Hebrew Life and Times | Page 6

Egypt, not
only saved from death by starvation his family, including those same
brothers who had wronged him, but even effected a complete
reconciliation with them and nobly forgave them.
Now, the most notable facts in connection with this story are those
"between the lines." It is not merely that such and such events are said
to have happened, but that for generations, perhaps centuries, Hebrew
fathers and mothers kept the story of these events alive, telling it over
and over again to their children. On numberless days, no doubt, in this
shepherd life there were bickering and angry words among the children
by the spring or at meal time, or in their games. The older brothers
were tyrannical toward the younger, or one or another cherished black
and unforgiving looks toward a brother or sister who he thought had
done him a wrong. And many a time after such a day the old father
would gather all the family together in the evening around the camp
fire in front of the tent and would begin to tell the story of Joseph. And
as the tale went on, with its thrilling episodes, and its touches of pathos
leading up at last to the whole-souled generosity and the sweet human
tenderness of Joseph, many a little heart softened, and in the darkness
many a little brown hand sought a brother's hand in loving
reconciliation.

=The tribe as a larger family.=--To some extent the desert shepherds of
all ages have carried this family spirit into the relations between
members of the tribe as a whole. Since they had to stand together for
protection, quarrels between tribesmen were discouraged. Moreover,
they were not separated into classes by difference of wealth. There
were some who had larger flocks than others, but for the most part all
members of the tribe were equal. Even from among the slaves who
were captured now and then in war there were some who rose to
positions of honor. There were no kings nor princes; the chief of the
tribe held his position by virtue of his long experience and practical
wisdom. The distinction between close blood relationship and the
brotherhood of membership in the same tribe was not sharply drawn;
all were brothers. This is true to-day of all these desert tribes.
Only a tribe, however, with an unusual capacity for brotherly affection
and for making social life sweet and harmonious could have produced a
Joseph or the story of Joseph, or would have preserved that story in oral
form through the centuries until it could be written down. It is worth
while looking into the later history of such a tribe, and seeing what
happened to them and how they thought and acted, and what they
contributed to the life of the world.
STUDY TOPICS
1. Get some cotton at a drug store, and see if you can spin some cotton
thread, with a homemade spindle, such as is described in this chapter.
2. Who had the harder work among the Hebrew shepherds, the women
or the men?
3. Find other stories in Genesis besides the story of Joseph which show
how the Hebrews felt in regard to the relations between brothers.
4. Compare the home life in America with the home life of the
Hebrews. Are American brothers and sisters growing more quarrelsome
or more kindly and loving toward one another?
5. In what way do the oral traditions of a people throw light on the

ideals and relationships they most valued?
6. Compare the dietary available to Americans with that of the ancient
Hebrews.
CHAPTER III
DESERT PILGRIMS
According to one of the Hebrew traditions recorded in the book of
Genesis, the earliest home of their ancestors was Ur of the Chaldees.
This was one of the leading cities of ancient Babylonia. It was situated
southwest of the Euphrates River, near the plains which were the
nation's chief grazing grounds. And it is possible that of the shepherds
who brought their sheep to market in Ur some were, indeed, among the
ancestors of the Hebrews.
BABYLONIAN CIVILIZATION
Babylonia is one of the two lands (Egypt being the other) where human
civilization began. This rich alluvial plain, lying between the lower
Tigris and the lower Euphrates Rivers, became the home of a gifted
race which at least in its later history through intermarriage was in part
Semitic and thus related to the Hebrews. Several thousand years before
Christ the people of this land began to till the soil, to control the floods
in the rivers by means of irrigating canals, to make bricks out of the
abundant clay and with them to build houses and cities. They also
invented a system of writing upon clay tablets. These were baked in the
sun after the letters were inscribed. Commercial