also introduced to the Egyptian monarch, on whom he bestowed a solemn benediction; and the strangers were, soon afterward, established in their new settlement, where they received a regular supply of corn from the granaries during the famine, and were entrusted with the care of Pharaoh's cattle.

Whilst the family of Israel were happily maintained inGoshen, by the care and attention of Joseph, the Egyptians were reduced to great extremities by the famine, which rendered corn so extremely dear, that they were ⚫ not only drained of all their money, but even compelled to sell their cattle, houses, lands, and eventually their own persons, for subsistence; so that they all became slaves to the crown, except the priests, who, receiving a supply of provision out of the royal stores, were exempt from this public calamity. At this period we are told, that many of the people were transplanted from one end of the kingdom to the other, and that the unhappy multitude went some one way, and some another, patiently submitting to every species of misery, in order to obtain a scanty supply for their craving appetites. At length, however, Joseph revived their hearts, by asserting that a favorable crop might be expected the next season, when the earth should be fertilized by the overflowing of the Nile, and when a fresh distribution of cattle, corn and lands should be made, that they might return to their former avocations, with a reservation of one fifth part of all the produce of the country, which should be set apart for the king. The poor people were too grateful for the seed which Joseph delivered to them, and too much elated by the idea of a new harvest, to cavil at this restriction. They, therefore, cheerfully applied themselves to the cultivation of their respective lands;

and from this period, the fifth part of all Egytian products, except those belonging to the priests, were considered as the legal property of the crown.

Meanwhile the family of Israel augmented rapidly, both in wealth and numbers, under the immediate blessing of God, who had in so wonderful a manner brought good out of evil, and even made the malice of Joseph's brethren subservient to the accomplishment of his own pleasure concerning the preservation of a stock, from which should spring an illustrious and peculiar nation, and from which, according to the flesh, should descend the promised MESSIAH. At length, Jacob, perceiving by the decay of his natural strength, that his death was approaching, sent for his son Joseph, and addressed him to this effect. "If you still retain that affection for me which has hitherto marked your character, and if I have indeed found grace in your sight, I request that you will take an oath to carry my remains, after my death, out of this land, and deposit them in the burying place of my progenitors." Joseph readily acceded to this proposal; and the venerable patriarch bowed himself upon the bed's head, in token of grateful adoration to his Creator.

B. C.

Soon after this transaction, Joseph, hearing 1689. that his father was at the point of death, took hicawo sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, to see him, and to implore his benediction before he died. At the sight of his beloved grandchildren, Jacob raised himself up in his bed, and spoke with extraordinary cheerfulness; recapitulating the gracious promises which he had received, at different times, from the Almighty; and observing that, on account of his beloved Rachel, Joseph's sons should become the heads of two tribes,

and receive a double portion in the division of the Land of Promise. He then desired his grandsons to approach the bed-side; and Joseph placed them in such a manner that Jacob might lay his right hand upon the head of Manasseh, and his left upon that of Ephraim but the patriarch, crossing his arms, laid his right upon the younger, and his left upon the elder. Joseph, supposing this position to result from a mistake, attempted to rectify it; but his father told him, he acted by divine direction; and, in bestowing his benediction, he both preferred Ephraim to Manasseh, and gave him the nobler blessing. "Manasseh," said the dying patriarch," shall become a people, and he also shall be great but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations."

:

Jacob, finding himself much enfeebled, and his death rapidly approaching, caused all his other sons to be assembled, and addressed them in the following * prophetic language:

"Reuben, thou art my first born, the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power; but, because thou hast had so little regard to thy father's honor as to defile his bed, all the blessings to which thou wast entitled by the right of primogeniture shall pass away like the unstable waters, and thou shalt not excel among thy brethren.

"Simeon and Levi are indeed brethren, not only by the ties of consanguinity, but in disposition; for they have mutually rendered themselves instruments of

It is necessary to remark, that these predictions of Jacob are not given exactly in the language of the Old Testament; but the meaning is strictly preserved.

cruelty. May my soul be ever preserved from such bloody counsels, and my honour unpolluted by their guilt; for their anger hurried them on to commit murder, and their self-will caused them to break through every obstacle. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel!

"Judah, thy name signifies praise, and thou shalt receive the praises of thy brethren; for they shall bow down before thee as their lawful sovereign *; and thy enemies shall be compelled to submit their necks to thy yoke. Like a young lion shall my son fall upon the prey, and like an old lion, ready to rush upon it: who shall rouse him up? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between his feet, untik Shiloh come, and the people be gathered unto him: his portion shall be so fertile, that he shall bind his ass to the vine, and wash his garments in the juice of the grape. His eyes, also, shall be red with wine, and his teeth. white with milk.

"Zebulun shall reside on the borders of the sea; and his commodious havens shall extend as far as the city of Sidon.

Issachar, like a strong but indolent ass, shall voluntarily submit to carry burdens in the midst of his brethren, rather than be deprived of his pleasant inheritance; and shall prefer tribute and servitude to the toils of war and conquest.

"Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel; but, as a serpent, or adder, that lieth in the

*The accomplishment of this prediction will be seen, in its proper place, both in the Jewish monarchs, and in the person of the Messiah, who is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

path, and bites the traveller by the heel, he shall overcome rather by policy and stratagem than by open force.

"Gad shall be sorely tried, and frequently infested by robbers; but he shall eventually overcome them.

"Asher's portion shall make him happy; for it shall abound with corn, oil, and other dainties, that shall be fit for a monarch's table.

66

Naphtali, like a hind newly set at liberty, shall excel his brethren in swiftness, and in the sweetness of his eloquence.

"Joseph is a fruitful bough, planted by a well, whose branches run up, and spread against the wall. Men, armed with the envenomed arrows of rancor and envy, have shot at him, and caused him much affliction: but his bow abode in strength, and his hands were made strong by the mighty God of Jacob, who, from thence is the shepherd*, the stone of Israel, and who shall bless my son with blessings of heaven above, and with blessings of the deep that lieth beneath. My blessings have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors, unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; they shall rest on the head of Joseph, and on the crowned head of him who was separated from his brethren.

"

Benjamin is of a fierce and warlike disposition: he shall, therefore, ravin as a wolf, destroying his enemies in the morning, and dividing the spoil at night."

*From this prediction, it is evident that the dying patriarch had a glorious view, by faith, of the person and transactions of Our REDEEMER, who is repeatedly designated in Scripture by these appellations, "the Shepherd of Israel,"-" the Good Shepherd," and "the Precious Stone," which, though rejected by the Jewish builders, is become the head of the corner.