Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one. What God is about to do he has declared to Pharaoh. The seven good cattle are seven years; and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. The dream is one. The seven thin and ugly cattle that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty heads of grain blasted with the east wind; they will be seven years of famine. That is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. Behold, seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt are coming. Seven years of famine will arise after them, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, and the plenty will not be known in the land by reason of that famine which follows; for it will be very grievous. The dream was doubled to Pharaoh, because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
“Now therefore let Pharaoh look for a discreet and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt’s produce in the seven plenteous years. Let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and store grain under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. The food will be to supply the land against the seven years of famine, which will be in the land of Egypt; so that the land will not perish through the famine.”
The thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has shown you all of this, there is no one so discreet and wise as you. You shall be over my house. All my people will be ruled according to your word. Only in the throne I will be greater than you.” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in robes of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. He made him ride in the second chariot which he had. They cried before him, “Bow the knee!” He set him over all the land of Egypt. Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh. Without you, no man shall lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.” Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-Paneah. He gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On as a wife. Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.
Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. In the seven plenteous years the earth produced abundantly. He gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities. He stored food in each city from the fields around that city. Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he stopped counting, for it was without number. To Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him. Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, “For”, he said, “God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.” The name of the second, he called Ephraim: “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
The seven years of plenty, that were in the land of Egypt, came to an end. The seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.” The famine was over all the surface of the earth. Joseph opened all the store houses, and sold to the Egyptians. The famine was severe in the land of Egypt. All countries came into Egypt, to Joseph, to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the earth.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv32, 33, 35, 38, 40, 46, 50, 53, 55 32. And for that the dream was doubled. Joseph…
32. And for that the dream was doubled. Joseph does not mean to say, that what God may have declared but once, is mutable: but he would prevent Pharaoh’s confidence respecting the event revealed, from being shaken. For since God pronounces nothing but from his own fixed and steadfast purpose, it is enough that he should have spoken once. But our dullness and inconstancy cause him to repeat the same thing the more frequently, in order that what he has certainly decreed, may be fixed in our hearts; otherwise, as our disposition is variable, so, what we have once heard from his mouth, is tossed up and down by us, until it entirely escapes our memory. Moreover, Joseph not only commemorates the stability of the heavenly decree, but also declares that what God has determined to do, is near at hand, lest Pharaoh himself should slumber in the confident expectation of longer delay. For though we confess that the judgments of God are always hanging over our heads, yet unless we are stimulated by the thought of their speedy approach, we are but slightly affected with anxiety and fear respecting them.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv25, 29, 31, 33, 38, 40, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 51, 54, 57 Both his dreams tend to one end.
Both his dreams tend to one end.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv25, 26, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57 Gen 41:25 And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream…
Gen 41:25 And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh [is] one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he [is] about to do.
Ver. 25. The dream of Pharaoh is one.] One in signification, but diverse in respect of vision. Why it was doubled, {Gen 41:32} Repetitions in Scripture are not tautologies, but serve to set forth to us the necessity, excellency, or difficulty of the thing so reinforced. "To write" to the Philippians "the same things," to St Paul, "it is not grievous, and for them it is safe." {Php 3:1} Nunquam satis dicitur, quod nunquam satis discitur. {a} Away then with those nice novelists that can abide to hear nothing but what is new minted. Ministers meet with many that are slow of heart and dull of hearing; these must have "precept upon precept, line upon line," &c.; many also of brawny breasts and horny heart strings; that, as ducklings stoop and dive at any little stone thrown by a man at them, yet shrink not at the heaven’s great thunder, &c. Here a minister must beat and inculcate; turn himself into all fashions of spirit and speech, to win and work upon his hearers. He must so long pursue and stand upon one and the same point, saith Austin, till, by the gesture and countenance of his auditors, he perceives they understand and assent to it. {b} "Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world," saith the Psalmist; "both low and high, rich and poor, together." {Psa 49:1-2} Quid dignum tanto feret hle promissor hiatu, {c} will some proud spirit say? what so great matter is there delivered in this Psalm, that so much attention is called for? Is it not an ordinary argument, such as we have heard of a hundred times - viz., the happy and secure estate of the saints, though in trouble, and the miserable and slippery condition of the wicked, though they prosper in the world? True, saith the Holy Ghost; this is the subject of this Psalm; and this, how common a theme soever, is the great wisdom, and the dark saying, that I will here open unto you, and that calls for your utmost attention.
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{a} Seneca. Occidit miseros crambe repetita magistros. - Juven.
{b} Aug., De Doct. Christ, and, in Psalm. x.
{c} Horat.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv25, 30, 34, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 51, 52, 54, 55 The dream of Pharaoh is one, to wit, in…
The dream of Pharaoh is one, to wit, in its design and signification; both dreams portend the same thing.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv33, 46 Here is, I. The good advice that Joseph gave…
Here is, I. The good advice that Joseph gave to Pharaoh, which was, 1. That in the years of plenty he should lay up for the years of famine, buy up corn when it was cheap, that he might both enrich himself and supply the country when it would be dear and scarce. Note, Fair warning should always be followed with good counsel. Therefore the prudent man foresees the evil, that he may hide himself. God has in his word told us of a day of trial and exigence before us, when we shall need all the grace we can get, and all little enough, "Now, therefore, provide accordingly." Note, further, Times of gathering must be diligently improved, because there will come a time of spending. Let us go to the ant, and learn of her this wisdom, Pro 6:6-8. 2. Because that which is everybody's work commonly proves nobody's work, he advises Pharaoh to appoint officers who should make it their business, and to select some one person to preside in the affair, Gen 41:33. Probably, if Joseph had not advised this, it would not have been done; Pharaoh's counsellors could no more improve the dream than his magicians interpret it; therefore it is said of him (Psa 105:22) that he taught the senators wisdom. Hence we may justly infer with Solomon (Ecc 4:13), Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king.
