The famine was severe in the land. When they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little more food.”
Judah spoke to him, saying, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’ If you’ll send our brother with us, we’ll go down and buy you food; but if you don’t send him, we won’t go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’ ”
Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly, telling the man that you had another brother?”
They said, “The man asked directly concerning ourselves, and concerning our relatives, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ We just answered his questions. Is there any way we could know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down?’ ”
Judah said to Israel, his father, “Send the boy with me, and we’ll get up and go, so that we may live, and not die, both we, and you, and also our little ones. I’ll be collateral for him. From my hand will you require him. If I don’t bring him to you, and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever; for if we hadn’t delayed, surely we would have returned a second time by now.”
Their father, Israel, said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take from the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry down a present for the man, a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts, and almonds; and take double money in your hand, and take back the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight. Take your brother also, get up, and return to the man. May God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 11, 14 1. And the famine was sore in the land.…
1. And the famine was sore in the land. In this chapter is recorded the second journey of the sons of Jacob into Egypt, when the former supply of provision had been exhausted. It may, however, here be asked, how Jacob could have supported his family, even for a few days, with so small a quantity of corn: for, suppose it to be granted that several asses were conducted by each of the brethren, what was this to sustain three hundred persons? For, since Abraham had a much larger number of servants, and mention has been made above of the servants of Isaac; it is incredible that Jacob was so entirely destitute, as to have no servants left. If we say, that he, being a stranger, had been compelled to sell them all, it is but an uncertain guess. It seems to me more probable that they lived on acorns, herbs, and roots. For we know that the orientals, especially when any necessity urges, are content with slender and dry food, and we shall see presently, that, in this scarcity of wheat, there was a supply of other food. I suppose, therefore, that no more corn had been bought than would suffice to furnish a frugal and restricted measure of food for Jacob himself, and for his children and grandchildren: and that the food of the servants was otherwise provided for. There is, indeed, no doubt that the whole region had been compelled to resort to acorns, and fruits of this kind, for food for the servants, and that wheaten bread was a luxury belonging to the rich. This was, indeed, a severe trial, that holy Jacob, of whom God had engaged to take care, should almost perish, with his family, through hunger, and that the land of which he was constituted the lord, in order that he might there happily enjoy the abundance of all things, should even deny him bread as a stranger. For he might seriously doubt what was the meaning of that remarkable promise, I am God Almighty, grow and multiply: I will bless thee. It is profitable for us to know these conflicts of the holy fathers, that, fighting with the same arms with which they conquered, we also may stand invincible, although God should withhold present help.
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 vv1, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14 This was a great tentation to Jacob to suffer…
This was a great tentation to Jacob to suffer so great famine in that land where God had promised to bless him.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 Gen 43:1 And the famine [was] sore in the…
Gen 43:1 And the famine [was] sore in the land.
Ver. 1. And the famine was sore in the land.] In the Promised Land. Hold out faith and patience. Os quod in sorte tua cecidit, rodas: Bear thy cross, and be content. {a}
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{a} Drus., in Adag.
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 vv2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 14 He saith a
He saith a
little, either to show that he took no thought to satisfy his or their curiosity or luxury, but only their necessity, for which a little would suffice, and that they must all moderate their appetites, especially in a time of such scarcity; or to encourage them to the journey, by suggesting to them that they needed not bring great stores, but only what was sufficient for that year, and that God would provide better for them hereafter, so as they should not need to go so far for corn any more.
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 vv1, 11 Here, 1. Jacob urges his sons to go and…
Here, 1. Jacob urges his sons to go and buy more corn in Egypt, Gen 43:1, Gen 43:2. The famine continued; and the corn they had bought was all spent, for it is meat that perisheth. Jacob, as a good master of a family, is in care to provide for those of his own house food convenient; and shall not God provide for his children, for the household of faith? Jacob bids them go again and buy a little food; now, in time of scarcity, a little must suffice, for nature is content with a little. 2. Judah urges him to consent that Benjamin should go down with them, how much soever it went against his feelings and previous determination. Note, It is not at all inconsistent with the honour and duty which children owe their parents humbly and modestly to advise them, and, as occasion is, to reason with them. Plead with your mother, plead, Hos 2:2. (1.) He insists upon the absolute necessity they were under of bringing Benjamin with them, of which he, who was a witness to all that had passed in Egypt, was a more competent judge than Jacob could be. Joseph's protestation (Gen 43:3) may be alluded to to show upon what terms we must draw nigh to God; unless we bring Christ along with us in the arms of our faith, we cannot see the face of God with comfort. (2.) He engages to take all possible care of him, and to do his utmost for his safety, Gen 43:8, Gen 43:9. Judah's conscience had lately smitten him for what he had done a great while ago against Joseph (Gen 42:21); and, as an evidence of the truth of his repentance, he is ready to undertake, as far as a man could do it, for Benjamin's security. He will not only not wrong him, but will do all he can to protect him. This is restitution, as far as the case will admit; when he knew not how he could restore Joseph, he would make some amends for the irreparable injury he had done him by doubling his care concerning Benjamin.
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 vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 And the famine was sore in the land. In…
And the famine was sore in the land. In the land of Canaan; it increased yet more and more: this is observed for the sake of what follows, showing the reason and necessity of Jacob's sons taking a second journey into Egypt.
And the famine was sore in the land. In the land of Canaan; it increased yet more and more: this is observed for the sake of what follows, showing the reason and necessity of Jacob's sons taking a second journey into Egypt.
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Genesis 43:2
gen 43:2
gen 43:2
gen 43:2And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt,.... Which, in so numerous a family as Jacob's was, having so many children, grandchildren, and servants, what nine men on so many asses could bring with them must be consumed in a short time, how long cannot be said; no doubt they lived sparingly on it in such a time of scarcity, to make it last as long as they could, and perhaps only he, his children and grandchildren, might eat of it; the servants, as Calvin observes, might live on meaner food, as acorns, herbs, and roots; and it must not be thought that all this corn was eaten up entirely, and none left, but the far greater part of it, and but very little remaining; or otherwise, how should Jacob, and his sons' wives and children be supported until the return of his sons from Egypt with fresh provisions? indeed it may be supposed, that the land of Canaan produced some corn, though but little; and it is certain there were other fruits which were serviceable for food, as appears from Gen 43:11,
their father said, go again, buy us a little food; just enough for him, and them, and theirs, for the present; hoping that the famine would be over quickly, and therefore orders them to go once more to Egypt, and buy some provisions: they made no motion themselves to go, as it is highly probable they determined they would not, since Jacob had resolved Benjamin should not go, but waited for their father's motion, and which he did not make until necessity obliged him.
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 vv1, 9, 11, 12, 14 Here the story of Joseph's brethren is carried on.
Here the story of Joseph's brethren is carried on.
I. Their melancholy parting with their father Jacob, in Canaan, ver. 1-14.
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II. Their meeting with Joseph in Egypt, ver. 15-34.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14 The famine continuing, Jacob desires his sons to go…
CHAPTER XLIII
The famine continuing, Jacob desires his sons to go again to
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Egypt and buy some food, 1, 2.
Judah shows the necessity of Benjamin's accompanying them,
without whom it would be useless to return to Egypt, 3-5.
Jacob expostulates with him, 6.
Judah replies, and offers to become surety for Benjamin, 7-10.
Jacob at last consenting and desires them to take a present with
them for the governor of Egypt; and double money, that which
they had brought back in their sacks' mouth, and the price of
the load they were now to bring; and, having prayed for them,
sends them away, 11-15.
They arrive in Egypt, and are brought to Joseph's house to dine
with him, at which they are greatly alarmed, 16-18.
They speak to the steward of Joseph's house concerning the money
returned in their sacks, 19-22.
He gives them encouragement, 23, 24.
Having made ready the present, they bring it to Joseph when he
came home to dine, 25, 26.
He speaks kindly to them, and inquires concerning their health,
and that of their father, 27, 28.
Joseph is greatly affected at seeing his brother Benjamin, 29-31.
They dine with him, and are distinguished according to their
seniority; but Benjamin receives marks of peculiar favour, 32-34.
NOTES ON CHAP. XLIII
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 vv8, 9, 11, 12, 14 Gen 43:8. Judah said unto his father — He,…
Gen 43:8. Judah said unto his father — He, on account of his age, prudence, and penitent carriage for his youthful follies, was much beloved and regarded by his father, and, on this occasion, was likely to have the greatest influence in persuading him. Send the lad with me — So he terms him, because he was the youngest of all, though he was now thirty years old, and a father of divers children.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v1 - Joseph and His Eleven Brethren
- Joseph and His Eleven Brethren
11. דבשׁ debash, “honey,” from the bee, or sirup from the juice of the grape. בטנים bôṭen, “pistachio nuts.” שׁקד shâqêd, “almond tree;” related: “awake.” The tree is also called לוּז lûz. Some refer the former to the fruit, the latter to the tree.
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The eleven brothers are now to bow down before Joseph.
Gen 43:1-10
The famine was severe. The pressure began to be felt more and more. The twelve households had at length consumed all the corn they had purchased, and the famine still pressed heavily upon them. Jacob directs them to return. “And Judah said.” Reuben had offended, and could not come forward. Simon and Levi had also grieved their father by the treacherous slaughter of the Shekemites. Judah therefore, speaks. “Is your father yet alive?” “Have ye a brother?” These questions do not come out in the previous narrative, on account of its brevity. But how pointed they are, and how true to Joseph’s yearnings! They explain how it was that these particulars came out in the replies of the brothers to Joseph. For the charge of being spies did not call for them in exculpation. Judah now uses all the arguments the case would admit of, to persuade his father to allow Benjamin to go with them. He closes with the emphatic sentence, If I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me have sinned against thee all my days; that is, let me bear the blame, and of course the penalty of having sinned against thee in so tender a point. Both Judah and his father knew that this was a matter that touched the interest of the former very deeply. Reuben was bearing the blame of a grievous sin, and had no hope of the birthright. Simon and Levi were also bearing blame, and, besides, had not the natural right, which belonged only to Reuben. Judah came next, and a failure in securing the safe return of Benjamin might set him also aside. He undertakes to run this risk.
Gen 43:11-15
Jacob at length reluctantly sends Benjamin with them. He employs all means, as is usual with him, of securing a favorable result. “The best of the land” - the sung or celebrated products of the land. “A little honey.” Palestine abounded with bee honey. A sirup obtained by boiling down the juice of the grape was also called by the same name, and formed an article of commerce. “Nuts.” These are supposed to be pistachio nuts, from the pistacia vera, a tree resembling the terebinth, a native of Anatolia, Syria, and Palestine. “Almonds.” The almond tree buds or flowers earlier in the spring than other trees. It is a native of Palestine, Syria, and Persia. For the other products see Gen 37:25. “Other silver;” not double silver, but a second sum for the new purchase. “God Almighty” - the Great Spirit, who can dispose the hearts of men as he pleases. Jacob looks up to heaven for a blessing, while he uses the means. “If I am bereaved, I am bereaved.” This is the expression of acquiescence in whatever may be the will of Providence. “Double silver,” - what was returned and what was to pay for a second supply of corn.
Gen 43:16-18
The invitation into Joseph’s house fills the brothers with alarm. “Saw with them Benjamin.” This was an unspeakable relief to Joseph, who was afraid that his full brother, also the favorite of his father, might have incurred the envy and persecution of the brothers. “Brought the men to Joseph’s house.” This he eventually did, but not until after the conference between him and them took place. The men were afraid of a plot to rob them of their liberty and property.
Gen 43:19-25
They are encouraged by the steward of Joseph’s house to lay aside their fears, and prepare their present. “Spake to him at the door of the house.” This was, of course, before they entered. “When we came to the inn.” The relater is prone to lump matters in the narration, for the sake of brevity. They began to “open their bags” at the first lodging-place, and finished the process at the last when they got home. Other silver. This explains the phrase “second silver” in Gen 43:12. “Peace be to you.” Be at rest. All is well. Your God. The steward of Joseph expresses himself as one who fears and trusts God, the God of the Hebrews, who had displayed his omniscience and omnipotence in Egypt. “He brought out unto them Simon.” While they still linger at the entrance, the considerate steward bethought himself of bringing out Simon to them, which reassured their hearts, and induced them to enter willingly. He now succeeds therefore, in bringing them in, and then bestows upon them the usual attentions of Eastern hospitality. They now “make ready their present.”
Gen 43:26-34
They are now entertained by Joseph. They brought the present, and made a lowly obeisance before him. “They bent the head.” See Gen 24:26. “God be gracious unto thee, my son.” His kind treatment of Benjamin, on whose presence he had so much insisted, was calculated to reassure the brothers. The latter was born in his thirteenth year, and therefore, he was entitled to assume the paternal style in regard to him. Joseph still appeals with a natural and unconstrained reverence to his own God. “And Joseph hastened away.” The little touch of tenderness he had involuntarily thrown into his address to Benjamin, is too much for his feelings, which yearn toward his brother, and he is obliged to retreat to his chamber to conceal his tears and compose his countenance. “They set for him by himself.” As the governor, or as connected by affinity with the priestly caste, Joseph does not eat with the other Egyptians. The Egyptians cannot eat with the Hebrews. “That is an abomination to the Mizrites.” For the Hebrews partook of the flesh of kine, both male and female.
But Herodotus informs us (ii. 41), that “male kine, if clean, are used by the Egyptians, but the females they are not allowed to sacrifice, since they are sacred to Isis.” And he adds that “a native of Egypt will not kiss a Greek, use his knife, his spit, or his cauldron, or taste the flesh cut with a Greek knife.” They considered all foreigners unclean, and therefore, refused to eat with them (see Rawlinson’s Herodotus on p. q.). They sat in his presence; arranged according to the order of their birth, to their great amazement. Egypt was to them a land of wonders, and Egypt’s sultan a man of wonder. “Benjamin’s mess.” The honored guest was distinguished by a larger or daintier portion of the fare (1Sa 9:23-24; Homer, ii. 7,321). A double portion was assigned to the Spartan kings. The fivefold division was prominent in Egyptian affairs Gen 41:34; Gen 45:22; Gen 47:2, Gen 47:24, Gen 47:26. “And were merry.” They drank freely, so as to be exhilarated, because their cares were dissipated by the kindness they were receiving, the presence of Simon, and the attention paid to Benjamin.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 14 My face, in peace. Joseph had told them they…
My face, in peace. Joseph had told them they should be considered as spies, if they did not produce their youngest brother. (Menochius)
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).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 The second journey. Benjamin accompanying. Joseph maketh himself known…
SEVENTH SECTION
The second journey. Benjamin accompanying. Joseph maketh himself known to his brethren. Their return. Jacob’s joy.
