GE�ESIS 47 COMME�TARYEDITED BY GLE�� PEASE

1 Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and brothers, with their flocks and herds and everything they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen.”

BAR�ES 1-12, "Gen_47:1-12Joseph announces to Pharaoh the arrival of his kindred. “Of the whole of his

brethren,” more exactly from the end of his brethren. Five men, a favorite number in Egypt. Shepherds, owners and feeders of sheep and other cattle. “Pasture.” Hence, it appears that the drought had made the grazing extremely scanty. Men of ability, competent to take the oversight of others. “Jacob his father,” he presents before Pharaoh, after he has disposed of all business matters. “Jacob blessed Pharaoh.” This is the patriarch’s grateful return for Pharaoh’s great kindness and generosity toward him and his house. He is conscious of even a higher dignity than that of Pharaoh, as he is a prince of God; and as such he bestows his precious benediction. Pharaoh was struck with his venerable appearance, and inquired what was his age. “Pilgrimage” -sojourning, wandering without any constant abode or fixed holding.

Such was the life of the patriarchs in the land of promise Heb_11:13. “Few and evil.” Jacob’s years at this time were far short of those of Abraham and Isaac, not to speak of more ancient men. Much bitterness also had been mingled in his cup from the time that he beguiled his brother of the birthright and the blessing, which would have come to him in a lawful way if he had only waited in patience. Obliged to flee for his life from his father’s house, serving seven years for a beloved wife, and balked in his expected recompense by a deceitful father-in-law, serving seven long years more for the object of his affections, having his wages changed ten times during the six years of his further toil for a maintenance, afflicted by the dishonor of his only daughter, the reckless revenge taken by Simon and Levi, the death of his beloved wife in childbed, the disgraceful incest of Reuben, the loss of Joseph himself for twenty-two years, and the present famine with all its anxieties - Jacob, it must be confessed, has become acquainted with no small share of the ills of life. “Blessed Pharaoh.” It is possible that this blessing is the same as that already mentioned, now reiterated in its proper place in the narrative. “According to the little ones.” This means either in proportion to the number in each household, or with all the tenderness with which a parent provides for his infant offspring.

GILL, "Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh,.... After he had been with his father, had had an interview with him, and had took his leave of him for a time, he came to Pharaoh's court:

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; Pharaoh had desired they might come, and Joseph now acquaints him they were come; not being willing it should be said that they were come in a private manner, and without his knowledge; nor to dispose of them himself without the direction and approbation of Pharaoh, who was superior to him; and he makes mention of their flocks and herds, and other substance, partly to show that they were not a mean beggarly family that came to live upon him, and partly that a proper place of pasturage for their cattle might be appointed to them:

and behold, they are in the land of Goshen; they are stopped at present, until they should have further directions and orders where to settle; and this is the rather mentioned, because it was the place Joseph proposed with himself to fix them in, if Pharaoh approved of it.

HAWKER, "The Patriarchal history is continued, mixed with an account of Joseph’s wise administration concerning the affairs of Egypt. Joseph having informed Pharaoh king of Egypt of his father’s arrival, and having introduced first some of his brethren, and then his father, to Pharaoh; the king ordered the best of the land for their accommodation. The famine still continuing, the Egyptians again apply to Joseph for bread, whose prudent conduct in the distribution of the same, endears him yet more and more to Pharaoh and all his people. After seventeen years residence in Egypt the Patriarch Jacob finding symptoms of his end approaching, sends for Joseph, and gives him charge concerning his burial.

HE�RY 1-4, "Here is, I. The respect which Joseph, as a subject, showed to his prince. Though he was his favourite, and prime-minister of state, and had had particular orders from him to send for his father down to Egypt, yet he would not suffer him to settle till he had given notice of it to Pharaoh, Gen_47:1. Christ, our Joseph, disposes of his followers in his kingdom as it is prepared of his Father, saying, It is not mine to give,Mat_20:23.

II. The respect which Joseph, as a brother, showed to his brethren, notwithstanding all the unkindness he had formerly received from them.

1. Though he was a great man, and they were comparatively mean and despicable, especially in Egypt, yet he owned them. Let those that are rich and great in the world learn hence not to overlook nor despise their poor relations. Every branch of the tree is not a top branch; but, because it is a lower branch, is it therefore not of the tree? Our Lord Jesus, like Joseph here, is not ashamed to call us brethren.

