Gr. is co rrupt . I fo llow Arm.s. “

andherse lf shal lminister un to themfo r everLat . Arm. ; S lav. om. l . 7—p . 49, l . 2 3 .

Arm. “my.

xv] FORETELLS ASENATH’S MARR IAGE 49

over thee and love thee and be thy bridegroom,and

thou shalt be his beloved 1 bride fo r ever. A ccordingly hearme , Asenath2 and put on a weddingrobe, rthe anc ient and first robe 3 that i s yet laid upin thy chambe r from o f old

,and put al l thy choice

adorning al so about thee, and adorn thyself as agood bride and make thysel f ready to meethimfo r 10 ! he himself cometh to thee to-day and wi l lsee thee and rej oice.” And , when the angel o fthe Lord r i n the shape o f a man ‘ had finishedspeaking these words to 4 Asenath , she 4 rejo icedwith great joy over al l the things that were spokenbyhim

,and fel l upon her face upon the e arth

,and

made obeisance beforehis feet and said to him“ Blessed is the '

L o rd thy God 5 who sent thee todel iver me from the darkness and to bri ng mefrom the foundations o f the abyss itself i nto the

Ml ight

,and blessed is thy name fo r evefizég l

‘

f’

tfi en

I have found grace,my lord

,i n thy S ight and Shal l

know that thou wi l t perform al l the words whichthou hast said tome so that they be accompl ished

,

let thine handmaid speak to thee.” A nd rthegel 7 s aith rto her

,

8 S ay on . And she said : 2

I pray thee,l ord

,s it down a l i ttle t ime upon this

bed , because this bed i s pure and undefiled,for

“the virg in .

Arm. om.; S lav. om

y

‘

étohim

Lat . Arm.havehere an insen iorréézep px

Lat . Arm. “he ” ; S lav. om. “and shall

Lat . Arm. om.Lat . in s.

“w ithhe rhand extended, graspinghis robe

larlyArm.

fl

JOSEPH AND ASENATH

that anotherman o r o ther woman never sat uponit

,and I wi l l set befo re thee a table and bread , and

thou shal t eat , a nd I wi l l br ing thee al so wine oldand good

,the odour whereof Shal l reachunto

heaven,and thou shal t d rink thereof and thereafter

shal t depart upon thy way.

”Andhe 1 saith tohe r

“ Haste and bring it quickly .

Asenathfi n d s a Hon eycomb inher S tor ehouse .

XV I . And A senath hasted and set an emptytable be fore him and

,as She was starting to fetch

bread,the d iv ine 2 angel sai th tohe r : “ Bring me

also an honeycomb.

”And she stood —st il l and was

perplexed and grieved fo r that she had not a bee’

s

comb in her storehouse. And the divine 3 angelsaithto her : “Wherefore standest thou st i l l ? ”

And she said : “ My lord,I wi l l send a boy to the

suburb , because the po ssess ion o f our i nheri tancei s near

,and he wil l come and br ing one 4 qu ickly

theme , and I wi l l set i t before thee .” rThe d iv ineangel 5 saith tohe r : En ter thy storehouse and thouwilt find a bee’s comb lying upon the table take i tup and bring i thither.” And she said

,Lord

,there

i s no bee ’s comb in my storehouse .” And he said,

“ Go and thou wil t find .

”And A senath enteredhe r storehouse and found an honeycomb lying

f'QB Arm. S lav.

“theman ”

; D Lat.“the ange l ” ; S lav.

to“ange l.

om.m. om; S lav. om. sen tence .m. S lav. anhoneycomb.

”

‘The ange l ” ; B S lav.

“ Theman Arm. Who .

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5 2 JOSEPH AND ASENATH

God have been revealed to thee ; and blessed are

al l who c leave to the Lord God in penitence,

because they shal l eat o f this comb,fo r that this

comb is the Spiri t o f l ife , and this the bees o f theparad ise o f del ight have made from the dew o f theroses o f l ife that are i n the parad ise o f God andevery flower

,and o f i t eat the angel s and al l the

e lec t o f God and al l the sons o f the Most High ,and whosoever shal l eat o f i t shal l not d ie fo r ever.”

Then the d iv ine 1 angel stretched o ut his r ighthand and took a smal l p iece from the comb andate

,and with his own hand placed what was left i n

A senath’s mouth and said toher,

“Eat

,

” and sheate. And the angel s aith tohe r : “ Lo ! nowthou hast eaten the bread o f l ife and hast drunkthe cup o f immortal ity and been anointed with theunct ion o f incorruption 10 ! now to-day thy flesh

pro duce thflowers o f l ife from the fountain 2 o f theMost H igh , and thy bones shal l be made fat l ikethe cedars o f the paradise o f del ight o f God andunwearying powers Shal l maintain thee ; accordingly thy youth shal l not see '

o ld age,nor shal l thy

beauty fai l fo r ever, but thou shalt be as a wal led-~

all And the angel rIncited thecomb

,

‘1 and many bees arose from the cel l s o f that

vers ion s om. ; Lat . be ” for “the angel.

Arm. “ land ”; sen tence shortened in Lat . ; S lav.

of )and said comb.

”

s . . Lat . Syr. Arm. ins. (w ithsmal l var ian ts ) “who seek

refuge In the K ing and Lo dpd o f age s.” A longer inser

t i fo llows In B D vers io n e e .Appx85 8W.

“ said t o the comb, ‘Come and appear fo rthw ith,

great swarmo f bee s that are in thehone ycomb ’” Lat .

Arm. shorte r.

xvn ] MICHAEL DEPARTS

comb,and the cel ls were numberless

,tens o f tho u

sands o f tens o f thousands and thousands o f

thousands . And the bees al so were white l ikesnow

,and their wings as purple and crimson stuff

and as scarlet ;1 and they had also Sharp stings

and injured no man . Then al l those bees enc irc ledAsenath from feet to head

,and other great bees

l ike their queens arose from the cel l s,and they

c ircled round uponher face and uponhe r l ips,and

made a comb uponher mouth and uponhe r l ipsl ike the comb that lay before the angel ; and al lthose bees ate from the comb that was uponA senath’s mouth . And the angel said to thebees

,

“ G0 now to your place .” Then al l thebees rose and flew and departed to heaven but asmany as wished to injure A senath al l fel l upon theearth and d ied . And thereupon the angel stretchedhis staff over the dead bees and said to themR ise and depart ye al so i nto your place ” Thenal l the dead bee s rose and departed into the courtthat adjoined A senath’s house and took up theirlodging upon the fru it-bear i ng trees.

Michael d epar ts .

XV I I . And the angel saith to A senath , Hastthou seen this thing ? ”

And she said , “ Yea,my

lord,I have seen al l these things. The divine 2

angel saith toher : “ So shal l be al l my words as

” a c-a w. ins. and fine l inen in terwoven w ithgo ld, and _a

crown o f go ld was on thehead of eachone of them” ; latterin Arm.ve rs ion s om. ; Lat 11. 6

”e

“ The

JOSEPH AND ASENATH [xv11

many as I have spoken to thee to-day . Thenthe angel ro f the Lord 1 fo r the third 2 t ime

stretched fo rthhis r ight hand and touched thes ide o f the comb

,and straightway fire came up

fromthe table and devoured the comb,but the

table i t injured no t a whit . And,when much

fragrancehad come forth from the burning o f the

comb and fi l led the chamber, A senath said to thed iv i ne 3 angel : “ Lord

,Ihave seven virgins who

were brought up withme frommy youth and wereborn on o ne night with me , who wai t upon me,and I love them all 4 as my sisters . I wi l l cal lthem and thou shal t bless them too

,even as thou

blessedstme .

