Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 50:17

So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spoke unto him.

17. the God of thy father ] Cf. Gen 49:26. They call themselves “the servants of the God of thy father,” as if it constituted a stronger appeal than “the sons of thy father.” They and Joseph serve one God.

Joseph wept ] Cf. note on Gen 45:1.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 17. The servants of the God of thy father.] These words were wonderfully well chosen, and spoken in the most forcible manner to Joseph’s piety and filial affection. No wonder then that he wept when they spake to him.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

The God of thy father, for whose sake pardon those that join with thee in his worship.

Joseph wept; partly in compassion to their fear and trouble; and partly because they still retained a diffidence in his kindness, after all his great and real demonstrations of it.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

So shall ye say unto Joseph, forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin,…. Their very great sin, and therefore more words than one are used to express it: unless this repetition should be intended, and signifies that their crime was a trespass against God, and a sin against their brother; and however they are directed to ask forgiveness for it, and urge the relation they stood in to Joseph, in order to obtain it, which they were ready to acknowledge as a very great evil, and of which they repented:

and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father; they urge not only the common relation they stood in to Jacob, but what they stood in to the God of Jacob, being his servants, his worshippers, as Joseph also was; and therefore, being his brethren not only in nature but in religion and grace, they hoped he would forgive their trespass:

and Joseph wept when they spake unto him; by their messenger; being troubled that they should be in such anxiety and distress of mind, which he had a fellow feeling with, and that they should have no better opinion of him, but entertain such distrust of him, notwithstanding all the kindness he had shown them, as to imagine that he should ever deal hardly with them for their former ill usage of him, which was forgiven and forgotten by him long ago.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

17. Forgive, I pray thee now. They do not dissemble the fact that they had grievously sinned; and they are so far from extenuating their fault, that they freely heap up words in charging themselves with guilt. They do not, therefore, ask that pardon should be granted them as if the offense were light: but they place in opposition to the atrocity of their crime, first, the authority of their father, and then the sacred name of God. Their confession would have been worthy of commendation, had they proceeded directly, and without tortuous contrivances, to appease their brother. Now, since they have drawn from the fountain of piety the instruction that it is right for sin to be remitted to the servants of God; we may receive it as a common exhortation, that if we have been injured by the members of the Church, we must not be too rigid and immovable in pardoning the offense. This humanity indeed is generally enjoined upon us towards all men: but when the bond of religion is superadded, we are harder than iron, if we are not inclined to the exercise of compassion. And we must observe, that they expressly mention the God of Jacob: because the peculiar faith and worship by which they were distinguished from the rest of the nations, ought to unite them with each other in a closer bond: as if God, who had adopted that family, stood forth in the midst of them as engaged to produce reconciliation.

And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. It cannot be ascertained with certainty from the words of Moses, whether the brethren of Joseph were present, and were speaking, at the time he wept. Some interpreters imagine that a part was here acted designedly; so that when the mind of Joseph had been sounded by others, the brethren, soon afterwards, came in, during the discourse. I rather incline to a different opinion; namely, that, when he knew, from the messengers, that their minds were tormented, and they were troubling themselves in vain, he was moved with sympathy towards them. Then, having sent for them, he set them free from all care and fear; and their speech, when they themselves were deprecating his anger, drew forth his tears. Moreover, by thus affectionately weeping over the sorrow and anxiety of his brethren, he affords us a remarkable example of compassion. But if we have an arduous conflict with the impetuosity of an angry temper, or the obstinacy of a disposition to hatred, we must pray to the Lord for a spirit of meekness, the force of which manifests itself not less effectually, at this day, in the members of Christ, than formerly in Joseph.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

17. Forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father “All the arguments that would touch Joseph are woven into a few words with great pathos and power. They cast themselves absolutely upon his mercy, and call up before him his venerated father, and his father’s God, whose servants they also are. Joseph replied in a way to scatter all doubt and soothe all fear he wept. At first he made no answer in words, but his tears were richer to them than speech. It was the golden silence, that cannot, from very fulness, speak.” Newhall.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments