Benjamin was one hundred and twenty-five years old, and he called his
children to come to him. When they appeared, he kissed them, and spake:
"As Isaac was born unto Abraham in his old age, so was I born unto
Jacob when he was stricken in years. Therefore I was called Benjamin,
'the son of days.' My mother Rachel died at my birth, and Bilhah her
slave suckled me. Rachel had no children for twelve years after bearing
Joseph. Therefore she prayed to God, and fasted twelve days, and she
conceived and bare me. Our father loved Rachel fondly, and he had
longed greatly to have two sons by her.
"When I came down to Egypt, and my brother Joseph recognized me, he
asked me, 'What said my brethren to my father regarding me?' And I told
him that they had sent Jacob his coat stained with blood, and had said,
'Know now whether this be thy son's coat or not.' And Joseph said:
'This is what happened to me. Canaanitish merchantmen stole me away
with violence, and on the way they wanted to hide my coat, to make it
seem as though a wild beast had met me and slain me. But he who was
about to conceal it, was torn by a lion, whereupon his companions, in
great fear, sold me to the Ishmaelites. My brethren, thou seest, did
not deceive my father with a lie.' In this wise Joseph tried to keep
the deed of our brethren a secret from me. He also summoned my
brethren, and enjoined them not to make known to our father what they
had done to him, and bade them repeat the tale he had told me.
"Now, my children, love ye the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, and
observe His commandments, taking that good and pious man Joseph as your
model. Until the day of his death he would not have divulged what his
brethren had done to him, and although God revealed their action to
Jacob, he continued to deny it. Only after many efforts, when Jacob
adjured him to confess the truth, he was induced to speak out. Even
then he besought our father Jacob to pray for our brethren, that God
account not the evil they had done to him as a sin. And Jacob
exclaimed, 'O my good child Joseph, thou hast shown thyself more
merciful than I was!'
"My children, have you observed the mercy of the good man? Imitate it
with pure intention, that ye, too, may wear crowns of glory. A good man
has not an envious eye, he has mercy with all, even with sinners,
though their evil designs be directed against him, and by his good
deeds he conquers the evil, since it was ordained of God. If you do
good, the unclean spirits will depart from you, and even the wild
beasts will stand in fear of you. The inclination of a good man lies
not in the power of the tempter spirit Behar, for the angel of peace
guides his soul. Flee before the malice of Beliar, whose sword is drawn
to slay all that pay him obedience, and his sword is the mother of
seven evils, bloodshed, corruptness, error, captivity, hunger, panic,
and devastation. Therefore God surrendered Cain to seven punishments.
Once in a hundred years the Lord brought a castigation upon him. His
afflictions began when he was two hundred years old, and in his nine
hundredth year he was destroyed by the deluge, for having slain his
righteous brother Abel. And those who are like unto Cain will be
chastised forever with the same punishments as his.
"Know now, my children, that I am about to die. Practice truth and
righteousness, and observe the law of the Lord and also His
commandments. This I bequeath unto you as your sole heritage, and you
shall leave it to your children as an eternal possession. Thus Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob did, they transmitted it unto us, saying, 'Observe the
commands of God, until the Lord shall reveal His salvation in the sight
of all the heathen.' Then you will see Enoch, Noah, Shem, Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob[17] rise up with rejoicing to new life at the right
hand of God, and we brethren, the sons of Jacob, will arise also, each
of us at the head of his tribe, and we will pay homage to the King of
the heavens."
After Benjamin had made an end of speaking thus, he said: "I command
you, my children, to carry my bones up out of Egypt and bury me near my
fathers."
And when he had made an end of saying these things, he fell asleep at a
good old age, and they put his body into a coffin, and in the
ninety-first year of their sojourning in Egypt, his sons and the sons
of his brethren brought up the bones of their father, in secret, and
buried them in Hebron, at the feet of their fathers. Then they returned
from the land of Canaan, and they dwelt in Egypt until the day of the
exodus from the land.[18]
III
JOB