Joseph and Aseneth

Historical English source page 36

32 JOSEPH AND ASENATH [viii Joseph blesses Asenath. VIII. Then her mother went up into the loft and brought Asenath to Joseph, and Pentephres said to her : " Kiss thy brother, because he also is a virgin even as thou to-day, and hateth every strange woman even as thou hatest every strange man." And Asenath said to Joseph : " Hail, lord, blessed of God Most High." And Joseph said to her : " God who quickeneth all things shall bless thee, damsel." ^ Pentephres saith then to his daughter Asenath : " Come and kiss thy brother." When Asenath then came up^ to kiss Joseph, Joseph stretched forth his right hand, and laid it on her breast between her two paps (for her paps were already standing forth ''like lovely apples 3), and Joseph said : " It is not meet for a man that worshippeth God, who blesseth with his mouth the living God, and eateth the blessed bread of life, and drinketh the blessed cup of immortality, and is anointed with the blessed unction of incorruption, to kiss a strange woman, who blesseth with her mouth dead and deaf idols and eateth from their table the bread of strangling and drinketh from their libation the cup of deceit and is anointed with the unction of destruction; but the man that wor- shippeth God will kiss his mother and the sister who is born of his mother and the sister who is born of his tribe * and the wife who shareth his couch, who bless ^ BD versions om. 2 Trpoff^Aflev (B D, SO versions) is clearly correct, not nir^xeej-. » Lat. Syr. Arm. om.; B C D Slav. om. "between . . apples." 1 D versions ins. " and his kin."