II. The great honour that Pharaoh did to Joseph. 1. He gave him an honourable testimony: He is a man in whom the Spirit of God is; and this puts a great excellency upon any man; such men ought to be valued, Gen 41:38. He is a nonsuch for prudence: There is none so discreet and wise as thou art, Gen 41:39. Now he is abundantly recompensed for the disgrace that had been done him; and his righteousness is as the morning light, Psa 37:6. 2. He put him into an honourable office; not only employed him to buy up corn, but made him prime-minister of state, comptroller of the household - Thou shalt be over my house, chief justice of the kingdom - according to thy word shall all my people be ruled, or armed, as some read it, and then it bespeaks him general of the forces. Him commission was very ample: I have set thee over all the land of Egypt (Gen 41:41); without thee shall no man life up his hand or foot (Gen 41:44); all the affairs of the kingdom must pass through his hand. Nay (Gen 41:40), only in the throne will I be greater than thou. Note, It is the wisdom of princes to prefer those, and the happiness of people to have those preferred, to places of power and trust, in whom the Spirit of God is. It is probable that there were those about the court who opposed Joseph's preferment, which occasioned Pharaoh so often to repeat the grant, and with that solemn sanction (Gen 41:44), I am Pharaoh. When the proposal was made that there should be a corn-master-general nominated, it is said (Gen 41:37), Pharaoh's servants were all pleased with the proposal, each hoping for the place; but when Pharaoh said to them, "Joseph shall be the man," we do not read that they made him any answer, being uneasy at it, and acquiescing only because they could not help it. Joseph had enemies, no doubt, archers that shot at him, and hated him (Gen 49:23), as Daniel, Dan 6:4. 3. He put upon him all the marks of honour imaginable, to recommend him to the esteem and respect of the people as the king's favourite, and one whom he delighted to honour. (1.) He gave him his own ring, as a ratification of his commission, and in token of peculiar favour; or it was like delivering him the great seal. (2.) He put fine clothes upon him, instead of his prison garments. For those that are in kings' palaces must wear soft clothing; he that, in the morning, was dragging his fetters of iron, before night was adorned with a chain of gold. (3.) He made him ride in the second chariot to his own, and ordered all to do homage to him: "Bow the knee, as to Pharaoh himself." (4.) He gave him a new name, to show his authority over him, and yet such a name as bespoke the value he had for him, Zaphnathpaaneah - A revealer of secrets. (5.) He married him honourably to a prince's daughter. Where God had been liberal in giving wisdom and other merits, Pharaoh was not sparing in conferring honours. Now this preferment of Joseph was, [1.] An abundant recompense for his innocent and patient suffering, a lasting instance of the equity and goodness of Providence, and an encouragement to all good people to trust in a good God. [2.] It was typical of the exaltation of Christ, that great revealer of secrets (Joh 1:18), or, as some translate Joseph's new name, the Saviour of the world. The brightest glories of the upper world are put upon him, the highest trust is lodged in his hand, and all power is given to him both in heaven and earth. He is gatherer, keeper, and disposer, of all the stores of divine grace, and chief ruler of the kingdom of God among men. The work of minsters is to cry before him, "Bow the knee; kiss the Son."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv25–52 This is the thing which I have spoken unto…
This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh,.... As an interpretation of his dreams:
what God is about to do, he sheweth unto Pharaoh: the events of fourteen years with respect to plenty and sterility.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv29, 30, 44, 50, 54 See the goodness of God, in sending the seven…
See the goodness of God, in sending the seven years of plenty before those of famine, that provision might be made accordingly. How wonderful wisely has Providence, that great house-keeper, ordered the affairs of this numerous family from the beginning! Great variety of seasons there have been and the produce of the earth sometimes more, and sometimes less; yet take one time with another, what was miraculous concerning the manna, is ordinarily verified in the common course of Providence; He that gathers much has nothing over, and he that gathers little has no lack, Exod. xvi, 18.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv25, 31, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 50, 54, 55, 56, 57 Verse 25. God hath showed Pharaoh what he is…
Verse 25. God hath showed Pharaoh what he is about to do.] Joseph thus shows the Egyptian king that though the ordinary cause of plenty or want is the river Nile, yet its inundations are under the direction of God: the dreams are sent by him, not only to signify beforehand the plenty and want, but to show also that all these circumstances, however fortuitous they may appear to man, are under the direction of an overruling Providence.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv29, 30, 33, 34, 40, 42, 44, 46, 50, 54 Gen 41:29. Seven years of great plenty — See…
Gen 41:29. Seven years of great plenty — See the goodness of God, in sending the seven years of plenty before those of famine, that provision might be made accordingly. How wonderful wisely has Providence that great house-keeper, ordered the affairs of his numerous family from the beginning! Great variety of seasons there have been, and the produce of the earth sometimes more, and sometimes less; yet, take one time with another, what was miraculous concerning the manna is ordinarily verified in the common course of Providence; “He that gathers much has nothing over, and he that gathers little has no lack,” Exo 16:18.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv30, 34, 38, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47, 51, 52, 55, 57 The land of Egypt, and the adjacent countries.
The land of Egypt, and the adjacent countries.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv25, 33, 34, 38, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 50, 53, 57 JOSEPH INTERPRETS PHARAOH'S DREAMS. (Gen 41:25-36)
JOSEPH INTERPRETS PHARAOH'S DREAMS. (Gen 41:25-36)
Joseph said, . . . The dream . . . is one--They both pointed to the same event--a remarkable dispensation of seven years of unexampled abundance, to be followed by a similar period of unparalleled dearth. The repetition of the dream in two different forms was designed to show the absolute certainty and speedy arrival of this public crisis; the interpretation was accompanied by several suggestions of practical wisdom for meeting so great an emergency as was impending.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv25, 32, 33, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 43, 45, 46, 51 25. The dream… is one — That is, the…
25. The dream… is one — That is, the two dreams are really but one dream, and convey one great prophecy.
God hath showed — The Hebrew here and in Gen_41:28; Gen_41:32 has the article before the name God. It is the one true God who thus graciously foretells to Pharaoh what he is about to do.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv25, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 45, 46, 48, 49, 51, 52, 54, 56, 57 25. is about to do] Lit. “is doing.” Lat.…
25. is about to do] Lit. “is doing.” Lat. facturus est. Joseph’s interpretation of the two dreams is the same.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv34, 38, 40, 42, 43, 45, 48, 51, 52, 54 (34) Take up the fifth part of the land.—Heb.,…
(34) Take up the fifth part of the land.—Heb., let him fifth the land, that is, exact a fifth part of the produce. It has been supposed that it had been usual in Egypt to pay to the king a tithe of the crop, and the doubling of the impost would not press very heavily on the people in these years of extraordinary abundance. As the reason of the enactment would be made known, it would also induce all careful people to store up a portion of their own superabundance for future need. Subsequently, a fifth of the produce was fixed by Joseph permanently as the king’s rent.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv25, 26, 33, 37, 39, 40, 41, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56 And Joseph said unto Pharaoh (the inability of the…
And Joseph said unto Pharaoh (the inability of the magicians to read the dream of Pharaoh was the best proof that Joseph spoke from inspiration), The dream of Pharaoh is one (i.e. the two dreams have the same significance): God hath showed Pharaoh what he is about to do (literally, what the Elohim is doing, i.e. is about to do, he causeth to be seen by Pharaoh).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv33, 37, 45, 46, 51, 53 Let them gather all the food of those good…
Gen_41:33-36
Let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn
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Joseph as the adviser of Pharaoh
I.
HIS PRESENCE OF MIND. Equal to the situation.
