Page:The Story of Joseph and His Brethren.djvu/74



FTER his birth, as I have already remarked, we learn nothing more of Joseph till he was seventeen years of age. He is then introduced to us as Israel's best beloved son. As Rachel was more loved than Leah, Joseph, the first-born of Rachel, was loved more than the sons of Leah, and more than Benjamin also. The resemblance and analogy of this in the case of Jesus is well known. Jesus is called the beloved son of his Father, or the son of his Father's love. At the Lord's baptism, when the heavens were opened unto Him, there came a voice from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased;" and a similar voice was heard at His transfiguration. There is a difference in the nature of the connection between Jesus and His Father and that of the connection between Joseph and his father, as great a