The Book of Jasher
Referred to in Joshua and Second Samuel
Faithfully Translated
FROM THE ORIGINAL HEBREW INTO ENGLISH
Chapter 44
Joseph is sold to Potiphar, an Officer of Pharaoh.
Zelicah, the Wife of Potiphar, seeks to entice Joseph to do Evil, but all her advances
are Rejected. Is Falsely Accused by her and is brought to Judgment. Is Acquitted
by his Judges, but for the Sake of the Report against Potiphar's Wife, he is cast
into Prison.
1 And the sons of Ishmael who had bought Joseph from
the Midianites, who had bought him from his brethren, went to Egypt with Joseph,
and they came upon the borders of Egypt, and when they came near unto Egypt, they
met four men of the sons of Medan the son of Abraham, who had gone forth from the
land of Egypt on their journey.
2 And the Ishmaelites said unto them, Do you desire
to purchase this slave from us? and they said, Deliver him over to us, and they
delivered Joseph over to them, and they beheld him, that he was a very comely youth
and they purchased him for twenty shekels.
3 And the Ishmaelites continued their journey to Egypt
and the Medanim also returned that day to Egypt, and the Medanim said to each other,
Behold we have heard that Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard,
seeketh a good servant who shall stand before him to attend him, and to make him
overseer over his house and all belonging to him.
4 Now therefore come let us sell him to him for what
we may desire, if he be able to give unto us that which we shall require for him.
5 And these Medanim went and came to the house of
Potiphar, and said unto him, We have heard that thou seekest a good servant to attend
thee, behold we have a servant that will please thee, if thou canst give unto us
that which we may desire, and we will sell him unto thee.
6 And Potiphar said, Bring him before me, and I will
see him, and if he please me I will give unto you that which you may require for
him.
7 And the Medanim went and brought Joseph and placed
him before Potiphar, and he saw him, and he pleased him exceedingly, and Potiphar
said unto them, Tell me what you require for this youth?
8 And they said, Four hundred pieces of silver we
desire for him, and Potiphar said, I will give it you if you bring me the record
of his sale to you, and will tell me his history, for perhaps he may be stolen,
for this youth is neither a slave, nor the son of a slave, but I observe in him
the appearance of a goodly and handsome person.
9 And the Medanim went and brought unto him the Ishmaelites
who had sold him to them, and they told him, saying, He is a slave and we sold him
to them.
10 And Potiphar heard the words of the Ishmaelites
in his giving the silver unto the Medanim, and the Medanim took the silver and went
on their journey, and the Ishmaelites also returned home.
11 And Potiphar took Joseph and brought him to his
house that he might serve him, and Joseph found favor in the sight of Potiphar,
and he placed confidence in him, and made him overseer over his house, and all that
belonged to him he delivered over into his hand.
12 And the Lord was with Joseph and he became a prosperous
man, and the Lord blessed the house of Potiphar for the sake of Joseph.
13 And Potiphar left all that he had in the hand of
Joseph, and Joseph was one that caused things to come in and go out, and everything
was regulated by his wish in the house of Potiphar.
14 And Joseph was eighteen years old, a youth with
beautiful eyes and of comely appearance, and like unto him was not in the whole
land of Egypt.
15 At that time whilst he was in his master's house,
going in and out of the house and attending his master, Zelicah, his master's wife,
lifted up her eyes toward Joseph and she looked at him, and behold he was a youth
comely and well favored.
16 And she coveted his beauty in her heart, and her
soul was fixed upon Joseph, and she enticed him day after day, and Zelicah persuaded
Joseph daily, but Joseph did not lift up his eyes to behold his master's wife.
17 And Zelicah said unto him, How goodly are thy appearance
and form, truly I have looked at all the slaves, and have not seen so beautiful
a slave as thou art; and Joseph said unto her, Surely he who created me in my mother's
womb created all mankind.
18 And she said unto him, How beautiful are thine
eyes, with which thou hast dazzled all the inhabitants of Egypt, men and women;
and he said unto her, How beautiful they are whilst we are alive, but shouldst thou
behold them in the grave, surely thou wouldst move away from them.
19 And she said unto him, How beautiful and pleasing
are all thy words; take now, I pray thee, the harp which is in the house, and play
with thy hands and let us hear thy words.