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Genesis 43-45
A. The trial of the brethren. Their repentance and Joseph’s reconcilableness. Joseph and Benjamin.
Gen_43:1 to Gen_44:17
1And the famine was sore in the land. 2And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food. 3And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. 4If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food; 5But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down; for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face [again], except your brother be with you. 6And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother? 7And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him, according to the tenor of these words; could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down? 8And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones. 9I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him; if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever; 10For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time. 11And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds; 12And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight; 13Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the Man_1:14 And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin.1 If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved. 15And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin, and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. 16And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, Bring these men home, and slay, and make ready; for these men shall dine with me at noon. 17And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house. 18And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph’s house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us,2 and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses. 19And they came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they communed with him at the door of the house. 20And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food; 21And it came to pass, when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight; and we have brought3 it again in our hand. 22And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food; we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks. 23And he said, Peace be to you, fear not; your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them. 24And the man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender. 25And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon; for they heard that they should eat bread there. 26And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth. 27And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive? 28And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive. And they bowed down their 29heads, and made obeisance. And he lift up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, Is this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said farther [without waiting for an answer] God be gracious unto thee, my son. 30And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother; and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber and wept there. 31And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread. 32And they set en for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves; because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews: for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians. 33And they sat before him, the first born according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth; and the men marvelled one at another. 34And he took and sent messes unto them from before him; but Benjamin’s mess was five times so much as any of their’s. And they drank, and were merry with him.
Gen_44:1 :And Joseph commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth. 2And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, 3and his corn-money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken. As 4soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses. And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore 5have ye rewarded evil for good? Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? Ye have done evil in so doing. 6And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these same words. 7And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing; 8Behold, the money which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan; how then should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold? 9With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondmen. 10And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words; he with whom it is found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless. 11Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack. 12And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city. 14And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house; for he was yet there; and they fell before him on the ground. 15And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? Wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine? 16And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants; behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found. 17And he said, God forbid that I should do so; but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your father.
B. The narrative of the reconciliation and the recognition. Judah and Joseph.
Chap. Gen_44:18 to Gen_45:28
18Then Judah came near unto him, and said, O my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant; for thou art even as Pharaoh. 19My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother? 20And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him. 21And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him. 22And we said unto my lord, The lad can not leave his father; for if he should leave his father, his father would die. 23And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more. 24And it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. 25And our father said, Go again, and buy us a little food. 26And we said, We can not go down; if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down; for we may not see the man’s face, except our youngest brother be with us. 27And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bare me two sons; 28And the one went out from me [and did not return], and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I saw him not since; 29And if ye take this also from me, and mischief befall him, ye 30shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave [sheol]. Now, therefore, when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us, seeing that his life is bound up in the lad’s life; 31It shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die; and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave. 32For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to 33my father for ever. Now, therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad, a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren. 34For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father.
Gen_45:1 Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. 2And he wept aloud; and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. 3And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence. 4And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye 5sold into Egypt. Now, therefore, be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me thither; for God did send me before you to preserve life. 6For these two years hath the famine been in the land; and yet there are five years in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. 7And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity 8in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God; and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. 9Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt; come down unto me, tarry not; 10And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen [East district of Egypt; the name is of Koptic origin. Uncertain: district of Hercules], and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children’s children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast; 11And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty. 12And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. 13And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither. 14And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them; and after that his brethren talked with him.
C. The glad tidings to Jacob, Gen_44:16-28.
16And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, Joseph’s brethren are come; and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. 17And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan; 18And take your father, and your households, and come unto me; and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land. 19Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. 20Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours. 21And the children of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. 22To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment. 23And to his father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she-asses laden with corn, and bread, and meat for his father by the way. 24So he sent his brethren away, and they departed; and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way. 25And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father. 26And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not. 27And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them; and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived. 28And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive I will go and see him before I die.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS
Contents: a. The trial of the brethren. Their repentance and Joseph’s forgiveness. Joseph and Benjamin. Gen_43:1 to Gen_44:17 : 1. Judah as surety for Benjamin unto his father, Gen_43:1-14; Genesis 2. Joseph and Benjamin, Gen_43:15-30; Genesis 3. the feast in honor of Benjamin, Gen_43:31-34; Genesis 4. the proving of the brethren in respect to their disposition towards Benjamin, especially after the great distinction shown to him, Gen_44:1-17 b. The story of the reconciliation, and of the recognition, as presented under the antithesis of Judah and Joseph, Gen_44:18; Gen_45:13. 1. Judah as surety and substitute for Benjamin, Gen_44:18-34; Genesis 2. Joseph’s reconciliation and making himself known to them, Gen_45:1-5; Genesis 3. Joseph’s divine peace and divine mission, Gen_43:5-13; Genesis 4. the solemnity of the salutation, Gen_43:14-15. c. The glad tidings to Jacob, Gen_43:16 to Gen_28:1. Pharaoh’s message to Jacob, Gen_43:16-20; Genesis 2. Joseph’s presents to Jacob, Gen_43:21-24; Genesis 3. the return of Joseph’s brethren; Pharaoh’s wagons and Jacob’s revivification, Gen_43:25-28.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
a. The proving of the brothers. Their repentance and Joseph’s forgiveness. Joseph and Benjamin, Gen_43:1; Gen_44:17. 1. Gen_43:1-14; Judah as surety for Benjamin unto the father.—Buy us a little bread.—In death and famine a rich supply is but little; so it was especially in Jacob’s numerous family, in regard to what they had brought the first time.—And Judah spake.—Judah now stands forth as a principal personage, appearing more and more glorious in his dignity, his firmness, his noble disposition, and his unselfish heroism. He, like Reuben, could speak to his father, and with even more freedom, because he had a freer conscience than the rest, and regarded the danger, therefore, in a milder light. Judah does not act rashly, but as one who has a grand and significant purpose. His explanation to the wounded father is as forbearing as it is firm. If they did not bring Benjamin, Simeon was lost, and they themselves, according to Joseph’s threatening, would have no admittance to him—yea, they might even incur death, because they had not removed from themselves the suspicion of their being spies.—Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me?—Knobel: “His grief and affliction urge him on to reproach them without reason.” Unreasonable, however, as it appears, it becomes significant on the supposition that he begins to read their guilty consciences, and, especially, when, with the one preceding, we connect the expression that follows: Me have ye bereaved of my children.—The man asked us straitly.—[Lange translates the Hebrew שָׁאוֹל שָׁאַל הָאִישׁ literally, or nearly so: er fragte und fragte uns aus; or, as it might be rendered, still closer to the letter, he asked to ask; or, if we take the infinitive in such cases as an adverb, he asked inquisitively, and then proceeds to remark]: This expressive connection of the infinitive with the indicative in Hebrew must not be effaced by grammatical rules; we hold fast to its literalness here. They did not speak forwardly of their family relations, but only after the closest questioning. By this passage and Judah’s speech (Genesis 44), the account in the preceding chapter (Gen_43:32) is to be supplemented. They owed him an answer, since the question was to remove his suspicion; and, moreover, they had no presentiment of what he wanted.—Send the lad with me.—אִתִּי (with me) says the brave Judah. He presents himself as surety; he will take the guilt and bear the blame forever. The strong man promises all he can. To offer to the grandfather his own grandchildren, as Reuben offered his sons, that he might put them to death, was too unreal and hyperbolical to occur to him. We become acquainted with him here as a man full of feeling, and of most energetic speech, as Gen_43:3, and Genesis 33 had before exemplified. He eloquently shows how they are all threatened with starvation. The expression, too: Surely now we had returned the second time, promises a happy issue.—If it must be so now.—Jacob had once experienced, in the case of Esau, that presents had an appeasing effect on hostile dispositions. From this universal human experience there is explained the ancient custom, especially in the East, of rendering rulers favorably disposed by gifts (see 1Ki_10:25; Mat_2:11; Pro_18:16; Pro_19:6).—Of the first fruits of the land.—(Lange translates: Of that which is most praiseworthy.) Literally, of the song; i.e., that which was celebrated in song. The noblest products of nature are, for the most part, celebrated and symbolized in poetry. In presents to distinguished persons, however, the simple money-value of the things avails but little; it is the peculiar quality, or some poetic fragrance attached to them, that makes them effective. Delitzsch doubts this explanation, but without sufficient reason. They are especially to take balm, the pride of Canaan, but in particular of Gilead. Then honey. Knobel and Delitzsch suppose it to be the honey of grapes, Arab., dibs. “Grape syrup; i.e., must boiled down to one third, an article, of which, even at the present day, there are sent yearly three hundred camel-loads from Hebron’s vicinity to Egypt.” Delitzsch. But this very abundance of the syrup of grapes would lead us to decide rather for the honey of bees, were it not for the consideration, that in the Egypt of to-day great attention is given to the raising of bees, and that it is no wine country, although not wholly without the culture of the vine (Gen_40:10).—Spices.—(Lange, tragacanth-gum.) A kind of white resinous medicament (see Winer, Tragacanth).—Myrrh.–Frankincense, salve medicament (see Winer, Ladanum).—Nuts.—The Hebrew word בָּטְבִים occurs here only, but by the Samaritan translation it is interpreted of the fruit of the Pistacia vera, “a tree similar to the terebinth—oblong and angular nuts of the size of a hazel-nut, containing an oily but very palatable kernel, which do not, however, grow any more in Palestine (as is stated in Schubert’s ‘Travels in the East,’ ii. p. 478; iii. 114), but are obtained from Aleppo (comp. Rosen., in the ‘German Orient. Magazine,’ xii. p. 502).” Keil.—Almonds.—(See Winer, Almond-tree.) On the productions of Palestine in general, see CalwerBibl. “Natural History,” etc.—And take double money.—(Lit. second money. They are not to take advantage of the mistake, even though no unfavorable construction should be put upon it, or it should occasion them no harm.—And God Almighty.—Here, when some strong miraculous help is needed, he is again most properly designated by the name El Shadai.—If I be bereaved of my children.—Be it so. An expression of resignation (Est_4:16). As his blessing here is not a prayer full of confidence, so the resignation has not the full expression of sacrifice; for Jacob’s soul is unconsciously restrained by a sense of the ban resting upon his sons. He is bowed down by the spiritual burden of his house.
2. Gen_43:15-30. Joseph and Benjamin.—And stood before Joseph.—Knobel justly states that the audience they had with Joseph did not take place until afterwards. The meaning here is that they took their place in front of Joseph’s house, together with Benjamin and the presents, and so announced to him their arrival.—Bring these men home.—With joy had Joseph observed Benjamin with them, and concludes from thence that they had practised no treachery upon him, through hatred to the children of Rachel, the darlings of their father. Benjamin’s appearance sheds a reconciling light upon the whole group. He intends, therefore, to receive them in a friendly and hospitable manner. His staying away, however, until noon, characterizes not only the great and industrious statesman, but also the man of sage discretion, who takes time to consult with himself about his future proceeding.—And stay.—Bohlen’s assertion that the higher castes in Egypt ate no meat at all, is refuted by Knobel, p. 326.—At noon.—The time when they partook of their principal meal (Gen_18:1).—And the men were afraid.—Judging from their former treatment they know not what to make of their being thus led into his house. If a distinction, it is an incomprehensibly great one; they, therefore, apprehended a plan for their destruction. Some monstrous intrigue they, perhaps, anticipate, having its introduction in the reappearance of the money in their sacks, whilst the fearful imagination of an evil conscience begins to paint the consequences (see Gen_43:18). “A thief, if unable to make restitution, was sold as a slave (Exo_22:3).” Therefore they are not willing to enter until they have justified themselves about the money returned in their sacks. They address themselves, on this account, to Joseph’s steward, with an explanatory vindication.—When we came to the inn.—In a summary way they here state both facts (Gen_42:27; Gen_42:35) together. For afterwards they might have concluded that the money found in the sack of one of them was a sign that that money had been returned in all the sacks.—In full weight.—There was, as yet, no coined money, only rings or pieces of metal, which were reckoned by weight.—Peace be to you.—It can hardly be supposed that the steward was let into Joseph’s plan. He knew, however, that Joseph himself had ordered the return of the money, and might have supposed that Joseph’s course toward them, as his countrymen, had in view a happy issue. In this sense it is that he encourages them.—Your God and the God of your father.—The shrewd steward is acquainted with Joseph’s religiousness, and, perhaps, has adopted it himself. He undoubtedly regards them as confessors of the same faith with Joseph. Knobel: “His own good fortune each man deduces from the God he worships (Hos_2:7).”—Has given you treasure.—Thus intimating some secret means by which God had given it to them; but for all this they still remain uneasy, though sufficiently calmed by his verbal acknowledgment of receipt: I had your money, but more so by the releasing of Simeon. It is not until now that they enter the house which they had before regarded as a snare. Now follow the hospitable reception, the disposition of the presents, Joseph’s greeting, and their obeisance.—And he asked them of their welfare.—This was his greeting. See the contrast, Gen_37:4. For the inquiry after their father’s welfare they thank him by the most respectful obeisance, an expression of their courtesy and of their filial piety. They represent their father, just as Benjamin represents the mother, and so it is that his dream of the sun and moon fulfils itself (Gen_37:9). If we suppose Benjamin born about a year before Joseph’s sale, he would be now twenty-three years of age. Knobel does not know how to understand the repeated expressions of his youth (נַעַר, etc.). But they are explained from the tender care exercised towards him, and from the great difference between his age and that of his brothers.—And he said.—It is very significant that Joseph does not wait for an answer. He recognizes him immediately, and his heart yearns.—My son.—An expression of inner tenderness, and an indication, at the same time, of near relationship.—And Joseph made haste.—His overwhelming emotion, the moment he saw his brethren, like Jacob’s love of Rachel, has a gleam of the New-Testament life.4 It is not, however, to be regarded as a simple feeling; it is also an emotion of joy at the prospect of that reconciliation which he had, for some time, feared their hatred towards Rachel’s children might prevent, and so bring ruin upon Benjamin, upon Jacob’s house, and upon themselves. No emotions are stronger than those arising from the dissolution of a ban, with which there is, at the same time, taken away the danger of a dark impending doom, and the old hardening of impaired affection.