”And the angel said tohe r : Cal l

them . Then A senath cal led the seven virgins andset them before the angel , and the angel said tothemThe Lord God Most High shal l bless you,

and ye shal l be r[pi l lars] o f refuge o f se ven c i t ies,

5

and al l the elec t o f that c ity who dwel l togethershal l [upo n you rest]

6 fo r ever.” A nd rafter these

things 7 the div ine 7 angel saith to A senath : “ Takeaway this table .” And

, when A senath turned to

remove the table , straightwayhe departed fromhe r eyes , and A senath saw as it were a chariotwith fourho rses that were going eastward toheaven

,and the char iot was as a flame o f fire

,and

the horses as l ightn ing , and the angel was stand ingB ve rsion s our—fi zz a e e p. 8 1

,n . 4.

B D vers ion s om. ” Ve rsion s om.Lacuna In text ; Lat . syr. Arm. ‘‘ seven p illars In the c ity. .Syr ins.

“o f S lav. om. “

and ye re st .”text ; suppl. fromLat . Syr. Arm.ons om.

XVIII] ASENATH’S FACE IS TRANSFORMED 5 5

above that chariot . Then A senath said : “ S i l lyand fool ish am I , the lowly one, fo r that I havespoken as that a man came into my chamber rfromheaven

,

1 and I knew not that God came in to i t ;and 10 ! now he goeth back to heaven to hisplace .” A nd she said in herself : “ Be grac ious

,

Lord,to thy bondmaid , rand spare thine handmaid ,2

because,fo r my part

,I have in ignorance spoken

rash things before thee .

Asen ath’s Face is t r an sfo rmed .

XV I I I . And,while A senath was yet speaking

these words to herself,lo ! a youngman

,one o f

the servants o f Joseph ,3 saying : Joseph,themighty man o f God , cometh to yo u to-day .

” 4

And straightway A senath cal led I’

the overseer o fhe r house 5 and said to him :“ Haste and preparemine house and make a good dinner ready

,fo r

that Joseph,the mighty man o f God , cometh to us

to-day .

” 6 And rthe overseer o f the house 5 whenhe saw her ( fo rhe r face had shrunk from theseven days’ affl ict ion and weeping and abstinence)sorrowed and wept ; and he took hold o f her righthand and kissed it

' tenderly and said : “Whatthee

,my lady

,

7 that thy face 15 thus

at . Syr. Arm. om. ; S lav. om. and the chario tD ve rsion s om.at . Syr . Arm. Pen tephre s (probably rightly) .at . ins.

“ fo rhis fo rerunne r standethat the gate s of ours imilarly Syr . Arm. Lat . om. ff. to p. 5 8 , l . 2.

Syr. Arm. “he r fo ster-father ” so always.S lav. om. if. to “hasted ”

(p. 56 l .Syr . Arm. “ daughter.

”

5 2 JOSEPH AND ASENATH

God have been revealed to thee ; and blessed are

al l who c leave to the Lord God in penitence ,because they shal l eat o f this comb

,fo r that this

comb is the Spir i t o f l ife , and this the bees o f theparad ise o f del ight have made from the dew o f theroses o f l ife that are in the paradise o f God andevery flower

,and o f i t eat the angels and al l the

e lect o f God and al l the sons o f the Most H igh ,and whosoever shal l eat o f it shal l not d ie fo r ever.”

Then the d iv ine 1 angel stretched out his r ighthand and took a smal l p iece from the comb andate

,and with his own hand placed what was left in

A senath’s mouth and sa id toher,

“Eat

,

” and sheate. And the angel s aith toher : “ LO ! now

thou hast eaten the bread o f l ife and hast drunkthe cup o f immortal ity and been anointed with theunct ion o f incorruption 10 ! now to-day thy flesh

pro duce thflowers o f l ife from the fountain 2 o f theMost High , and thy bones shal l be made fat l ikethe cedars o f the paradise o f del ight o f God andunwearying powers shal l maintain thee ; accordingly thy youth shal l not see old age, no r shal l thybeauty fai l fo r ever, but thoushalt be as a wal led

~

o f v ailzi’i i ) And the angel rIncrted the

comb,

‘1 and many bees arose from the cel l s o f that

vers ion s om. ; Lat . “ be ” for “the ange l.

Arm. “ land ”; sentence sho rtened in Lat . ; S lav.

0

3 >and said comb.

”

a ”2 Lat . Syr. Arm. ins. (w ithsmal l varian ts ) “

who seekrefuge in the K ing and Lo

g].f pd o f age s.” A longer inser

t i fo llow s In B D ve rs io n e e Appx.

“Syr.

“ said to the comb, ‘Come and appear fo rthw ith,

great swarmo f bee s that are in thehoneycomb ’” Lat .

Arm. shorter.

XVI I] MICHAEL DEPARTS

comb, and the ce l l s were numberless , tens o f thousands o f tens o f thousands and thousands o f

thousands . And the bees al so were white likesnow

,and their wings as purple and crimson stufl

”

and as scarlet ;1 and they had also sharp stings

and injured no man . Then al l those bees enc ircledA senath from feet to head

,and other great bees

like their queens arose from the cel l s,and they

c ircled round upon her face and uponhe r l ips,and

made a comb uponher mouth and uponhe r l ipsl ike the comb that lay before the angel ; and al lthose bees ate from the comb that was uponA senath’s mouth . And the angel said to thebees

,

“ Go now to your place .” Then al l thebees rose and flew and departed to heaven but asmany as wished to injure A senath al l fel l upon theearth and d ied . And thereupon the angel stretchedhis staff over the dead bees and said to themR ise and depart ye also into your place ” Thenal l the dead bees rose and departed into the courtthat adjoined A senath’s house and took up theirlodging upon the fru it-bear ing trees.

Michael d epar ts .

XV I I . And the angel saith to A senath ,“ Hast

thou seen this thing ? ” And she said,

“ Yea,my

lord,I have seen al l these things .

” The divine 2

angel saith tohe r : “ So shal l be al l my words asa geW ’ fl éxyr. ins. and fine l inen in terwoven w ithgo ld, and a

crown o f go ld was on thehead of eachone of them” latterin Arm.vers ion s om. Lat: He ” for The

5 2 JOSEPH AND ASENATH

God have been revealed to thee ; and blessed are

al l who c l eave to the Lord God in pen i tence ,because they shal l eat o f this comb

,fo r that this

comb is the spiri t o f l ife , and this the bees o f theparad ise o f del ight have made from the dew o f theroses o f l ife that are in the parad ise o f God andevery flower

,and o f i t eat the angel s and al l the

e lec t o f God and al l the sons o f the Most High ,and whosoever shal l eat o f it shal l not d ie fo r ever.

”

Then the d ivine 1 angel stretched o ut his r ighthand and took a smal l p iece from the comb andate

,and with his own hand placed what was left in

Asenath’s mouth and sa id toher, “Eat

,

” and sheate . And the angel saith tohe r : “ LO ! now

thou hast eaten the bread o f l ife and hast drunkthe cup o f immortal ity and been anointed with theunct ion o f incorruption 10 ! now to-day thy flesh

pro duce thflowers o f l ife from the fountain 2 o f theMost H igh , and thy bones shal l be made fat l ikethe cedars o f the paradise o f del ight o f God andunwearying powers shal l maintain thee ; accordingly thy youth shal l not see old age, no r shal l thybeauty fai l fo r ever, but thoushalt be as a wal led

And the angel rInc ited thecomb

,

4 and many bee s arose from the cel l s o f that

vers ion s om. ; Lat . “ be ” for “the ange l.

