Once the brethren of Joseph led their father's flocks to the pastures
of Shechem, and they intended to take their ease and pleasure
there.[21] They stayed away a long time, and no tidings of them were
heard. Jacob began to be anxious about the fate of his sons. He feared
that a war had broken out between them and the people of Shechem, and
he resolved to send Joseph to them and have him bring word again,
whether it was well with his brethren.[22] Jacob desired to know also
about the flocks, for it is a duty to concern oneself about the welfare
of anything from which one derives profit. Though he knew that the
hatred of his brethren might bring on unpleasant adventures, yet
Joseph, in filial reverence, declared himself ready to go on his
father's errand. Later, whenever Jacob remembered his dear son's
willing spirit, the recollection stabbed him to the heart. He would say
to himself, "Thou didst know the hatred of thy brethren, and yet thou
didst say, Here am I."[23]
Jacob dismissed Joseph, with the injunction that he journey only by
daylight,[24] saying furthermore, "Go now, see whether it be well with
thy brethren, and well with the flock; and send me word"—an unconscious
prophecy. He did not say that he expected to see Joseph again, but only
to have word from him.[25] Since the covenant of the pieces, God had
resolved, on account of Abraham's doubting question, that Jacob and his
family should go down into Egypt to dwell there. The preference shown
to Joseph by his father, and the envy it aroused, leading finally to
the sale of Joseph and his establishment in Egypt, were but disguised
means created by God, instead of executing His counsel directly by
carrying Jacob down into Egypt as a captive.[26]
Joseph reached Shechem, where he expected to find his brethren. Shechem
was always a place of ill omen for Jacob and his seed—there Dinah was
dishonored, there the Ten Tribes of Israel rebelled against the house
of David while Rehoboam ruled in Jerusalem, and there Jeroboam was
installed as king.[27] Not finding his brethren and the herd in
Shechem, Joseph continued his journey in the direction of the next
pasturing place, not far from Shechem, but he lost his way in the
wilderness.[28] Gabriel in human shape appeared before him, and asked
him, saying, "What seekest thou?"[29] And he answered, "I seek my
brethren." Whereto the angel replied, "Thy brethren have given up the
Divine qualities of love and mercy.[30] Through a prophetic revelation
they learned that the Hivites were preparing to make war upon them, and
therefore they departed hence to go to Dothan. And they had to leave
this place for other reasons, too. I heard, while I was still standing
behind the curtain that veils the Divine throne, that this day the
Egyptian bondage would begin, and thou wouldst be the first to be
subjected to it."[31] Then Gabriel led Joseph to Dothan.[32]
When his brethren saw him afar off, they conspired against him, to slay
him. Their first plan was to set dogs on him. Simon then spoke to Levi,
"Behold, the master of dreams cometh with a new dream, he whose
descendant Jeroboam will introduce the worship of Baal. Come now,
therefore, and let us slay him, that we may see what will become of his
dreams." But God spoke: "Ye say, We shall see what will become of his
dreams, and I say likewise, We shall see, and the future shall show
whose word will stand, yours or Mine."[33]
Simon and Gad set about slaying Joseph, and he fell upon his face, and
entreated them: "Have mercy with me, my brethren, have pity on the
heart of my father Jacob. Lay not your hands upon me, to spill innocent
blood, for I have done no evil unto you. But if I have done evil unto
you, then chastise me with a chastisement, but your hands lay not upon
me, for the sake of our father Jacob." These words touched Zebulon, and
he began to lament and weep, and the wailing of Joseph rose up together
with his brother's, and when Simon and Gad raised their hands against
him to execute their evil design, Joseph took refuge behind Zebulon,
and supplicated his other brethren to have mercy upon him. Then Reuben
arose, and he said, "Brethren, let us not slay him, but let us cast him
into one of the dry pits, which our fathers dug without finding water."
