JUBILEES CHAPTER 41 ~ 45

JUBILEES 41

1 And in forty-fifth jubilee,
In the second week of the spree,
And in the second year to be, [2165 A.M.]
Judah took for his first-born Er,
A wife of Aram the daughter,
Named Tamar. 2 But he hated her,
And did not lie with her, because
His mother was of Canaan’s pause,
And he wished to take him a wife
Of the kinsfolk of mother’s strife,
But Judah, his father, would not
Permit him. 3 And this Er, the sot,
The first-born of Judah, was bad,
And YHWH slew him, thing not too sad.
4 And Judah said to Onan, who
Was his brother, “Go in unto
Your brother’s wife and perform duty
Of a husband’s brother in beauty
To her, and raise up seed before
Your brother and to fill his score.”
5 And Onan knew that the seed would
Not be his, but his brother’s hood,
And he went in his brother’s house
The house then of his brother’s spouse,
And spilled his semen on the ground,
And he was wicked, wicked found
In the eyes of YHWH, and He killed him.
6 And Judah told Tamar, who billed him,
His daughter-in-law, “Remain in
Your father’s house and without sin
As a widow till Shelah my
Son be grown up, and then shall I
Give you to him as wife foreby.”
7 And he grew up, but Bedsu’el,
The wife of Judah, would not well
Permit her son Shelah to marry.
And Bedsu’el, the momentary
Wife of Judah, died not too chary, [2168 A.M.]
In the fifth year of this week. 8 And
In the sixth year Judah in band
Went up to Timnah for to shear
His sheep. [2169 A.M.] 9 And they told Tamar dear,
“Indeed your father-in-law goes
Up to Timnah to shear his does.”

The wife of Judah was a proper mom
Who ruled her sons with tommygun and bomb.
As lusty as was Judah in his fate,
One might have thought his sons too could make date
With Tamar without permission sought or
Granted by Bedsu’el watching at door.
Yet she was lusty enough in her state
For Judah to miss her in bed and plate
When he went up to Timnah with the sheep
After Bedsu’el had fallen asleep.
These people know their ways and ways to keep,
And how to make the jolly welkin ring.
Beloved, see what a mess Your law will bring
In requiring levirate in the spring.

And she put off her widow’s clothes,
And put on a veil, and adorned
Herself, and sat in the gate horned
Beside the way to Timnah. 10 And
As Judah went along that land
He found her, and thought her to be
A prostitute, and said freely
To her, “Let me come in to you,”
And she said to him, “Come in, do”
And he went in. 11 And she told him,
“Give me my hire, or dowry dim,”
And he said to her, “I’ve in trim
Nothing except my ring that is
On my finger, and my necklace,
And my staff which is in my hand.”
12 And she said to him, “Give the band
To me until you send my hire.”
And he told her, “As I admire,
I’ll send you a kid of the goats.”
And he gave them to her for dots,
And she conceived by him that day.
13 And Judah went to his sheep’s way,
And she went to her father’s house.
14 And Judah sent a kid for spouse
Of the goats by hand of his shepherd,
An Adullamite, though like leopard
He did not find her, and he asked
The people of the place, “Where masked
Is the harlot who was here sitting?”
And they said to him, “There’s no fitting
Harlot here with us.” 15 He returned
And told him everything he learned,
And said to him he had not found her.
“I asked the people of the place,
And they said to me they’d not bound her,
‘There’s no prostitute here,’” they said.
16 And he said “Let her keep the grace,
Lest we be laughed at in our stead.”

The Scripture veil is symbol of the harlot,
And yet in later times provided barlet
That distinguished the faithful from the crew
Of heathen wenches running in the dew.
The fact is law exterior cannot
In every case keep men and women bought.
You Yourself made the pluck of sex so strong
That population would not sink to wrong.
So fashions must come and go to address
The tensions between propagation’s mess
And the right to know father’s name and gear.
Beloved, You must be amused, that I fear,
For having invented the curious way
The generations come to join the fray.

And when she had completed three
Months of manifest pregnancy,
They told Judah, saying “Indeed,
Tamar, your daughter-in-law’s deed
Is that she’s pregnant by whoredom.”
17 Judah went to her father’s house,
And told her father, brothers, spouse,
“Bring her forth, and let them burn her,
For she’s wrought uncleanness to stir
In Israel.” 18 And it took place
When they brought her before his face
To burn her that she sent to her
Father-in-law the ring, necklace,
And the staff, saying “See, infer
Whose are these, for by him am I
With child.” 19 Judah did not deny,
And said “More righteous than am I
Is Tamar. And therefore let them
Not burn her.” 20 And for stratagem
She was not given to Shelah, and
He did not again take her hand.