Arm. “ land ”; sen tence shortened in Lat . S lav.

O

E)and said comb.

”

Lat . Syr. Arm. ins. (w ithsmal l varian ts ) “who seek

refuge in the K ing and Lo (1 pd o f age s.” A longer insert i fo llows In B D vers io n

]

? e e Appx.

8 8W.

“ said to the comb, ‘Come and appear fo r thw ith,

great swarmo f bee s that are in thehoneycomb ’” Lat .

Arm. shorte r.

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JOSEPH AND ASENATH [xvu

many as I have spoken to thee to-day . Thenthe angel ro f the Lord 1 fo r the third 2 time

stretched fo rthhis r ight hand and touched thes ide o f the comb

,and straightway fire came up

from the table and devoured the comb,but the

table i t injured no t a whit . And,when much

fragrancehad come forthfrom the burn ing o f the

comb and fi l led the chamber,A senath said to the

d ivine 3 angel : “ Lord,I have seven virgins who

were brought up withme frommy youthand wereborn on one night with me , who wait uponme ,and I love them all ‘1 as my s isters . I wi l l cal lthem and thou shal t bless them too , even as thoublessedst me.

”And the angel said tohe r : “ Cal l

them . Then A senath cal led the seven v irgins andset them before the angel , and the angel said t othem “ The Lord God Most High shal l bless you,

and ye shal l be r[pi l lars] o f refuge o f seven C i ties,

5

and al l the elec t o f that c ity who dwel l togethershal l [upo n you rest]

6 fo r ever.” And rafter these

things 7 the div ine 7 angel saith to A senath : “ Takeaway this table .” And

, when A senath turned to

remove the table , straightway he departed fromhe r eyes , and Asenath saw as it were a chariotwith four ho rses that were going eastward t oheaven , and the chariot was as a flame o f fire , and

the horses as l ightn ing , and the angel was stand ingB ve rsion s omw e e p. 8 1

,n . 4.

B D vers ion s om. as . I” Version s om.Lacuna In text Lat . Syr . Arm. “ seven pillars in the c itySyr. ins. o f S lav. om. “

and ye re st .”text suppl. fromLat. Syr. Arm.ons om.

xvm] ASENATH’

S FACE IS TRANSFORMED 5 3

above that chariot . Then A senath said : “ S i l lyand fool ish am I

,the lowly one

,fo r that I have

Spoken as that a man came into my chamber rfromheaven

,

1 and I knew not that God came into i t ;and 10 ! now he goeth back to heaven to hisplace .” And she said in herself : “ Be grac ious

,

Lord,to thy bondmaid , rand Spare thine handmaid ,2

because,fo r my part

,I have in ignorance spoken

rash things before thee .

Asen ath’s Face is t r an sfo rmed .

XV I I I . And,while A senath was yet speaking

these words to herself,lo ! a youngman

,one o f

the servants o f Joseph ,3 saying : Joseph,the

mighty man o f God, cometh to you to-day .

” 4

And straightway A senath cal led rthe overseer o fhe r house 5 and said to him :“ Haste and preparemine house and make a good dinner ready

,fo r

that Joseph,the mighty man o f God , cometh to us

to-day .

” 6 And rthe overseer o f the house 5 whenhe saw her ( fo rhe r face had shrunk from theseven days’ affl ict ion and weeping and abstinence)sorrowed and wept ; and he took hold o f her r ighthand and kissed it

‘

tender ly and said : “Whatthee

,my lady

,

7 that thy face 15 thus

at . Syr. Arm. om. ; S lav. om. and the chario tD version s om.at . Syr . Arm. Pen tephres (probably r ightly) .at . ins.

“ fo rhis fo re runne r standethat the gate s o f ours imilarly Syr . Arm. Lat . om. ff. to p. 5 8 , l . 2.

Syr. Arm. “he r fo ste r-father ” so always.S lav. om. if. to “hasted ”

(p. 56 l .Syr . Arm. daughter.

”

JOSEPH AND ASENATH [XVIII

shrunken ? And she said : “ I have had greatpain about mine head , and sleep departed frommine eyes . Then the overseer o f the house wentaway and prepared the house and the d inner.

And Asenath remembered the angel ’s words andhis injunctions , and hasted and enteredhe r secondchamber, where the chests o fhe r adorning were ,and openedhe r great coffer and bro ught outhe r 1first robe l ike l ightning to behold and put i t o n ;

and she girdedherself also wi th a girdle rbrightand 2 royal that was o f gold and prec ious stones ,and onhe r hands she put golden bracelets , and

uponhe r feet golden busk ins,

3 and a prec ious ‘1

ornament abouthe r neck,and a golden wreath

she put abouther head ; and o n the wreath asupo n i ts front was a great sapphire ston e

,and

rround the great stone 2 s ix sto nes o f great price,

and with a rvery marvel lous 5 mantle she vei ledhe rhead .

6 And, when Asenath remembered the words

o f the overseer o fhe r house,fo r that he said tohe r thathe r facehad shrunk

,she so rrowed exceed

ingly, and groaned and said :“Woe is me

,the

lowly one, s ince my face is shrunken . Joseph wil lsee me thus and I shal l be set at naught byhim.And she saith tohe r handmaid

,

“ Bring me purewater from the fountain.” And , when she had

ff. to court.

”

(p. 1 ) S lav.has wedding-raimen t,

ckedherse lf l ike a bride fo r themarriage-chambe r.”yr. Arm. 0m.yr. Arm. chain s.yr.

“ varied withmany prec ious stone s Similarly Arm.yr. Arm. br ide’s ” B D om.yr. Arm. ins.

“and She took a royal ” (Syr. om.) staff

RETURN OF JOSEPH 5 7

brought i t,she poured it out i nto the basin

,and

,

bending down to wash her face,she seethhe r own

face shin ing l ike the sun,andhe r eyes as the

morning-star when it ri seth,

1 andher Cheeks I as astar o fheaven

,

2 andhe r l ips as [red roses

,

3 thehairs o fhe r head were as the vine that bloome thamong his frui ts i n the parad ise o f God

,he r neckas ran al l-variegated cypress .4 And A senath

,when

she saw rthese things,

5 marvelled in hersel f at thes ight and rejoiced with exceeding great j oy andwashed nother face , fo r she said , “ Lest I washo ff this great and comely beauty.

” The overseero fhe r house then came back to tel lhe r

,

“ A ll

things are done that thou commandedst ” ; and ,when he beheld her

,he feared greatly and was seiz ed

withtrembl ing -

fo r a long time,and he fel l athe r

feet and began to say : “What i s this,my mistress ?

What is this beauty that surrounde ththee thati s great and marvel lous ? Hath the Lord God o f

Heaven chosen thee as br ide fo r his son Joseph ? ”

Jo sephr e tu rn s an d is r ece ived by Asenath.XIX . And

,whi le they were yet speaking these

things,a boy came saying to Asenath : “ Lo !

” 6 Arm. ins. and the ways ofher fe e t as even and gracefulf rows.”

£5527 “ KbSyr. as the fie lds o f the Mo s t H igh, and on themwasshe red as aman’s blo od ” ; Arm. red as fragmen ts

asO/Lg. pomegranate .

