Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 41:46
And Joseph [was] thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.
46. thirty years old ] This verse probably contains the brief record of P; according to which Joseph had spent thirteen years in Egypt before his elevation, and was aged seventeen when he was brought into Egypt, Gen 37:2. There elapsed seven years of plenty and two of the years of famine, before his brothers came down to Egypt (Gen 45:11). Accordingly, Joseph must have been in Egypt over twenty years before they came. Benjamin had been born some time before Joseph disappeared (Gen 35:18). Hence, so far from Benjamin being “a little one” (Gen 44:20), he must have been well over twenty, when Joseph saw his brethren. The computation illustrates the impossibility of harmonizing discrepancies, if the existence of independent narratives, or parallel versions of tradition, be rejected. When the separate character of the P record is recognized, the difficulties disappear.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Gen 41:46-52
And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt
Joseph advanced to power
I.
THE RIPENESS OF HIS AGE AND EXPERIENCE. Providence, which prepares events, also prepares men for them.
II. THE PRACTICAL CHARACTER OF HIS MIND. Not puffed up by pride. At once betakes himself to business.
III. THE CHEERFUL AND HOPEFUL CHARACTER OF HIS PIETY (Gen 41:51-52).
1. He desires to forget all that is evil in the past.
2. He is thankful for present mercies. (T. H. Leale.)
Outgoing
1. Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.
(1) The man;
(2) The land;
(3) The outgoing. Went out–
(a) To survey the field;
(b) To organize the work;
(c) To initiate his gatherings.
2. The earth brought forth by handfuls.
(1) To fulfil Josephs interpretation;
(2) To fill Josephs granaries;
(3) To feed Josephs dependants.
(4) To honour Josephs God.
3. Laid up the food in the cities.
(1) Food abundant;
(2)Food gathered;
(3)Food garnered;
(4)Food convenient. (American Sunday School Times.)
Josephs stewardship in Egypt
I. THAT HE WAS CONSCIOUS OF THE GREAT RESPONSIBILITY RESTING UPON HIM. This is indicated to us–
1. In his superintending the work personally.
2. In his sparing no trouble in the execution of the work.
3. In the regard he paid to justice.
II. THAT HE MANIFESTED GREAT WISDOM IN THE EXECUTION OF THE WORK,
1. Inasmuch as he commenced it without delay.
2. Inasmuch as he persevered to the end.
3. Inasmuch as his arrangements answered the best purpose.
III. THE SUCCESSFUL ISSUE OF THE UNDERTAKING.
1. It conferred incalculable benefits on his fellow-creatures.
2. He gained the approbation of the king. (J. Jones.)
The in-gathering
What a busy scene must the valley of the Nile have presented at the time of harvest! Multitudes would be engaged, in the very first year of plenty, under Josephs direction, in gathering in the abundant crops, and in storing such of the produce of the country as was not required for immediate consumption. The process of cutting the corn, and depositing it in granaries, is exhibited on the monuments. Wheat, says Wilkinson, was cut in five, barley in four months. The wheat, as at the present day, was bearded, and the same varieties, doubtless, existed in ancient as in modern times; among which may be mentioned the seven-eared quality mentioned in Pharaohs dream. It was cropped a little below the ear with a toothed sickle, and carried to the threshing floor in wicker baskets upon asses, or in rope nets, the gleaners following to collect the fallen ears in hand baskets. It was threshed out by oxen, the peasants who superintended them relieving their toil by singing songs, one of which Champollion found in a tomb at Eilethya, written in hieroglyphics, to the following effect:
Thresh for yourselves,
Thresh for yourselves;
O oxen, thresh for yourselves,
O oxen, thresh for yourselves;
Measure for yourselves,
Measure for your masters.
The granaries are likewise frequently represented on the monuments. They appear to have been public buildings, usually of vast extent, and divided into vaults, some of which had arched roofs. Immediately at the entrance was a room in which the corn was deposited when brought from the threshing floor, h flight of Steps led to the vault, whither it was carried, in baskets, on mens shoulders. (Thornley Smith.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 46. Joseph was thirty years old] As he was seventeen years old when he was sold into Egypt, Ge 37:2, and was now thirty, he must have been thirteen years in slavery.
Stood before Pharaoh] This phrase always means admission to the immediate presence of the sovereign, and having the honour of his most unlimited confidence. Among the Asiatic princes, the privilege of coming even to their seat, of standing before them, &c., was granted only to the highest favourites.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Josephs age is here noted to teach us,
1. That Josephs short affliction was recompensed with a much longer prosperity, even for eighty years.
2. That Josephs excellent wisdom did not proceed from his large and long experience, but from the singular gift of God.
He stood before Pharaoh, as his chief minister: to stand before another is the posture and designation of a servant, as 1Sa 16:21; Dan 1:19.
Went throughout all the land, to provide places for his stores, and to constitute officers for the management of them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
46. Joseph was thirty years old whenhe stood before Pharaohseventeen when brought into Egypt,probably three in prison, and thirteen in the service of Potiphar.
went out . . . all thelandmade an immediate survey to determine the site and size ofthe storehouses required for the different quarters of the country.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Joseph [was] thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt,…. Interpreting his dreams, and had such honour conferred upon him as to be made his prime minister; from whence it appears that Joseph had now been thirteen years in Egypt, partly in Potiphar’s house, and partly in prison, since he was seventeen years of age when he was sold thither, see Ge 37:2:
and Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh; from standing before him, and ministering to him as his counsellor and chief statesman, or he went out from his court and palace for a while:
and went throughout all the land of Egypt: this seems to be a second tour; before he went to survey the land, and pitch upon the most proper places for granaries to lay up store of corn in; and now he went through it, to gather in and give directions about it, and see it performed, for the years of plenty were now begun.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh, and went out from him and passed through all the land of Egypt, i.e., when he took possession of his office; consequently he had been in Egypt for 13 years as a slave, and at least three years in prison.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Famine in Egypt and Canaan. | B. C. 1706. |
46 And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. 47 And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls. 48 And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same. 49 And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number. 50 And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On bare unto him. 51 And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house. 52 And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. 53 And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended. 54 And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. 55 And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do. 56 And the famine was over all the face of the earth: and Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt. 57 And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands.
Observe here, I. The building of Joseph’s family in the birth of two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, v. 50-52. In the names he gave them, he owned the divine Providence giving this happy turn to his affairs, 1. He was made to forget his misery, Job xi. 16. We should bear our afflictions when they are present as those that know not but Providence may so outweigh them by after-comforts as that we may even forget them when they are past. But could he be so unnatural as to forget all his father’s house? He means the unkindness he received from his brethren, or perhaps the wealth and honour he expected from his father, with the birthright. The robes he now wore made him forget the coat of divers colours which he wore in his father’s house. 2. He was made fruitful in the land of his affliction. It had been the land of his affliction, and in some sense it was still so, for it was not Canaan, the land of promise. His distance from his father was still his affliction. Note, Light is sometimes sown for the righteous in a barren and unlikely soil; and yet if God sow it, and water it, it will come up again. The afflictions of the saints promote their fruitfulness. Ephraim signifies fruitfulness, and Manasseh forgetfulness, for these two often go together; when Jeshurun waxed fat, he forgot God his Maker.
II. The accomplishment of Joseph’s predictions. Pharaoh had great confidence in the truth of them, perhaps finding in his own mind, beyond what another person could, an exact correspondence between them and his dreams, as between the key and the lock; and the event showed that he was not deceived. The seven plenteous years came (v. 47), and, at length, they were ended, v. 53. Note, We ought to foresee the approaching period of the days both of our prosperity and of our opportunity, and therefore must not be secure in the enjoyment of our prosperity nor slothful in the improvement of our opportunity; years of plenty will end, therefore, Whatever thy hand finds to do do it; and gather in gathering time. The morning cometh and also the night (Isa. xxi. 12), the plenty and also the famine. The seven years of dearth began to come, v. 54. See what changes of condition we are liable to in this world, and what need we have to be joyful in a day of prosperity and in a day of adversity to consider, Eccl. vii. 14. This famine, it seems, was not only in Egypt, but in other lands, in all lands, that is, all the neighbouring countries; fruitful lands are soon turned into barrenness for the iniquity of those that dwell therein, Ps. cvii. 34. It is here said that in the land of Egypt there was bread, meaning probably, not only that which Joseph had bought up for the king, but that which private persons, by his example, and upon the public notice of this prediction, as well as by the rules of common prudence, had laid up.
III. The performance of Joseph’s trust. He was found faithful to it, as a steward ought to be. 1. He was diligent in laying up, while the plenty lasted, Gen 41:48; Gen 41:49. He that thus gathers is a wise son. 2. He was prudent and careful in giving out, when the famine came, and kept the markets low by furnishing them at reasonable rates out of his stores. The people in distress cried to Pharaoh, as that woman to the king of Israel (2 Kings vi. 26), Help, my lord, O king: he sent them to his treasurer, Go to Joseph. Thus God in the gospel directs those that apply to him for mercy and grace to go to the Lord Jesus, in whom all fulness dwells; and, What he saith to you, do. Joseph, no doubt, with wisdom and justice fixed the price of the corn he sold, so that Pharaoh, whose money had bought it up, might have a reasonable profit, and yet the country might not be oppressed, nor advantage taken of their prevailing necessity; while he that withholdest corn when it is dear, in hopes it will yet grow dearer, though people perish for want of it, has many a curse for so doing (and it is not a curse causeless), blessings shall be upon the head of him that thus selleth it, Prov. xi. 26. And let the price be determined by that golden rule of justice, to do as we would be done by.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 46-52:
Joseph began his administrative duties. The land yielded crops in great abundance. The levies were collected and deposited in the storage facilities in the various appointed cities. So excessive were the collections that the officials in charge ceased to keep a record of the amounts involved.
God blessed Joseph with two sons, born during the years of abundance. He gave to these sons Hebrew names. This shows that his faith in Jehovah had not dimmed even though he was surrounded by the idolatry and luxury and power of Egypt. It is far more difficult to retain one’s faith in the midst of prosperity than in times of adversity.
Joseph named his first son Manasseh, which means “forgetting,” because “God, said he, hath made me forget” his trials and his father’s house. This was only relatively true, for subsequent events showed he still retained fond memories of his younger brother and his father. In giving him this son, God compensated Joseph for the loss of his own family by building a house for him.
His second son Joseph named Ephraim, meaning “double fruitfulness.” The reason for this name: “God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.” In Egypt Joseph had found position, power, wealth, and family. But Egypt was still the “land of affliction,” not of joy. His heart was ever in the Land which Jehovah had promised to his fathers and his posterity.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
46. And Joseph was thirty years old. For two reasons Moses records the age at which Joseph was advanced to the government of the kingdom. First, because it is seldom that old men give themselves up to be governed by the young: whence it may be inferred that it was by the singular providence of God that Joseph governed without being envied, and that reverence and majesty were given him beyond his years. For if there was danger lest Timothy’s youth should render him contemptible, Joseph would have been equally exposed to contempt, unless authority had been divinely procured for him. And although he could not have obtained this authority by his own industry, yet it is probable that the extraordinary virtues with which God had endowed him, availed not a little to increase and confirm it. A second reason for noting his age is, that the reader may reflect on the long duration of the sufferings with which he had been, in various ways, afflicted. And however humane his treatment might have been; still, thirteen years of exile, which had prevented his return to his father’s house, not merely by the bond of servitude, but also by imprisonment, would prove a most grievous trial. Therefore, it was only after he had been proved by long endurance, that he was advanced to a better state. Moses then subjoins, that he discharged his duties with diligence and with most punctual fidelity; for the circuit taken by him, which is here mentioned, was a proof of no common industry. He might, indeed, have appointed messengers, on whose shoulders he could have laid the greater part of the labor and trouble; but because he knew himself to be divinely called to the work, as one who had to render an account to the divine tribunal, he refused no part of the burden. And Moses, in a few words, praises his incredible prudence, in having quickly found out the best method of preserving the corn. For it was an arduous task to erect storehouses in every city, which should contain the entire produce of one year, and a fifth part more. (163) This arrangement was also not less a proof of sagacity, in providing that the inhabitants of any given region should not have to seek food at a distance. Immediately afterwards his integrity is mentioned, which was equally deserving of praise; because in the immense accumulation which was made, he abstained from all self-indulgence, just as if some humble office only, had been assigned to him. But it is to the praise of both these virtues that, after he has collected immense heaps, he remits nothing of his wonted diligence, until he has accomplished all the duties of the office which he had undertaken. The ancient proverb says, “Satiety produces disgust,” and in the same manner abundance is commonly the mother of idleness. Whence, therefore, is it, that the diligence of Joseph holds on its even course, and does not become remiss at the sight of present abundance, except because he prudently considers, that, however great the plenty might be, seven years of famine would swallow it all up? He manifested also his fidelity, and his extraordinary care for the public safety, in this, that he did not become weary by the assiduous labor of seven years, nor did he ever rest till he had made provision for the seven years which still remained.
