genitor of the tribe so named from him. Tolah, one of the judges, and Baasha, one of the kings of Israel, were of this tribe.

DAN, one of the twelve Patriarchs, the fifth son of Jacob, and the eldest by Bilhah. Of his history nothing is recorded, except that he had but one son, named Hushim; though his posterity was afterwards very numerous.

ZEBULUN, the sixth son of Jacob and Leah. Gen. xxx. 20. He was born in Mesopotamia, about B. C. 1748. His sons were Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. Gen. xlvi. 14. Moses acquaints us with no particulars of his life; but Jacob, in his last blessing, said of Zebulun, Gen. xlix. 13. "Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea, and he shall be for a haven of ships, and his border shall be unto Zidon." His portion extended along the coast of the Mediterranean-sea, one end of it bordering on this sea, and the other on the sea of Tiberias. Josh. xix. 10, &c. In the last words of Moses, he joins Zebulun and Issachar together, saying, Deut. xxxiii. 18. “ Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out, and Issachar in thy tents. They shall call the people unto the mountain, there they shall offer sacrifice of righteousness. For they shall suck the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand." Meaning, that these two tribes being at the greatest distance north, should come together to the temple at Jerusalem, to the holy mountain, and should bring with them such of the other tribes as dwelt in their way; and that being situated on the coast of the Mediterranean sea, they should apply themselves to trade and navigation, and to the melting of metals and glass, denoted by those words, "Treasures hid in the sand." The river Belus, whose sand was very fit for making glass, was in this tribe.

When the tribe of Zebulun left Egypt, it had for its chief Eliab the son of Elon, and comprehended 57,400 men, able to bear arms. Num. i. 9-30. In another review, thirty-nine years afterwards, this tribe amounted to 60,500 men, of age to bear arms. Num. xxvi. 26, 27. The tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali distinguished themselves with Barak and Deborah against Sisera, the general of the armies of Jabin. Judg. iv. 5, 6, 10. v. 4. 18. It is thought these tribes were the first carried into captivity beyond the Euphrates, by Put, and Tiglathpileser, kings of Assyria. 1 Chron. v. 26.

GAD, son of Jacob and Zilpah, Leah's servant. Gen. xxx. 9-11. Leah, Jacob's wife, gave him also Zilpah, that by her she might have children. Zilpah brought a son, whom Leah called Gad, saying, a troop cometh. Gad had seven sons, Ziphion, Haggai, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. Gen. xlvi. 16.

Jacob, blessing Gad, said, "A troop shall overcome him, but he shall overcome at the last;" Gen. xliv. 19. and Moses,

in his last song, mentions Gad, as "a lion which teareth the arm with the crown of the head," &c. Deut. xxxiii. 20, 21.

The tribe of Gad came out of Egypt in number 45,650. After the defeat of the kings Og and Sihon, Gad and Reuben desired to have their division in these countries, and alleged their great number of cattle. Moses granted their request, on condition that they would accompany their brethren, and assist in the conquest of the land beyond Jordan. Gad had his inheritance between Reuben south, and Manasseh north, with the mountains of Gilead east, and Jordan west.

ASHER, one of Jacob's sons by Zilpah, and the progenitor of the tribe so called.

DINAH, the only daughter of the patriarch Jacob. Her misfortune with prince Shechem; his honourable proposal of repairing the injury by marriage, and the prevention of the fulfilment of his generous intention by the treachery and barbarity of her bloody brethren, Simeon and Levi, are recorded in Gen. xxxiv.