”

£3 53 LySyr. a ro se of life plucked fromits stem, andher tee th” a”

“

as arms prepared for battle ” Arm. “a ro se sprout ing when

it come thout fromthe buds her tee thas a gracefulto e r

”(om. fl'

. s imile s) .12? E

114 yr.“the o f re st of the ange l s that are Inheaven .

” Syr. Arm. “herse lf in the wate r.”

5 8 JOSEPH AND ASENATH

Joseph standeth be fore the doors o f our cou rt .Then A senath hasted and went down the stairsrfromhe r loft 1 withthe seven virgins to meetJoseph and stood in the porch o fhe r house. And ,

Josephhaving come into the court,

2 the gates wereshut and all strangers remained outs ide. And

Asenath came out from the porchto meet Joseph,

and when he sawhe r he marvel led at her beauty,

and said tohe r : “Who art thou,damsel ? ”Quickly

te l l me .” And she saith to him : I,lord

,

3 am

thine handmaid Asenath ; al l the idols I have castaway from me and they per i shed . And a mancame tome to-day from heaven and hath givenme bread o f life and I ate

,and I drank a blessed

cup, and he said to me :‘ I have given thee fo r a

bride to Joseph,and he himself shal l be thy bride

groom fo r ever and thy name shal l not be cal ledA senath, but i t shal l be cal led “ City o f Refuge

,

rand the Lord God shal l reign over many nations,

4

and through thee shal l they 5 seek refuge withGod Most H igh.

’

A nd the man said : ‘ I wi l l goal so to Joseph that I may speak intohis earsthese words concern ing thee .’ A nd now thouknowest

,lord

,if that man hath come to thee and

if he hath spoken to thee concerning me . ThenJoseph saith to A senath : “ Blessed art thou

,

woman,

3o f God Most High , and blessed is thy

Syr. Arm. om. in Lat . the sen tence is sho rtened .

Fo r ff. to“ seatedhim(p . 59, l. ult. ) S lav.has sat.

”

Lat . Syr. Arm. om.Lat .

“and the Lord God is thy K ing for ever ” ; Syr.

at . Arm. many nation s ” Syr. people s and kindredslie s and nation s.”

PENTEPHRES RETURNS 59

name fo r ever, for that the Lord God hath laidthe foundations o f thy wal ls

,and the sons o f the

living God shal l dwel l in thy c ity o f refuge,and

the Lord God shal l reign over them fo r ever. Fo r

that man came rfrom heaven 1 to me to-day andsaid these words to me concern ing thee . And

now comehither to me , thou v irgin and pure,

and wherefore standest thou afar o ff ?” Then

Joseph stretched out his hands and rembracedAsenath , and A senath Joseph, and they kissedone another for a long time,2 and both l ived againin their spiri t.3 And Joseph kissed A senath and

gavehe r the spirit o f l ife,then the second time

he gavehe r the Spir i t o f wisdom,and the third

time he kissed her tenderly and gaveher the spiri to f truth.

P en t ephr es r e turn s an d w ishes t o b e t r o thAsen atht o Jo seph, bu t Josephr esolve s t oaskherhan d fr omPhar aoh.XX. And

,when theyhad c l asped one anothe r

round fo r a long time and in tertwined the chainso f their hands

,A senath said to Jo seph : “ Come

hither,lord , and enter ourhouse

,fo r that onmy

part I have prepared our house and a greatd inner. A nd she too k hold o f his right handand led him intohe r ‘

house and seated him on

QLat . Syr. Arm. om.Syr.

“ by the beckon ing ofhis eye s called A ., and A.

a so stre tched outherhands and ran to J . and fe l l onhisneck and embracedhim” ; Lat . “

embraced A. and theykissed o ne ano the r (om. ff. to l. Arm. called A .

t o J . and fe l l onhis neck .

”

ins.

“and were jo ined to one ano ther.

JOSEPH AND ASENATH [xx

the chair o f Pen tephreshe r father ; and she bro ughtwate r to wash his feet . And Jo seph said : “ Let

o ne o f the v i rgins come and washmy feet.” A nd

Asenath said tohim: “ Nay, lord , fo r that hence

fo rth thou art my lo rd and I am thine handmaid .

A nd where fore seekest thou this , that anotherv irgin shou ld washthy feet ? fo r that thy feet aremy feet , and thine hands mine hands , and thysoulmy soul , and another shal l not wash thy feet.And she con stra ined him and washed his feet.1Then Josephtook hold o fhe r r ight hand and

kissedher tenderly and A senath k issed h is headtenderly

,and thereupo n he seatedhe r at his r ight

hand . He r father and mother and al lher kindredthen came from the possess ion o f the i r inheritance

,

1

and they sawher s i tting with Joseph and c l adin a wedd ing-garment: And theymarvel led athe r beauty and rej oiced and glorified God whoquickeneth the dead . A nd after these things theyate and d rank ; and , al l having made cheer, Pen te

phres said to Joseph : “ To-morrow I wi l l cal l al lthe pr inces and satraps o f al l the land o f Egypt

,

and wi l l make a wedding for you ,and thou shalt

take my daughter Asenath to wife.” But Josephsaid : “ I go to-morrow to Pharaoh the k ing

,fo r

that he himself i s my father and appointed meruler over al l this land , and I wi l l speak to himconcerning A senath

,and he wi l l givehe r to me

to wife.” And Pe ntephres said tohim]

:“ Go in

peace .”

K g :Lat . Syr. Arm.havehere an addition see Appx.

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JOSEPH AND ASENATH

put his hands upon their heads 1 and saidThe Lord Go d Most H igh shal l bless you andshal lmul t iply r

and magn ify 2 and glorify you untot ime eternal . Then Pharaoh turned them roundto face one another and brought them mouth tomouth

,and they k issed one another . And Pharaoh

made a wedd ing fo r Joseph and a great d inne randmuch drinking during seven days

,and he

cal led together al l the rule rs o f Egypt and al l thekings o f the nations

,hav ing made proc lamation

in the l and o f Egypt , saying :“ Every man who

shal l do work during the seven days o f thewedd ing o f Joseph and A senath shal l surely die.”

And,while the wedding was going on , and when

the d inner was ended , Joseph went in to A senath ,and A senath conceived by Joseph and bareManasses and Ephraim his brother in Joseph’shouse.3

Asen athis in t r oduce d t o Jacob .

XXI I . And,when the seven years o f plen ty had

passed,the seven years o f famine began to come.

A nd,when Jacob heard about Joseph his son , he

came into Egypt with al l h is kindred in thesecond year o f the famine

,in the second month

,

on the twenty-first Of the month , and settled inGeshem . And Asenath said to Joseph : “ I wi l lgo and see thy father

,fo r that thy father I srael i s

ins. andhis righthand was on Asenath’sheadlarly

_

Arm.Ve rs ion s om.Lat . Syr . Arm.havehe re an in sert ion see Appx.

ASENATH VISITS JACOB

as my rfather and God .

” 1 And Joseph said tohe r : “ Thou shalt go with me and see my father.”