(163) “The labors of Joseph in building storehouses are placed vividly before us in the paintings upon the monuments, which show how common the storehouse was in ancient Egypt. In a tomb at Elethya, a man is represented whose business it evidently was to take account of the number of bushels which another man, acting under him, measures… Then follows the transportation of the grain. From the measurer, others take it and carry it into the storehouses.” — Egypt and the Books of Moses, p. 36. — Ed
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Gen. 41:47. By handfuls.] Not in single stalks or grains, but in handfuls compared with the former yield.(Murphy)
Gen. 41:51. Manasseh.] That is, causing to forget.
Gen. 41:52. Ephraim.] That is, fruitful.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Gen. 41:46-52
JOSEPH ADVANCED TO POWER AND PLACE
In his new condition of dignity and honour, the following facts and characteristics are to be noted:
I. The ripeness of his age and experience. He was now thirty years of age (Gen. 41:46), the age which was appointed for entering the priesthood, and in general, for manly service. (Num. 4:3.) He had now lived for thirteen years in Egypt, and a considerable portion of that time was spent in prison. We are reminded that this was the age when the New Testament Joseph entered upon His ministry of love and mercy. (Luk. 3:23). Thus slowly and carefully does God prepare His servants for their great work. Even the Son of Man thought it meet to observe this propriety, and to endure this discipline. He, too, obeyed the law of growth, and waited His time. What a rebuke to those who are in haste to thrust their unripe fruit upon the world! Joseph was of ripe age and experience when he took upon him this office as a ruler of Egypt. That Providence which prepares events also prepares men for them.
II. The practical character of his mind. Joseph, though so suddenly and remarkably raised, is not puffed up with pride. He does not spend his time in self-admiration, nor go about to display his greatness, but at once betakes himself to business. And, first of all, with great sagacity he endeavours to obtain some knowledge of the area over which his work is to spread. He takes a general survey of the country. (Gen. 41:46.) Then, having thus ascertained the extent of his work, he puts his plan into execution energetically, and without delay. (Gen. 41:48-49.) It was the grace of God that kept him above every temptation to pride and vain glory, and it was the same grace that gave him this sense of duty and obligation, and also this power to bring his knowledge and convictions to good effect.
III. The cheerful and hopeful character of his piety. In this time of his prosperity, two sons are born to him. (Gen. 41:51-52.) Their names are significant of his remembrance of Gods goodness and of his cheerful hope for the future.
1. He desires to forget all that is evil in the past. God hath made me to forget all my toil and all my fathers house. He does not mean to say that he forgot absolutely, for he remembers them in these very words. But so far as they had been a source of sorrow and affliction to him, he remembers them no more. He is willing to forget the cruel treatment of his brethren. Love covers up and hides out of the willing sight of the mind all that is evil in the past. But Joseph still cherishes the better feelings of former days. Filial affection was still strong in his breast; but he was content, for the present, to cherish it in secret and to await the unfolding of Providence.
2. He is thankful for present mercies. God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. His true home, after all, was in Canaan. Egypt is the land of his affliction, but even there God had made him fruitful and blessed him. He is thankful for the past with all its sorrow, and awaits with cheerful hope the promised mercies of his God. Above all he fails not to remember the Divine source of all his good.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen. 41:46. Thirty years old. This is mentioned, to show what wonderful graces he had attained at those years; what rare endowments both of piety and policy.(Trapp.)
He made no sinecure of his office. He was, and he felt himself to be, exalted to power for the good and safety of the people, and he entered at once upon the active discharge of the duties of his station.(Bush.)
New honours impose and demand new obligations.
Gen. 41:47-49. Pharaoh hath not more preferred Joseph, than Joseph hath enriched Pharaoh; if Joseph had not ruled, Egypt and all the bordering nations had perished. The providence of so faithful an officer hath both given the Egyptians their lives, and the money, cattle, lands, bodies of the Egyptians to Pharaoh. The subjects owe to him their lives; the king, his subjects and his dominions. The bounty of God made Joseph able to give more than he received.(Bp. Hall.)
Josephs plan was simply a prudential foresight of the future. This prudence is a Christian virtue. It is such a virtue only so far as it has no reference to self. If we save in one thing only to spend in another, it may be a virtue, but certainly it is not a Christian one; that alone is Christian which is done for the sake of others. Thus, if we retrench our expenses in order to have more to bestow on others, it is Christian. Thus did Joseph. His economy was all for the sake of others.(Robertson.)
The saving hand is full and beneficent; the squandering hand is not only empty, but unjust.(Lange.)
Gen. 41:51. He remembered his toils in the very utterance of this sentence. And he tenderly and intensely remembered his fathers house. But he is grateful to God, who builds him a home, with all its soothing joys, even in the land of his exile. His heart again responds to long untasted joys.(Murphy.)
How could he have retained just impressions of the Divine goodness if he had forgotten the evils from which he was delivered? But in another sense he forgets his misery. He did not so cherish the recollection as to allow it to embitter his present enjoyment. The painful remembrance of the past was expelled from his mind when his adversity was changed into prosperity.(Bush.)
Gen. 41:52. He had formerly been like a heath in the desert; but now he was like a tree planted by the rivers of water, which brings forth abundance of fruit, and whose leaf does not wither. (Gen. 49:22.)(Bush.)
But why does no message go from Joseph to his mourning father? For many reasons.
1. He does not know the state of things at home.
2. He may not wish to open up the dark and bloody treachery of his brothers to his aged parent. But,
3. He bears in mind those early dreams of his childhood. All his subsequent experience has confirmed him in the belief that they will one day be fulfilled. But that fulfilment implies not only the submission of his brothers, but of his father. This is too delicate a matter for him to interfere in. He will leave it entirely to the all-wise providence of his God to bring about that strange issue. Joseph, therefore, is true to his life-long character. He leaves all in the hand of God, and awaits in anxious, but silent hope, the days when he will see his father and his brethren.(Murphy).
In all Josephs conduct we can discover a mournful longing after Canaan, deep indications that, after all, his true home was not in Egypt.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
3. Joseph as Prime Minister of Egypt (Gen. 41:46 to Gen. 47:31)
46 And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. 47 And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls. 48 And he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same. 49 And Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left off numbering; for it was without number. 50 And unto Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phera priest of On, bare unto him. 51 And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh; For, said he, God hath made me forget all my toil, and all my fathers house. 52 And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath made me fruitful in the land of my affliction. 53 And the seven years of plenty, that was in the land of Egypt, came to an end. 54 And the seven years of famine began to come, according as Joseph had said: and there was famine in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. 55 And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do. 56 And the famine was over all the face of the earth: and Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine was sore in the land of Egypt. 57 And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was sore in all the earth.
42 Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? 2 And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die. 3 And Josephs ten brethren went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Benjamin, Josephs brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure harm befall him. 5 And the sons of Israel came to buy among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan. 6 And Joseph was the governor over the land; he it was that sold to all the people of the land. And Josephs brethren came, and bowed down themselves to him with their faces to the earth. 7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly with them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food. 8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. 9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. 10 And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come. 11 We are all one mans sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies. 12 And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. 13 And they said, We thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not. 14 And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, We are spies: 15 hereby ye shall be proved: by the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither. 16 Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be bound, that your words may be proved, whether there be truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies. 17 And he put them all together into ward three days.
18 And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God: 19 if ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in your prison-house; but go ye, carry grain for the famine of your houses: 20 and bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so. 21 And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us. 22 And Reuben answered them saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore also, behold, his blood is required. 23 And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for there was an interpreter between them. 24 And he turned himself about from them and wept; and he returned to them, and spake to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes. 25 Then Joseph commanded to fill their vessels with grain, and to restore every mans money into his sack, and to give them provisions for the way; and thus was it done unto them.
26 And they laded their asses with their grain, and departed thence. 27 And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the lodging-place, he espied his money; and, behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. 28 And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack: and their heart failed them, and they turned trembling one to another saying, What is this that God hath done unto us? 29 And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that had befallen them, saying, 30 The man, the lord of the land, spake roughly with us, and took us for spies of the country. 31 And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies: 32 we are twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan. 33 And the man, the lord of the land, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye are true men: leave one of your brethren with me, and take grain for the famine of your houses, and go your way; 34 and bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true men: so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffic in the land.
35 And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that behold, every mans bundle of money was in his sack: and when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. 36 And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me. 37 And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again. 38 And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left: if harm befall him by the way in which ye go, then will ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.
43 And the famine was sore in the land. 2 And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food. 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. 4 If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food: 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. 6 And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother? 7 And they said, The man asked straightly concerning ourselves, and concerning 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 in any wise know that he would say, Bring your brother down? 8 And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the land with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones. 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 for ever: 10 for except we had lingered, surely we had now returned a second time. 11 And their father Israel said unto them, If it be so now, do this: take of the choice fruits of the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spicery and myrrh, nuts, and almonds; 12 and take double money in your hand; and the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks carry again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight: 13 take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man: 14 and God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release unto you your other brother and Benjamin. And if I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved. 15 And 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.
16 And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, Bring the men into the house, and slay, and make ready; for the men shall dine with me at noon. 17 And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men to Josephs house. 18 And the men were afraid, because they were brought to Josephs 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, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses. 19 And they came near to the steward of Josephs house, and they spake unto him at the door of the house, 20 and said, Oh, my lord, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food: 21 and it came to pass, when we came to the lodging-place, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every mans money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight: and we have brought it again in our hand. 22 And other money have we brought down in our hand to buy food: we know not who put our money in our sacks. 23 And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: 1 had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them. 24 And the man brought the men into Josephs house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender. 25 And they made ready the present against Josephs coming at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there.
26 And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed down themselves to him to the earth. 27 And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive? And they said, Thy servant our father is well he is yet alive. And they bowed the head, and made obeisance. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw Benjamin his brother, his mothers son, and said, Is this your youngest brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son. 30 And Joseph made haste; for his heart yearned over his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there. 31 And he washed his face, and came out; and he refrained himself, and said, Set on bread. 32 And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, that did eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians. 33 And they sat before him, the first-born according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one with another. 34 And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamins mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.
44 And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the mens sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every mans money in his sacks mouth. 2 And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sacks mouth of the youngest, and his grain money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken. 3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses. 4 And when they were gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good? 5 Is not this that in which my lord drinketh, and whereby he indeed divineth? ye have done evil in so doing. 6 And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these words. 7 And they said unto him, Wherefore speaketh my lord such words as these? Far be it from thy servants that they should do such a thing. 8 Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks mouth, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lords house silver or gold? 9 With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, let him die, and we also will be my lords bondsmen. 10 And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my bondman; and ye shall be blameless. 11 Then they hasted, and took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack. 12 And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left off at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamins sack. 13 Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city.
14 And Judah and his brethren came to Josephs house; and he was yet there: and they fell before him on the ground. 15 And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? know ye not that such a man as I can indeed divine? 16 And 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 lords bondmen, both we and he also in whose hand the cup is found. 17 And he said, Far be it from me that I should do so: the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my bondman; but as for you, get you up in peace unto your father.
