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31 And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father's house, I will go up, and show. Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren, and my father's house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me. 32 And the men are shepherds, for a their

* So chap. xlv. 14.-y So Luke ii. 29, 30.- Chap. xlvii. 1. a Heb. they are men of cattle. Chap. xlvii. 2; 3.

likely to signify a chariot, as the verb Dasar, which signifies to bind, tie, or yoke, is used; and not. van chabash, which signifies to saddle.

Fell on his neck] See chap. xlv. 14.

brethren what to say to Pharaoh.

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trade hath been to feed 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 and shall
you,
b What is your
say,
occupation?

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and all persons of a similar occupation, were execrated by the Egyptians, on account of the depredations and long-continued ravages they had committed in the country. 3. The last and probably the best reason why the Egyptians abhorred such shepherds as the Israelites were, was, they sacrificed those very animals, the ox particularly, and the SHEEP, which the Egyptians held sacred. Hence the Roman historian Tacitus, speaking of the Jews, says: "Caso ARIETE velut in contumelia AMMONIS; Bos quoque immolatur, quém Ægypti APIM colunt." "They sacrifice the ram in

credited. Hordes of marauders under this name, from Arabia, Syria, and Ethiopia, (whose chief occupation, like the Bedouin Arabs of the present day, was to keep flocks,) made a powerful irruption into Egypt, which Verse 30. Now let me die, since I have seen thy they subdued and ruled with great tyranny for 259 face] Perhaps old Simeon had this place in view when, years. Now, though they had been expelled from that seeing the salvation of Israel, he said, Lord, now let-land some considerable time before this, yet their name, test thou thy servant depart in peace, &c., Luke ii. 29. Verse 34. Thy servants' trade hath been about cattle] "The land of Goshen, called also the land of Rameses, lay east of the Nile, by which it was never overflowed, and was bounded by the mountains of the Thebaid on the south, by the Nile and Mediterranean on the west and north, and by the Red Sea and desert of Arabia on the east. It was the Heliopolitan nome or district, and its capital was called ON. Its proper name was Geshen, the country of grass or pasturage, or of the shepherds, in opposition, to the rest of the land which was sown after having been overflowed by the Nile."order to insult Jupiter Ammon, and they sacrifice the -Bruce. As this land was both fruitful and pleasant, Joseph wished to fix his family in that part of Egypt; hence he advises them to tell Pharaoh that their trade had been in cattle from their youth: and because every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians, hence he concluded that there would be less difficulty to get them quiet settlement in Goshen, as they would then be separated from the Egyptians, and consequently have the free use of all their religious customs, This scheme succeeded, and the consequence was the preservation both of their religion and their lives, though some of their posterity did afterwards corrupt themselves; see Ezek. xx. 8; Amos v. 26. As it is well known that the Egyptians had cattle and flocks themselves, and that Pharaoh even requested that some of Joseph's brethren should be made rulers over his cattle, how could it be said, as in ver. 34, Every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians? Three reasons may be assigned for this: 1. Shepherds and feeders of cattle were usually a sort of lawless, freebooting banditti, frequently making inroads on villages, &c., carrying off cattle, and whatever spoils they could find. This might probably have been the case formerly, for it is well known it has often been the case since. On this account such persons must have been universally detested. 2. They must have abhorred shepherds if Manetho's account of the hycsos or king-shepherds can be

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or, which the Egyptians worship under the name of Apis." Though some contend that this idolatry was not as yet established in Egypt, and that the king-shepherds were either after the time of Joseph, or that Manetho by them intends the Israelites themselves; yet, as the arguments by which these conjectures are supported are not sufficient to overthrow those which are brought for the support of the contrary opinions, and as there was evidently an established religion and priesthood in Egypt before Joseph's time, (for we find the priests had a certain portion of the land of Egypt which was held so sacred that Joseph did not attempt to buy it in the time of the famine, when he bought all the land which belonged to the people, chap. xlvii. 20-22,) and as that established priesthood was in all likelihood idolatrous, and as the worship of Apis under the form of an or was one of the most ancient forms of worship in Egypt, we may rest tolerably certain that it was chiefly on this account that the shepherds, or those who fed on and sacrificed these objects of their worship, were an abomination to the Egyptians. Calmet has entered into this subject at large, and to his notes I must refer those readers who wish for farther information. See on chap. xliii. 32.

