J — Joseph
Original French
L’Histoire de Joseph, à ne la considérer que comme un objet de curiosité & de littérature, est un des plus précieux monumens de l’antiquité, qui soient parvenus jusqu’à nous. Elle paraît être le modèle de tous les écrivains Orientaux; elle est plus attendrissante que l’Odissée d’Homère; car un héros qui pardonne, est plus touchant que celui qui se venge.
Nous regardons les Arabes comme les premiers auteurs de ces fictions ingénieuses qui ont passé dans toutes les langues; mais je ne vois chez eux aucune avanture comparable à celle de Joseph. Presque tout en est merveilleux, & la fin peut faire répandre des larmes d’atendrissement. C’est un jeune homme de seize ans dont ses frères sont jaloux; il est vendu par eux à une caravane de marchands Ismaëlites, conduit en Egypte, & acheté par un eunuque du roi. Cet eunuque avait une femme, ce qui n’est point du tout étonnant; le Kislar-Aga eunuque parfait, à qui on a tout coupé, a aujourd’hui un serrail à Constantinople: on lui a laissé ses yeux & ses mains, & la nature n’a point perdu ses droits dans son cœur. Les autres eunuques, à qui on n’a coupé que les deux accompagnemens de l’organe de la génération, employent encor souvent cet organe; & Putiphar à qui Joseph fut vendu, pouvait très-bien être du nombre de ces eunuques.
La femme de Putiphar devient amoureuse du jeune Joseph, qui fidèle à son maître & à son bienfaiteur, rejette les empressemens de cette femme. Elle en est irritée, & accuse Joseph d’avoir voulu la séduire. C’est l’histoire d’Hipolite & de Phèdre, de Bellerophon & de Stenobée, d’Hebrus & de Damasippe, de Tanis & de Péribée, de Mirtil & d’Hipodamie, de Pélée & de Demenette.
Il est difficile de savoir quelle est l’originale de toutes ces histoires; mais chez les anciens auteurs Arabes, il y a un trait touchant l’avanture de Joseph & de la femme de Putiphar, qui est fort ingénieux. L’auteur suppose que Putiphar incertain entre sa femme & Joseph, ne regarda pas la tunique de Joseph que sa femme avait déchirée comme une preuve de l’attentat du jeune homme. Il y avait un enfant au berceau dans la chambre de la femme; Joseph disait qu’elle lui avait déchiré & ôté sa tunique en présence de l’enfant; Putiphar consulta l’enfant dont l’esprit était fort avancé pour son âge; l’enfant dit à Putiphar, Regardez si la tunique est déchirée par devant ou par derrière; si elle l’est par devant, c’est une preuve que Joseph a voulu prendre par force votre femme qui se défendait; si elle l’est par derrière, c’est une preuve que votre femme courait après lui. Putiphar, grace au génie de cet enfant, reconnut l’innocence de son esclave. C’est ainsi que cette avanture est raportée dans l’Alcoran d’après l’ancien auteur Arabe. Il ne s’embarasse point de nous instruire à qui appartenait l’enfant qui jugea avec tant d’esprit. Si c’était un fils de la Putiphar, Joseph n’était pas le premier à qui cette femme en avait voulu.
Quoi qu’il en soit,Joseph, selon la Genèse, est mis en prison, & il s’y trouve en compagnie de l’échanson & du panetier du Roi d’Egypte. Ces deux prisonniers d’état rêvent tous deux pendant la nuit; Joseph explique leurs songes, il leur prédit que dans trois jours l’échanson rentrera en grace, & que le panetier sera pendu, ce qui ne manqua pas d’arriver.
Deux ans après le Roi d’Egypte rêve aussi; son échanson lui dit qu’il y a un jeune Juif en prison, qui est le premier homme du monde pour l’intelligence des rêves; le roi fait venir le jeune homme, qui lui prédit sept années d’abondance, & sept années de stérilité.
