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having prayed for good things, and having delivered an encomium for Joseph, because he would not bear a grudge against his brothers, he commanded his sons that they should count the sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, among themselves, dividing the land of Canaan with them. And when Joseph presented his sons to Jacob to be blessed, he stood the elder at his right hand, and the younger at his left. But he, placing his hands crosswise on the heads of the boys, bestowed the right hand on the younger, and the left on the elder. And when Joseph said to his father that the laying on of hands should not be done in this way, he was not persuaded to change the formation of his hands. For it was not, as Joseph supposed, that he did not know what he was doing, his mind being impaired by his great old age, 1.40 but as a prophet he was hinting at future things, and was typifying the saving cross, and was showing that the new people from the Gentiles, clearly, would be counted at the right hand of God and would be preferred over the elder, I mean, that is, the Jewish people. And Jacob died, having lived for three years less than one hundred and fifty. And Joseph, with Pharaoh's permission, went to Hebron and buried his father magnificently. And when his brothers were afraid to return with him, lest he bear a grudge and repay them, he persuaded them to suspect nothing. And he also died, having lived for one hundred and ten years, having commanded that when those of his lineage should migrate from Egypt, they should carry out his bones and bring them to the land of Canaan. But the Egyptians, seeing the Israelites flourishing and having forgotten Joseph, devised various afflictions against them. For they commanded them to cut the river into very many canals, and to build walls for the cities and to raise up embankments, so that the river might be kept from forming marshes by them, and to erect pyramids, and with these things they wore out the Hebrews. So they spent a long time in these afflictions. Then one of the sacred scribes announced to Pharaoh that someone would be born at that time to the Israelites, who, when brought up, would humble the Egyptians, but exalt his kinsmen. Pharaoh therefore, being afraid, ordered them to destroy every male born to the Hebrews by casting them into the river, and that the parents of children who did not do so should be destroyed with their whole family, and that the Egyptian midwives should watch over the births of the 1.41 Hebrew women. And they were in these circumstances; but a certain man of noble birth was greatly distressed at these things, for his wife was pregnant, and he prayed to God; and God commanded him in a dream not to despair. "For the child," he said, "whom the Egyptians suspect, will be yours, and he will be saved and brought up hidden