CHAPTER 7 JOSEPH COMES OF AGE
By the time he had reached twenty-two-years of age, it felt as if he had already lived half a lifetime.
In those days, before a boy turned twenty-one, he was considered the responsibility of his father, after which time he was thought of as a man; something which was celebrated when the time came.
On a boy’s twenty-first birthday, it was customary for him to sleep with a woman. In fact, he was made to sleep with a woman, as it was the custom that a man should have a certain amount of carnal experience when he married.
When Joseph reached this age, his father prepared a celebration party for him with many friends and a great feast. Everything had been prepared in secret to surprise him.
On returning home from the fields where he had been working all day, h