3. Gen_43:31-34. The banquet in honor of Benjamin.—And he washed his face.—A proof of the depth of his emotion. It was still hard for him to maintain a calm and composed countenance.—And they set on for him by himself.—Three tables, from two different causes. Joseph’s caste as priest, and in which he stood next to the king, did not allow him to eat with laymen. And, moreover, neither Joseph’s domestics, nor his guests, could, as Egyptians, eat with Hebrews. Concerning the rigidness of the Egyptian seclusion, see Knobel, p. 328. Besides, the Hebrews were nomads (Gen_46:34). On the Egyptian castes, see Von Raumer, Vorlesungen über die alte Gesch, i. p. 133.—And they set.—They were surprised to see themselves arranged according to their age. But the enigma becomes more and more transparent; whilst strange presentiments are more and more excited. The transaction betrays the fact that they are known to the spirit of the house, and that it can distinguish between their ages. The Egyptians sat at table, instead of reclining; as appears from their pictures.—And he took and sent messes.—They were thus distinguished by having portions sent to them; whilst, as yet, they were hindered by no laws from eating of Joseph’s meat.—But Benjamin’s mess.—This is a point not to be overlooked in the proving of the brethren; it is an imitation, so to say, of the coat of many colors. It would determine whether Benjamin was to become an object of their jealousy, just as his father’s present had before been to him the cause of their hatred (so also Keil, p. 264). His mess is five times larger than the rest. “Such abundance was an especial proof of respect. To the guest who was to be distinguished there were given, at a meal, the largest and best pieces (1Sa_9:23; Hom.Il. vii. 321, etc.). Among the Spartans the king received a double portion (Herod, vi. 57, etc.); among the Cretans the Archon received four times as much (Heraclid. Polit. 3). Five was a favorite number among the Egyptians (Gen_41:34; Gen_45:22; Gen_47:2; Gen_47:24; Isa_19:18). It may be explained, perhaps, from the supposed five planets.—And they drank and were merry with him.—Intoxication is not meant here (see Hag_1:6), but a state of exhilaration, in which they first lose their fear of the Egyptian ruler. Benjamin was sitting as a guardian angel between them, and it was already a favorable sign, that the distinction showed to him did not embitter their joy. Nevertheless, whether Joseph had reached the zenith of an inexpressible rapture, as Delitzsch says, may be questioned. In all this happy, anticipation, we may suppose him still a careful observer of his brethren, according to the proverb invino veritas. At all events, the effect of the present to Benjamin was to be tested, and their disposition towards him was to undergo a severe probing.
4. Gen_44:1-17. The trial of the brothers’ disposition towards Benjamin, especially after his great distinction.—And he commanded the steward of his house.—The return of money does not belong to this trial, but only the cup in Benjamin’s sack. Knobel is incorrect in calling this also a chastisement. So also is Delitzsch, in holding that a surrender of Benjamin by his brethren loses all authentic support, in the fact that in all the sacks something was found that did not belong to them. Rather is Benjamin the only one who must appear as guilty, and as having incurred the doom of slavery (Gen_44:17).—Up, follow after the men.—The haste is in order that they may not anticipate him in the discovery, and so defeat the accusation by their voluntary return. The steward is to inquire only for the silver cup.—And whereby indeed he divineth.—“In Egypt, the country of oracles (Isa_19:3), hydromancy also was practised, i. e., to predict events from appearances presented by the liquid contents of a cup, either as standing or as thrown. This mode of divination is still practised.5 It was called נִחֵשׁ, lit., whispering (in magic formulas or oracles), divinare.” Delitzsch. Compare also Knobel, p. 329. The indicating signs were either the refraction of the rays of light, or the formation of circles on the water, or of figures, or of small bubbles, whenever something was thrown in. According to Bunsen, however, the aim was, by fixing the eyes of the diviner upon a particular point in the cup, to put him into a dream-like or clairvoyant state. Concerning this kulikomancy, or cup-divination, see Schröder. The cup is, therefore, marked, not only as a festive, but also as a most sacred, utensil of Joseph; and, on this account, to take it away was considered as a heinous crime. Knobel, in his peculiar way, here tries to start a contradiction. “According to the Elohist (he says), Joseph gets his knowledge of the future from God (Gen_40:8); whilst here he derives it from hydromancy, as practised by one received into the caste of the priests.” So, too, did he swear, in all earnestness, by the life of Pharaoh; and the older exegetes would relieve us from the apprehension that in so doing he might have taken a false oath! In a vigorous denial, and with eloquent speech, do the accused repel the charges of the steward and give strong expression to the consciousness of their innocence.—With whomsoever it be found, let him die.—Whilst consenting to their proposal, the steward moderates it in accordance with the aim of the prosecution. The possessor of the cup alone is demanded, and he, not to die, but to become Joseph’s slave. He presents this forthwith, so that the discovery again of the money may not be taken into consideration, and that temporary fear of death may not harm Benjamin. Benjamin only is to appear as the culprit, and this is in order to find out whether or not his brethren would abandon him. For these reasons the money found in the sacks is not noticed at all.—And began at the eldest.—This was in order to mask the deception.—They rent their clothes.—This was already a favorable sign; another, that they would not let Benjamin go alone, but returned with him to the city; third, that they put themselves under the direction of Judah, who had become surety for Benjamin; and fourth, that they, together with Benjamin, prostrated themselves as penitents before Joseph.—Wot ye not?—Joseph’s reproach was not so much for the vileness, as for the imprudence, of the act; since he intends to conduct the severe trial as sparingly as possible. The Hebrew נַחֵשׁ, etc., denotes here a divinely-derived or supernatural knowledge, to which Joseph lays claim, not only as a member of the caste of priests, but as the well-known interpreter of the dreams, owing his reception into this caste to his remarkable clear-sightedness.—That such a man as I.—He puts on the appearance of boasting, not to represent them as mean persons, but only as inferior to himself in a contest of craftiness. Thus he meets the supposed improbability that he could still divine although the cup was taken from him.—And Judah said, What shall we say?—Judah considers Benjamin as lost, and without inquiring how the cup came into his sack, he recognizes in this dark transaction the judgment of God upon their former guilt. This appears from his declaration: We are my lord’s servants.—Benjamin, it is true, had no part in that old guilt; neither had Reuben and Judah directly, but concerning this no explanation could be given in the court of the Egyptian ruler. In a masterly manner, therefore, he so shapes his speech ambiguously that the brethren are reminded of their old guilt, and admonished to resign themselves to the divine judgment, whilst Joseph can understand it only that they are all interested in the taking of the cup, and he especially, as the one confessing for them. I, above all, am guilty, says the innocent one, in order that he might share the doom of slavery with the apparent criminal. In this disguised speech the reservatio mentalis appears in its most favorable aspect. For his brethren he utters a truth: Jacob’s sons have incurred the divine judgment. For Joseph his words are a seeming subterfuge, and yet a most magnanimous one. Thus the two noble sons of Jacob wrestle with each other in the emulation of generosity, one in the false appearance of a despot and boaster, the other forced to a falsity of self-accusation that seems bordering on despair.—And he said, God forbid that I should do so.—Here is the culmination of the trial. Benjamin is to be a slave; the others may return home without him. Will they not be really glad to have got rid of the preferred and favorite child of Rachel, in such an easy way? But now is the time when it comes true: “Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise” (see Gen_49:8).
b. History of the reconciliation, of the recognition, and of their meeting each other again under the antithesis of Judah and Joseph, Gen_44:18 to Gen_45:15.—1. Gen_44:18-34. Judah as surety and substitute for Benjamin before Joseph. Judah’s speech is not only one of the grandest and fairest to be found in the Old Testament (connecting itself, as it does, with an increased significance, to those of Eliezer and Jacob), but, at the same time, one of the most lofty examples of self-sacrifice contained therein.—Then Judah came near unto him and said.—Peclus facit disertum, the heart makes eloquent. Necessity, and the spirit of self-sacrifice, give the inspiring confidence (παῤῥησία).—In my lord’s ears.—He presses towards him, that he may speak the more impressively to his ear and to his heart (Gen_50:4; 1Sa_18:23). And yet, with all his boldness, he neglects not the courteous and prudent attitude.—For thou art as Pharaoh.—In this Judah intends to recognize the sovereignty which could not be affronted with impunity. For Joseph, however, there must have been in it the stinging reminder that the acme of severity was now reached. The vivid, passionate style of narration, as the ground of treatment in the cases presented, is ever the basis of all Bible speeches.—And his brother is dead.—Joseph has here a new unfolding of the destiny to which God had appointed him; especially does he begin to perceive its meaning in relation to his father Jacob (Gen_44:28). This language strengthens what is said about Benjamin, as the one favorite child of an aged father—doubly dear because his brother is dead.—And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father.—From this it appears why Joseph confined them three days in prison. They had refused to bring Benjamin. It appears, too, that they had consented to bring him only because Joseph had especially desired it, and had intimated a favorable reception (“that I may set mine eyes upon him,” see Jer_39:12). Judah gently calls his attention to this as though it were a promise. And, finally, they are brought to this determination on account of the pressure of the famine. It had cost them, too, a hard struggle with the father. The quotation of Jacob’s words (Gen_44:27-29) shows how easily they now reconcile themselves to the preference of Rachel and her sons in the heart of Jacob.—That my wife.—Rachel was his wife in the dearest sense of the word, the chosen of his heart. Therefore, also, are her two sons near to him.—And the one went out from me.—Here Joseph learns his father’s distress on his own account. His mourning and longing for him shows how dear Benjamin must be, now the only child of his old age.—When he seeth that the lad is not is with us.—With the utmost tenderness Benjamin is sometimes called the youngest child, sometimes the lad. Out of this a frigid criticism, that has no heart to feel or understand it, would make contradictions. If Joseph has his way, Jacob will die of sorrow. And now Judah speaks the decisive word,—one which the mere thread of the narration would not have led us to anticipate, but which springs eloquently from the rhetoric of the heart.—For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father.—Therefore the passionate entreaty that Joseph would receive him as a substitute of the one who had incurred the sentence of slavery. In all this he makes no parade of his self-sacrifice. He cannot, and will not, return home without Benjamin. He would even regard it as a favor that he should be received in his place. He would rather die as a slave in Egypt, than that his eyes should behold the sorrows of his father. So stands he before us in his self-humiliation, in his self-sacrifice, equal in both with Joseph, and of as true nobility of soul.
2. Gen_45:1-5. Joseph’s reconciliation and making himself known.—Then Joseph could not refrain.—The brethren had not merely stood the trial; Judah’s eloquence had overpowered him. Reconciliation never measures itself by mere right; it is not only full but running over. Thus is it said of Israel: “he wrestled with God and prevailed.” We must distinguish, therefore, between two elements in Joseph’s emotion: first, his satisfied reconciliation, and, secondly, his inability to restrain any longer, though in presence of all the beholders, the strong agitation of his swelling heart. See a full representation of this as given by Delitzsch (p. 558). When, however, he says, that Benjamin’s brothers, do not press him (Benjamin) with reproaches, notwithstanding they had reason to regard him as guilty, and as having, by his theft, plunged them into misfortunes, there must be borne in mind their earlier suspicions as expressed Gen_43:18. Doubtless they now conjectured that they were the victims of some Egyptian intrigue; still they recognized it as a divine judgment, and this was the means of their salvation. In their resignation to suffering for Benjamin’s sake, in their sorrow for their father’s distress, Joseph saw fruits for repentance that satisfied him. He beheld in them the transition from the terror of judgment to a cheerful courage of self-sacrifice, in which Judah offers himself as a victim for him, inasmuch as he does it for his image. This draws him as with an irresistible power to sympathize with their distress, and so the common lot becomes the common reconciliation.—Cause every man to go out from me.—He wished to be alone with his brethren at the moment when he made himself known to them. The Egyptians must not see the emotion of their exalted lord, the deep abasement of the brethren, and the act of holy reconciliation which they could not understand. Neither was the theocratic conception of the famine, and of his own mission, for Egyptian ears.—And he wept aloud.—With loud cryings he began to address them; so that his weeping was heard by all who were without, and even by the people in the house of Pharaoh. It follows that Joseph’s dwelling must have been near the palace; “his residence was at Memphis.” (Knobel.)—I am Joseph.—This agitating announcement, for which, however, their despair may have prepared them, he knows not better how to mitigate than by the question: Doth my father yet live?—He had already heard this several times, yet he must ask again, not because he doubted, but that, in the assurance of this most joyful news he may show them his true Israelitish heart, and inspire them with courage. Nor are we to forget that Judah’s words had vividly pictured to him the danger that the old man might die on account of Benjamin’s absence, and that it now began painfully to suggest itself to him, how much he might have imperilled his father’s life by the trial of his brethren.—For they were troubled.—In their terror they seem to draw back.—Come near to me, I pray you.—I am Joseph your brother whom ye sold into Egypt.—It seems as if he had to confess for them the thing they most dreaded.—Now therefore be not grieved.—Seeing their sorrow and repentance, he would now raise them to faith. The one portion of them, namely, those who were conscious of the greater guilt, must not mar this favorable state of soul, and render faith more difficult by their excessive mourning, nor should the guiltless (Reuben, Judah, Benjamin) produce the same effect by angry recriminations.—To preserve life.—To this they are now to direct their attention.
3. Gen_45:5-13. Joseph’s divine peace, and divine mission.—To preserve life did God send me.—What they had done for evil God had turned to good. And now, having repented and been forgiven, as God had shown to them in his dealings, they are now in a state to understand his gracious purposes. A closer explanation of these words, which would require the giving of his whole history, he, for the present, discreetly waives.—And yet there are five years.—This shows already the point towards which his mind is aiming—to draw them down to Egypt.—Neither earing nor harvest.—A vivid representation of the years of famine.—Before you to preserve you.—The preservation of Jacob’s house seems now of more importance than that of the Egyptians, and the surrounding peoples.—By a great deliverance.—The question was not one of assistance merely, however great, but of deliverance from death and famine. It may, however, be so called in reference to the great future, and as containing in it the final deliverance of the world.—So now it was not you,—but God.—Here he makes a pointed contrast: not you; in this is contained: first, his forgiveness; secondly, his declaration of the nullity of their project, and its disappearance before the great decree of God. Thrice does he make these comforting declarations. But in what respects was it God? He made him, first, a father unto Pharaoh, that is, a paternal counsellor (2Ch_2:12; 2Ch_4:16). “It was an honorary distinction of the first minister, and which also existed among the Persians (Appendix to Est_2:6; Est_6:10), and the Syrians (1 Maccab. Gen_11:32).” Knobel. These words also refer to the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams, and the advice connected with it. The consequence was, that he obtained this high position which he can now use for the preservation of his father’s house.—Come down unto me.—The immediate invitation given without any conference with Pharaoh shows his firm position; but it was, nevertheless, a hazardous undertaking of his agitated, yet confident heart.—In the land of Goshen.—(Gen_47:11).—Raamses.—A district of Lower Egypt, north of the Nile, and very fruitful (Gen_47:6; Gen_47:11), especially in grass (Gen_46:34). “Even at this day the province of Scharkijah is considered the best part of Egypt (Robinson. ‘Palæst.,’ 1:96).” Knobel. See The same, p. 333, and the Biblical Dictionaries. See also Bunsen.—And there will I nourish thee.—The expression פֶּן תִּוָּרֵשׁ may mean, that thou mayest not become a possession, that is, fall into slavery through poverty, and thus Knobel interprets it with reference to Gen_47:19, etc.; but it may also mean, that thou mayest not be deprived of thy possessions, so as to suffer want,—an interpretation which is to be preferred.—And behold your eyes.—If their father in his distrust (see Gen_45:25) should not credit their testimony, he will undoubtedly believe the eyes of Benjamin.—All my glory.—He perceives that his aged father, oppressed by sorrows, can only be revived again through vivid representations (see Gen_45:27).