II. THE KINDNESS AND OPENNESS OF HIS NATURE.
III. HIS SELF-COMMAND.
IV. HIS PRACTICAL GOOD SENSE. (T. H. Leale.)
Providence for the future
1. His wisdom and prudential sagacity in counsel. The interpretation of Pharaohs dreams was from God. Joseph knew it to be so. He had, therefore, the most assured and unshaken confidence of the correspondence of the coming facts with the Divine pre-intimation; and in this confidence he tenders his advice to the king, in the prospect of what was before him, without hesitation. The word of the God of truth is always sure. The counsel of Joseph was obviously wise and excellent. Like many similar counsels, it commends itself, when suggested, to instant approbation, while yet to many minds it might not at once occur. How very difficult it is, both in public and in private life, to get men to judge and to act with single-eyed simplicity, according to the real merits of measures, when these measures happen not to be their own! If they chance to originate with political opponents--or, in more private life, with those who are not in the number of their friends--how difficult it is to get them treated with fairness! Another important practical lesson is suggested by the counsel of Joseph: the general lesson of providence for the future. This is a duty incumbent on all. It is virtuous prudence; the prudence which forseeth the evil and hideth itself. The remark has a special bearing on the labouring classes of the community. This laying up for the time of scarcity bore a close resemblance to the principle of friendly societies and provident or savings banks. There is such perpetual alteration and exchange of conditions, that no man can say with certainty to-day what his own circumstances, or those of any other person, may be to-morrow.
1. There may, surely, be providence, without over-anxiety.
2. But surely there may be providence, without covetousness.
3. The duty of providence, then, must not be an excuse for refusing the claims of benevolence.
There may be scriptural providence, without cold-hearted and close-handed selfishness. (R. Wardlaw, M. A.)
Providence and forethought
Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, says our Lord, where moth and rust do corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But this rule is not intended to prohibit us from providing in the time of plenty for a time of scarcity, as far as it can be done without neglecting the necessary duties of charity and piety, according to our circumstances. The poor ought not to want what their present necessities demand; but a provident care, in public governors, to guard against the mischiefs of famine, is requisite, chiefly for the sake of the lower ranks in society. If the superfluous produce of the earth had been given to the poor in the years of plenty, they must have been starved in the time of famine. No liberality to the poor ever deserved greater praise than Josephs care to secure needful supplies both to the poor and rich. It was well ordered by the providence of God, for the safety of the people, that the years of famine were preceded by the years of plenty. If the seven years of famine had come before the years of plenty, few men would have been left to enjoy them. But from the years of plenty a sufficiency could be reserved to maintain life with comfort in the years of famine. (G. Lawson, D. D.)
Lessons
1. Seek from above wisdom and prudence for the discreet guidance of all your own affairs, and of those of others still more especially, when they are entrusted to your management. The Lord giveth wisdom.
2. Be thankful for the blessings of plenty and of freedom, in the measure in which providence has, in this favoured land, seen meet to bestow them.
3. The marvellous and lamentable difference between the manner in which mankind in general are affected by what relates to the life of the body and what relates to the life of the soul--to temporal and to eternal interests. Oh, how much in earnest about the life that now is--and about the means of its sustenance and prolongation, though it can last at the longest but for a few years, and, even in the midst of the abundance of all that is fitted to support it, may not last a few days. (R. Wardlaw, D. D,)
Storing harvests against famine years
Mr. Scarlett Campbell has contributed some information concerning the mastery of famine conditions in Bohemia in the years 1770-71, which may illustrate the plan which Joseph recommended to the King of Egypt. In those years the Bohemian harvests totally failed, and over a million human beings died of hunger. In order to prevent such a catastrophe in the future, a law was made, obliging every commune to keep a large store of corn, each landowner being obliged to contribute a certain quantity; in times of scarcity he could borrow corn from the public granary, but had to pay it back after the ensuing harvest. This system was kept in force till within a few years ago, but, owing to the introduction of roads and railways, it is no longer necessary. (Things not Generally Known.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v37 Gen_41:37-57, Gen_47:13-26
JOSEPHS ADMINISTRATION
Gen_41:37-57, Gen_47:13-26
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"He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance: To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom." Psa_105:21-22.
"MANY a monument consecrated to the memory of some nobleman gone to his long home, who during life had held high rank at the court of Pharaoh, is decorated with the simple but laudatory inscription, His ancestors were unknown people.'" -so we are told by our most accurate informant regarding Egyptian affairs. Indeed, the tales we read of adventurers in the East, and the histories which recount how some dynasties have been founded, are sufficient evidence that, in other countries besides Egypt, sudden elevation from the lowest to the highest rank is not so unusual as amongst ourselves. Historians have recently made out that in one period of the history of Egypt there are traces of a kind of Semitic mania, a strong leaning towards Syrian and Arabian customs, phrases, and persons. Such manias have occurred in most countries. There was a period in the history of Rome when everything that had a Greek flavour was admired; an Anglomania once affected a portion of the French population, and reciprocally, French manners and ideas have at times found a welcome among ourselves. It is also clear that for a time Lower Egypt was under the dominion of foreign rulers who were in race more nearly allied to Joseph than to the native population. But there is no need that so complicated a question as the exact date of this foreign domination be debated here, for there was that in Josephs bearing which would have commended him to any sagacious monarch. Not only did the court accept him as a messenger from God, but they could not fail to recognise substantial and serviceable human qualities alongside of what was mysterious in him. The ready apprehension with which he appreciated the magnitude of the danger, the clear-sighted promptitude with which he met it, the resource and quiet capacity with which he handled a matter involving the entire condition of Egypt, showed them that they were in the presence of a true statesman, No doubt the confidence with which he described the best method of dealing with the emergency was the confidence of one who was convinced he was speaking for God. This was the great distinction they perceived between Joseph and ordinary dream-interpreters. It was not guesswork with him. The same distinction is always apparent between revelation and speculation. Revelation speaks with authority; speculation gropes its way, and when wisest is most diffident. At the same time Pharaoh was perfectly right in his inference: "Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art." He believed that God had chosen him to deal with this matter because he was wise in heart, and he believed his wisdom would remain because God had chosen him.
At length, then, Joseph saw the fulfilment of his dreams within his reach. The coat of many colours with which his father had paid a tribute to the princely person and ways of the boy, was now replaced by the robe of state and the heavy gold necklace which marked him out as second to Pharaoh. Whatever nerve and self-command and humble dependence on God his varied experience had wrought in him were all needed when Pharaoh took his hand and placed his own ring on it, thus transferring all his authority to him, and when turning from the king he received the acclamations of the court and the people, bowed to by his old masters, and acknowledged the superior of all the dignitaries and potentates of Egypt. Only once besides, so far as the Egyptian inscriptions have yet been deciphered, does it appear that any subject was raised to be Regent or Viceroy with similar powers. Joseph is, as far as possible, naturalised as an Egyptian. He receives a name easier of pronunciation than his own, at least to Egyptian tongues-Zaphnath-Paaneah, which, however, was perhaps only an official title meaning "Governor of the district of the place of life," the name by which one of the Egyptian counties or states was known. The king crowned his liberality and completed the process of naturalisation by providing him with a wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On. This city was not far from Avaris or Haouar, where Josephs Pharaoh, Raapepi II, at this time resided. The worship of the sun-god, Ra, had its centre at On (or Heliopolis, as it was called by the Greeks), and the priests of On took precedence of all Egyptian priests, Joseph was thus connected with one of the most influential families in the land, and if he had any scruples about marrying into an idolatrous family, they were too insignificant to influence his conduct, or leave any trace in the narrative.