That was due to the providence of God; He had hindered the water from
rising in them in order that Joseph's rescue might be accomplished, and
the pits remained dry until Joseph was safe in the hands of the
Ishmaelites.[34]
Reuben had several reasons for interceding in behalf of Joseph. He knew
that he as the oldest of the brethren would be held responsible by
their father, if any evil befell him. Besides, Reuben was grateful to
Joseph for having reckoned him among the eleven sons of Jacob in
narrating his dream of the sun, moon, and stars. Since his
disrespectful bearing toward Jacob, he had not thought himself worthy
of being considered one of his sons.[35] First Reuben tried to restrain
his brethren from their purpose, and he addressed them in words full of
love and compassion. But when he saw that neither words nor entreaties
would change their intention, he begged them, saying: "My brethren, at
least hearken unto me in respect of this, that ye be not so wicked and
cruel as to slay him. Lay no hand upon your brother, shed no blood,
cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and let him perish
thus.[36]
Then Reuben went away from his brethren, and he hid in the mountains,
so that he might be able to hasten back in a favorable moment and draw
Joseph forth from the pit and restore him to his father. He hoped his
reward would be pardon for the transgression he had committed against
Jacob.[37] His good intention was frustrated, yet Reuben was rewarded
by God, for God gives a recompense not only for good deeds, but for
good intentions as well.[38] As he was the first of the brethren of
Joseph to make an attempt to save him, so the city of Bezer in the
tribe of Reuben was the first of the cities of refuge appointed to
safeguard the life of the innocent that seek help.[39] Furthermore God
spake to Reuben, saying: "As thou wast the first to endeavor to restore
a child unto his father, so Hosea, one of thy descendants, shall be the
first to endeavor to lead Israel back to his heavenly Father."[40]
The brethren accepted Reuben's proposition, and Simon seized Joseph,
and cast him into a pit swarming with snakes and scorpions, beside
which was another unused pit, filled with offal.[41] As though this
were not enough torture, Simon bade his brethren fling great stones at
Joseph. In his later dealings with this brother Simon, Joseph showed
all the forgiving charitableness of his nature. When Simon was held in
durance in Egypt as a hostage, Joseph, so far from bearing him a
grudge, ordered crammed poultry to be set before him at all his
meals.[42]
Not satisfied with exposing Joseph to the snakes and scorpions, his
brethren had stripped him bare before they flung him into the pit. They
took off his coat of many colors, his upper garment, his breeches, and
his shirt.[43] However, the reptiles could do him no harm. God heard
his cry of distress, and kept them in hiding in the clefts and the
holes, and they could not come near him. From the depths of the pit
Joseph appealed to his brethren, saying: "O my brethren, what have I
done unto you, and what is my transgression? Why are you not afraid
before God on account of your treatment of me? Am I not flesh of your
flesh, and bone of your bone? Jacob your father, is he not also my
father? Why do you act thus toward me? And how will you be able to lift
up your countenance before Jacob? O Judah, Reuben, Simon, Levi, my
brethren, deliver me, I pray you, from the dark place into which you
have cast me. Though I committed a trespass against you, yet are ye
children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were compassionate with the
orphan, gave food to the hungry, and clothed the naked. How, then, can
ye withhold your pity from your own brother, your own flesh and bone?
And though I sinned against you, yet you will hearken unto my petition
for the sake of my father. O that my father knew what my brethren are
doing unto me, and what they spake unto me!"
To avoid hearing Joseph's weeping and cries of distress, his brethren
passed on from the pit, and stood at a bow- shot's distance.[44] The
only one among them that manifested pity was Zebulon. For two days and
two nights no food passed his lips on account of his grief over the
fate of Joseph, who had to spend three days and three nights in the pit
before he was sold. During this period Zebulon was charged by his
brethren to keep watch at the pit. He was chosen to stand guard because
he took no part in the meals. Part of the time Judah also refrained
from eating with the rest, and took turns at watching, because he
feared Simon and Gad might jump down into the pit and put an end to
Joseph's life.[45]
While Joseph was languishing thus, his brethren determined to kill him.
They would finish their meal first, they said, and then they would
fetch him forth and slay him. When they had done eating, they attempted
to say grace, but Judah remonstrated with them: "We are about to take
the life of a human being, and yet would bless God? That is not a
blessing, that is contemning the Lord.[46] What profit is it if we slay
our brother? Rather will the punishment of God descend upon us. I have
good counsel to give you. Yonder passeth by a travelling company of
Ishmaelites on their way to Egypt. Come and let us sell him to the
Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him. The Ishmaelites will
take him with them upon their journeyings, and he will be lost among
the peoples of the earth.[47] Let us follow the custom of former days,
for Canaan, too, the son of Ham, was made a slave for his evil deeds,
and so will we do with our brother Joseph."[48]