JOSEPH'S BRETHREN IN EGYPT

The famine, which inflicted hardships first upon the
wealthy among the Egyptians, gradually extended its ravages
as far as Phoenicia, Arabia, and Palestine.[197] Though
the sons of Jacob, being young men, frequented the streets
and the highways, yet they were ignorant of what their old
home-keeping father Jacob knew, that corn could be procured in
Egypt. Jacob even suspected that Joseph was in
Egypt. His prophetic spirit, which forsook him during the
time of his grief for his son, yet manifested itself now and
again in dim visions, and he was resolved to send his sons
down into Egypt.[198] There was another reason. Though he
was not yet in want, he nevertheless had them go thither for
food, because he was averse from arousing the envy of the