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And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand, and knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat." Gen. xxxix. 1—6.

An expression is used in this portion of the inspired narrative, of a very remarkable character. We are told that Potiphar was an Egyptian. This would appear, at first sight, to be a very needless piece of information regarding a prince of Egypt residing in his native city; yet is the expression thrice repeated. In this very concise narrative, wherein no words are wasted and nothing is written in vain, we cannot doubt that the peculiar circumstances of Egypt at the time of Joseph's deportation thither, have suggested this expression. In ordinary cases it would have been a mere pleonasm to write that a prince of Egypt residing at Thebes, or any other city of Egypt, was himself an Egyptian : that would follow as a matter of course. But, at Heliopolis, in the days of Aphophis, when there were Canaanites both in the court and camp of Pharaoh, the case was very different; and it was of the last importance to the descendants of Joseph, in after times, to know that their progenitor had been a bond-slave in the house, not of one of the accursed and devoted race of Canaan, but of a prince of Egypt, a lineal descendant from Mizraim, and the first settlers, having his estate at Heliopolis, and named hereditarily after the local god of his native

city. In these circumstances have originated the triple repetition of the fact that Potiphar was an Egyptian.

The office held by Joseph in the house of Potiphar, is frequently represented in the paintings on the tombs of this epoch. Their testimony also amply confirms that of the inspired narrative. the servants in the houses of the princes of Egypt were bond-slaves.

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"And Joseph was a goodly person and wellfavoured. And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath into my hand; there is none greater in his house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife. How then can I do this great wick

edness, and sin against God?

"And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within. And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me; and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and gat him out.

"And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and was fled forth,

that she called unto the men of her house, and she spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in to lie with me and I cried with a loud voice. And it came to pass when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me and fled, and gat him out. And she laid up his garment until his lord came home.

"And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew slave which thou hast brought unto me, came in unto me to mock me; and it came to pass as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me and fled out." Gen. xxxix. 9-18.

For any illustration of the barefaced profligacy of this scene we shall search the tombs of Egypt in vain. They are exclusively devoted to the praises of their inmates, and in no country that ever existed were sins of this character more rigorously prohibited, or visited with severer punishment; but we shall find there that which renders our narrative in the highest degree probable, in the ample details of the lives of luxury and ease and self-indulgence which were led by the haughty dames of Ancient Egypt. Scores of the princesses and noble ladies of these times have left on the walls of their tombs the imperishable records of the state and magnificence in the midst of which they lived. The luxury of

their couches, the long trains of attendants that made their sumptuous toilettes, the stibium-boxes, the metal mirrors, the numberless little appliances connected therewith, buried with their owners as their most valued property, and remaining to this day the visible tangible witnesses of their luxury; their rings and jewels, their robes in endless variety, of all these likewise we can produce the yet existing testimonies; while we learn from the reliefs in the tombs where they were found, the sumptuous banquets of most elaborate cookery that were spread before them, and the soft music that played, and the lascivious dances that were performed by male and female slaves in attendance, while they partook of them. Ocular demonstration of "the pride, the fulness of bread, and the abundance of idleness," of the ladies of Egypt would thus be laid before the reader, and all of the precise time now before us. These pictures, we repeat it, would form the most instructive and perfect comment upon the passage now under consideration that could be imagined.

"And it came to pass when his master heard the words of his wife, that his wrath was kindled. And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound and he was there in the prison." Gen. xxxix. 19, 20.

The "king's prisoners" in Egypt were prisoners of war. They were incarcerated in cells built of brick, around the precincts of the temples and palaces during the night; in the day-time they were employed in making bricks and other drudgery connected with the building, which apparently was never considered to be finished, For the fact that delinquent slaves belonging to the households of Pharaoh and his princes were associated with the prisoners of war, we are altogether indebted to this narrative. The arrangement was a highly probable

one.

"But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison, and whatsoever they did there, he was the director of it. The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand, because the Lord was with him, and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper." Gen. xxxix. 21-23.

Joseph was the officer or task-master over the prisoners. His duties coincided exactly with those of the task-masters over his descendants long afterwards. A fixed amount of labour was required of the jailor, and his superiors never enquired into the means whereby it was exacted. The skill and

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