• Torah (T): Bereshiyt (Genesis) 37:1-36
• Prophets (P): Jeremiah 38:1-13
• Apostolic (A): Matthew 3:13-17
• Additional (ADD): Jubilees 34:1-19

RELATED SCRIPTURES

• Genesis 15:13-16 (T)
• Psalms 105:1-23 (T)
• Acts 7:9-10 (T)
• Matthew 21:38; Mark 12:7; Luke 20:14 (T)
• Psalms 81:1-5 (T)
• Deuteronomy 20:5-8 (P)
• Luke 9:35 KJV, NIV, ISV (A)
• Genesis 48:21-22 (ADD)
• Leviticus 16:29-31; Leviticus 23:26-32 (ADD)
• Genesis 37:1-36 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)

RELATED ADDITIONAL READINGS

• Testament of Levi 4Q213 (Completed From The Cairo Geniza) Fragment 1 (T)
• Testament of Judah 1:48-54 (ADD)
• Wisdom of Solomon 18:20-25 (T)
• Sirach 49:14-16; Sirach 27:8; Sirach 45:8 (T)
• Enoch 40:3-9; Enoch 49:1-4 (A)
• Genesis 37:1-36 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)
• Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 2.2.1-4; 2.3.1-4 (T)

Note: (T) means the verse relates to that week’s Torah portion. (P) means the verse relates to that week’s Prophets portion. (A) means the verse relates to that week’s Apostolic portion. (ADD) means the verse relates to that week’s Additional portion.

Torah Portion (T)

37:1 Jacob lived in the land of his father's travels, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the birthings of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. Joseph brought [their]^(MTT) evil slander to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a tunic [of many colors].^(LXX) 4 His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn't speak peaceably to him. 5 Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: 7 for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 His brothers asked him, “Will you indeed reign over us? Will you indeed rule over us?” They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words. 9 He dreamed yet another dream, and told it [to his father and]^(LXX) to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.” 10 He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to the land before you?” 11 His brothers envied him, but his father guarded the word. 12 His brothers went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. 13 Israel said to Joseph, “Aren't your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” He said to him, “Here I am.” 14 He said to him, “Go now, see whether it is well with your brothers, and well with the flock; and bring me word again.” So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 A certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. The man asked him, “What are you looking for?” 16 He said, “I am looking for my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are feeding the flock.” 17 The man said, “They have left here, for I heard them say, ‘Let's go to Dothan.' ” Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan. 18 They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they [acted craftily with him]^(LXX) to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Behold, this dreamer comes. 20 Come now therefore, and let's kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, ‘An evil animal has devoured him.' We will see what will become of his dreams.” 21 Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, “Let's not take his life.” 22 Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father. 23 When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic that was on him; 24 and they took him, and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty. There was no water in it. 25 They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. 26 Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, and let's sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not let our hand be on him; for he is our brother, our flesh.” His brothers listened to him. 28 Midianites who were merchants passed by, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The merchants brought Joseph into Egypt. 29 Reuben returned to the pit, and saw that Joseph wasn't in the pit; and he tore his clothes. 30 He returned to his brothers, and said, “The child is no more; and I, where will I go?” 31 They took Joseph's tunic, and killed a male goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood. 32 They took the tunic, and they brought it to their father, and said, “We have found this. Examine it, now, and see if it is your son's tunic or not.” 33 He recognized it, and said, “It is my son's tunic. An evil animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces.” 34 Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, “For I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” His father wept for him. 36 The [Midianites]^(LXX) sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, [the eunuch]^(LXX)(mss) of Pharaoh, the ruler of the slaughterers.

Prophets Portion (P)

38:1 Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah, heard the words that Jeremiah spoke to all the people, saying, 2 “YHWH says, ‘He who remains in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he who goes out to the Kasdim will live, and he will escape with his life, and he will live.’ 3 YHWH says, ‘This city will surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will take it.’ ” 4 Then the princes said to the king, “Please let this man be put to death; because he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them: for this man doesn’t seek the welfare of this people, but harm.” 5 Zedekiah the king said, “Behold, he is in your hand; for the king can’t do anything to oppose you.” 6 Then they took Jeremiah and threw him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king’s son, that was in the court of the guard. They let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire. 7 Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon, the king was then sitting in Benjamin’s gate, 8 Ebedmelech went out of the king’s house, and spoke to the king, saying, 9 “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon. He is likely to die in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city.” 10 Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take from here thirty men with you, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he dies.” 11 So Ebedmelech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took from there rags and worn-out garments, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah. 12 Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these rags and worn-out garments under your armpits under the cords.” Jeremiah did so. 13 So they lifted Jeremiah up with the cords, and took him up out of the dungeon; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

Apostolic Portion (A)

3:13 Then Yeshua came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be immersed by him. 14 But John would have hindered him, saying, “I need to be immersed by you, and you come to me?” 15 But Yeshua, answering, said to him, “Allow it now, for this is the fitting way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him. 16 Yeshua, when he was immersed, went up directly from the water: and behold, the heavens were opened to him. He saw the Spirit of Elohim descending as a dove, and coming on him. 17 Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Additional Portion (ADD)

Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, all written in Hebrew. The large number of manuscripts (more than for any biblical books except for Psalms, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Exodus, and Genesis, in descending order) indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate and literalistic translation. Scholars have dated Jubilees to have been written sometime around 160-150 B.C.