Tamar had lots of trust in Judah’s care
To justice, he might in his shame’s despair
Have denied his paternity that day.
There was no testing of the DNA.
Anyone here can fake a staff and ring.
Beloved, I praise Your name like anything
That Tamar did succeed in saving life.
If she had been living under the strife
Of sharia today, I would not give
An haricot to see how long she’d live.
The righteous men today are not impressed
With appeal to mercy by the distressed.
They’re too filled with market economy
To follow sheep and lie a night in spree.

21 And after that she bore two sons,
Perez [2170 A.M.] and Zerah on their buns,
In seventh year of second week.
22 And thereupon the seven peek
Years of fruitfulness were in barrow,
Of which Joseph spoke unto Pharaoh.
23 And Judah acknowledged the deed
Which he had done was evil creed,
For he lay with daughter-in-law,
And he considered it faux pas,
And he admitted he’d transgressed
And gone astray, so he confessed,
For he’d uncovered skirt of son,
And he began crying a tonne
To supplicate YHWH for transgression.
24 And We told him in dream’s confession
It was forgiven him because
He entreated earnestly laws,
And lamented, and did not after
Commit such sin for tears or laughter.
25 And he received forgiveness since
He turned from his sin with a wince
And from his ignorance, for he
Transgressed greatly before the plea
Of our God. Everyone that acts
Like this, everyone who contracts
To lie with his mother-in-law,
Let them burn him with fire for claw
That he may burn therein, for there’s
Uncleanness on their hearts and hairs,
Pollution on them, with fire let
Them burn them wherever they’re set.
26 Command the folk of Israel
That there be no uncleanness’ spell
Among them, for each one who lies
With his daughter-in-law or lies
With his mother-in-law has wrought
Uncleanness such as no one ought,
With fire let them burn the man who
Has lain with her, and likewise due
The woman, and He’ll turn away
Wrath and punishment from the way
Of Israel. 27 And unto Judah
We said that his two sons no paw
Had laid on her, and for this reason
His seed was established in season
For a second generation
Not uprooted under the sun.
28 For in singleness of eye he
Had gone and sought for faithfully
The punishment, and that namely,
According to Abraham’s law,
Which he’d commanded his sons’ awe,
For Judah had once sought to burn
Her with fire and by the law stern.

Genesis does not mark the way that Judah
Sorrowed for his sin as it was and rued her.
He did not know the law not yet revealed
About the punishment to the well-heeled
Who slept with son’s daughter in barn or field.
Then too the ghastly marriage had not been
Consummated with son because of sin.
So Tamar was a virgin in the bin
When Judah came along with proposition.
He should have been ashamed to see the mission
Accomplished on a virgin, though, as soon
As he went in to her to get his boon.
He seems to share his late wife’s condescension
In disdain for Canaanite bed to mention.

JUBILEES 42

1 And in the first year of the third
Week of the forty-fifth occurred
In this jubilee the famine,
And it began upon the [2171 A.M.] land,
And so the rain refused as planned
To fall upon the earth, for none
Whatever fell beneath the sun.
2 And the earth grew barren, but in
Egypt’s land there was food in bin,
For Joseph had gathered the seed
Of the land in seven years of greed
And had preserved it. 3 The Egyptians
Came to Joseph in their conniptions
That he might give them food, and he
Opened the store-houses freely
Where was the grain of the first year,
And he sold it and without fear
To the folk of the land for gold.
4 And Jacob heard that there was sold
Food-grain in Egypt, and he sent
His ten sons that they should present
Themselves to buy food in Egypt,
But Benjamin he kept unslipped,
And then arrived among the clipped.
5 And Joseph recognised them, but
They did not know him in the glut,
And he spoke to them and he asked
Them, and told them there where he basked,
“Are you not spies and have you not
Come to explore the entrance sought
To the land?” 6 And he put them all
In ward and in the prison stall.
And after that he set them free
Again, but detained Simeon’s knee,
And sent off his nine brothers free.
7 And he filled their sacks with the corn,
And he put their gold in their worn
Sacks, and they did not know. 8 And he
Commanded them to bring in spe
Their younger brother, for they’d told
Him their father was living old
And their younger brother in fold.