SHECHEM, the son of Hamor, the Hivite, prince of the country so named, a contemporary of the patriarch Jacob, who purchased from him a field for a burial ground. Upon this occasion, or soon after it, the prince, falling in love with Dinah, the patriarch's only daughter, seduced her; but, contrary to the villainous practice of most seducers of female innocence in all ages, generously and honourably proposed, to her father and brethren, to marry her, and settle a dowry upon her, which certainly would have completely compensated Dinah for the injury done her. But through the vindictive villainy of her two brethren, Simeon and Levi, a scene of hypocrisy, cruelty, and massacre, followed, which has not a parallel in the history of the most savage nations. Under pretence of religion, the prince, his father, and the whole men of the city, were massacred, the women and children carried captives, and the city plundered, by these two savages. Gen. xxxiv. The patriarch Jacob not only complained at the time, that their barbarity had disgraced him among the inhabitants, but also noticed it on his death-bed, when he blessed the rest of his sons. Gen. xlix. 5-7.

JOSEPH, a Hebrew patriarch. He was the son of Jacob and his wife Rachel, and born about the year B. C. 1745 As he was the favourite of his father, on account of his personal and mental endowments, he became the object of the jealousy and hatred of his brethren; and they sold him to some Ishmaelites, who were travelling to Egypt B. C. 1728, feigning a tale that he had been devoured by wild beasts. When the Ishmaelites arrived in Egypt, they sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of the royal household. In this situation Joseph conducted himself with such prudence, industry and fidelity, that his master

committed all his affairs to his management. After ten years service, Potiphar's wife assailed him with a temptation, which every principle of gratitude and honour, as well as of religion, induced him to resist. Instead of yielding to the temptation, he sprung from his mistress's embraces; and thinking only how to avoid the impending evil, left his upper garment behind him. Rage and resentment instantly supplanted that affection which had so fiercely raged in the breast of the disappointed fair one. And fearing that Joseph, from his detestation of the crime, should betray to her husband the imprudence she had been guilty of, with the usual subtlety of the abandoned part of her sex, she determined to turn the accidental circumstance of the garment to her advantage. She accordingly alarmed the other servants; and on their entering the room where she was, informed them, with well dissembled terror, that the Hebrew, in whom her husband so much confided, had attempted to violate her honour; but on her making resistance he had fled, leaving the garment which they saw in her hands behind him. This tale she likewise related to Potiphar on his return home, who was so exasperated at Joseph's presumption, which he found corroborated by the testimony of his other servants, that he ordered him to be sent to the prison in which those belonging to the king's household were usually confined for any misdemeanor.

Here Joseph continued a long time, behaved with so much prudence and discretion, that the keeper of the prison treated him with unusual lenity, and committed his fellow-prisoners entirely to his care. During the early part of his confinement, it happened that Pharaoh's chief butler, or cup-bearer, and his chief baker, for some misconduct, were sent to this prison. The former dreamed one night, that he saw three clusters of ripe grapes hanging from three branches of a vine, which he pressed into a cup, and presented to his royal master, who received it from his hands with apparent pleasure. The butler having observed that Joseph was penetrating and learned beyond his years, applied to him in the morning for the interpretation of his dream. With his other endowments, God had bestowed on the young Hebrew this faculty, he therefore bid the dreamer be of good cheer, for that in three days he should be released from his confinement, and be restored to the king's favour. As the chief butler seemed to receive great consolation from this favourable explanation of his dream, and to be gratefully disposed towards Joseph, he asked of him, as a boon, that, when the completion of it took place, and he consequently returned to his former situation, he would remember these circumstances, and endeavour to obtain his release. Joseph's fellow-prisoner promised to do so; the sequel, however, shows, that he thought neither of the dream nor of him for a considerable time.

The same night the chief baker had a similar dream to that of the chief butler, and applied likewise to Joseph for an interpretation. He thought in his sleep, that he carried three baskets upon his head, two full of loaves, and the third of sweetmeats, with other eatables, such as are prepared for kings; but the birds flew round the baskets, and eat up what was therein, notwithstanding his utmost endeavours to prevent them. The chief baker having repeated the foregoing dream to Joseph, he waited with a serene countenance for his interpretation of it, not in the least doubting but it would prove as favourable as that of the chief butler's, the circumstances being somewhat similar. But how great was his dejection, when Joseph reluctantly told him, that he much feared he had but three days to live! his dream seeming to foretell, that in so short a time he should be crucified, and his body, being exposed to the ravenous fowls of the air, be soon devoured by them. And the exact completion of both those interpretations accordingly happened.

