Chapter V

¹And behold, one of the young men from Pentephres's retinue burst in and said, Lo, Joseph is at the gates of our court. ²And Aseneth quickly left her father and her mother and ran upstairs and went into her room and stood at the big window that looked towards the east, so as to see Joseph as he came into her father's house. ³And Pentephres and his wife and all his relations went out to meet Joseph. ⁴And the gates of the court that looked east were opened, and Joseph came in, sitting in Pharaoh's viceroy's chariot. ⁵And there were four horses yoked together, white as snow, with golden reins; and the chariot was covered over ¹ Lit. ‘shaded over’. Is the reference to a golden awning over the chariot, or was the chariot itself overlaid with gold? with gold. ⁶And Joseph was wearing a marvellous white tunic, and the robe wrapped round him was purple, made of linen woven with gold: there was a golden crown on his head, and all round the crown were ² the crown were: B om. twelve precious stones, and above the stones twelve golden rays; and a royal sceptre was in his right hand. ⁷And he held an olive branch stretched out, and there was much fruit on it. ⁸And Joseph came into the court, and the gates were shut. ⁹And strangers, whether men or women, remained outside, because the gatekeepers had shut the doors. ³ D adds ‘and all strangers were shut out’. ¹⁰And Pentephres came, and his wife, and all his relatives, except their daughter Aseneth; and they made obeisance to Joseph with their faces to the ground. ¹¹And Joseph got down from his chariot and extended his right hand to them.