20 And he said unto her, How beautiful and pleasing
are my words when I speak the praise of my God and his glory; and she said unto
him, How very beautiful is the hair of thy head, behold the golden comb which is
in the house, take it I pray thee, and curl the hair of thy head.
21 And he said unto her, How long wilt thou speak
these words? cease to utter these words to me, and rise and attend to thy domestic
affairs.
22 And she said unto him, There is no one in my house,
and there is nothing to attend to but to thy words and to thy wish; yet notwithstanding
all this, she could not bring Joseph unto her, neither did he place his eye upon
her, but directed his eyes below to the ground.
23 And Zelicah desired Joseph in her heart, that he
should lie with her, and at the time that Joseph was sitting in the house doing
his work, Zelicah came and sat before him, and she enticed him daily with her discourse
to lie with her, or ever to look at her, but Joseph would not hearken to her.
24 And she said unto him, If thou wilt not do according
to my words, I will chastise thee with the punishment of death, and put an iron
yoke upon thee.
25 And Joseph said unto her, Surely God who created
man looseth the fetters of prisoners, and it is he who will deliver me from thy
prison and from thy judgment.
26 And when she could not prevail over him, to persuade
him, and her soul being still fixed upon him, her desire threw her into a grievous
sickness.
27 And all the women of Egypt came to visit her, and
they said unto her, Why art thou in this declining state? thou that lackest nothing;
surely thy husband is a great and esteemed prince in the sight of the king, shouldst
thou lack anything of what thy heart desireth?
28 And Zelicah answered them, saying, This day it
shall be made known to you, whence this disorder springs in which you see me, and
she commanded her maid servants to prepare food for all the women, and she made
a banquet for them, and all the women ate in the house of Zelicah.
29 And she gave them knives to peel the citrons to
eat them, and she commanded that they should dress Joseph in costly garments, and
that he should appear before them, and Joseph came before their eyes and all the
women looked on Joseph, and could not take their eyes from off him, and they all
cut their hands with the knives that they had in their hands, and all the citrons
that were in their hands were filled with blood.
30 And they knew not what they had done but they continued
to look at the beauty of Joseph, and did not turn their eyelids from him.
31 And Zelicah saw what they had done, and she said
unto them, What is this work that you have done? behold I gave you citrons to eat
and you have all cut your hands.
32 And all the women saw their hands, and behold they
were full of blood, and their blood flowed down upon their garments, and they said
unto her, this slave in your house has overcome us, and we could not turn our eyelids
from him on account of his beauty.
33 And she said unto them, Surely this happened to
you in the moment that you looked at him, and you could not contain yourselves from
him; how then can I refrain when he is constantly in my house, and I see him day
after day going in and out of my house? how then can I keep from declining or even
from perishing on account of this?
34 And they said unto her, the words are true, for
who can see this beautiful form in the house and refrain from him, and is he not
thy slave and attendant in thy house, and why dost thou not tell him that which
is in thy heart, and sufferest thy soul to perish through this matter?
35 And she said unto them, I am daily endeavoring
to persuade him, and he will not consent to my wishes, and I promised him everything
that is good, and yet I could meet with no return from him; I am therefore in a
declining state as you see.
36 And Zelicah became very ill on account of her desire
toward Joseph, and she was desperately lovesick on account of him, and all the people
of the house of Zelicah and her husband knew nothing of this matter, that Zelicah
was ill on account of her love to Joseph.
37 And all the people of her house asked her, saying,
Why art thou ill and declining, and lackest nothing? and she said unto them, I know
not this thing which is daily increasing upon me.
38 And all the women and her friends came daily to
see her, and they spoke with her, and she said unto them, This can only be through
the love of Joseph; and they said unto her, Entice him and seize him secretly, perhaps
he may hearken to thee, and put off this death from thee.
39 And Zelicah became worse from her love to Joseph,
and she continued to decline, till she had scarce strength to stand.
40 And on a certain day Joseph was doing his master's
work in the house, and Zelicah came secretly and fell suddenly upon him, and Joseph
rose up against her, and he was more powerful than she, and he brought her down
to the ground.