2. They being strangers and no courtiers, he introduced some of them to Pharaoh, to kiss his hand, as we say, intending thereby to put an honour upon them among the Egyptians. Thus Christ presents his brethren in the court of heaven, and improves his interest for them, though in themselves unworthy and an abomination to the Egyptians.Being presented to Pharaoh, according to the instructions which Joseph had given them, they tell him, (1.) What was their business - that they were shepherds, Gen_47:3. Pharaoh asked them (and Joseph knew it would be one of his first questions, Gen_

46:33), What is your occupation? He takes it for granted they had something to do, else Egypt should be no place for them, no harbour for idle vagrants. If they would not work, they should not eat of his bread in this time of scarcity. Note, All that have a place in the world should have an employment in it according to their capacity, some occupation or other, mental or manual. Those that need not work for their bread must yet have something to do, to keep them from idleness. Again, Magistrates should enquire into the occupation of their subjects, as those that have the care of the public welfare; for idle people are as drones in the hive, unprofitable burdens of the commonwealth. (2.) What was their business in Egypt - to sojourn in the land (Gen_47:4), not to settle there for ever, only to sojourn there for a time, while the famine so prevailed in Canaan, which lay high, that it was not habitable for shepherds, the grass being burnt up much more than in Egypt, which lay low, and where the corn chiefly failed, while there was tolerably good pasture.

JAMIESO�,"Gen_47:1-31. Joseph’s presentation at court.Joseph ... told Pharaoh, My father and my brethren— Joseph furnishes a

beautiful example of a man who could bear equally well the extremes of prosperity and adversity. High as he was, he did not forget that he had a superior. Dearly as he loved his father and anxiously as he desired to provide for the whole family, he would not go into the arrangements he had planned for their stay in Goshen until he had obtained the sanction of his royal master.

K&D, "When Joseph had announced to Pharaoh the arrival of his relations in

Goshen, he presented five out of the whole number of his brethren (אחיו see קצה on ;מקצהGen_19:4) to the king.

CALVI�, "1.Then Joseph came. Joseph indirectly intimates to the king, his desire to obtain a habitation for his brethren in the land of Goshen. Yet this modesty was (as we have said) free from cunning. For Pharaoh both immediately recognizes his wish, and liberally grants it to him; declaring beforehand that the land of Goshen was most excellent. Whence we gather, that what he gave, he gave in the exercise of his own judgment, not in ignorance; and that he was not unacquainted with the wish of Joseph, who yet did not dare to ask for what was the best. Joseph may be easily excused for having commanded his father, with the greater part of his brethren, to remain in that region. For neither was it possible for them to bring their cattle along with them, nor yet to leave their cattle in order to come and salute the king; until some settled abode was assigned them, where, having pitched their tents, they might arrange their affairs. For it would have shown a want of respect, to take possession of a place, as if it had been granted to them; when they had not yet received the permission of the king. They, therefore, remain in that district, in a state of suspense, until, having ascertained the will of the king, they may, with greater certainty, fix their abode there. That Joseph “brought five from the extreme limits of his brethren,” (183) is commonly thus explained, that they who were of least stature were brought into the presence of the king: because it was to be feared lest he might take the stronger into his army. But since the Hebrew word קצה(qatsah) signifies the two extremities, the beginning and the end; I think they were

chosen from the first and the last, in order that the king, by looking at them might form his judgment concerning the age of the whole.

COFFMA�, "IntroductionWe shall consider this chapter as embracing ten paragraphs, as follows:

Joseph presents five of his brothers before Pharaoh (Genesis 47:1-4).

Pharaoh confirms the settlement of Israel in Goshen.

Jacob himself had an audience with Pharaoh (Genesis 47:7-10).Israel's settlement in Goshen was accomplished (Genesis 47:11-12).

Money in Egypt became exhausted (Genesis 47:13-14).

Cattle and herds traded for food (Genesis 47:15-17).

Their lands and their persons bartered for food (Genesis 47:18-20).

All land becomes property of the king, and the people become serfs (Genesis 47:21-26).

The Jews own their land, prospering and multiplying exceedingly (Genesis 47:27-28).

Jacob, approaching death, requires of Joseph that he will be buried in Machpelah (Genesis 47:29-31).

In this chapter, it is currently the style of commentators to express preference for the Septuagint (LXX) version, basing their claim upon the allegation that the errors of the Septuagint (LXX) were smoothed over and harmonized in the Hebrew text of the O.T. upon which our version is based! To paraphrase that opinion, "We prefer the erroneous text, because it is the original!" As Peake put it, "The Septuagint (LXX) has here a more original text, whose discrepancies are smoothed out in the Masoretic Text."[1] Such notions, of course, are merely the result of scholars blindly following one of their self-serving "laws" which critics have imposed upon interpreters. It is the "Lectio Difficilior," the Latin name they have given the silly rule to the effect that the "more difficult readings are to be preferred as original!" �othing that the schools of criticism have ever done is more fraudulent than this. "More difficult readings possibly result from scribal errors and have little meaning."[2] The application of such rules has butchered some of the passages in this chapter.

