Joseph wore his new coat everywhere.  When he went to the market, he wore it and everybody complemented him.

"Wow, Joseph, what a great coat," a merchant said.

"Where did you get that coat, young man?" Asked a lady buying jewelry.

"Nice threads," said a young man tying up his donkey next to a tree.  Everyone loved his coat everyone except Leah.  Even Dinah who had made it was proud about it.  It showed that she had true skills.  There was a man who liked Dinah who worked in the marketplace and his name was precisely, Hanoch, the man she had mentioned to Joseph, the jar artist that made the painting of the sun on a jar for Leah.  

As the family walked through the marketplace, Hanoch couldn't help himself.  He had a huge crush on Dinah and he observed every move she made.  He liked her face and her hair, although Dinah walked through the marketplace with a head scarf today.  Hanoch had seen her hair loose one day when her brothers were all tending the sheep in Shechem.  She was taking care of her little brother, Benjamin.  Benjamin had been playing with mud apparently, so when she saw him completely dirty, she sent him straight to the Nahal Hebron river.  That day she wasn't wearing a heads scarf and Hanoch was collecting water for his house.  While he was collecting the water he had seen both Dinah and Benjamin by the river.  He pretended no to see them because he didn't want to bother them, but he saw Dinah's long dark curls.  Her hair was beautiful.

Now that he was at the market place, he simply stayed in his post staring at her and he didn't pretend to not see her this time, because he now had to work.  When Dinah walked by with the rest of the family, Hanoch greeted her.  Hanoch was an older man.

"Hello Dinah, Shalom,"  he said.

"Shalom.  How are you Hanoch?"  Dinah asked him.

"I'm fine,"  Hanoch replied.  The rest of the family greeted him. 

"So, you're the one who wanted to steal my coat?"  Joseph said jokingly, but Hanoch didn't know he was joking and he became defensive.  

"No, Sir.  I am no thief!"  Hanoch said, but Joseph patted him on the back and laughed.  I'm just joking Hanoch.  You see my sister, Dinah made this coat for me, but father had made her promise not to tell me, so when she took my measurements she lied and said that the coat was for you," Joseph said.  Dinah nodded and laughed.  Then Hanoch was able to laugh along once he understood why he had been accused of stealing Joseph's coat.

"But, I'm bigger," Hanoch said laughing.

"Yes.  That's why I found it suspicious, but Bilha thought that Dinah was making the coat for you because you were going to marry her," Joseph said and they all laughed.

"Is that so?"  Hanoch asked with a grin, but deep down he wished this was true.  He thought Dinah was an attractive woman.  Jacob nodded.

"Oh, yes! Bilha has a huge imagination," Jacob laughed.

"I suppose it's impossible for Dinah to marry someone like me.  A mere artist," Hanoch said.  The family didn't laugh when they noticed that Hanoch wasn't joking about it.

"Oh... that's not what I meant," Joseph said.  Hanoch glanced at the floor.  Jacob raised his hand.

"Leave.  I will speak with Hanoch," Jacob said.  The family looked at each other perplexed. They moved on to the jewelry booths. 

"I wonder why father wants to speak to Hanoch.  I hope it wasn't because of anything I said," Joseph remarked.  Dinah looked at him with some worry.

"I'm sure it's nothing," Leah said.  She pulled Dinah towards her to show her a necklace.

"I love this one!" Leah said enthusiastically.  She was holding a necklace with light blue emeralds and brown pebbles.  The combination of them with white seashells was astounding.

"I want one too!" Dinah said in love with the necklace.

"We will share it," Leah remarked.

"Joseph, what an elegant coat.  You look like a prince," the salesman said.

"Thanks," Joseph replied grabbing his collar a bit with a sentiment of pride.

"Wouldn't you like to have a necklace to combine with that coat of yours?" The merchant said.  Then he held up a colorful necklace made of pebbles. Joseph marveled at it.

"Wow," Joseph remarked. Leah gazed over at him after she bought her necklace.

"Joseph, I don't think it's a good idea to over spend," Leah remarked.  Joseph glanced over at Leah and thought about her remark.

"But the boy likes it, and it matches will with his coat," the merchant said.