34:1 And in the sixth year of this week of this forty-fourth jubilee [2148 A.M.] Jacob sent his sons to pasture their sheep, and his servants with them, to the pastures of Shechem. 2. And the seven kings of the Amorites assembled themselves together against them, to slay them, hiding themselves under the trees, and to take their cattle as a prey. 3. And Jacob and Levi and Judah and Joseph were in the house with Isaac their father; for his spirit was sorrowful, and they could not leave him: and Benjamin was the youngest, and for this reason remained with his father. 4. And there came the king[s] of Tâphû, and the king[s] of †’Arêsa,† and the king[s] of Sêragân, and the king[s] of Sêlô, and the king[s] of Gâ’as, and the king of Bêthôrôn, and the king of †Ma’anîsâkîr,† and all those who dwell in these mountains (and) who dwell in the woods in the land of Canaan. 5. And they announced this to Jacob saying: “Behold, the kings of the Amorites have surrounded thy sons, and plundered their herds.” 6. And he arose from his house he and his three sons and all the servants of his father, and his own servants, and he went against them with six thousand men, who carried swords. 7. And he slew them in the pastures of Shechem, and pursued those who fled, and he slew them with the edge of the sword, and he slew †’Arêsa † and Tâphû and Sarêgân and Sêlô and †’Amânîsakîr† and Gâ[gâ]’as, and he recovered his herds. 8. And he prevailed over them, and imposed tribute on them that they should pay him tribute, five fruit products of their land, and he built Rôbêl and Tamnâtârês 9. And he returned in peace, and made peace with them, and they became his servants, until the day that he and his sons went down into Egypt. 10. And in the seventh year of this week [2149 A.M.] he sent Joseph to learn about the welfare of his brothers from his house to the land of Shechem, and he found them in the land of Dothan. 11. And they dealt treacherously with him, and formed a plot against him to slay him, but changing their minds, they sold him to Ishmaelite merchants, and they brought him down into Egypt, and they sold him to Potiphar, the eunuch of Pharaoh, the chief of the cooks, priest of the city of ‘Êlêw. 12. And the sons of Jacob slaughtered a kid, and dipped the coat of Joseph in the blood, and sent (it) to Jacob their father on the tenth of the seventh month. 13. And he mourned all that night, for they had brought it to him in the evening, and he became feverish with mourning for his death, and he said: “An evil beast hath devoured Joseph”; and all the members of his house [mourned with him that day, and they] were grieving and mourning with him all that day. 14. And his sons and his daughter rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted for his son. 15. And on that day Bilhah heard that Joseph had perished, and she died mourning him, and she was living in †Qafrâtêf†  and Dinah also, his daughter, died after Joseph had perished. And there came these three mournings upon Israel in one month. 16. And they buried Bilhah over against the tomb of Rachel, and Dinah also, his daughter, they buried there. 17. And he mourned for Joseph one year, and did not cease, for he said “Let me go down to the grave mourning for my son.” 18. For this reason it is ordained for the sons of Israel that they should afflict themselves on the tenth of the seventh month–on the day that the news which made him weep for Joseph came to Jacob his father–that they should make atonement for themselves thereon with a young goat on the tenth of the seventh month, once a year, for their sins; for they had grieved the affection of their father regarding Joseph his son. 19. And this day hath been ordained that they should grieve thereon for their sins, and for all their transgressions and for all their errors, so that they might cleanse themselves on that day once a year.

Related Scriptures

15:13 He said to Abram, “Know for sure that your seed will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years. 14 I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth; 15 but you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.”