Our text makes excellent sense as it stands. "The Septuagint (LXX) flounders helplessly, `He enslaved them into being slaves' (Genesis 47:25) could hardly be called an improvement."[3] Keil also referred to the rendition of the Septuagint

(LXX) in Genesis 47:31 as a "false reading,"[4] Keil also added that the quotation (obviously from the LXX) of Genesis 47:31, in Hebrews 11:21 is no proof whatever of the correctness of the LXX.[5] Over and beyond all this, the excellent sense, unity, and design of every word in this chapter are such that all efforts to change any of it must be held suspect.

This chapter is so obviously related to the migration to Egypt that we shall consider it merely as an extension of the theme in the last chapter.

Verses 1-4"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. And from his brethren, he took five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers. And they said unto Pharaoh, To sojourn in the land we are 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."

The first two verses here are not to be understood as the original announcement to Pharaoh of the arrival of Israel in Egypt, that being already known, even the place to which they would go having already been determined. On the other hand, this brings to Pharaoh's attention the added information that Israel had not arrived empty-handed, as they had been invited to do, but they had come with baggage, wagons, flocks, herds - everything that they had!

Also, the formal permission of Pharaoh was required, and this interview afforded the occasion for that. Jacob did not appear at this time, probably being of too advanced an age and in a state of health that made it more appropriate for the sons to negotiate with Pharaoh. �ote too, that despite his having oversight of all Egypt, Joseph did not undertake this settlement of his folks in Goshen without the formal consent of the ruling monarch. This explains the request of the five brothers to be permitted residence in Goshen, stressing their occupation as Joseph had instructed them, thus making it a virtual certainty that Pharaoh would consent.

TRAPP, "Genesis 47:1 Then Joseph came 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.

Ver. l. Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh.] This was great wisdom in him, to do nothing for his friends, though he were so great a favourite, without the king’s privity and approbation. There wanted not those that waited for his halting; envy attends upon honour, (a) and always aimeth at the highest; as the tallest trees are weakest at the tops. Melancthon tells us he once saw a certain ancient piece of coin, having on the one side Zopyrus, on the other Zoilus. It was an emblem of kings’

courts, saith he; (b) where calumnies accompany the well-deserving, as they did Daniel, Datames, Hannibal, (c) &c. Difficillimum inter mortales est gloria invidiam vincere, saith Sallust. (d) How potent that quick-sighted and sharp-fanged malignity is, we may guess by that question, Proverbs 27:4.

WHEDO�, "1-3. They said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds — “The Egyptian monuments abundantly illustrate the hatred and contempt which the ruling castes felt towards the shepherds. In those great pictures of Egyptian life painted on the walls of the Theban tombs in the time of the Pharaohs, the shepherds are caricatured in many ways, being represented by figures lank, emaciated, distorted, and sometimes ghostly in form and feature. They are a vivid contemporary comment from Egyptian hands upon the sacred writer’s statement, that ‘shepherds are an abomination to the Egyptians.’ Sheep are never represented in the Theban tombs as being offered in sacrifice or slaughtered for food; and though in certain districts mutton was used for food, and sheep and goats held sacred, (Her., 2:42,) these cases are regarded by Egyptologists as exceptional. (Knobel.) Woollen was esteemed unclean by the priests, and their religion forbade them to wear woollen garments into the temples, or to bury the dead in them. (Her., 2:81.) This apparent aversion to the sheep is, however, greatly offset by the wide-spread worship of Amun and of �oum as ram-headed gods, as even now illustrated in the paintings of the tombs and in the splendid ruins of Karnak, and gives no sufficient reason for the contempt in which the shepherd was held. �or is it a sufficient reason, as some have supposed, that the shepherds were accustomed to slaughter for food the ox, which was held sacred by the Egyptians; for the Egyptian worship of the bull was restricted to a single animal at a time, called the Apis, and the sculptures represent the priests as offering bulls in sacrifice, and eating beef and veal. Besides, the nomads rarely kill the ox, and never kill the cow for food. It was not to the shepherd, as such, but to the nomadic shepherd, with his wild, roving, predatory habits, that the civilized Egyptian bore this hatred.

