(כ) וּבְנֵ֥י אֶפְרַ֖יִם שׁוּתָ֑לַח וּבֶ֤רֶד בְּנוֹ֙ וְתַ֣חַת בְּנ֔וֹ וְאֶלְעָדָ֥ה בְנ֖וֹ וְתַ֥חַת בְּנֽוֹ׃ (כא) וְזָבָ֥ד בְּנ֛וֹ וְשׁוּתֶ֥לַח בְּנ֖וֹ וְעֵ֣זֶר וְאֶלְעָ֑ד וַהֲרָג֗וּם אַנְשֵׁי־גַת֙ הַנּוֹלָדִ֣ים בָּאָ֔רֶץ כִּ֣י יָֽרְד֔וּ לָקַ֖חַת אֶת־מִקְנֵיהֶֽם׃ (כב) וַיִּתְאַבֵּ֛ל אֶפְרַ֥יִם אֲבִיהֶ֖ם יָמִ֣ים רַבִּ֑ים וַיָּבֹ֥אוּ אֶחָ֖יו לְנַחֲמֽוֹ׃ (כג) וַיָּבֹא֙ אֶל־אִשְׁתּ֔וֹ וַתַּ֖הַר וַתֵּ֣לֶד בֵּ֑ן וַיִּקְרָ֤א אֶת־שְׁמוֹ֙ בְּרִיעָ֔ה כִּ֥י בְרָעָ֖ה הָיְתָ֥ה בְּבֵיתֽוֹ׃ (כד) וּבִתּ֣וֹ שֶֽׁאֱרָ֔ה וַתִּ֧בֶן אֶת־בֵּית־חוֹר֛וֹן הַתַּחְתּ֖וֹן וְאֶת־הָעֶלְי֑וֹן וְאֵ֖ת אֻזֵּ֥ן שֶׁאֱרָֽה׃ (כה) וְרֶ֣פַח בְּנ֗וֹ וְרֶ֧שֶׁף וְתֶ֛לַח בְּנ֖וֹ וְתַ֥חַן בְּנֽוֹ׃ (כו) לַעְדָּ֥ן בְּנ֛וֹ עַמִּיה֥וּד בְּנ֖וֹ אֱלִישָׁמָ֥ע בְּנֽוֹ׃ (כז) נ֥וֹן בְּנ֖וֹ יְהוֹשֻׁ֥עַ בְּנֽוֹ׃
(20) The sons of Ephraim: Shuthelah, his son Bered, his son Tahath, his son Eleadah, his son Tahath, (21) his son Zabad, his son Shuthelah, also Ezer and Elead. The men of Gath, born in the land, killed them because they had gone down to take their cattle. (22) And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brothers came to comfort him. (23) He cohabited with his wife, who conceived and bore a son; and she named him Beriah, because it occurred when there was misfortune in his house. (24) His daughter was Sheerah, who built both Lower and Upper Beth-horon, and Uzzen-sheerah. (25) His son Rephah, his son Resheph, his son Telah, his son Tahan, (26) his son Ladan, his son Ammihud, his son Elishama, (27) his son Non, his son Joshua.
וַיְהִ֗י בְּשַׁלַּ֣ח פַּרְעֹה֮ אֶת־הָעָם֒ וְלֹא־נָחָ֣ם אֱלֹהִ֗ים דֶּ֚רֶךְ אֶ֣רֶץ פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים כִּ֥י קָר֖וֹב ה֑וּא כִּ֣י ׀ אָמַ֣ר אֱלֹהִ֗ים פֶּֽן־יִנָּחֵ֥ם הָעָ֛ם בִּרְאֹתָ֥ם מִלְחָמָ֖ה וְשָׁ֥בוּ מִצְרָֽיְמָה׃
Now when Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although it was nearer; for God said, “The people may have a change of heart when they see war, and return to Egypt.”
