dssdead-sea-scrolls
G — Biblically Based Apocryphal Works
Part 11
A fragmentary Aramaic text from the mid-first century BCE preserves echoes of the Joseph narrative — the brothers' prostration before Joseph, the testing of their hearts for an evil spirit, and the great meal he sets before them. The fragments are too broken for full translation, but what survives maps directly onto the Genesis pattern: the brothers bow, Joseph discerns their inner state, and reconciliation follows. Each element — the evil spirit, the falling to the ground, the feast — rehearses the master type of the birthright son raised up who becomes the channel of salvation for those who once rejected him.
1
Four small fragments of an Aramaic work were first recognized as belonging to the Testament of Judah by J. T. Milik, 91-106). The script belongs to mid-first century BCE. The five fragments of the Testament of Joseph are too small for translation. However, the allusion to 'my uncle Ishmael' whose children acquired Joseph as a slave, and to the minister of Pharaoh, Pentephres, the Greek form of Potiphar, who bought Joseph from the Ishmaelites, seem to confirm Milik's identification of the document. For the editio princeps, see E. Puech, DJD, XXXI, 191-2 11. Frs. 1-2.. if there is in their heart an evil spirit towards me. vacat When I.. and they came to me, they all brought to me the bags.. and they fell to the ground before Joseph and revered him. He then knew that there was no evil spirit in their heart and he could no longer... and he could no longer.. And he presented his brothers with a big meal.. on my shoulder and embraced me..
