80. First of all, then, he gathered up their money, then their implements, last of all he acquired for the king all their rights to the ground. Gen. xlvii. 14–20. He did not wish to deprive all of them of their property, but to support them in it. He also imposed a general tax, Cic. de Off. II. 21. that they might hold their own in safety. So pleasing was this to all from whom he had taken the land, that they looked on it, not as the selling of their rights, but as the recovery of their welfare. Thus they spoke: “Thou hast saved our lives, let us find grace in the sight of our Lord.” Gen. xlvii. 25. For they had lost nothing of their own, but had received a new right. Nothing of what was useful to them had failed, for they had now gained it in perpetuity.