ויהי וַהֲוָה כַּד פְּטַר פַּרְעה יַת עַמָּא וְלָא דַבְּרִינוּן יְיָ אוֹרַח אֲרַע פְּלִישְׁתָּאֵי אֲרוּם קָרֵיב הוּא אֲרוּם אֲמַר יְיָ דִלְמָא יִתְהֲווֹן עַמָּא בְּמֵיחְמֵיהוֹן אֲחוּהוֹן דְּמִיתַן בִּקְרָבָא מָאתָן אַלְפִין גּוּבְרִין בְּנֵי חֵילָא מִשִּׁבְטָא דְאֶפְרַיִם מְאַחֲדִין בִּתְרִיסִין וְרוּמְחִין וּמָאנֵי זַיְינִין וְנַחֲתוּ לְגַת לְמֵיבוּז גֵּיתֵי פְּלִישְׁתָּאֵי וּבְגִין דַּעֲבָרוּ עַל גְּזֵרַת מֵימְרָא דַיְיָ וּנְפָקוּ מִמִּצְרַיִם תְּלָתִין שְׁנִין קֳדָם קִיצָא אִיתְמַסְרוּ בִּידָא דִפְּלִישְׁתָּאֵי וּקְטָלוּנוּן הִינוּן הֲווֹ גַרְמַיָא יְבֵישַׁיָא דְאָחֵי יַתְהוֹן מֵימְרָא דַיְיָ עַל יְדָא דִיְחֶזְקֵאל נְבִיָא בְּבִקְעַת דּוּרָא וְאִין יֶחְמוּן כְּדֵין יִדְחֲלוּן וִיתוּבוּן לְמִצְרָיִם
AND it was when Pharoh had released the people, that the Lord did not conduct them by the way of the land of the Phelishtaee though that was the near one; for the Lord said, Lest the people be affrighted in seeing their brethren who were killed in war, two hundred thousand men of strength of the tribe of Ephraim, who took shields, and lances, and weapons of war, and went down to Gath to carry off the flocks of the Phelishtaee; and because they transgressed against the statute of the Word of the Lord, and went forth from Mizraim thirty years before the (appointed) end of their servitude, they were delivered into the hand of the Phelishtaee, who slew them. These are the dry bones which the Word of the Lord restored to life by the ministry (hand) of Yechezekel the prophet, in the vale of Dura; but which, if they (now) saw them, they would be afraid, and return into Mizraim.
ד"א כי קרוב הוא קרובה מלחמת פלשתים עם בני אפדם שנאמר (דברי הימים א' ז' כ') ובני אפרים שותלח (ובדד) [וברד] בנו ותחת בנו ואלעדה בנו ותחת בנו וזבד בנו ושותלת בנו ועזר ואלעד והרגום אנשי גת הנולדים בארץ כי ירדו לקחת את מקניהם ויתאבל (עליהם) אפרים אביהם ימים רבים ויבואו אחיו לנחמו: ועליהם אמר דוד (תהלים ע"ח ט') בני אפרים נושקי רומי קשת הפכו ביום קרב ולמה שטעו בחשבון ויצאו קודם לקץ בשלשים שנה וברחו ממצרים ונפלו והלא דברים קל וחומר מה אם קץ שעבוד אבותינו שהוא מפורש טעו בחשבונו ויצאו קודם ונכשלו קצינו שכתוב בו (דניאל י"ב ט') כי סתומים וחתומים הדברים עד עת קץ על אחת כמה וכמה שטועין המחשבין מיכאן אמרו תפוח דעתן של מחשבי קצים אלא יחכה ויאמין וסוף הטובה לבוא:
Another matter: for it was close (Exodus 13:17)—the war of the Philistines with the sons of Efraim was close, as it says The children of Ephraim: Shuthelah, his son Bered, his son Tahath, his son Eleadah, his son Tahath, his son Zabad, his son Shuthelah, also Ezer and Elead. The men of Gath, born in the land, killed them because they had gone down to take their cattle. And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brothers came to comfort him. (I Chronicles 1:7) And about them David said: The children of Ephraim, archers of the bow, who turned on the day of battle. (Psalms 78:9). And why? Because they erred in calculation and left before the endtime by thirty years and escaped Egypt and fell. And is this not a kal vehomer—if the endtime of our ancestors' enslavement, which was explicitly stated, they erred in their calculation and left early and stumbled—our endtime, about which is written hidden and sealed off are these matters until the moment of the endtime (Daniel 12:9)—all the more so! And how much do the calculators err! From this they said: May the minds of the calculators of endtimes decay! Rather, one should wait and believe and in the end, the good will come.
ר' אליעזר אומר, כל אותן השנים שישבו ישראל במצרים ישבו בטח ושאנן ושלו עד שבא יגנון מבני בניו של אפרים ואמ' להם נגלה לי הב"ה להוציא אתכם ממצרים. בני אפרים בגאות לבם שהם מזרע המלכות וגבורי כח במלחמה, לקחו את נשיהם ואת בניהם ויצאו ממצרים, ורדפו המצריים אחריהם והרגו מהם מאתים אלף כלם גבורים, שנ' בני אפרים וכו'.
