country, and did then preserve the name of the whole, while in
its several parts it kept the names of its peculiar inhabitants.

CHAPTER 2.

How Joseph, The Youngest Of Jacob's Sons, Was Envied By His
Brethren, When Certain Dreams Had Foreshown His Future Happiness.

1. It happened that Jacob came to so great happiness as rarely
any other person had arrived at. He was richer than the rest of
the inhabitants of that country; and was at once envied and
admired for such virtuous sons, for they were deficient in
nothing, but were of great souls, both for laboring with their
hands and enduring of toil; and shrewd also in understanding. And
God exercised such a providence over him, and such a care of his
happiness, as to bring him the greatest blessings, even out of
what appeared to be the most sorrowful condition; and to make him
the cause of our forefathers' departure out of Egypt, him and his
posterity. The occasion was this : - When Jacob had his son
Joseph born to him by Rachel, his father loved him above the rest
of his sons, both because of the beauty of his body, and the
virtues of his mind, for he excelled the rest in prudence. This
affection of his father excited the envy and the hatred of his
brethren; as did also his dreams which he saw, and related to his
father, and to them, which foretold his future happiness, it
being usual with mankind to envy their very nearest relations
such their prosperity. Now the visions which Joseph saw in his
sleep were these : -

2. When they were in the middle of harvest, and Joseph was sent