Genesis 44:5

Hebrew Bible

4 They had not gone very far from the city when Joseph said to the servant who was over his household, “Pursue the men at once! When you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil? 5 Doesn’t my master drink from this cup and use it for divination? You have done wrong!’” 6 When the man overtook them, he spoke these words to them. 7 They answered him, “Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing!

Jubilees 43:10

Pseudepigrapha

2 Early in the morning they went off. But when they had left that place, Joseph said to the man of his house: ‘Pursue them. Run and reprimand them as follows: “You have repaid me with evil instead of good. You have stolen from me the silver cup with which my master drinks.” Bring their youngest brother back to me and bring him quickly, before I go out to the place where I rule.’ 3 He ran after them and spoke to them in line with this message.

 Notes and References

"... in Jubilees 43:2, the author omits the servant’s mention that the “stolen” silver goblet is one that Joseph “uses for divination” (Genesis 44:5). Instead, the servant simply says that it is the one in which my master drinks. Joseph’s later words to the same effect (“Do you not know that a man like me practices divination?” Genesis 44:5), are likewise changed: Do you not know that a man takes pleasure in his cup as I do in this cup? (Jubilees 43:10). The reason is that such divination is forbidden by the Torah (Leviticus 19:26, Deuteronomy 18:10); for Jubilees, it was hardly credible that Joseph would have indulged in a practice God prohibited (or even to have claimed to do so as part of his Egyptian disguise). It is also noteworthy that Jubilees has once again slightly changed the order of things ..."

Kugel, James L. A Walk through Jubilees: Studies in the Book of Jubilees and the World of Its Creation (p. 187) Brill, 2012

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