“There was also a special reason found for this hatred in an event which has stamped itself deeply upon Egyptian history; but whether it transpired before the era of Joseph or not is still an unsettled question. About two thousand years before Christ Egypt was invaded by a people from the north-east, of what precise nation is uncertain, who dispossessed the native princes, cast contempt upon the national religion, demolished the temples, slew the sacred animals, and set up at Memphis a foreign government which ran through three dynasties, (the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth of Manetho,) and ruled the greater part of the land for five or six centuries. They are called in history the Hyksos, or shepherd kings. The Theban king Amosis finally rose against them, and expelled them from the land, driving them into the Syrian desert. The name of shepherd became thereafter inseparably associated in the Egyptian mind with this Hyksos subjugation and tyranny, and so was especially hateful. Wilkinson believes that the Egyptian career of Joseph took place in the period just following the expulsion of the Hyksos, and so explains why, at that time especially, a shepherd was ‘an abomination to the Egyptians.’ This is, however, one of the disputed questions of Egyptian chronology whose solution is

probably locked up in monuments and papyri yet to be deciphered.

“But, whatever be the explanation of this enmity, the fact is abundantly attested by the monuments; and we have this remarkable manifestation of the meekness and godly wisdom of Joseph, that, so far from attempting to conceal or disguise this unpleasing fact concerning his family, he announced it to Pharaoh at the outset, and instructed his brethren to repeat it to the king at their first introduction. Thus he secured the frontier district of Goshen for the family of Israel, where they might dwell in comparative isolation from the Egyptian idolatry. His family was introduced in such a way as to effectually preclude their political advancement. His great popularity and influence at the Egyptian court could have secured for them political preferment, or at least a total change of worldly condition; yet he is not dazzled by this most natural family ambition, but seeks first the spiritual good of his brothers and his children. In this he is the prototype of Moses, who chose to be a Hebrew exile rather than an Egyptian prince.

“There are two remarkable Egyptian records of the twelfth dynasty (2020-1860 B.C., according to Wilkinson,) which strikingly illustrate the career of Joseph. One is the story of Saneha, written on one of the oldest papyri yet discovered. Saneha was a pastoral nomad, who was received into the service of the reigning Pharaoh, rose to a high rank, was driven into exile, and afterwards restored to favour — was made the king’s counsellor, given precedence over all the courtiers, ‘set over the administration of the government of Egypt to develop its resources,’ and finally ‘prepared his sepulchre among the tombs of the princes.’ (Translation by M. Chabas, in Speaker’s Commentary.) There is no proof that Saneha was the Hebrew Joseph, but the parallel is most instructive as illustrating the possibility of a foreigner’s elevation in Egypt.

“The other record, made under the same dynasty, is found in the pictures and inscriptions of the famous sepulchral grottoes of Beni-hassen, which are thirty excavations cut in the limestone along the �ile’s eastern bank. A picture in one of these tombs represents the presentation of a nomad Asiatic chief, with his family and dependents, before an Egyptian prince. Their features, colour, costume, even to the rich ‘tunic of fringe,’ (‘coat of many colours,’) are all Asiatic. There is also an inscription describing a prince who was a favourite of the Pharaoh, which brings Joseph most vividly before us. Lepsius thus translates it: ‘He 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 was starved in it; he treated the widow as a woman with a husband to protect her.’ (BU�SE�’S Egypt, vol. v: translation by BIRCH.) �either here is there any proof that this favourite was Joseph; but the high estimate set upon virtues and abilities just such as are shown in Joseph, furnish an instructive comment upon our history.” — �ewhall.

2 He chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.

CLARKE, "He took some of his brethren - There is something very strange in

the original; literally translated it signifies “from the end or extremity (מקצה miktseh) of his brethren he took five men.” This has been understood six different ways. 1. Joseph took five of his brethren that came first to hand - at random, without design or choice. 2. Joseph took five of the meanest-looking of his brethren to present before Pharaoh, fearing if he had taken the sightliest that Pharaoh 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 favorable opinion of the family which he had just now brought into Egypt, and to do himself honor. 4. Joseph took five of the youngest of his brethren. 5. He took five of the eldest of his brethren. 6. He took five from the extremity or end of his brethren, i. e., some of the eldest and some of the youngest, viz., Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, and Benjamin - Rab. Solomon. It is certain that in Jdg_18:2, the word may be understood as implying dignity, valor, excellence, and pre-eminence: And the

children of Dan sent of their family Five men מקצותם 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 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, etc.