18 Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh, my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lords ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant; for thou art even as Pharaoh. 19 My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother? 20 And 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. 21 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him. 22 And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die. 23 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more. 24 And it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. 25 And our father said, Go again, buy us a little food. 26 And we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down; for we may not see the mans face, except our youngest brother be with us. 27 And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bare me two sons: 28 and the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I have not seen him since: 29 and if ye take this one also from me, and harm befall him, ye will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol. 30 Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad is not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lands life; 31 it will come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy servants will bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to Sheol. 32 For thy servant became surety for the land unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then shall I bear the blame to my father for ever. 33 Now therefore, let thy servant, I pray thee, abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren. 34 For how shall I go up to my father, if the lad be not with me? lest I see the evil that shall come on my father.
45 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. 2 And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard. 3 And 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. 4 And 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 sold into Egypt. 5 And now be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. 6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and there are yet five years, in which there shall be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance. 8 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 ruler over all the land of Egypt. 9 Haste 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; 10 and thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy childrens children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast: 11 and there will I nourish thee; for there are yet five years of famine; lest thou come to poverty, thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast. 12 And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. 13 And 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. 14 And he fell upon his brother Benjamins neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15 And he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him.
16 And the report thereof was heard in Pharaohs house, saying, Josephs brethren are come; and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. 17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye: lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan; 18 and 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. 19 Now thou art commanded, this do ye: take your wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. 20 Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.
21 And the sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. 22 To 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. 23 And to his father he sent after this manner: ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she-asses laden with grain and bread and provision for his father by the way. 24 So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way. 25 And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father. 26 And they told him, saying Joseph is yet alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt. And his heart fainted, for he believed them not. 27 And 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: 28 and Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.
46 And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beer-sheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac. 2 And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob, And he said, Here am I. 3 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: 4 I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes. 5 And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6 And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him: 7 his sons, and his sons sons with him, his daughters, and his sons daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.
8 And these are the names of the children of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacobs first-born. 9 And the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, and Pallu, and Hezron, and Carmi. 10 And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohab, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman. 11 And the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 And the sons of Judah: Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. 13 And the sons of Issachar: Tola, and Puvah, and lob, and Shimron. 14 And the sons of Zebulun: Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel. 15 These are the sons of Leah, whom she bare unto Jacob in Paddan-aram, with his daughter Dinah: all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three. 16 And the sons of Gad: Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli. 17 And the sons of Asher: Imnah, and Ishvah, and lshvi, and Beriah, and Serah their sister; and the sons of Beriah: Heber, and Malchiel. 18 These are the sons of Zilpah whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls. 19 The sons of Rachel Jacobs wife: Joseph and Benjamin. 20 And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phera priest of On, bare unto him. 21 And the sons of Benjamin: Bela, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard. 22 These are the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob; all the souls were fourteen. 23 And the sons of Dan: Hushim. 24 And the sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, and Guni, and Nezer, and Shillem. 25 These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter, and these she bare unto Jacob: all the souls were seven. 26 All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, that came out of his loins, besides Jacobs sons wives, all the souls were threescore and six; 27 and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, that came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.
28 And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to show the way before him unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. 29 And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen; and he presented himself unto him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. 30 And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, that thou art yet alive. 31 And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his fathers house, I will go up, and tell Pharaoh, and will say unto him, My brethren, and my fathers house, who were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me; 32 and the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have. 33 And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, what is your occupation? 34 that ye shall say, Thy servants have been keepers of cattle from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.
47 Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen. 2 And from among his brethren he took five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh. 3 And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers. 4 And they said unto Pharaoh, To sojourn in the land are we come; for there is no pasture for thy servants flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen. 5 And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee; 6 the land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and thy brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any able men among them, then make them rulers over my cattle. 7 And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How many are the days of the years of thy life? 9 And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years: few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. 10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. 11 And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. 12 And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his fathers household, with bread, according to their families.
13 And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. 14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaohs house. 15 And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for our money faileth. 16 And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail. 17 And they brought their cattle unto Joseph; and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their cattle for that year. 18 And when that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide from my lord, now that our money is all spent; and the herds of cattle are my lords; there is nought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands: 19 wherefore should we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land be not desolate.
20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine was sore upon them: and the land became Pharaohs. 21 And as for the people, he removed them to the cities from one end of the border of Egypt even to the other end thereof. 22 Only the land of the priests bought he not: for the priests had a portion from Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them; wherefore they sold not their land. 23 Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land. 24 And it shall come to pass at the ingatherings, that ye shall give a fifth unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food of your little ones. 25 And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaohs servants. 26 And Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; only the land of the priests alone became not Pharaohs.
27 And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they gat them possessions therein, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly. 28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were a hundred forty and seven years. 29 And the time drew near that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found favor in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me: bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt; 30 but when I sleep with my fathers, thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying-place. And he said, I will do as thou hast said. 31 And he said, Swear unto me: and he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the beds head.
(1) Josephs Administration (Gen. 41:46-57). For the first seven years of his administration Joseph went throughout Egypt and gathered up the produce of the land that was needed to preserve the nation in the period of famine that was to follow. All the food of the land, Gen. 41:48, a general expression that must be viewed as limited to the proportion of one-fifth of the crop (Gen. 41:34). It gives a striking idea of the exuberant fertility of this land, that, from the superabundance of the seven plenteous years, corn [grain] enough was laid up for the subsistence, not only of its home population, but of the neighboring countries, during the seven years of dearth (Jamieson). The Oriental hyperbole here must be understood as actualized in the form of a royal impost: the ordinary royal impost appears to have been a land tax of one-tenth; hence this was a double tithe. (It must be noted that Joseph was thirty years of age when he entered upon the office of Vizier of Egypt. Note Gen. 41:38, in which the Pharaoh spoke of Joseph as a man in whom the spirit of God is. that is, the spirit of supernatural insight and wisdom. Evidently Joseph had been in Egypt thirteen years as a slave, and at least had spent at least three years in prison, after ten years in Potiphars house. This promotion of Joseph, from the position of a Hebrew slave pining in prison to the highest post of honor in the Egyptian kingdom, is perfectly conceivable, on the one hand, from the great importance attached in ancient times to the interpretation of dreams and to all occult sciences, especially among the Egyptians, and on the other hand, from the despotic form of government in the East; but the miraculous power of God is to be seen in the fact, that God endowed Joseph with the gift of infallible interpretation, and so ordered the circumstances that this gift paved the way for him to occupy that position in which he became the preserver, not of Egypt alone, but of his own family. And the same hand of God, by which he had been so highly exalted after deep degradation, preserved him in his lofty post of honor from sinking into the heathenism of Egypt; although, by his alliance with the daughter of a priest of the sun, the most distinguished caste in the land, he had fully entered into the national associations and customs of the land (K-D, 352). How gloriously does God compensate to go with them, lest some calamity befall him as he believed had occurred to Joseph. Imagine Josephs surprise when, in receiving the various delegations, he discovered his own brothers bowing down to him with their faces to the earth. At least twenty years had passed before Josephs boyhood dreams were fulfilled. He first dreamed when seventeen years of age (Gen. 37:2). He appeared before Pharaoh thirteen years later (Gen. 41:46). The seven years of plenty followed. Then came the years of famine. This meant that his brothers had not seen him for at least twenty years. He knew them, but they were unable to recognize him in his new role of splendor and authority (HSB, 67). Joseph received them harshly, first accusing them of being spies, that is, of hunting out the unfortified parts of the kingdom that would be easily accessible to a foe. When they explained who they were, protesting they were not spies but servants, Joseph put them into custody for three days. Relenting, however, at the end of this time, he released them, demanding that one of the group remain in prison, but allowing the other nine to return home with grain for their families. He retained Simeon in custody, as a pledge that they should return with their younger brother, a procedure which he demanded in order that it might be proved that they were not spies. (We can hardly think that this charge of spying was completely out of line with the facts in the case. What evidence did Joseph have as yet that these brothers had abandoned any of their disposition to deceive?) He had Simeon bound before their eyes, to be detained as a hostage (not Reubenfor he had overheard Reuben reminding them of his attempt to dissuade them from killing him, a disclosure which must have opened Josephs eyes and fairly melted his heartbut Simeon the next in age). He then ordered his men to fill their sacks with corn, to give each one back his money putting it in his sack, and providing them with food for the journey, Gen. 41:26-38; Thus they started home with their asses laden with the corn, When they reached their first halting-place for the night, one of them opened his sack to feed his beast and found his money in it, The brothers looked on this as incomprehensible except as a divine punishment, and neglected in their alarm to look into the rest of the sacks. On their arrival at home, they told their father Jacob all that had happened. But when they emptied their sacks, and to their own and their fathers terror, found their bundles of money in their separate sacks, Jacob burst out with recriminations, You are making me childless! Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone, and ye will take Benjamin! All this falls on me! Reuben then offered his own two sons as pledges for Benjamins safe return, if Jacob would entrust him to his care: Jacob might slay them, if he did not bring Benjamin backabout the costliest offer a son could make to a father. But Jacob refused to let Benjamin go.
(3) Second Visit of Josephs Brothers (Gen. 43:1 to Gen. 45:28). Famine at last compelled Jacob to yield and to send Benjamin with his older brothers to Egypt to buy corn; however, the old man strictly charged his sons to propitiate the Egyptian ruler by presents and to take double money, lest that which they had discovered in their sacks should have been placed there inadvertently. On their arrival in Egypt, Joseph ordered his steward to take them to his house and make ready the noonday meal. The brothers were now frightened, and on reaching the house they explained to the steward the restoration of their money, but he replied that he had received it, and must have been their God who restored it; he further reassured them by bringing out Simeon. Joseph soon followed his brethren and the meal was served, but Joseph sat at one table, his brethren at another, and the Egyptians at a third, as shepherds were an abomination to the Egyptians. The brothers were entertained liberally, but were surprised at finding themselves placed at their table exactly in the order of their ages, and that Joseph sent a fivefold portion to Benjamin. The next morning they left the city, but Joseph had first commanded his steward to restore the money as before, and to place his silver cup in Benjamins sack. They had not, therefore, proceeded far before the steward overtook them and charged them with robbery. They immediately protested their innocence, challenged investigation, and invoked death on the man who would be found guilty. But the cup was found with Benjamin, and the distressed brothers were compelled to return to Joseph. Judah now made to the supposed Egyptian ruler a touching relation of the disappearance of Joseph, and of Jacobs special affection for Benjamin; and then, after stating that the death of their aged father would certainly follow the detention of his beloved young son, he offered to abide himself as bondman if the lad were permitted to return. Joseph now understood so many things he had not understood before, e.g., how is was that, as he thought, his father had forgotten him, how that the brothers had paid for their deception, what Reuben had done to try to save him, what Judah had done later to save him from being killed, etc. Everything began to fall into a mosaic of Divine Providence. Joseph could refrain no longer from disclosing his identity. He told the brothers that the one whom they had sold for a slave had become the Vizier of Egypt, and that he now realized that God had used these means of bringing him into this position in order that he might save his household from famine. He assured them of his hearty forgiveness, and invited both them and their father to settle in Egypt during the remaining years of famine. The invitation was seconded by the Pharaoh, and wagons, and changes of raiment, and asses laden with provisions were sent by the king and Joseph for the accommodation of the children of Israel. (The story of Josephs reconciliation with his brothers is another of those human interest stones the like of which is found only in the Bible). Thus the stage was set for the period of bondage, the glorious deliverance under Moses, and the final occupancy of the Land of Promise, just as all this had been foretold to Abraham long before (Gen. 15:12-16). Josephs realization came at last that his humiliation and exaltation had been the work of Providence looking toward the saving of Israel (as a people) for their great mission, that of preserving belief in the living and true God, that of preparing the world for Messiah, and that of presenting Messiah to the world (Gen. 45:5-8).