His attitude towards God and his own family was disclosed in the names which he gave to his children. In giving names which had a meaning at all, and not merely a taking sound, he showed that he understood, as well he might, that every human life has a significance and expresses some principle or fact. And in giving names which recorded his acknowledgment of Gods goodness, he showed that prosperity had as little influence as adversity to move him from his allegiance to the God of his fathers. His first son he called Manasseh, Making to forget, " for God," said he, "hath made me forget all my toil and all my fathers house"-not as if he were now so abundantly satisfied in Egypt that the thought of his fathers house was blotted from his mind, but only that in this child the keen longings he had felt for kindred and home were somewhat alleviated. He again found an object for his strong family affection. The void in his heart he had so long felt was filled by the little babe. A new home was begun around him. But this new affection would not weaken, though it would alter the character of, his love for his father and brethren. The birth of this child would really be a new tie to the land from which he had been stolen. For, however ready men are to spend their own life in foreign service, you see them wishing that their children should spend their days among the scenes with which their own childhood was familiar.
In the naming of his second son Ephraim he recognises that God had made him fruitful in the most unlikely way. He does not leave it to us to interpret his life, but records what he himself saw in it. It has been said: "To get at the truth of any history is good; but a mans own history-when he reads that truly, and knows what he is about and has been about, it is a Bible to him." And now that Joseph, from the height he had reached, could look back on the way by which he had been led to it, he cordially approved of all that God had done. There was no resentment, no murmuring. He would often find himself looking back and thinking, Had I found my brothers where I thought they were, had the pit not been on the caravan-road, had the merchants not come up so opportunely, had I not been sold at all or to some other master, had I not been imprisoned, or had I been put in another ward-had any one of the many slender links in the chain of my career been absent, bow different might my present state have been. How plainly I now see that all those sad mishaps that crushed my hopes and tortured my spirit were steps in the only conceivable path to my present position.
Many a man has added his signature to this acknowledgment of Josephs, and confessed a providence guiding his life and working out good for him through injuries and sorrows, as well as through honours, marriages, births. As in the heat of summer it is difficult to recall the sensation of winters bitter cold, so the fruitless and barren periods of a mans life are sometimes quite obliterated from his memory. God has it in His power to raise a man higher above the level of ordinary happiness than ever he has sunk below it: and as winter and spring-time, when the seed is sown, are stormy and bleak and gusty, so in human life seed-time is not bright as summer nor cheerful as autumn; and yet it is then, when all the earth lies bare and will yield us nothing, that the precious seed is sown: and when we confidently commit our labour or patience of today to God, the land of our affliction, now bare and desolate, will certainly wave for us, as it has waved for others, with rich produce whitened to the harvest.
There is no doubt then that Joseph had learned to recognise the providence of God as a most important factor in his life. And the man who does so gains for his character all the strength and resolution that come with a capacity for waiting. He saw, most legibly written on his own life, that God is never in a hurry. And for the resolute adherence to his seven-years policy such a belief was most necessary. Nothing, indeed, is said of opposition or incredulity on the part of the Egyptians. But was there ever a policy of such magnitude carried out in any country without opposition or without evilly-disposed persons using it as a weapon against its promoter? No doubt during these years he had need of all the personal determination as well as of all the official authority he possessed. And if, on the whole, remarkable success attended his efforts, we must ascribe this partly to the unchallengeable justice of his arrangements, and partly to the impression of commanding genius Joseph seems everywhere to have made. As with his father and brethren he was felt to be superior, as in Potiphars house he was quickly recognised, as in the prison no prison-garb or slave-brand could disguise him, as in the court his superiority was instinctively felt, so in his administration the people seem to have believed in him.
And if, on the whole and in general, Joseph was reckoned a wise and equitable ruler, and even adored as a kind of saviour of the world, it would be idle in us to canvass the wisdom of his administration. When we have not sufficient historical material to apprehend the full significance of any policy, it is safe to accept the judgment of men who not only knew the facts, but were themselves so deeply involved in them that they would certainly have felt and expressed discontent had there been ground for doing so. The policy of Joseph was simply to economise during the seven years of abundance to such an extent that provision might be made against the seven years of famine. He calculated that one-fifth of the produce of years so extraordinarily plenteous would serve for the seven scarce years. This fifth he seems to have bought in the kings name from the people, buying it, no doubt, at the cheap rates of abundant years. When the years of famine came, the people were referred to Joseph; and, till their money was gone, he sold corn to them, probably not at famine prices. Next he acquired their cattle, and finally, in exchange for food, they yielded to him both their lands and their persons. So that the result of the whole was, that the people who would otherwise have perished were preserved, and in return for this preservation they paid a tax or rent on their farm-lands to the amount of one-fifth of their produce. The people ceased to be proprietors of their own farms, but they were not slaves with no interest in the soil, but tenants sitting at easy rents-a fair enough exchange for being preserved in life. This kind of taxation is eminently fair in principle, securing, as it does, that the wealth of the king and government shall vary with the prosperity of the whole land. The chief difficulty that has always been experienced in working it, has arisen from the necessity of leaving a good deal of discretionary power in the hands of the collectors, who have generally been found not slow to abuse this power.
The only semblance of despotism in Josephs policy is found in the curious circumstance that he interfered with the peoples choice of residence, and shifted them from one end of the land to another. This may have been necessary not only as a kind of seal on the deed by which the lands were conveyed to the king, and as a significant sign to them that they were mere tenants, but also Joseph probably saw that for the interests of the country, if not of agricultural prosperity, this shifting had become necessary for the breaking up of illegal associations, nests of sedition, and sectional prejudices and enmities which were endangering the community. Modern experience supplies us with instances in which, by such a policy, a country might be regenerated and a seven years famine hailed as a blessing if, without famishing the people, it put them unconditionally into the hands of an able, bold, and beneficent ruler. And this was a policy which could be much better devised and executed by a foreigner than by a native.
Egypts indebtedness to Joseph was, in fact, two-fold. In the first place he succeeded in doing what many strong governments have failed to do: he enabled a large population to survive a long and severe famine. Even with all modern facilities for transport and for making the abundance of remote countries available for times of scarcity, it has not always been found possible to save our own fellow-subjects from starvation. In a prolonged famine which occurred in Egypt during the Middle Ages, the inhabitants, reduced to the unnatural habits which are the most painful feature of such times, not only ate their own dead, but kidnapped the living on the streets of Cairo and consumed them in secret. One of the most touching memorials of the famine with which Joseph had to deal is found in a sepulchral inscription in Arabia. A flood of rain laid bare a tomb in which lay a woman having on her person a profusion of jewels which represented a very large value. At her head stood a coffer filled with treasure, and a tablet with this inscription: "In Thy name, O God, the God of Himyar, I, Tayar, the daughter of Dzu Shefar, sent my steward to Joseph, and he delaying to return to me, I sent my handmaid with a measure of silver to bring me back a measure of flour; and not being able to procure it, I sent her with a measure of gold; and not being able to procure it, I sent her with a measure of pearls; and not being able to procure it, I commanded them to be ground; and finding no profit in them, I am shut up here." If this inscription is genuine-and there seems no reason to call it in question-it shows that there is no exaggeration in the statement of our narrator that the famine was very grievous in other lands as well as in Egypt. And, whether genuine or not, one cannot but admire the grim humour of the starving woman getting herself buried in the jewels which had suddenly dropped to less than the value of a loaf of bread.