In Genesis he put the silver back
Into the mouth of every brother’s sack.
But here he puts the gold, no doubt this is
One of the great discrepancies in quiz
That shows either this book is just a fizz
Or then it’s Genesis that lacks in whiz.
You point a finger at the Truth and see
How doglike humans in the yard can be
Who refuse to hear what You have to say
Because they must wrinkle a nose and sway
At pointing finger instead of the goal.
Let me, Beloved, crawl back into my hole.
While all dispute about silver and gold,
I entertain in secret You unsold.

9 And they went up from Egypt’s land
And they came to Canaan in band,
And they told their father all that
Had happened to them, how one sat
Lord of the country to speak out
Roughly to them, and with a rout
Had seized Simeon till they should bring
Benjamin. 10 Jacob arguing
Said “You’ve bereaved me of my spawn!
Joseph is not and Simeon’s gone,
And you would take Benjamin too.
On me is your wickedness due.”
11 And he said “My son will not go
Down with you lest he fail the show,
Or fall ill, for their mother gave
Birth to two sons, and one to save,
And this one also you will take
Away from me and for my sake.
If he took fever on the road,
You would bring down my old age load
With sorrow to death and the goad.”
12 For he saw that their money had
Been returned to each man’s sack sad,
And that’s why he was afraid to
13 Send him down to Egypt in crew.

The gold or as it may be silver makes
Jacob to fear and his aged heart quakes.
He does not suspect sons of horrid crime.
It’s only illness or the stress of time
Or the malicious actions for a dime
That others might do. Jacob’s fear arises
From the gold that Egypt’s ruler despises.
How unlike those of my day are these men.
They fear the sorcerer abroad again
When their money appears out of the blue.
Today the men would take the golden hue
And disappear behind the nearest view.
No fear of justice or of sorcery
Demands obedience from them or me.

And the famine increased, became
Sore in the land of Canaan’s fame,
And in all lands save in the land
Of Egypt, for many at hand
Of the children of the Egyptians
Had stored up their seed for conniptions
From the time when they saw Joseph
Gathering seed up in the feoff
And putting it in storehouses
14 And preserving it for the years
Of famine. And the people of
Egypt fed themselves on above
During their famine’s first year’s weight.
15 But when Israel saw that the rate
Of famine was harsh in the land,
And there was no delivering hand,
He said to his sons, “Go again,
And procure food for us and men
So that we do not die.” 16 And they
Said “We shall not go, unless, pray,
Our youngest brother go with us,
We shall not go or make a fuss.”

During the seven years of gain the folk
Of Egypt should have known about the stroke.
Why did they not save up a bit themselves
From what allowance kept upon their shelves?
With nearly two thousand of gain the ground
Poured out so much none would have missed some found
In secret bin on housetop. So the mound
Could tide them over when the lean years came.
Why must the government take all for shame?
Today there would be companies to take
Competitive prices for what they make,
So Joseph’s brothers could have found a store
Where grain was bought for the right price, no more.
The lesson of the story’s to set stake.

17 And Israel saw that if he did
Not send him with them, on the skid
They would all perish in the dearth.
18 And Reuben said “Give him for worth
Into my hand, and if I don’t
Bring him back to you, then you won’t
Hesitate to kill my two sons
In vengeance for his soul and buns.”
19 And he said to him, “He shall not
Go with you.” And then Judah sought
To come near and said “Send him now
With me, and if I do not vow
To bring him back to you, let me
Bear the blame and eternally.”
20 And he sent him with them upon
The second year of this week on
The [2172 A.M.] first day of the month, and they
Came to the land of Egypt’s sway
With all those who went, and they had
21 Presents in their hands, stacte glad
And almonds and terebinth nuts
And pure honey that a knife cuts.

The greatest gift of all that can be made
It seems to me is acorns on parade.
With acorns who needs grain to fill the gut?
I’d rather live on acorns like a mutt
Than on sweetbreads in Egypt at the toll
That Joseph took for food, body and soul.
Beloved, give me but acorns in this life
And I shall venture to avoid the strife
Of competition for the gold and black
Oil poured out on my buns for morning snack.
I’d even ride to Egypt on the back
Of donkey for an acorn in my pack,
And live to return rejoicing that You
Saw fit to bring the oak tree into view.