Rabbi Eliezer said: During all those years, when the Israelites abode in Egypt, they dwelt securely and peacefully at ease until Ganoon, one of the grandchildren of Ephraim, came and said to them, The Holy One, blessed be He, has revealed Himself to me, to lead you out of Egypt. The children of Ephraim, in the pride of their heart, for they were of the royal seed, and mighty men in battle, took their wives and their sons, || and they went forth from Egypt. The Egyptians pursued after them, and slew of them 200,000, all of them mighty men, as it is said, "The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle" (Ps. 78:9).
(7) Nor does this exhaust the list of reasons for preferring the longer route through the desert. Abraham had sworn a solemn oath to live at peace with the Philistines during a certain period, and the end of the term had not yet arrived. Besides, there was the fear that the sight of the land of the Philistines would awaken sad recollections in the Israelites, and drive them back into Egypt speedily, for once upon a time it had been the scene of a bitter disappointment to them. they had spent one hundred and eighty years in Egypt, in peace and prosperity, not in the least molested by the people. Suddenly Ganon came, a descendant of Joseph, of the tribe of Ephraim, and he spake, "The Lord hath appeared unto me, and He bade me lead you forth out of Egypt." The Ephraimites were the only ones to heed his words. Proud of their royal lineage as direct descendants of Joseph, and confident to their valor in war, for they were great heroes, they left the land and betook themselves to Palestine. They Carried only weapons and gold and silver. They had taken no provisions, because they expected to buy food and drink on the way or capture them by force if the owners would not part with them for money.
(8) After a day's march they found themselves in the neighborhood of Gath, at the place where the shepherds employed by the residents of the city gathered with the flocks. The Ephraimites asked them to sell them some sheep, which they expected to slaughter in order to satisfy their hunger with them, but the shepherds refused to have business dealings with them, saying, "Are the sheep ours, or does the cattle belong to us, that we could part with them for money?" Seeing that they could not gain their point by kindness, the Ephraimites used force. The outcries of the shepherds brought the people of Gath to their aid. A violent encounter, lasting a whole day, took place between the Israelites and the Philistines. The people of Gath realized that alone they would not be able to offer successful resistance to the Ephraimites, and they summoned the people of the other Philistine cities to join them. The following day an army of forty thousand stood ready to oppose the Ephraimites. Reduced in strength, as they were, by their three days' fast, they were exterminated root and branch. Only ten of them escaped with their bare life, and returned to Egypt, to bring Ephraim word of the disaster that had overtaken his posterity, and he mourned many days.
(9) This abortive attempt of the Ephraimites to leave Egypt was the first occasion for oppressing Israel. Thereafter the Egyptians exercised force and vigilance to keep them in their land. As for the disaster of the Ephraimites, it was well-merited punishment, because they had paid no heed to the wish of the father Joseph, who had adjured his descendants solemnly on his deathbed not to think of quitting the land until the redeemer should appear. Their death was followed by disgrace, for their bodies lay unburied for many years on the battlefield near Gath, and the purpose of God in directing the Israelites to choose the longer route from Egypt to Canaan, was to spare them the sight of those dishonored corpses. Their courage might have deserted them, and out of apprehension of sharing the fate of their brethren they might have hastened back to the land of slavery.
