Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 50:14
And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.
And Joseph returned into Egypt,…. As he promised he would,
Ge 50:5
he and his brethren; the eleven sons of Jacob; for though they had not made the same promise, nor Joseph for them, yet they returned, having left their little ones, flocks and herds, in Egypt:
and all that went up with him to bury his father; the elders and great men of the land of Egypt, with their attendants:
after he had buried his father; in the land of Canaan, which, though given to the seed of Jacob, the time was not come for them to possess it, nor the time of their departure out of Egypt thither, which was to be a good while hence, and after another manner.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
After performing this filial duty, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brethren and all their attendants.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Verses 14-21:
See 2Co 1:3, 4. Joseph and his brothers returned to Egypt, following the burial of Jacob. A dark suspicion crossed the minds of the brothers. Now that their father was dead, what if Joseph were at last to avenge the wrong they had done him long ago. They sent a message to Joseph, reminding him that their father before his death had asked Joseph to forgive them. There is no record of this request in the Scriptures, but it is not unlikely that Jacob did indeed make it.
Joseph manifested a true spirit of Divine love toward his brothers. The wrong was completely forgiven. And Joseph viewed the brothers’ treatment of him as the plan of God, to preserve alive the Chosen People. Joseph promised to provide for his brothers and their families.
The memory of sin, even though it is forgiven, lingers long. It had been almost five decades (50 years) since Joseph’s brothers had sold him to slavery. Still the memory was vivid to them. Joseph had long since forgiven them, but they were unable to forgive themselves. This final demonstration of Joseph’s love and forgiveness was their assurance that all was indeed well in their relationship, Ga 6:1.
The brother’s doubts and fears served only to fill them with anxiety. This principle applies in every age. Unwillingness to accept forgiveness produces anxiety and harmful stress.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
14. And Joseph returned. Although Joseph and the rest had left so many pledges in Egypt, that it would be necessary for them to return; it is yet probable that they were rather drawn back thither by the oracle of God. For God never permitted them to choose an abode at their own will; but as he had before led Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in their journeying, so he held their sons shut up in the land of Goshen, as within barriers. And there is no doubt that the holy fathers left that oracle which we have in the fifteenth chapter and the thirteenth verse, Gen 15:13 to their sons, to be kept in faithful custody as a precious treasure. (221) They return, therefore, into Egypt, not only because they were compelled by present necessity, but because it was not lawful for them to shake off with the hand, the yoke which God had put upon their necks. But if the Lord does not hold all men bound by voluntary obedience to himself, he nevertheless holds their minds by his secret rein, that they may not withdraw themselves from his government; nor can we form any other conjecture than that they were restrained by his fear, so that even when admonished of the tyrannical oppression which was coming upon them, they did not attempt to make their escape. We know that their disposition was not so mild as to prevent them from rebelling against lighter burdens. Wherefore, on this point, a special sense of religious obligation subdued them, so that they prepared themselves quietly and silently to endure the hardest servitude.
(221) “And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Gen. 50:15. Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.] The literal rendering isIf Joseph should now punish us, and requite all the evil that we have done to himThe sentence breaks off unfinished, requiring some such filling up as, what then? or, that would be our ruin.
Gen. 50:16. And they sent a messenger unto Joseph.] From Goshen to Memphis.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Gen. 50:14-21
JOSEPHS LAST FORGIVENESS OF HIS BRETHREN
I. Their need of forgiveness. Their father, who was the bond of love between the brothers, was now gone; and they naturally fear lest Joseph should punish them for the previous wrong they had done him. The old wound breaks out afresh. They begin to suspect that the kindness Joseph had shown them was only for their fathers sake, that Joseph never really forgave them in his heart, and that now, when the restraint of their fathers presence is removed, he will take vengeance. Sinners find it difficult to believe in human goodness. Conscious guilt is always alive to fear. Their fears were groundless, yet conscience taught them what was true, i.e., that sinners deserve to be requited according to their works. But to appreciate the majesty of goodness, to feel and know what is godlike in another, requires a spiritual mind. Wisdom can only be justified of her own children.
II. The plea on which they urge it.
1. The dying request of their father. (Gen. 50:16-17.) They bring forward their father as a mediator. They request that his word shall be held sacred, shall still be a defence between them and the dreaded evil. They admit the justice of their punishment, but desire pardon for the sake of another.
2. Their own free confession of guilt. The trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil. (Gen. 50:17.) This confession they allege was prepared for them by their father, and they adopt it with all its humiliating terms.
3. Their fathers influence with God. Forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. (Gen. 50:17.) They would strengthen the tie of nature with the tie of religion. They would say, as we have one father, so we have one God; forgive us for His sake, the God of our father. Guilty men as they were, they knew the highest principle to which they could make an appeal.