On the principal subject of this chapter, the going down of Jacob and his family into Egypt, Bishop War

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burton, in his Divine Legation of Moses, makes the following judicious reflections: "The promise God made to Abraham, to give his posterity the land of Canaan, could not be performed till that family was grown strong enough to take and keep possession of it. In the meantime, therefore, they were necessitated to reside among idolaters, and to reside unmixed; but whoever examines their history will see that the Israelites had ever a violent propensity to join themselves to Gentile nations, and practise their manners.. God therefore, in his infinite wisdom, brought them into Egypt, and kept them there during this period, the only place where they could remain for so long a time safe

of his father's arrival.

and unconfounded with the natives, the ancient Egyptians being by numerous institutions forbidden all fellowship with strangers, and bearing besides a particular aversion to the profession of the Israelites, who were shepherds. Thus the natural dispositions of the Is raelites, which in Egypt occasioned their superstitions, and in consequence the necessity of a burdensome ritual, would. in any other country have absorbed them into Gentilism, and confounded them with idolaters. From the Israelites going into Egypt arises a new occasion to adore the footsteps of Eternal Wisdom in his dispensations to his chosen people."

CHAPTER XLVII.

Joseph informs Pharaoh that his father and brethren are arrived in Goshen, 1. He presents five of his brethren before the king, 2, who questions them concerning their occupation; they inform him that they are shepherds, and request permission to dwell in the land of Goshen, 3, 4. Pharaoh consents, and desires that some of the most active of them should be made rulers over his cattle, 5, 6. Joseph presents his father to Pharaoh, 7, who questions him concerning his age, 8, to which Jacob returns an affecting answer, and blesses Pharaoh, 9, 10. Joseph places his father and family in the land of Rameses, (Goshen,) and furnishes them with provisions, 11, 12. The famine prevailing in the land, the Egyptians deliver up all their money to Joseph to get food, 13-15. The next year they bring their cattle, 16, 17. The third, their lands and their persons, 18–21. The land of the priests Joseph does not buy, as it was a royal grant to them from Pharaoh, 22. The people receive seed to sow the land on condition that they shall give a fifth part of the produce to the king, 23, 24. The people agree, and Joseph makes it a law all over Egypt, 25, 26. The Israelites multiply exceedingly, 27. Jacob, having lived seventeen years in Goshen, and being one hundred and forty-seven years old, 28, makes Joseph promise not to bury him in Egypt, but in Canaan, 29, 30. Joseph promises and confirms it with an oath, 31.

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THEN Joseph came and told unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are Pharaoh, and said, My father shepherds, both we, and also our and my brethren, and their flocks, and their fathers. 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 he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh. 3 And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said

2

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4 (They said moreover unto Pharaoh,) For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks; & for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants 1 dwell in the land of Goshen.

5 And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying,

Chap. xlvi. 31.— Chap. xlv. 10; xlvi. 28.— Acts vii. 13. Chap. xv. 13; Deut. xxvi. 5. d Chap. xlvi. 33.- e Chap. xlvi. 34.

NOTES ON CHAP. XLVII.

xliii. 1; Acts vij. 11.