"Leave him alone," Leah said warning him away.  She pulled Joseph into her space.

"Mother, let him buy the necklace," Dinah protested.

"Be quiet.  It's not good to overspend," Leah remarked.  Joseph stared at his coat and thought that maybe Leah was right.

"It's okay," Joseph said to Dinah.  Dinah didn't say anything else to him, but she frowned at her mother.  She know that Leah was coming from a feeling of enemy.  Dinah in the other hand was so proud of making the coat that she thought that her mother was being silly.  The family walked on to another booth, but Dinah stayed behind and decided to by the colorful necklace that her mother had rejected.

"I'll by that necklace, but please put it hidden for me," Dinah said.  The merchant gave her a brief nod and he placed the colorful necklace in a cloth.  Dinah hid it in her bag and moved along to the next booth with the family.  A while later the rest of the family.  He hugged Leah and she flinched she didn't expect a hug from her husband.

"You're being friendly," Leah remarked.

"What's wrong with hugging my wife?" Jacob asked.

"Nothing.  You should do it more often," Leah remarked.  Jacob laughed and Leah turned around and caressed his grey, long beard.

"Very well," Jacob said.  The family continued to walk through the market for the rest of the day.  Judah held hands with his new slave.  

"You are very beautiful.  I think I'm going to marry you," Judah told her.  She smiled briefly. 

"You don't like me?" Judah asked her concerned.  She shook her head.

"I know that I'm not a very handsome man and that maybe I'm not the best lover, but I am a good man and I will do everything I can to make you happy," Judah assured her.  She smiled briefly, but kept her silence.  Judah smiled back at him.

"Yes.  I will marry you.  I liked you the very first time I saw you.  Would you like to be my wife?  I promise to take care of you," he said.  She didn't reply.

"You can answer," Judah said.

"I will do what you say," the woman replied, Judah smiled briefly.

"Yes, but I will buy you dresses and jewelry and makeup.  I will have someone to help you with the oils and perfumes.  Someone that can help you with your hair.  You will see," Judah told her.  He was to catch up with his brother Levi, but made a full stop when he saw his brothers carrying the wounded sheep in carts.  He ran out of the road and entered into the wild.  His female slave ran with him.  

"What are they doing here?" Judah asked out loud.  He expected his slave woman to say something, but she didn't.

"You can speak to me whenever you want.  You don't need my permission to say something," Judah said, but agaiin she remained silent.  Judah sighed.

"We're definitely going to have to work on this communication problem," Judah said.  The brothers were carrying at least twenty sheep Judah calculated.  He wondered if he should join with them or not.  What if they asked about Joseph?  He decided to spy on them to see if he could find Levi. 

"Damn!  I don't think he's with them," Judah remarked.

"Who?" The woman asked.  She was still confused.  Judah turned around to talk to him.

"Tamar, I wasn't supposed to purchase you.  I was supposed to go with my brother Levi to try to stop Joseph from telling father what happened with the sheep," Judah said. 

"Who is Joseph?" She asked.  Judah explained who Joseph was and what happened with the sheep.

"You were responsible," Tamar the woman said.

"I know, but it was also an accident.  We didn't expect a pack of wolves to attack the herd," Judah replied.

" Well, that's true, but if you are a shepherd, you're supposed to be ready for anything," Tamar, the slave woman he had bought, said. She definitely didn't make him feel better.

"You sure know how to encourage people," Judah told her.

"Oh, I didn't know that's what you wanted," she replied. Now Judah wasn't sure if it was a good idea for her to speak.  He thought that maybe it was better for her to be quiet.  She had a lovely voice and it was better than dead silence, but he would have preferred some support.  He didn't tell her anything because he thought that it wasn't the right time.

Levi was angry as he returned to his brothers.  He couldn't believe that Jacob had bought a brand new coat for Joseph.  Everyone was admiring Joseph's coat and calling him "prince" How could father be so careless?  Levi was angry.  He was so angry about Joseph that he forgot about Judah.

"I hope he never comes back," Levi thought to himself as he walked back to his brothers to tell them what he had seen.  As he paced he saw Judah's friend Jaakobah.  He waved at him and smiled.  Jaakobah waved back.

"Hello," he said. 