105:1 Give thanks to YHWH! Call on his name! Make his doings known among the peoples. 2 Sing to him, sing praises to him! Tell of all his marvelous works. 3 Glory in his holy name. Let the heart of those who seek YHWH rejoice. 4 Seek YHWH and his strength. Seek his face forever more. 5 Remember his marvelous works that he has done: his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth, 6 you seed of Abraham, his servant, you children of Jacob, his chosen ones. 7 He is YHWH, our Elohim. His judgments are in all the land. 8 He has remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations, 9 the covenant which he made with Abraham, his oath to Isaac, 10 and confirmed it to Jacob for a statute; to Israel for an everlasting covenant, 11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance,” 12 when they were but a few men in number, yes, very few, and foreigners in it. 13 They went about from nation to nation, from one reign to another people. 14 He allowed no one to do them wrong. Yes, he reproved kings for their sakes, 15 “Don’t touch my anointed ones! Do my prophets no harm!” 16 He called for a famine on the land. He destroyed the food supplies. 17 He sent a man before them. Joseph was sold for a slave. 18 They bruised his feet with shackles. His neck was locked in irons, 19 until the time that his word happened, and the word of YHWH proved him true. 20 The king sent and freed him, even the ruler of peoples, and let him go free. 21 He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all of his possessions, 22 to discipline his princes at his pleasure, and to teach his elders wisdom. 23 Israel also came into Egypt. Jacob lived in the land of Ham.

7:9 “The patriarchs, moved with zeal against Joseph, sold him into Egypt. Elohim was with him, 10 and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

Matthew 21:33-40 “Hear another parable. There was a man who was a master of a household who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a wine press in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers, and went into another country. 34 When the season for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the farmers to receive his fruit. 35 The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first; and they treated them the same way. 37 But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But the farmers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard, then killed him. 40 When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?”

Mark 12:1-11 He began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a pit for the wine press, built a tower, rented it out to a farmer, and went into another country. 2 When it was time, he sent a servant to the farmer to get from the farmer his share of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 They took him, beat him, and sent him away empty. 4 Again, he sent another servant to them; and they threw stones at him, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated. 5 Again he sent another; and they killed him; and many others, beating some, and killing some. 6 Therefore still having one, his beloved son, he sent him last to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those farmers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 They took him, killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. 9 What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the farmers, and will give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven’t you even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected was made the head of the corner. 11 This was from the Lord. It is marvelous in our eyes’?”

Luke 20:9-18 9 He began to tell the people this parable. “A man planted a vineyard, and rented it out to some farmers, and went into another country for a long time. 10 At the proper season, he sent a servant to the farmers to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But the farmers beat him, and sent him away empty. 11 He sent yet another servant, and they also beat him, and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. 12 He sent yet a third, and they also wounded him, and threw him out. 13 The lord of the vineyard said, ‘What will I do? I will send my beloved son. It may be that seeing him, they will respect him.’ 14 “But when the farmers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’ 15 Then they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and destroy these farmers, and will give the vineyard to others.” When they heard that, they said, “May that never be!” 17 But he looked at them and said, “Then what is this that is written, ‘The stone which the builders rejected was made the chief cornerstone?’ 18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but it will crush whomever it falls on to dust.”

81:1 Sing aloud to Elohim, our strength! Make a joyful shout to the Elohim of Jacob! 2 Raise a song, and bring here the tambourine, the pleasant lyre with the harp. 3 Blow the trumpet at the New Moon, at the full moon, on our feast day. 4 For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the Elohim of Jacob. 5 He appointed it in Yehoseph for a covenant, when he went out over the land of Egypt, I heard a language that I didn’t know.

20:5 The officers will speak to the people, saying, “What man is there who has built a new house, and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it. 6 What man is there who has planted a vineyard, and has not used its fruit? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man use its fruit. 7 What man is there who has betrothed to a wife, and has not taken her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.” 8 The officers will speak further to the people, and they will say, “What man is there who is fearful and faint-hearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest his brother’s heart melt as his heart.”

9:35 King Ya’aqov (James) Version (KJV) And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son: hear him.”

9:35 New International Version (NIV) A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.”

9:35 International Standard Version (ISV) Then a voice came out of the cloud and said, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen. Keep listening to him!”

Many phrases and concepts in the Apostolic scriptures of Matthew through Revelation are very similar to those found in the Book of Enoch (1 Enoch). In Luke 9:35, buried under the King Ya’aqov (James) Version, and many  translations, is an important concept found in the Book of Enoch: the “Elect One”. The term, “Elect One”, is found fourteen times in the Book of Enoch. This Greek word ἐκλελεγμένος (eklelegménos) should be translated as “chosen” or “elect” instead of beloved which is the Greek word ἀγαπητός (agapitós):

Apparently the translator here wished to make this verse agree with a similar verse in Matthew and Mark. But Luke’s verse in the original Greek reads: “This is my Son, the Elect One (from the Greek ho eklelegmenos, lit., “the elect one”): hear him.” (http://reluctant-messenger.com/enoch.htm)

48:21 Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but Elohim will be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.” (cf. Jubilees 34:1-9)

Leviticus 16:29 “It will be a statute to you forever: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you will afflict your souls, and will do no kind of work, whether native or a stranger who sojourns among you; 30 for on this day will atonement be made for you, to cleanse you. You will be clean from all your sins before YHWH. 31 It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you will afflict your souls. It is a statute forever.