(4) The Israelites Migrate to Egypt (Gen. 46:1 to Gen. 47:12). When the brothers returned from Egypt the second time, the venerable father Jacob could hardly believe their report. But when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to move him and his house, he cried: It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive: I will go and see him before I die. Accordingly he set out on the journey. The brothers doubtless had told him of their treatment of Joseph, but Jacob could readily forgive them now that he knew Joseph was alive. Jacobs early life had been one of deceit; he had, in turn been deceived himself; now, however, he could look forward to seeing his beloved Joseph once more. At Beersheba, he offered sacrifices. And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night telling him to go on down into Egypt, promising to make of him a great nation, promising to go down with him and bring him out again (that is, He would surely recover his body for interment in Canaan, should he die in Egypt, and his descendants for settlement in the land of their inheritance); and promising that Joseph should put his hand upon his [fathers] eyes (that is, perform the last offices of affection by closing his eyes in death, a service upon which the human heart in all ages has set the highest value (cf. PCG, 501). So Jacob and his retinue arrived in Egypt, with his sixty-four sons and grandsons, one daughter, Dinah, and one granddaughter, Sarah, numbering in all sixty-six persons (Gen. 46:26). These, with Jacob himself, and Joseph and Josephs two sons, made seventy persons (Gen. 41:27); while the sixty-six persons, with his nine sons wives, made the seventy-five persons mentioned in Act. 7:14. The following table will make this clear (from OTH, 122123):
The children of Leah, 32, viz.,
1.
Reuben and four sons
5
2.
Simeon and six sons
7
3.
Levi and three sons
4
4.
Judah and five sons (of whom two
were dead) and two grandsons
6
5.
Issachar and four sons
5
6.
Zebulun and three sons
4
Dinah
1
The children of Zilpah, considered as Leahs, 16, viz.,
7.
Gad and seven sons
8
8.
Asher: four sons, one daughter, and two grandsons
8
The children of Rachel, 14, viz.,
9.
Joseph (see below)
10.
Benjamin and ten sons
11
The children of Bilhah, considered as Rachels, 7, viz.,
11.
Dan and one son
2
12.
Naphtali and four sons
5
Total of those who came with Jacob into Egypt
66
To these must be added Jacob, Joseph, and his two sons
4
Total of Israels house
70
Benjamins sons are evidently added to complete the second generation, for Benjamin was only 25 years old, and the tone of the whole narrative is scarcely consistent with his yet having a family.
Upon their arrival in Egypt, Joseph, after a most affecting reunion with his father, presented five of his brothers to the Pharaoh; and the king, on being informed that they were shepherds, a class held in abomination by the Egyptians, we are told, gave them for their separate abode the land of Goshen or Rameses (Gen. 47:6; Gen. 47:11), which was the best pasture land in Egypt, and intrusted to them his own flocks, while Joseph supplied them with bread during the remaining five years of famine. That they were tillers of the land as well as shepherds is clear from their being employed in all manner of service in the field (Exo. 1:14), and from the allusion of Moses to Egypt, where thou sowedst thy seed and wateredst it (Deu. 11:10).
(5) Economic Policies of Joseph During the Famine (Gen. 47:13-27). In contrast to the happy condition of Josephs father and brothers in the land of Goshen, the Biblical record next depicts the state of privation in Egypt. In need of food, the Egyptians presented themselves to Joseph to explain their plight. On the first such occasion, Joseph purchased their cattle, allowing them bread in exchange for horses, flocks, herds, and asses. When the Egyptians presented themselves a second time, they had nothing to exchange for food except their lands. Thereupon Joseph secured the lands of the Egyptian people for Pharaoh, because they received an allotment of food at Pharaohs expense. This introduced the feudal system into Egypt: the system of land tenure. Seed was allotted to the Egyptians on condition that one-fifth of the produce land would revert to Pharaoh. Although this act of Joseph involved a measure of humiliation, including the surrender of lands to the state, it made possible a strong central government which could take measures to prevent famines. The life of Egypt depends upon the Nile, and all the inhabitants of the Nile Valley must cooperate if the the water is to be used efficiently. The government was in a position to regulate the use of Nile water and also to begin a system of artificial irrigation by means of canals which could carry the waters of the river to otherwise inaccessible areas. Josephs economic policy is described with no hint as to either approval or censure. Some have thought that Joseph drove a hard bargain and took advantage of the conditions to enhance the power of the throne. That the emergency resulted in a centralization of authority is clear. There is no hint that Joseph, personally, profited from the situation, however. On the contrary, the people said to Joseph, Thou bast saved our lives (Gen. 47:25). Many, doubtless, resented the necessity of being moved, but in famine conditions it was necessary to bring the population to the store-cities where food was available. Convenience must be forgotten in a life-and-death situation such as Egypt faced. Joseph thus destroyed the free proprietors and made the king the lord-paramount of the soil, while the people became the hereditary tenants of their sovereign, and paid a fifth of their annual produce as rent for the soil they occupied. The priests alone retained their estates through this trying period (Pfeiffer, The Book of Genesis, 9899). The tax of a fifth of the produce of the fields was not excessive according to ancient standards, we are told. In the time of the Maccabees the Jews paid the Syrian government one-third of the seed (1Ma. 10:30). Egyptologists inform us that large landed estates were owned by the nobility and the governors of the nomes (states) during the Old Empire period (c. 30001900 B.C.). By the New Kingdom (after 1550 B.C.) power was centralized in the person of the Pharaoh. It would appear that Joseph, as Prime Minister, was instrumental in hastening this development. There is no doubt that Egypt was, during the most of the last two millenia of her existence, essentially a feudal state in which the nobility flourished and slaves did all the work. At the end of two years (see Gen. 45:6) all the money of the Egyptians and Canaanites had passed into the Pharaohs territory (Gen. 47:14), At this crisis we do not see how Joseph can be acquitted of raising the despotic authority of his master on the broken fortunes of the people; but yet he made a moderate settlement of the power thus acquired. First the cattle and then the land of the Egyptians became the property of the Pharaoh, and the people were removed from the country to the cities. They were still permitted, however, to cultivate their lands as tenants under the crown, paying a rent of one-fifth of the produce, and this became the permanent law of the tenure of land in Egypt; but the land of the priests was left in their own possession (Gen. 47:15-26) (OTH, 121). It is a well-known fact also that in those ancient times Jewish men were sought as mercenary soldiers by the nations which were vying for hegemony in the area of the Fertile Crescent. This fact does not make the career of Joseph in Egypt an anomaly at all.
The Land of Goshen, or simply Goshen, was evidently known also as the land of Rameses (Gen. 47:11), unless, of course, this latter may have been the name of a district in Goshen. Goshen was between Josephs residence at the time and the frontier of Palestine. Apparently it was the extreme province toward the frontier (Gen. 46:29). The reading of Gen. 46:33-34, indicates that Goshen was hardly regarded as a part of Egypt proper and that it was not peopled by Egyptianscharacteristics that would indicate a frontier region. The next mention of Goshen confirms the previous inference that it lay between Canaan and the Delta (Gen. 47:1; Gen. 47:5-6; Gen. 47:11). It was evidently a pastoral country, where some of the Pharaohs cattle were kept, The clearest indications of the exact location of Goshen are found in the story of the Exodus. The Israelites set out from the town of Raamses (or Rameses) in the land of Goshen, made two days journey to the edge of the wilderness, and in one additional day reached the Red Sea. This was a very fertile section of Egypt, excellent for grazing and certain types of agriculture, but apparently not particularly inviting to the pharaohs because of its distance from the Nile irrigation canals. It extends thirty or forty miles in length centering in Wadi Lumilat and reaches from Lake Timsa to the Nile. It was connected with the name of Rameses because Rameses II. (c. 12901224 B.C.) built extensively in this location at Pithom (Tell er Retabeh) and Rameses (or Raamses) (Zoan-Avaris-Tanis). Tanis was called the House of Rameses (c. 13001100 B.C.) (See Exo. 1:11; Exo. 12:37; cf. UBD, s.v., p. 420).
FOR MEDITATION AND SERMONIZING
Divine Providence: Joseph
A sermon delivered August 20, 1893, by J. W. McGarvey. Originally published by the Standard Publishing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, in McGarveys Sermons, here reprinted verbatim.
I will read verses four to eight in the forty-fifth chapter of Genesis:
I am Joseph, your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither; for God did send me before you to preserve life. For 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. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God.
The story of Joseph is one of those undying narratives which have been of deepest interest to all readers for more than three thousand years, and will be to the end of time. It is interesting to children, to simple-minded people who understand it the least; and it is still more interesting to profound scholars, who understand it the best. (1) It occupies a larger space in the Old Testament than any other personal narrative, except that of Abraham; and have you never wondered why this simple story was allowed so much space? (2) Whether there was any design in it beyond that of entertaining and interesting the reader, as a novel or a fine poem entertains and interests us? (3) And have you never, in studying the story, wondered why Joseph, after he became governor over Egypt and had command of his own time, spent the whole seven years of plenty and two years of famine without going to see his father, who lived only two hundred miles away over a smooth road? And finally, has not the question occurred to you, Why did God select to be the heads of ten of the twelve tribes of His own people, ten men who were so cruel, so inhuman as to take their seventeen year old brother and sell him into bondage in a foreign land? The task that I have undertaken in the discourse this morning, will be to give, as well as I can, an answer to these three questions, and in doing so, to point out a striking example of the providence of God.
In regard to the design of allowing this story to occupy so much space, I think I may safely say that there is nothing recorded in this Holy Book, which has no higher purpose than to entertain and interest the reader. There is always in the divine mind something beyond and higher than that. If you will read a little further back in the book of Genesis, you will find that on a certain occasion, God, after having promised Abraham again and again that he should have offspring who would inherit the land of Canaan as their possession, commanded him one day to slaughter some animals and lay them in two rows. He did so, and seeing that the birds of prey were gathering to devour them, he stood guard and drove them away until night came, and they went to roost. Then he also fell asleep, and a horror of great darkness fell upon him. I suppose it was a terrible nightmare. He then heard the, voice of God saying to him, Thy seed shall be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they shall be afflicted four hundred years. After that, I will judge the nation by whom they shall be afflicted, and bring them out, and bring them into this land, and give it to them as an inheritance. [Gen. 15:12-16]. From these solemn words, Abraham now knows that it is to be four hundred years, and more, before his people will inherit this promised land, and that they shall pass, in the meantime, through four hundred years of bondage and fearful affliction; but that then the good word of the Lord will be fulfilled. It gave him a totally different view of those promises, from that which he had entertained before.