4. Gen_45:14-15. The solemnity of the salutation.—And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck.—Benjamin is the central point whence leads out the way to reconciliation.—Kissed all his brethren.—The seal of recognition, of reconciliation, and of salutation.—And wept upon them.—Delitzsch: “While he embraced them.” But of Benjamin it is said, he wept upon his neck. Benjamin would seem to remain standing whilst the brothers bow themselves; so that Joseph, as he embraced, wept upon them.—And after that his brethren talked with him.—Not until now can they speak with him,—now that they have been called, and been forgiven, in so solemn and brotherly a manner. The joy is gradually brought out by an assurance, thrice repeated, that he did not impute their deed to them, but recognized in it the decree and hand of God.
c. The joyful message to Jacob. Gen_45:16-28.—Pharaoh’s commission to Jacob.—And the fame thereof was heard.—At the recognition Joseph was alone with his brethren; now that he has made known their arrival, he avows himself as belonging to them.—And it pleased Pharaoh well.—Recognitions of separated members of the same family have an extraordinary power to move the human heart, and we already know that Pharaoh was a prince of sound discernment, and of a benevolent disposition. But what was pleasing to Pharaoh was also pleasing to his courtiers, and his servants. Besides, Joseph had rendered great service, and had, therefore, a claim to Egyptian sympathy. Thus far a dark shadow had rested on his descent; for he had come to Egypt as a slave. Now he appears as a member of a free and noble nomadic family.—And Pharaoh said unto Joseph.—First, he extends an invitation to the brethren agreeing with Joseph’s previous invitation. Then follows a commission to Joseph, the terms of which bear evidence of the most delicate courtliness.—The good of the land.—This is generally taken as meaning the best part of the land, that is, Goshen (Raschi, Gesenius, and others). Knobel, according to Gen_45:20; Gen_45:23, interprets it, of the good things of Egypt: whatever good it possesses shall be theirs. The connection with the following: the fat of the land, would seem to point to a leasing of possession, but, of course, not in the sense of territorial dominion. It is not an argument against this that the leasing of places is afterwards asked for (Gen_46:34; Gen_47:4). On the contrary, the petition there made rather rests on a previous general promise.—Now thou art commanded.—Pharaoh had refrained from using the form of command towards Joseph, but now in adopting it, in a case of his own personal interest, it must be regarded as, in fact, a refined courtesy. It is the very strongest language of authorization.—This do ye.—He regards the cause of Joseph, and his brethren, as one and inseparable. The sense, therefore, is not: cause thy brethren so to do (Knobel); for they, of themselves, could not take wagons from Egypt.—For your little ones.—“Egypt was rich in wagons and horses; they are not mentioned among the nomadic Hebrews.” The small two-wheeled wagons of the Egyptians “could be also used on the roadless wastes of the desert.” Keil.—Also regard not your stuff.—They should not grieve over the articles of furniture they would have to leave behind; since they would have everything abundantly in Egypt.—The children of Israel.—A decisive step for the house of Israel.—Joseph gave them wagons—and provision for the way.—Changes of raiment.—Lange: Lit., festival habits (holiday clothing) as a change for the usual dress.—But to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.—He makes amends to this guiltless brother after the well-meant alarm which he had given him.—And to his father.—In these presents love seems to surpass the measure of its aim, since Jacob had been invited to come speedily to Egypt; but there might possibly be hindrances to the journey. Besides the ten asses were for the common transportation, and the occasion of their dismission is employed to send along with them costly things of various kinds from the land.—See that ye fall not out by the way.—The old explanation: do not quarrel by the way, is held by Knobel, Delitzsch and Keil, in opposition to Michaelis, Gesenius, and others, who make it an admonition: fear not. But the language, and the situation, both favor the first interpretation.6 The less guilty ones among them might easily be tempted to reproach the others, as Reuben had done already.—Joseph is yet alive.—In this message his heart lost its warmth7 and joy. He had not full trust in them. It was by no means the incredulity of joy (Luk_24:44), because the news seemed too strangely good to be true; rather had his suspicion, in its reciprocal working with their long consciousness of guilt, made him fundamentally mistrustful. And now that dreadful shalit of Egypt turns out to be his son Joseph! Even Benjamin’s witness fails to clear up his amazement.—And when he saw the wagons.—Not until they had told him all the words of Joseph, and added, perhaps, their own confession—how they had sold him, how Joseph had forgiven them, how he had referred them to the divine guidance—is Jacob able to believe fully their report; and, now, in connection with all this, there come the Egyptian wagons, as a seal of the story’s truth, as a symbol of Joseph’s glory, a sign, in fact, from God, that the dark enigma of his old years is about to be solved in the light of a “golden sunset.”—It is enough.—His longing is appeased, he has as good as reached the goal.—I will go.—The old man is again young in spirit. He is for going immediately; he could leap, yes, fly.
“Now purified at last, with hope revived,
For life’s new goal he starts.”
(See the close of the Œdipus Coloneus.) Delitzsch: “Thus Jacob’s spirit lives again.—And Israel said.—It is Israel now that speaks. How significant this change of name.”
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
(Gen_43:1 to Gen_44:17)
The great trial: 1. Its inevitableness; 2. its need; 3. its apparent end (the banquet); 4. its acme; 5. its glorious issue.
1. The pressure of want, and its power in the hand of providence: 1) How inexorable in its demands. Jacob is to deliver up Benjamin. 2) How full of grace in its designs. By it alone can Jacob’s house be delivered from the burden of deadly guilt.
2. Judah’s confidence. “A lion’s whelp” (Gen_49:9). This confidence he would not have had, if he had not formerly proposed to sell Joseph in order to save him, or had be not been willing to sacrifice himself for Benjamin’s safe return: The spirit of self-sacrifice is the great source of courage.
3. It is in the name of Israel that Jacob treats with his sons in the giving up of Benjamin. His reproach, too (Gen_43:6), is in the name of Israel. It seems to come, indeed, from Jacob’s weakness, and to be, therefore, wrongly used; but behind the mere sound there lies the hidden announcement of a suspicion that they were dealing unfairly with the sons of Rachel. We now recognize Israel’s character, especially in the following traits: 1) Not to his other sons does he entrust Benjamin, not even to Reuben, whose weakness he knows, but only to Judah, whose frankness, honesty, and strength seem to inspire him with confidence. 2) He again employs the old weapon, the giving of presents to a threatening antagonist; yet well knowing that the Egyptian would not, like Esau, look to the quantity so much as the quality of the things offered, and so he sends him the most highly prized or celebrated products of the land. 3) With a severe uprightness does he require his sons to return the money found in their sacks, and thus disarm the suspicion of the Egyptian. 4) He entrusts to them Benjamin as their brother. 5) He commits himself to the protection of Almighty God, i. e., the delivering and protecting God of the patriarchs, who wrought miracles on their behalf. 6) He resigns himself to God’s providence, even at the risk of becoming entirely childless.
4. The prized fruits of the land of Canaan. In Jacob’s words there appears an objective poetry, or the poetry of the lands, as it may be called. First of all, it consists in their noblest products, not as they serve the common wants of life, but rather its healing, adornment, and festivity. When he selected them, however, Jacob could have had but little thought how mighty the influence these noble gifts of Canaan’s soil would have upon the great Egyptian ruler,—how they would impress him as the wonders of his youth, the glories of his native land.
5. Joseph’s state of soul at the appearance of Benjamin: 1) His joy; 2) his deep emotion; 3) his doubt, and the modes of testing it: a. the feast; b. the cup; c. the claim to Benjamin. If at the first meeting with his brethren Joseph had to struggle with his ill-humor, he now has to contend with the emotions of fraternal love.
6. The agitating changes in the trial of Joseph’s brethren: 1) From fear to joy: 2) from joy to sorrow; 3) and again from sorrow to joy.
7. Their negotiation with the steward, or the delusions of fear. They are innocent (respecting the money), and yet guilty (in respect to their old crime). Having once murdered confidence, there lies upon them the penalty of mistrust, compelling them to regard even Joseph’s house as a place of treachery. They could have no trust whilst remaining unreconciled.
8. The steward. Joseph’s spirit had been imparted to his subordinates.
9. Good fortune abounding (the money given to them; Simeon set free; the honorable reception; the banquet; the messes); and yet they had no peace, because the pure foundation for it was not yet laid.
10. Joseph’s deep emotion, a sign of reconciliation.
11. The banquet, and Egyptian division of castes. (The distinction of caste is here recognized as custom interpenetrated by dogma, and this gives the method of the struggle. Joseph sends messes from his table. The true tendency of the caste doctrine is to absorb everything into that of the priesthood.) Egyptian forms (honorary dishes; the number five). An Israelitish meal. As the banquet of Joseph’s joy, of his hope, of his trying watch. As the feast of reviving hope in Joseph’s brethren; their participation without envy in the honoring of Benjamin. As an introduction to the last trial, and a preparation for it.
12. The successful issue in the fearful proving of Israel’s sons.
(Gen_44:18 to Gen_45:16. Joseph and Judah.)
1. Judah’s speech. Delitzsch: “Judah is the eloquent one among his brethren. His eloquence had carried the measure of Joseph’s sale; it had prevailed on Jacob to send Benjamin with them; and here, finally, it makes Joseph unable to endure the restraint which he wished to put upon himself.” The end, however, is attained, not more by his touching eloquence than by his heroic deed, when lie offers himself as surety for Benjamin, and is willing to sacrifice himself by taking his place.
2. And I said. This citing of Jacob’s language, in Judah’s speech, must have had something especially agitating for Joseph,—all the more so because the speaker is not aware of the deep impression it must have made upon him. In this citation of Jacob’s last words in respect to that old event, there is reflected, as Schröder rightly remarks, Jacob’s doubt. I said, that is, I thought at that time.
3. The moral requisites of reconciliation, whether human or divine, are quite obvious in our narrative. Reuben represents the better element in the moral struggle, Benjamin the innocent party, Judah the surety, who takes upon himself the real guilt of his brethren and the factitious guilt of Benjamin. Repentance, faith, and the spirit of sacrifice, severally appear in these representatives. Through three stages do these elements prepare the reconciliation to Joseph’s heart and to the brethren as opposed to him. It has for its foundation a religious ground, though only in an Old-Testament measure. The thrice-repeated declaration of Joseph: Ye have not sent me, but God has done it, is the strongest expression of restored peace and forgiveness. As Benjamin, so to speak, had taken his place, the conclusion avails: Whatever ye have done to him, ye have done it even unto me.
4. It is an especial New-Testament trait in Joseph’s mode of thinking, that he so fully recognizes how the sin of his brethren, after having been atoned for, is entirely taken away; the divine providence having turned it to good. This truth, which he so promptly read in his mission, many Christians, and even many theologians, are yet spelling out in the letter. Joseph, however, recognizes, as the central point of the divine guidance, his mission to save Israel’s house from starvation, and to preserve it for a great deliverance. In this thought there lies enclosed the anticipation of a future and an endless salvation. For this end the treachery of the brethren is first turned away, as guilt expiated, and then, under the divine guidance, turned to good. Thus Joseph’s mission becomes a type of the cross of Christ; though the expiating points, which are found separated in Joseph’s history, are wholly concentrated in the person of Jesus. Here they appear in divers persons: It is Reuben the admonisher, Benjamin the innocent, Judah the surety, Joseph the betrayed and the forgiving, Jacob the father of a family pressed down by the guilt of his house.
5. Joseph’s kiss of peace reminds us of Christ’s greeting to his disciples and to the world.
6. Benjamin, by the way, became in after times, a wild and haughty tribe, then deeply humbled (in the days of the Judges), then Judah’s rival, in the opposition of Saul and David, then Judah’s faithful confederate and protegée; in the New-Testament time, Paul again, its great descendant, connects himself in faithful devotion, with “the lion of the tribe of Judah.”
7. The recognitions of relatives, friends, lovers, long lost to each other, are among the most important occurrences in human life, especially as they appear in their reality, and in the poetry of antiquity8 (see Lange’s “History of the Apostolic Times,” i. p. 42). In the most conspicuous points, however, of outward recognitions, are reflected the spiritual (Luk_15:20), and, in both, those of the world to come.
8. The ambiguous forms that present themselves in the history of Joseph, and in which, at last, Judah and Joseph stand opposed to each other, lose themselves entirely in the service of truth, righteousness, and love. At the same time they appear as imperfections of the Old-Testament life in comparison with the joy of confession that appears in the New Testament. What they represent, of the things that last forever, is the caution and the prudence of the New-Testament wisdom. “Be ye wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”
(Gen_45:18-27. Joseph and Jacob.)
1. The joyful news: 1) The announcers: Joseph, Pharaoh, Egyptians, the sons of Jacob. 2) Their contents: Joseph lives; his glory in Egypt; come down. 3) Jacob’s incredulity; the chill of his heart at the words of his sons, whom he does not credit. 4) The evidences and the tokens: Joseph’s words, Pharaoh’s wagons. 5. Jacob becomes again Israel in the anticipation of the serene clearing up of his dark destiny, in the discharging his house of an old ban. Joseph’s life restores to him the hope of a happy death.