4. Their willingness to utterly abase themselves. They are ready to atone for their sin in kind. They had sold Joseph for a slave, and now they offer themselves as his servants. They make the utmost humiliation.
III. The completeness of their forgiveness. Joseph assures them of his entire forgiveness.
1. He speaks words of peace. Fear not. (Gen. 50:19; Gen. 50:21.) He hastens, at once, to relieve their minds, before he utters one word by way of reason or explanation. They are instantly assured of that love which casteth out fear. These words were like balm to their wounds, giving them immediate relief.
2. He will not presume to put himself judicially in the place of God.
(1.) As an instrument of vengeance. Am I in the place of God? (Gen. 50:19.) Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. For one who himself needs forgiveness, to follow others with the last vengeance is presumption. Joseph had already judged them, and he had forgiven. He will not presume any further, and infringe the prerogatives of the Judge of all the earth.
(2.) As presuming to change Gods purposes. Joseph reminded them that God had brought good out of their evil, had turned the calamities resulting from their sinful deeds into the means of deliverance. (Gen. 50:20.) He would not presume to change this manifest purpose of God, which facts had already revealed. God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
(3.) As presuming upon Gods prerogative of forgiveness. God had shown by events that He forgave their sin, and Joseph would not presume to reverse that act of forgiveness. He could not retain sins which God had remitted.
3. He assures them that their suspicions were unfounded. It seemed to them that with all his words of kindness and his gifts, Joseph was all along playing the hypocrite, and cherishing malignity in his heart. Therefore he shows, by implication, that their suspicions were unfounded. In Gen. 50:20 he answers them in nearly the same words as he had used seventeen years before; as if he would say, What I told you seventeen years ago, I meant, and mean still. Gods purpose of good in things evil was a principle which Joseph had well mastered. It was the golden key of his lifes history; and, indeed, of all human history to those who believe that God works in it.
4. He was ready to prove his forgiveness by his actions. (Gen. 50:21.) He would not have them be satisfied with mere words without deeds. He wished to see them happy, and he gave them the means of happiness. Josephs forgiveness brought comfort and peace, as Gods does to the sinner. And to show further how complete was his forgiveness, there was,
5. The silent testimony of his tears. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. (Gen. 50:17.) To a pure mind, to one who sincerely means good, nothing can be more painful than suspicion. It was part of our Lords humiliation that he had to endure the suspicion of evil. Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves? (Luk. 22:52.) The soul that cannot be injured with the substance of evil may be pained if touched with its shadow. Jesus had to endure the gainsayings of sinners against Himself. (Heb. 12:3.)
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen. 50:14-21. The guilty conscience can never think itself safe: so many years experience of Josephs love could not secure his brethren of remission. Those that know they have deserved ill, are wont to misinterpret favours, and think they cannot be beloved. All that while, his goodness seemed but concealed and sleeping malice. It grieves Joseph to see their fear, and to hear them so passionately crave that which they had. Forgive the tresspass of the servants of thy fathers God. What a conjuration of pardon was this! They say not, the sons of thy father; but the servants of thy fathers God. How much stronger are the bonds of religion than of nature? if Joseph had been rancorous, this depreciation had charmed him; but now it resolves him into tears. They are not so ready to acknowledge their old offence as he to protest his love. Even late confession finds forgiveness. Joseph had long ago seen their sorrow; never but now heard he their humble acknowledgment. Mercy stays not for outward solemnities. How much more shall that infinite goodness pardon our sins, when He finds the truth of our repentance?(Bp. Hall).
Behold we be thy servants. Oh that God might hear such words fall from us, prostrate at His feet! How soon would He take us up and embrace us!(Trapp).
The spirit of Josephs inner life was forgiveness. Conversant as his experience was with human treachery, no expressions of bitterness escape from him. No sentimental wailing over the cruelty of relations, the falseness of friendship, or the ingratitude of the world. No rancorous outburst of misanthropy, no sarcastic scepticism of mans integrity or womans honour. He meets all bravely, with calm, meek, and dignified forbearance. If ever man had cause for such doubts, he had; yet his heart was never soured. At last; after his fathers death, his brothers, apprehending his resentful recollections of their early cruelty, come to deprecate his revenge. Very touching in his reply. (Gen. 50:19-21). This is the Christian spirit before the Christian times. The mind of Christ, the Spirit of the years yet future, blended itself with life before He came; for His words were the Eternal Verities of our humanity. In all ages love is the truth of life. Love transmutes all curses, and forces them to rain down in blessings.(Robertson).
Joseph requited his enemies with a noble revenge. (Rom. 12:20.)