Leviticus 23:26 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “However on the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement. It will be a holy convocation to you. You will afflict yourselves and you will offer an offering made by fire to YHWH. 28 You will do no kind of work in that same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before YHWH your Elohim. 29 For whoever it is who will not deny himself in that same day will be cut off from his people. 30 Whoever does any kind of work in that same day, I will destroy that person from among his people. 31 You will do no kind of work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32 It will be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you will deny yourselves. In the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you will keep your Sabbath.”

Additional Readings​

Numerous small fragments representing the Aramaic Testament of Levi from Cave 4 all date to the mid-first century B.C.

If present, ellipses in the text (…) represent missing fragments of the scroll

… [And] I [instruct you, my sons, and I will show to you, my loved ones, the truth.] The chief of all your deeds will be [truth, and it will be with you for ever.] Righteousness and truth … you will bring in a blessed harvest. He who sows good will bring in good, and he who sows evil, his sowing will turn against him. And now teach your sons letters, doctrine and wisdom, and wisdom will be with you for everlasting honour. He who studies wisdom will be honoured, but he who despises wisdom will be turned into scorn and disdain. My sons, look at Joseph, my brother, who has studied letters and wise doctrine for glory and greatness and for kings … Do not be remiss in the study of wisdom … Everyone who studies wisdom … To every land and province to which he goes as a brother … and he is not like a stranger, nor as a … all will grant him honour on its account because all wish to learn wisdom. Those who love him are many and His well-wishers are great in number. They will make him sit on a throne of honour to hear his words of wisdom. Wisdom is great wealth of honour for those who know it, and a good treasure for those who buy it. If powerful kings come and a big crowd [and horsemen and many chariots will be with them, they will carry away the wealth of a country and of a province, and plunder everything in them, they will not plunder the treasuries of wisdom, and will not find] …

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs is  comprised of the dying commands of the twelve sons of Jacob. It is part of the Oskan Armenian Orthodox Bible of 1666. Fragments of similar writings were found at Qumran, but opinions are divided as to whether these are the same texts. 

The Testament of Judah (a portion of which is shown below) is primarily concerned with courage, monetary greed, and fornication. It begins by portraying Judah as idealistically courageous, involving bravery in front of wild beasts, as well as successful military expeditions, sometimes basing the narrative on acts that the canonical bible attributes to Jacob.

1:48 We came upon them, therefore, with wrath, and they all fled; and passing by another way, they fought my father, and he made peace with them. 49 And we did to them no hurt, and they became tributary to us, and we restored to them their spoil. 50 And I built Thamna, and my father built Pabael. 51 I was twenty years old when this war befell. And the Canaanites feared me and my brethren. 52 And I had much cattle, and I had for chief herdsman Iram the Adullamite. 53 And when I went to him I saw Parsaba, king of Adullam; and he spake unto us, and he made us a feast; and when I was heated he gave me his daughter Bathshua to wife. 54 She bare me Er, and Onan and Shelah; and two of them the Lord smote: for Shelah lived, and his children are ye.

Wisdom 18:20-25 (T)

The Wisdom of Solomon, or Book of Wisdom, is a Jewish work, written in Greek, and most likely composed in Alexandria, Egypt. Generally dated to the mid first century B.C. It is uncertain whether the book has a single author or comes from a school of writers, but recent scholarship has favored regarding it as a unified work. Fragments of the Wisdom of Solomon were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls in the first discovered and excavated cave at Qumran in 1949.

18:20 The experience of death also touched the righteous, and a multitude were destroyed in the wilderness, but the wrath didn’t last long. 21 For a blameless man hurried to be their champion, bringing the weapon of his own service, prayer, and the atoning slaughter of incense. He withstood the indignation and set an end to the calamity, showing that he was your servant. 22 And he overcame the anger, not by strength of body, not by force of weapons, but by his word, he subdued the avenger by bringing to remembrance oaths and covenants made with the fathers. 23 For when the dead had already fallen in heaps one upon another, he intervened and stopped the wrath, and cut off its way to the living. 24 For the whole world was pictured on his tunic, and the glories of the fathers were upon the engraving of the four rows of precious stones, and your majesty was upon the diadem on his head. 25 The destroyer yielded to these, and they feared; for it was enough only to test the wrath.