And they went and they stood before
Joseph, and he saw at the door
Benjamin his brother, and he
Knew him, and said to them freely,
“Is this your youngest brother?” And
They said to him, “He came to stand.”
And he said “The Lord gracious be
To you, my son!” 22 And faithfully
He sent him into his house and
He brought out Simeon to stand
With them and he made them a feast,
And they presented him the least
Gift which they had brought in their hands.
23 And they ate before his commands,
And he gave them portions of all,
But the portion he sent to call
Of Benjamin was seven times
Larger than any of their limes.

Joseph presumed to see if jealousy
Marked the behaviour of brothers’ degree
By giving Benjamin seven times the cake
That he gave to the others in his wake.
A chance he took, I trow, his brother could
Be sold in the slave market to chop wood,
And dine on what was left of courtly bread.
A chance he took, I say, but he was led.
Beloved, I sit as youngest at the foot
Of Your table, embarrassed that You put
So great a share of blessing in my way.
I humbly bow to You and to Your sway.
May none be jealous of the feast and fare
You set upon my wooden table bare.

24 And they ate and drank and arose
And remained with their asses’ clothes.
25 And Joseph devised a plan by
Which he might learn their thoughts as sly,
Whether of peace prevailed in mind,
And he said to the steward kind
Who was over his house, “Fill all
Their sacks with food, return the pall
Of their money into their bags,
And my cup, the silver cup stags
Out of which I drink, put it in
The sack of the young Benjamin,
And send them away as for sin.”

The feast did not take mind away from what
Was most important before the gate shut,
Which was the welfare of the donkeys sent
To Egypt with Jacob’s sons when they lent
Benjamin their young brother as proof of
Their honesty without dishonest glove.
The donkeys, blessèd donkeys are the show
That makes society function and go.
Who loves not donkeys has no part to play
In this world nor in this world’s roundelay.
Beloved, You showed Your innermost in heart
The day You made the donkey without cart,
Both ear and eye a thing most marvellous,
And back as strong as the Mount Olympus.

WEEK 34 JUBILEES 43

1 And he did as Joseph had told,
And filled all their sacks with their gold
And with food for them, put the cup
In Benjamin’s sack, and closed up.
2 And early in the morning they
Departed, and it came to play
That, when they had gone from there, then
Joseph said to his house steward,
“Pursue them, run and seize the men,
Saying ‘For good you have raised sword,
Requiting me with evil, you
Have stolen from me the cup true
Of silver from which my lord drinks.’
And then bring back to me in links
Their youngest brother, and fetch fast
Before I go out and avast
To judgment seat.” 3 And he ran then
After them and said to the men
As he had said. 4 And they told him,
“Ælohim forbid that your trim
Servants should do a thing like this,
And steal from the house what may miss
Your lord of any item, for
The money also which in store
We found the first time, we brought back
And we’re your servants and not slack
From the land of Canaan in lack.
5 “How then should we steal anything?
Indeed here we are and our spring
Of sacks be searched, and where you find
The cup in the sack of man blind
Among us, let him be killed, and
We and our asses will in hand
Serve your lord.” 6 And he said to them,
“Not so, the man with whom the gem
I find, him only shall I take
As a servant, and you shall make
Your way in peace unto your house.”
7 And as he was searching to douse
Their vessels, starting with the first
Born and ending with youngest worst,
It was found in Benjamin’s sack.
8 And they rent their garments alack,
And loaded up their asses, and
Returned to the city in band
And came to the house of Joseph,
And they all bowed themselves to chef
Upon their faces on the ground
Before him. 9 And Joseph as bound
Said to them, “You have done evil.”
And they said “What shall we in bill
Say, how shall we defend ourselves?
Our lord has discovered the shelves
Of transgression of his servants,
Indeed we are all the servants
Of our lord, and our asses too.”
10 And Joseph said to them, “I too
Fear YHWH, as for you, go you to
Your homes and let your brother be
My servant, for you have freely
Done evil. Know you not a man
Delights in his cup as I scan
With this cup? And yet you have taken
It from me.” 11 And Judah unshaken
Said “O my lord, let your servant,
I pray you, speak a word of cant
In my lord’s ear, two brothers bore
Your servant’s mother on her score
To our father, one went away
And was lost, and has to this day
Not been found, and he is alone
Left of his mother’s flesh and bone,
And your servant our father loves
Him, and his life also in gloves
Is bounden up with the lad’s life.
12 “And it will come to pass for strife,
When we go to your servant our
Father, and the lad in that hour
Is not with us, that he will die,
And we shall bring down with a sigh
And sorrow our father to death.
13 “Rather let me, servant with breath,
Stay instead of the boy as slave
To my lord, and let lad or knave
Go with his brothers, I became
A guarantee for him in blame
At your servant’s hand and our father,
And if I don’t bring him back rather,
Your servant will bear to our father
The blame for ever.” 14 And Joseph
Saw that they were all in one clef
In goodness one each other, and
He could not refrain himself, and
He told them that he was Joseph.
15 And he talked with them in Hebrew
Fell on their neck and so wept too.
16 But they did not recognize him
And they began to weep for grim.
And he said to them, “Do not weep
Over me, but hasten to keep
And bring my father to me, and
You’ll see it’s my mouth gives command,
And my brother Benjamin’s eyes
See. 17 “For indeed this is the rise
Of the second year of the drought,
And there are still five years come out
Without harvest or fruit of tree
Or ploughing. 18 “So come down quickly
You and your households, not to be
Destroyed through the famine’s decree,
And do not be grieved for possessions,
For YHWH sent me before in sessions
To set things ready that might live
Many people and to forgive.
19 “And tell my father I am still
Alive, and you, indeed, for fill
You see that YHWH has made me be
A father [counsellor] to see
Before Pharaoh, and ruler over
His house and over all the trover
Land of Egypt. 20 “And tell my father
Of all my glory, and all rather
The riches and glory that YHWH
Has given me to live and do.”
21 By the command of Pharaoh’s mouth
He gave them chariots from the south,
Provisions for the way, and gave
Them all many-coloured and brave
Clothing and silver. 22 To their father
He sent clothing and without bother
Silver and ten asses to carry
The grain, and he sent them away.
23 And they went up and told as merry
Their father that Joseph that day
Was alive, and was measuring
Out grain to all the nations’ ring
Upon the earth, and that he ruled
Over all Egypt’s land unschooled.
24 And their father did not believe,
And he was shocked by the reprieve,
But when he saw the wagons which
Joseph had sent without a hitch,
His spirit came alive again,
And he said “It’s enough now when
I know if Joseph’s still alive,
I will go down again and strive
To see him, then I’ll hit the ditch.”

