War of the Amorite Kings against Jacob and his Sons. Joseph sold into Egypt. The Death of Bilhah and Dinah (xxxiv. 1-19)

War of the Amorite Kings against Jacob and his Sons. Joseph sold into Egypt (cf. Gen. xxxvii.). The Death of Bilhah and Dinah (xxxiv. 1-19).

XXXIV. And in the sixth year of this week of this

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forty-fourth jubilee Jacob sent his sons to pasture their sheep, and his servants with them, to the pastures of Shechem. 2. ² And the seven kings of the Amorites assembled themselves together against them, to slay them, hiding themselves under the trees, and to take their cattle as a prey. 3. And Jacob and Levi and Judah and Joseph were in the house with Isaac their father; for his spirit was sorrowful, and they could not leave him: and Benjamin was the youngest, and for this reason remained with his father. 4. And there came the king[s] ³ of Tâphû, ⁴

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and the king[s] ¹ of †’Arêsa,† ² and the king[s] ¹ of Sêragân, ³ and the king[s] ¹ of Sêlô, ⁴ and the king[s] ¹ of Gâ’as, ⁵ and the king of Bêthôrôn, ⁶ and the king of †Ma’anîsâkîr,† ⁷ and all those who dwell in these mountains (and) who dwell in the woods in the land of Canaan. 5. And they announced this to Jacob saying: "Behold, the kings of the Amorites have surrounded thy sons, and plundered their herds." 6. And he arose from his housel he and his three sons and all the servants of his father, and his own servants, and he went against them with six thousand ⁸ men, who carried swords. 7. And he slew them in the pastures of Shechem, and pursued those who fled, and he slew them with the edge of the sword, and he slew ⁹ †’Arêsa † and Tâphû and Sarêgân and Sêlô and †’Amânîsakîr† and Gâ[gâ]’as, and he recovered his herds. 8. And he prevailed over them, and imposed tribute on them that they should pay him tribute, five fruit products of their land, and he built Rôbêl ¹⁰ and Tamnâtârês ¹¹ 9. And he returned in peace, and made peace with them, and they became his servants, until the day that he and his sons went down into

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Egypt. 10. ¹² And in the seventh year of this week he sent Joseph to learn about the welfare of his brothers from his house to the land of Shechem, and he found them in the land of Dothan. 11. And they dealt treacherously with him, and formed a plot against him to slay him, but changing their minds,

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they sold him to Ishmaelite merchants, and they brought him down into Egypt, and they sold him to Potiphar, the eunuch ¹ of Pharaoh, the chief of the cooks, ² priest of the city of ’Êlêw. ³ 12. And the sons of Jacob slaughtered a kid, and dipped the coat of Joseph in the blood, and sent (it) to Jacob their father on the tenth of the seventh month. 13. And he mourned all that night, for they had brought it to him in the evening, and he became feverish with mourning for his death, and he said: "An evil beast hath devoured Joseph"; and all the members of his house [mourned with him that day, and they] ⁴ were grieving and mourning with him all that day. 14. And his sons and his daughter rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted for his son. 15. And on that day Bilhah heard that Joseph had perished, and she died mourning him, and she was living in †Qafrâtêf† ⁵ and Dinah also, his daughter, died after Joseph had perished. And there came these three mournings upon Israel in one month. 16. And they buried Bilhah over against the tomb of Rachel, and Dinah also, his daughter, they buried there. 17. And he mourned for Joseph one year, and did not cease, for he said "Let me go down to the grave mourning for my son." ⁶ 18. For this reason ⁷ it is ordained for the children of Israel that they should afflict themselves ⁸ on the tenth of the seventh month--on the day that the news which made him weep for Joseph came to Jacob his father--that they should make atonement for themselves thereon with a young goat on the tenth of the seventh month,

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once a year, for their sins; for they had grieved the affection of their father regarding Joseph his son. 19. And this day hath been ordained that they should grieve thereon for their sins, and for all their transgressions and for all their errors, so that they might cleanse themselves on that day once a year.

Footnotes

169:2 The account given in 2-8 of the conquest of Shechem is given in a fuller form in the Test. Judah iii-vii., and in the Midrash Wajjissau (cf. Gaster, Chronicles of Jerahmeel, pp. 80-87). The legend evidently has an old basis, for it harmonizes with the statement given in Gen. xlviii. 22, which refers to Jacob's conquest of Shechem (cf. RX. margin). This form of the story is obviously independent of, and possibly older than, that given in Gen. xxxiv.

169:3 Read "king."

169:4 = Tappuah (Josh. xv. 53, xvi. 8). It is the Tephon mentioned in 1 Macc. ix. 50. This and the following places mentioned may have been specially interesting to our author because of events connected with them in Maccabean times.

170:1 Read "king."

170:2 Read "Asor," i. e. Hazer, the scene of a great victory by Jonathan, 1 Macc. xi. 67 ff.

170:3 Unknown.

170:4 i. e. Shiloh.

170:5 =? Gaash (Josh. xxiv. 30).

170:6 The scene of more than one Maccabean victory; cf. 1 Macc. iii. 13 ff vii. 39 ff.

170:7 Corrupt for Shakir-Maani."

170:8 Another reading is "800."

170:9 Six out of the seven kings are slain; so Test. Judah iv. [For the names see notes on 4 above.]

170:10 Perhaps corrupt for "Arbael" = Arbela (1 Macc. ix. 2).

170:11 = Timnath-heres (Jud. ii. 9); cf. 1 Macc. ix. 50.

170:12 For 10-11 cf. Gen. xxxvii. 12 ff.

171:1 Or "court official."

171:2 So LXX of Gen. xxxvii. 36 (ἀρχιμάγειρος), misunderstanding the Hebrew (= "captain of the guard").

171:3 i. e. Heliopolis (LXX Ἡλίου πόλεωσ, Gen. xli. 45, 50), i. e. "On."

171:4 Bracketed as a dittograph.

171:5 ? = "Kabrâtân," xxxii. 32.

171:6 Cf. Gen. xxxvii. 35.

171:7 The reason here given for the institution of the Day of Atonement (cf. Lev. xvi.) seems to be peculiar to our Book.

171:8 = "fast," cf. Lev. xvi. 31, etc.