gaging quality; and the fond father to express his greater esteem for it than any endowment in all his other children, distinguishes Joseph from the rest of his brethren by bestowing on him a fine vest of several colours, little thinking it would occasion such discontent among them. This note of distinction so much displeased Jacob's other sons, that they could not shew the least good temper to the favourite, but studied all the ways that malice could invent to make him uneasy: And that which enhanced their hatred to him was, Joseph's two dreams, which he very innocently related to them, not suspecting so severe a resentment from them as he afterwards found. The first was; "That his brethren and he were binding sheaves

together in the field, his sheaf arose and stood upright, "and their sheaves round about fell down before his." His brethren looking on him with scorn replied, "Shalt "thou reign over us ?"

His second dream was a fresh aggravation of their rancour, which the harmless youth, in his childish simplicity, likewise tells them: "I have seen (says he) the sun, the 66 moon, and eleven stars fall down before me." Nor could he conceal this dream from his father, (so strongly was the heavenly impulse upon him) but told it him. Good old Jacob, whether to mitigate the resentment of his other sons towards Joseph, or that he thought these dreams the effect of an aspiring and conceited forwardness in him, chid him, saying, "Shall I, and thy mother and thy bre"thren pay homage to thee?"

These two dreams of Joseph, however, were very significant; and though his father was willing thus to make light of them, that they might give less offence to his brethren, yet they made a deep impression on Jacob's mind. And now, whilst the envious brothers were rumi

was their disciple, in the style of the Hebrews, and therefore the Samaritan, Persian, and Arabic versions, and the Chaldee paraphrase render, "because he was a wise and prudent son:" And it seems that they might be yet better translated, by saying, That he was wise as a Senator, wisdom being a quality which makes parents fond of their children, and prefer them to their brethren.

nating on revenge, a fatal opportunity offered itself, and the pious parent becomes the instrument of delivering his darling into their implacably malicious hands. The ten brethren being gone to feed their flocks at a distance in Shechem, old Israel, out of his paternal care, desirous to know of their welfare, sends his beloved Joseph to see and acquaint them with their father's anxiety for their health. Joseph, in ready obedience, goes to Shechem; and not finding them there, wandered about, till a stranger directed him to Dothan, whither he went; and being come within sight of them, their malice which hitherto lay latent for want of opportunity, revived, and they immediately came to a fatal resolution to dispatch him. "See, (cried the unfeeling brothers) "where this dreamer comes! "Let us kill him, and bury him, and tell our father some "wild beast has devoured him; and then we shall see "what will become of his dreams." But Reuben, who was of a milder disposition than the rest, would not approve of this bloody contrivance, and studied to prevent it, dissuading them from shedding his blood, and proposing rather to cast him into a pit. The rest considering, that if he perished in the pit, it would answer their end, consented to Reuben's counsel. By this time the innocent youth, not in the least apprehensive of their wicked design on him, was come up to them; and as he was going to deliver his father's indulgent commendation to them, they seized and stripped him of his fine vest, and cast him into the pit, which at that time was dry and empty. Joseph extremely frightened at this vile and unnatural treatment, begged his life of his cruel brothers, for he knew he must inevitably perish with hunger there: But they are deaf to his cries, being resolutely bent to destroy him. Joseph in vain complains of his hard-hearted brothers, who are so regardless of him, that they had no sooner thus disposed of him, but they sat down and regaled themselves with what refreshments they had, whilst he was exposed to famine and despair. But Providence, the faithful guardian of a youth, designed for great events, had a watchful eye over him.

Before these unnatural brethren put Joseph into the pit, it was by Reuben's advice that they did not immedi. ately dispatch him; and now another of them, namely Judah, begins to feel some pangs of conscience, which was awakened by the opportune approach of a company of Ishmaelites travelling from Gilead, and going down to Egypt with spicery and other merchandize.* Judah lays hold of this opportunity, and considering with himself that Joseph was exposed to certain death in the pit, proposes to the rest to sell him to these merchants, urging the unnaturalness of being instrumental in the death of their own brother, which would bring an indelible stain of guilt upon them; but by selling him, they should not only save his life, but be gainers by the bargain. Considering this, they closed with the proposal; and taking Joseph out of the pit, notwithstanding his earnest intreaty, having no advocate for him amongst them, (for Reuben was absent) they sold him to the Ishmaelite merchants for twenty pieces of silver; and these, carrying him to Egypt, there sold him to Potiphar, an officert of the King, and captain of his guards.