JUBILEES 44

1 And Israel took his journey from
Haran from his house then to come
On the third month’s first day, Sunday,
And he went on Beer Sheba’s way,
And he offered a sacrifice
To the God of his father nice
Isaac on this month’s seventh day, (Sabbath)
2 And Jacob remembered the dream
That he had seen on Bethel green,
And he was afraid to go down
To Egypt, fearing his God’s frown.
3 And while he was thinking of sending
Word to Joseph to come unbending
To him, and that he would not go
Down, he remained there for the show
For seven days, if he might see
A vision as to whether he
Should stay or go down. 4 And he feasted
The harvest festival unpriested
Of the first-fruits with the old grain,
For in all Canaan’s land sans rain
There was not a handful of seed
[In the land], for the famine lay
On all the beasts and cattle and
Birds, and also over man’s hand.

Ha! This is news! It’s possible to feast
The first fruits with the old grain left, at least
When there’s no harvest in the bin and store.
If there’s no grain new grown about the door,
Why should there be a feast of first fruits then?
Your feasts are only due upon Your men
When You keep Your part of the bargain pact.
If there’s no harvest, I know how to act
Not to give thanks for grain at all in toll.
Perhaps the deal You make is not the goal.
Beloved, I plead the case of Jacob now
Beside a well-filled table anyhow,
And say his faith is great and Your assuming
To grant salvation is mercy for blooming.

5 And then upon the sixteenth day (Monday)
YHWH appeared to him, and He said
To him, ‘Jacob, Jacob’, he said
‘Here I am.’ And He said to him,
‘I’m the God of your fathers grim,
The God of Abraham and God
Of Isaac, fear not to tread sod
Of Egypt, for I will make there
Of you a great nation and fair.
6 I will go down with you, and I
Will bring you up again or try,
And in this land shall You be buried,
And Joseph shall with his hands carried
Touch your eyes. Fear not, go down to
The land of Egypt with your crew.’

If I do not hear Your voice speaking so
To me upon a quiet evening’s glow,
It may show that my sanity’s intact,
Or that in faith there’s something I have lacked.
It may be that You live another time
And conversation with You is not mime
As it is in the village where I live.
Ours is a lively interruption’s sieve.
The pause between the time I speak to You
And Your response is just enough in view
For me to yawn and take another pew.
No doubt if I were patient like a tree
And waited for the words eternally
You’d speak by Sabbath day aloud to me.