Sirach, or Wisdom of Sirach, and also known as the Book of Ecclesiasticus (abbreviated Ecclus.) or Ben Sira, is a work of ethical teachings, from approximately 200 to 175 B.C., written by the Jewish scribe Ben Sira of Jerusalem, on the inspiration of his father Joshua son of Sirach, sometimes called Jesus son of Sirach or Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira. The Sirach was almost completely uncovered in Hebrew in the Dead Sea Scrolls, at Masada, and the Cairo Geniza. The multiplicity of manuscript fragments uncovered in the Cairo Genizah evidence its authoritative status among Egyptian Jewry until the Middle Ages. Quotes from Sirach can be found in Rabbinic literature in multiple places  including the Talmud in Bava Kamma 92b:13 and Hagigah 13a:2. Additionally, the Gospels and other Apostolic Scriptures quote from the Book of Sirach including the Song of Miriam in Luke 1:52 (cf. Sirach 10:14); the description of the seed in Mark 4:5, 16–17 (cf. Sirach 40:15); the statement by Yeshua in Matthew 7:16,20 (cf. Sirach 27:6); and Ya’aqov (James) 1:19 (cf. Sirach 5:11).

Sirach 49:14 No man was created upon the land such as was Enoch; For he was taken up from the land. 15 Neither was there a man born like to Joseph, A governor of his kindred, a stay of the people: Yes, his bones were visited. 16 Shem and Seth were glorified among men; And above every living thing in the creation is Adam.

Sirach 27:8 If you follow righteousness, you will obtain it, and put it on like a tunic of glory.

Sirach 45:8 He clothed him in perfect splendor, and strengthened him with symbols of authority: the linen trousers, the tunic, and the ephod.

Enoch 40:3-9 And I heard the voices of those four faces as they uttered praises before the Lord of glory. 4. The first voice blesses the Lord of Spirits for ever and ever. 5. And the second voice I heard blessing the Elect One and the elect ones who hang upon the Lord of Spirits. 6. And the third voice I heard pray and intercede for those who dwell on the land and supplicate in the name of the Lord of Spirits. 7. And I heard the fourth voice fending off the Satans and forbidding them to come before the Lord of Spirits to accuse them who dwell on the land. 8. After that I asked the angel of peace who went with me, who showed me everything that is hidden: ‘Who are these four faces which I have seen and whose words I have heard and written down?’ 9. And he said to me: ‘This first is Michael, the merciful and long-suffering: and the second, who is set over all the diseases and all the wounds of the children of men, is Raphael: and the third, who is set over all the powers, is Gabriel: and the fourth, who is set over the repentance unto hope of those who inherit eternal life, is named Phanuel.’ And these are the four angels of the Lord of Spirits and the four voices I heard in those days.

Enoch 49:1-4 For wisdom is poured out like water, And glory faileth not before him for evermore. 2. For he is mighty in all the secrets of righteousness, And unrighteousness will disappear as a shadow, And have no continuance; Because the Elect One standeth before the Lord of Spirits, And his glory is for ever and ever, And his might unto all generations. 3. And in him dwells the spirit of wisdom, And the spirit which gives insight, And the spirit of understanding and of might, And the spirit of those who have fallen asleep in righteousness. 4. And he will judge the secret things, And none will be able to utter a lying word before him; For he is the Elect One before the Lord of Spirits according to His good pleasure.

Genesis 37:1-36 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)

Composed in Talmudic Israel (c.150 – c.250 AD). Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is a western targum (translation) of the Torah (Pentateuch) from the land of Israel (as opposed to the eastern Babylonian Targum Onkelos). Its correct title was originally Targum Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Targum), which is how it was known in medieval times. But because of a printer’s mistake it was later labeled Targum Jonathan, in reference to Jonathan ben Uzziel. Some editions of the Pentateuch continue to call it Targum Jonathan to this day. Most scholars refer to the text as Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. This targum is more than a mere translation. It includes much Aggadic material collected from various sources as late as the Midrash Rabbah as well as earlier material from the Talmud. It is effectively a combination of a commentary and a translation. In the portions where it is pure translation, it often agrees with the Targum Onkelos. The date of its composition is disputed. It cannot have been completed before the Arabic conquest as it refers to Mohammad’s wife Fatimah, but might have been initially composed in the 4th Century AD. However, some scholars date it in the 14th Century.

Chapter 37 These are the generations of Jakob. Joseph was a son of seventeen years. He had come forth from the school, and was a youth brought up with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpha his fathers wives. And Joseph brought their evil report; for he had seen them eat the flesh that had been torn by wild beasts, the ears and the tails; and he came and told it to his father. And Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because the likeness of Joseph resembled his own, and he made him a figured robe. [JERUSALEM. A figured robe.] And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, and they cherished enmity against him, and were unwilling to speak peacefully with him.