Mekilta Beshallah (פתיחתא) 23b-24a and Shirah 9, 42b'“43a; Mekilta RS 37-38; Sanhedrin 92b; ShR 20.11; PK 10, 85a-85b; PRE 48; Wa-Yosha' 54; Yerushalmi Targumim Exod. 13.17; Targum Ps. 78. 9; Targum I Chron. 7.21-22; see also Yelammedenu in Yalkut II on Ps. 78, and Tehillim 81, 368. The chief of the Ephraimites is called and יגנון, גנון and גוון in PRE — the correct reading is not certain; ינון seems to be most likely; comp. Ps. 77. 17, and Sanhedrin 98b, where ינון is one of the names of the Messiah — whereas according to the text of the Yerushalmi Targumim given in Mahzor Vitry 167, Ganon was the name of the king of the Philistines who attacked and destroyed the Ephraimites led by Jair. This legend very likely represents a kind of reminiscence of a historical event, the wars between Egypt and Canaan which are frequently mentioned in the TelAmarna Letters. See Levy, Monatsschrift, 55, 285, and Ginzberg, Unbekannte Sekte 339-340. In the latter passage it is suggested that there is a connection between the legend about the premature exodus of the Ephraimites and the belief in the advent of the Messiah, the son of Ephraim, who will precede the Messiah, the son of David. As to the war between Egypt and Canaan in pre-Israelitish times, see, also Jub. 46. 9-11, where it is said that Amram participated in the war of Egypt against Canaan and died in the Promised Land. The obscure reference in Shir 2.7, to the premature attempt of the exodus in the time of Amram is to be explained in accordance with Jub., loc. cit., and the Midrashim quoted above, which record the failure of the Ephraimites. Comp, note 12 on vol. II, p. 251, and vol. IV, p. 332. Joseph, who rose to power and dignity in Egypt, gave himself up to the enjoyments of life to such an extent that he forgot his father who was mourning his son 's death and did not inform him that he was still alive (comp. vol. II, p. 44, and note 370 on vol. II, p. 137). As a punishment for this sin, two hundred thousand descendants of Joseph — the Ephraimites — perished at the hands of the Philistines; see Hasidim 231 and 232. This supposition is very likely due to the phrase ויתאבל ימים רבים used in I Chron. 7.22, in connection with the death of the Ephraimites, and in Gen. 37, 34, when the tidings of Joseph’s death were brought to Jacob. Josephus, Antiqui., II, 15.3, likewise speaks of earlier wars that took place between the Philistines and the Hebrews.
(1) Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.Franz Kafka
(2) If Manasseh was Joseph’s right-hand man, the expression of his mature power, Ephraim represented the charm of his childhood, when he was the “na’ar,” most beloved by his father. Ephraim was the embodiment of boyhood – mischievous, forever innocent, whatever trouble he might cause. If Manasseh was the child of Joseph’s painful forgetting, Ephraim was the child of fertility. At the very core of Ephraim was the yeled sha’ashuim, the impish child in whom God delighted. A perpetual child, full of fresh dreams for the future, he was always ultimately forgiven. Ephraim was adored, and cherished.
(3) Ephraim is My precious son, the child in whom I delight. When I speak of him, I remember him earnestly; My heart yearns for him! Therefore I will surely have compassion on him, oath of God.Jeremiah 31:19
(4) The childlike exuberance of Ephraim was both the source of his success and the source of his undoing. There was a danger to youth, to dreams; an overflow of desire for geulah (redemption) can lead to destruction. Yet it was also the only force that could get the job done.
(5) The primacy of Ephraim, second son of Joseph, was first noticeable when Jacob called upon his two grandsons to bless them. Though Ephraim was the younger, Jacob placed him first. “Now, your two sons that were born to you in the land of Egypt – they are mine! Ephraim and Manasseh will belong to me like Reuben and Simeon” (Genesis 48:5).
(6) Even after Joseph protested, and placed the older Manasseh in position for the prime blessing, Jacob insisted on giving Ephraim the superior blessing:
(7) Israel [Jacob] stretched out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger…[Jacob] guided his hand deliberately.…When Joseph saw this, it seemed wrong to him.…But his father insisted and said, “I know it, my son, I know it. [Manasseh] too will become a tribe; he, too, will attain greatness. However, [Ephraim] will become greater than he, and his descendants will become the fullness of the tribes.”Genesis 48:14–19
(8) “The fullness of the tribes” – that’s a strange expression! Ephraim was so powerful that he towered over his brothers and they deferred to his name. He shone forth so strongly that the other luminaries of the nation bowed to his charisma – he was indeed a prism that reflected the glory of the whole nation.
(9) As he blessed his grandsons, Jacob deliberately “[made] his hands wise” and graced Ephraim with the bull’s share of the blessing. He must have seen the potential greatness of the lad, purposefully dimming his eyes to the convention of the firstborn receiving the more significant inheritance.
(10) The latent potential of Ephraim lay in his fresh, unburdened promise. He was born after Manasseh, who was named for the necessity of letting go of the past, with all of the accompanying bitterness and pain. Ephraim, though, represented the vitality of Joseph, a perpetually fertile force that flourished in the adversity of galut. The sweet innocence (ĥen) of Ephraim was imbued in the character of Joshua, called a “youth” (na’ar) even in his maturity. It was only he who had the enthusiasm and drive to lead Israel in the conquest of the land. And if other tribes dallied, and resented the need to fight for redemption, Ephraim hastened to conquer and claim his naĥalah.