- Chap. xli. 27, 30, 31, 50, 56; Chap. xlvi. 34.

family which he had just now brought into Egypt, and Verse 2. He took some of his brethren] There is to do himself honour. 4. Joseph took five of the something very strange in the original; literally trans-youngest of his brethren. 5. He took five of the eldest lated it signifies "from the end or extremity (asp of his brethren. 6. He took five from the extremity miktsch) of his brethren he took five men." This has or end of his brethren, i. e., some of the eldest and been understood six different ways. 1. Joséph took some of the youngest, viz., Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Isfive of his brethren that came first to hand—at random, sachar, and Benjamin.-Rab. Solomon.. It is certain without design or choice. 2. Joseph took five of the that in Judges xviii. 2, the word may be understood meanest-looking of his brethren to present before Pha- as implying dignity, valour, excellence, and pre-emiraoh, fearing if he had taken the sightliest that Pha-nence: And the children of Dan sent of their family rach would detain them for his service, whereby their religion and morals might be corrupted. 3. Joseph took five of the best made and finest-looking of his brethren, and presented them before Pharaoh, wishing to impress his mind with a favourable opinion of the

FIVE men miktsotham, not from their coasts, but of the most eminent or excellent they had; and it is probable they might have had their eye on what Joseph did here when they made their choice, choosing the same number, five, and of their principal men, as

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iChap. xx. 15.

Ver. 4. Heb. how many are the days

He and his sons placed in Goshen

10 And Jacob blessed Pha- A. M. 2298. B. C. 1706. raoh, and went out from before 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 a Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded,

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12 And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, according to their families.t

13. And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore," so that the land of Egypt, and all the land of Canaan, fainted by reason of the famine.

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14 And Joseph gathered up A. M. cir. 2300. all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.

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4 Exod. i. 11; xii. 37.——— Ver. 6. -s Or, as a little child is of the years of thy life?- m Heb. xi. 9, 13; Psa. xxxix. 12. | nourished- Heb. according to the little ones; chap. 1. 21. Job xiv. 1. Chap. xxv. 7; xxxv. 28. Ver. 7. Chap. xli. 30; Acts vii. 11. Chap. xli. 56. did Joseph, because the mission was important, to go and search out the land. But the word may be understood simply as signifying some; out of the whole of his brethren he took only five men, &c.

Verse 6. In the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell] So it appears that the land of Goshen was the best of the land of Egypt.

Men of activity anshey chayil, stout or robust men—such as were capable of bearing fatigue, and of rendering their authority respectable.

had always lived a migratory or wandering life, in different parts of Canaan, Mesopotamia, and Egypt,' scarcely ever at rest; and in the places where he lived longest, always exposed to the fatigues of the field and the desert. Our word pilgrim comes from the French pelerin and pelegrin, which are corrupted from the Latin peregrinus, an alien, stranger, or foreigner, from the adverb peregre, abroad, not at home. The pilgrim was a person who took a journey, long or short, on some religious account, submitting during the time to many hardships and privations. A more appropriate term could not be conceived to express the life of Jacob, and the motive which induced him to live such a life, His journey to Padan-aram or Mesopotamia excepted, the principal part of his journeys were properly pilgrimages, undertaken in the course of God's providence on a religious account.

Rulers over my cattle.] mikneh signifies not only cattle, but possessions or property of any kind; though most usually cattle are intended, because in ancient times they constituted the principal part of a man's property. The word may be taken here in a more extensive sense, and the circumstances of the case seem obviously to require it. If every shepherd Have not attained unto the-life of my fathers] was an abomination to the Egyptians, however we may Jacob lived in the whole one hundred and forty-seven understand or qualify the expression, is it to be sup-years; Isaac his father lived one hundred and eighty; posed that Pharaoh should desire that the brethren of and Abraham his grandfather, one hundred and seventyhis prime minister, of his chief favourite, should be five. These were days of years in comparison of the employed in some of the very meanest offices in the lives of the preceding patriarchs, some of whom lived land? We may therefore safely understand Pharaoh nearly ten centuries! as expressing his will, that the brethren of Joseph should be appointed as overseers or superintendents of his domestic concerns, while Joseph superintended those of the state.

