Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews (English) (XML Header) [genre: prose] [word count] [lemma count] [Joseph. AJ]. | ||
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But the king took him by the hand; and, "O young man," says he, "for my servant bears witness that thou art at present the best and most skillful person I can consult with; vouchsafe me the same favors which thou bestowedst on this servant of mine, and tell me what events they are which the visions of my dreams foreshow; and I desire thee to suppress nothing out of fear, nor to flatter me with lying words, or with what may please me, although the truth should be of a melancholy nature. For it seemed to me that, as I walked by the river, I saw kine fat and very large, seven in number, going from the river to the marshes; and other kine of the same number like them, met them out of the marshes, exceeding lean and ill-favored, which ate up the fat and the large kine, and yet were no better than before, and not less miserably pinched with famine. After I had seen this vision, I awaked out of my sleep; and being in disorder, and considering with myself what this appearance should be, I fell asleep again, and saw another dream, much more wonderful than the foregoing, which still did more affright and disturb me: - I saw seven ears of corn growing out of one root, having their heads borne down by the weight of the grains, and bending down with the fruit, which was now ripe and fit for reaping; and near these I saw seven other ears of corn, meager and weak, for want of rain, which fell to eating and consuming those that were fit for reaping, and put me into great astonishment."
2.84To which Joseph replied: - "This dream," said he, "O
king, although seen under two forms, signifies one and the same event of
things; for when thou sawest the fat kine, which is an animal made for
the plough and for labor, devoured by the worser kine, and the ears of
corn eaten up by the smaller ears, they foretell a famine, and want of
the fruits of the earth for the same number of years, and equal with those
when
Hereupon the king wondered at the discretion and wisdom of Joseph;
and asked him by what means he might so dispense the foregoing plentiful
crops in the happy years, as to make the miserable crops more tolerable.
Joseph then added this his advice: To spare the good crops, and not permit
the Egyptians to spend them luxuriously, but to reserve what they would
have spent in luxury beyond their necessity against the time of want. He
also exhorted him to take the corn of the husbandmen, and give them only
so much as will be sufficient for their food. Accordingly Pharaoh being
surprised at Joseph, not only for his interpretation of the dream, but
for the counsel he had given him, intrusted him with dispensing the corn;
with power to do what he thought would be for the benefit of the people
of
JOSEPH was now grown up to thirty years of age, and enjoyed great
honors from the king, who called him Psothom Phanech, out of regard to
his prodigious degree of wisdom; for that name denotes the revealer
of secrets. He also married a wife of very high quality; for he married
the daughter of Petephres, note
one of the priests of
Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews (English) (XML Header) [genre: prose] [word count] [lemma count] [Joseph. AJ]. | ||
<<Joseph. AJ 2.70 | Joseph. AJ 2.87 (Greek) | >>Joseph. AJ 2.100 |