2. Delitzsch: “In Joseph’s history the sacred record maintains all its greatness; here, in this scene of recognition, it celebrates one of its triumphs. It is all nature, all spirit, all art. These three here become one; each word is bathed in tears of sympathy, in the blood of love, in the wine of happiness. The foil, however, of this history, so beautiful in itself, is the δόξα, the glory, of Jesus Christ, which, in all directions, pours its heavenly light upon it. For as Judah (?) delivered up Joseph, so the Jewish people delivered Jesus into the hands of the heathen, and so, also, does the antitypal history of this betrayal lose itself in an adorable depth of wisdom and divine knowledge.” The same: This Jacob, over whom comes again the spirit of his youth, is Israel. It is the name of the twelve-tribed people, whose migration to Egypt, and new-birth out of it, is decided by the אֵלְכָה, I will go, of the hoary patriarch.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
See Doctrinal and Ethical. Forms of character. Forms of reconciliation. The types in our history. Taube: Joseph’s revelation to his brethren—a type of. Him who rose to his disciples.
(Gen_43:10 to Gen_44:17.)
Starke: Gen_43:10. Bibl. Tub.: A less evil should justly be preferred to a greater.—The same: A Christian must bear with resignation the troubles that God ordains.—At the door of the house. Perhaps that they might leave in time. The guilty conscience interprets everything in the worst way (Luther). [Sitting at a meal is more ancient than lying (Exo_32:6); the latter mode came much later into use, among the delicate and effeminate Persians.]—Osiander: Let every land keep its own customs, unless they are in themselves indecent and godless. [Gen_44:15; Joseph is said to have learned magic in Egypt; but this is hardly credible.]—[Gen_43:9; that was said very rashly (?).]—Gen_44:16. Cramer: God knows how to reveal secret sins in a wonderful manner (Psa_50:21).—Calwer Handbuch: In suffering for Benjamin, they were to atone for their sins toward Joseph.—Schröder: Conscience is greater than heaven and earth. If this did not exist hell would have no fire and no torment.
(Gen_44:18 to Gen_45:18.)
Starke: When God has sufficiently humbled his faithful children, he makes a way for their escape (1Co_10:13).—Gen_45:5. Luther: A poor weak conscience, in the acknowledgment of its guilt, is filled with anguish. We must hold up and counsel, open heaven, shut hell, whoever can, in order that the poor soul may not sink into despair. When a Christian has been exalted by God to high worldly state, he must not be ashamed of his poor parents, brothers, sisters, and other relations, nor despise them (Rom_8:28).—The same: I wonder how Joseph must have felt when he came to kiss Simeon, the ringleader in the crimes committed against him; and yet he must have kissed him, too.—Comparison of Christ and Joseph, according to Luther and Rambach.—Mat_5:24. Calwer Handbuch: That is the most rational view in all cases, especially in the dark dispensations of human life, not to halt at human causes, or stay there, but to look at God’s ways, as Joseph does here; and to trace his leading, like a golden thread drawn through all the follies and errors of men.—Schröder: Here (at the close of Judah’s speech) is the time that the cord breaks (Luther).—The thoughts and feelings of Jacob’s sons are all directed intently to this one thing: Benjamin must not be abandoned; everything else ceases to trouble them.—Judah is bold because he speaks from the strong impulse of his heart.—Luther, on Judah’s speech: Would to God that I might call upon God with equal ardor.—Judah shows that he is the right one to be surety (Richter).—Judah may have closed with tears, and now Joseph begins with them (Richter).—Joseph shows himself a most affectionate brother, while, as a genuine child of God, he points to him, away from himself and his people.—In God all discords are resolved. Grace not only makes the sin as though it had never been, but throws it into the sea (Mic_7:19); without abolishing sin as sin, that is, as unexpiated, it makes the scarlet dyed as white as snow (Isa_1:18)—Heim: Jerem. Risler, is section 40. of his historical extracts from the books of the Old Testament, presents not less than twenty-two points of resemblance between Joseph and Jesus. Such a gathering, however, of separate resemblances may easily divert us from the main features. Each essential homogeneity is always reflected in many resemblances. Yet Risler’s parallel is quite full of meaning (see Heim, p. 540). As yet we have had before us the fulfilment of the type in the course of history; the fulfilment of the other half still lies in the future (namely, that Jesus makes himself known to the Jews, the brethren who rejected him), Zec_12:10; Mat_23:38-39; Rom_11:25-26.
(Gen_45:17-28.)
Starke: Egypt’s great honor and glory; its showing hospitality to the whole Church, that is, the house of Jacob. After dark and long-continued storms, God makes again to shine upon his people the sun of gladness. The joy of pious parents and children at seeing each other again in the life to come.—Schröder: (Three hundred pieces of silver, equal to two hundred dollars.) He not only wished to show his love to his brethren, but also, to induce the absent members of the family to undertake the journey (Calvin). On the journey to eternity we must not become angry, either with our companions, or with God (Berl. Bib.). Christians, as brethren, ought not to quarrel with each other on the way of life.—Heim: The first impression that the joyful news made upon the aged and bowed-down Jacob, was to chill his heart. Cases are not unfrequent of apoplexy and sudden death arising from the reception of glad tidings. It was somewhat like the joy of Simeon (Luk_2:29-30).
Footnotes:
[1][Gen_43:14.—וַאֲנִי כַּאֲשֶׁר שָׁכלְתִּי שָׁכַלְתִּי. Rendered: “If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.’ Our translators, by putting in children, would seem to have regarded it as emphatic, thus: If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved of all. It may be taken, however, as a declaration of submission to what appears inevitable, as in Est_4:16, כַּאֲשֶׁר אָבַדְתִּי אָבַדְתִּי. Or it may be regarded as a passionate exaggeration in view of Joseph’s supposed death, Simeon’s confinement, and the demand for Benjamin: I am bereaved of all my children, one after the other.—T. L.]
[2][Gen_43:18.—וְלָקַחַת. The ל here is servile. Compare Mal_2:13 and Gen_28:6. In Gen_30:15, we have both forms of the infinitive (לָקַהַת and קַחַת) in immediate connection. See it explained in the Sepher Harikma, or Hebrew Grammar, of Ben Gannach, p. 30, line 30. He regards both alike as infinitives.—T. L.]
[3][Gen_43:20.—בִּי אֲדנִֹי. Gesenius regards בִּי in this and some similar cases (see Jos_7:8), as a contraction for בְּעִי, from the root בָּעָה, a very rare word in Hebrew, though very common in the Chaldaic and Syriac. In the sense of entreaty, בעה occurs only Isa_21:12, and of inquiry, Oba_1:6. Abbreviations are made only of words that are much used, and we cannot, therefore, regard it as a forma precationis (בְּעִי, my prayer), having such an origin. The Targum of Onkelos interprets it in this way, but this is owing to its being written in the Chaldaic language. A much better view is that of Aben Ezra, who regards it as the preposition and pronoun, with an ellipsis of the word עָוֹן, as in 1Sa_25:24, חֶעָוֹן בִּי אֵדנִֹי, on me my Lord be the guilt. Or it may be a sort of ejaculatory phrase, with an ellipsis of the precatory verb,—as would seem to be confirmed by Jdg_6:13, בִּי אֲדֹנִי וְיֵשׁ יִהוָֹה עִמָּנוּ, come tell me, my lord, if Jehovah is with us, why, etc. See Ben Gannach, Sepher Harikma, 32, 31. The view of Gesenius was suggested, probably, by the Syriac rendering of this passage, Jdg_6:13, ܒܠܐ ܐܒܐ ܘܠܦܟ ܗܠܕ̇ܝ. In Jos_7:8, where the same phrase occurs, the Syriac has left it out entirely.—T. L.]
[4] [A glimpse of the New-Testament life. It is very common to represent the Old Testament as containing the harsher dispensation, and as presenting the sterner attributes both of God and man. This is often done without much thought, or discrimination of the respects in which it may be false or true. The Old Testament is, indeed, a less full revelation of mercy as a doctrine, or a scheme of salvation, but the mercy itself is there in overflowing measure, and expressed in the most pathetic language. It is peculiarly the emotional part of Holy Scripture, presenting everything in the strongest manner, and in strongest contrast, whether it be wrath or tenderness, indignation against apostasy or love for the oft-times apostate and rebellious people. It may even be maintained that the New Testament, though more didactic, is less tender in its language, less abounding in pictures of melting compassion on the part of God, and of devoted affection of one human heart to another. What more moving, in this respect, than the language of the prophets (compare Isa_49:15; Isa_54:8-10; Isa_57:15-16; Psa_103:13-15; Gen_8:21; Deu_10:12; Deu_10:19; Deu_24:14-22; Eze_16:60-63; Hos_11:8-9; Mic_6:8; Mic_7:18-19), so full of God’s pathetic yearning, we might style it, towards humanity! On the other hand, what more exquisite pictures can there be found of human tenderness, than those of David and Jonathan, Ruth and Naomi, the pathetic meeting of Joseph and his brethren as here described, David’s forgiving tenderness towards Saul, and even Esau’s reception of Jacob (Gen_33:4-15) after all the wrong he had apparently, or in reality, received from him. In this latter case, we may regard Esau as one who had but little if any grace, and yet the feeling here, viewed as growing out of the patriarchal life and religious ideas, may well be compared with any general influence of our nominal Christianity in arousing men to deeds of tenderness and heroism. This false view of the Old Testament, which ignorance of the Bible is causing more and more to prevail, is a great wrong to the whole cause and doctrine of revelation. Even the most tender dialect of the New Testament, is drawn from the Old. Its Hebraisms are its most pathetic parts. Of this there is a good example in the very style of language here employed. The expression נִכְמְרוּ רַחֲמָיו, rendered, his bowels did yearn (rather, warmed), has been naturalized in the New-Testament Greek, where σπλάγχνα is used for רחֲמִים. It may be said, however, that both the Hebrew and the Greek are marred for the English reader by the rendering bowels, especially if taken in the sense of intestina, instead of the larger meaning that belongs to the Latin viscera. It may be doubted whether רַחֲמִים does ever, of itself, denote any part of the body, either more or less interior. When the singular is used for the womb, it is rather to be regarded as a metaphorical use of its primary sense of cherishing, or as that which loves and cherishes. The Greek counterpart, σπλάγχνα, denotes the most vital parts, such as the heart, the lungs, and the liver, the parts which, in the case of animals slain, were regarded as the choicest eating, and were given as an honorary portion to the guest. See Homer everywhere. They included the καρδία, with the φρένες, or præcordia, and the ἧπαρ, or liver. Another word was ἧτορ, which was used exactly as רַחֲמִים is used here, and with a similar verb signifying to be warm, or burn; as Odyss. i. Genesis 48 :
ἀλλά μοι ἀμφ, ’Οδυσῆϊ δαΐφρονι ΔΑΙ ìΕΤΑΙ ἦτορ.
My heart is burning for the brave Ulysses; with an evident paronomasia in δαΐφρονι and δαίεται. Compare Psa_39:4 הַם לִבִּי בְּקִרְבִּי, my heart grows hot within me, תִבְעַר אֵשׁ, the fire is burning; also Luk_24:32, οὐχὶ ἡ καρδία ἡμῶν καιομένη ἦν ἐν ἡμῖν, “was not our heart burning within us?” Instead of bowels, it would be more in accordance with the spirit of the Hebrew word to render it here, his heart yearned, or warmed. Rosenmüller, on this passage, makes one of his wise remarks about “the ancient men” (prisci homines), and their great simplicity in regarding these parts of the body as the seat of the affections. It has, however, always been so, more or less, in all languages. In the ancient tongues even intellect is generally assigned to these middle regions, and but rarely, or comparatively so, to the head. With us it seems almost a matter of consciousness that we think with our heads, but this is an effect rather than a cause of the change of language. In the Latin, cor is used for wisdom, prudence, and cordatus is equivalent to ἔμφρων, a wise and prudent man. The Greek popular language placed thought in the φρένες, not in the ἐγκέφαλος, or brain, although the latter is sometimes referred to in this light, especially by Aristotle. Demosthenes once makes a popular allusion to some such notion in the oration De Haloneso; but the poetical language, the best representative of the popular feeling, is all the other way. So in the Hebrew, the seat of thought, is in the reins, כְּלָיוֹת, Latin renes, Greek (with digamma) φρένες: “try the hearts and the reins,” Psa_7:10; “in the night season my reins instruct me,” Psa_16:7. Only once in the Bible is the head so referred to; and that is in the Chaldaic of Dan_4:7, where Nebuchadnezzar says: “the visions of my head upon my bed,” חֶזְוֵי רֵאשִׁי. Everywhere else it is the heart, לֵב, or the reins כְּלָיוֹת, or the inward part קֶרֶב, or sometimes expressions denoting something still more interior, as טֻחוֹת and סָתֻם, rendered the hidden part, Psa_51:8 : “In the hidden part make me to know wisdom.” The practice of divination, by the inspection of these parts in sacrifice shows the same mode of thinking, and a similar verbal consciousness.—T.L.]
[5][See in the text notes, p. 323 (5, Gen_9:6), another interpretation of this by that acute Jewish grammarian, Ben Gannach. The בּ in בעבוריו he renders concerning it, instead of by it,—that is, as a means of divination. “Could not such a man find out by divination who had his cup?”—T. L.]
[6][The old rendering is supported by the fact that the primary sense of רגז is not fear, but excitement of mind in any way, like Greek ὀργὴ, ὀργίζομαι, by which the LXX translate it, Psa_4:5 (see, also, Eph_4:26, Be ye angry, yet sin not), and which is one of the places referred to by Rosenmüller for the sense of fear. In the other places cited by him the sense of anger, or excitement, suits the context best; as Exo_15:14; Deu_2:25. In all other places the sense of rage or anger (ὀργή) is beyond doubt. There is no intimation of anything on the way which should cause fear (in the sense of terror, commotion) any more than in any of their previous goings and comings. The fear of apprehension, or anxiety, such as might be felt on account of the mishap of the money found in the sacks, would be expressed by a very different word. “Whereas everything in the context renders this advice of Joseph, that they should get into no disputes with one another, very probable. LXX, μὴ ὀργίζεσθε, Syriac, ܐܐܬܐܨܘܢ ܒܐܘܪܚܐ, do not quarrel on the road. So the Targum.—T. L].
[7] [Hebrew, וַיָּפָג לִבּוּ and his heart grew chill. It is the same idea as the Greek πηγ, παγ, πήγνυμι, an onomatopic word of the second class, denoting some resemblance between the sound and the effect produced—hardness, solidness, compactness; hence solidity, coldness. The heart stopping in chill and amazement. It is interesting, too, to note how common in language is this metaphor, or secondary sense, expressing hope and joy by warmth, distrust and despair by a chill. As in the Odyssey, i. 167—
ον̓δέ τις ὴμιν
θαλπωρή, εἴπερ τις ἐπιχθονίων ἀνθρώπων
φησὶν ἐλεύσεσθαι · τοῦ δ̓ ώ̓λετο νόδτιμον ἦμαρ.