(11) Youth and beauty, innocence and exuberance can be perilous if unrestrained. Joseph’s brothers felt this acutely, and it angered and frightened them: “They saw him [Joseph] from afar, and before he came close to them they conspired to kill him. They said to one another, ‘Behold, the baal ĥalomot (dreamer) approaches!’” (Genesis 37:18–19). “They said: ‘This one will lead them all to the Baal idolatry’” (Genesis Rabbah 84:14).
(12) The brothers’ jealousy of Joseph was rooted in a great fear of his innate power. His youthful capacity for passion and his craving for emotional response could have dragged the nation down to treacherous betrayal. Joseph, in his complete loyalty to relationships, proved that the brothers were not necessarily right. Relationship and passion need not lead to breakdown. Integrity can be maintained. Yet there was, indeed, cause for fear, as the later history of Joseph’s descendants attested:
(13) [Jeroboam from Ephraim] made two golden calves, and placed one in Beth-el and one in Dan. He said to the people, “You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough. These are your gods, O Israel, who delivered you from Egypt!”I Kings 12:28–29Until Jeroboam, the nation nursed from only one calf; from then on, from two and three.Sanhedrin 102a
(14) How fitting, then, was the imagery chosen by the prophet Hosea to describe the wayward Northern Kingdom: “Ephraim is an untrainable calf that loves to follow his own desires… ” (Hosea 10:11). In embodying Joseph’s youth and passion, Ephraim also represented his greatest danger. Here was the wayward calf, untrained and wandering, not yet grown into Joseph’s sovereign bull. This immature impetuousness got the tribe into trouble time and again. Ephraim, full of dreams of redemption, prematurely marched out of Egypt, and right into slaughter in Philistine territory.
(15) Who were the dead resurrected by Ezekiel [in his prophecy of the resurrection of the dried bones (Ezekiel 37)]? Rav said, These were the sons of the tribe of Ephraim, who calculated the end [of the slavery in Egypt] and erred [in their count, and were killed after escaping Egypt].Sanhedrin 92b
(16) Unlike much of the nation that had sunk to despair “from shortness of breath and hard work,” Ephraim was invested with the secrets of the end time, a treasure passed from Jacob to Joseph and then on to his prime son, Ephraim. But Ephraim’s calculations were off. In the very intensity of hope, he ignored his brethren’s urge to act cautiously, and sallied forth to be all but wiped out. Woe to the unrestrained calf!
(17) The dream factory of Joseph was a dangerous enterprise, to be sure. But we needed the passionate visionary, the romantic pioneer who united the nation with the sheer appeal of his vision, the pulsing power of hope. Even in death, Ephraim retained the dream of life, for they were his bones that Ezekiel saw resurrected. Only after leadership emerged from Joseph – leadership that lay out the national mission and set it in motion – could Judah effectively guide Israel as monarch.
ויהי אחרי מות יעקב וירבו בני ישראל בארץ מצרים, ויהיו לעם רב: ויהי להם לב אחד ורוח אחת לכולם, באהבתם איש את אחיו ובעזרם איש לאחיו, ויעצמו במאוד מאוד: ויחי יוסף אחרי אביו עוד עשרה שבועים: ולא היה צר ליוסף ולא אונה לו כל רע, בכל ימי חייו אשר חי אחרי יעקב אביו כי כל המצרים כיבדו את בני ישראל, בכל הימים אשר חי יוסף: וימת יוסף בן מאה ועשר שנים: שבע עשרה שנה ישב בארץ כנען ועשר שנים עבד, ושלוש שנים ישב בבית הסוהר ושמונים שנה שפט תחת המלך את כל ארץ מצרים: וימת הוא וכל אחיו וכל הדור ההוא: ויצו את בני ישראל לפני מותו להעלות את עצמותיו אתם בצאתם ממצרים: וישבע אותם על אודות עצמותיו, ביודעו כי המצרים לא יוציאוהו עוד לקבור אותו בעתו בארץ כנען: כי ממקרון מלך כנען המושל בארץ אשור נלחם בעמק עם מלך מצרים, וימת אותו שם וירדוף אחרי המצרים עד שער הרמון: ולא יכול לבוא שמה, כי קם מלך חדש על מצרים ויהי עצום ממנו: וישוב ארצה כנען, אך שערי מצרים סוגרו ולא בא איש מצרימה: וימת יוסף ביובל הששה וארבעים בשבוע הששי בשנה השנית ויקברו אותו בארץ מצרים, וכל אחיו מתו אחריו: ויצא מלך מצרים להלחם את מלך כנען, ביובל השבעה וארבעים בשבוע השני בשנה השנית: ויוציאו בני ישראל את עצמות בני יעקב לבד מעצמות יוסף, ויקברו אותם על השדה במערת המכפלה על