7 And his sons rose up, and his sons’
Sons, placed their father and their tonnes
Of possessions upon wagons.
8 And Israel rose from Beer Sheba
On third month’s sixteenth day (Monday) in awe,
And he went down to Egypt’s land.

The very day that Jacob got Your word
That he could go to Egypt, he was stirred
To rise on wing and take off like a bird.
He did not wait to doubt the vision clear,
He did not stop for packing or for fear,
But dropped the cares of life and took his gear.
The wagons loaded, creaked and groaned until
They found the road to Goshen from the hill
Of Beer Sheba and left the tower and mill.
Beloved, I wait Your word beneath the trees,
The birches, aspens, willows, bird cherries,
And hear the silence tiptoe where You please.
No summons comes to me, and yet I find
You present in both outward and the mind.

9 And Israel sent Judah before
Him to his son and Joseph’s door
To check out Goshen’s land in store,
For Joseph had told his brothers
That they should come and as occurs
Live there that they might be near him.
10 And this was the best land for trim
In the land of Egypt, and near
To him, for all them and their gear
And also for the cattle’s whim.

These people always take consideration
Of cattle comfort in station and nation.
Judah is sent down there before the crowd
To make sure that the cattle’s place unbowed
Is reassured, so they won’t moo aloud.
Despite the simple wickedness of those
Men in their youth, their innocence still shows.
Today we set the cattle up in trains
And rush them off in thirst and their chill blains
To massive slaughter. So we do to men.
Ah! to have lived before Auschwitz and glen
Of Buchenwald! The golden time when hate
Did not quite know what it could perpetrate.
I’d rather be a cow in Israel then.

11 And these are the names of the sons
Of Jacob who got off their buns
And went into Egypt along
With Jacob their father at prong,
12 Reuben, Israel’s first-born, and these
Are the names of his sons at ease,
Enoch, and Pallu, and Hezron
And Carmi, five. 13 Then Simeon
And his sons, and these are the names
Of his sons, Jemuel for games,
And Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin,
And Zohar, and Shaul not shaking,
The son of the Zephathite girl,
Seven in all from toe to curl.

And here’s a girl I had not known about,
A Zephathite picked up on drinking bout
Or who knows what shade of their escapade.
I don’t trust Simeon to get waylaid.
Belovèd, bless the girl! I hope she was
The sort to take care of her own wet paws.
I hope she was glad with her baby boy,
Shaul, not knowing how many employ
His name in later times in famous joy,
A king for one, then apostle’s degree.
Three Sauls, and all three waken sympathy
In my heart as I sit under fir tree.
Perhaps the first was luckiest in all
Not being king or apostle to fall.

14 Levi and his sons, and these are
The names of his sons, each a star,
Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari
Four in all and not to be sorry.
15 Judah comes next, also his sons,
And these are the names of his sons,
Shela, and Perez, and Zerah,
Four men. 16 Issachar and to draw
From his sons, and these are the names
Of his sons, Tola, and the claims
Of Phua, and Jasub, and yet
Shimron, five men in all, you bet.

I wonder what Shela thought of his brothers
Perez and Zerah, having different mothers,
And whether Tamar, younger of the fleet,
Was still living with Judah in her seat,
Since it is known they did not share a bed.
Was widowhood her punishment unsaid
For having seduced Judah by the road?
No one has ever said if Judah’s load
Of lust found outlet in another store.
At least there are three sons to count, no more.
That one experience with prostitution
Or temporary marriage as solution
May have been enough to startle the man
To lustless living without courtesan.

17 Zebulon and his sons, and these
Are the names of his sons at ease,
Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel,
Four men in all and come to heel.
18 And these are the sons of Jacob
And their sons whom Leah for rub
Bore to Jacob while living in
Mesopotamia for sin,
Six, and their one sister, Dinah
All the souls of sons of Leah,
And their sons, who went with Jacob
Their father into Egypt’s hub,
Were twenty-nine, and Jacob their
Father being with them, they were
Thirty. 19 And the sons of Zilpah,
Leah’s handmaid, the wife in craw
Of Jacob, who bore unto Jacob
Gad and Asher, two sons to wake up.
20 And there are the names of their sons
Who went with him in unisons
To Egypt. The sons of Gad were,
Ziphion, and Haggi to stir,
And Shuni, and Ezbon, besides
Eri, and Areli, and bides
With them Arodi, eight in all.
21 And the sons of Asher to fall,
Imnah, and Ishvah, and Ishvi,
And Beriah, and Serah free,
Their one sister, and that makes six.
22 All the souls were fourteen, no tricks,
And all those of Leah in store
Added up to forty and four.
23 And the sons of Rachel, the wife
Of Jacob, and love of his life,
Joseph and Benjamin. 24 And there
Were born to Joseph in the air
Of Egypt before his father
Came into Egypt, those born to
Asenath, daughter of the true
Priest Potiphar in the city
Of Heliopolis to be
To him, Manasseh, and Ephraim,
Three persons in all and in trim.
25 And the sons of Benjamin were
Bela and Becher and the fer
Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, and
Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim to stand,
And Huppim, and Ard, for a grand
Total of eleven to stand.