And J oseph and A senath came to Jacob in theland o f Geshem

,and Joseph

’

s brethren met themand made obeisance to them upon their faces onthe earth . Then both went in to Jacob ; andJacob was s itt ing upon hi s bed

,and he himself

was an old man in a lusty old age. And,when

A senath saw him ,she marvel led at his beauty

,fo r

that Jacob was beaut iful to behold exceedinglyand his old age as the youth o f a comely man

,

and al l h is head was white l ike snow,and

‘ thehairs o f his head were al l C lose and thick exceedingly,

2 and his beard white reaching to his breast,his eye s cheerful and glistering

,his s inews and

his shoulders and his arms as o f an angel , histhighs and his calves and his feet as o f a giant.3

Then Asenath,when she sawhimthus, marvel led

rand fel l down 4 and made obeisance on her faceupon the earth. A nd Jacob said to Joseph : “ I sthis my daughter-in-law

,thy wife ? Blessed shal l

she be o f God Most H igh. Then Jacob cal ledA senath to himself and blessedhe r and kissed hertenderly ; and A senath stretched out her handsand took hold o f Jacob ’s neck and hung on tohis neck and kissed him tenderly.

5 And after

Syr . Arm. “ God ”; S lav. “ father .

”

ins. as of an E thiopian ” Arm. as of an Indianc lause .

ins.

“and Jacob was as aman who fighte thwith

s imilarly Arm.Syr. Arm. om. S lav. om. all to “neck.

ins.

“as one who re turne thfromwar tohishouse

JOSEPH AND ASENATH

these things they ate and d rank. A nd thereuponboth Joseph and Asenath went to their house ;and S imeon and Levi , the sons o f Leah

,alone

conducted them fo rth,but the sons o f Bal la and

Z e lpha, the handmaids o f Leah and Rachel , d idnot join in conducting them forth

,fo r that they

envied and detes ted them. And Levi was atA senath’s right and S imeon 1 athe r left. And

Asenath took hold o f Levi’s hand,fo r that she

loved him exceedingly above al l Joseph’s brethrenand as a prophet and a worshipper o f God andone who feared the Lord . Fo r he was an understandingman and a prophet o f the Most High

,

and he himself saw letters wri tten in heaven randread them 2 and revealed them to A senath i nsecret ; fo r that Levi himself also loved A senathmuch and saw the place o f her rest i n the highest .3Pharaoh's S on t r ies t o in duce S imeon an d

Levi t o k ill Joseph.XXI I I . And it came to pass as Joseph and

A senathwere pass ing by,

rwhen they were go ingto Jacob,4 Pharaoh

’s firstborn son saw them fromthe wal l , and , when he saw Asenath, he becamemad uponher by reason o fher surpass ing 5%”D vers ions Jo seph.

T ‘

syr.

“written w iththe finger of God , andhe knew theZmidden things of God that were revealed tohim.” In Lat .

. the sentence ismuchshorter.

éfi s’

yr. ins.“andher e ternal wall s o f adaman t andher

foundat ion s firmly laid afore time on the stone of the rock inS imilarly Arm.

lav. om. ; Lat . house ” for“ Jacob .

h“

XXIII] PLOTS AGAINST JOSEPH

beauty.

1 Then Pharaoh’s son sent messengers,

and cal led S imeon and Levi tohim; and , whenthey came and stood before him ,

Pharaoh’s fi rstbornson saith to them :

“ I fo r my part know that yeare to-day mighty men above al l men upon theearth

,and withthese right hands o f yours the city

o f the S ic imite s was overthrown , and with yourtwo swords warriors were cut down . And

I to day wi l l take you to myself as companionsand give you much gold and s i lver and serv ingmen and handmaids and houses and great inheritauces

,

l"

and contend ye on my side and domekindness ;

2 fo r that I received great despite fromyour brother Joseph, s incehe himself took Asenathto wife

,and this woman was betrothed to me from

of old . And now come withme , and I wi l l fightagainst Joseph to sl ayhimwith my sword , andI wil l take Asenath to w ife, and ye shal l be to meas brethren and faithfu l friends . But

,if ye shal l

rnot hearken to my words , I wi l l s lay you withmy sword.

” 3 And , when he had said these things ,he drew out his sword and showed it to them.4And S imeon was a bold and daring man , and hebought to lay his r ight hand upon the hil t o f his

fi yr . ins. say ing, ‘Wherefore i s it Arm. “and

aid,‘ It shall no t be thus ’ Lat . “

and was di stre ssed, andno t what to do .

”

“on ly I require you to do one thing forme in loveLat . Arm. ; S lav. om. and withsword .

”

“he sitate andhinder and rejec t this thing , 10 this-po in t shall be drawn again st you ”

; s imilarly Lat .Arm. Lat . om. If. t o p. 10 ; S lav. (for “

ye shall be

JOSEPH AND ASENATH [XXIII

sword and d raw it fromthe Sheath thereof andsmite Pharaoh’s so n fo r that he had spoken hardwords to them . Lev i then saw the tho ught o f hisheart

,because he was a prophet,1 and trod with

his fo ot on S imeon’s r ight foot and pressed i t,

s ign ing to him to cease from his wrath . A nd Leviwas saying quietly to S imeon : “ Wherefore art

thou angry against th is man ? We areme n whoworship God and it i s no t meet fo r us to render evi l

fo r evi l .” Then Levi said to Pharaoh’s so n o pen lywith mildness o f heart : “ Wherefore speakethourlo rd these wo rds We aremen who worship God

,

and o ur father i s a friend o f God Most High,and

our brother i s as a son o f God . And how shal lwe do this wicked thing , t o sin i n the s ight o f ourGo d and o f o ur father I srael and in the s ight o four bro ther Jo seph ? And now hear my words.I t i s no t meet fo r a man who worshippeth God toinjure any man in any wise ; and , if any wishe tht o injure aman who worshippeth God

,that man

who wo rshippeth God avengeth not himself uponhim,

rfo r that there i s no sword in his hands.2 And

d o thou beware o f Speaking any more these wordsabout our brother Joseph. But , if thou con t inuest

i n thine evi l counsel,10 ! our swords are drawn

aga in st thee. Then S imeon and Levi drew theirswords from their sheaths and said : “ S eest thounow these swords ? With these two swords the

W 1yr. ins. and a seer andhis eye s were open ”

; Arm.( Cand saw by the purity o fhismind and read withhis eye s

was written in aman ’sheart ."yr .

“ swo rd inhand ” Arm. be cause there is a swo rdhands ” ; B D Lat . S lav. om. sen tence .

XXIV] CONSPIRACY OF DAN AND GAD

Lord pun ished the despite o f the S icimites, wherewith they d id despite to the sons o f I srael throughour s ister D inah

,whom Sychem the son o f Hamor

defiled .

”And Pharaoh

’

s son,when he saw the

swords d rawn , feared exceed ingly and trembledover al l his body, fo r that they glittered l ike aflame o f fire , and his eyes became d im ,

and he fel lupon his face on the earthbeneath their feet .Then Levi stretched out his r ight hand and tookhold o f him

,saying : “ S tand up and fear not , only

beware o f speak ing any more any evi l word co n

cerning our brother Joseph.

”And so both S imeon

and Levi went out from beforehis face.Phar aoh's S on con spir es w ithDan an d Gad t o

k ill Jo sephan d se iz e Asen athXXIV . Pharaoh’s son then continued to b e

fu l l o f fear and grief fo r that he feared Joseph’s

brethren,and again he was exceed inglymad by

reason o f A senath’s beauty,and grieved greatly.

Thenhis serving-men say in his ear : “ Lo ! thesons o f Bal la and the sons o f Z e lpha, the handmaids o f Leah and Rachel

,Jacob

’

s wive s, are atgreat enmity aga inst Joseph and Asenath andhate them ; these wi l l be unto thee in al l thingsaccording to thy wi l l. S traightway thereforePharaoh’s son sent messengers and cal led them ,

and they came to him rat the first hour o f the 1

n ight,and they stood inhis presence

,and he saith

to them :“ r I have l earned from many that 2 ye

Syr. Arm. S lav. “ by ” Lat . om. l . 27—p. 68 , l. 9.

