A large crown of gold on his head, apparelled in byssus and purple, and
surrounded by his valiant men, Joseph was seated upon his throne in his
palace. His brethren fell down before him in great admiration of his
beauty, his stately appearance, and his majesty.[204] They did not know
him, for when Joseph was sold into slavery, he was a beardless youth.
But he knew his brethren, their appearance had not changed in aught,
for they were bearded men when he was separated from them.[205]
He was inclined to make himself known to them as their brother, but an
angel appeared unto him, the same that had brought him from Shechem to
his brethren at Dothan, and spoke, saying, "These came hither with
intent to kill thee." Later, when the brethren returned home, and gave
an account of their adventures to Jacob, they told him that a man had
accused them falsely before the ruler of Egypt, not knowing that he who
incited Joseph against them was an angel. It was in reference to this
matter, and meaning their accuser, that Jacob, when he dispatched his
sons on their second expedition to Egypt, prayed to God, "God Almighty
give you mercy before the man."[206]
Joseph made himself strange unto his brethren, and he took his cup in
his hand, knocked against it, and said, "By this magic cup I know that
ye are spies." They replied, "Thy servants came from Canaan into Egypt
for to buy corn."
Joseph: "If it be true that ye came hither to buy corn, why is it that
each one of you entered the city by a separate gate?"[207]
The brethren: "We are ALL the sons of one man in the land of Canaan,
and he bade us not enter a city together by the same gate, that we
attract not the attention of the people of the place." Unconsciously
they had spoken as seers, for the word ALL included Joseph as one of
their number.[208]
Joseph: "Verily, ye are spies! All the people that come to buy corn
return home without delay, but ye have lingered here three days,
without making any purchases, and all the time you have been gadding
about in the disreputable parts of the city, and only spies are wont to
do thus."
The brethren: "We thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of Jacob,
the son of Isaac, the son of the Hebrew Abraham. The youngest is this
day with our father in Canaan, and one hath disappeared. Him did we
look for in this land, and we looked for him even in the disreputable
houses."
Joseph: "Have ye made search in every other place on earth, and was
Egypt the only land left? And if it be true that he is in Egypt, what
should a brother of yours be doing in a house of ill-fame, if, indeed,
ye are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?"
The brethren: "We did hear that some Ishmaelites stole our brother, and
sold him into slavery in Egypt, and as our brother was exceeding fair
in form and face, we thought he might have been sold for illicit uses,
and therefore we searched even the disreputable houses to find him."
Joseph: "You speak deceitful words, when you call yourselves sons of
Abraham. By the life of Pharaoh, ye are spies, and you did go from one
disreputable house to another that none might discover you."[209]
The expression "by the life of Pharaoh" might have betrayed Joseph's
real feeling to his brethren, had they but known his habit of taking
this oath only when he meant to avoid keeping his word later.[210]
Joseph continued to speak to his brethren: "Let us suppose you should
discover your brother serving as a slave, and his master should demand
a high sum for his ransom, would you pay it?"