GILL, "And he took some of his brethren,.... Along with him, when he left his father in Goshen; the word for "some" signifies the extremity of a thing: hence some have fancied that he took some of the meanest and most abject, so Jarchi, lest if they had appeared to Pharaoh strong and robust, he should have made soldiers of them; others on the contrary think he took those that excelled most in strength of body, and endowments of mind, to make the better figure; others, that he took of both sorts, or some at both ends, the first and last, elder and younger; but it may be, he made no choice at all, but took some that offered next:

even five men: whom the Targum of Jonathan names as follow, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher; but Jarchi will have them to be Reuben, Simeon and Levi, Issachar and Benjamin; but on these accounts no dependence is to be had:

and presented them, unto Pharaoh; introduced them into his presence, that he might converse with them, and ask them what questions he thought fit.

JAMIESO�,"he took some of his brethren— probably the five eldest brothers: seniority being the least invidious principle of selection.

BE�SO�, "Genesis 47:2. He took some of his brethren — The original words here, literally translated, are, He took from the end, extremity, or tail of his brethren, five men — And some have thought the sense is, He took five of the meanest of them, as to their persons and appearance, as the word קצה is used, 1 Kings 12:31, lest, if he had presented the goodliest of them, Pharaoh should have required their attendance upon him either at court or in the camp.

3 Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your occupation?”

“Your servants are shepherds,” they replied to Pharaoh, “just as our fathers were.”

GILL, "And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, what is your occupation?.... Which is the question he had told his brethren beforehand would be asked them, and prepared them to give an answer to it, Gen_46:33; which was perhaps an usual question Pharaoh asked of persons that came to settle in his dominions, that he might have no idle vagrants there, and that he might know of what advantage they were like to be of in his kingdom, and might dispose of them accordingly:

and they said unto Pharaoh, thy servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers; see Gen_46:3

K&D 3-6, "Pharaoh asked them about their occupation, and according to Joseph's instructions they replied that they were herdsmen (צאן ,the singular of the predicate ,רעה

see Ges. §147c), who had come to sojourn in the land (ור�, i.e., to stay for a time), because the pasture for their flocks had failed in the land of Canaan on account of the famine.

The king then empowered Joseph to give his father and his brethren a dwelling (הושיב) in

the best part of the land, in the land of Goshen, and, if he knew any brave men among them, to make them rulers over the royal herds, which were kept, as we may infer, in the land of Goshen, as being the best pasture-land.

CALVI�, "3.Thy servants are shepherds. This confession was humiliating to the sons of Jacob, and especially to Joseph himself, whose high, and almost regal dignity, was thus marked with a spot of disgrace: for among the Egyptians (as we have said) this kind of life was disgraceful and infamous. Why, then, did not Joseph adopt the course, which he might easily have done, of describing his brethren as persons engaged in agriculture, or any other honest and creditable method of living? They were not so addicted to the feeding of cattle as to be altogether ignorant of agriculture, or incapable of accustoming themselves to other modes of gaining a livelihood: and although they would not immediately have found it productive, we see how ready the liberality of the king was to help them. Indeed it would not have been difficult for them to become invested with offices at court. How then does it happen that Joseph, knowingly and purposely, exposes his brethren to an ignominy, which must bring dishonor also on himself, except because he was not very anxious to escape from worldly contempt? To live in splendor among the Egyptians would have had, at first, a plausible appearance; but his family would have been placed in a dangerous position. �ow, however, their mean and contemptible mode of life proves a wall of separation between them and the Egyptians: yea, Joseph seems purposely to labor to cast off, in a moment, the nobility he had acquired, that his own posterity might not be swallowed up in the population of Egypt, but might rather merge in the body of his ancestral family. If, however, this consideration did not enter their minds, there is no doubt that the Lord directed their tongues, so as to prevent the noxious admixture, and to keep the body of the Church pure and distinct. This passage also teaches us, how much better it is to possess a remote corner in the courts of the Lord, than to dwell in the midst of palaces, beyond the precincts of the Church. Therefore, let us not think it grievous to secure a sacred union with the sons of God, by enduring the contempt and reproaches of the world; even as Joseph preferred this union to all the luxuries of Egypt. But if any one thinks that he cannot otherwise serve God in purity, than by rendering himself disgusting to the world; away with all this folly! The design of God was this, to keep the sons of Jacob in a degraded position, until he should restore them to the land of Canaan: for the purpose, then, of preserving themselves in unity till the promised deliverance should take place, they did not conceal the fact that they were shepherds. We must beware, therefore, lest the desire of empty honor should elate us: whereas the Lord reveals no other way of salvation, than that of bringing us under discipline. Wherefore let us willingly be without honor, for a time, that, hereafter, angels may receive us to a participation of their eternal glory. By this example also, they who are brought up in humble employments, are taught that they have no need to be ashamed of their lot. It ought to be enough, and more than enough, for them, that the mode of living which they pursue is lawful, and acceptable to God. The remaining confession of the brethren (Genesis 47:4) was not unattended with a sense of shame; in which they say, that they had come to sojourn there, compelled by hunger; but hence arose advantage not to be despised. For as they came down few, and perishing with hunger, and so branded with infamy that

scarcely any one would deign to speak with them; the glory of God afterwards shone so much the more illustriously out of this darkness, when, in the third century from that time, he wonderfully led them forth, a mighty nation.