Arm. omS lav. I see that .”

JOSEPH AND ASENATH

are mighty men . A nd Dan and Gad, the elde r

brethren,said to him “ Let my lord now speak to

his serving-men what he wishe th,that thy servingmen may hear and we may do accord ing to thy

wil l . Then Pharaoh’s son rejoiced with exceedinggreat joy and said to his serving-men “Withdrawnow fo r a short space from me

,fo r that I have

secret speech to hold with the se men . And theyal l withdrew. Then Pharaoh’s son l ied

,and he

saith to them : Lo ! now bless ing and death are

before your faces ; do ye therefore take the bless ingrather than the death

,because ye are mighty men

and wi l l not d ie as women ; but be brave andavenge yourselves upon your e nemIe s. Fo r I haveheard Joseph your brother saying to Pharao hmy father : ! rDan and Gad and Nephthal im andAsher 1 are not my brethren , but chi ldren o f myfather’s handmaids I wait therefore fo r my father’sdeath

,and wi l l blot them out from the earth and

al l their issue,l est they should inheri t with us

,

because they are children o f handmaids . Fo r thesealso sold me to the I shmael ites

,and I wil l render

unto them again according to their despite whichthey wickedly committed against me ; only myfather shal l d ie .

’

And my father Pharaoh commended him for these things and said to himThou hast wel l spoken

,child. A ccordingly, take

from memighty ~men rand proceed against themaccording to what they wrought against thee

,

2 and

! Syn“ The son s o f B . and Z .

” Lat. Arm. “ they S lav .

G.

”

Arm. om. ; Lat . om. “ Thou thee , and .

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70 JOSEPH AND ASENATH [XXIV

do al l the things that thou hast commanded us,

and we wi l l set forth by n ight and lie i n wait inthe ravine and hide ourselves in the thicket o f thereeds ; and do thou take wi th thyself fi fty bowmenUpon horses and go a long way before us

,

1 andA senath wil l come and fal l into our hands

,and we

wil l cut down the men that are withhe r, and shehersel f wil l flee befo re with her chariot and fal linto thine hands and thou shal t do toher as thysou l desireth ; and after these things we wi l l s l ayJosephalso whil e he is gri eving fo r A senath l ikewise also his children wi l l we slay before his eyes .”

Pharaoh’s firstbo rn 2 son then , whenhe heardthese things

,rej oiced exceed ingly

,andhe sent

them forth and two thousand fighting men withthem . And when they came to the ravine theyhid themselves in the thicket o f the reeds

,and

they d ivided r in to four companies ,3 and took uptheir station ron the far s ide o f the ravine as in thefront part

,

4 five hundred men on this s ide ro f theroad 5 and on that

,

rand on the near s ide 6 o f theravine r l ikewise the res t remained

,and they them

selves also took up their station in the thicket o fthe reeds

,five hund redmen on this side and on

that o f the road 6 and between them was a broadand wide ro ad.

fo llow D Lat. Syr. Arm. Batifl'

o ] “her. S lav. om.version s om.Lat . Syr. Arm. om. ; S lav. om. and they

om.om. S lav. om. ff. to “

road .

Arm. om.

XXV] ASHER AND NEPHTHALIM PROTEST 7 1

Phar aoh's S on go es t o k illhis Father , but is n o tadmit t ed . N ephthaliman d Ashe r pr o t estt o Dan an d Gad again st the Con spir acy.

XXV . Then Pharaoh’s son rose up the samenight and came to his father’s bed-chamber t o slayhimwith the sword . His father’s guards thereupo nhindered him from coming in tohis father and saidtohim: “What commandest tho u, lo rd ?

”And

Pharaoh’s son said to them :“ I W i sh to see my

father, fo r that I am going to gather the v intage o fmy new-planted v i neyard .

”And the guards said

to him “ Thy father suffereth pain and lay awakethe whole night and now rest eth

,andhe said to us

that no one was to come in to him not even if i ti s my firstborn And he o n hearing theseth ings went away in wrath and straightway 1 tookmounted bowmen fifty in number and went awaybefore them as Dan and Gad had said to him .

2

And the younger brethren Nephthal im and A sher

spake to the i r e lder brethren Dan and Gad , sayingWherefore do ye on your part again work wickedness against your father Israel

'

and against yourbrother Joseph? And God preserveth him as theapple o f an eye. Lo did ye not on ce sel l Joseph ?

and he i s king to-day o f al l the land ro f Egypt 3

and food-giver. Now therefore, if ye again wish towork wickedness against him

,he wi l l rc ry unto the

o (431m3 ? D version s om.or ff. to p. 7 5 , Arm.has a sho rt epitome on ly. Lat.

re st of ch.$ 3 33 D Syr. S lav. om.

72 JOSEPH AND ASENATH

Most High,

1 and he wi l l send fire from heavenand it wil l devour you , and the angels o f God wil lfight against yo u.

” Then 2 the elder brethren weremoved t o anger against them and said And shal lwe d ie as women ? rFar be i t. A nd they wento ut to meet Joseph and Asenath .

3

The Conspir at or s k ill Asen ath's Guar d san d she flees .

XXVI . And Asenath rose in the morn ing andsaid to Jo seph : “ I amgoing to the possess ion o f

o ur inheri tance as thou hast said ; but my soulfeareth exceedingly 4 fo r that thou art parting fromme.” And Joseph said to her : Be o f good cheerand be not afraid

,but rather go away r

rejo ic ing,

in dread o f no man whatsoever,

5 fo r that the Lordi s with thee and he himse lf wil l preserve thee asthe apple of an eye from every evi l . And I wil lset forth fo r my giv i ng o f food and wil l give to al lthe men rin the c ity

,

6 and no man shal l perish o f

hunger in the land ro f Egypt ” 6 Then Asenath

departed onhe r way, and Joseph r'

fo r his givingo f fo od .

7 And,when A senath reached the place

o f the ravine with the s ix hundredmen , suddenlythey rwho were with Pharaoh’s son 6 came forthfrom their ambush and joined battle with thosewho were with Asenath, and cut them al l down

yr. go up toheaven ”cr toheaven .

B D Syr. S lav. “ And .

” ‘ gf 0‘

yr. S lav. om.B D Lat . Syr. whatsoever.B D Lat . Syr . Syr. S lav. om.Lat . Syr. om.

THE ATTACK FAILS

with their swords , and al l her forerunners theyslew ,

but A senath fled with her chariot .1 ThenLevi

,

I"

the son o f Leah,knew al l these things 2 rhy

the spir i t 3 ras a prophet and 2 toldhis brethren o fA senath’s danger, and straightway 3 each o f themtook his sword uponhis thigh and thei r shieldsupon their arms and the spears in their right handsand pursued after Asenath with great speed . And

,

as A senath was fleeing before , 10 ! Pharaoh’s son

met her and fifty horsemen with him : and A senath,

when she sawhim,was se i z ed with very great fear

and was trembl ing, and she cal led upon the nameo f the Lordher God.

The Men w ithPhar aoh’s S on an d tho se w ithDan an d Gad ar e k ille d ; an d the four

B r other s fle e t o the Ravin e an d the irSw o r ds ar e str ick en fr omthe ir Han d s .

