JUDAH AND HIS SONS

When the sons of Jacob saw how inconsolable their father
was, they went to Judah, and said to him, "This great misfortune
is thy fault." Judah replied: "It was I that asked
you, What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his
blood? and now you say the sin lies at my door." The
brethren continued to argue: "But it was thou that didst
say, Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and we followed
thy advice. Hadst thou said, Let us restore him to
his father, we had heeded these words of thine as well."

The brethren hereupon deprived Judah of his dignity, for
hitherto he had been their king, and they also excluded him
from their fellowship, and he had to seek his fortune alone.[74]