came out red'). The forced etymology of Zeraḥ (v.30) could not have suggested it.—29. What a breach hast thou made for thyself!] The name Pereẓ expresses the violence with which he secured the priority.—30. Zeraḥ] An Edomite clan in 3613. 33. On the etymology, v.i.
To the name Pereẓ, Cheyne (TBI, 357) aptly compares Plutarch's
account of the birth of Typhon, brother of Osiris: "neither in due time,
nor in the right place, but breaking through with a blow, he leaped out
through his mother's side" (de Isid. et Os. c. 12).—The ascendancy of
the Pereẓ clan has been explained by the incorporation of the powerful
families of Caleb and Jeraḥmeel, 1 Ch. 25. 9 (so Sta. GVI, i. 158 f.); but
a more obvious reason is the fact that David's ancestry was traced to
this branch (Ru. 418-22).
Ch. XXXIX.—Joseph is cast into Prison (J).
Joseph is sold by the Ishmaelites (3728. 36) to an Egyptian householder, who finds him so capable and successful that ere long he entrusts him with the whole administration of his estate (1-6). But his master's wife conceives a guilty passion for him, and when her advances are repelled, falsely accuses him of attempted outrage, with the result that he is thrown into prison (7-20). Here again he wins the favour of his superior, and is soon charged with the oversight of the prison (21-23).
Source.—With the exception of a harmonising gloss in 1b_(
Greek characters), and a
sprinkling of E variants (discussed in the notes), the whole passage is
from J. It represents the chief divergence between the two recensions
of the history of Joseph. In J, Joseph is first sold to a private Egyptian
(Hebrew characters), v.1), then cast into the state prison in the way here narrated,
where he gains the confidence of the (unnamed) governor, so that when
the butler and baker are sent thither they naturally fall under his
29. (Hebrew characters)] An ungrammatical use of the ptcp. Rd. with Ball
(Hebrew characters) (cf. 1915).—(Hebrew characters)—(Hebrew characters)] cogn. acc. The rendering as a question
((Hebrew characters) = 'why': De. Di. Dri.) is less natural than that given above; and
to detach (Hebrew characters) [[E] (Hebrew characters)] as a separate exclamation ('A breach upon
thee!') is worse. G ((Greek characters)) VS take the vb. in a
pass. sense.—(Hebrew characters)] [E] STJ (Hebrew characters) (so v.30).—30. (Hebrew characters)] as a Heb. word would
mean 'rising' (of the sun, Is 603) or 'autochthonous' (= (Hebrew characters)). A connexion
with the idea of 'redness' is difficult to establish. It is commonly
supposed that there is a play on the Aram. [Language: **] (which is used
here by STO, and is the equivalent of Heb. (Hebrew characters)), and Bab. zaḫuritu (so
De. Dri. Gu. al.); but this is not convincing.
