Joseph ate and drank, and went his way, promising to return in eight days. Then Asenath put on a black robe, and closed her door and prayed, and cast her food to the dogs, and laid her head on the pavement, and wept seven days.

Then an angel visited her, and gave her honey gathered from the roses of Paradise; and the honey was so sweet, that when she had tasted it she could not doubt whence it had come, and she felt herself enlightened by the true God; and the angel signed the honey with the cross, and the trace of his finger was blood. Along with faith and hope, charity enlightened her heart, and she besought of the angel to give of this honey to the seven maidens who attended on her; and when they had obtained this favour, they all became like their mistress, servants of the Most High. Then the angel bade her lay aside her tears and black garment, and rejoice, for her prayer was heard.

At that moment one of the servants of Potipherah entered, saying, “Behold, Joseph, the Strength of God, approaches; go ye out to meet him.”

Now when Joseph had alighted down from his chariot, he came into the hall; and when he knew that Asenath had cast away her idols, he rejoiced greatly, and he sought her in marriage of Potipherah, and the Priest of On made a great supper, and gave his daughter to Joseph, and he called Joseph the lord of lords, and Asenath he called the daughter of the Most High.[[432]]

XXIX.
THE TESTAMENTS OF THE TWELVE PATRIARCHS.

The “Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs” is one of the seventy-two apocryphal books of the Old Testament which were at one time in circulation, and, according to Epiphanius, it formed one of the twenty-two canonical books sent by the Jews to Ptolemy, king of Egypt.[[433]]

It is a work of Jewish origin, which has been tampered with and interpolated by Christian copyists. S. Augustine numbers it with the Apocrypha; he says, “There are the apocryphal books of the Old Testament: the works falsely attributed to Enoch, the Patriarchs, the Discourse of Joseph, the Assumption of Moses, the pseudographia of Abraham, Eldad and Medad, Elias the prophet, the prophet Zephaniah, Zechariah, Baruch, Habakkuk, Ezekiel, and Daniel.”

Curiously enough, the Testament of the Patriarchs contains a large number of alleged quotations from the Book of Enoch, which are not, however, to be found in that book as we now have it.

This Testament was read by the Jews at the time of Christ’s coming, and S. Paul seems to have been acquainted with it, for he quotes it, “Awake, thou that steepest, and arise from the dead;”[[434]] and again he quotes the Testament of Levi, “The wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.”[[435]] S. Jerome remarks on this, “The Apostle Paul quoted from the hidden prophets and from those books which are called Apocrypha,” and he adds, “That he did so in several other places is very evident.”[[436]] And Origen says, “It is evident that many examples were quoted and inserted in the New Testament by the Apostles and the Evangelists from those Scriptures which we do not read as canonical, but these passages are found in the apocryphal books, and it is evident that these passages were extracted from them;” and he gives the reason why that was lawful to the Apostles which is not lawful to us.

He says, “It may have been, that the Apostles and Evangelists, filled with the Holy Ghost, may have known what was to be taken from these writings and what was to be rejected; but for us to presume to do such a thing would be full of danger, not having the Spirit in the same measure to guide us.”[[437]]