Becher, prophetic name! To stand a bit
Higher there came Abu Becher to sit
In prophet’s seat, position hard to fit.
Second of ten sons, in Genesis’ spree
The one to inherit highest degree
For being second. Benjamin himself
Appears to think his mother’s honoured delph
Needed to catch up with his older brothers.
And so he bore a family that smothers
The tribes with vibrant generations to
Devour upper Egypt clean in a crew.
Becher has overrun the land in two
Like locusts, proudly, and with flying hair.
Beloved, stand in Your admiration there.

26 And all the souls of Rachel were
Fourteen. 27 And sons of Bilhah, her
The handmaid of Rachel, the wife
Of Jacob, whom she bore in strife
To Jacob, Dan and Naphtali.
28 And these are the names they gave due
For their sons who went with them to
Egypt. And the sons of Dan were
Hushim, and Samon, and to spur
Asudi, and ‘Ijaka, and
Salomon, six persons in hand.
29 And they died the year in which they
Entered into Egyptian stay,
And there was left alone to Dan
Hushim, and that was not his plan.

Before saying a harsh word about Dan
And what his descendants may have in plan,
I think about his loss of four sons taken
The first year in a foreign land and shaken.
How much catastrophe falls on mankind,
And yet it seems not to suffice to bind
The family to peace refraining from
Its violence and killing on the sum.
To suffer is not to be jollified
With wisdom of experience and pride.
To suffer is to be diminished and
To meet the trouble of life with a hand
Less equipped before bludgeoning to stand.
Beloved, with each returning morning come.

30 And these are the names of the sons
Of Naphtali, with their homeruns,
Jahziel, and Guni and yet
Jezer, and Shallum, and well met
‘Iv. 31 And ‘Iv, who was born after
The years of famine, died a fer
In Egypt. 32 And all the souls of
Rachel were twenty-six for love.

Beloved, I now remember little ‘Iv,
Three thousand and more years ago contrive
To toddle by the river and survive.
The baby brother of four stalwarts met
Untimely death, and so what sorrow set
The face of Jahziel, Geni and yet
Jezer and Shallum, father Naphthali!
What did his mother do when came to die
The fifth of five sons? Was there comfort in
The land of Egypt without aspirin?
Perhaps he was a son unloved and lost
To negligence among a calloused frost.
Belatedly I come to shed a tear
For an innocent child before death’s fear.

33 And all the souls of Jacob which
Went into Egypt were in pitch
Seventy souls. These are his spawn
And his children’s children as drawn,
In all seventy, but five died
34 In Egypt before Joseph’s tide,
And had no children. In the land
Of Canaan two sons of the hand
Of Judah died, Er and Onan,
And they had no children by plan,
And the children of Israel buried
Those who perished, and they were carried
In number among the seventy
Gentile nations on the earth free.

Now look, Beloved, this book is far too rich
In Israel’s praise and in the final pitch
Sends even those without offspring to ditch
Of number among Gentiles, what a switch!
Your racist rant is enough and to bear,
But now I find lives cut off without share
In progeny are counted with the folk
Who worship idols and false gods by oak.
Beloved, I demand justice for the youth
Who died without a chance to gain in truth
A family, although I do not spare
A criticizing word for Onan there,
And Er may take his place of wealth and fame
Among the heathen of eternal claim.