Interrompons un peu ici le fil de l’histoire, pour voir de quelle prodigieuse antiquité est l’interprétation des songes.
Jacob avait vû en songe l’échelle mystérieuse au haut de laquelle était Dieu lui-même: il apprit en songe une methode de multiplier les troupeaux; méthode qui n’a jamais réussi qu’à lui. Joseph lui-même avait appris par un songe qu’il dominerait un jour sur ses frères. Abimélec, long-tems auparavant, avait été averti en songe que Sara était femme d’Abraham. ( Voyez l’article Songe.)
Revenons à Joseph. Dès qu’il eut expliqué le songe de Pharaon, il fut sur le champ premier ministre. On doute qu’aujourd’hui on trouvât un Roi, même en Asie, qui donnât une telle charge pour un rêve expliqué. Pharaon fit épouser à Joseph une fille de Putiphar. Il est dit, que ce Putiphar était grand-prêtre d’Héliopolis; ce n’était donc pas l’eunuque son premier maître; ou si c’était lui, il avait encor certainement un autre titre que celui de grand-prêtre, & sa femme avait été mère plus d’une fois.
Cependant, la famine arriva, comme Joseph l’avait prédit, & Joseph pour mériter les bonnes graces de son Roi, força tout le peuple à vendre ses terres à Pharaon, & toute la nation se fit esclave pour avoir du blé. C’est là apparemment l’origine du pouvoir despotique. Il faut avouer que jamais roi n’avait fait un meilleur marché; mais aussi le peuple ne devait guères bénir le premier ministre.
Enfin, le père & les frères de Joseph eurent aussi besoin de blé, car la famine désolait alors toute la terre. Ce n’est pas la peine de raconter ici comment Joseph reçut ses frères, comment il leur pardonna & les enrichit. On trouve dans cette histoire tout ce qui constitue un poëme épique intéressant; exposition, nœud, reconnaissance, péripétie; & merveilleux. Rien n’est plus marqué au coin du génie oriental.
Ce que le bon homme Jacob père de Joseph répondit à Pharaon, doit bien fraper ceux qui savent lire. Quel âge avez-vous? lui dit le Roi. J’ai cent-trente ans, dit le vieillard, & je n’ai pas eu encor un jour heureux dans ce court pélerinage.
Musean translation
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation of the 73 articles in the 1764 first edition, made directly from the French and reviewed against the scan-collated French text. The author’s notes, quotations and verse are retained. Historical ethnic labels, including offensive terms, are retained from the 1764 text.
The story of Joseph, considered merely as an object of curiosity and literature, is one of the most precious monuments of antiquity that have come down to us. It seems to be the model for all Eastern writers. It is more moving than Homer’s Odyssey, for a hero who forgives touches us more than one who takes revenge.
We regard the Arabs as the first authors of those ingenious fictions that have passed into every language; but I see no adventure among them comparable to Joseph’s. Almost everything in it is marvelous, and the ending can draw tears of tenderness. Here is a young man of sixteen whose brothers are jealous of him. They sell him to a caravan of Ishmaelite merchants; he is taken to Egypt and bought by one of the king’s eunuchs. This eunuch had a wife, which is not at all surprising. The Kizlar Agha, a complete eunuch from whom everything has been cut away, has a seraglio in Constantinople today. He has been left his eyes and hands, and nature has not lost her rights over his heart. Other eunuchs, from whom only the two appendages of the organ of generation have been cut, still often employ that organ; and Potiphar, to whom Joseph was sold, might very well have been one of these eunuchs.
Potiphar’s wife falls in love with young Joseph, who, faithful to his master and benefactor, rejects her advances. Angered, she accuses Joseph of trying to seduce her. It is the story of Hippolytus and Phaedra, Bellerophon and Sthenoboea, Hebrus and Damasippe, Tanis and Periboea, Myrtilus and Hippodamia, Peleus and Demaenete.