XXVI I . And Benjamin was si tt ing withhe ron the Chariot on the r ight Side ; 4 and Benjaminwas a strong 5 lad

_

o f about nin eteen years , and upo nhim was ineffable beauty and might as o f -a l ion’swhelp

,and he was also one who feared God exceed

ingly. Then Benjami n leaped down from thechariot, and took a round stone from the rav ine andfi l led his hand and hurled at Pharaoh’s son andsmotehis left temple, and woundedhimwith agrievouswound

,andhe fel l from his horse upon

re st of ch. $14 5 2) Syr. S lav . om.S lav . om.po in t to the end Lat .has an ep itome only.

Syr. S lav. om.

JOSEPH AND ASENATH [xxvu

the earth hal f-dead .

1 And thereupon Benjamin,

hav ing run up on to a rock,saith to Asenath’s

chariot-man : “ Give me stones from the rav ine.”

And he gavehimfifty 2 stones . And Benj aminhurled the stones and slew the fifty

3 men whowere with Pharaoh’s son

,al l the stones s inking in

through their temples . Then the sons o f Leah,

Reuben and S imeon,Levi and Judah

,I ssachar and

Z ebulon , pursued after the men who had lain inwait against A senath and fel l upon themunawaresand cut themall down and the s ix men slew twothousand and seventy-s ix men . And the sons o fBal la and Z e lpha fled from their face and saidWe have per ished at the hands o f our brethren

,

and Pharaoh’

s so n hath also d ied by the hand o f

Benj amin the lad,and al l who were withhim

per i shed by the hand o f the boy Benj amin .

A ccordingly,therefore

,come let us slay A senath

and Benjam in and flee to the thicket o f thesereeds .” And they came ragainst A se natlI 4 holding their swords drawn covered with bloo d . And

A senath when she saw them feared gre atly andsaid :

“ Lord God,who quickenedstme rand de

live redst me 5 from rthe idol s and the corruption o f 5

death,even as thou saidst to me thatmy sou l

shal l live fo r ever,del iver me now also from these

wicked men .

”And the Lord God heard Asenath’s

voice,and straightway the swords o f the adversar ies

fel l from their hands upon the earth and wereturned into

r. S lav. om. yr.“48 . Syr . S lav .

“

48 .

D Syr. S lav. om. S lav. om.

XXVIII] THE CONSPIRATORS SPARED

Dan an d G ad ar e spar e d at Asen ath'sEn t r eaty.

XXV I I I . And the sons o f Bal l a and Z e lpha,

when they saw rthe strange miracle that 1 rhadbeen wrought

,

2 feared and said : “ The Lord fighte thagain st us on Asenath’s behalf. Then they fel lupon their faces o n the earth and made obeisanceto A senath and said .

“ Have mercy on us thybondmen

,fo r that thou art our mistress and queen .

We wicked ly committed evi l deeds against theerand against our brother Joseph ,2 but the Lordrequi ted us according to o ur works . Thereforewe thy bondmen pray thee

,have mercy on us rthe

lowly and miserable 3 and del iver us from the handso f our brethren , fo r that they wi l l make themselvesavengers o f the despite do ne to thee and theirswords are agai nst us.

4 rA cco rd ingly be grac iousto thy bondmen

,mistress

,befo re them .

” 2 A nd

Asenath said to them Be o f good cheer and benot ye afraid o f your brethren , fo r that they themselves are men who worship God and fear theLord 5 but go into the thicket o f these reeds unti lI shal l appease themon your behalf and stay theirwrathon account o f the great crimes which ye onyour part have dared to commit against them . Butthe Lord rsee and 6 judge between me and you .

”

B D “what ”, Syr. “ thi s great thing.

Syr . S lav. om. B D Syr. S lav. om.A B 111 5 .

“ And weknow that our bre thren aremen whoGod and render no t evil fo r evil to anyman .

Arm. ins.

“and arehumble befo re everyman.

Syr. Arm. S lav. om.

76 JOSEPH AND ASENATH [XXVI II

Then Dan and Gad fled into the th icket o f the

reeds ; and 1 r the ir brethren ,2 Leah’s sons , came

runn ing l ike stags rw ithgreat haste 2 —against

them .

‘1 And A senathstepped down from the

chario t that was her covert and gave themhe rr ight hand with tears , and they themselves fel ldown and made obeisance tohe r o n the earth andwept with a loud voice ; and they continued ask ingfo r their brethren the sons o f the handmaids toput them to death. And A senath said to themI pray you

,spare your brethren

,and render not

to them evi l fo r evi l . Fo r the Lord saved me fromthem and shattered their rdaggers and s swordsrfrom out their hands ,6 and 10 ! they have meltedrand were burned to ashes upon the earth 5 likewax from before fire , and this i s sufficient rfo r us

7

that the Lord fighte thfo r us ragainst them .

6 Ac

co rd ingly do ye spareryour brethren ,

8 for that theyare your brethren and the blood o f your fatherIsrael .” And S imeon said toher : “Whereforespeaketh our mistress good words on behalf o f

her enemies ? Nay but rather5 we wi l l cut them

down l imb from limb with our swords,fo r that

they devised evil things concerning 9 our brotherJoseph 10and our father I srael and against thee

,

I'

our

0 B D Syr. Arm. ins.

“ lo S lav. om. “Then blessed

(p. 78 , l .D Syr. Arm. om D Syr . Arm. S lav . om.Arm. om. D Syr. Arm. om.Arm. om. r themArm. om.

r . 1115 .

“us and Arm. you and .

ins.

“ 10 ! this is the second time s imilarly Syr.Uthird

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JOSEPH AND ASENATH

and it is not meet fo r a man who worshippe th Godto render ev i l fo r ev i l , no r to trample upon onewho hath fal len , no r utter ly to c rush his 1 enemyeven un to death. And now put back the swordintohis place

,and come and help me

,and let ushealhimo f this wound ; and , if he l ive , he wil l

be o ur friend and his father Pharaoh wil l be our

father. Then Levi raised Pharaoh’s son from theearth and washed away the blood from his faceand tied a bandage overhis wound and set himupon his horse and led him tohis father Pharaoh

,

relating to him al l the things that had happenedand befal len . A nd Pharaoh arose from his throneand made obeisance to Lev i upon the earth randblessed him .

2 Then,

rwhen the third day hadpassed , 3 Pharaoh

’

s son died ‘ from the stone “rwherewith he was wounded by Benjamin .

“ And

Pharaohmourned fo r his firstborn son exceedingly,

whence from the gr i ef Pharaoh fel l s ick and d iedat 109

7 years,and he left his d iadem to rthe all

beauteous “ Joseph. A nd Joseph reigned alone inEgypt 48 years ; and after these things Josephgave back the d iadem to Pharaoh’s younger child

,

who was at the breast when the old man Pharaohdied . A nd Joseph was thenceforth as father o f

Pharaoh’s younger chi ld in Eg pt ti l l h is death,glori fying and prais ing God

)Zf/XL) (f? 7

D Syr . Arm. D Syr.

D Syr. Arm. S lav. on the third day.

D Lat . wound of the stone ”

; Syr. wound Slav.md be fore received .

B Slav. om. a ] ? Lat . Syr . 1 77 Slav.

B D Lat. Syr. Slav. om.

APPEND IX OF PASSAGES NOT CONTAINEDIN THE GREEK TEXT

I . (After p . 39 , l .

