Study Desk

"The [skilled] archers have bitterly attacked and provoked him; They have shot [at him] and harassed him.

"The blessings of your father Are greater than the blessings of my ancestors [Abraham and Isaac] Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; They shall be on the head of Joseph, Even on the crown of the head of him who was the distinguished one and the one who is prince among (separate from) his brothers.

"There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah—

Now forty days were required for this, for that is the customary number of days [of preparation] required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept and grieved for him [in public mourning as they would for royalty] for seventy days.

and all the household of Joseph and his brothers and his father's household. They left only their little ones and their flocks and herds in the land of Goshen.

When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they mourned there with a great lamentation (expressions of mourning for the deceased) and [extreme demonstrations of] sorrow [according to Egyptian custom]; and Joseph observed a seven-day mourning for his father.

When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "What if Joseph carries a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him?"

'You are to say to Joseph, "I beg you, please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong."' Now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father." And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

Then his brothers went and fell down before him [in confession]; then they said, "Behold, we are your servants (slaves)."

So Joseph died, being a hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

but the Israelites were prolific and increased greatly; they multiplied and became extremely strong, so that the land was filled with them.

He said to his people, "Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are too many and too mighty for us [they greatly outnumber us].

"Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, so that they will not multiply and in the event of war, join our enemies, and fight against us and escape from the land."

So they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with hard labor. And the sons of Israel built Pithom and Raamses as storage cities for Pharaoh.

But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more they multiplied and expanded, so that the Egyptians dreaded and were exasperated by the Israelites.

They made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar, brick, and all kinds of field work. All their labor was harsh and severe.

But the midwives feared God [with profound reverence] and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded, but they let the boy babies live.

The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth quickly and their babies are born before the midwife can get to them."

Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and they came and drew water [from the well where Moses was resting] and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.

They said, "An Egyptian saved us from the shepherds. He even drew water [from the well] for us and watered the flock."