Chapter VII

¹And Joseph came into Pentephres's house and sat down on a seat; and he washed his feet, and he placed ¹ So BEA: D ‘they placed’. a table in front of him separately, because he would not eat with the Egyptians, for this was an abomination to him. ²And Joseph spoke to Pentephres and all his relations, saying, Who is that woman standing in the solar ² So BD: EFHA ‘top storey’. by the window? ³Tell her to go away. ³ Lit. ‘Let her leave this house’. (This was because Joseph was afraid she too might solicit him; ⁴ she … him: D om. for all the wives and daughters of the lords and satraps of all the land of ⁵ the land of: BF om. Egypt used to solicit him to lie with him. ⁶ DE ‘them’. ⁴And many of the wives and daughters ⁷ D adds ‘of the potentates’. of the Egyptians suffered much, after seeing Joseph, because he was so handsome; and they would send emissaries to him with gold and silver and valuable gifts. ⁸ gold … gifts: B ‘many gifts’. ⁵And Joseph would reject them out of hand, ⁹ Lit. ‘would send them back with threats and insults’. saying, I will not sin before the God of Israel. ⁶And Joseph kept his father Jacob's face before his eyes continually, ¹⁰ DH Slav. om. and he remembered his father's commandments; for Jacob used to say to Joseph and his brothers, Be on your guard, my children, against the strange woman, and have nothing to do with her, for she is ruin and destruction. ⁷That is why Joseph said, Tell that woman to go away. ¹¹ Lit. ‘Let that (DFH ‘the’) woman leave this house’. ) ⁸And Pentephres said to him, My lord, the woman you have seen in the storey at the top is no stranger: she is our daughter, a virgin, who detests men; and no other ¹² B ‘strange’. man has ever seen her, apart from you to-day. ⁹And if you wish it, she shall come and speak with you; for our daughter is your sister. ¹⁰And Joseph was overjoyed because Pentephres said, She is a virgin who detests men. ¹¹And Joseph answered Pentephres and his wife and said, If she is your daughter, then let her come, for she is my sister, and I will regard ¹³ Lit. ‘love’. her as my sister from to-day.