BE�SO�, "Genesis 47:3. What is your occupation? — Pharaoh takes it for granted they had something to do. All that have a place in the world should have an employment in it according to their capacity, some occupation or other. Those that need not work for their bread, yet must have something to do to keep them from idleness.

TRAPP, "Genesis 47:3 And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What [is] your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants [are] shepherds, both we, [and] also our fathers.

Ver. 3. What is your occupation?] That they had an occupation Pharaoh took for granted. God made Leviathan to play in the sea; [Psalms 104:26] but none to do so upon earth. Turks and Pagans will rise up in judgment against the idle. {See Trapp on "Genesis 46:33"} Periander made a law at Corinth, that whosoever could not prove that he lived by his honest labour, he should suffer as a thief. The apostle bids "him that stole steal no more, but labour with his hands the thing that is good," &c. [Ephesians 4:28] �ot to labour, then, with hand, or head, or both, is to steal. Every one must bring some honey into the common hive, unless he will be cast out as a drone. (a) "Thou idle and evil servant," saith our Saviour. [Matthew 25:26] To be idle, then, is to be evil; and he shall not but do naughtily that does nothing. God wills that men should earn their bread afore they eat it, [2 Thessalonians 3:12] neither may they make religion a mask for idleness. [Genesis 47:11]

BI, "What is your occupation?

Pharaoh’s question to the brethren of Joseph

I. Evidently implying THAT EACH OF US HAS, OR IS INTENDED TO HAVE, AN “OCCUPATION.” Now the word “occupation,” in its primary meaning, signifies “employment” or “business”; and the text leads us to infer that each individual amongst us has some such employment or business, for the due discharge of which we are accountable to Him whose Providence has imposed it upon us. Had man been sent into the world with no other object than merely to spend a few days or years in this fleeting scene, and then to pass off the stage of life and cease for ever to exist, the question as to any occupation he might have need never be raised. The more easily and pleasantly such a life could be got over, the better. With regard to the things of the present life, hear what the Scriptures declare: “Seest thou a man,” says Solomon, “diligent in his business, he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men” (Pro_22:29). The Apostle Paul, while urging the Romans to “fervency of spirit in the service of God,” enforces the important admonition to be “not slothful in business” Rom_12:11). If from precepts we pass on to examples, we find the duty of “ diligence in business” strikingly set before us in the conduct of the holy men of old, the saints and servants of the Lord. And surely, brethren, with regard to things of infinitely higher moment, it must be needless to remind professing Christians that they have a word entrusted to them, an “occupation” which demands unwearied attention, incessant watchfulness, and fervent prayer. Throughout, by precept as well as by example, we are urged to “work out our

salvation with fear and trembling” Php_2:12).

II. To inquire into THE NATURE OF THIS OCCUPATION WITH RESPECT TO DIFFERENT CLASSES OF INDIVIDUALS. Altogether unoccupied we cannot be: if the service of God does not engage our attention, the service of Satan will. But when the question is proposed—“What is your occupation?” from how few, comparatively, have we the comfort of receiving the reply—“I am occupied about my Father’s business!” Now, let us take a briefreview of some of the various occupations in which different individuals are engaged.

1. Look at the man whose whole time is taken up in the accumulation of earthly riches and possessions, and ask him what is his occupation? He will tell you of the labour and fatigue which he has undergone, in search of his much-loved idols, and what reward can such a man expect, in return for all his worldly and selfish schemes? Truly, except he repent, he will find that he has been only “treasuring up unto himself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”

2. Look, again, at the man whose thoughts and time are engrossed with the pursuit of worldly ambition and consequence; and ask him what is his occupation? He will answer that his great object is to get himself a name upon earth. Truly may they be said to grasp at a shadow, and soon lose the reality. “Them that honour Me,” says God, “I will honour; and they that despise Me”—however high they may stand with the world—“shall be lightly esteemed” (1Sa_2:30).

