Research source

Manasseh had assembled a great army, five hundred mounted men and ten thousand on foot, among them four hundred…

Date of account: Modern scholarly compilation of much earlier traditions, published 1909
Source: The Legends of the Jews — Volume 2
Reference: The Legends of the Jews — Volume 2 · selected passage 32
Rights: public_domain
Language: English translation and synthesis from rabbinic sources
Translation: Henrietta Szold; compiled by Louis Ginzberg
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

Published source text

Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.

Source passage

Source text · mention only

Manasseh had assembled a great army, five hundred mounted men and ten thousand on foot, among them four hundred valiant heroes, who could fight without spear or sword, using only their strong, unarmed hands. To inspire his brethren with more terror, Joseph ordered them to make a loud noise with all sorts of instruments, and their appearance and the hubbub they produced did, indeed, cause fear to fall upon some of the brethren of Joseph. Judah, however, called to them, "Why are you terrified, seeing that God grants us His mercy?" He drew his sword, and uttered a wild cry, which threw all the people into consternation, and in their disordered flight many fell over each other and perished, and Judah and his brethren followed after the fleeing people as far as the house of Pharaoh. Returning to Joseph, Judah again broke out in loud roars, and the reverberations caused by his cries were so mighty that all the city walls in Egypt and in Goshen fell in ruins, the pregnant women brought forth untimely births, and Pharaoh was flung from his throne.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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