JUBILEES 45

1 And Israel went to the country
Of Egypt, into the country
Of Goshen, on the first day of
The fourth [2172 A.M] month, and in the above
Second year of the third week of
The forty and fifth jubilee (a Wednesday).
2 And Joseph went to meet his father
Jacob, to land of Goshen rather,
And he fell on his father’s neck
And wept. 3 And Israel said to check
Joseph, “Now let me die since I
Have seen you, and now may YHWH God
Of Israel be blessed, and the God
Of Abraham though he’s not nigh
And the God of Isaac who’s not
Withheld His mercy from the lot
And His grace from His servant Jacob.
4 “It is enough for me to wake up
To see your face while I am yet
Alive, indeed, true is the set
Vision which I saw at Bethel.
Blessed be YHWH my God for a spell
For ever and ever, blessed be
His name as far as man can see.”
5 And Joseph and his brothers ate
Bread before their father to sate
And drank grape juice, and Jacob joyed
With very great joy when employed
With Joseph eating with his brothers
And drinking before him and others,
And he blessed the Creator of
All things who had preserved his love,
Preserved for him his twelve sons too.
6 And Joseph gave his father’s crew
As a gift the right to live in
The land of Goshen, also in
Rameses and all the region round
About, on which he ruled the ground
Before Pharaoh. And Israel and
His sons lived on in Goshen’s land,
The best part of Egyptian strand.
7 And Israel was one hundred and
Thirty years old when he came to
Egypt. And Joseph gave his due
To feed his father and his brothers
And also the flocks of the others
With bread as much as they had need
For the seven years without feed.

Who ruled the ground of Rameses fathered sons
Of royal priest Egyptian to meet guns
Of the regime to follow. Let me take
A care to separate myself from stake
Of those in power today, because the day
That falls on my descendants means the sway
Of ruler now will once have turned to dust,
And my children fall under ruling lust
Of one who will not know or ever care
What feats of fortune someone might still dare.
Beloved, let me live on in Rameses still
Without the favour of Pharaoh whose bill
Must be paid in the next regime to fill
Another’s coffers with the ruler’s share.

8 And the land of Egypt was hurt
By the famine, Joseph alert
Acquired all the land of Egypt
For Pharaoh in payment adept
For food, and he got possession
Of the people, daughter and son,
And their cattle and everything
For Pharaoh, who was Egypt’s king.
9 And when the famine years were done,
And Joseph gave the folk by tonne
The seed and food that they might sow
The land in the eighth year to grow,
For the river had overflowed
All the land of Egypt in load.
10 For in the seven famine years
It had not overflowed its ears
And had watered only a few
Places on river banks where grew,
But now it overflowed its banks
And the Egyptians sowed with thanks
The land, and it produced much corn
That year. 11 And this was the first born
Year [2178 A.M.] arriving in the fourth week
Of the forty-fifth jubilee.
12 And Joseph took the corn to seek
Of the harvest the fifth party
For the king and left four parts for
Them for food and for seed in store,
And Joseph made an ordinance
For the land of Egypt in grants
Until this day. 13 And Israel lived
In Egypt’s land unnegatived
For seventeen years, all the days
Which he lived were three jubilees,
One hundred and forty with ease
And seven years, and he died in
The fourth [2188 A.M.] year of the fifth week’s bin
Of the forty-fifth jubilee.
14 And Israel blessed his sons freely
Before he died and told them all
That would in Egypt’s land befall
Them, and he made known to them what
Would come upon them in the shut
Last days, and blessed them and gave to
Joseph two portions in the crew.
15 And he slept with his fathers, and
He was buried upon the sand
In the double cave in the land
Of Canaan, close to Abraham
His father under epigramme
In the grave which he dug himself
In the double cave on the shelf
In the land of Hebron. 16 And he
Gave all his books and fathers’ books
To Levi his son that from crooks
He might preserve them in that way
For his children until this day.

The books, the books, the lovely books that You,
Beloved, vouchsafed to Abrahamic crew!
Where are they now, Beloved? Do they abide
In Axum’s darkened cathedrals to hide
From profane eyes, or are they in the care
Of the occulted ones who secrets share
Behind the outward movements of the State
And whispered to the quiet ones of late?
Their echoes scrawl across the wayward page
Of Bible and Qur’an, of script of sage,
Where I hear twitterings like diamond crust
Humming and cantillating to my dust.
Beloved, the books, the books, the lovely books
Are fleetingly revealed in swallows’ looks.

AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

To purchase the books, please go to:

http://www.lulu.com/shop/thomas-mcelwain/the-beloved-and-i-genesis-to-maccabees/paperback/product-20136835.html

http://www.lulu.com/shop/thomas-mcelwain/the-beloved-and-i-job-to-revelation/paperback/product-20050862.html