We learn by the subsequent history, that Abraham never did learn that the foreign land in which his people were to be bondmen was Egypt; and that a removal of his posterity to that land was necessary to the fulfillment of Jehovahs words. He lived and died, however, in Canaan. His son Isaac lived one hundred and eighty years, and died and left his children, his servants and his flocks and herds, still in Canaan. Jacob, although he had spent forty years in Paddan-Aram, still lived in Canaan with his twelve sons and his flocks and herds; and up to the very hour when his sons came back from Egypt the second time, and said, Joseph is alive, and is governor over all Egypt, and he saw a long line of wagons coming up and bringing the warm invitation of Pharaoh and Joseph to hasten down and make their home in Egyptup to that hour he had never entertained the idea of migrating to Egypt. He as little thought of it as we do of migrating to the moon. What then was it that brought about, after so many years, that migration of the descendants of Abraham into Egypt, and led to the four hundred years of bondage? You are ready to answer, that the immediate cause of it was the fact that Joseph, the son of Jacob, was now governor over all Egypt, and wanted his father and his brothers to be with him. That is true. But, how had Joseph happened to be governor over all the land of Egypt? You say, the immediate cause of it was, that when he predicted the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine, he proposed to the king that a man be selected to go out and gather up grain during the years of plenty, to save the people from starving in the years of famine; and that Pharaoh had the good sense to accept the proposal, and to appoint Joseph governor. But then, how is it that Joseph predicted that famine? You say it was the interpretation of Pharaohs dream and so it was. But how did he happen to interpret that dream? You say, because all the magicians of Egypt had been called on to interpret it, and haid failed. They not only could not see the real meaning of it, but they did not venture a supposition as to what it meant. A dream in which a man saw fat cows coming up out of a river! The idea of cows coming up out of a river! And then, other cows, lean cows, coming up out of the same river, and devouring these fat cows, and looking just as lean and thin as they were before! Why, that went outside all the rules for interpreting dreams that the dream interpreters of that age had invented; and they could not give the remotest suggestion as to what it meant. The failure of the magicians then, was one necessary cause of Josephs being called on to interpret the dream. And then, how did Joseph happen to be called on? If that butler had not forgotten his promise to Joseph, made two years before. to speak to the king and have Joseph released out of an imprisonment which was unjust, Joseph would have been released most likely, and might have been anywhere else by this time than in the land of Egypt. The forgetfulness of the butler, who forgot his friend when it was well with himself, was a necessary link in the chain. He says, when all the magicians had failed, I remember now my fault; and he told the king about a young Hebrew whom he met in prison, who interpreted his dream and the bakers, and both came to pass; Me he restored to my office, and the chief baker he hanged. The king immediately sent for Joseph. But how did he happen to interpret the dreams of the butler and the baker? That depended upon their having the dreams, and upon their having those dreams in the prison, and upon Joseph being the man who had charge of the prisoners, and who, coming in and finding the two great officers of the king looking very sad, asked what was the matter. But how did Joseph happen to have the control of the prisoners, so as to have access to these officers? Why, that depended upon the fact that he had behaved himself so well in prison as to win the confidence of the keeper of the jail, and had been promoted, until the management of the whole prison was placed in his hands. Well, how did Joseph happen to be in prison? Why, you will say that the wife of Potiphar made a false accusation against him. But have you not wondered why Potiphar did not kill him? An average Kentuckian would have done it instanter. I think it depended upon the fact that Potiphar knew his wife well and knew Joseph well, and had about as much confidence in Josephs denial as in her accusation. And how did it happen that she had a chance to bring such accusations against Joseph? Because Joseph had won the confidence of his master as a young slave, till he had made him supreme director of everything inside of his house. He had access to every apartment, and provided for his masters table, so that the text tells us there was nothing inside his house that Potiphar knew of, except the food on his table. It was this that gave the opportunity to the bad woman. But then I ask further, How did Joseph happen to be there a house-boy in the house of Potiphar? Well, he bought him. He wanted a house-boy, and went down to the slave market, and found him there and bought him. How did Joseph happen to be in the slave market? Because his brothers sold him. But suppose he had never been sold into Egypt! Would he ever have interpreted dreams? Would he ever have been governor of Egypt? Would he ever have sent for his father and brothers to come down there? But how did he happen to be sold as a slave? If those traders had been fifteen minutes later passing along, Reuben would have taken the boy up and let him loose, and he would have gone back to his father. Everything depended on that. But how did he happen to be in that pit from which Reuben was going to deliver him? You say, they saw him coming from home to the place where they were grazing their flocks, and they remembered those dreams. They said, Behold, the dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, let us slay him and cast him into one of the pits. Then they would see what would become of his dreams. Dissuaded by Reuben from killing him outright, they put him in a pit to die. It was their jealousy that caused them to put him into the pit. But then, how is it that those dreams had excited their jealousy to such a pitch? I do not suppose that they would, if they had not already been jealous because of the coat of many colors. Now we have traced these causes back from one to the other, back, back, back, till we have reached the source of all in the partiality of the old father in giving the coat of many colors. And brethren, let me say here by way of digression, that the history of many a family trouble, with its trials and alienations and distresses, running sometimes through generations, is traceable to jealousy springing from parental partiality. But now, every one of these causes that I have mentioned stands like a link in the long chain by which God, having determined that these Hebrews should dwell in Egypt for four hundred years, after predicting it two hundred years before, draws them down where He wants them to be.
And what are the links in this chain? Some of them are desperately wicked deeds; some of them are good deeds. The fidelity of Joseph; sold to be a slave, but evidently saying within himself, As I have to be the slave of this man, I will be the best slave he has. I will be the most faithful one. I will win his confidence. I will do my duty like a man. And thus he rises. And then the same kind of fidelity when he is cast into prison. As I have to be in prison, I will be the best prisoner in this jail. I will do what I ought to do here in the fear of my God. Thus he rises to the top again; illustrating the fact, and I wish I had young men in abundance to speak this tothat a young man who has true character, unfaltering fidelity, and some degree of energy and ability, can not be kept down in this world. You may put him down, but he will rise again. You may put him down again and again; but he will come up. A young man like that, is like a cork; you may press it under the water, but it will soon pop up again. Oh that the young men of our country had such integrity, such power to resist temptation, such resolution and perseverance, as this Jewish youth had.
So then, this long story is told as an illustration of the providence of God, by which He can bring about His purposes without the intervention of miraculous power except here and there; for in all this long chain of causes God touched the links only twice, directly: once, when He gave power to Joseph to interpret the dreams of the butler and the baker, and once when He gave him power to interpret the dream of Pharaoh. Just those two instances in which the finger of God touched the chain; all the rest were the most natural things in the world, and they brought about Gods design just as effectively as though He had wrought one great miracle to translate Jacob and his children through the air, and plant them on the soil of Egypt. The man who studies the story of Joseph and does not see this in it, has failed to see one of its great purposes. And what is true in bringing about this result in the family of Jacob, may be trueI venture to say, it is truein regard to every family of any importance in this world; and it extends down to the modes by which God overrules our own acts, both good and bad, and those of our friends, and brings us out at the end of our lives shaped and molded as he desires we shall be.
Now let us look for a moment at the second question. Why did Joseph not go and see his father and his brothers during the nine years in which he could have gone almost any day? I think that when we reach the answer we will see another and perhaps a more valuable illustration of the providence of God. In order to understand the motives which actuate men under given circumstances, we must put ourselves in their places and judge of them by the way that we would ourselves feel and act; for human nature is the same the wide world over, and in all the different nations of men. Suppose then, that you were a boy of seventeen. Your brothers have all been away from home, sixty or seventy miles, with the flocks, until your father has become anxious about them, and sends you up to see how they do. You go, as Joseph did, but you fail to find them. While you search you meet a stranger who tells you they are gone to Dothan, fourteen or fifteen miles farther away. With this news Joseph continued his journey, and how his heart leaped at last to see his brothers again! How glad a welcome he expected from them and inquiries about home, and father, and all. But when he came up, he saw a scowl upon every face. Instead of welcoming, they seized him, and with rough hands stripped the coat from his back, dragged him to the mouth of a dry cistern, and let him down in it. Now we will see what will become of his dreams.
How did the boy then feel? I have thought that perhaps he said to himself, My brothers are only trying to scare me. They are just playing a cruel joke on me, and dont mean to leave me here to perish. But perhaps he had begun to think they were in earnest, when he heard footsteps above, and voices. He sees one of their faces looking down, and a rope let down to draw him up, and he thinks the cruel joke is over. But when he is drawn up and sees those strangers there, and hears words about the sale of the boy, and his hands are tied behind him, and he is delivered into their hands, and they start off with him, what would you have thought or felt then? If the thought had come into his mind that it was another joke, he might have watched as the merchants passed down the road, on every rising piece of ground he might have looked back to see if his brothers were coming to buy him back again, and to get through with this terrible joke; but when the whole days journey was passed, and they went into camp at night, and the same the next day, no brothers have overtaken him, what must have been his feelings? When he thought, I am a slave, and I am being carried away into a foreign land to spend the rest of my life as a slave, never to see father and home again, who can imagine his feelings? So he was brought down into Egypt and sold.
But it seems to me that Joseph must have had one thought to bear him up, at least for a time. My father loves me. He loves me more than he does all my brothers. He is a rich man. When he hears that I have been sold into Egypt, he will send one hundred men, if need be, to hunt me up; he will load them with money to buy me back. I trust in my father for deliverance yet. But he is sold into the house of Pharaoh, and years pass by. He is cruelly cast into prison, and years pass by, until thirteen long years of darkness and gloom and sorrow and pain have gone, and he has never heard of his father sending for him. He could have done it. It would have been easy to do, And now, how does he feel toward his brothers and toward his father? Would you have wanted to see those brothers again? And when he found his father had never sent for him, knowing, perhaps, how penurious and avaricious his father had been in his younger days, may he not have said, The old avaricious spirit of my father has come back on him in his declining years, and he loves his money more than he loves his boy? And when that feeling took possession of him, did he want to see his father anymore? Or any of them? Could he bear the thought of ever seeing those brothers again? And could he at last bear the thought of seeing that father who had allowed him to perish, as it were, without stretching out a hand to help him? The way he did feel is seen in one little circumstance. When he was married and his first-born son was placed before him, he named him Manasseh, forgetfulness, Because, he says, God has enabled me to forget my fathers house. The remembrance of home and brothers and father had been a source of constant pain to him; he never could think of them without agony of heart; but now, Thank God, I have forgotten them. Oh, brethren, what a terrible experience a boy must have before he feels a sense of relief and gladness that he has been enabled to forget all about his father and his brothers in his early home! That is the way Joseph felt when Manasseh was born. And would not you have felt so, too?
Everything was going on more pleasantly than he thought it ever could, with himriches, honor, wife, children: everything that could delight the heart of a wise and good manwhen suddenly, one day his steward comes in and tells him that there are ten foreigners who desire to buy some grain. He had a rule that all foreigners must be brought before him before they were allowed to buy grain. Bring them in. They were brought in, and behold, there are his brothers! There are his brothers! And as they approach, they bow down before him. Of course, they could not recognize him, dressed in the Egyptian stylegovernor of Egypt. Even if he had looked like Joseph, it would only have been a strange thing with them to say, He resembles our brother Joseph. There they are. It was a surprising sight to him and a painful one. He instantly determines to treat them in such a way that they will never come back to Egypt again. He says, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come. No, they say, we are come to buy food; we are all the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. We are twelve brothers. The youngest is with our father, and one is not.
That remark about the youngest awakened a new thought in Joseph. Oh how it brought back the sad hour when his own mother, dying on the way that they were journeying, left that little Benjamin, his only full brother, in the hands of the weeping father! And how it reminded him, that when he was sold, Benjamin was a little lad at home. He is my own mothers child. Instantly he resolves that Benjamin shall be here with him in Egypt, and that these others shall be scared away, so that they will never come back again; so he says, Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, that your words may be proved, or else by the life of Pharaoh ye are spies. He cast them all into prison; but on the third day he went to them and said: I fear God; if ye be true men let one of you be bound in prison, and let the others go and carry food for your houses; and bring your youngest brother to me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. When he said that, they began to confess to one another their belief about the providential cause of this distress, when Reuben made a speech that brought a revelation to Joseph, He said to his brethren, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear. Therefore, behold his blood is required. Joseph learns for the first time that Reuben had befriended him, and this so touched his heart that he turned aside to weep. He passes by Reuben and takes the next to the oldest for the prisoner.
He now gave the directions to his steward to sell them the grain; and why did he order the money to be tied up in the mouth of every mans sack? They were once so mean and avaricious that they sold me for fifteen petty pieces of silver. I will put their silver in the mouths of their sacks, and I will see if they are as dishonest as they were then. If they are, I will never hear of that money again. Not many merchants in these days, if you go in and buy ten dollars worth of goods, will wrap the ten dollars in the bundle to see if it will come back. I will see, thought Joseph, if they are honest.
Time went ona good deal more than Joseph expected, on account of the unwillingness of Jacob to let Benjamin make the journey. But finally the news is brought that these ten Canaanites have returned. They are brought once more into his presence, and there is Benjamin. They still call him the little one and the lad; just as I have had mothers to introduce me to the baby, and the baby would be a strapping fellow six feet high. There he is. Is this your youngest brother of whom you spoke? He waits not for an answer, but exclaims, God be gracious unto thee, my son. He slips away into another room to weep. How near he is now to carrying out his planto having that dear brother, who had never harmed him, to enjoy his honors and riches and glory, and get rid of the others. He has them to dine in his house. That scared them. To dine with the governor! They could not conceive what it meant. Joseph knew. He had his plan formed. He wanted them there to give them a chance to steal something out of the dining-room. They enjoyed the dinner. They had never seen before so rich a table. He says to the steward, Fill the mens sacks with food; put every mans money in his sacks mouth, and put my silver cup in the sacks mouth of the youngest. It was done, and at daylight next morning they were on their journey home. They were not far on the way when the steward overtook them, with the demand, Why have ye rewarded evil for good? Is it not this in which my Lord drinketh, and wherewith he divineth? Ye have done evil in so doing. They answered, God forbid that thy servants should do such a thing. Search, and if it be found with any one of us, let him die, and the rest of us will be your bondmen. No, says the steward, he with whom it is found shall be my bondman, and ye shall be blameless. He begins his search with Reubens sack. It is not there. Then one by one he takes down the sacks of the others, until he reaches Benjamins. There is the cup! They all rend their clothes; and when the steward starts back with Benjamin, they follow him. They are frightened almost to death, but the steward can not get rid of them. Joseph was on the lookout for the steward and Benjamin. Yonder they come, but behind them are all the ten. What shall now be done? They come in and fall down before him once more, and say, We are thy bondmen. God has found out our iniquity. No, he says, the man in whose hand the cup is found shall be my bondman; but as for you, get you up in peace to your father.
