Now Zepho thought the time had arrived for him to carry
out his plan of vengeance against the posterity of Jacob, all
the more as in the meantime Joseph had died, and also his
brethren and the valiant men of Pharaoh had passed away.
He was joined in the enterprise by Hadad, the king of Edom,
and by the nations of the East and the Ishmaelites. The
allied army was so vast that the space it covered as it stood
in rank and file was equal to a three days' journey. It
formed in battle array in the Valley of Pathros, and it was
met by three hundred thousand Egyptians and one hundred
and fifty Israelites from Goshen. But the Egyptians did
not trust the Israelites, they feared their defection to the
sons of Esau and Ishmael. They therefore made an agreement
with them that the Israelites were not to come to the
help of the Egyptians until it appeared that the enemy were