Verse 14. Gathered up all the money] . e., by selling corn out of the public stores to the people; and this he did till the money failed, ver. 15, till all the money was exchanged for corn, and brought into Pharaoh's Verse 7. Jacob blessed Pharaoh.] Saluted him on treasury. Besides the fifth part of the produce of the his entrance with Peace be unto thee, or some such seven plentiful years, Joseph had bought additional corn expression of respect and good will. For the mean-with Pharaoh's money to lay up against the famine that ing of the term to bless, as applied to God and man, see on chap. ii. 3.

was to prevail in the seven years of dearth; and it is very likely that this was sold out at the price for which it was bought, and the fifth part, which belonged to

- Verse 9. The days of the years of my pilgrimage] " megurai, of my sojourning or wandering. Jacob Pharaoh, sold out at the same price. And as money

Joseph buys all the land

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CHAP. XLVII.

15 And when money failed 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 the 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 horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses; and he fed them with bread for all their cattle, for that year.

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of Egypt for Pharaoh. both we and our land? buy us and A. M. 2302. 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, that the land be not desolate.

20 And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh's. 21 (And as for the people, he removed them to cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof.)

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Only the land of the priests bought 18 When that year was ended, he not; for the priests had a portion assigned B. C. 1702. they came unto him the second them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion year, and said unto him, We will not hide it which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they from my lord, how that our money is spent ; sold not their lands. my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not aught left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies and our lands:

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23 Then Joseph said unto the A. M. 2203. people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here 19 Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land.

Ver. 19. Heb. led them.- Ezra vii. 24.

at that time could not be plentiful, the cash of the whole nation was thus exhausted, as far as that had circulated among the common people.

Verse 16. Give your cattle] This was the wisest measure that could be adopted, both for the preservation of the people and of the cattle also. As the people had not grain for their own sustenance, consequently they could have none for their cattle; hence the cattle were in the most imminent danger of starving; and the people also were in equal danger, as they must have divided a portion of that bought for themselves with the cattle, which for the sake of tillage, &c., they wished of course to preserve till the seven years of famine should end. The cattle being bought by Joseph were supported at the royal expense, and very likely returned to the people at the end of the famine; for how else could they cultivate their ground, transport their merchandise, &c., &c. ? For this part of Joseph's conduct he certainly deserves high praise and

no censure,

Verse 18. When that year was ended] The sixth year of the famine, they came unto him the second year, which was the last or seventh year of the famine, in which it was necessary to sow the land that there might be a crop the succeeding year; for Joseph, on whose prediction they relied, had foretold that the famine should continue only seven years, and consequently they expected the eighth year to be a fruitful year provided the land was sowed, without which, though the inundation of the land by the Nile might amount to the sixteen requisite cubits, there could be no crop.

Verse 19. Buy us and our land for bread] In times of famine in Hindostan, thousands of children have been sold to prevent their perishing. In the Burman empire the sale of whole families to discharge debts is very common.-Ward's Customs. ( 18 )

VOL. I.

2 Or, princes; chap. xli. 45; 2 Sam. viii. 18.

Verse 21. And as for the people, he removed them to cities] It is very likely that Joseph was influenced by no political motive in removing the people to the cities, but merely by a motive of humanity and prudence. As the corn was laid up in the cities he found it more convenient to bring them to the place where they might be conveniently fed; each being within the reach of an easy distribution. Thus then the country which could afford no sustenance was abandoned for the time being, that the people might be fed in those places where the provision was deposited.

Verse 22. The land of the priests bought he not】 From this verse it is natural to infer that whatever the religion of Egypt was, it was established by law and supported by the state. Hence when Joseph bought all the lands of the Egyptians for Pharaoh, he bought not the land of the priests, for that was a portion assigned them by Pharaoh; and they did eat-did live on, that portion. This is the earliest account we have of an established religion supported by the state.