“No warmth to us,—that is, no warming hope, should any one on earth declare that he would come again,—forever gone, the day of his return.” This is very much as old Jacob felt. Compare, also, the Iliad, vi. 412, where θαλπωρη, warmth, in this sense, is opposed to chilling grief. Κρύος, cold, is used in the opposite way.—T. L.]
[8][The dramatic power of such recognitions appears in their having been made the effective points in some of the noblest Greek tragedies. Aristotle has a special section upon the ἀναγώρισις, as it is technically named, in his Ars Poetica, ch. xi., defining it as ἐξ ἀγνοίας εἰς γνῶσιν μεταβολή, ἢ εἰς φιλίαν ἐξ ἔχθρας. He cites as examples the recognitions in the Odyssey, and especially that of Orestes and Iphigenia, from Euripides. He might have cited, as a still more striking example, that of Orestes and Electra, in Sophocles. This story of Joseph, had it been known to him, would have furnished the great critic with the best illustration of what he calls the pathetic, τὸ πάθος, as the chief clement of power in the dramatic exhibition.—T. L.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv11, 12, 14 take of the best fruits . . . a…
take of the best fruits . . . a present--It is an Oriental practice never to approach a man of power without a present, and Jacob might remember how he pacified his brother (Pro 21:14) --balm, spices, and myrrh (see on Gen 37:25),
honey--which some think was dibs, a syrup made from ripe dates [BOCHART]; but others, the honey of Hebron, which is still valued as far superior to that of Egypt;
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nuts--pistachio nuts, of which Syria grows the best in the world;
almonds--which were most abundant in Palestine.
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 vv1, 3, 8, 11, 14 THE SECOND JOURNEY TO EGYPT FOR FOOD, Gen_43:1-15.
THE SECOND JOURNEY TO EGYPT FOR FOOD, Gen_43:1-15.
1. The famine was sore — Or, heavy. It had now continued two years. Gen_45:6.
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 vv1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 1–14. The Return to Egypt
1–14. The Return to Egypt
2. Go again] That Jacob seems to forget about Simeon, is due to the change from the E to the J narrative.
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 vv1, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14 (7) The man asked us straitly.—In Gen_42:13 they appear…
XLIII.
THE SECOND VISIT TO EGYPT.
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(7) The man asked us straitly.—In Gen_42:13 they appear rather as volunteering a statement of their family relations than as having it wrung from them by cross-examination. But really this history must be taken as explaining and supplementing the former. Accused of being spies, they would naturally give an account of themselves, and Joseph, anxious to know about his father and brother, would certainly put numerous questions to them concerning their home and family. And they would answer them fully and frankly, little suspecting who was the questioner, and what was his real reason for exacting Benjamin’s presence in proof of their trustworthiness:
Of our state and of our kindred.—Heb., concerning ourselves and our birthplace (see Gen_12:1; Gen_24:4; Gen_24:7; Gen_31:3), that is, our home. Questions about ourselves would be such as those given: “Is your father yet alive? Have ye a brother?” And besides these, Joseph would interrogate them closely concerning the place whence they came, and the state of things there.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. H. Mackintosh 1880 · Public Domain On v1 Genesis 37 - 50
Genesis 37 - 50
On which we shall dwell more particularly. There is not in scripture a more perfect and beautiful type of Christ than Joseph. Whether we view Christ as the object of the Father’s love, the object of the envy of His own, - in His humiliation, sufferings, death exaltation, and glory, in all we have Him strikingly typified by Joseph.
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In Gen. 37 we have Joseph’s dreams, the statement of which draws out the enmity of his brethren. He was the object of his father’s love, and the subject of very high destinies, and inasmuch as the hearts of his brothers were not in communion with these things, they hated him. They had no fellowship in the father’s love. They would not yield to the thought of Joseph’s exaltation. In all this they represent the Jews in Christ’s day. He came to His own and his own received him not." He had "no form nor comeliness in their eyes." They would neither own Him as the Son of God, nor king of Israel. Their eyes were not open to behold "his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of "grace and truth." They would not have Him; yea, they hated Him.
Now, in Joseph’s case, we see that he, in no wise, relaxed his testimony in consequence of his brethren’s refusal of his first dream. "And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brethren;" and they hated him yet the more....And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brethren." This was simple testimony founded upon divine revelation; but it was testimony which brought Joseph down to the pit. Had he kept back his testimony, or taken off ought of its edge and power, he might have spared himself; but no; he told them the truth, and therefore they hated him.
Thus was it with Joseph’s great Antitype. He bore witness to the truth - He witnessed a good confession He kept back nothing - He could only speak the truth because He was the truth, and His testimony to the truth was answered, on man’s part, by the cross, the vinegar, the soldier’s spear. The testimony of Christ, too, was connected with the deepest, fullest, richest grace. He not only came as "the truth," but also as the perfect expression of all the love of the Father’s heart:" grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." He was the full disclosure to man of what God was. Hence man was left entirely without excuse. He came and showed God to man, and man hated God with a perfect hatred. The fullest exhibition of divine love was answered by the fullest exhibition of human hatred. This is seen in the cross; and we have it touchingly foreshadowed at the pit into which Joseph was cast by his brethren.
"And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh; come now, therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit; and we will say, some evil beast hath devoured him; and we shall see what will become of his dreams." These words forcibly remind us of the parable in Matthew 22. "But, last of all, he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir, come let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him." God sent His Son into the world with this thought, "They will reverence my son;" but, alas! man’s heart had no reverence for the "well beloved" of the Father. They cast him out. Earth and heaven were at issue in reference to Christ; and they are at issue still. Man crucified Him; but God raised Him from the dead. Man placed Him on a cross between two thieves; God set Him at His own right hand in the heavens. Man gave Him the very lowest place on earth; God gave Him the very highest place in heaven, in brightest majesty.
ALL this is shown out in Joseph’s history. "Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall. The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him; but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob, (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel;) even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breast and of the womb; the blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors, unto the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren." (Gen. 49: 22-26)
These verses beautifully exhibit to our view "the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." "The archers" have done their work; but God was stronger than they. The true Joseph has been shot at and grievously wounded in the house of his friends; but "the arms of his hands have been made strong" in the power of resurrection, and faith now knows Him as the basis of all God’s purposes of blessing and glory in reference to the Church, Israel, and the whole creation. When we look at Joseph in the pit, and in the prison, and look; at him afterwards as ruler over all the land of Egypt, we see the difference between the thoughts of God and the. thoughts of men; and so when we look at the cross, and at "the throne of the majesty in the heavens," we see the same thing.
Nothing ever brought out the real state of man’s heart toward God but the coming of Christ. "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin." (John 15: 22) It is not that they would not have been sinners. No; but "they had not had sin." So He says, in another place, "If ye were blind, ye should have no sin." (John 9: 41) God came near to man in the Person of His Son, and man was able to say, "this is the heir;" but yet he said, "come, let us kill him." Hence, "they have no cloak for their sin." Those who say they see, have no excuse. confessed blindness is not at all the difficulty, but professed sight. This is a truly solemn principle for a professing age like the present. The permanence of sin is connected with the mere profession to see. A man who is blind, and knows it, can have his eyes opened; but what can be done for one who thinks he sees, when he really does not?
C. H. Mackintosh, Notes on the Pentateuch — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12 Vers. 1, 2. And the famine was sore (literally,…
Vers. 1, 2. And the famine was sore (literally, was heavy) in the land (sc. of Canaan). And it came to pass (how long after the return of Joseph"s brethren cannot be determined, as the quantity of grain they brought or the number that partook of it cannot possibly be estimated; but it may be reasonably inferred that several months had elapsed since their arrival at Hebron), when they had eaten up literally, had finished to eat up, i.e. not nearly (Mercerus, Bush), but entirely consumedthe corn which they had brought out of Egypt, it is probable that only Jacob"s family partook of the Egyptian corn, the slaves supporting themselves on roots, vegetables, and milk (Calvin, Rosenm Gerlach)their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food. What they could buy would be little in proportion to their needs.
Vers. 1-34.
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The second visit of Joseph"s brethren to Egypt.
I The. SCENE IN JACOB"S HOUSE AT HEBRON (vers. 1-15).
1. The second journey proposed. Go again, buy us a little food." It was necessitated by the long continuance of the famine, and the complete consumption of the corn they had brought from Egypt on the previous occasion.
2. The second journey agreed on.
(1) The difficulty started. As explained by Judah, it was useless to go to Egypt unless accompanied by Benjamin, since the governor had solemnly protested and sworn that without him they should not only not obtain a grain of corn, but they should not even be admitted to his presence. But to speak of taking Benjamin to Egypt, as Jacob had already testified, and now again declared, was like driving a poniard into the old man"s heart. As he thinks of it he can hardly forbear reproaching his stalwart sons for having heaped upon him one more unkindness in even mentioning the fact of Benjamin"s existence.
(2) The difficulty removed. Skillfully the eloquent Judah reasons with his aged sire, first pointing out that it was only in reply to the grand vizier s interrogations that they had referred to Benjamin at, all, that, not suspecting any sinister motives on the part of their noble questioner, they had never dreamt of attempting concealment or evasion in their answers; urging the imperative necessity for Benjamin"s going down with them if either they or their little ones were to be kept from starvation, solemnly engaging to be surety for the safe convoy of the beloved youth, and lastly delicately hinting that but for the delay occasioned by his (their father"s) reluctance they might have been to Egypt and back since he first spoke of their going.
3. The second journey prepared for (vers. 11-13). Since it was inevitable that Benjamin must go, Jacob recommended them along with him to take
(1) a present in their vessels for the great man whose favor they desired to secure;
(2) second money, or money for the purchase of the grain they wished, to show that they came not as beggars, but as buyers;
(3) the silver that had been returned in their sacks, to prove that they were honest, and regarded the matter simply as an oversight. It is well always to put the best construction on a dubious matter, and in particular to let not our good be evil spoken of.
4. The second journey began (vers. 14, 15). Listening to their father"s prayer, Almighty give you mercy before the man, witnessing their father"s sorrowful resignation, I be bereaved I am bereaved, and observing faithfully their father"s instructions, carrying a present of"the song of the land" and double money in their hands, the men rose up and went down to Egypt.
5. The second journey completed (ver. 15). In the providence of God they reached the land of Egypt and stood before Joseph. It is a special mercy to travelers when, escaping all the perils of the way, they arrive at their desired destinations in peace.
II THE SCENE IN JOSEPH"S HOUSE IN EGYPT (vers. 16-34).
1. The reception of the brethren (vers. 16, 17). Scarcely had the brethren arrived at the public mart than they were observed by Joseph. Directing his eyes eagerly in search of Benjamin, he is gratified by noticing that he has not been left behind. Preserving as before his incognito, he gives instructions to his steward to convey them to his palace, and prepare a dinner for him and them at the hour of noon.
2. The apprehensions of the brethren (vers. 18-24).
(1) The nature of them. They feared lest Joseph was only seeking occasion to fall upon them and take them for bondmen.
(2) The ground of them. This was the money which had been discovered in their sacks, and for which as they imagined they were now being arrested.
(3) The expression of them. Without directly saying what they dreaded, they begin to deprecate the wrath of the steward, and to offer explanations concerning the money (vers. 20-22).
(4) The removal of them. Although the steward was not yet aware that the strangers were his master"s brethren, he was perfectly cognizant of their innocence in the matter of the money, and of his master"s desire to show them kindness. Accordingly he seeks to reassure them by encouraging them to dismiss their apprehensions be to you fear not;" by telling them to regard the treasure in their sacks as a Divine gift, since it was indubitable that he had received their money God hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money;" by producing Simeon before them, no doubt in the enjoyment of perfect health and happiness he brought Simeon out unto them;" by exercising towards them the rights of hospitality man gave them water, and they washed their feet;" and by providing for the wants of their beasts he gave their asses provender.
3. The homage of the brethren (vers. 25-31).
(1) Its presentation: with precious gifts the delicacies of the land of Canaan; with dutiful obeisance bowed themselves to him to the earth.
(2) Its acceptance; which was indicated by the friendly inquiries of the governor your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive?" "Is this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me?" by the warm, benediction, he pronounced on Benjamin be gracious unto thee, my son; by the rising emotion which he could with difficulty repress bowels did yearn upon his brother, and he sought where to weep;"and by the order which he issued to his servants on bread.
4. The entertainment of the brethren.
(1) The separation of the guests, first from the host, and then from one another, the Egyptians from the Canaanites, and both from Joseph, the reason being that the Egyptians might not eat with foreigners in case of contracting pollution.
(2) The order of the brethren, each being arranged before the governor in accordance with their ages, a circumstance which appears to have simultaneously evoked their wonder the men marveled one at another.
(3) The portions from the host, one to each of the nine oldest, and five to the youngest, which were designed as marks of special favor.
(4) The hilarity of the company. The fears of the brethren disappearing, and their enjoyment rising, as they talked and drank with the gracious governor who had brought them to his palace.
HOMILIES BY R.A. REDFORD Gen_42:15) Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.
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 v1 Go again, buy us a little food
Gen_43:1-14
Go again, buy us a little food
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Jacob under the pressure of want
I.
His CHANGE OF RESOLUTION (Gen_43:11-14).
II. His PIETY THROUGHOUT.
1. His faith in God.
2. His honest principle.
3. It is no reflection on his piety that he changed his purpose.
Consistent with the unchanging truth of God, with the eternal law of righteousness, we must and ought to be; but not invariably consistent with ourselves; for our goodness is imperfect, and we are liable to mistake and error. Instead of adjusting our present conduct to our former habits and thoughts, we should act upon our present convictions, leaving the present and the past to reconcile themselves as they may. It is only by looking continually to God, and not to ourselves, that we can walk sure-footedly in the present life. (T. H. Leale.)
The second journey of Josephs brethren into Egypt
I. THE JOURNEY.
1. The resolve of Jacob to send at last his son Benjamin to Egypt. In this consent of Jacob we read a double instance of faith, faith in God and in man.
(1) Faith in God; for he says, God Almighty give you mercy before the man (Gen_43:14). Faith has been well defined thus, the heart to make ventures for God. He alone knows what real faith is, who has been compelled to lose sight of or to relinquish hold of those most dear to him, relying only on the mercy and eternal love of God. Faith is that which makes us hold and cling to God when nothing else is left for us to cling to; the grasp of the dying sailor to the mast, that is faith.
(2) There was, besides, faith in humanity, in his son Judah, in one scarcely worthy of his confidence, for once at least he had proved treacherous. But it was better so, and it is better for us if we possess this faith in man.
2. Jacobs honesty (Gen_43:12). We are bound not only to return that which is ours unjustly, but also that which is ours by the oversight or mistake of others. But there is another way of looking at this act of Jacobs. It seems somewhat to savour of his disposition to mollify and appease his enemies by presents; as, when he dreaded the enmity of Esau, he sent presents to him, flattering him with the name of god. And if it be so, we find here that which tells, not of honesty, but of pliancy.
3. The change of Jacobs resolution in permitting Benjamin to go. At first we might be inclined to charge him with inconsistency, but the circumstances were changed, and the only choice now left him was between famine for them all and the loss of one son.
II. THE ARRIVAL IN EGYPT.
1. The fear of Josephs brethren when invited to Josephs house. They came dreading some misfortune. They were suspicious of Josephs intentions. They could not but think that he wished to entrap them and make bondsmen of them. And this fear of theirs arose partly out of their own capability for a similar act of treachery. Thus conscience doth make cowards of us all. It is the worst penalty of a deceitful and crooked disposition that it always dreads being overreached.
2. In the next place we observe the bowing down of the brethren before Joseph (Gen_43:26). This was an exact fulfilment of one of his early dreams, when the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed down before him. But Joseph was now changed; he had been too much saddened by misfortune, and was far too much accustomed to Egyptian homage, to find any real pleasure in this, from which he had formerly expected so much. For us this is a pregnant example of the illusiveness of human life. Now that his dream was fulfilled to the very letter, he could not enjoy it.
3. We next observe Josephs relief in the indirect utterance of his feelings. He asked, Is your father yet alive, and your youngest brother? &c. (Gen_43:27).
4. The feast of brotherhood. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
Lessons from Jacobs behaviour at this crisis
1. Did he at length admit the necessity of making the sacrifice which he declared he would never make? Let us never be ashamed to retract any hasty and improper resolution which we have ever formed. And when we perceive how necessary it is to give up any idol, or any forbidden indulgence, let us not hesitate a moment to act upon our convictions. No delays are so dangerous as those which take place between the formation and the performance of a good resolution.
2. Again, we must not attempt to procure the favour of Him who sits upon the throne of grace by any present that we have to bring, or any payment that we have to make. While we are willing to part with everything for the sake of Christ, we are not to bring anything as the price of our salvation, or to offer anything that we have, or anything that we can do, to recommend us to His favour.
3. Again, let us never forget that the desire for His salvation, and the broken and contrite heart which He has promised to accept, must come from God. The preparation of the heart of man is from the Lord. We must bring our heart when we come into His presence, and it must be upright and contrite if we would see His face in peace. But He only, who requires such a heart as this, can produce it for us.
4. For here, observe, the importance of a praying spirit is especially to be seen in Jacobs behaviour at this time. When he sent his sons away, it was with the humble and earnest petition--God Almighty give you favour before the man. Prayer ever was, and ever must be, the distinguishing mark of all the true sons of Jacob.
5. Lastly, Jacob at length determined to acquiesce in the appointments of Divine Providence, whatever they might be. So let every true penitent resolve to do, and he is certain eventually to be delivered out of all his fears. (C. Overton.)
Jacobs prayer
1. The character under which the Lord is addressed--God Almighty, or God all-sufficient. This was the name under which Abraham was blessed, and which was used by Isaac in blessing Jacob. Doubtless Jacob, in putting up this prayer, thought of these covenant promises and blessings, and that it was the prayer of faith.
2. The mistake on which the prayer is founded, which yet was acceptable to God. He prayed for the turning of the mans heart in a way of mercy; but the mans heart did not need turning. Yet Jacob thought it did, and had no means of knowing otherwise. The truth of things may in some cases be o concealed from us, to render us more importunate; and this importunity, though it may appear at last to have been unnecessary, yet being right according as circumstances appeared at the time, God will approve of it, and we shall find our account in it.
3. The resignation with which he concludes: If I am bereaved, I am bereaved! It is Gods usual way, in trying those whom He loves, to touch them in the tenderest part. Herein the trial consists. If there be one object round which the heart has entwined more than all others, that is it which is likely to be Gods rival, and of that we must be deprived. Yet if when it goes, we humbly resign it up into Gods hands, it is not unusual for Him to restore it to US, and that with more than double interest. (A. Fuller.)
The second visit to Egypt
I. JACOBS ENTREATY.
1. The occasion of it. Continuance of the famine. How dreary the prospect. Barren earth. Languishing cattle. Dry river-beds. The heavens as brass.
2. The character of it. Buy us a little food.
(1) Buy. They had money. The money that was returned, and a little more. They probably took all they could well spare the first time, not thinking the famine would last so long, and intending to obtain enough to suffice till plenty was restored.
(2) A little food. It was all they could purchase with what money was left after they had restored the first purchase-money.
(3) Go again. He does not say a word about Benjamin. Did he think they had forgotten him; or that they would not press the matter? He speaks of food, not of Simeon or Benjamin.
II. JUDAHS EXPOSTULATION. He at once assures his father that it is of no use except Benjamin goes too; and refuses to go without him, as a useless and perilous experiment.
III. THE BROTHERS MEETING. They once more set out for Egypt. In due time they stand in the presence of the great lord. Joseph sees and recognizes Benjamin. Commands that a banquet shall be prepared in his own house. This new kindness filled them with new fear. They thought they were being ensnared, and would be sold as bondmen. Yet they had done to Joseph the very thing they feared to receive at his hands. Having had no opportunity of speaking to Joseph, they explain to the steward. He encourages them. Tells them not to fear. Reminds them of Gods mercy. Josephs present is therefore prepared, and they await the issue. In all this see how a guilty conscience destroys enjoyment of happy circumstances. If a man is right within, all will be right without; if he be wrong, all will be wrong. Learn:
I. To be thankful for plenty.
II. To pity the distressed.
III. Sin brings its own punishment.
IV. The brothers meeting may remind us of our future meeting with our Elder Brother. (J. G. Gray.)
If thou wilt send our brother
A reasonable condition
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. But let parents take heed that they provoke not their children to resist their commands, by enjoining that which is unjust, unreasonable, or impracticable. Judah was justifiable in making conditions with his own venerable father. But to object to the commands of a parent, without an urgent reason, is consistent neither with the law of Christ, nor with the law of nature. The command of Jacob was not simply to go to Egypt, but to go and fetch corn from Egypt. This was impracticable, unless Benjamin went along with his brethren. Every wise man will consider, when he undertakes a journey, or any great work, for what purpose it is designed, and how it may be executed, so as to answer the end. What man would have travelled all the way from the place where Jacob sojourned in Canaan to Egypt, to buy corn in the time of famine, without the prospect of being able to obtain it? What man will plough or sow his land, without the prospect of a crop? What wise man will undertake any religious employment, without the prospect of obtaining the wished advantage to be found in the service of God? If those who call themselves the children of light, were half as wise in their generation as the children of this world, when they wish to have the oil of grace, they would go to those who sell before the door is shut, and would not go without their Elder Brother, without whom no man can come to the Father with acceptance. It is said of the famous Themistocles, that when he fled for refuge to Admetus, king of Thessaly, he took the kings infant son in his arms, and obtained what he requested. He had been told that this was the law of the court of Admetus. And this is the law of Gods house, that we cannot come with success to the throne of Gods grace, but in the name of Christ, the only mediator between God and sinful men. (G. Lawson, D. D.)
If it must be so now, do this
Jacob yields to persuasion
A fool rageth, and is confident; but a wise man will yield to reason, be it from a servant, from a son, from a wife, or from any other person, though inferior to himself, in station, in good sense, or in holiness. Ye younger, be subject to the elder, yea, all of you be subject one to another; and be clothed with humility, for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble (1Pe_5:3). Here you have an illustration of the apostles precept, and the reason by which it is enforced. Jacobs sons submitted to their father in going down to Egypt, and their father complied with them in sending Benjamin along with them; and God crowned their designs with success, and gave them wonderful displays of His favour in the event of their journey. How was Jacob persuaded to comply with a motion so adverse to his feelings? Not by Reubens, but by Judahs solicitations. Judah addressed his father in words of wisdom and meekness, He set before him the absolute necessity of parting with Benjamin for a time, and the great comfort to be expected in the issue. Far was he from reproaching his father for his manifest partiality to this favourite son, but he gave him full assurance that his partiality should be gratified, if possible and necessary; for when Judah became surety for him, he, in effect, engaged to stand between him and every danger; and this promise he did not fail to perform. Complain not, young persons, of tyranny in your parents, when the truth probably is, that you have not learned to treat with due reverence the fathers of your flesh. Do they refuse to comply with your wishes? Can you say with uprightness, that your desires were such as ought to have been granted? And if this has been the case, have you showed due respect to them in expressing your desires? and have you borne, with a meek temper, those eruptions of passion which disagreeable circumstances may sometimes produce, even in the best men? You see in the instances before us, that by much forbearing, a prince and a father may be persuaded, and that a soft answer breaketh the bone. (G. Lawson, D. D.)
Conduct in emergency
1. He acts prudently. He uses means of conciliation, and of bespeaking the good graces of the unknown ruler of Egypt.
2. He acts honestly. The money that was brought again in your sacks, carry it again in your hands: peradventure it was an oversight. There are not a few who, in similar circumstances, would have been disposed to regard such money as, according to their cant phraseology, a God-send; and who would have thought no more about the matter. Not so Jacob. Before he would regard the money as his, or have his sons regard it as theirs, he must be at the bottom of the matter--he must have it accounted for, how came it there--he must know whether they can keep it honestly. Thus let all Christian transactions be regulated by the principles of high honour and sterling unbending integrity.
3. He acts piously. And God Almighty give you mercy before the man! When a human heart requires to be softened, and inclined to favour where there is seeming hostility, it is ours to do what we can, and to leave the result, by prayer and supplication, in the hands of God--of God Almighty. How much more like himself does Jacob now appear; and how much more becoming an example does he set before his family!
4. He acts submissively. If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved!
5. He acts affectionately. It may be truly said of Jacob, as a father, that even his failings leaned to virtues side. We can account for them from causes that are in themselves good. But the point to which my observation tends, as many of you may anticipate, is this. How come we to be so much in earnest in seeking to propitiate a fellow-creature to turn away his displeasure, and to conciliate his favour, in order to avoid what harm, and to ensure what good, he may have it in his power to do us; while we are so careless about averting the wrath and obtaining the grace of a higher than the highest of created powers?--of Him, whose wrath is so infinitely more to be deprecated, and whose grace is so infinitely more to be desired and sought, than those of all the agents of evil or of good combined, in the world or in the universe. (R. Wardlaw, D. D.)
Carry down the man a present
Offerings by the little to the great (a harvest sermon for children)
An old man is sending off a company of his sons; they are going to visit a very great man, who is the governor of a great country. They have a proper awe of this man, because he is so great, but he has been very good to them, and their need compels them to go. So their father sends them off, and bids them by no means go empty-handed, but take with them a present for the man. Now your parents have sent you or brought you to church to-day to our Harvest Festival, not to visit some great earthly governor, but to Gods House, to meet God, and to Present your prayers through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, of whom in His human life Joseph was in many ways a type; and I feel sure that your parents will have said to you, as Jacob said to his sons, Take a present, a little of the best fruits of the land, or their value in money. For even if it should be very little indeed that you can bring, I am sure they will have told you that that certainly should not be forgotten. Joseph in Egypt was a picture in some small degree of our Lord, who is Governor of all the earth, who says by the mouth of David, the whole world is Mine, and all that is therein (Psa_50:12). He has no need of our corn, or of our fruits, or of our money: and yet He has commanded us to offer to Him. There follow close after, in this same Psalm, the words, Offer unto God thanksgiving, and pay thy vows unto the Most Highest. God ordered His people (Deu_26:1-19.) when they came into the land of Canaan to take at harvest-time a basket of the first-fruits, and give it into the hands of the priest before Gods altar, and say, A Syrian ready to perish, was my father, and he went down into Egypt with a few--and became great and mighty. So the people of Israel were to be reminded of this visit to Egypt and its consequences, for by the Syrian, my father, is meant Jacob. Let us look again at our picture, and see what it will teach us. Joseph, we may be quite sure, was pleased with the present, not for its value in itself, but because it showed that those who brought it wished well. But what pleased him most was the coming of his brethren themselves. He wanted them very much, especially the little one. And there was great joy when he had them all together, and made himself known and embraced them. Joseph is here again a type of our Blessed Lord. That which, above all, He desires, over and above the gifts which He welcomes, is the heart of the giver. St. Paul tells us exactly what it is He seeks--not yours, but you (2Co_12:14). He is not ashamed to call us brethren (Heb_2:11), though we have treated Him worse than Josephs brethren treated him; and though we may be us shabby and poor as probably Josephs brethren looked in his royal palace in Egypt, our Lord Jesus Christ will be ready with His kiss and embrace for us. And when I tell you that He seeks not yours, but you, I do not mean that He does not want your little offerings; He does for your sakes. What you can give, of course, is nothing to Him: but do not allow yourself to be tempted into saying, as grown-up people sometimes say when the harvest is not so plentiful, and they are poor, and the times are hard, that we must leave giving to those who are well off. Jacob and his sons were poor enough--there was a famine in the land--and yet they sent the rich governor of Egypt a present, and see what a blessing came out of it. I find, as I read my Bible, that it is the poor of this world, rich in faith, who become heirs of the kingdom (Jam_2:5), through their faith and liberality. And our Lord has told us why it is He likes us to offer to Him of our little: He says, Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Mat_6:21). He wants our hearts, and therefore He asks for our treasures. Let me give you an example. Only a few weeks ago I read a sad story in a newspaper. There were several young men, brothers, who went, I think, to Canada, and there worked very hard upon a farm out in the wilds, and earned a good deal of money. A man came to visit them, and persuaded them to trust him with their savings, saying that he would use it in the working of a mine which would yield them double their money in a short time. But one day they found out that this man was a rogue, and that he had spent all their money for nothing, and the news was so terrible a shock to them that they all went out of their minds. Their minds were all upon their money, and when that was lost they were lost. Learn, thin, as soon as you may, to lay up your treasure in heaven. Bring your little offerings to Jesus Christ,
And what He most desireth, Your humble, thankful hearts.
