your seal, is therefore to give him the use of that authority and power which your own signature possesses. This explains the extraordinary interest about seals which is exhibited in the laws and usages of the East. It illustrates Judah's anxiety about the signet which he had pledged to Tamar (ch. xxxviii.), and it explains the force of the present act of Pharaoh. In Egypt, the crime of counterfeiting a seal was punished with the loss of both hands. In Persia, at the present day, letters are seldom written, and never signed, by the person who sends them; and it will thus appear that the authenticity of all orders and communications, and even of a merchant's bills, depends wholly on the seal. This makes the occupation of a seal-cutter one of as much trust and danger as it seems to have been in Egypt. Such a person is obliged to keep a register of every seal he makes, and if one be lost, or stolen from the party for whom it was cut, his life would answer for making another exactly like it. The loss of a seal is considered a very serious calamity; and the alarm which an Oriental exhibits when his seal is missing can only be understood by a reference to these circumstances. As the seal-cutter is always obliged to affix the real date at which the seal was cut, the only resource of a person who has lost his seal is to have another made with a new date, and to write to his correspondents to inform them that all accounts, contracts, and communications to which his former seal is affixed, are null from the day on which it was lost.

That the ring, in this case, was a signet appears from other passages, which describe it as used for the purpose of sealing. It would seem that most of the ancient seals were rings; but they were not always finger-rings, being often worn as bracelets on the arm. Indeed, it is observable, that nowhere in the Bible is a signet expressly said to be worn on the finger, but on the hand, as in the present text; and although this may denote the finger, we may understand it literally, as of a ring worn on the wrist. Finger seal-rings are now, however, more usual than bracelets; and very often seals are not used as rings at all, but are carried in a small bag in the bosom of a person's dress, or suspended from his neck by a silken cord. They are and were, whether rings or otherwise, made of gold or silver, or even inferior metals, such as brass. But an inscribed stone is frequently set in the metal; and that this custom was very ancient appears from Exod. xxviii. 11, and other places, where we read of engraving in stone like the engraving of a signet.' The editor of Calmet (Mr. Charles Taylor) was mistaken in his explanation that such seals, used as stamps-manual to impress a name with ink upon paper, must have the characters raised, as in our printing and wood-engraving, and not indented as in our seals. The fact is, that they are cut in the same fashion as our seals; and the thick ink being lightly daubed with the

JOSEPH'S EXALTATION.

finger over the surface, the seal is pressed upon the paper, where it leaves a black impression, in which the characters remain white or blank.

Arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck.'-This also was probably part of the investiture of Joseph in his high office. A dress of honour

still, in the East, accompanies promotion in the royal service; and otherwise forms the ordinary medium through which princes and great persons manifest their favour and esteem. In Persia, where perhaps the fullest effect is in our own time given to this usage, the king has always a large wardrobe from which he bestows dresses to his own subjects or foreign ambassadors whom he desires to honour. These dresses are called 'kelaats;' and the reception of them forms a distinction, which is desired with an earnestness, and received with an exultation only comparable to that which accompanies titular distinctions or insignia of knighthood in Europe. They form the principal criterion through which the public judge of the degree of influence which the persons who receive them enjoy at court, and therefore the parties about to be thus honoured exhibit the utmost anxiety that the kelaat may, in all its circumstances, be in the highest degree indicative of the royal favour. It varies in the number and quality of the articles which compose it, according to the rank of the person to whom it is given, or the degree of honour intended to be afforded; and all these matters are examined and discussed by the public with a great degree of earnestness. Besides the robes occasionally bestowed by the king and princes, the former regularly sends a kelaat, once a-year, to the governors of provinces, who are generally royal princes. At the distance of every few miles from every provincial capital, there is usually a town or village called Kelaat,' which name it derives from its being the appointed place to which the governor proceeds in much state from his city, attended by great part of its population, to be invested with the dress of honour thus sent him from the king. The occasion is attended with great rejoicings; and is of so much importance that it is postponed until the arrival of what the astrologers decide to be a propitious day, and even the favourable moment for investiture is determined by the same authorities. A common Persian kelaat consists of a vesture of fine stuff, perhaps brocade; a sash or girdle for the waist, and a shawl for the head; and when it is intended to be more distinguishing, a sword or dagger is added. Robes of rich furs are given to persons of distinction. A kelaat of the very richest description consists, besides the dress, of the same articles which Xenophon describes as being given by the ancient princes of Persia, namely: a horse with a golden bridle, a chain of gold (as in this kelaat which Pharaoh gave to Joseph), and a golden sword-that is, a sword with a scabbard ornamented with gold. The chain of gold now given is part of the furniture of the horse, and hangs over his nose. Joseph's chain of gold was, however, a personal ornament; it had thus early become a mark of official distinction, and remains such to this day among different nations. It is also observable that Xenophon mentions bracelets among the articles in the ancient Persian kelaat. Bracelets are not now worn by Persians, and are therefore not given; but we have already intimated that the 'ring,' mentioned in the preceding text, may be understood as well to signify a bracelet as a finger ring. (See the note on Esth. vi. 8.) 43. Bow the knee.'-The Hebrew word here is abréch. If the word be Hebrew, which is rather doubtful, it is probably an imperative of in Hiphil, and would then mean, as in our version, Bow the knee.' We are indeed assured by Wilkinson that the word abrek is, even at the present day, used by the Arabs, when requiring a camel to kneel to receive its load. But some good scholars deem the word to be a compound of 77-2, the father of the state,' and to be of Chaldee origin. Gesenius and others incline to ascribe to the word an Egyptian origin, but inflected by the sacred writer so that, although foreign, it might yet have a Hebrew sound, and be referred to a Hebrew etymology. Now in the Coptic, the word APEREK or ABEREK means bow the head,' which supplies a very good sense here. And it may be well to add that Origen, a native of Egypt, and Jerome, both of whom were well versed in the languages involved in the question, concur in representing abrech as signifying 'a native Egyptian;' and when we consider how important it

