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Is not their interpretation from God? Tell me then.” And everywhere he bears about the divine name, and with this he adorns both his soul and his words together. And saying that the interpretation is from God, he is confident of it, since indeed he has made himself a divine temple. So they told him, and he interpreted, and laid bare what was enigmatic and obscure. And after the end of the interpretation, he says to the chief cupbearer: “But remember me, when it goes well with you, for I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews, and here I have done nothing wrong, and they cast me into the pit of this house.” And not even when necessity called for it, did he expose the wickedness of his brothers, but he suggests the drama of theft as a facade, and those who had made him a slave in deed, he does not endure to abuse with a word, but out of respect for nature he conceals the injustice; and not only was he unwilling to bring an indictment against his brothers, but neither did he make the wickedness of his mistress clear to those who did not know; and though he was conscious of so much lust, intemperance, falsehood, slander, and plotting on her part, he brought none of these things into the open, but brought forward only a simple defense on his own behalf: “For I was stolen,” he says, “from the land of the Hebrews, and here I have done nothing wrong, and they cast me into the pit of this fortress.” Behold the philosophy of his words, behold the magnanimity of his thought, behold a mind unenslaved and undaunted, behold a soul always the same, neither lifted up in prosperity, nor brought low in adversity, but laughing at all things, both the sorrows of life and its pleasures, admiring virtue alone, and striving to pursue it. How did the abomination of his mistress harm this man? And how did her wickedness injure him? Do not, therefore, define the depravity of masters to be a harm to slaves; for it is possible, even while serving wicked masters, to flee with all one's might the imitation of their wickedness. But that mastery is no teacher of wickedness, nor is wealth a creator of evil, behold this very man, being freed from slavery and receiving the second place in the kingdom, and not being puffed up by the throne, but tempering his rule with gentleness, and showing his leadership to be a stewardship, and seeing his brothers plotting murder, yet not murdering; and remembering the dreams, but forgetting the envy of the dreams. For the famine drew his brothers to Egypt, and need compelled them to bow down, not knowing the one to whom they bowed; and the dreams that had been warred against were reaching their fulfillment through those who had plotted against them. And those who sold their brother on account of the dreams, so that they might not bow down as the dreams had foretold, by that sale brought about the bowing down. For having been sold, he served as a slave; having served, he hated the intemperance of his mistress; having hated it, he endured slander; having been slandered, he inhabited a prison; having been imprisoned, he interpreted the dreams for the king's servants. From there he becomes known to the king, he relieves him when he is troubled by dreams; and having interpreted them clearly, and having advised what should be done, he is then appointed steward of what he had advised. He tempers the expected barrenness of the land with the abundance of the crops, and preserves the plenty as a remedy for the famine; and he becomes a provider of food, not only for the Egyptians, but also for his brothers, who had made him into food. Therefore, those who had envied the dreams truly bow down to him, and those who did not accept the bowing down in a dream, performed the true bowing down. But he accepts the act of obeisance, yet does not repay his brothers in kind, but both feeds and cares for them, and gives them grain as a gift. And at the last, having seen his full brother, and having woven the drama of the plot, when he saw them defending the young man, and preferring the care of their elderly father to their own freedom, the mask