And Joseph dreamed a dream, and declared it to his brethren, and they added yet to keep enmity against him. And he said to them, Hear now this dream which I have dreamed. Behold, we were binding sheaves in the midst of the field, and lo, my sheaf arose, and stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves surrounded and bowed to my sheaf. [JERUSALEM. Were binding sheaves.] And his brothers said to him, Art thou thinking to reign over us, or dost thou expect to have rule over us? And they added yet to keep enmity against him, for his dream and for his words.

And he dreamed again another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, Behold, I have dreamed yet a dream, and lo, the sun, and the moon, and eleven stars, bowed to me. And he related it to his father and to his brethren: but his father rebuked him, and said to him, What dream is this that thou hast dreamed? Will I, and thy mother, and thy brethren, really come and bow before thee to the ground? And his brothers envied him; yet his father kept the saying in his heart.

And his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shekem. And it was at the time of days that Israel said to Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed in Shekem? But I am afraid lest the Hivaee come and smite them, because they smote Hamor and Shekem and the inhabitants of the city. Come now; and I will send thee to them And he said, Behold me. And he said, Go, see the welfare of Your brethren, and the welfare of the flock, and return me word to the deep Counsel. But he sent him according to the deep counsel which was spoken to Abraham in Hebron; for on that day began the cativity of Mizraim.

And Joseph arose, and came to Shekem. And Gabriel in the likeness of a man found him wandering field. And the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? And he said, I seek my brothers; show me, pray, where they feed. And the man said, They have journeyed hence: for I heard beyond the Veil, that behold from today would begin the servitude to the Mizraee; and it was said to them in prophecy, Hivaee would seek to set battle in array against them. Therefore said they, we will go unto Dothan.

And Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan. And they saw him from afar, before he had come nigh to them, and plotted against him to kill him. And Shimeon and Levi, who were brothers in counsel, said each man to his brother, Behold, this master of dreams cometh. And now come let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits and say that an evil beast bath devoured him; arid we will see what will be the interpretation of his dreams.

And Reuben heard, and delivered him from their hands, and said, We will not kill him nor become guilty of his blood. And Reuben said, Let us not shed innocent blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but the hand of the slayer stretch not forth against him; because he would deliver him from their hand, and restore him to his father.

And when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his garment, the figured garment that was on him, and took and threw him into the pit; but the pit was empty, no water was therein, but nachashim and scorpions were in it. And they sat around to eat bread. And they lifted up their eyes, and looked, and behold a band of Arabians [JERUSALEM. A band of Saracens] were coming from Gilead with their camels, carrying wax, resin, balsam and stacte, proceeding to go into Mizraim. And Jehuda said to his brethren, What profit of mammon should we have if we killed our brother, and covered his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Arabians, and our hands will not be upon him to kill him; for our brother is our own flesh. And his brethren agreed. And the Midianite men, masters of business, passed by; and they drew and brought up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Arabians for twenty mahin of silver; and they bought sandals of them. And they brought Joseph to Mizraim.

And Reuben returned to the pit; for he had not been with them to assist when they sold him, because he had sat fasting on account that he had confounded the couch of his father; and he had gone and sat among the hills, that he might return to the pit and bring him up for his father, if haply he might avert his anger. But when he had returned, and looked, and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit, he rent his clothes, and returned to his brethren, and said, The youth is not; and I, whither will I go, and how will I see the look of my father’s face? But they took the garment of Joseph, and killed a kid of the goats, because his blood is like the blood of a man, and they dabbled the garment in the blood. And they sent it by the hand of the sons of Zilpha and of the sons of Bilhah the figured garment; and they brought it to their father, and said, This have we found; know now, whether it be thy son’s garment, or not. And he recognised it and said, It is my son’s garment: a beast of the wilderness hath not devoured him, neither hath he been slain by the hand of man; but I see by the Holy Spirit, that an evil woman standeth against him. [JERUSALEM. And he discerned it and said, It is my son’s garment: yet a wild beast hath not devoured him, neither is my son Joseph slain ; but I see by the Spirit of the sanctuary, that an evil woman standeth against him. And Jakob rent his clothes, and wrapped sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all the men of his house arose and went to console him; but he refused to receive consolation, and said, For I will go down to my son mourning to the house of the grave. And Izhak his father also wept for him. But the Midianites sold him in Mizraim to Potipliar a captain of Pharaoh, a captain of the guards. [JERUSALEM. To Potiphar an officer of Pharaoh, a captain of the guards.]