ההר: ורבים שבו מצרימה, ומעט מהם נשארו על הר חברון ואביך [עמרם] נשאר עמהם: ויחלוש מלך כנען את מלך מצרים, ויסגור את שערי מצרים: ויחשוב מזימה רעה על בני ישראל לענותם: ויאמר אל אנשי מצרים, הנה עם בני ישראל רב ועצום ממנו: הבה נתחכמה להם בטרם יעצמו מאוד, ונענה אותם בסבלות עבדים בטרם תפול עלינו בהלה ובטרם ילחמו בנו: ואם לא ונוספו גם הם על שונאינו ועלו מן ארצנו, כי לבם ופניהם פונים אל ארץ כנען: וישם עליהם שרי מסים למען ענותם בסבלות עבדים, ויבנו ערי מסכנות לפרעה את פיתום ואת רעמסס: ויבנו את כל החומות והקירות אשר נהרסו בערי מצרים, וילחצו אותם בפרך: וכאשר יענו אותם כן ירבו וכן יפרוצו, ויחשבו המצרים את בני ישראל לטמאים: ובשבוע השביעי בשנה השביעית ליובל השבעה וארבעים בא אביך מארץ כנען, ואתה נולדת בשבוע הרביעי בשנה השישית ליובל הארבעים ושמונה בהיות ימי העוני לבני ישראל:
And it came to pass that after Jacob died the children of Israel multiplied in the land of Egypt, and they became a great nation, and they were of one accord in heart, so that brother loved brother and every man helped his brother, and they increased abundantly and multiplied exceedingly, ten weeks of years, all the days of the life of Joseph. And there was no Satan nor any evil all the days of the life of Joseph which he lived after his father Jacob, for all the Egyptians honoured the children of Israel all the days of the life of Joseph. And Joseph died being a hundred and ten years old; Seventeen years he lived in the land of Canaan, and ten years he was a servant, and three years in prison, and eighty years he was under the king, ruling all the land of Egypt. And he died and all his brethren and all that generation. And he commanded the children of Israel before he died that they should carry his bones with them when they went forth from the land of Egypt. And he made them swear regarding his bones, for he knew that the Egyptians would not again bring forth and bury him in the land of Canaan, for Mâkamârôn, king of Canaan, while dwelling in the land of Assyria, fought in the valley with the king of Egypt and slew him there, and pursued after the Egyptians to the gates of ’Êrmôn. But he was not able to enter, for another, a new king, had become king of Egypt, and he was stronger than he, and he returned to the land of Canaan, and the gates of Egypt were closed, and none went out and none came into Egypt. And Joseph died in the forty-sixth jubilee, in the sixth week, in the second year, and they buried him in the land of Egypt, and his brethren died after him. And the king of Egypt went forth to war with the king of Canaan in the forty-seventh jubilee, in the second week in the second year, and the children of Israel brought forth all the bones of the children of Jacob save the bones of Joseph, and they buried them in the field in the double cave in the mountain. And the most (of them) returned to Egypt, but a few of them remained in the mountains of Hebron, and Amram thy father remained with them. And the king of Canaan was victorious over the king of Egypt, and he closed the gates of Egypt. And he devised an evil device against the children of Israel of afflicting them; and he said unto the people of Egypt:"Behold the people of the children of Israel have increased and multiplied more than we. Come and let us deal wisely with them before they become too many, and let us afflict them with slavery before war come upon us and before they too fight against us; else they will join themselves unto our enemies and get them up out of our land, for their hearts and faces are towards the land of Canaan." And he set over them taskmasters to afflict them with slavery; and they built strong cities for Pharaoh, Pithom and Raamses, and they built all the walls and all the fortifications which had fallen in the cities of Egypt.And they made them serve with rigour, and the more they dealt evilly with them, the more they increased and multiplied. And the people of Egypt abominated the children of Israel. And in the seventh week, in the seventh year, in the forty-seventh jubilee, thy father went forth from the land of Canaan, and thou wast born in the fourth week, in the sixth year thereof, in the forty-eighth jubilee; this was the time of tribulation on the children of Israel.