errand. Later, whenever Jacob remembered his dear son's
willing spirit, the recollection stabbed him to the heart. He
would say to himself, "Thou didst know the hatred of thy
brethren, and yet thou didst say, Here am I."[23]

Jacob dismissed Joseph, with the injunction that he journey
only by daylight,[24] saying furthermore, "Go now, see
whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flock;
and send me word"--an unconscious prophecy. He did not
say that he expected to see Joseph again, but only to have
word from him.[25] Since the covenant of the pieces, God
had resolved, on account of Abraham's doubting question,
that Jacob and his family should go down into Egypt to
dwell there. The preference shown to Joseph by his father,
and the envy it aroused, leading finally to the sale of Joseph