Joseph thought that his plan was a success. They will be glad to go in peace. I will soon have it all right with Benjamin. They will hereafter send somebody else to buy their grain. But Judah arose, drew near, and begged the privilege of speaking a word. He recites the incidents of their first visit, and speaks of the difficulty with which they had induced their father to let Benjamin come. He quotes from his father these words: Ye know that my wife bore me two sons; one of them went out from me, and I said surely he is torn in pieces; and I have not seen him since, If ye take this one also from me and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to the grave. He closes with the proposal, Let thy servant, I pray thee, abide instead of the lad, a bondman to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brethren. Here was a revelation to Josephtwo of them. First, I have been blaming my old father for these twenty-two years because he did not send down into Egypt and hunt me up, and buy me out, and take me home; and now I see I have been blaming him unjustly, for he thought I was deadthat some wild beast had torn me in pieces. O what self-reproach, and what a revival of love for his old father! And here, again, I have been trying to drive these brothers away from me, as unworthy of any countenance on my part, or even an acquaintance with them; but what a change has come over them! The very men that once sold me for fifteen paltry pieces of silver, are now willing to be slaves themselves, rather than see their youngest brother made a slave, even when he appears to be guilty of stealing. What a change! Immediately all of his old affection for them takes possession of him, and with these two revelations flashing upon him, it is not surprising that he broke out into loud weeping. He weeps, and falls upon his brothers necks, He says, I am Joseph. A thought flashes through his mind, never conceived before, and he says, Be not grieved, or angry with yourselves that ye sold me hither. He sees now Gods hand all through this strange, sad experience, and using a Hebraism, he says, It was not you that sent me hither, but God; God did send me before to preserve life. When he was a prisoner there in the prison, he did not see Gods hand. I suppose he thought that it was all of the devil; but now that he has gotten to the end of the vista and looks back, he sees it is God who has done it. He sees in part what we saw in the first part of this discourse. O, my friends, many times when you shall have passed through deep waters that almost overwhelm you, and shall have felt alienated from all the friends you had on earth, thinking that they had deserted you, wait a little longer, and you will look up and say it was God; it was the working of grand, glorious, and blessed purposes that He had in his mind concerning you.
The last question we can dispose of now very quickly, because it has been almost entirely anticipated. Why did God select ten men to be the heads of ten tribes of his chosen people, who were so base as to sell their brother? O, my brethren, it was not the ten who sold their brother that God selected, but the ten who were willing to be slaves instead of their brother. These are the ten that he chose. If you and I shall get to heaven, why will God admit us there? Not because of what we once were, but because of what He shall have made out of us by His dealings with us. He had his mind on the outcome, and not on the beginning. If you and I had to be judged by what we were at one time, there would be no hope for us. I am glad to know that my chances for the approval of the Almighty are based on what I hope to be, and not on what I am. Thank God for that!
And they were worthy. How many men who, when the youngest brother of the family was clearly guilty of stealing, and was about to be made a slave, would say, Let me be the slave, and let him go home to his father? Not many. And what had brought about the wondrous change which they had undergone? Ah, here we have the other illustration of Gods providential government to which I have alluded. When these men held up the bloody coat before their father, knowing that Joseph was not dead, as he supposed, but not able to tell him so because the truth would be still more distressing than the fiction, What father would not rather a thousand times over that one of his sons should be dead, than that one of them should be kidnapped and sold into foreign bondage by the others? If their fathers grief was inconsolable, their own remorse was intolerable. For twenty-two long years they writhed under it, and there is no wonder that then they should prefer foreign bondage themselves rather than to witness a renewal of their fathers anguish. The same chain of providence which brought them unexpectedly into Egypt, had fitted them for the high honors which were yet to crown their names.
Is there a poor sinner here today, whom God has disciplined, whether less or more severely than He did those men, and brought to repentance? If so, the kind Redeemer whom you rejected, and sold, as it were, to strangers, stands ready to forgive you more completely and perfectly than Joseph forgave his brethren. He has found out your iniquity; he knows it all; but he died that he might be able to forgive you. Come in his appointed way; come guilty and trembling, as Josephs brothers came, and you will find His everlasting arms around you.
REVIEW QUESTIONS ON PART FORTY-SIX
1.
What is the over-all motif of the Joseph-Story?
2.
Where was Joseph dwelling with his parental household at the time he now appears in the Biblical narrative? How old was he at this time?
3.
Were Josephs brothers justified in their hatred of him?
4.
What was it that made his good qualities offensive? Can we sympathize with them at all? Could we be justified in accepting what they did to him?
5.
How did the brothers get the opportunity to dispose of Joseph?
6.
What special gift did Jacob give to Joseph?
7.
Who were the brothers of whom he brought back to his father an evil report?
8.
What were the two dreams which Joseph experienced and what did they mean?
9.
What were the three things that incensed the brothers against Joseph? To what extent did envy enter into their attitude, and why?
10.
To what place did Jacob send Joseph to find the brothers? Where did he find them?
11.
Which of the brothers kept the others from killing Joseph? Why did he do this?
12.
Which one suggested that Joseph be sold? What was probably his real motive for doing this?
13.
To what people was Joseph sold? What was the price involved?
14.
What was done with Josephs coat? How did the brothers account for Josephs disappearance?
15.
What was Jacobs reaction when he saw the coat?
16.
Explain what Sheol was in Old Testament thought? How did the O.T. concept of Sheol correspond to the N.T. doctrine of Hades? Explain the distinction between Hades and Gehenna in New Testament teaching.
17.
To whom was Joseph sold in Egypt? What office did his owner hold?
18.
How did Joseph get along in his masters house? To what extent did his owner trust him?
19.
What temptation was thrust upon Joseph in his owners house? Against whom did Joseph declare that this sin would be?
20.
How did he escape the woman? What was the lie she told? What did the owner do with him as a consequence?
21.
What special prisoners were kept in the place where Joseph was imprisoned?
22.
How did Joseph get along in prison? What two royal officials were cast into the prison?
23.
What were the dreams which these two prisoners experienced? What interpretations did Joseph give of these dreams?
24.
What special request did Joseph make of the chief butler?
25.
How were the dreams fulfilled?
26.
Who was it that forgot Joseph and for how long?
27.
What were the two dreams which the Pharaoh experienced? What did the word Pharaoh signify?
28.
Who among the Egyptians could not interpret the Pharaohs dreams?
29.
Who told the Pharaoh of Joseph? What confession did he make?
30.
What preparations did Joseph make to present himself before the king? What did these signify especially?
31.
To whom did Joseph give credit for the dreams which the king had experienced and for what purpose were they granted the king?
32.
What was Josephs interpretation of the Pharaohs dreams? Why was his dream doubled? What advice did Joseph give him?
33.
With what office did the Pharaoh invest Joseph? What special rank did he give him?
34.
Who was given to Joseph as his wife? What was her fathers name and position?
35.
Explain the significance of the names, Asenath, Potiphera, and On.
36.
What was Josephs age at the time he was made Prime Minister?
37.
What general policy did Joseph advise the Pharaoh to adopt in view of the impending crisis?
38.
What was the general character of the various dreams which Joseph interpreted?
39.
What is the popular opinion as a rule with regard to the significance of dreams?
40.
What is the over-all psychoanalytic theory of dreams?
41.
In what sense were the dreams interpreted by Joseph premonitions?
42.
Who were the professional interpreters of dreams in the pagan world?
43.
What are the two general categories of dreams reported in Scripture?
44.
What two functions do dreams serve which in Scripture are divinely inspired?
45.
How is the power of interpretation varied in relation to the functions served by dreams?
46.
How closely related are dreams to visions? How are waking visions to be distinguished from dreams? How is the dream related to prophecy in Scripture?
47.
How old was Joseph when he became Prime Minister of Egypt?
48.
How did God compensate him for his former unhappiness?
49.
How much grain did Joseph gather? Where did he store this grain?
50.
What were the names of Josephs two sons and what did each name mean?
51.
What area did the famine cover?
52.
What caused Jacobs sons to go into Egypt the first time?
53.
Which son of Jacob was left at home, and why?
54.
Whom did the brothers face in Egypt? How did their visit fulfil a dream?
55.
Of what did Joseph accuse the brothers? What was their reply?
56.
How long did Joseph keep them in jail?
57.
What tests did Joseph impose on them and for what purpose?
58.
Whom were they ordered to bring back to Egypt and why?
59.
What did the brothers think had caused them to suffer this penalty?
60.
Which brother was detained in Egypt?
61.
What facts were little by little revealed to Joseph about the brothers and the father with respect to what had happened to him in Canaan?
62.
What did Joseph cause to be placed in the brothers sacks? Which brother was detained in Egypt?
63.
How did the brothers react when they discovered the contents of their sacks?
64.
What accusation did Jacob bring against the brothers on their return home?
65.
Why did the brothers return to Egypt a second time?
66.
What security did Reuben offer Jacob as proof he would care for Benjamin?
67.
Who told Jacob that Benjamin must be taken into Egypt? What was Jacobs reaction?
68.
What caused the father finally to relent? What did he tell the brothers to take back into Egypt?
69.
What hospitality did Joseph show them when they returned to Egypt?
70.
What did Joseph say when the brothers tried to return their money?
71.
What did the brothers offer Joseph?
72.
How did Joseph react when he saw Benjamin?
73.
Why did Joseph not sit at the table with his brothers?
74.
How were the brothers arranged at their table? Who got the most food and how much more did he get?
75.
What was placed in the brothers sacks and in Benjamins sack?
76.
What did Joseph have the steward, on catching up with the brothers as they started for home, accuse them of stealing?
77.
What did the brothers say should be done to them as a punishment if they were guilty?
78.
How did they react when the cup was found?
79.
How did Joseph declare that Benjamin should be punished?
80.
Who interceded for Benjamin, offering to serve as hostage, and why?
81.
Why did Joseph send everyone out of the room but the brothers?
82.
Whom did Joseph ask about first after disclosing his identity?
83.
How did the brothers react to this revelation?
84.
In what statement did Joseph declare his conviction that this entire happening was providential? How was it providential?
85.
Trace the hand of God in the story of Joseph as this story was unfolded by His providence?
86.
How many years of famine had passed by this time?
87.
What arrangements were made for transporting Jacobs household to Egypt?
88.
What part of the country was given them for a dwelling, and why?
89.
How did Jacob react to the news about Joseph?
90.
What arrangements for transporting Jacobs family to Egypt did the Pharaoh make?
91.
How old was Jacob when he came down to Egypt? What did he say to Pharaoh at their meeting?
92.
What three things did Joseph obtain from the people for Pharaoh?
93.
What did God promise Jacob that he would do for him in Egypt?
94.
What economic policies did Joseph institute with reference to land ownership? What over-all changes did this make in the economics and politics of Egypt? Was it good or bad? Explain your answer?
95.
What class of people retained their land? What part of the land production was collected for Pharaoh?
96.
How many souls of the house of Jacob came into Egypt?
97.
How reconcile this figure with that which is given in Act. 7:14?
98.
What are the analogies between the life of Joseph and the life of Christ?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
46. Thirty years old Accordingly Joseph had now been thirteen years in Egypt . Comp . Gen 37:2.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went throughout all the length of Egypt.’
Joseph had thus been in servitude and then in prison for about twelve years (Gen 37:2). The thirty years may be a round number signifying that he had come to a point of completeness and was of full age for the task facing him (three intensified), but is probably approximately correct.
“Went out from the presence of Pharaoh.” He not only left Pharaoh but carried with him his authority.
“Went throughout all the land of Egypt.” This repetition of verse Gen 41:45 b is typical of ancient literature which loved repetition for the sake of the hearers.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Joseph Ministers to the Egyptians During the Famine In Gen 41:46-57 we have the account of Joseph serving in his office as he faithfully ministered to the Egyptians.