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
The Brothers Fear For Their Lives on the Death of Jacob (50:14-21).
The prime purpose of this section is not so much to deal with the brothers’ fears with respect to Joseph as to stress that all that has happened has happened in the sovereign purpose of God. He it was who was behind all that happened and Whose sovereign control brought good out of evil.
Gen 50:14-17
‘And Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and all who went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father. And when Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and will fully repay us for all the evil which we did to him.” And they sent a message to Joseph saying, “Your father gave a command before he died, “So shall you say to Joseph. Forgive, I pray you now, the transgression of your brothers, and their sin, in that they did evil to you.” And now, we pray you, forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father. And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.’
The whole entourage now return to Egypt, and it is then that the brothers’ fears begin to emerge. They have lived for years with this dread in their hearts and now it has to be faced.
It is not surprising to find that the brothers are still carrying a heavy burden of conscience about what they had done to Joseph, for it had been unmentionably cruel. And now that their father was dead they feared that the obstacle which had prevented their being punished had been removed. Sin, even forgiven sin, can demand of us a heavy price, and so it was with the brothers. It had lain hidden underneath but it had never gone. And now it had resurfaced. They now had to face the great Vizier alone. And they did not know what he would do. Thus their next contact with him was by messenger. They were afraid to see him face to face.
And they had prepared for this day. In their fears they had discussed the matter with their father and he had advised them what to do. He had told them to pass on his dying wish that Joseph should forgive them for their general transgression against him and the specific evil that they had done. So this is what they do and add to it their own plea as ‘the servants of the God of your father.’ They not only plead their father’s words but the fact that they are a part of the covenant community and servants of the God of Jacob. And when Joseph receives their message he weeps. He cannot believe that they are still afraid of him and his heart goes out to them. It was probably the news of this weeping that makes them pluck up courage to face him.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Genesis
A CALM EVENING, PROMISING A BRIGHT MORNING
Gen 50:14 – Gen 50:26
Joseph’s brothers were right in thinking that he loved Jacob better than he did them; and they knew only too well that he had reasons for doing so. But their fear that Jacob’s death would be followed by an outbreak of long-smothered revenge betrayed but too clearly their own base natures. They thought him like themselves, and they knew themselves capable of nursing wrath to keep it warm through long years of apparent kindliness. They had no room in their hearts for frank, full forgiveness. So they had lived on through numberless signs of their brother’s love and care, and still kept the old dread, and, probably, not a little of the old envy. How much happiness they had lost by their slowness to believe in Joseph’s love!
Is there nothing like this in our thoughts of God? Do men not live for years on His bounty, and all the while cherish suspicions of His heart? ‘Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself.’ It is hard to believe in a love which has no faintest trace of desire for vengeance for all past slights. It is hard for hearts conscious of their own slowness to pardon, to realise undoubtingly God’s infinite placability.
The brothers’ procedure is marked by unwarrantable lack of trust in Joseph. Why did they not go to him at once, and appeal to his brotherly affection? Their roundabout way of going to work by sending a messenger was an insult to their brother, though it may have been meant as honour to the viceroy. The craft which was their father’s by nature seems to have been amply transmitted. The story of Jacob’s dying wish looks very apocryphal. If he had been afraid of Joseph’s behaviour when he was gone, he was much more likely to have spoken to Joseph about it before he went, than to have left the gun loaded and bid them fire it after his death. Jacob knew his son better, and trusted him more than his brothers did.
We note, too, the ingenious way of slipping in motives for forgiving, first in putting the mention of their relationship into Jacob’s mouth, and then claiming to be worshippers of ‘thy not our father’s God.’ They had proved how truly they were both, when they sold him to the Midianites!
Joseph’s tears were a good answer. No doubt they were partly drawn out by the shock of finding that he had been so misunderstood, but they were omens of his pardon. So, when they were reported to the brothers, they came themselves, and fulfilled the old dream by falling down before him in abjectness. They do not call themselves his brethren, but his slaves, as if grovelling was the way to win love or to show it. A little affection would have gone farther than much submission. If their attitude truly expressed their feelings, their hearts were as untouched by Joseph’s years of magnanimous kindness as a rock by falling rain. If it was a theatrical display of feigned subjection, it was still worse. Our Brother, against whom we have sinned, wants love, not cowering; and if we believe in His forgiveness, we shall give Him the hearts which He desires, and after that shall render the unconditional submission which only trust and love can yield.
