Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 105:20
The king sent and loosed him; [even] the ruler of the people, and let him go free.
20. The king sent. &c.] Gen 41:14
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The king sent and loosed him – Released him from prison. Gen 41:14. The object was that he might interpret the dreams of Pharaoh.
The ruler of the people, and let him go free – Hebrew, peoples, in the plural – referring either to the fact that there were many people in the land, or that Pharaoh ruled over tributary nations as well as over the Egyptians.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
17-21. Joseph was sent of God(Ge 45:5).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The king sent and loosed him,…. That is, Pharaoh king of Egypt sent messengers to the prison, and ordered Joseph to be loosed, as soon as ever he heard the account which the chief butler gave of him, and of his skill in interpreting dreams.
Even the ruler of the people; or “peoples”: the subjects of Pharaoh’s kingdom being very numerous.
And let him go free, ordered his fetters to be taken off, and him to be set at liberty, to go where he pleased; or, however, that he might come to court, whither he was brought, and which was the end of his releasement; see Ge 41:14, in this he was a type of Christ in his resurrection from the dead; who for a while was under the dominion of death, was held with the pains and cords of it, and was under the power and in the prison of the grave; but it was not possible, considering the dignity of his person, and the performance of his work as a surety, that he should be held here. Wherefore the cords and pains of death were loosed, and he was brought out of prison; God his Father, the King of kings, sent an angel from heaven, to roll away the stone of the sepulchre, and let the prisoner free; so that he was legally and judicially discharged and acquitted; as it was proper he should, having satisfied both law and justice; he was justified in the Spirit when he rose from the dead, and all his people were justified in him, for he rose again for their justification.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
20. The king sent and loosed him The Psalmist celebrates in high terms the deliverance of Joseph; for God’s singular power was conspicuously displayed in a matter so incredible. What is of more rare occurrence than for a most powerful monarch to bring a stranger out of prison to constitute him ruler over his whole kingdom, and to raise him to a rank of honor, second only to himself? The phrase in verse 22, to bind his princes, is commonly explained as implying that Joseph was invested with the chief sovereignty in the administration of the government, so that he could cast into prison, at his pleasure, even the nobles of the realm. Others, conceiving this interpretation to be somewhat harsh, derive the verb לאסור, lesor, which Moses employs, not from אסר, asar, which signifies to bind, but from יסר, yasar, which signifies to instruct, by changing the letter י, yod, into א, aleph. (218) But I am surprised that neither of them have perceived the metaphor contained in this word, which is, that Joseph held the lords of Egypt bound to him at his pleasure, or subject to his power. What is here spoken of is not fetters, but the bond or obligation of obedience, both the princes and all others being dependent on his will. The expression, which is added a little after, to teach his elders wisdom, evinces that Joseph did not bear sway like a tyrant, difficult and rare a thing as it is for men, when invested with sovereign power, not to give loose reins to their own humor: but that he was a rule and a pattern, even to the chief of them, in the high degree of discretion which he exemplified in the administering the affairs of state.
(218) “For לאסר, the LXX., Vulgate, and Jerome, certainly had ליסר, ‘to tutor;’ or they took אסר in the sense of יסר, as they took it in Hosea, chapter 10:10.” — Horsley.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
20. The king sent This was the beginning of his exaltation. It was from the pit, or dungeon, by the supreme authority.
Ruler of the people Same as “king” in preceding line.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 105:20 The king sent and loosed him; [even] the ruler of the people, and let him go free.
Ver. 20. The king sent and loosed him ] By his own master, Potiphar, who had laid him there at his wife’s instance. Such as are bound ignominiously for righteousness’ sake shall be one way or other loosed honourably.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The king sent. Compare Gen 41:14, Gen 41:39, Gen 41:40, Gen 41:44.
the people = peoples.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 105:20-22
Psa 105:20-22
“The king sent and loosed him;
Even the ruler of peoples,
And let him go free.
He made him lord of his house,
And ruler of his substance;
To bind his princes at his pleasure,
And teach his elders wisdom.”
These verses report the elevation of Joseph to a position of authority in Egypt second only to that of Pharaoh himself. Genesis 41 has the Genesis account of this.
“To bind his princes at his pleasure” (Psa 105:22). This is not mentioned in Genesis; but given Joseph’s great authority in Egypt, the truth of it cannot be questioned.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 105:20. This was King Pharaoh who had some dreams that troubled him. Having been informed of Joseph’s former work of interpreting dreams, the king sent for him that he might obtain a like service. That plan would make it necessary to remove the prison sentence from Joseph hence the verse says he let him go free.
Psa 105:21. Joseph was given the management of the crops for distribution among the people during the famine predicted by the dreams of Pharaoh.
Psa 105:22. Bind his princes does not refer to any literal bonds that Joseph was to fasten on Pharaoh’s princes for he never did anything of that kind. It means that Joseph was given authority over the people of Egypt. “Only in the throne will I be greater than thou” (Gen 41:40), was the sense in which Joseph was to bind the princes.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Gen 41:14
Reciprocal: Gen 41:55 – Go unto Psa 107:14 – brake