Gen 41:51 Word Study on “Manasseh” – This name ( ) (H4519) means, “causing to forget.”
Illustration – When Menchu and I had our first child, it helped her to forget the sorrow that she had constantly dealt with from not having seen her family for several years.
Gen 41:51 Word Study on “toil” Strong says the Hebrew word “toil” ( ) (H5999) means, “toil, weary effort,” thus, “ worry, whether of body or mind.” It is translated as “grievance (-vousness), iniquity, labour, mischief, miserable (-sery), pain (-ful), perverseness, sorrow, toil, travail, trouble, wearisome, wickedness.” This word is used in Job 5:7. The verb form is used in Psa 127:1.
Job 5:7, “Yet man is born unto trouble , as the sparks fly upward.”
Psa 127:1, “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.”
Comments – Joseph had felt all of these emotions in his life, yet never forsook his hope in the Lord.
Gen 41:52 Word Study on “Ephraim” Strong says the Hebrew name “Ephraim” ( ) (H669) means, “double fruit.”
Gen 41:54 Comments – Gen 41:45 tells us that this famine was called by God to fulfil God’s purpose and plan for the people of Israel. This plan was for the nation of Israel to inherit the promised land of Canaan. Note Psa 105:16.
Psa 105:16, “Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread.”
Gen 41:57 Comments – Joseph was sent ahead of his family to prepare the way for the Hebrews to safely settle in Egypt (Psa 105:17).
Psa 105:17, “He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Seven Years of Plenty
v. 46. And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. v. 47. And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls, v. 48. And he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities; the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same. v. 49. And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number. v. 50. And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On, bare unto him.
v. 51. And Joseph called the name of the first-born Manasseh v. 52. And the name of the second called he Ephraim
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Gen 41:46
And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egyptliterally, a son of thirty years in his standing before Pharaoh. If, therefore, he had been three years in prison (Gen 40:4; Gen 41:1), he must have served for ten years in the house of Potiphar. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh (in the performance of his official duties), and went throughout all the land of Egyptsuper-intending the district overseers.
Gen 41:47, Gen 41:48
And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls (i.e. abundantly). And he (Joseph, through his subordinates) gathered up all the food (i.e. all the portions levied) of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities:men bringing corn into granaries appear upon the monuments at Beni-hassanthe food of the field, which was round about every city (literally, the food of the field of the city, which was in its environs), laid he up in the same (literally, in the midst of it).
Gen 41:49
And Joseph gathered (or heaped up) corn as the sand of the sea,an image of great abundance (cf. Gen 32:12)very much, until he left numbering (i.e. writing, or keeping a record of the number of bushels); for it was without number. “In a tomb at Eilethya a man is represented whose business it evidently was to take account of the number of bushels. Which another man, acting under him, measures. The inscription is as follows “The writer or registrar of bushelsThutnofre,”.
Gen 41:50, Gen 41:51
And unto Joseph wore born two sons before the years of famine came, (literally, before the coming of the gears of famine), which Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On bare unto him. And Joseph called, the name of the firstborn Manasseh (“Forgetting,” from nashah, to forget): For God (Elohim; Joseph not at the moment thinking of his son’s birth in its relations to the theocratic kingdom, but simply in its connection with the overruling providence of God which had been so signally illustrated in his elevation, from a position of obscurity in Canaan to such conspicuous honor in the land of the Pharaohs), said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house. Not absolutely (Calvin, who censures Joseph on this account, vix tamen in totem potest excusari oblivio paternae domus), as events subsequently proved, but relatively, the pressure of his former affliction being relieved by his present happiness, and the loss of his father’s house in some degree compensated by the building of a house for himself.
Gen 41:52
And the name of the second called he Ephraim:”Double Fruitfulness” (Keil), “Double Land” (Gesenius), “Fruit.” (Furst)For God (Elohim) hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. This language shows that Joseph had not quite forgotten “all his toil.”
Gen 41:53, Gen 41:54
And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended. And the seven years of dearth began to come,the most complete parallel to Joseph’s famine was that which occurred in A.D. 1064-1071, in the reign of Fatimee Khaleefeh, El-Mustansir-bilh, when the people ate corpses and animals that died of themselves; when a dog was sold for five, a cat for three, and a bushel of wheat for twenty, deenars (vide Smith’s ‘Bib. Dict.,’ art. Famine)according as Joseph had said (thus confirming Joseph’s character as a prophet): and the dearth was in all lands;i.e. in all the adjoining countries, and notably in Palestine (vide Gen 42:1, Gen 42:2)but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
Gen 41:55
And when (literally, and) all the land of Egypt was famished (literally, and), the people cried to Pharaoh for bread:cf. the famine in Samaria (2Ki 6:26)and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith So you, do.
Gen 41:56, Gen 41:57
And the famine was over all the face of the earth (vide supra, Gen 41:54): And Joseph opened all the storehouses,literally, all wherein was, i.e. all the magazines that had grain in them. The granaries of Egypt are represented on the monuments. “In the tomb of Amenemha at Beni-hassan there is the painting of a great storehouse, before whose door lies a great heap of grain already winnowed. Near by stands the bushel with which it is measured, and the registrar who takes the account”and sold unto the Egyptians (cf. Pro 2:1-22 :26);and the famine waxed sore (literally, became strong) in the land of Egypt. A remarkable inscription from the tomb at Eileythia of Barn, which Brugsch assigns to the latter part of the seventeenth dynasty, mentions a dearth of several years in Egypt (“A famine having broken out during many years, I gave corn to the town during each famine”), which that distinguished Egyptologer identifies with the famine of Joseph under Apophis, the shepherd king (vide ‘ Encyclopedia Britannica,’ ninth edition, art. Egypt); but, this, according to Bunsen (‘Egypt’s Place, 3:334), is rather to be detected in a dearth of several years which occurred in the time of Osirtasen I; and which is mentioned in an inscription at Beni-hassan, recording the fact that during its prevalence food was supplied by Amenee, the governor of a district of Upper Egypt (Smith’s’ Dict.,’ art. Joseph). The character of Chnumhotep (a near relative and favorite of Osirtasen I; and his immediate successor), and the recorded events of his government, as described in the Beni-hassan monuments, also remind one of Joseph:”he (i.e. Chnumhotep) injured no little child; he oppressed no widow; he detained for his own purpose no fisherman; took from his work no shepherd; no overseer’s men were taken. There was no beggar in his days; no one starved in his time. When years of famine occurred he ploughed all the lands of the district, producing abundant food; no one starved in it; he treated the widow as a woman with a husband to protect her”. And all countries (i.e. people from all the adjoining lands) came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because the famine was so sore in all lands.
HOMILETICS
Gen 41:46-57
Joseph on the second throne in Egypt.
I. DURING THE SEVEN YEARS OF PLENTY.
1. His mature manhood (Gen 41:46). Thirteen years had elapsed since his brethren had sold him at Dothan, and during the interval what a checkered life had be experienced! Carried into Egypt by the spice caravan of the Midianitish traders, he had been sold a second time as a slave. Ten years had he served as a bondman, first as a valet to the provost marshal of the slaughterers, and then as overseer of the great man’s household. Three years more he had spent in prison, having been incarcerated on a charge of which he was entirely innocent. And now, at the age of thirty, he is the wisest and the greatest man in Egypt. God has strange ways of developing the talents, maturing the experience, and advancing the honor of his sons. The case of Joseph is a signal illustration of the beneficial uses of adversity, and shows that the true road to success in life, to the acquisition of wisdom, or of power, or of wealth, or of fame, or of all combined, often lies through early hardships and trials, disasters and defeats.
2. His political activity (Gen 41:46-49). As grand vizier of the empire, Joseph’s labors during this period must have been many and laborious: surveying the corn-producing land of the country, and dividing it for purposes of taxation into districts, appointing overseers in every district, erecting granaries or government stores in every city of any size or importance, and generally superintending in every corner of the empire the work of uplifting the fifth part of the superabundant harvests of those precious years when the earth brought forth by handfuls. The result was, that by the close of this period the Egyptian government had collected corn as the sand of the sea, very much, and without number.
3. His domestic prosperity (Gen 41:50). On the name of Joseph’s wife, and the questions connected with the subject of her marriage with Joseph, the Exposition under Gen 41:45 may be consulted. That the marriage itself was approved by God there is no sufficient reason to doubt, and that it was a marriage of affection may be inferred from the sentiments expressed by Joseph on the occasion of his sons’ births. The birth of his children also was interpreted by him to be a mark of Divine favor. What a signal reward for the fidelity and purity of Joseph’s behavior in the house of Potiphar three years before! Had Joseph at that time left the straight path of virtue, where had been his advancement and felicity now? Even in this life God puts a premium in the long run on a life of purity.
4. His personal piety (Gen 41:51, Gen 41:52). To some indeed Joseph’s language on the birth of Manasseh appears somewhat hard to reconcile at least with true filial piety. Why did not Joseph, on reaching his exalted station in Egypt, at once communicate with his father? Was this a just or generous reward for what he had experienced of the old man’s parental affection, and, what he must have still felt assured of, the old man’s sorrow for his imagined death? Yet Joseph talks as if he had forgotten his father’s house, as well as all his toil, in the splendor of his fame and the exuberance of his happiness in Egypt. But that these words are not to be interpreted literally becomes apparent, not alone from the pathetic meeting with his brethren and his father, soon to be described, but also from the statement which he makes upon the birth of Ephraim, in which he still characterizes Egypt as the land of his affliction. That Joseph did not at once declare his parentage and send a message home to Hebron may be explained by many reasons without resorting to the hypothesis that “Joseph was still unable to attain perfect calm and cherish sentiments of love and forgiveness” towards his brethren (Kurtz): as, e.g; the comparative insecurity that must have attended his position in Egypt until the years of famine came, an unwillingness prematurely to reveal to his father the full depth of wickedness of which his brethren had been guilty, a secret impression made upon his mind by God that the time of disclosure was not yet, At all events Joseph’s conduct in this matter discovers nothing essentially inconsistent with a piety which shines out conspicuously in the grateful recognition of the hand of God in turning for him the shadow of death into the morning.
II. DURING THE SEVEN YEARS OF DEARTH.
1. His reputation as a prophet fully confirmed (verses 53, 54). God is always careful to maintain the honor of his own prophets. Whatever message he transmits to the world or the Church through a messenger of his sending, he will in due time see to its fulfillment. No true ambassador of heaven need entertain the slightest apprehensions as to the failure of the words which God provides for him to speak. If he is not always, like Samuel, established as a prophet of the Lord at the beginning of his ministry (1Sa 3:20), his claim to that distinction will in due course be made good by the exact accomplishment of what God has through his lips foretold.
2. His sagacity as at, administrator clearly established (verse 55). If Pharaoh had any doubts as to the wisdom of Joseph’s proposal during the seven years of plenty, assuredly he had tone now. With a famishing population all around him, what could Pharaoh have done, how averted the destruction of his people, and possibly the overthrow of his own dynasty, if it had not been for the prudent forethought of Joseph? Happy are the kings who have wise men in their kingdoms, and who, when they have them, can trust them.
3. His work as a savior hopefully begun (verse 56). If it be asked why Joseph did not gratuitously distribute Pharaoh’s corn among the perishing multitudes, the reply is obvious.
(1) In all probability the grain had been previously purchased from the people.
(2) The people had been warned of the impending calamity, and might have exercised a little of the forethought of Joseph, and by care and economy provided for the day of want.
(3) To have given the corn gratuitously would have resulted in a too lavish distribution, and for the most part to the greedy and the prodigal rather than to the really necessitous.
(4) By affixing to it a price the people were encouraged as long as possible to practice frugality and preserve independence. Wise governors will be slow in making paupers of their subjects. This is one of the dangers connected with the Poor Law Administration in our own land.
(5) It enabled Joseph by a judicious husbanding of resources to extend the circle of relief to the starving populations of other countries who came to him to purchase corn.