But besides being indebted to Joseph for their preservation, the Egyptians owed to him an extension of their influence; for, as all the lands round about became dependent on Egypt for provision, they must have contracted a respect for the Egyptian administration. They must also have added greatly to Egypts wealth and during those years of constant traffic many commercial connections must have been formed which in future years would be of untold value to Egypt. But above all, the permanent alterations made by Joseph on their tenure of land, and on their places of abode, may have convinced the most sagacious of the Egyptians that it was well for them that their money had failed, and that they had been compelled to yield themselves unconditionally into the hands of this remarkable ruler. It is the mark of a competent statesman that he makes temporary distress the occasion for permanent benefit; and from the confidence Joseph won with the people, there seems every reason to believe that the permanent alterations he introduced were considered as beneficial as certainly they were bold.
And for our own spiritual uses it is this point which seems chiefly important. In Joseph is illustrated the principle that, in order to the attainment of certain blessings, unconditional submission to Gods delegate is required. If we miss this, we miss a large part of what his history exhibits, and it becomes a mere pretty story. The prominent idea in his dreams was that he was to be worshipped by his brethren. In his exaltation by Pharaoh, the absolute authority given to him is again conspicuous: "Without thee shall no man lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt."
And still the same autocracy appears in the fact that not one Egyptian who was helpful to him in this matter is mentioned; and no one has received such exclusive possession of a considerable part of Scripture, so personal and outstanding a place. All this leaves upon the mind the impression that Joseph becomes a benefactor, and in his degree a saviour, to men by becoming their absolute master. When this was hinted in his dreams at first his brothers fiercely resented it. But when they were put to the push by famine, both they and the Egyptians recognised that he was appointed by God to be their saviour, while at the same time they markedly and consciously submitted themselves to him. Men may always be expected to recognise that he who can save them alive in famine has a right to order the bounds of their habitation; and also that in the hands of one who, from disinterested motives, has saved them, they are likely to be quite as safe as in their own. And it we are all quite sure of this, that men of great political sagacity can regulate our affairs with tenfold the judgment and success that we ourselves could achieve, we cannot wonder that in matters still higher, and for which we are notoriously incompetent, there should be One into whose hands it is well to commit ourselves-One whose judgment is not warped by the prejudices which blind all mere natives of this world, but who, separate from sinners yet naturalised among us, can both detect and rectify everything in our condition which is less than perfect. If there are certainly many cases in which explanations are out of the question, and in which the governed, if they are wise, will yield themselves to a trusted authority, and leave it to time and results to justify his measures, any one, I think, who anxiously considers our spiritual condition must see that here too obedience is for us the greater part of wisdom, and that, after all speculation and efforts at sufficing investigation, we can still do no better than yield ourselves absolutely to Jesus Christ. He alone understands our whole position; He alone speaks with the authority that commands confidence, because it is felt to be the authority of the truth. We feel the present pressure of famine; we have discernment enough, some of us, to know we are in danger, but we cannot penetrate deeply either into the cause or the possible consequences of our present state. But Christ-if we may continue the figure-legislates with a breadth of administrative capacity which includes not only our present distress but our future condition, and, with the boldness of one who is master of the whole case, requires that we put ourselves wholly into His hand. He takes the responsibility of all the changes we make in obedience to Him, and proposes so to relieve us that the relief shall be permanent, and that the very emergency which has thrown us upon His help shall be the occasion of our transference not merely out of the present evil, but into the best possible form of human life.
From this chapter, then, in the history of Joseph, we may reasonably take occasion to remind ourselves, first, that in all things pertaining to God unconditional submission to Christ is necessarily required of us. Apart from Christ we cannot tell what are the necessary elements of a permanently happy state; nor, indeed, even whether there is any such state awaiting us. There is a great deal of truth in what is urged by unbelievers to the effect that spiritual matters are in great measure beyond our cognizance, and that many of our religious phrases are but, as it were, thrown out in the direction of a truth but do not perfectly represent it. No doubt we are in a provisional state, in which we are not in direct contact with the absolute truth, nor in a final attitude of mind towards it; and certain representations of things given in the Word of God may seem to us not to cover the whole truth. But this only compels the conclusion that for us Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. To probe existence to the bottom is plainly not in our power. To say precisely what God is, and how we are to carry ourselves towards Him, is possible only to him who has been with God and is God. To submit to the Spirit of Christ, and to live under those influences and views which formed His life, is the only method that promises deliverance from that moral condition which makes spiritual vision impossible.
We may remind ourselves, secondly, that this submission to Christ should be consistently adhered to in connection with those outward occurrences in our life which give us opportunity of enlarging our spiritual capacity. There can be little doubt that there would be presented to Joseph many a plan for the better administration of this whole matter, and many a petition from individuals craving exemption from the seemingly arbitrary and certainly painful and troublesome edict regulating change of residence. Many a man would think himself much wiser than the minister of Pharaoh in whom was the Spirit of God. When we act in a similar manner, and take upon us to specify with precision the changes we should like to see in our condition, and the methods by which these changes might best be accomplished, we commonly manifest our own incompetence. The changes which the strong hand of Providence enforces, the dislocation which our life suffers from some irresistible blow, the necessity laid upon us to begin life again and on apparently disadvantageous terms, are naturally resented; but these things being certainly the result of some unguardedness, improvidence, or weakness in our past state, are necessarily the means most appropriate for disclosing to us these elements of calamity and for securing our permanent welfare. We rebel against such perilous and sweeping revolutions as the basing of our life on a new foundation demands; we would disregard the appointments of Providence if we could; but both our voluntary consent to the authority of Christ and the impossibility of resisting His providential arrangements, prevent us from refusing to fall in with them, however needless and tyrannical they seem, and however little we perceive that they are intended to accomplish our permanent well-being. And it is in after years, when the pain of severance from old friends and habits is healed, and when the discomfort of adapting ourselves to a new kind of life is replaced by peaceful and docile resignation to new conditions, that we reach the clear perception that the changes we resented have in point of fact rendered harmless the seeds of fresh disaster, and rescued us from the results of long bad government. He who has most keenly felt the hardship of being diverted from his original course in life will in after life tell you that had he been allowed to hold his own land, and remain his own master in his old loved abode, he would have lapsed into a condition from which no worthy harvest could be expected. If a man only wishes that his own conceptions of prosperity be realised, then let him keep his land in his own hand and work his material irrespective of Gods demands; for certainly, if he yields himself to God, his own ideas of prosperity will not be realised. But if he suspects that God may have a more liberal conception of prosperity and may understand better than he what is eternally beneficial, let him commit himself and all his material of prosperity without doubting into Gods hand, and let him greedily obey all Gods precepts; for in neglecting one of these, he so far neglects and misses what God would have him enter into.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv33, 37, 46, 53 Gen_41:34. Take up the fifth part of the land…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Gen_41:34. Take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt.] Lay on a tax of a fifth of the produce. “The exaction of a fifth or two tithes, during the period of plenty, may have been an extraordinary measure, which the absolute power of the monarch enabled him to enforce for the public safety.”—(Murphy.) “The Egyptians were accustomed to a tax of a tenth in ordinary years, for the public granaries. The extra crop would enable them easily to double the tax or rent.”—(Jacobus.)—
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MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Gen_41:33-36
JOSEPH AS THE ADVISER OF PHARAOH
The occasion was important and critical, but Joseph was quite himself. The marked and well-known features of his character are manifest.