Verse 23. I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh] It fully appears that the kingdom of Egypt was previously to the time of Joseph a very limited monarchy. The king had his estates; the priests had their lands; and the common people their partrimony independently of both. The land of Rameses or Goshen appears to have been the king's land, ver. 11. The priests had their lands, which they did not sell to Joseph, ver. 22, 26; and that the people had lands independent of the crown, is evident from the purchases Joseph made, ver. 19, 20; and we may conclude from those purchases that Pharaoh had no power to levy taxes upon his subjects to increase his own revenue until he had bought the original right which each individual had in his possessions. And when Joseph bought this for the king he raised the 257

The Israelites are multiplied.

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GENESIS.

24 And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part 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 for your 'little ones.

25 And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants.

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crown an ample revenue, though he restored the lands, by obliging each to pay one fifth of the product to the king, ver. 24. And it is worthy of remark that the people of Egypt well understood the distinction between subjects and servants; for when they came to sell their land, they offered to sell themselves also, and said: Buy us and our land, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh, ver. 19.

Diodorus Siculus, lib. i., gives the same account of the ancient constitution of Egypt. "The land," says he, 66 was divided into three parts: 1. One belonged to the PRIESTS, with which they provided all sacrifices, and maintained all the ministers of religion. 2. A second part was the KING's, to support his court and family, and to supply expenses for wars if they should happen. Hence there were no taxes, the king having so ample an estate. 3. The remainder of the land belonged to the SUBJECTS, who appear (from the account of Diodorus) to have been all soldiers, a kind of standing militia, liable, at the king's expense, to serve in all wars for the preservation of the state." This was a constitution something like the British; the government appears to have been mixed, and the monarchy properly limited, till Joseph, by buying the land of the people, made the king in some sort despotic. But it does not appear that any improper use was made of this, as in much later times we find it still a comparatively limited monarchy.

Verse 24. Ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh] This is precisely the case in Hindostan; the king has the fifth part of all the crops.

Verse 26. And Joseph made it a law] That the people should hold their land from the king, and give him the fifth part of the produce as a yearly tax. Beyond this it appears the king had no farther demands. The whole of this conduct of Joseph has been as strongly censured by some as applauded by others. It is natural for men to run into extremes in attacking or defending any position. Sober and judi

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Jacob's death draws near.

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28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: sof the whole age of Jacob was a hundred forty and seven years.

29 And the time drew nigh that Israel must die; and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, hput, 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 I will lie with my fathers, and 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 a Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head.

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cious men will consider what Joseph did by Divine appointment as a prophet of God, and what he did merely as a statesman from the circumstances of the case, the complexion of the times, and the character of the people over whom he presided. When this is dispassionately done, we shall see much reason to adore God, applaud the man, and perhaps in some cases censure the minister. Joseph is never held up tó our view as an unerring prophet of God. He was an honoured instrument in the hands of God of saving two nations from utter ruin, and especially of preserving that family from which the Messiah was to spring, and of perpetuating the true religion among them. In this character he is represented in the sacred pages. His conduct as the prime minister of Pharaoh was powerfully indicative of a deep and consummate politician, who had high notions of prerogative, which led him to use every prudent means to aggrandize his master, and at the same time to do what he judged best on the whole for the people he governed. See the conclusion of the 50th chapter. Verse 29. Put thy hand under my thigh] See on chap. xxiv. 2.

Verse 30. I will lie with my fathers] As God had promised the land of Canaan to Abraham and his posterity, Jacob considered it as a consecrated place, under the particular superintendence and blessing of God and as Sarah, Abraham, and Isaac were interred near to Hebron, he in all probability wished to lie, not only in the same place, but in the same grave; and it is not likely that he would have been solicitous about this, had he not considered that promised land as being a type of the rest that remains for the people of God, and a pledge of the inheritance among the saints in light.

Verse 31. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head.] Jacob was now both old and feeble, and we may suppose him reclined on his couch when Joseph came; that he afterwards sat up erect (see chap. ( 18* )

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