Page:A Jewish Interpretation of the Book of Genesis (Morgenstern, 1919, jewishinterpreta00morg).pdf/333

Rh Joseph and his Brothers

An

315

Egyptian Divining Bowl

form which the globules assume, and their position at either the top and from this prognosticates the future, was common in the ancient Orient, particularly in Babylonia. This seems to have been the form of divination implied in the use of the

or bottom of the pitcher,

pitcher by Joseph.

XLV,

8.

By

whom Pharaoh

"father"

probably meant counsellor, the one with doing anything, and on he always acted; it implies therefore a

is

regularly consulted before

whose bidding therefore person with authority even over Pharaoh; cf. Trumbull, Studies in Oriental Social Life, 237-254. V. 10. The land of Goshen was presumably that portion of F.gypt just adjacent to the Isthmus of Suez, a district hardly capable of agriculture, but suitable for sheep-herding, the evident occupation of has always been a favorite resort who sought refuge in Egypt. We can readily understand that, if the Israelites thus dwelt upon the eastern border of Egypt, their eventual exodus was greatly

Joseph's brothers.

of Semitic

facilitated.

This

nomads from

district

the Arabian Desert, \n