I. His presence of mind. Joseph was not one of those men whose dull faculties move slowly and require a long time to rouse them to exertion. He was a man of energy and spirit, and of ready resource. He proved himself equal to this present situation by fearlessly offering advice which was at once rational and practical.
II. The kindness and openness of his nature. He wanted to preserve the country from a great calamity; and in all the simplicity of his heart offers this sound advice, not as one who merely wished to be officious, but as one who could sympathise with the sorrows of others.
III. His self-command. He is not embarrased nor over-awed by the situation in which he suddenly found himself placed. He allows himself to think soberly.
IV. His practical good sense. He does not show any fanaticism by taking refuge in a presumptuous dependence upon Providence, but imparts counsels worthy of a great statesman who has the interests of his country at heart. He counsels that excellent prudence which provides for the future. Pharaoh was to lay up, in the time of plenty, for the time of famine. Joseph’s practical good sense is especially seen when he advises his king to chose a man for the times. In great crises of human affairs one wise and strong director is needed. It is those great men who have proved their sufficiency for the times that make history. The qualities of such a man are—
1. That he should be discreet. He should be intelligent and capable of understanding the signs of the times. He must be able to distinguish things that differ, to resist the temptation of what is merely plausible, to look fairly and every side of him and to point out the more excellent way.
2. That he should be wise. He should be a prudent man, one who was capable of using his knowledge rightly, that prudence which foreseeth the evil and hides itself in the impregnable fortress of wisdom. He should be a man of action as well as of thought and of knowledge. Such a man was Joseph, a man truly raised up for the times. He had no interested designs. He did not, like Haman, give advice merely to recommend himself. His only aim was the good of his country and the glory of his God.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen_41:33-36. The good counsel which Joseph adds to the interpretation of the dream makes the answer of God an answer of peace, and not of evil. It may be justly questioned whether Pharaoh would have made any good improvement of his dreams if Joseph had merely interpreted them, without speaking of the use that ought to be made of the Divine discovery. God reveals nothing before it happens without some good end in view. The intention of prophecies concerning judgments to come is to excite those threatened with them to take proper measures for averting them. The grand purpose of God in Pharaoh’s dreams was not to gratify a vain curiosity about the future, but to procure deliverance and honour to Joseph, and to preserve Egypt, and the family of Jacob, and the countries around from destruction.—(Bush.)
One practical inference is to be drawn from this history, the same that was taught by our Master in the parable of the unjust steward. He commended the unjust steward because he had done wisely; he was wiser in his generation than the children of light; he had used his opportunity. Our Redeemer tells us that where he gained we fail; we have our advantages, and we, the children of light neglect to use them for the future. The same lesson is taught by Joseph’s history. To us, the years in which we are living are those of plenty, abundance of spiritual instruction; but the years of dearth will come. Blessed is the man who shall use the present well. Blessed is he who makes use of the present opportunity, who is using the present in acquiring spiritual strength. Blessed is he who is laying up for himself, while on earth, a treasure in the heavens which shall never fail.—(Robertson.)
The counsel of Joseph stands good both in regard to earthly and heavenly things; and is all the more necessary, for men generally make a bad use of abundance.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain On v50 Section 4. (Gen 41:50-57; Gen 42:1-38; Gen 43:1-34; Gen…
Section 4. (Gen 41:50-57; Gen 42:1-38; Gen 43:1-34; Gen 44:1-34; Gen 45:1-28; Gen 46:1-34; Gen 47:1-26.)
The Days of Famine.
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Now comes the time of famine; and when God’s judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world shall learn righteousness. Not in the plenteous times of Christianity will the world as a whole turn to God; and therefore come drought and famine from the same hand which, unknown, bestowed the blessing. The present dispensation closed by the removal of the Church to be with her Lord, the times of the Gentiles will close, as the Lord Himself predicts (Luk 21:25-27): "And there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon, and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud, with power and great glory."
Before He appears, and amid all the trial of a time such as the world has never seen, Israel will be preparing to recognize and receive her rejected Lord. And this is what we find typified in the chapters to which we have now come. The way in which it is expounded here shows surely the divine interest in their recovery, full of touching pathos as they are known to be.
The famine in all lands reaches Canaan also, and Joseph’s ten brethren come down to buy corn in Egypt. We are all familiar with what follows, and how their hearts and consciences are probed by one who knows and loves them well, but whom they know not. They obtain, indeed, a temporary supply for their necessities, but leave Simeon in prison, and are bidden not to appear again except they bring Benjamin with them. Famine again forces them to come down; and this time, Judah having undertaken for Benjamin with his father, they bring him also. They are feasted by Joseph, still unknown; are sent away with the cup in Benjamin’s sack; pursued, and brought back under the charge of theft; Benjamin is to remain as Joseph’s slave, but Judah, his heart fully reached, offers himself in his stead: then Joseph’s love bursts out; he makes himself known to them; they own their sin, are reconciled and comforted with his love.
In all this, it is plain how all turns upon Benjamin and their state toward him. This is made the test of their condition. The power for their deliverance lies in Joseph’s hand alone, however, and their exercises as to Benjamin all tend to awakening conscience and heart as to their sin against Joseph. The key of the typical interpretation is to be found in this: —
Joseph is Christ as we know Him, once rejected and suffering, now exalted: this is He whom Israel does not know. A Christ triumphant simply, and reigning upon the earth, is the Benjamin who is found among them, whether in the days of the Lord’s rejection or the latter days. The Conqueror they were prepared for; the Sufferer who must go before Him -not knowing their own deep need, -they have refused. Yet the two are really one, and for them the Conqueror cannot be till they receive the Sufferer: not the faith of a Sufferer merely, but the One who has been this. Power lies with Joseph, not with Benjamin.