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τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡ διασάφησις αὐτῶν ἐστιν; Ἀπαγγείλατε οὖν μοι.» Καὶ πανταχοῦ τὸ θεῖον ὄνομα περιφέρει, καὶ τούτῳ τήν τε ψυχὴν ὁμοῦ καὶ τοὺς λόγους κατακο σμεῖ. Καὶ Θεοῦ λέγων εἶναι τὴν ἑρμηνείαν, καταθαῤ ῥεῖ ταύτης, ἅτε δὴ θεῖον ἑαυτὸν κατασκευάσας νεών. Ἀπήγγελλον οὖν, ὁ δὲ ἡρμήνευε, καὶ τὰ αἰνιγμα τώδη καὶ συνεσκιασμένα ἐγύμνου. Καὶ μετὰ τὸ τέλος τῆς ἑρμηνείας, τῷ ἀρχιοινοχόῳ φησίν· «Ἀλλὰ μνή σθητί μου, ὅταν εὖ σοι γένηται, ὅτι κλοπῇ ἐκλάπην ἐκ γῆς Ἑβραίων, καὶ ὧδε οὐκ ἐποίησα οὐδὲν κακὸν, καὶ ἐνέβαλόν με εἰς τὸν λάκκον τοῦ οἴκου τούτου.» Καὶ οὐδὲ τῆς ἀνάγκης καλεσάσης, τὴν τῶν ἀδελ φῶν ἐγύμνωσε πονηρίαν, ἀλλὰ πρόσωπον ὑποδεικνύει τὸ τῆς κλοπῆς δρᾶμα, καὶ τοὺς ἔργῳ δοῦλον πεποιη κότας, λόγῳ παροινεῖν οὐκ ἀνέχεται, ἀλλ' αἰδοῖ τῆς φύσεως συγκαλύπτει τὴν ἀδικίαν· οὐ μόνον δὲ τὴν τῶν ἀδελφῶν γραφὴν εἰσενεγκεῖν οὐκ ἠθέλησεν, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τῆς δεσποίνης τὴν πονηρίαν τοῖς ἀγνοοῦσι δήλην πεποίηκε· καὶ τοσαύτην αὐτῇ συνειδὼς λαγνείαν, ἀκολασίαν, ψεῦδος, συκοφαντίαν, ἐπιβουλὴν, τούτων μὲν οὐδὲν εἰς μέσον παρήγαγεν, ἁπλῆν δὲ μόνην ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοῦ τὴν ἀπολογίαν εἰσήνεγκεν· «Ὅτι κλοπῇ, φησὶν, ἐκλάπην ἐκ γῆς Ἑβραίων, καὶ ὧδε οὐδὲν κακὸν ἐποίησα, καὶ ἐνέβαλόν με εἰς τὸν λάκκον τοῦ ὀχυρώματος τούτου.» Βλέπε ῥημάτων φιλοσοφίαν, βλέπε διανοίας μεγαλοψυχίαν, βλέπε φρόνημα ἀδού λωτον καὶ ἀκατάπληκτον, βλέπε ψυχὴν τὴν αὐτὴν ἀεὶ, καὶ μήτε ἐν εὐημερίαις ἐπαιρομένην, μήτε ἐν δυσκλη ρίαις ταπεινουμένην, ἀλλὰ πάντα γελῶσαν καὶ τὰ λυπηρὰ τοῦ βίου, καὶ τὰ τερπνὰ, μόνην δὲ ἀρετὴν θαυμάζουσαν, καὶ ταύτης μετιέναι σπουδάζουσαν. Τί τοῦτον ἡ τῆς δεσποίνης ἐλυμήνατο βδελυρία; Τί δὲ αὐτὸν ἡ ἐκείνης ἔβλαψε πονηρία; Μὴ τοίνυν ὁρίζου βλάβην εἶναι δούλων τῶν δεσποτῶν τὴν μο χθηρίαν· δυνατὸν γὰρ καὶ πονηροῖς δεσπόταις δου λεύοντα, φυγεῖν παντὶ σθένει τῆς πονηρίας τὴν μί μησιν. Ὅτι δὲ οὐ δεσποτεία πονηρίας διδάσκαλος, οὔτε πλοῦτος κακίας δημιουργὸς, βλέπε τοῦτον αὐ τὸν, τῆς μὲν δουλείας ἀπαλλαττόμενον, καὶ τῆς βα 83.705 σιλείας τὰ δεύτερα λαμβάνοντα, καὶ τοῖς θρόνοις οὐκ ἐπαιρόμενον, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἠπιότητι κεραννύντα, καὶ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν κηδεμονίαν δεικνύντα, καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ὁρῶντα μὲν φόνον ἀρτύοντας, οὐ φονῶντα δέ· καὶ τῶν μὲν ὀνείρων ἀναμιμνησκόμενον, τοῦ δὲ φθόνου τῶν ὀνείρων ἐπιλανθανόμενον. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ λιμὸς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς εἰς τὴν Αἴγυπτον εἵλκυσεν, ἡ δὲ χρεία προσ κυνεῖν ἠνάγκαζεν ἀγνοοῦντας τὸν προσκυνούμενον· οἱ δὲ πολεμηθέντες ὄνειροι, διὰ τῶν ἐπιβουλευσάντων τὸ πέρας ἐλάμβανον. Καὶ οἱ τῶν ὀνείρων χάριν τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἀποδόμενοι, ἵνα μὴ προσκυνήσωσιν ὡς προεῖ πον οἱ ὄνειροι, τῇ πράσει τὴν προσκύνησιν κατεσκεύα σαν. Πραθεὶς γὰρ, ἐδούλευσε· δουλεύσας, τὴν τῆς δεσποίνης ἀκολασίαν ἐμίσησε· μισήσας, συκοφαντίαν ὑπέμεινε· συκοφαντηθεὶς, δεσμωτήριον ᾤκησε· καθειρχθεὶς, τοῖς τοῦ βασιλέως οἰκέταις τοὺς ὀνεί ρους ἡρμήνευσεν. Ἐκεῖθεν γίνεται γνώριμος τῷ βασιλεῖ, ἀπαλλάττει θορυβούμενον ὑπ' ὀνείρων· καὶ σαφῶς ἑρμηνεύσας, καὶ τὸ πρακτέον συμβουλεύ σας, χειροτονεῖται λοιπὸν ὧν συνεβούλευσεν οἰκο νόμος. Κεράννυσι τῇ φορᾷ τῶν καρπῶν τὴν προσδοκω μένην τῆς γῆς ἀκαρπίαν, καὶ τὴν εὐετηρίαν φυλάττει φάρμακον τῷ λιμῷ· καὶ γίνεται τροφεὺς, οὐκ Αἰγυ πτίων μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἀδελφῶν, οἳ τροφὴν αὐτὸν ἐποιήσαντο. Προσκυνοῦσι τοιγαροῦν αὐτὸν ἀληθῶς οἱ τῶν ὀνείρων φθονήσαντες, καὶ οἱ τὴν ἐν ὀνείρῳ προσκύνησιν οὐ δεξάμενοι, τὴν ἀληθῆ προσκύνη σιν ἐποιήσαντο. Ὁ δὲ τὴν μὲν προσκύνησιν δέχεται, τοῖς δὲ ἴσοις τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς οὐκ ἀμείβεται, ἀλλὰ καὶ τρέφει, καὶ θεραπεύει, καὶ προῖκα τὸν σῖτον δωρεῖται. Καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον, τὸν ὁμογάστορα θεασά μενος ἀδελφὸν, καὶ τὸ δρᾶμα τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς ὑφήνας, ὡς εἶδεν αὐτοὺς ὑπερμαχοῦντας τοῦ νέου, καὶ τὴν τοῦ πρεσβύτου πατρὸς θεραπείαν τῆς σφῶν αὐτῶν προτιμῶντας ἐλευθερίας, τὸ προσωπεῖον