hath found a pretext to put them out of the way. Or they
would hold me to be a man of no probity. Who plays false
with his own kith and kin, how can he keep faith with
others? And, in sooth, how can I venture to lay hand upon
those whom God and my father both have blessed?"[428]

As Joseph's dealings were kind and gentle with his brethren,
so he was the helper and counsellor of the Egyptians,
and when Pharaoh departed this life, Joseph being then a
man of seventy-one years of age, the king's last wish was
that he might be a father unto his son and successor Magron,
and administer the affairs of state for him. Some of the
Egyptians desired to make Joseph king after the death of
Pharaoh, but this plan met with opposition on the part of
others. They objected to an alien on the throne, and so the