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Josephus was born Joseph ben Mattathias in 37 AD in Jerusalem of a priestly and royal family. He excelled in his studies of Jewish law and studied with the Sadducees, Pharisees, and the Essenes, eventually aligning himself with the Pharisees. In 62 AD he went to Rome to free some imprisoned priests. After accomplishing this mission through the intercession of Nero’s wife, Poppaea, he returned to Jerusalem in 65 AD to find the country in revolt against Rome. Josephus shrewdly reinterpreted the Messianic prophecies. He predicted that Vespasian would become the ruler of the ‘entire world’. His prophecy became true in 68 AD when Nero committed suicide and Vespasian became Ceasar. As a result, Josephus was freed; he moved to Rome and became a Roman citizen, taking the Vespasian family name Flavius. Vespasian commissioned Josephus to write a history of the war, which he finished in 78 AD, the Jewish War. His second major work, the Antiquities of the Jews, was completed in 93 AD. The extant manuscripts of the book Antiquities of the Jews contain two references to Yeshua of Nazareth (18.3.3. and 20.9.1.) and one reference to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist (18.5.2.).

2.2.1 It happened that Jacob came to so great happiness as rarely any other person had arrived at. He was richer than the rest of the inhabitants of that country; and was at once envied and admired for such virtuous sons, for they were deficient in nothing, but were of great souls, both for laboring with their hands and enduring of toil; and shrewd also in understanding. And Elohim exercised such a providence over him, and such a care of his happiness, as to bring him the greatest blessings, even out of what appeared to be the most sorrowful condition; and to make him the cause of our forefathers’ departure out of Egypt, him and his posterity. The occasion was this:—When Jacob had his son Joseph born to him by Rachel, his father loved him above the rest of his sons, both because of the beauty of his body, and the virtues of his mind, for he excelled the rest in prudence. This affection of his father excited the envy and the hatred of his brethren; as did also his dreams which he saw, and related to his father, and to them, which foretold his future happiness, it being usual with mankind to envy their very nearest relations such their prosperity. Now the visions which Joseph saw in his sleep were these:—

2.2.2 When they were in the middle of harvest, and Joseph was sent by his father, with his brethren, to gather the fruits of the land, he saw a vision in a dream, but greatly exceeding the customary appearances that come when we are asleep; which, when he was got up, he told his brethren, that they might judge what it portended. He said, he saw the last night, that his wheat-sheaf stood still in the place where he set it, but that their sheaves ran to bow down to it, as servants bow down to their masters. But as soon as they perceived the vision foretold that he should obtain power and great wealth, and that his power should be in opposition to them, they gave no interpretation of it to Joseph, as if the dream were not by them understood: but they prayed that no part of what they suspected to be its meaning might come to pass; and they bare a still greater hatred to him on that account.

2.2.3 But Elohim, in opposition to their envy, sent a second vision to Joseph, which was much more wonderful than the former; for it seemed to him that the sun took with him the moon, and the rest of the stars, and came down to the land, and bowed down to him. He told the vision to his father, and that, as suspecting nothing of ill-will from his brethren, when they were there also, and desired him to interpret what it should signify. Now Jacob was pleased with the dream: for, considering the prediction in his mind, and shrewdly and wisely guessing at its meaning, he rejoiced at the great things thereby signified, because it declared the future happiness of his son; and that, by the blessing of Elohim, the time would come when he should be honored, and thought worthy of worship by his parents and brethren, as guessing that the moon and sun were like his mother and father; the former, as she that gave increase and nourishment to all things; and the latter, he that gave form and other powers to them; and that the stars were like his brethren, since they were eleven in number, as were the stars that receive their power from the sun and moon.

2.2.4 And thus did Jacob make a judgment of this vision, and that a shrewd one also. But these interpretations caused very great grief to Joseph’s brethren; and they were affected to him hereupon as if he were a certain stranger, that was to those good things which were signified by the dreams and not as one that was a brother, with whom it was probable they should be joint-partakers; and as they had been partners in the same parentage, so should they be of the same happiness. They also resolved to kill the lad; and having fully ratified that intention of theirs, as soon as their collection of the fruits was over, they went to Shechem, which is a country good for feeding of cattle, and for pasturage; there they fed their flocks, without acquainting their father with their removal thither; whereupon he had melancholy suspicions about them, as being ignorant of his sons’ condition, and receiving no messenger from the flocks that could inform him of the true state they were in; so, because he was in great fear about them, he sent Joseph to the flocks, to learn the circumstances his brethren were in, and to bring him word how they did.