But Joseph’s heart longs after Benjamin, -that is, Christ longs to display this character of power for them; but for this they must be brought to repentance, and He uses their ideal, prophetical Messiah to bring their hearts back to Himself the true one.
Amid the sorrows of the last days, this will be accomplished for them. He who, unknown, is seeking them will make them realize their Benjamin as Benoni -"the son of my sorrow," and that as the fruit of their own sin. (Gen 44:16.) Benjamin is taken from them: they have lost their part in Messiah as having rejected Him. All the depths of Judah’s heart are stirred; and in his agony for Benjamin, he is met and overwhelmed by the revelation of Joseph. They look upon Him whom they have pierced, and mourn for Him as one mourneth for his only son, and a fountain for sin and for uncleanness is opened to them. But this brings the whole nation into blessing under Christ.
After this, we read of the reduction of Egypt itself under the immediate authority of the throne. The people, bankrupt through the famine, receive back their lands from the bounty of the king, returning him one fifth of the produce as the token of their indebtedness to the grace from which they have received. It is thus that the world, under Christ, will find its place in true blessing before God. In the one fifth rendered, we are reminded once more of the Abrahamic 5, -the impotence of the creature and the omnipotence of God, -the one part a recognition of divine sovereignty. If we take it as two tenths, it may remind us of the double claim of God upon us -by creation and by redemption. This the world will acknowledge in the day to come.
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v38 Gen 41:38 - Gen 41:48.
Genesis
JOSEPH, THE PRIME MINISTER
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Gen 41:38 - Gen 41:48.
At seventeen years of age Joseph was sold for a slave; at thirty he was prime minister of Egypt {Gen. xxxvii, 2; xli. 46}. How long his prison life lasted is uncertain; but it was long enough for the promises contained in his early dreams to ‘try him’ {Pro 5:19} whether his faith would stand apparent disappointment and weary delay. Like all the Scripture narratives, this history of Joseph has little to say about feelings, and prefers facts. But we can read between the lines, and be tolerably sure that the thirteen years of trial were well endured, and that the inward life had grown so as to fit him for his advancement. We have here a full-length portrait of the prime minister, or vizier, which brings out three points-his elevation, his naturalisation, and his administration.
Joseph had not only interpreted Pharaoh’s dream, but had suggested a policy in preparation for the coming famine. He had recommended the appointment of ‘a wise and discreet man,’ with supreme authority over the land. Pharaoh first consulted ‘his servants,’ and, with their consent, possibly not very hearty, appointed the proposer of the plan as its carrier-out, quoting to him his own words, ‘wise and discreet.’
The sudden installing of an unknown prisoner in high office has often been thought hard to believe, and has been pointed to as proof of the legendary character of the story. But the ground on which Pharaoh put it goes far to explain it. He and his servants had come to believe that ‘God’ spoke through this man, that ‘the Spirit of God’ was in him. So here was a divinely sent messenger, whom it would be impiety and madness to reject. Observe that Pharaoh and Joseph both speak in this chapter of ‘God.’ There was a common ground of recognition of a divine Being on which they met. The local colour of the story indicates a period before the fuller revelation, which drew so broad a line of demarcation between Israel and the other nations.
Joseph’s sudden promotion is made the more intelligible by the probability which the study of Egyptian history has given, that the Pharaoh who made him his second in command was one of the Hyksos conquerors who dominated Egypt for a long period. They would have no prejudices against Joseph on account of his being a foreigner. A dynasty of alien conquerors has generally an open door for talent, and cares little who a man’s father is, or where he comes from, if he can do his work. And Joseph, by not being an Egyptian born, would be all the fitter an instrument for carrying out the policy which he had suggested.
His ceremonial investiture with the insignia of office is true to Egyptian manners. The signet ring, as the emblem of full authority; the chain, as a mark of dignity; the robe of ‘fine linen’ {or rather of cotton}, which was a priestly dress-all are illustrated by the monuments. The proclamation made before him as he rode in the second chariot has been very variously interpreted. It has been taken for a Hebraised Egyptian word, meaning ‘Cast thyself down’; and this interpretation was deemed the most probable, until Assyrian discovery brought to light ‘that abarakku is the Assyrian name of the grand vizier’ {Fr. Delitzsch, Hebrew Language Viewed in the Light of Assyrian Research, p. 26}. Sayce proposes another explanation, also from the cuneiform tablets: ‘There was a word abrik in the Sumerian language, which signified a seer, and was borrowed by the Semitic Babylonians under the varying forms of abrikku and abarakku. It is abrikku which we have in Genesis, and the title applied by the people to the "seer" Joseph proves to be the one we should most naturally expect.’ The Tel el-Amarna tablets show that the knowledge of cuneiform writing was common in Egypt {Sayce, Higher Criticism and the Monuments, p. 214}. This explanation is tempting, but it is perhaps scarcely probable that the proclamation should have been in any other language than Egyptian, or should have had reference to anything but Joseph’s new office. It was not as seer that he was to be obeyed, but as Pharaoh’s representative, even though he had become the latter because he had proved himself the former.
But in any case, the whole context is accurately and strongly Egyptian. Was there any point in the history of Israel, down to an impossibly late date, except the time of Moses, at which Jewish writers were so familiar with Egypt as to have been capable of producing so true a picture?
The lessons of this incident are plain. First stands out, clear and full, the witness it bears to God’s faithfulness, and to His sovereign sway over all events. What are all the persons concerned in the narrative but unconscious instruments of His? The fierce brothers, the unconcerned slave-dealers, Potiphar, his wife, the prisoners, Pharaoh, are so many links in a chain; but they are also men, and therefore free to act, and guilty if acting wrongly. Men execute God’s purposes, even when unconscious or rebellious, but are responsible, and often punished, for the acts which He uses to effect His designs.
Joseph’s thirteen years of trial, crowned with sudden prosperity, may read all of us, and especially young men and women, a lesson of patience. Many of us have to fight our way through analogous difficulties at the outset of our career; and we are apt to lose heart and get restive when success seems slow to come, and one hindrance after another blocks our road. But hindrances are helps. If one of Joseph’s misfortunes had been omitted, his good fortune would never have come. If his brethren had not hated him, if he had not been sold, if he had not been imprisoned, he would never have ruled Egypt. Not one thread in the tapestry could have been withdrawn without spoiling the pattern. We cannot afford to lose one of our sorrows or trials. There would be no summer unless winter had gone before. There is a bud or a fruit for every snowflake, and a bird’s song for every howl of the storm.
Plainly, too, does the story read the lesson of quiet doing of the work and accepting the circumstances of the moment. Joseph was being prepared for the administration of a kingdom by his oversight of Potiphar’s house and of the prison. His character was matured by his trials, as iron is consolidated by heavy hammers. To resist temptation, to do modestly and sedulously whatever work comes to our hands, to be content to look after a jail even though we have dreamed of sun and moon bowing down to us, is the best apprenticeship for whatever elevation circumstances-or, to speak more devoutly, God-intends for us. Young men thrown into city life far away from their homes, and whispered to by many seducing voices, have often to suffer for keeping themselves unspotted; but they are being strengthened by rough discipline, and will get such promotion, in due time, as is good for them. But outward success is not God’s best gift. It was better to be the Joseph who deserved his high place, than to have the place. The character which he had grown into was more than the trappings which Pharaoh put on him. And such a character is always the reward of such patience, faith, and self-control, whether chains and chariots are added or not.