3. Look, once again, at the man whose whole time is devoted to earthly pleasures and sinful enjoyments, and ask him “what is his occupation.” His course of life answers for itself. You see him busied in the frivolous and unprofitable amusements of the world, and eagerly pursuing its vanities and follies. “What fruit have ye in those things whereof ye have cause to be ashamed? for the end of those things is death” (Rom_6:21). But now, go and ask the Christian “what is his occupation.” “This,” he will say, “this is my occupation, and these are the happy fruits of it; I have tried God, and I have not found Him a hard master: I have put His promises to the proof, and not one of them has failed; I now know that He ‘is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that I could ask or think.’ In His blessed service, therefore, through Divine grace, will I be occupied henceforth and for ever.” Let this occupation be yours. (S. Coates, M. A.)

On occupation

Activity is the life of nature. The planets rolling in their orbits, the earth revolving on her axis; the atmosphere purified by winds, the ocean by tides; the vapours rising from the ground and returning in freshening flowers, exhaled from the sea, and poured again by rivers into its bosom, proclaim the universal law. Turn to animated existence. See the air, the land, and the waters in commotion with countless tribes eagerly engaged in attack, in defence, in the construction of habitations, in the chase of prey, in employment suited to their sphere and conducive to their happiness. Is man born an exception to the general rule? Man is born to labour. For labour, man while yet innocent was formed (Gen_2:15). To that exertion which was ordained to be a source of unmitigated delight, painful contention and overwhelming fatigue, when man apostatised from his God, were superadded (Gen_3:17-18). In the early years of the world employments now confined to the lowest classes were deemed not unbecoming persons of the most elevated rank.

From every individual in his dominions, and from each according to his vocation, Pharaoh looked for diligent exertion. From every, individual among us, as throughout His boundless empire, the supreme Lord of all demands habitual labour in the daily employment of the talents entrusted to our management. Let us then, in the first place, contemplate the motives under the guidance of which we are, each of us, to labour: secondly, some of the general lines of human labour as connected with their attendant temptations; and thirdly, the principal benefits immediately resulting from occupation.

I. WHATSOEVER YE DO, DO ALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD. Behold the universal motive of a Christian! Through the exuberance of the free bounty of God. To whom ought the gift to be consecrated? To Him who bestowed it. For whose glory ought it to be employed? For the glory of the Giver. To live unto Christ is to glorify God. To glorify God through Christ with your body and your spirit, which are His, is the appointed method of attaining the salvation which Christ has purchased.

II. ADVERT TO THE GENERAL LINES OF HUMAN LABOUR, AND TO THEIR ATTENDANT TEMPTATIONS.

III. Consider briefly SOME OF THE BENEFITS RESULTING TO THE INDIVIDUAL FROM OCCUPATION; and you will confess that, if God enjoined labour as a judgment, he enjoined it also in mercy.

1. Labour, in the first place, not only is the medium of acquisition; but naturally tends to improvement. Whether the body is to be strengthened or the mind to be cultivated; by the labour of to-day are augmented the faculties of attaining similar objects to-morrow.

2. Labour is, in the next place, a powerful preservative from sin. The unoccupied hand is a ready instrument of mischief.

3. Occupation, originating in Christian principles and directed to Christian purposes, is essential, not only to the refreshing enjoyment of leisure (for the rest that refreshes is rest after toil); but to the acquisition of genuine composure, of serenity of conscience, of that peace of God which passeth all understanding.

IV. LET NOT OUR INVESTIGATIONS BE CLOSED WITHOUT SOME BRIEF AND PRACTICAL REMARKS.

1. Consider with attention proportioned to the importance of the subject the universal obligation to labour. If you wish to withdraw your shoulder from the burden; suspect the soundness of your Christian profession. For those whom you love, even at the desire of those whom you love, you delight to labour. Do you love God, and loiter when He commands you to work for Him?

2. Be frequent in proposing to yourself the inquiry, “What is my occupation?” Satisfy yourself, not merely that you are occupied in employments acceptable to God. To labour in trifles is not Christian occupation. To labour in sin is to labour for the devil. (T. Gisborne, M. A.)

Occupation

I. OUR NEED OF AN OCCUPATION. Divine provision implies human need. It also measures and meets it.

1. Economically. Work is to the race an absolute condition of existence. Since the fall

the ground yields a full fruit only to labour (Gen_3:17; Gen_3:19). Only on condition that he works can man be fed (Pro_6:6; Pro_6:10). Idleness is an anomaly, a blunder, and a sin.

2. Physiologically. The health and growth of our powers depend on it. The body was not made to be still. It requires motion, and craves for it. A mind inert becomes enfeebled, whereas intellectual activity tends to intellectual strength. So also in the spiritual ,department: the spiritual nature grows by exercise, and languishes in inactivity. Opportunities of loving increase the capacity to love.

3. Morally: Idleness is the natural ally of immorality. The laziest lives are notoriously the most vicious. Good, honest work has a double action. It keeps down appetite and it keeps out of temptation’s way.

