MS M.638, fol. 7r

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Blessings for the Future, Jacob's Last Words, Joseph's Last Prediction, Enslavement

Old Testament Miniatures with Latin, Persian, and Judeo-Persian inscriptions

Paris, France
ca. 1244–1254
390 x 300 mm

Purchased by J.P. Morgan (1867–1943) in 1916

MS M.638, fol. 7r
Page description: 

Blessings for the Future
Jacob is sick and will soon die. Joseph is informed and brings his sons Manasseh and Ephraim to receive their grandfather's blessing. To Joseph's surprise, Jacob places his right hand on the head of the younger son, Ephraim, rewarding him the honor reserved for the eldest. Both shall be great, Jacob tells Joseph, but Ephraim's offspring will be a multitude among nations. (Genesis 48:13–20)

Jacob's Last Words
Jacob is on his deathbed. The brothers assemble to receive his final blessing. Jacob foretells the fate of each brother. Their destinies will determine the fate of the twelve tribes Israel. Jacob requests that his body be returned to Canaan to be buried with his forefathers, Abraham and Isaac. (Genesis 49:1–30)

Joseph's Last Prediction
Joseph is now a very old man. Before his death, he predicts how God will visit the Hebrews and send them out of Egypt. It is Joseph's wish that his body be removed from Egypt when that time arrives. In the meantime the brothers place Joseph's body in a sarcophagus. (Genesis 50:12–25)

Enslavement
A new pharaoh has risen to power and fears the numerous and prosperous Hebrews among his people. The Hebrews are enslaved and set to work on vast building projects. Pharaoh directs the oppression of the Jews, who are beaten by slave drivers even as they labor. In the bottom right foreground, a figure not unlike a medieval stonemason is struck on the back as he squares a stone; his partner busily works with hammer and chisel. (Exodus 1:8–11)

Image courtesy of Faksimile Verlag Luzern, www.faksimile.ch.

Translation: 

Folio 7r (Latin)

Upper left: How Joseph led to his father his two sons whom he had begotten in Egypt, placing the elder to the right of his father and the younger to his left. The old man, his hands crossed, placed his right hand upon the younger’s head but upon the elder’s head he placed the left, blessing them both and setting the younger before the elder. (Genesis 48: 1–20)

Upper right: How Jacob, in great sickness and close to death, tells his sons that which will befall them, ordering them to bury him with his fathers. (Genesis 49)

Lower left: How Joseph and his brothers together with the king’s household and many other Egyptians bury Jacob where he himself had ordered. Here ends the book of Genesis. (Genesis 49: 1–13)

Lower right: Here begins the book of Exodus. How, after the death of Joseph and the Pharaoh who, on his account, had liked the children of Israel, as another Pharaoh was ruling over the Egyptians, when the Children of Israel had increased abundantly, the king, starting to suspect them, began oppressing them in strange ways by building cities of mud and bricks and by all sorts of servitude. (Exodus 1: 6–14)

Folio 7r (Persian)

Upper left margin: And this is the image of Jacob who blesses the sons of Joseph and holds the hand of the elder son in his right hand and the younger in his left; and after that he changed hands so the elder remained in [his] left hand. And Joseph asked, "Why did you change hands?" Jacob said, "God the Exalted has so commanded."

Upper right margin: This is His Excellence Jacob who summoned his sons and blessed each one separately telling them how each shall be what shall befall them [because] God has grafted on his soul whatsoever shall happen to them.

Lower left margin: When Jacob died, the sons, fearing the evil they had done to Joseph, went to Joseph asking for forgiveness. Joseph said, "I have forgotten your evils."

Lower right margin: And when Joseph died, and the king of Egypt died, and another king ascended to rule, he wondered about the tribe of Joseph who were numerous lest they seize the kingdom from him. He sanctioned the oppression of that people.

Folio 7r (Judeo-Persian)

Upper left, beneath Latin: The tale of Jacob blessing Joseph’s sons.

Upper right, beneath Latin: The gathering of the tribes before Jacob, peace be upon him, and his blessing each one of them.

Lower left, above Latin: His Excellence Jacob departs from the world and the brothers come before Joseph to beg his forgiveness for his having been sold.

Lower right, above Latin: [After] Joseph’s death and the death of Pharaoh, [there came] the reign of a second Pharaoh who tormented the Children of Israel. The Persian text as it found [here] is wrong; this is not what it says.

Italicized words are in Hebrew.

Credits: 

Content consultant: Richard Leson

Persian translated by Sussan Babaie

Judeo-Persian translated by Vera Basch Moreen

Latin translation by Eran Lupu

After the commentary volume accompanying the Fine Art Facsimile edition by Faksimile Verlag Luzern