(Archibald Day, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 Gen_43:7. The man asked us straitly.] Heb., “Asking, asked.”…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Gen_43:7. The man asked us straitly.] Heb., “Asking, asked.” He earnestly enquired about us and our kindred.—
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Gen_43:9. Let me bear the blame for ever.] Heb., “I shall be a sinner to thee all the days.” He would consent to be reputed guilty of violating his plighted faith. Thus in 1Ki_1:21, shall be counted offenders is literally, “shall be sinners.”
Gen_43:11. The best fruits in the land.] Heb, “The song, music, or melody of the land.” The idea is, that for which the land is celebrated, those productions which are the pride of the land and which have given rise to songs of praise. A little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds. “These are the same (excepting in two cases) with the articles conveyed to Egypt by the Ishmaelites (Gen_37:25). These are articles that grow best in a drought.”—(Jacobus). None of these would be necessarily affected by the failure of wheat.—
Gen_43:12. Take double money in your hand.] “The meaning is not, as would appear from the A.V., that they were to take three payments,—double money besides that which was in their sacks—but that they were to take money of a second, i.e., the same amount. And so they describe what they had done, though not with the same Hebrew word, Gen_43:22.”—(Alford).—
Gen_43:14. God Almighty.] Heb. El Shaddai. (Gen_17:1; Gen_35:2.)—
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Gen_43:1-14
JACOB UNDER THE PRESSURE OF WANT
I. His change of resolution. He had refused, at first, to part with Benjamin. Even Reuben’s desperate proposal was rejected. (Gen_42:37.) But Judah’s proposal is accepted (Gen_43:9), for the father had confidence in the honesty, frankness, and persevering energy of this son. Judah makes a practical appeal to his father, and puts the case before him in all its stern reality. His argument was unanswerable. (Gen_43:8.) Jacob now sees the dire necessity of the situation. His sons must go to Egypt without their younger brother. The affection of the father now struggles with the dread of famine, and after one more feeble objection, Jacob submits. (Gen_43:6.) He who once said, “My son shall not go down with you,” makes up his mind at last to say, “Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man.” (Gen_43:13.) Thus we learn gradually to submit to what we plainly see is the will of God. How great is power of want, in the hands of Providence; how inexorable its demands!
II. His piety throughout.
1. His faith in God. “God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother and Benjamin.” (Gen_43:14.) This was that name of God under which Abraham was blessed: “I am God Almighty,” and also that which Isaac invoked in blessing Jacob, “God Almighty bless thee, and give thee the blessing of Abraham.” Jacob must now have thought of the covenant promises and blessings. Now he is forced by hard necessity most entirely to cast himself upon God, for now nothing else is left to which he can cling. It is the property of faith to make ventures; and we do not know what great faith is until we are called upon to give up something that we hold most dear, and cast ourselves upon the eternal love of God alone. When all is gone, our faith must still look to God, who is our soul’s true portion.
2. His honest principle. Jacob commands his sons to take back the money which they found in their sacks, saying, “Peradventure it was an oversight.” (Gen_43:12.) It is true religious honesty to return that which comes to us by the mistake of others.
3. His resignation. Jacob does not behave as one who is forced to yield to fate, while his heart rebels against it. His is not the stoical acceptance of destiny. It is the resignation of a religious mind. He yields in a manner worthy of a man of God, “If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.” (Gen_43:14.) He is willing to resign all entirely into the hands of God. It is as if he had said, “I commit the event unreservedly to God. If it seems good to him to bereave me of my children, the will of the Lord be done; I have nothing to say. The Lord gave, and the Lord taketh away.”
4. It is no reflection on his piety that he changed his purpose. The fact that Jacob in consenting to give up Benjamin changed his purpose, lays him open to the charge of inconsistency. But the circumstances are all changed now. The famine continues, want stares them all in the face, and he has to choose between the dreadful alternative of starvation and the risking of the life of one son. We may be too careful about keeping up what we call our own consistency. For, after all, if a man is under no circumstances to change his conduct, then would conversion be impossible. Consistent with the unchanging truth of God, with the eternal law of righteousness, we must and ought to be; but not invariably consistent with ourselves; for our goodness is imperfect, and we are liable to mistake and error. Instead of adjusting our present conduct to our former habits and thoughts, we should act upon our present convictions, leaving the present and the past to reconcile themselves as they may. It is only by looking continually to God, and not to ourselves, that we can walk sure-footedly in the present life.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen_43:1-2. They had, indeed, met with difficulties and dangers on their former journey, but greater difficulties and dangers must be encountered to prevent worse. Let it not be thought a hard matter that the service of Christ often requires peculiar hardships and hazards. The world requires as great sacrifices as Christ, and is far less able to recompense them. In labouring for the meat that endureth to everlasting life, we seldom meet with such difficulties and perils as are often encountered in labouring for the meat that perisheth.—(Bush.)
Gen_43:3-9. The duties of parents and children.
1. Children should obey their parents in the Lord. But,
2. Parents should not enjoin upon their children that which is unreasonable, or impracticable.
3. Children should consider the infirmities of aged parents, should bear with them, and especially should not interpret unkindly or severely what they may say under the pressure of extraordinary affliction. The sons of Jacob set an example here. They did not blame their father for bringing this groundless charge against them, but are content calmly to justify their conduct by pointing out the necessity of the case
Judah is the eloquent one among his brethren. His eloquence had carried the measure of Joseph’s sale; it had prevailed on Jacob to send Benjamin with them; and here, finally, it makes Joseph unable to endure the restraint which he wished to put upon himself.—(Delitzsah).
The end, however, is attained, not more by his touching eloquence than by his heroic deed, when he offers himself as surety for Benjamin, and is willing to sacrifice himself by taking his place.—(Lange).
Gen_43:10. Men blinded by affection too often disappoint themselves, and by needless and unwise delays cut themselves off from the enjoyment of much happiness that they might otherwise have secured to themselves.—(Bush).
Gen_43:11. Perplexity is blind and untractable. Let the mind but settle, and it will soon yield to a reasonable motion, if seasonable, especially as this of Judah was: for besides the weightiness of his words, necessity now speaks for him, that most powerful orator.—(Trapp).
A rash man will, at all hazards, obstinately persist in a course once determined upon, but a wise man will yield to reason. The manner in which the patriarch acquiesces is worthy of remark. It is not the sullen consent of one who yields to fate while his heart rebels against it. He yields in a manner worthy of a man of God, proposing first that every possible means should be used to conciliate the man, the lord of the land, and then committing the issue of the whole to God. He recollected the effect of a present in appeasing his brother Esau’s anger when coming against him with an armed host.—(Bush).
Take of the best fruits. Of the verse or melody, saith the original; that is, of the most praiseworthy fruits; such as deserve to be commended in verse, and sung of, to the praise of God the giver.—(Trapp).
The prized fruits of the land of Canaan. In Jacob’s words there appears an objective poetry, or the poetry of the lands, as it may be called. It consists of their noblest products, not as they serve the common wants of life, but rather its healing, adornment, and festivity. When he selected them, however, Jacob could have but little thought how mighty the influence these noble gifts of Canaan’s soil would have upon the great Egyptian ruler—how they would impress him as the wonders of his youth, the glories of his native land.—(Lange.)
Gen_43:12. Jacob, who at first thought that the money was put into the sacks with a malicious purpose, is now disposed to put a milder interpretation upon the matter. In things doubtful, men are disposed to come to that conclusion which makes most for their peace of mind. They make an effort to think that to be true which they wish to be true.
No man of integrity will take an unrighteous advantage of the mistakes of those with whom he deals. Nothing is more palpably inconsistent with the great rule of doing to other men as you would that they should do unto you. Besides, it would have been very unsafe for Jacob’s sons to have taken advantage of an oversight in the present case. It might have confirmed the suspicions of the lord of Egypt. But it is never safe to do any injustice while God reigns in heaven.—(Bush.)
Gen_43:13. We learn gradually to submit to the greatest trial of all when it becomes a necessity.
Gen_43:14. This is like that of Esther, committing herself and her attempt to God, “If I perish, I perish,” (Est_4:16); and like that of those saints in the Acts, “The will of the Lord be done.” Jacob prays for Benjamin’s safety, but will be content that his own will be crossed, so that God’s will may be accomplished. This is the right way of praying; this is to “draw near with a true heart.” (Heb_10:22).—(Trapp.)
It is too much in the desponding spirit of his former complaint. (Gen_42:36). He looked too much at the secular, human side of the matter, and too little at the spiritual and divine side. When we are in the dark, why should we not rather expect deliverance than yield to despondence?—(Jacobus).
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.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 Gen 43:30-31
Gen 43:30-31
The text exhibits the contrast between the secret life and the outward life of each one of us; between the chamber and the banqueting-room; between the man whom God sees and the man whom the world sees, in each one of us. It is to the thought of secret sorrows that the text directs us; sorrows which, however keenly felt in secret, must be disguised and suppressed in the presence of others.
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I. The trouble of Joseph, on this occasion, was one of the heart or affections. His pent-up love was overwhelming; it could only be relieved by a burst of tears; he entered into his chamber and wept there. Where is the house in which affection is not the source of some secret trouble? Loneliness of heart, unrequited love, is a calamity; God sees it, God pities it; but be brave in His strength to endure it, and do not put aside, in perverseness or self-will, that offer of Divine love which, in the long run, will be worth all else to you.
II. It is but a step from this to the next example—that of anxiety about the souls of others. What words could more aptly designate such a life of anxious watching than those which speak of a weeping in the chamber and a refraining oneself below—a couch watered with tears, yet a face which must smile by day that it may not tell its tale? Well is it written of such a sufferer, that he went out and refrained himself that he might not reveal, that he might not betray!
III. Think next of those distresses which come to us from the inward strivings of sin; from those restless workings of inward corruption which make the life of so many one long toil and conflict. These, too, above all, are secret things. They are our secrets, but they exist. They make a large part of our existence, and we have to refrain ourselves not to show them. (1) To some I would say, Do not nurse your secret sorrows. Sorrows of affection grow by pondering. They are loud calls to work. (2) To stronger men, who have no experiences of secret sorrow, I would say, Beware of disregarding and despising those who have. Make room for others. Recognise the existence of secret sorrow as an explanation of many phenomena of character.
C. J. Vaughan, Lessons of Life and Godliness, p. 98.
References: Gen 44—F. W. Robertson, Notes on Genesis, p. 161; M. Dods, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, p. 231; W. M. Taylor, Joseph the Prime Minister, p. 122.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 The Second Visit to Egypt
The Second Visit to Egypt
11. Balm] or 'balsam,'with healing properties. Honey] This was grape-honey, a syrup made of grapes and diluted with water for a drink. It is still exported from Hebron to Egypt. Syria is famous for its pistachio nuts and almonds which do not grow in Egypt.
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12. Double money] (1) to repay that put in the sack, and (2) to purchase fresh stores.
18. Again the guilty conscience which dreads every fresh event.
30. Bowels] regarded as the seat of the affections by the Hebrews: cp. 2Co_6:12.
32. The distinctions observed here were due to the existence of various castes among the Egyptians. As with the Hindoos, it was unheard of for a man of one caste to eat from the vessels used by another.
34. He sent messes] 'Mess' is derived from Lat. missum, 'sent': so a dish of meat sent. To do this is an Eastern mark of honour: 2Sa_11:8. Sometimes the host personally puts a particularly choice morsel into the guest's mouth. Joseph's love for Benjamin is thus markedly shown.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v1 (See Scofield "Gen 12:10").
famine
(See Scofield "Gen 12:10").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 CHAPTER 43 The Second Visit to Joseph
CHAPTER 43 The Second Visit to Joseph
1. The journey to Egypt with Benjamin (Gen 43:1-15)
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2. The kindness of Joseph (Gen 43:16-34)
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 11 The Preparations for the Journey
The Preparations for the Journey
v. 1. And the famine was sore in the land.
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v. 2. And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food. Since the land of Canaan had no relief in the next year, but the famine rather grew worse, the store of grain was soon consumed, and the necessity was thereby suggested of their making a second journey to Egypt for the purpose of purchasing food, something to eat, for their households.
v. 3. And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face except your brother be with you. There was a reason for the solemn testifying of Joseph, since he was so anxious to see his full brother, the only other son of his mother Rachel. Judah here steps to the front, Reuben having already failed, and Levi having lost the confidence of his father on account of the affair at Shechem. Judah’s attitude is gentle, but firm, and shows an unselfish devotion.
v. 4. If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food;
v. 5. but if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down; for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face except your brother be with you. That was the alternative and the condition, and Judah was not in a position to change it.
v. 6. And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother? Some of the petulance of old age appears here, though it is by no means excluded that Jacob occasionally suspected his sons of knowing more about the disappearance of Joseph than they cared to tell.
v. 7. And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, he asked again and again, he was very inquisitive and insistent, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? Have ye another brother? And we told him according to the tenor of these words, they answered him as best they could and exactly. Could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down? The account of the preceding Chapter is thus supplemented.
v. 8. And Judah said unto Israel, his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones. Judah follows up the somewhat timid apology of his brothers with a bold stroke, which was intended to overcome the objections of his father by its suddenness and daring
v. 9. I will be surety for him: of my hand shalt thou require him; if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame forever. As his forefather did here, thus did the great descendant of Judah, our Lord Jesus Christ, become surety for us, by offering Himself for us into the very mouth of death.
v. 10. For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time. The delay occasioned by the father’s stubborn hesitation was threatening them all with starvation. There was need for quick, energetic action, and only so could they expect a joyful and speedy return.
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 vv1, 3, 6, 8, 11, 13 The famine was severe in the land
The famine was severe in the land
The word "Canaan" is understood. This information can be made explicit. AT: "The famine was severe in the land of Canaan" (See: Ellipsis)
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It came about
This phrase is used here to mark the beginning of a new part of the story. If your language has a way for doing this, you could consider using it here. (See: Introduction of a New Event)
when they had eaten
"when Jacob and his family had eaten"
they had brought
"Jacob's older sons had brought"
buy us
Here "us" refers to Jacob, his sons, and the rest of the family. (See: Inclusive "We")
translationWords
famine
grain
Egypt
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 vv1, 8, 11, 13 43:1-7 As the famine continued, Jacob’s family needed more…
43:1-7 As the famine continued, Jacob’s family needed more grain, but they could not return to Egypt without Benjamin (42:16, 20). Jacob realized that he was in a bind; he needed more food but was loath to lose Benjamin.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.