Joseph, however, remained in confinement, unthought of by the chief butler, during the space of two years. At the expiration of that time, the unseen hand of Providence released him from his bonds; and, by one of those unexpected turns of fortune, to which mankind are liable, raised him to a height of grandeur and authority that scarcely ever was equalled, and far beyond his utmost wishes.

Pharaoh himself having seen in his sleep two visions, which the wisest men in his dominions could not interpret to his satisfaction, he became extremely uneasy about them, especially as they seemed to forbode something of an alarming nature. It was now, for the first time, that the remembrance of Joseph, and his skill in the interpretation of dreams, occurred to the king's cup-bearer; and he immediately, not without upbraiding himself for his ingratitude, related to his master what had passed whilst he was in prison.

Joseph was accordingly brought into the royal presence, when the king repeated to him his two well known dreams of the seven fat and seven lean kine, which Joseph interpreted to be seven years of plenty, and the like number of scarcity, that should happen throughout all the Egyptian dominions. Pharaoh being struck with the plausibility of the interpretation given by Joseph, and admiring his wisdom and discretion, he further consulted him on the means of preventing the fatal consequences that might arise in so populous and extensive a country from seven long years of famine, and being advised by him to store up in granaries, during the seven years of abundance, the surplus of the corn then produced, and to prevent, by proper edicts, its being spent in a wasteful and luxurious manner, he was so pleased with the sagacious counsel,

that he made him vicegerent of his kingdom, and authorized him to carry into execution the plan he had so wisely laid.

The Egyptian monarch at the same time conferred the highest honours on Joseph, permitting him to make use of his own seal, to wear purple robes, and to ride in the royal chariot throughout all Egypt, in prosecution of the arrangement he had undertaken. He likewise from the high opinion he entertained of his wisdom and penetration, bestowed on him the name of Psonthom Phanea, which signifies the Revealer of Secrets. And soon after Joseph, having now attained his 30th year, married a person of the first rank, Asenath, the daughter of Potiphar.

Through the prudent management of Joseph during the seven years of plenty, which happened as foretold by him, when the years of famine arrived, he had not only corn sufficient to supply the wants of the Egyptians, but of some of the neighbouring states. This comfortable intelligence reaching Canaan, the residence of the patriarch Jacob, which country was likewise grievously afflicted by the dearth, he sent ten of his sons, retaining with him only his youngest child, Benjamin, to purchase corn in Egypt for the use of his family.

Upon their arrival, they applied to Joseph for what they wanted, as none was disposed of without his consent. They no sooner appeared before him, than they were known by him; while from the alteration that had taken place in the lineaments of his face, the maturer appearance of his person, but more especially from the pomp and dignity with which he was surrounded, they did not expect that they were applying to a person whom they had once so well known.

Joseph being impatient to learn some tidings of his father Jacob, and wishing to do this without discovering himself, he accused them of being spies, and of coming with a design to discover the nakedness of the land; expecting in answer to the accusation, a detail of the real situation of his family. The artifice succeeded to his wish. Reuben, the eldest, informed him, that they were the children of one parent, who had been the father of twelve; but one was no more, and the youngest remained at home to take care of their aged father. He concluded with assuring him, that they were come solely to purchase corn, in order to preserve themselves and their family from starving, and with no treacherous views whatever. This reply not appearing satisfactory to Joseph, as he pretended, he committed them to prison, till he should be more at leisure to examine into the affair. At the end of three days he had them brought before him again, when he insisted as a proof of their veracity, that they should leave one of their number behind them, and, being supplied with the corn they wanted, hasten to their native country, and bring with them the brother they