Learn
1. The sin of national wastefulness.
2. The value of a wise statesman.
3. The compatibility of piety with both personal greatness and political activity.
4. The propriety of setting mercies over against misfortunes.
5. The proper end of all government and legislationthe happiness and safety of the people.
6. The true duty of a monarchto sympathize with and direct his subjects.
7. The legitimate ambition for a nationto be an object of attraction for good to surrounding countries.
HOMILIES BY F. HASTINGS
Gen 41:54
Destitution and abundance.
“And the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.” The time of harvest is, of all periods of the year, the most important. It is the point to which all previous operations of the cultivator have tended. He knows how much depends on the weather and God’s mercy. Having done all he can, he has to wait, and the harvest-time determines results. Those who are not engaged in agriculture are concerned in a harvest. Suppose there were none; non-producers must starve, Dwelling in great towns and cities, many who are engaged in traffic or manufacture may easily overlook harvest-time, and forget their dependence on God for daily bread. They see not the sown fields, they watch not the springing blade, they seize not the sharp sickle, they join not in piling up the pointed stacks, and are therefore likely to forget dependence on God. It is well that God forgets us not. He has ever kept his promise”So long as the earth remaineth,” &c. No year has passed without harvest-time being stinted in some land. Think over the contrast given in the text.
I. GENERAL DISTRESS. “The dearth was in all lands,” i.e. all the lands then known to be peopled by the descendants of Noah. Their harvests had failed. Rain excessive, or drought prolonged, had ruined their crops. For several years there seems to have been disappointment. Not only did the husbandmen suffer, but those who could not toil. Dearth engenders disease, despair, death. See 2Ki 6:24 -40, to what straits famine will reduce people. Even mothers consent together to eat their own offspring. In the lamentations of Jeremiah there is a description of the fearful consequences of famine, leading men to say, “Then was our skin black like an oven, because of the terrible famine.” How painful must it be to have scanty platters and empty barns; for parents to have children clinging to the skirts of their garments, crying, “Give, oh, give bread,” and to have none wherewith to satisfy them I We see the effect of famine on one family in the East. Jacob’s sons “looked on one another, and were sad.” Their looks were despairing. They had money, flocks, and herds, but no bread. They could not eat their money, and to have lived on their starving flocks alone would engender disease of frightful character. Many had not even flocks to fall back upon, and the dearth was in all lands. How men at such a time must have looked longingly at the heavens, and prayed that God would send them bread I Sometimes such seasons of trial are sent that men may be reminded of the dependence on God. To have a moral and spiritual dearth is worse than to have outward destitution. The spiritual is more important than the physical. A more terrible death than all is that where there is a lack of a knowledge of God and his love, and of hearing the word of the Lord.
II. EXCEPTIONAL ABUNDANCE. But for this plentifulness in Egypt the whole race might have perished. There were several reasons for the abundance in Egypt.
1. God arranged it by that wondrous overflowing of the Nile. A difference in the rising a few feet makes all the difference as to the crops. Even at this date, so do the crops of Egypt affect the markets of the world, that the rising of the Nile is watched, and the height attained telegraphed to all parts. God, at the period referred to, had given seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of dearth; but such had been the previous abundance, owing to the overflow of the river, that in the terrible time of dearth there was abundance of bread in Egypt.
2. The foresight and energy of one man had led to the husbanding of resources and storing of excessive crops.
3. Divine revelation caused Joseph to act. He could not have known of the impending danger unless it had been revealed. He had faith in God when in prison, and main-rained it when he became the governor of Egypt. Indeed that faith shone as brightly when he was the approved of Pharaoh as when he was the slave of Potiphar and the object of passion’s hate. His faith was rewarded when he was able to save multitudes from starving. What a contrast is presented in the text! Dearth of many lands, abundance in one. Such contrasts are often seen. On one side of the ocean there may have been an abundant harvest, on the other side but scanty crops. The world is full of contrasts. Here is a wedding; there is a funeral. In one family is love, thoughtfulness, harmony, and in thatperhaps separated only by the thin partition of hasty buildersbickering, jealousy, and hastiness of temper. Here sobriety, providence, and religion reign; there nothing but indigence, drunkenness, and utter neglect of the claims of God. In one country is peace, activity in all its branches of industry, commercial confidence, progress-in education and art, thoughtfulness for the untaught and criminal classes, and higher appreciation of the sacredness of life; in another depression, mistrust, plotting of adventurers, rule of the conscienceless, national faithlessness, and the spreading pall of desolation. Forceful is the contrast presented by nations under the influence of a simple Christianity and those enslaved by superstition, as Spain or Austria; or paralyzed by fatalism, as Turkey and Asia Minor; or darkened by idolatry, as India, China, Africa, and some of the islands of the seas. And such contrasts are seen in individuals. There walks one whose soul has no light, no hope, no peace; here one who knows he is pardoned, and is sure of acceptance by Christ. At death what a contrast! See one dying shrinking, doubting, fearing, grasping at any straw of comfort; another rejoicing that he is soon to enter and tread the streets of the New Jerusalem. Let all be prepared for such a change. Seek Christ, who is the “Bread of life,” the Savior of our souls. Lack of appetite and numbness may come from excessive exhaustion. Hunger and thirst after righteousness, and be not like a lady who once said, “Sir, I have been so long without religion that I have, I fear, now no desire for it.” If we come to Christ he will receive us readily. Joseph was glad to receive and help his brethren. So will Christ supply all our need out of the treasures of his rich grace. Remember, that if the need of other nations tested the charity of Egypt, so the need of souls is to test our earnestness. If we have found the riches in Christ, we are to seek to bless others. If little time remains to some of us in which to do much for Christ, let us act as those who, having much to write and little space, crowd the letters and words the closer. Let us be earnest as the husbandman, who, seeing winter coming apace, hastens in the few fine days remaining to garner his crops. Alas, many of our doings will have to stand useless, like earless, rotten sheaves, blackening dreary fields.H.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Gen 41:46. Joseph was thirty years old He was seventeen years old when he was sold into AEgypt, and consequently had been thirteen years in slavery when he stood before Pharaoh, an eastern phrase expressing his advancement; for the great counsellors and ministers alone were admitted into the interior parts of the eastern kings’ palaces, to stand before them, Dan 1:19 and to see the king’s face, Est 1:14. The sacred historian remarks this, 1st, To make us sensible that the consummate wisdom of Joseph, at so early a period of life, was a work of the Holy Spirit: 2nd, To exalt the Divine Goodness, which recompensed the troubles he suffered for thirteen years, by a long prosperity of fourscore.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
JESUS was about the same age when he entered upon his public ministry. See Luk 3:23 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 41:46 And Joseph [was] thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.
Ver. 46. And Joseph was thirty years old. ] This is mentioned, to show what wonderful graces he had attained at those years; what rare endowments both of piety and policy. Julius Caesar beholding the picture of Alexander in Hercules’s temple at Gades, wept, that he had done no worthy act at those years, wherein Alexander had conquered the whole world. Behold, Joseph, at thirty, showed more wisdom and virtue than either of them; as Parerius, on this text, well observeth: and hath for his thirteen years’ service and imprisonment, fourscore years’ liberty, prosperity, and honour. God is a liberal paymaster.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Gen 41:46-49
46Now Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt. 47During the seven years of plenty the land brought forth abundantly. 48So he gathered all the food of these seven years which occurred in the land of Egypt and placed the food in the cities; he placed in every city the food from its own surrounding fields. 49Thus Joseph stored up grain in great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he stopped measuring it, for it was beyond measure.
Gen 41:46 “thirty years old” This is literally “son of thirty years,” which is an idiom (cf. Lev 27:5; 2Ki 8:26; Jer 52:1).
Gen 41:47-49 Joseph’s dream interpretation was completely accurate. The abundance is accentuated in several ways.
1. seven years of plenty, Gen 41:47
2. the land brought forth abundantly, Gen 41:47
3. stored grain in great abundance, Gen 41:47; Gen 41:47
4. like the sand of the sea, Gen 41:49
5. until he stopped measuring it for it was beyond measure, Gen 41:49
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
years: Gen 37:2, Num 4:3, 2Sa 5:4, Luk 3:23
he stood: 1Sa 16:21, 1Ki 12:6, 1Ki 12:8, Pro 22:29, Dan 1:19, Luk 21:36, Jud 1:24
Reciprocal: Gen 41:29 – General Exo 7:7 – General 1Sa 16:16 – before thee Dan 1:5 – stand
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gen 41:46. Joseph was thirty years old So that his life had been a life of humiliation and suffering for about thirteen years. But the season of peculiar and great affliction, whereby his faith and patience, and all his graces, had been tried to the uttermost, had prepared him for his subsequent exaltation, which was of much longer duration, even for the space of eighty years. His age may also, perhaps, be mentioned here, to signify that his great wisdom, when he stood before Pharaoh, was not the fruit of long and large experience, but was the singular gift of God.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
41:46 And Joseph [was] {n} thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.
(n) His age is mentioned both to show that his authority came from God, and also that he endured imprisonment and exile for twelve years or more.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The notation of the birth of Joseph’s sons is, of course, very significant in view of God’s purposes concerning Abraham’s family (Gen 41:50-52). Joseph acknowledged God’s goodness to him in naming both his sons. An allusion to the blessing aspect of the patriarchal promises occurs in Gen 41:49.
"If the name of Joseph’s first son (Manasseh) focuses on a God who preserves, the name of Joseph’s second son (Ephraim) focuses on a God who blesses." [Note: Hamilton, The Book . . . Chapters 18-50, p. 512.]
Some readers of Genesis have wondered why Joseph did not inform Jacob of his welfare quickly since he must have realized that Jacob would have worried about his disappearance. In naming Manasseh, Joseph said God had enabled him to forget all (his troubles in) his father’s household (Gen 41:51). Perhaps Joseph did not try to contact Jacob because he thought his father had set him up for what happened to him at Dothan. [Note: Marc Shapiro, "The Silence of Joseph," Journal of Reform Judaism 36:1 (Winter 1989):15-17.] This seems very unlikely to me since Jacob’s sorrow over Joseph’s apparent death seems genuine. Perhaps Joseph did not try to contact Jacob because, through the remarkable events by which God exalted him, he came to realize that God would fulfill the rest of His promises contained in his dreams. [Note: Delitzsch, 2:306; Waltke, Genesis, p. 535.] He may have concluded that his best course of action would be to continue to let God take the initiative as He had done so consistently in his life to that time. Joseph had evidently come to trust God in place of his father. In this sense he had forgotten his father’s household.
"’Forget’ does not mean here ’not remember’ but rather to have something no longer (cf. Job 39:17; Job 11:16. See, too, the Arabic proverb, ’Whoever drinks water from the Nile forgets his fatherland if he is a foreigner’). The phrase refers, therefore, more to an objective external fact than to a subjective, psychological process." [Note: von Rad, p. 379.]
One might say that for Joseph life in Canaan was a closed chapter of his life. [Note: Cf. Mathews, Genesis 11:27-50:26, p. 766.]
"Just as Adam is seen in the Creation account as dependent on God for his knowledge of ’good and evil,’ so Joseph also is portrayed here in the same terms . . . Just as Adam is made God’s ’vicegerent’ to rule over all the land, so similarly Joseph is portrayed here as the Pharaoh’s ’vicegerent’ over all his land (Gen 41:40-43). As Adam was made in God’s image to rule over all the land, so the king here gave Joseph his ’signet ring’ and dressed him in royal garments (Gen 41:42). The picture of Joseph resembles the psalmist’s understanding of Genesis 1 when, regarding that passage, he writes, ’[You have] crowned him with glory and honor./ You made him ruler over the works of your hands;/ you put everything under his feet’ (Psa 8:5-7). Just as God provided a wife for Adam in the garden and gave man all the land for his enjoyment, so the king gave a wife to Joseph and put him over all the land (Gen 41:45). . . .
"The picture of Joseph, then, looks back to Adam; but more, it looks forward to one who was yet to come. It anticipates the coming of the one from the house of Judah to whom the kingdom belongs (cf. Gen 49:10). Thus in the final shape of the narrative, the tension between the house of Joseph and the house of Judah, which lies within many of these texts, is resolved by making the life of Joseph into a picture of the one who is to reign from the house of Judah." [Note: Sailhamer, "Genesis," p. 242. See also idem, The Pentateuch . . ., p. 215.]
God controls the fortunes of nations to protect and provide for His covenant people.