the pit, only to find that he was not there, either living or
dead. He mounted to the top again, and rent his clothes,
and cried out, "The lad is not there, and what answer shall
I give to my father, if he be dead?" Then Reuben returned
unto his brethren, and told them that Joseph bad vanished
from the pit, whereat he was deeply grieved, because he,
being the oldest of the sons, was responsible to their father
Jacob. The brethren made a clean breast of what they had
done with Joseph, and they related to him how they had
tried to make good their evil deed, and how their efforts had
been vain.

Now there remained nothing to do but invent a plausible
explanation for their brother's disappearance to give to
Jacob. First of all, however, they took an oath not to betray
to his father or any human being what they bad actually
done with Joseph. He who violated the oath would be put
to the sword by the rest. Then they took counsel together
about what to say to Jacob. It was Issachar's advice to tear
Joseph's coat of many colors, and dip it in the blood of a
little kid of the goats, to make Jacob believe that his son had
been torn by a wild beast.[61] The reason he suggested a kid
was because its blood looks like human blood. In expiation
of this act of deception, it was ordained that a kid be used
as an atonement sacrifice when the Tabernacle was
dedicated.[62]

Simon opposed this suggestion. He did not want to relinquish
Joseph's coat, and he threatened to hew down any
one that should attempt to wrest it from him by force. The