Little need be said about the other points of the story. Joseph’s naturalisation as an Egyptian was complete. His name was changed, in token that he had completely become a subject of Pharaoh’s. The meaning of the formidable-looking polysyllable, which Egyptian lips found easier than ‘Joseph,’ is uncertain. ‘At present the origin of the first syllable is still doubtful, and though the latter part of the name is certainly the Egyptian n-ti-pa-ankh {"of the life"}, it is difficult to say in which of its different senses the expression pa-ankh {"the life"} is employed’ {Sayce, ut supra, p. 213}. The prevailing opinion of Egyptian experts is that it means ‘Support of life.’
The naturalising was completed by his marriage to Asenath {supposed to mean ‘One belonging to the goddess Neith’}, a daughter of a high officer of state, Poti-phera {meaning, like its shortened form, Potiphar, ‘The gift of Ra’ the sun-god}. Such an alliance placed him at once in the very innermost circle of Egyptian aristocracy. It may have been a bitter pill for the priest to swallow, to give his daughter to a man of yesterday, and an alien; but, just as probably, he too looked to Joseph with some kind of awe, and was not unwilling to wed Asenath to the first man in the empire, wherever he had started up from.
But should not Joseph’s religion have barred such a marriage? The narrator gives no judgment on the fact, and we have to form our own estimate. But it is not to be estimated as if it had occurred five or six centuries later. The family of Jacob was not so fenced off, nor was its treasure of revelation so complete, as afterwards. We may be fairly sure that Joseph felt no inconsistency between his ancestral faith, which had become his own in his trials, and this union. He was risking a great deal; that is certain. Whether the venture ended well or ill, we know not. Only we may be very sure that a marriage in which a common faith is not a strong bond of union lacks its highest sanctity, and is perilously apt to find that difference in religious convictions is a strong separator.
Joseph’s administration opens up questions as to Egyptian land tenure, and the like, which cannot be dealt with here. ‘In the earlier days of the monarchy the country was in the hands of great feudal lords; . . .the land belonged to them absolutely. . .. But after the convulsion caused by the Hyksos conquest and the war of independence, this older system of land tenure was completely changed. . .. The Pharaoh is the fountain head, not only of honour, but of property as well. . .. The people ceased to have any rights of their own’ {Sayce, ut supra, p. 216}.
We may note Joseph’s immediate entrance upon office and his characteristic energy in it. He ‘went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.’ No grass grew under this man’s feet. He was ubiquitous, personally overseeing everything for seven long years. Wasteful consumption of the abundant crops had to be restrained, storehouses to be built, careful records of the contents to be made, after Egyptian fashion. The people, who could not look so far as seven years ahead, and wanted to enjoy, or make money out of, the good harvests, had to be looked after, and an army of officials to be kept in order. Dignity meant work for him. Like all true men, he thought more of his duty than of his honours. Depend on it, he did not wear his fine clothes or ride in the second chariot, when he was hurrying about the country at his task.
He had come ‘out of prison to reign,’ and, as we all find, if we are God’s servants, to reign means to serve, and the higher the place the harder the task. The long years of waiting had nourished powers which the seven years of busy toil tested. We must make ourselves, by God’s help, ready, in obscurity, and especially in youth, for whatever may be laid on us in after days. And if we understand what life here means, we shall be more covetous of spheres of diligent service than of places of shining dignity. Whatever our task, let us do it, as Joseph did his, with strenuous concentration, knowing, as he did, that the years in which it is possible are but few at the longest.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v45 Asenath, the Gentile bride espoused by Joseph the rejected…
Zaphnath-paaneah
Asenath, the Gentile bride espoused by Joseph the rejected one Joh 19:15 type of the Church, called out from the Gentiles to be the bride of Christ during the time of His rejection by His brethren, Israel.; Act 15:14; Eph 5:31; Eph 5:32. (See Scofield "Gen 37:2").
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Zaphnath-paaneah Coptic, revealer of secret things.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv25, 37, 46, 53 Joseph Interprets the Dreams
Joseph Interprets the Dreams
v. 25. And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one, the two dream-pictures have the same meaning; God hath showed Pharaoh what He is about to do; He is revealing His intentions of the near future.
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v. 26. The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the dream is one. They indicate seven years of great fruitfulness and plenty.
v. 27. And the seven thin and ill-favored kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine. The very clearness and simplicity of Joseph’s explanation sets it aside from the heathen oracles.
v. 28. This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do He showeth unto Pharaoh. He refers to the statement which he made even before Pharaoh had related his dreams, always directing the attention of the king to the Lord.
v. 29. Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt;
v. 30. and there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;
v. 31. and the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous.
v. 32. And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice, it is because the thing is established, fully determined upon,by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. Joseph purposely emphasized the grievousness of the years of famine, that they would be so had as to make people forget the unusually fertile years that had gone before, just as we are inclined to feel any distress very severely and to forget the great blessings of goodness that are ours continually. Joseph’s entire manner of speaking, particularly when compared with the helplessness of the Egyptian magicians, was bound to make a deep impression upon the king.
v. 33. Now, therefore, let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt, one who has great wisdom and executive ability, combined with a good understanding of the situation and the necessary tact.
v. 34. Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, the chief overseer was to be given assistants, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt, of the yield of the land, in the seven plenteous years, in the years of great fertility.
v. 35. And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. His advice is that royal store-houses, or granaries, be erected in all the chief cities, to be kept for provision against the lean years.
v. 36. And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt, to tide the inhabitants over the critical period; that the land perish not through the famine. This counsel was not an act of presumption on the part of Joseph, but a bit of advice which the Lord gave to Pharaoh by his mouth. God blesses, protects, and keeps a whole country for the sake of the believers that may be living in it.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv25, 27, 30, 33, 35, 37, 39, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 53, 55 The dreams of Pharaoh are the same
The dreams of Pharaoh are the same
It is implied that the meanings are the same. AT: "Both dreams mean the same thing" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
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What God is about to do, he has declared to Pharaoh
Joseph speaks to Pharaoh in the third person. This is a way of showing respect. It can be stated in the second person. AT: "God is showing you what he will soon do" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
seven good heads
The words "of grain" are understood. AT: "seven good heads of grain" (See: Ellipsis)
translationWords
Joseph (OT)
Pharaoh
dream
God
declare
good
cow
year
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv25, 32, 33, 37, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 50, 53 41:25-32 Both dreams predicted that seven years of abundant…
41:25-32 Both dreams predicted that seven years of abundant crops would be followed by seven years of severe famine.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.