It is difficult to know which of all these stories is the original; but in the ancient Arab authors there is a very ingenious detail concerning Joseph’s adventure with Potiphar’s wife. The author supposes that Potiphar, uncertain between his wife and Joseph, did not regard Joseph’s tunic, which his wife had torn, as proof of the young man’s assault. There was a child in a cradle in the wife’s room; Joseph said that she had torn and pulled off his tunic in the child’s presence. Potiphar consulted the child, whose intelligence was very advanced for its age. The child said to Potiphar, “Look whether the tunic is torn in front or behind. If it is in front, that proves Joseph tried to take your wife by force while she defended herself; if it is behind, that proves your wife was running after him.” Thanks to this child’s genius, Potiphar recognized his slave’s innocence. This is how the adventure is related in the Koran, following the ancient Arab author. He does not trouble to tell us whose child it was that judged so cleverly. If it was a son of Madame Potiphar, Joseph was not the first man this woman had pursued.
However that may be, according to Genesis Joseph is put in prison and finds himself there in the company of the king of Egypt’s cupbearer and baker. These two state prisoners both dream during the night. Joseph explains their dreams and predicts that in three days the cupbearer will be restored to favor and the baker hanged, which duly happens.
Two years later the king of Egypt dreams as well. His cupbearer tells him there is a young Jew in prison who is the foremost man in the world at understanding dreams. The king sends for the young man, who predicts seven years of abundance and seven years of barrenness.
Let us interrupt the thread of the story here for a moment to see how prodigiously ancient the interpretation of dreams is.
Jacob had seen in a dream the mysterious ladder at whose summit God himself stood; in a dream he learned a method of multiplying his flocks, a method that has never worked for anyone but him. Joseph himself had learned through a dream that one day he would rule over his brothers. Long before, Abimelech had been warned in a dream that Sarah was Abraham’s wife. (See the article Songe.)
Let us return to Joseph. As soon as he had explained Pharaoh’s dream, he was made prime minister on the spot. It is doubtful whether today one could find a king, even in Asia, who would bestow such an office for explaining a dream. Pharaoh had Joseph marry a daughter of Potiphar. This Potiphar is said to have been high priest of Heliopolis, so he was not the eunuch who had first been Joseph’s master; or if he was, he certainly had another title besides that of high priest, and his wife had been a mother more than once.
Meanwhile the famine came, as Joseph had foretold, and Joseph, to earn his king’s favor, forced the entire people to sell their lands to Pharaoh, and the whole nation became enslaved to obtain grain. This is apparently the origin of despotic power. It must be admitted that no king had ever made a better bargain; but then the people could scarcely have blessed the prime minister.
At last Joseph’s father and brothers also needed grain, for famine then ravaged all the earth. There is no need to relate here how Joseph received his brothers, how he forgave and enriched them. This story contains everything that makes a compelling epic poem: exposition, complication, recognition, reversal, and the marvelous. Nothing is more deeply stamped with Eastern genius.
The answer that good old Jacob, Joseph’s father, gave Pharaoh must strike those who know how to read. “How old are you?” the king asked. “I am a hundred and thirty,” said the old man, “and I have not yet had one happy day in this short pilgrimage.”
Plain English translation
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Plain English translation of the same 73 articles, made directly from the French and reviewed against the scan-collated French text. The author’s notes, quotations and verse are retained. Historical ethnic labels, including offensive terms, are retained from the 1764 text.
Set aside everything but literary interest and curiosity in Joseph’s story. Few records handed down from antiquity are more valuable. It seems to have supplied the pattern for every Eastern writer. Even Homer’s Odyssey doesn’t move us as much. Forgiveness in a hero touches us more deeply than revenge.
We think the Arabs first wrote those inventive tales now found in every language. But I find no story of theirs to equal Joseph’s. Nearly all of it is wonderful; the ending can bring tender tears. Joseph is sixteen, and his brothers envy him. They sell him to Ishmaelite traders traveling in a caravan. In Egypt, where they take him, a royal eunuch buys him. This eunuch was married, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. Today Constantinople’s Kizlar Agha keeps a harem despite being a complete eunuch. Everything has been cut off. His eyes and hands remain, and natural desire still rules his heart. Other eunuchs lose only the two parts alongside the reproductive organ. They often still use the organ itself. Potiphar, Joseph’s buyer, could perfectly well have belonged to that group.