was that Joseph should cease to be regarded as a foreigner, the word has in this sense a consequence and significance which no other interpretation conveys. It amounts to a proclamation of naturalization, which, among such a people as the Egyptians, was essential to enable Joseph to work out the great plan he had undertaken.

45. Zaphnath-Paaneah.'-This is, of course, an Egyptian name, the original form of which is supposed to have been more nearly preserved in the Septuagint reading of Yoveoμparhx, Psonthom-phanech. Josephus gives the same form with the exception of the n, which he drops, reading Psothom-phanech. As thus represented in the Greek, those learned in the antiquities of Egypt recognise the Egyptian word PSOTOMFENEH, meaning the salvation' or the saviour of the age,' which corresponds closely enough with Jerome's interpretation of 'salvator mundi.' Gesenius and others incline, however, rather to seek the Egyptian form in the word PSONTMFENEH, 'Sustainer of the age,' which certainly seems a more appropriate meaning. This, in Hebrew letters, would probably be represented by a Paznath-paaneah; but in the name as it now stands the letters Y are transposed in order to bring it into the Hebrew analogy. See Jablonski, Opusc. c. 207-216; Rosellini, Monument. Storici, i. 185; Gesenius, Thesaurus, s. v. Mr. Cory, in his curious book, Chronological Inquiry, pp. 37, 41, has some remarks on this name, which are, however, too closely involved in his argument for regarding Joseph as the Hermes Phoenix (Phoenich), whom the Egyptians esteemed as an incarnation of Thoth, to be here introduced with advantage.

Asenath.-This name, in common with others of foreign origin which are found in the Bible, has attracted much attention and occasioned some discussion. The Hebrew form no Asenath, and that of the Septuagint 'Aoevéo, Aseneth, are regarded by the learned Jablonski as representing the Coptic compound ASSHENEIT. The latter member of this word he takes to be the name of Neith, the titular goddess of Sais, the Athene of the Greeks; and he supposes the whole to signify worshipper of Neith. The interpretation given by Gesenius in his Thesaurus does not much differ from this. He suggests that the original Coptic form was ASNEITH, which means who belongs to Neith'-quae Neithæ est. These explanations are rendered the more probable from the fact that the Egyptians were accustomed to choose names which expressed some relation to their gods, and this was the more likely to be done in the case of a priest's daughter. A new explanation, given by Mr. Cory in his Chronological Inquiry, p. 47-51, is at least curious, and we shall state it without comment.-The Egyptian monuments exhibit the name and symbols of a personage whose presence among the princes of the eighteenth dynasty has greatly perplexed the students of Egyptian antiquity. It is not a sovereign, and yet exhibits sovereign attributes and exercises sovereign functions. It is not even known whether this personage be male or female. The figure itself is bearded, and the dress is male, but the hieroglyphic attributes are female, and feminine nouns and verbs are employed in the legends relating to the achievements of this personage. Sir J. G. Wilkinson regards this personage as a queen, whom he calls Amun Neitgori; but M. Champollion, who reads the name as Amenenthe, regards the figure as that of a man, husband of a queen in her own right, and acting as regent in her name, and on her behalf. This regent Mr. Cory regards as Joseph, acting in the name of his wife Amenenthe or Asenath. This explanation will render intelligible the following extract:-The name which M. Champollion reads Amenenthe, is simply, without its intermediate vowels (which are gratuitously inserted) AMNNTH, which differs from the name of the wife of Joseph, ASNTH, or according to the Greek version Asenethe, in no important particular except in the substitution of the s for the M, two letters in the ancient Hebrew alphabet so much alike, that they are not distinguishable from one another; and I presume that in process of time the s has been substituted in the Hebrew for the M. This lady,