LIFTING uphe r hands toward heaven , andA senath feared to open her mo uthtoward heaven2and utter God ’s name. She turned again to facethe wal l 3 and sat and beathe r breast and headwithhe r hands many times

,and spake inhe r heart

,

not open inghe r mouth , and said : “AmI notm iserable , an orphan , and deso l ate Mymouth isdefiled by the sacr ifices ro f the ido l s and by blessing

4 the gods o f the Egyptians .“ A nd n ow I havevexed my body

’

by these my tears and by ashes ;st i l l even now I cannot “ Open my mouth rto blessthine holy and terrible name

,l es t perhaps God be

wroth with me fo r cal l ing upon hi s holy name.Now what shal l I do

, [ I the wretched one I wi l l bebold and openmy mouth to him ,

7 and,if in anger

he rtrample upon me,he i s able again to heal me

1 Syr. Arm. I fo llow Arm., whichis the longer , givingthe chief varian t s. The beginn ing to

“ said ”

( I. 6 ) is inLat . in a sho rt fo rm

,followed by Asenath’s second speech.

2 Syr. ins.

“and speak t o God Mo st H igh.”

3 Syr . ins. con tain ing the w indow.

’

4 Syr.

“and Van ity o f.

5 Syr . ins.

“the chi ldren ofmy people .

Syr. wi ll.”g?

7 Syr. and cal l upon theho ly name o f themerc iful God .

{9979

APPEND IX

if he chastiseme with tortures , he is able to

comfort me two fo ld and,while chastising

,wil l

agai n renewme inhis mercy . If I am sorry by

reason o f my sins , he wil l be reconc i led to me and

forgive al l my s in s . N ow I wi l l be bold and Openmy mouth unto him, perhaps he wil l have mercy

upon me and forgive my sins.” And A senathturned away from the wal l and raised herse lf uponhe r knees .1

I I . (After p. 4 1 , l .

And the boy throwe thhi s hand round hisfather’s neck, and he gaine thstrength andbreatheth again after his fear and resteth upo nhim

,

rbut his father make th merry at the chi ld ishtrepidation o f his son .

3

111. (After p.

And now what is thy name, lord 5 tel l me,that

Imay ble ss thee , lord , 5 fo r ever and ever.” Theman saith to her : “ My name is in heaven in thebook o f the Mo st

'High, written rfrom eternity 5

by the finger o f God at the beginning o f the wri tings before al l

,fo r that I am prince o f the rMost

High,

7 and al l rthe names 5 whatsoeve r are written1 Syr. chastiseme

,he is the Lo rd andhe po ssessethme ,

and,it againhe smiteme

,hehimself w illhealme .

’And

she lo oked towardheaven . -i

lJ

APPEND IX

i n the book o f the Most H igh are rpast findingout 1 and can neither be heard nor seen by a man—in this world

,

2 fo r that rtheir names 3 are greatand wonderful rand glorious 2 exceedingly .

”

And

A senath said

IV. (After p. 5 2 , l .

And the angel stretched forth his hand and hisforefinger and laid it on the edge o f the comb thatlooked east

,and 5 the track “ o f rbis finge r

7 wasturned into blood and he stretched forth his handthe second time and laid his finger on the edge o f

the comb that looked north , and 8 the track “ o frthe finger

7 became as b lood. A nd A senath wasstanding on the left side and beholding al l thingsthat the angel was doing.

1 Lat .“ ineffable .

2 Lat . om.W E E—Lathffe theyfi u w w w w w

‘1 B D vers ion s. I fo llow B D . Fromp. 54,l . 2 the third

he stre tched fo rthhis righthand over the comb and

touched w ithhis finger the we stern side of the comb, and , ashe was bringing it n ear t ohimse lf” ; Lat . “ drew backhisfinger t ohimse lf and drew it over the edge of the combthat looked we st, and ”

; Arm. “ brought it t o the s ide thatlooked we st, and .

”

0 B Arm. S lav . appearance .

7 Syr.

“thehoney.

2 Syr . ins. drew it tohimse lf, and again on the track of

thehon ey there came blood. And againhe stre tched fo rthhishand and w ithhis finger touched the southern part of thecomb and brought it towardhimse lf, and again ” Lat .

“

put

inhis finge r over the part of thehoney that looked south,and ” similarly Arm.

F

APPEND IX

V. (After p. 60,l .

And Joseph looked uponhe r hands 2 as thehands o f l i fe andhe r fingers as the fingers o f a

scribe sk i l led rand beloved .

3

v i. (After p . 60,1.

And they saw Asyathas the appearance o f l ightandhe r beauty as the beauty o fheaven .

VI I. (A fter p . 62,l .

Afterward Asenath said “ I have sinned,Lord

,

I have s inned in thy s ight,I have greatly sinned

,I

A senath daughter o f Put ifar,pr iest o f Hel iopol is

,

7have s inned, e tc . I was rmost vi le 9 i nmy father’s

house and I was a virgin haughty and proudI have s inned

,etc . — and I worshipped gods

whereo f i s no number and ate bread 9 from theirsacrifices— I have s inned

,e tc .

— I ate bread thatsuffo cate thand drank the cup o f rebel lion 1“ from

1 Ve rs ion s . I fo l low Sy2 Fo r the re st Lat .has “ that there was no stain in them.11 Arm. om,4 Syr . Arm. I fo llow Syr. Lat .

“And they saw Asenathand

_stogd st ill, s inceher beauL ,

”

5 Lat . . Syr. Arm., I follow

LE) Syr . Arm. “ Asenath’s so e SS IOn to God ”(Syr.

N

) .

c ity o f the sun that visite thall thingsThe c ity of the sun that is overseer of all the gods .

Syr.“ peaceful ” ; Arm. om. “mo st was.

”

Syr . Arm. om.Arm. in s. and ate

”; Syr . (fo r

“the cup pe stilence

the ir l ibation s .”

APPEND IX 8 3

the table o f pesti lence— I have s inned, e tc .

— and

I knew no t the God o f heaven no r hoped 1 in theMost H igh God Of l ife— I have sinned

, e tc .— because

I hoped in the r iches o f my glory and upon mybeauty I was haughty and proud— I have sinned

,

e tc .— and I was wo nt to despise every man r

o f theland 2 and there was not a man who coul d stand inmy S ight— I have s inned , e tc .

—All who wooed meI 3 despised and d isdained— I have s inned

, e tc .

and I said that there is no t a prince o f the land whoshould loose my girdle o f v irgin i ty— I have s inned

,

etc. —but I wi l l be br ide o f the great king’s fi rstbornson— I have sinned

,etc .— unt i l Jo seph

,the mighty

one o f God , came , who 4 caught me as a fishby ahook with his rbeauty and 5 his wisdom “

and byhis manl iness I

”

d rew me forth 7 and brought me tothe l iving and Most High God and I

"

gave me8a

Cup o f wisdom and I became a bride unto himfo r ever and ever.”

Read speravi for“operavi so Syr. Arm.

Syr. who came beforeme Arm. om.Arm. ins.hated and Syr . om. “ I sinned , e tc .

”

Syr . ins. strippedme ofmy stubbo rnne ss and pride and

ftme ofmy strengthand byhis beautie s ensnaredmes imilarly Arm.

Syr . Arm. om.Syr . ins. and byhis spirit broughtme in to subjection

Arm. “and by the sp irit gaveme a po tion o f life

to drink .

y Cfi Syr . Arm. strengthenedme .

gsArm. gaveme bread of life t o eat and Syr. throughthe chief-captain of the Mo st H ighbread of life was givenme and

APPENDIX

V I I I . (A fter p.

And,when the men S imeon and Levi heard

these things which Pharaoh’s firstborn rebel l ious lyspake

,they were sore amaz ed .

1 Syr. Arm. I fo llow Sy

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