Potiphar’s wife falls for young Joseph. She makes advances; he refuses them. He stays loyal to the master who has helped him. That angers her. She accuses Joseph of trying to seduce her. It’s the same story as Hippolytus and Phaedra, or Bellerophon and Stheneboea. It’s also the story of Hebrus and Damasippe, Tanis and Periboea, Myrtilus and Hippodamia, or Peleus and Demaenete.
Which version of these stories was the first? We can’t easily tell. But old Arab writers give Joseph and Potiphar’s wife a particularly clever episode. The author has Potiphar unsure whether to believe Joseph or his wife. She’d ripped Joseph’s tunic, but that didn’t prove to him that Joseph had tried to assault her. In her room lay a child in a cradle. Joseph said she’d torn off his tunic in that child’s presence. Potiphar asked the child, whose intelligence was well beyond its years. It answered, “Check the tear in the tunic. Is it at the front or at the back? At the front, it proves Joseph tried to force your wife and she fought back. At the back, it proves she was chasing him.” The child’s cleverness let Potiphar see his slave was innocent. The Koran follows that old Arab author in telling the episode this way. He never bothers to say whose child this clever little judge was. Suppose it was Potiphar’s wife’s son. Then she’d had her eye on someone before Joseph.
In Genesis, however, Joseph ends up in prison. His fellow prisoners are Egypt’s royal cupbearer and baker. Both are prisoners of state; both dream one night. Joseph tells them what their dreams mean. In three days, he predicts, the cupbearer will be back in favor. The baker will hang then. And so it turns out.
Two years later the king of Egypt has a dream too. His cupbearer tells him there’s a young Jew in prison. No one in the world understands dreams better. The king sends for him. The young man predicts seven years of plenty and seven years of crop failure.
Let’s pause the story to see how far back dream interpretation goes.
In a dream, Jacob had seen the mysterious ladder with God himself at the top. He learned a way to multiply his flocks in a dream too. That method has never worked for anyone else. Joseph himself learned in a dream that he’d one day rule over his brothers. Long before that, a dream warned Abimelech that Sarah was Abraham’s wife. ( See the article Dream.)
Let’s go back to Joseph. He became prime minister as soon as he explained Pharaoh’s dream. Could we find a king today who’d give someone that job for explaining a dream? Even in Asia, it’s doubtful. Pharaoh had Joseph marry a daughter of Potiphar. This Potiphar, we’re told, was the high priest of Heliopolis. So he wasn’t Joseph’s first master, the eunuch. Or if he was, high priest certainly wasn’t his only title. His wife had been a mother more than once.
Meanwhile, famine came, as Joseph had predicted. To win his king’s favor, Joseph forced everyone to sell their land to Pharaoh. The whole nation became slaves to get grain. Apparently, that’s where absolute power began. We must admit no king had ever made a better deal. But the people could hardly have blessed the prime minister for it.
In the end Joseph’s father and brothers needed grain too: famine was then laying waste to the whole earth. There’s no need to retell how Joseph welcomed his brothers, forgave them, and made them rich. This story has everything an interesting epic poem needs. It sets the scene, builds a complication, then brings recognition, a reversal, and supernatural wonders. Nothing shows Eastern genius more clearly.
Anyone who can read should be struck by good old Jacob’s answer to Pharaoh. Jacob was Joseph’s father. “How old are you?” the king asked him. “I’m a hundred and thirty,” the old man said, “and I haven’t yet had a single happy day in this short pilgrimage.”
About this section
J — Joseph is part of Pocket Philosophical Dictionary by Voltaire. This page sets the French original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is article 51 of 73 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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