"Hello," Levi replied and then Jaakobah asked about the animals that Judah owed him.  Levi admitted that he didn't know anything about the subject, so they talked briefly about the weather and then went their separate ways.

Judah and his slave Tamar continued to follow the brothers without interference and when nightfall came, they slept, huddled, underneath wild shrubs.  It wasn't until Levi reunited with the rest of his brothers that Judah finally approached the family.

"Now you show up," Levi said annoyed.  Judah apologized and introduced his slave Tamar as his fiance.

"Who the hell is she?" Reuben said, but Judah didn't answer the question.  Instead, he shifted the subject.

"So, where is Joseph?"  Judah asked Levi instead and this was really the topic of interest.  The brothers all looked at Levi now. 

"Joseph is in Hebron with father.  Not only is he well, but father has bought him a new coat of colors and now everyone is saying that he is a prince," Levi said.

"A prince?"  Reuben asked with an arched eyebrow.

"That's right.  Now he's the most important member of the family apparently and everyone is complementing him on his coat.  A coat by the way that he neither purchased or made," Levi remarked.  The brothers shook their heads.

"I can't believe it," Judah remarked.

"Are you really that surprised?  Since when hasn't that kid been pampered?" Simeon said.

"I'm sure father has made coats for all of us," Reuben said.

"Well, I'm not," Issachar said after crossing his arms.  The brothers began to argue about the coat.  They felt it was unfair for Jacob to give him such an expensive gift.

"If father has money to spend on a coat for him, he can certainly spend money on a coat for us," Issachar complained.

"Prince?  Prince of goat shit," Simeon remarked.  They were all angry, but Reuben interrupted their arguments.

"Okay, okay, enough.  It's annoying I understand, but at least he's alive," Reuben remarked.

"Too bad those wolves didn't finish him off," Gad remarked. 

"Coat of colors.  What a jerk!" Neftali commented under tight teeth and a glare.

"Okay, I said enough.  Let's just all go home and explain to father what happened," Reuben said.

"Yeah and then let the lord of the coats decide our fate,"  Zabelum remarked.  Everyone was annoyed when they found out about the coat, even Reuben but Reuben fought his anger more efficiently than the rest of his brothers.

"Tonight we will stay here and rest.  Tomorrow we arrive at Hebron," Reuben told them, so the brothers dropped the carts slowly and rested their tired arms and shoulders.

"I can't believe Joseph gets a coat for royalty and we get nothing," Levi remarked.

"Well I got a woman.  Next time you should have followed my advice," Judah whispered to Levi.

"You really think father's going to allow you to keep her after what happened? Enjoy your woman while you still can," Levi said.  Judah snarled at him, but didn't reply.  He grabbed Tamar's hand and left into the wild to make love to her again, but afterwards he thought about Levi's words in the night.  What if Levi was right and his father decided to take his woman away from him?  He thought of a plan.

"Tamar, I must speak with you," Judah said.  Tamar who was falling asleep next to him, woke up.

"Yes?" She asked him.

"Tamar, I have to leave you," Judah said.

"What do you mean?  Have I not served you well my Lord?" Tamar asked startled.  She then sat up and Judah had to sit up with her. Although there wasn't a lot of light, Judah could still see her silhouette in the dark.

"Of course you've served well, but my father will punish me after he finds out what happened to the herd.  If I don't send you away, he will sell you to make me suffer and I don't want you to belong to anyone else," Judah said. 

"So, what will happen to me?" Tamar asked worried.

"Calm down.  I have a plan.  Tomorrow I will speak with my friend Jaakobah and he will take care of you while I'm at my father's.  We will see each other when we can and after he decides whatever punishment he decides for us, I will come back to get you and marry you.  I want to be your husband," Judah explained.  Tamar gave him a brief nod and then laid beside him again, but she couldn't sleep.  She didn't know who this Jaakobah was and she didn't trust him.  She also didn't understand why Judah wanted to marry her, so she twisted and turned for half of the night.  Judah then held her in his arms and told her that Jaakobah was a good friend and that he could be trusted. 

"Don't worry, all will be well.  I promise.  He told Tamar, but she had heard of broken promises in the past.  His arms around her however did bring her some comfort and she was finally able to fall asleep.