brethren could not answer him, being struck with exceeding great fear.”[1] According to Aristotle the proper effect of fear is to deprive a man of his voice, to shorten his breath, and to cause the blood almost to stagnate in his veins. Pererius remarks with reason that the great terror of the brethren came from the consideration of the two phrases, “I am Joseph,” and “whom you sold.” Alas! there he is whom we knew to be such an innocent and amiable child, and whom we nevertheless hated, persecuted, and treated so cruelly! He took our part with our father, and brought us food to the field with his own hands; but we cast him into the cistern and sold him! Now we are poor prisoners in his power and utterly undeserving of mercy. We are in the hands of a patience that we have despised and turned into just anger; of an innocence that we have ill-treated without cause; of a brother and well-meaning friend whom we have outraged in most un seemly fashion, and who is now master of our lives! “I am Joseph.” Ah, do not say those words again, or we shall drop down dead with fear!
Further explained by another example. Richard, king of England, once lost his way while hunting in a dense forest, and as his attendants could not find him, he was forced to seek shelter in the hut of a charcoal-burner, who received him with the utmost discourtesy, and actually gave him a blow on the cheek. Richard, without giving way to anger in the least, kept quite still. But when he came again to his palace, he put on his royal robes, and adorned with sceptre and crown, seated himself on his throne in great splendor, surrounded by courtiers and the noblest of the land, and protected by soldiers. He then caused his surly host to be summoned before him, and merely said to him the words: “Do you know me now?” Whereupon the charcoal-burner fell down dead on the floor through sheer fright.
The mere voice of the Judge shall terrify them. What are your thoughts now, O sinful soul? Hear the voice of your Brother, of your King and truest Friend, when He shall cite you before His tribunal, saying to you: “Do you know Me now? I am Jesus whom you insulted.” And these words He shall then pronounce, not with a smiling, friendly countenance, or with tears of tenderness, like Joseph, but He will call them out with a terrible voice so that all the world may hear. “Then shall He speak to them in His anger,” says David, “and trouble
- ↑ Nolite pavere, neque vobis durum esse videatur quod vendidistis me in his regionibus; pro salute enim vestra misit me Deus ante vos in Ægyptum. Non poterant respondere, fratres, nimio terrore perterriti.—Gen. xlv. 4, 5, 3.