2.3.1 Now these brethren rejoiced as soon as they saw their brother coming to them, not indeed as at the face of a near relation, or as at the face of one sent by their father, but as at the face of an enemy, and one that by Divine Providence was delivered into their hands; and they already resolved to kill him, and not let slip the opportunity that lay before them. But when Reubel, the eldest of them, saw them thus disposed, and that they had agreed together to execute their purpose, he tried to restrain them, showing them the heinous enterprise they were going about, and the horrid nature of it; that this action would appear wicked in the sight of God, and impious before men, even though they should kill one not related to them; but much more flagitious and detestable to appear to have slain their own brother, by which act the father must be treated unjustly in the son’s slaughter, and the mother also be in perplexity while she laments that her son is taken away from her, and this not in a natural way neither. So he entreated them to have a regard to their own consciences, and wisely to consider what mischief would betide them upon the death of so good a child, and their youngest brother; that they would also fear God, who was already both a spectator and a witness of the designs they had against their brother; that he would love them if they abstained from this act, and yielded to repentance and amendment; but in case they proceeded to do the fact, all sorts of punishments would overtake them from Elohim for this murder of their brother, since they polluted his providence, which was every where present, and which did not overlook what was done, either in deserts or in cities; for wheresoever a man is, there ought he to suppose that Elohim is also. He told them further, that their consciences would be their enemies, if they attested to go through so wicked an enterprise, which they can never avoid, whether it be a good conscience; or whether it be such a one as they will have within them when once they have killed their brother. He also added this besides to what he had before said, that it was not a righteous thing to kill a brother, though he had injured them; that it is a good thing to forget the actions of such near friends, even in things wherein they might seem to have offended; but that they were going to kill Joseph, who had been guilty of nothing that was ill towards them, in whose case the infirmity of his small age should rather procure him mercy, and move them to unite together in the care of his preservation. That the cause of killing him made the act itself much worse, while they determined to take him off out of envy at his future prosperity, an equal share of which they would naturally partake while he enjoyed it, since they were to him not strangers, but the nearest relations, for they might reckon upon what Elohim bestowed upon Joseph as their own; and that it was fit for them to believe, that the anger of Elohim would for this cause be more severe upon them, if they slew him who was judged by Elohim to be worthy of that prosperity which was to be hoped for; and while, by murdering him, they made it impossible for Elohim to bestow it upon him.

2.3.2 Reubel said these and many other things, and used entreaties to them, and thereby endeavored to divert them from the murder of their brother. But when he saw that his discourse had not mollified them at all, and that they made haste to do the fact, he advised them to alleviate the wickedness they were going about, in the manner of taking Joseph off; for as he had exhorted them first, when they were going to revenge themselves, to be dissuaded from doing it; so, since the sentence for killing their brother had prevailed, he said that they would not, however, be so grossly guilty, if they would be persuaded to follow his present advice, which would include what they were so eager about, but was not so very bad, but, in the distress they were in, of a lighter nature. He begged of them, therefore, not to kill their brother with their own hands, but to cast him into the pit that was hard by, and so to let him die; by which they would gain so much, that they would not defile their own hands with his blood. To this the young men readily agreed; so Reubel took the lad and tied him to a cord, and let him down gently into the pit, for it had no water at all in it; who, when he had done this, went his way to seek for such pasturage as was fit for feeding his flocks.

2.3.3 But Judas, being one of Jacob’s sons also, seeing some Arabians, of the posterity of Ismael, carrying spices and Syrian wares out of the land of Gilead to the Egyptians, after Rubel was gone, advised his brethren to draw Joseph out of the pit, and sell him to the Arabians; for if he should die among strangers a great way off, they should be freed from this barbarous action. This, therefore, was resolved on; so they drew Joseph up out of the pit, and sold him to the merchants for twenty pounds He was now seventeen years old. But Reubel, coming in the night-time to the pit, resolved to save Joseph, without the privity of his brethren; and when, upon his calling to him, he made no answer, he was afraid that they had destroyed him after he was gone; of which he complained to his brethren; but when they had told him what they had done, Reubel left off his mourning.

2.3.4 When Joseph’s brethren had done thus to him, they considered what they should do to escape the suspicions of their father. Now they had taken away from Joseph the coat which he had on when he came to them at the time they let him down into the pit; so they thought proper to tear that coat to pieces, and to dip it into goats’ blood, and then to carry it and show it to their father, that he might believe he was destroyed by wild beasts. And when they had so done, they came to the bearded man, but this not till what had happened to his son had already come to his knowledge. Then they said that they had not seen Joseph, nor knew what mishap had befallen him; but that they had found his coat bloody and torn to pieces, whence they had a suspicion that he had fallen among wild beasts, and so perished, if that was the coat he had on when he came from home. Now Jacob had before some better hopes that his son was only made a captive; but now he laid aside that notion, and supposed that this coat was an evident argument that he was dead, for he well remembered that this was the coat he had on when he sent him to his brethren; so he hereafter lamented the lad as now dead, and as if he had been the father of no more than one, without taking any comfort in the rest; and so he was also affected with his misfortune before he met with Joseph’s brethren, when he also conjectured that Joseph was destroyed by wild beasts. He sat down also clothed in sackcloth and in heavy affliction, insomuch that he found no ease when his sons comforted him, neither did his pains remit by length of time.