Joseph’s answer is but the reiteration of his words at his first making himself known. He soothes unworthy fears, says not a word of reproach for their misunderstanding of him, waives all pretension to deal out that retribution which God alone sends, and shows that he has lost all bitterness in thinking of the past, since he sees in it, not the working of their malice, but of God’s providence, and is ready to thank, if not them, at any rate Him, for having, by even so painful a way, made him the instrument of widespread good. A man who sees God’s hand in his past, and thinks lightly of his sorrows and nobly of the opportunities of service which they have brought him, will waste no feeling on the men who were God’s tools. If we want to live high above low hatreds and revenges, let us cultivate the habit of looking behind men to God. So we shall be saved from many fruitless pangs over irrevocable losses and from many disturbing feelings about other people.
The sweet little picture of the great minister’s last days is very tenderly touched. Surrounded by his kindred, probably finding in a younger generation the reverence and affection which the elder had failed to give, he wears away the calm evening of the life which had opened so stormily. It ‘came in like a lion, it goes out like a lamb.’ The strong domestic instincts so characteristic of the Hebrew race had full gratification. Honours and power at court and kingdom probably continued, but these did not make the genial warmth which cheered the closing years. It was that he saw his children’s children’s children, and that they gathered round his knees in confidence, and received from him his benediction.
But it is in his death that the flame shoots up most brightly at the last. ‘By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.’ He had been an Egyptian to all appearance all his life from the day of his captivity, filling his place at court, marrying an Egyptian woman, and bearing an Egyptian name, but his dying words show how he had been a stranger in the midst of it all. As truly as his fathers who dwelt in tents, he too felt that he here had no continuing city. He lived by faith in God’s promises, and therefore his heart was in the unseen future far more than in the present.
He died with the ancestral assurance on his lips. Jacob, dying, had said to him, ‘Behold, I die; but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers’ Gen 48:21. Joseph hands on the hope to his descendants. It is a grand instance of indomitable confidence in God’s word, not nonplussed, bewildered, or weakened, though the man who cherishes it dies without seeing even a beginning of fulfilment. Such a faith bridges the gulf of death as a very small matter. In the strength of it we may drop our unfinished tasks, and, needful as we may seem to wider or narrower circles, may be sure that God and His word live, though we die. No man is necessary. Israel was safe in Egypt, and sure to come out of it, though Joseph’s powerful protection was withdrawn.
His career may teach another lesson; namely, that true faith does not detach us from strenuous interest and toil in the present. Though the great hope burned in his heart, he did all his work as prime minister all the better because of it. It should always be so. Life here is not worth living if there is not another. The distance dignifies the foreground. The highest importance and nobleness of the life that now is, lie in its being preparation or apprenticeship for the greater future. The Egyptian vizier, with Canaan written on his heart, and Egypt administered by his hands, is a type of what every Christian should be.
Possibly Joseph’s ‘commandment concerning his bones may have been somewhat influenced by the Egyptian belief which underlies their practice of embalming the body. He, too, may have thought that, in some mysterious way, he would share in the possession of the land in which his bones were to be laid. Or he may simply have been yielding to natural sentiment. It is noteworthy that Jacob desired to be laid beside his ancestors, and Joseph to be kept in Egypt for a time. Both had the same assurance as to future possession of Canaan, but it led to different wishes as to burial. Perhaps Joseph felt that his position in Egypt required that his embalmed body should for a while remain there. Perhaps he wished to leave with his people a silent witness of his own hope, and a preacher, eloquent in its dumbness, of the duty of their keeping alive that hope, whatever might come upon them.
‘In a coffin in Egypt’-so the book ends. It might seem that that mummy-case proclaimed rather the futility of the hope of restoration to the land, and, as centuries rolled away, and the bondage became heavier, no doubt many a wondering and doubting look was turned to it. But there it lay, perhaps neglected, for more than three hundred years, the visible embodiment of a hope which smiled at death and counted centuries as nothing. At last the day came which vindicated the long-deferred confidence; and, as the fugitives in their haste shouldered the heavy sarcophagus, and set out with it for the Land of Promise, surely some thrill of trust would pass through their ranks, and in some hearts would sound the exhortation, ‘If the vision tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.’
We have not a dead Joseph to bid us wait with patience and never lose our firm grip of God’s promises, but we have a living Jesus. Our march to the land of rest is headed, not by the bones of a departed leader, but by the Forerunner, ‘who is for us entered’ whither He will bring all who trust in Him. Therefore we should live, as Joseph lived, with desires and trust reaching out beyond things seen to the land assured to us by God’s promise, doing our day’s task all the more vigorously because we do not belong to the order of things in the midst of which we live; and then, when we lie down at the end of our life’s work, we shall not be saddened by disappointed hopes, nor reluctantly close our eyes on good to come, when we shall not be there to share it, but be sure that we shall ‘see the good of Thy chosen,’ and ‘rejoice in the gladness of Thy nation.’