Reuben in persuading his brothers to put Joseph into the pit, contrived it on purpose to preserve his life, hoping he should find means to deliver him from thence; and when they had bestowed him there, on some occasion or other he pretended to leave them but soon after returning, and not finding Joseph in the pit, he rent his

The circumstance of the Ishmaelites trading to Egypt with spices deserves notice, as it is the first mention made in Scripture of the early attention of mankind to the commerce of the East.

Officer. This is in the text called an Eunuch; which cannot be taken lite. rally, but must refer to one employed in some high trust. It was the custom indeed, and still is in those parts, to commit the keeping of the queen, and women of quality to eunuchs; but Potiphar cannot be supposed to be such, for he had a wife, as we may see in the story of Joseph: Besides it was customary among the Eastern people to call their noblemen Eunuchs.

Rent. This was the custom of those countries and times to express the highest grief; and of which, though afterwards more frequently used, this is the first instance we have.

clothes, and coming to his brethren, he cried out, "Alas!* "the child is gone; what will become of me, or whither "shall I go?" Butt they soon appeased him, acquainting him with what they had done in his absence; and then they began to contrive how to manage the matter to their father, so as to take all suspicion from themselves; which they did by dipping Joseph's vest in the blood of a kid, and sent it to him, with this message, "This we have "found; see whether it be thy son's coat or no." The bloody garment too soon convinced Jacob to whom it belonged; and not in the least suspecting any human creature could be guilty of such unnatural cruelty, concludes some wild beast had devoured him. This was the greatest trial that Jacob ever yet sustained; the loss of his beloved Rachel, though the joy of his soul and delight of his eyes, was a debt due to nature, and which she paid in a natural way; but the loss of Joseph far exceeded all the rest: He is, as his father might reasonably suppose, torn in pieces, barbarously mangled, and cut off before his time. The disconsolate parent expresses his grief after an unusual manner : He not only rent his clothes, but put on sack-cloth, and mourned a

* Alas! Reuben having greatly offended his father before in his trespass with Bilhah his concubinary wife, and probably hoping to have regained his favour by preserving his favourite son, and restoring him safe to him, having now lost the hope of that advantage, and reasonably fearing that his father's displeasure would fall heaviest on him, both as he was offended with him already, and as he being the eldest, should have taken most care of the younger, was exceedingly troubled for the loss of Joseph.

† But, &c. Here the story in the text seems to break off abruptly; but it must be supposed in parity of reason, that he joined with them in contriving to take the suspicion off to their father of having murdered their brother, and consequently that they had acquainted him with the selling of Joseph in his absence.

Sackcloth. Reuben, as we have hinted before, was the first we find who to express excessive sorrow rent his clothes, which Jacob not only does (though it cannot be supposed in imitation of Reuben, for that undoubtedly was concealed

long time for his beloved Joseph: and when his guilty sons offered to comfort him, he rejected them, declaring that he would never cease mourning as long as he lived.

But here we must for a while leave Joseph, that we may take notice of some intermediate occurrences. About the time that this affliction befel old Israel, his son Judah had committed a great fault in marrying a Canaanitish* woman, by whom he had three sons, Er, Onan, and Shelah; the occasion of which was a visit he made to Hirah the Adullamite, with whom he had contracted a friendship, which proved a snare to him: for being at Hirah's house, he fell in love with the daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah, and married her, and by her he had three sons above-mentioned. In process of time, when Er his eldest son was grown marriageable, he took a wife for him whose name was Tamar." But Er proving a wicked man in the sight of God, however he might appear to men, God cutt him off; after which, Judah bids his second son Onan marry his brother's widow, that the family might not fail for want of issue. Young Onan knowing that if Tamar should bear him any children, the eldest would inherit in the name‡ of his

from him,) but clothes himself with sackcloth, a sort of coarse ordinary habit, used afterwards by the Israelites in mourning; of which custom this is the first instance on record.

Canaanitish. See Gen. xxxviji 2. The transgression of Judah in marrying this woman led him into a greater afterwards; which was not fully completed till after Joseph was sold, and gone into Egypt; and therefore Moses deferred the first part of it, that he might give the story entire together.

+ Cut, &c. What sort of death he, and afterwards his brother, died, is not mentioned by Moses. It is however generally supposed that they did not die a natural death, but for their extraordinary iniquities were taken off by God in an extraordinary manner.

This was long before the Law, by which it was afterwards enjoined, Deut. XXV. 5. and yet though this be the first mention we have of it, it seems it was then a known custom and well understood by Onan. For he knew that the issue should not be his, but that the first-born of such marriage should be reputed his deceased brother's, and bear his name, as was afterwards declared, Deut. xxv. 6