41 And Zelicah wept on account of the desire of her
heart toward him, and she supplicated him with weeping, and her tears flowed down
her cheeks, and she spoke unto him in a voice of supplication and in bitterness
of soul, saying,
42 Hast thou ever heard, seen or known of so beautiful
a woman as I am, or better than myself, who speak daily unto thee, fall into a decline
through love for thee, confer all this honor upon thee, and still thou wilt not
hearken to my voice?
43 And if it be through fear of thy master lest he
punish thee, as the king liveth no harm shall come to thee from thy master through
this thing; now, therefore pray listen to me, and consent for the sake of the honor
which I have conferred upon thee, and put off this death from me, and why should
I die for thy sake? and she ceased to speak.
44 And Joseph answered her, saying, Refrain from me,
and leave this matter to my master; behold my master knoweth not what there is with
me in the house, for all that belongeth to him he has delivered into my hand, and
how shall I do these things in my master's house?
45 For he hath also greatly honored me in his house,
and he hath also made me overseer over his house, and he hath exalted me, and there
is no one greater in this house than I am, and my master hath refrained nothing
from me, excepting thee who art his wife, how then canst thou speak these words
unto me, and how can I do this great evil and sin to God and to thy husband?
46 Now therefore refrain from me, and speak no more
such words as these, for I will not hearken to thy words. But Zelicah would not
hearken to Joseph when he spoke these words unto her, but she daily enticed him
to listen to her.
47 And it was after this that the brook of Egypt was
filled above all its sides, and all the inhabitants of Egypt went forth, and also
the king and princes went forth with timbrels and dances, for it was a great rejoicing
in Egypt, and a holiday at the time of the inundation of the sea Sihor, and they
went there to rejoice all the day.
48 And when the Egyptians went out to the river to
rejoice, as was their custom, all the people of the house of Potiphar went with
them, but Zelicah would not go with them, for she said, I am indisposed, and she
remained alone in the house, and no other person was with her in the house.
49 And she rose up and ascended to her temple in the
house, and dressed herself in princely garments, and she placed upon her head precious
stones of onyx stones, inlaid with silver and gold, and she beautified her face
and skin with all sorts of women's purifying liquids, and she perfumed the temple
and the house with cassia and frankincense, and she spread myrrh and aloes, and
she afterward sat in the entrance of the temple, in the passage of the house, through
which Joseph passed to do his work, and behold Joseph came from the field, and entered
the house to do his master's work.
50 And he came to the place through which he had to
pass, and he saw all the work of Zelicah, and he turned back.
51 And Zelicah saw Joseph turning back from her, and
she called out to him, saying What aileth thee Joseph? come to thy work, and behold
I will make room for thee until thou shalt have passed to thy seat.
52 And Joseph returned and came to the house, and
passed from thence to the place of his seat, and he sat down to do his master's
work as usual and behold Zelicah came to him and stood before him in princely garments,
and the scent from her clothes was spread to a distance.
53 And she hastened and caught hold of Joseph and
his garments, and she said unto him, As the king liveth if thou wilt not perform
my request thou shalt die this day, and she hastened and stretched forth her other
hand and drew a sword from beneath her garments, and she placed it upon Joseph's
neck, and she said, Rise and perform my request, and if not thou diest this day.
54 And Joseph was afraid of her at her doing this
thing, and he rose up to flee from her, and she seized the front of his garments,
and in the terror of his flight the garment which Zelicah seized was torn, and Joseph
left the garment in the hand of Zelicah, and he fled and got out, for he was in
fear.
55 And when Zelicah saw that Joseph's garment was
torn, and that he had left it in her hand, and had fled, she was afraid of her life,
lest the report should spread concerning her, and she rose up and acted with cunning,
and put off the garments in which she was dressed, and she put on her other garments.
56 And she took Joseph's garment, and she laid it
beside her, and she went and seated herself in the place where she had sat in her
illness, before the people of her house had gone out to the river, and she called
a young lad who was then in the house, and she ordered him to call the people of
the house to her.
57 And when she saw them she said unto them with a
loud voice and lamentation, See what a Hebrew your master has brought to me in the
house, for he came this day to lie with me.
58 For when you had gone out he came to the house,
and seeing that there was no person in the house, he came unto me, and caught hold
of me, with intent to lie with me.
59 And I seized his garments and tore them and called
out against him with a loud voice, and when I had lifted up my voice he was afraid
of his life and left his garment before me, and fled.