chosen by Pharaoh for the wife of Joseph, was the daughter of Poti-Phra, the priest of On, at that time the royal city; and from the near connection, in those early times, of the kingly and priestly offices-from the names of her father, a compound of the two royal titles Peté and Phra -from the honours designed to Joseph-and from the circumstance of Amenoph I. having no sons to succeed him, I conclude that the lady was not only closely connected with the royal family, but was actually or eventually one of the co-heiresses presumptive of the throne, perhaps a sister or cousin of the lady in whose right Thothmos I. obtained it. ... Connected with the higher destinies of the nation, Joseph would of course decline the sovereignty for his descendants; but the crown of Lower Egypt, which this regent wears, seems to intimate that his wife retained, at least, the viceroyalty of that part of the kingdom during her life.' We fear that this is rather too conjectural to bear the test of strict investigation; but it is but justice to Mr. Cory to state that these symbols and circumstances appear to belong to the age in which Joseph flourished.

-Potiphera.'-This name is the same as that of Potiphar-the name of Joseph's former master, in a contracted form. The name is, of course, Egyptian, and is, in the Septuagint, accommodated to the analogy of the Egyptian language, being given as Пeтeppn Petephre. In this orthography the name (not necessarily, as belonging to the same person) occurs in several Egyptian monuments, and is considered to mean, of or belonging to the sun. The principal element of the name is the same as in Pharaoh. See the note on v. 15.

1

- On.'-This is the same place which is called Bethshemes (house of the sun) in Jer. xliii. 13; and, according to the Authorized Version, Aven in Ezek. xxx. 17, although the original word is the same as here. This is owing to our putting useless vowels into Hebrew words, and in mistaking vowels for consonants. We do the same in Welsh names, and write Glend wr, Glendower' (Wilkinson, Modern Egypt. i. 296). The Septuagint identifies it with Heliopolis, the name of which, meaning 'city of the sun,' is equivalent to Bethshemes. The ancient Egyptian name Re-Ei, or Ei-Re, was of the same import, 'house' or 'abode of the sun.' The mention of it in the present text would suffice to show that it is a place of very ancient date.

Correspondingly, Strabo speaks of the remote antiquity of its temple; and this is confirmed by existing inscriptions bearing the name of Osirtasen, who reigned from 1740 to 1696 B.C., and it must therefore have been quite recently erected when Joseph married the daughter of its chief priest. The most ancient accounts of the city describe it as not only famous for its temple, but as the principal seat of learning in Egypt, and the usual resort of foreigners who wished to acquaint themselves with the wisdom of the Egyptians. When Strabo visited the place he was shown the houses in which Eudoxus and Plato were said to have studied thirteen years under the priests of Heliopolis. But it was then already a deserted city. It had suffered by the invasion of Cambyses; afterwards Alexandria superseded it as a seat of learning, and thither as well as to Rome many of its obelisks, and probably other monuments, had been removed. About six miles north-east of Cairo, is the village of Metaréch, hard by which are the mounds and solitary obelisk which mark the site of Heliopolis. The obelisk appears to be one of the two which stood in front of the temple, and it is highly interesting as the presence of the name of Osirtasen testifies that it is coeval with this first Scriptural notice of the city.

