take what belongs to another before all titles are made
clear," and Joseph stayed in prison for twenty-four days,
until the return of the Ishmaelites to Egypt.

Meanwhile they had heard somewhere that Joseph was
the son of Jacob, and they therefore said to him: "Why
didst thou pretend that thou wast a slave? See, we have
information that thou art the son of a powerful man in
Canaan, and thy father mourns for thee in sackcloth."
Joseph was on the point of divulging his secret, but he kept
a check upon himself for the sake of his brethren, and he
repeated that he was a slave.

Nevertheless the Ishmaelites decided to sell him, that he
be not found in their hands, for they feared the revenge of
Jacob, who, they knew, was in high favor with the Lord
and with men. The shopkeeper begged the Ishmaelites to
rescue him from the legal prosecution of Potiphar, and clear
him of the suspicion of man theft. The Ishmaelites in turn
had a conference with Joseph, and bade him testify before
Potiphar that they had bought him for money. He did so,
and then the chief of the eunuchs liberated him from prison,
and dismissed all parties concerned.

With the permission of her husband, Potiphar's wife sent
a eunuch to the Ishmaelites, bidding him to buy Joseph, but
he returned and reported that they demanded an exorbitant
price for the slave. She dispatched a second eunuch, charging
him to conclude the bargain, and though they asked
one mina of gold, or even two, he was not to be sparing of