60 And the people of her house spoke nothing, but
their wrath was very much kindled against Joseph, and they went to his master and
told him the words of his wile.
61 And Potiphar came home enraged, and his wife cried
out to him, saying, What is this thing that thou hast done unto me in bringing a
He. brew servant into my house, for he came unto me this day to sport with me; thus
did he do unto me this day.
62 And Potiphar heard the words of his wife, and he
ordered Joseph to be punished with severe stripes, and they did so to him.
63 And whilst they were smiting him, Joseph called
out with a loud voice, and he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and he said, O Lord
God, thou knowest that I am innocent of all these things, and why shall I die this
day through falsehood, by the hand of these uncircumcised wicked men, whom thou
knowest?
64 And whilst Potiphar's men were beating Joseph,
he continued to cry out and weep, and there was a child there eleven months old,
and the Lord opened the mouth of the child, and he spake these words before Potiphar's
men, who were smiting Joseph, saying,
65 What do you want of this man, and why do you do
this evil unto him? my mother speaketh falsely and uttereth lies; thus was the transaction.
66 And the child told them accurately all that happened,
and all the words of Zelicah to Joseph day after day did he declare unto them.
67 And all the men heard the words of the child and
they wondered greatly at the child's words, and the child ceased to speak and became
still.
68 And Potiphar was very much ashamed at the words
of his son, and he commanded his men not to beat Joseph any more, and the men ceased
beating Joseph.
69 And Potiphar took Joseph and ordered him to be
brought to justice before the priests, who were judges belonging to the king, in
order to judge him concerning this affair.
70 And Potiphar and Joseph came before the priests
who were the king's judges, and he said unto them, Decide I pray you, what judgment
is due to a servant, for thus has he done.
71 And the priests said unto Joseph, Why didst thou
do this thing to thy master? and Joseph answered them, saying, Not so my lords,
thus was the matter; and Potiphar said unto Joseph, Surely I entrusted in thy hands
all that belonged to me, and I withheld nothing from thee but my wife, and how couldst
thou do this evil?
72 And Joseph answered saying, Not so my lord, as
the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, my lord, the word which thou didst hear
from thy wife is untrue, for thus was the affair this day.
73 A year has elapsed to me since I have been in thy
house; hast thou seen any iniquity in me, or any thing which might cause thee to
demand my life?
74 And the priests said unto Potiphar, Send, we pray
thee, and let them bring before us Joseph's torn garment, and let us see the tear
in it, and if it shall be that the tear is in front of the garment, then his face
must have been opposite to her and she must have caught hold of him, to come to
her, and with deceit did thy wife do all that she has spoken.
75 And they brought Joseph's garment before the priests
who were judges, and they saw and behold the tear was in front of Joseph, and all
the judging priests knew that she had pressed him, and they said, The judgment of
death is not due to this slave for he has done nothing, but his judgment is, that
he be placed in the prison house on account of the report, which through him has
gone forth against thy wife.
76 And Potiphar heard their words, and he placed him
in the prison house, the place where the king's prisoners are confined, and Joseph
was in the house of confinement twelve years.
77 And notwithstanding this, his master's wife did
not turn from him, and she did not cease from speaking to him day after day to hearken
to her, and at the end of three months Zelicah continued going to Joseph to the
house of confinement day by day, and she enticed him to hearken to her, and Zelicah
said unto Joseph, How long wilt thou remain in this house? but hearken now to my
voice, and I will bring thee out of this house.
78 And Joseph answered her, saying, It is better for
me to remain in this house than to hearken to thy words, to sin against God; and
she said unto him, If thou wilt not perform my wish, I will pluck out thine eyes,
add fetters to thy feet, and will deliver thee into the hands of them whom thou
didst not know before.
79 And Joseph answered her and said, Behold the God
of the whole earth is able to deliver me from all that thou canst do unto me, for
he openeth the eyes of the blind, and looseth those that are bound, and preserveth
all strangers who are unacquainted with the land.
80 And when Zelicah was unable to persuade Joseph
to hearken to her, she left off going to entice him; and Joseph was still confined
in the house of confinement. And Jacob the father of Joseph, and all his brethren
who were in the land of Canaan still mourned and wept in those days on account of
Joseph, for Jacob refused to be comforted for his son Joseph, and Jacob cried aloud,
and wept and mourned all those days.
