Gaster's Exempla of the Rabbis (1924), preserved from the Ma'aseh Book, tells a courtroom tale set in the court of Alexander. The people of Afriki — the descendants of Canaan who had fled west — came before the emperor with a legal claim. They demanded the return of the land of Canaan from Israel.
Gaboha son of Pesisa, the same family line that produced the hero of the Egypt case, rose to argue. His defense was short and brutal. "Canaan was declared a slave," he said, pointing to Genesis 9:25 — Noah's curse on Canaan after the episode with his son Ham. "A slave has no independent property. Whatever belongs to a slave belongs to his master."
The Afrikans blinked. Gaboha was not finished. "Moreover, as Canaan's descendants you owe back labor to your masters. Pay us the wages you failed to render during all the years before the Israelites entered the land. Until that account is settled, we will not discuss real estate."
Alexander gave the Afrikans three days to prepare a reply. At the end of the three days, they had vanished. They did not even return to pack — they fled the country entirely, abandoning fields and vineyards behind them.
Twice in Jewish memory a man named ben Pesisa walks into a Greek courtroom and wins the whole house by reading one verse sharper than the other side. A careful reading of Genesis has been worth more than an army, more than once.