from those who plot against him, and he will release his kinsmen from their slavery among the Egyptians, and will obtain eternal remembrance. And his brother will serve me as a priest, with his descendants, forever." His wife, therefore, gave birth to a male child, having escaped the notice of the guards, and the infant was nourished by his parents for three months. But being afraid, they entrusted his salvation to God, and having devised a basket and smeared it with pitch, they placed the infant in it and set it adrift on the river. And the child's sister, Mariamme, watched to see what would happen. And Thermouthis, the daughter of Pharaoh, playing by the banks of the river, saw the basket and, having sent for it, had it brought to her. And seeing the child, she loved it both for its beauty and for its size. And Egyptian women were brought to nurse it; but it would not accept their breast. And Mariamme, as if happening to be there by chance, said, "O queen, if a Hebrew woman were called, perhaps the infant would accept the breast of one of its own people." And she said, "Call one." And she brought his mother, and Thermouthis entrusted the child's nourishment to her for a wage, and from the circumstance she named him. For the Egyptians call water *mōs*, and those saved from water *usēs*; therefore, combining both words, she used them for the naming 1.42 of the infant. And Moses was the seventh from Abraham; for he himself was the son of Amram, and Kaath was the father of Amram, and he of Levi,

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ἀγαθῶν ἐπευξάμενος, τοῦ ̓Ιωσὴφ δ' ἐγκώμιον διεξελθών, οτι μὴ μνησικακήσειε τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς, προσέταξε τοῖς υἱοῖς ινα τοὺς παῖδας τοῦ ̓Ιωσὴφ ̓Εφραῒμ καὶ Μανασσῆν συναριθμήσωσιν ἑαυτοῖς, συνδιαιρούμενοι τούτοις τὴν Χαναναίαν. εὐλογηθῆναι δὲ τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ ̓Ιωσὴφ παραστήσας τῷ ̓Ιακώβ, τὸν μὲν πρεσβύτερον κατὰ τὴν δεξιὰν εστησε χεῖρα, τὸν δὲ νεώτερον κατὰ τὴν λαιάν. ὁ δὲ τὰς χεῖρας ἐναλλὰξ ταῖς τῶν παίδων κεφαλαῖς ἐπιθέμενος, τὴν μὲν δεξιὰν τῷ νεωτέρῳ ἀπένειμε, τῷ πρεσβυτέρῳ δὲ τὴν εὐώνυμον. καὶ τοῦ ̓Ιωσὴφ μὴ ουτω χρῆναι τὴν ἐπίθεσιν τῶν χειρῶν ποιήσασθαι φήσαντος τῷ πατρί, ἐκεῖνος ἀλλοιῶσαι τὸν τῶν χειρῶν οὐκ ἐπείσθη σχηματισμόν. οὐ γάρ, ὡς ὑπείληφεν ̓Ιωσήφ, οὐκ ῃδει ο ἐποίει, τοῦ γήρως τῷ βαθεῖ βλαβεὶς τὴν διάνοιαν, 1.40 ἀλλ' ὡς προφήτης τὰ μέλλοντα ὑπῃνίττετο, καὶ τὸν σωτήριον ἐτύπου σταυρόν, καὶ τὸν νέον λαὸν τὸν ἐξ ἐθνῶν δηλαδὴ δεξιὸν ἐδήλου λογισθήσεσθαι τῷ θεῷ καὶ τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου προτιμηθήσεσθαι, φημὶ δῆτα τοῦ ̓Ιουδαϊκοῦ. τελευτᾷ δὲ ̓Ιακὼβ βιώσας ετη τριῶν δέοντα ἑκατὸν καὶ πεντήκοντα. ̓Ιωσὴφ δὲ τοῦ Φαραὼ συγχωρήσαντος απεισιν εἰς Χεβρῶνα καὶ θάπτει τὸν πατέρα πολυτελῶς. τῶν δὲ ἀδελφῶν δεδιότων συνυποστρέφειν αὐτῷ, ινα μὴ μνησικακήσας ἀνταποδοίη αὐτοῖς, πείθει μηδὲν ὑφορᾶσθαι. τελευτᾷ δὲ καὶ ουτος, ετη βιώσας ἑκατὸν δέκα, ἐντειλάμενος, οτε μεταναστεύσουσι τῆς Αἰγύπτου οἱ ἐκ τοῦ γένους αὐτοῦ, ἐκκομίσαι καὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς τὴν Χαναναίαν ἀπαγαγεῖν. Αἰγύπτιοι δὲ ἀκμάζοντας τοὺς ̓Ισραηλίτας ὁρῶντες καὶ τοῦ ̓Ιωσὴφ ἐπιλελησμένοι, ταλαιπωρίας ποικίλας κατ' αὐτῶν ἐπενόουν. τόν τε γὰρ ποταμὸν εἰς διώρυχας πλείστας κατατεμεῖν αὐτοῖς ἐπέταξαν, καὶ οἰκοδομῆσαι τείχη ταῖς πόλεσι καὶ χώματα ἀνεγεῖραι, ινα δι' αὐτῶν ὁ ποταμὸς λιμνάζειν ἀπείργοιτο, καὶ ἀνιστᾶν πυραμίδας, καὶ τούτοις τοὺς ̔Εβραίους ἐξέτρυχον. χρόνον μὲν ουν συχνὸν ἐπ' αὐταῖς διήνυσαν ταῖς κακώσεσιν. ειτα τῶν ἱερογραμματέων τις ἀγγέλλει τῷ Φαραὼ τεχθήσεσθαί τινα κατ' ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν τοῖς ̓Ισραηλίταις, ος τραφεὶς ταπεινώσει μὲν τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους, αὐξήσει δὲ τοὺς ὁμογενεῖς. δείσας ουν Φαραὼ κελεύει πᾶν αρσεν γεννώμενον τοῖς ̔Εβραίοις ῥιπτοῦντας εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν διαφθείρειν, τοὺς δὲ μὴ ουτω ποιοῦντας τῶν παίδων τοκεῖς παγγενῆ ἀναιρεῖσθαι, καὶ τοὺς τοκετοὺς δὲ τῶν 1.41 ̔Εβραίων γυναικῶν τὰς Αἰγυπτίας μαίας παραφυλάττειν. Καὶ οἱ μὲν ησαν ἐν τούτοις· ἀνὴρ δέ τις τῶν ευ γεγονότων πρὸς ταῦτα διέκειτο χαλεπῶς, ἐκυοφόρει γὰρ αὐτῷ ἡ γυνή, καὶ ἐδέετο τοῦ θεοῦ· μὴ ἀπογινώσκειν δὲ καθ' υπνους προσέταξεν αὐτῷ ὁ θεός. "ο τε γὰρ παῖς, ον ὑφορῶνται Αἰγύπτιοι, σός" ελεγεν "εσται, καὶ σωθήσεται καὶ τραφήσεται λαθὼν τοὺς ἐπιβουλεύοντας, καὶ λύσει μὲν τῆς παρ' Αἰγυπτίοις δουλείας τοὺς ὁμοφύλους, μνήμης δὲ αἰωνίου τεύξεται. ὁ δὲ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ ἱεράσεταί μοι σὺν τοῖς ἐκγόνοις διὰ παντός." τίκτει τοίνυν αὐτῷ ἡ γυνὴ παιδίον αρρεν λαθοῦσα τοὺς φύλακας, καὶ τρέφεται παρὰ τῶν τεκόντων τὸ βρέφος ἐπὶ μῆνας τρεῖς. δεδοικότες δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ θεῷ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ σωτηρίαν πεποίηνται, καὶ πλέγμα τι μηχανησάμενοι ἀσφάλτῳ τε περιχρίσαντες ἐντιθέασι τὸ βρέφος καὶ ἀφιᾶσι κατὰ τοῦ ποταμοῦ. ἡ δὲ τοῦ παιδὸς ἀδελφὴ Μαριάμμη παρετήρει τὸ γενησόμενον. παίζουσα δὲ παρὰ ταῖς οχθαις τοῦ ποταμοῦ Θέρμουθις ἡ θυγάτηρ Φαραὼ ὁρᾷ τὸ πλέγμα καὶ στείλασα κομίζεται τοῦτο. ἰδοῦσα δὲ τὸ παιδίον ἠγάπησε τοῦτο καὶ διὰ κάλλος καὶ διὰ μέγεθος. καὶ παράγονται γυναῖκες Αἰγύπτιαι θηλάσουσαι αὐτό· τὸ δὲ θηλὴν αὐτῶν οὐ προσίετο. ἡ δὲ Μαριάμμη ὡς τάχα παρατυγχάνουσα "βασίλισσα" ειπεν, "εἰ ̔Εβραῒς κληθείη γυνή, ισως προσήσεται θηλὴν τὸ βρέφος ὁμογενοῦς." ἡ δέ "κάλεσον" εφη. καὶ παρήγαγε τὴν μητέρα, καὶ ἡ Θέρμουθις τὴν τοῦ παιδὸς τροφὴν εμμισθον αὐτῇ ἀνατίθησι, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ συμβεβηκότος ὀνομάζει αὐτό. τὸ γὰρ υδωρ μῶς καλοῦσιν Αἰγύπτιοι, ὑσῆς δὲ τοὺς σωθέντας ἐξ υδατος· αμφω γοῦν συνθεῖσα τὰ ῥήματα εἰς κλῆσιν αὐτοῖς 1.42 τοῦ βρέφους ἐχρήσατο. ην δ' ἐξ ̓Αβραὰμ εβδομος Μωυσῆς· ̓Αμαρὰμ μὲν γὰρ αὐτὸς ην παῖς, Καὰθ δὲ τῷ ̓Αμαρὰμ ὁ πατήρ, ὁ δὲ τοῦ Λευί,