48. Laid up the food in the cities,' etc.-The labours of Joseph, here described, in building storehouses, etc., are placed vividly before us in the paintings upon the monuments, which show how common such storehouses were in ancient Egypt. In one of the grottoes of Eleithuias a man is represented whose business it evidently was to take an account of the number of bushels, which another man acting under him measures. The inscription is, The writer or registrar of bushels, Thutnofre.' Then follows the transportation of the grain. From the measurer others take it in sacks and carry it to the storehouses. In the tomb of Amenemhe at Beni Hassan, there is a painting of a great storehouse, before the door of which lies a large heap of grain, already winnowed. The measurer fills a bushel in order to pour it out into the uniform sacks of those who carry the grain to the granary. The bearers go to the door of the storehouse, and lay down their sacks before an officer, who stands ready to receive the corn. This is the owner of the storehouse. Near by stands the bushel with which it is measured, and the registrar who takes the account. At

its fertility upon the Nile, is subjected to famine at the same time with other countries whose harvests depend on the rain. But although the famine of Egypt was caused by the deficient waters of the Nile, and in the neighbouring countries by the want of rain; and although, from the difference of immediate and intermediate operations, Egypt often has plenty when the fruits of the soil have failed in the neighbouring countries; yet, essentially, the cause of dearth in Egypt and in the neighbouring countries is one and the same. The overflowings of the Nile are caused, as even Herodotus knew, by the tropical rains which fall upon the Abyssinian mountains. These rains have the same origin as those of Palestine. 'It is now known that the Nile owes its increase to the violent rains which proceed from the clouds that are formed upon the Mediterranean Sea, and carried so far by the winds, which annually at nearly the same time blow from the north.' (Le Père, in Descript. de l'Egypte, vii. 576.) There are also not wanting historical instances of years of dearth which were common to Egypt with the adjoining countries. Thus the historian Makrizi describes a famine which took place in Egypt, on account of a deficiency in the increase of the Nile, in the year of the Hegira 444, which at the same time extended over Syria, and even to Baghdad.

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57, and xlii. 6. All countries came into Egypt to Joseph, to buy corn..... Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people.-The abundant supply of grain and other produce gave to Egypt advantages which no other country possessed. Not only was her dense population supplied with a profusion of the necessaries of life, but the sale of the surplus conferred considerable benefit on the peasant, in addition to the profits which thence accrued to the state; for Egypt was a granary where, from

the earliest times, all people felt sure of finding a plenteous store of corn; and some idea may be formed of the immense quantity produced there, from the circumstance of 'seven plenteous years' affording, from the superabundance of the crops, a sufficiency of corn to supply the whole population during seven years of dearth, as well as all countries' which sent to Egypt to buy it, when Pharaoh, by the advice of Joseph, laid up the annual surplus for that purpose. The right of exportation, and the sale of superfluous produce to foreigners, belonged exclusively to the government, as is distinctly shown by the sale of corn to the Israelites from the royal stores, and the collection having been made by Pharaoh only; and it is probable that the landowners were in the habit of selling to government whatever quantity remained on hand, at the approach of each successive harvest. Indeed, their frugal mode of living enabled the peasants to dispose of nearly all the wheat and barley their lands produced, and they may frequently, as at the present day, have been contented with bread made of Dhurah (maize) flour; children, and even grown persons, according to Diodorus, often living on roots and esculent herbs, as the papyrus, lotus and others, either raw, toasted, or boiled. At all events, whatever may have been the quality of bread they used, it is certain that the superabundance of grain was very considerable, Egypt annually producing three, and even four crops; and though the government obtained a large profit on the exportation of corn, and the price received from foreign merchants far exceeded that paid to the peasants, still these last derived great benefit from its sale, and the money thus circulated through the country tended to improve the condition of the agricultural classes. See Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, i. 23, 24.

CHAPTER XLII.

1 Jacob sendeth his ten sons to buy corn in Egypt. 16 They are imprisoned by Joseph for spies. 18 They are set at liberty, on condition to bring Benjamin. 21 They have remorse for Joseph. 24 "Simeon is kept for a pledge. 25 They return with corn, and their money. 29 Their relation to Jacob. 36 Jacob refuseth to send Benjamin.

Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another?

2 And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.

3 And Joseph's ten brethren went down. to buy corn in Egypt.

4 But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him.

5 And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

6 And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land and Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.

7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake 'roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy

food.

8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.

9 And Joseph "remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

10 And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.

11 We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.

12 And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

13 And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.

14 And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies: 15 Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.

3 Chap. 37. 5. 8 Heb. an interpreter was between them.

16 Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.

17 And he put them all together into ward three days.

18 And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God:

19 If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses:

20 But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.

21 ¶ And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.

22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.

23 And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.

24 And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.

25 Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he unto them.

26 And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence.

27 And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it was in his sack's mouth.

28 And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack and their heart 'failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God hath done unto us?

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