II. THE OCCUPATION WE NEED. Occupation, like other good things, may be abused, and so become the occasion of evil. This happens—

1. When our occupation is followed to the point of drudgery. Distinguish work from toil. The one strengthens our powers, the other wastes them.

2. When our occupation is one-sided. A tree that makes much wood makes little fruit. A man who over-works his body neglects his mind. A man absorbed in secular matters neglects and will soon bring atrophy to his moral nature. Activity in one direction cannot be exaggerated but at the expense of neglect in another. We can do only one thing well at a time. The Christian who thrives finds time somehow for spiritual exercises, and the exclusive consideration of spiritual things.

III. THE PROPER END OF ALL OCCUPATION. There must be not only work and lawful work, but the doing of this with lofty purpose. The true work is work done as service to God—“as to the Lord and not to men.” Application:

1. Recognize the universal obligation to work.

2. Try to find your enjoyment in your work.

3. Labour not for the meat that perisheth, but for that which endureth unto eternal life. (J. Edgar Henry, M. A.)

4 They also said to him, “We have come to live here for a while, because the famine is severe in Canaan and your servants’ flocks have no pasture. So now, please let your servants settle in Goshen.”

GILL, "They said moreover unto Pharaoh, for to sojourn in the land are we come,.... Not to obtain possessions and inheritances, as if natives, and to abide there always, but to continue for a little time; for they kept in mind that the land of Canaan was given to them as an inheritance, and would be possessed by then, in due time, and therefore had no thought for the present of continuing here long:

for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: they say nothing of the want of corn for themselves, because they could have it from Egypt, fetching it, and paying a price for it, but of pasture for their cattle; for the land of Canaan lying higher, was so scorched with the heat of the sun, and parched with drought, that scarce any grass grew upon it; whereas Egypt, and especially the land of Goshen, lying lower, and being marshy and fenny places, near the Nile, had some grass growing on it, even when the Nile did not overflow to make it so fruitful as it sometimes was:

now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen: which request Joseph, no doubt, directed them to make, it being the spot he had chosen for them in his own mind, and even had promised it to his father; and which his brethren, by their short stay in it as they came along, saw would be very convenient for them, and was the true reason why Joseph instructed them to be particular in the account of their trade and business, that Pharaoh might be inclined of himself to propose it to them or however to grant it when requested.

JAMIESO�,"For to sojourn ... are we come— The royal conversation took the course which Joseph had anticipated (Gen_46:33), and they answered according to previous instructions - manifesting, however, in their determination to return to Canaan, a faith and piety which affords a hopeful symptom of their having become all, or most of them, religious men.

BE�SO�, "Genesis 47:4. To sojourn in the land are we come — �ot to settle there for ever; only to sojourn, while the famine prevailed so in Canaan, which lay high, that it was not habitable for shepherds, the grass being burned up much more than in Egypt, which lay low, and where the corn chiefly failed, but there was tolerably good pasture. But although Jacob and his sons intended only to sojourn in Goshen or Egypt till the famine should be over, yet first the kindness they received encouraged them to continue, and at last the Egyptians rendered their posterity slaves, and compelled them to stay.

TRAPP, "Genesis 47:4 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 dwell in

the land of Goshen.

Ver. 4. For to sojourn in the land are we come.] And had they returned home again after the death of Joseph, they had taken a right course for themselves. But as God had otherwise decreed it, so they thought it best being there; and, therefore, not without their own fault, they fell into servitude.

5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you,

GILL, "And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph,.... Who was present at the conversation that passed between him and his brethren:

saying, thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee; which is observed, not for Joseph's information, but to lead on to what he had to say further.

HE�RY, ". He obtained for them a grant of a settlement in the land of Goshen, Gen_47:5, Gen_47:6. This was an instance of Pharaoh's gratitude to Joseph; because he had been such a blessing to him and his kingdom, he would be kind to his relations, purely for his sake. He offered them preferment as shepherds over his cattle, provided they were men of activity; for it is the man who is diligent in his business that shall stand before kings. And, whatever our profession or employment is, we should aim to be excellent in it, and to prove ourselves ingenious and industrious.

SBC, "The land of Goshen may be designated as the Netherlands of Egypt. When the first settlers rested there, it was in the immediate neighbourhood of the court. The Israelitish life there must have been a life of villages. The Egyptian government, fearful of this people even scattered abroad, would never have permitted them to consolidate their strength in large towns. It was a region of coarse plenty, a rich pastoral country; it was also a frontier land and an exposed province. It formed the Delta of the Nile, and was well called "the best of the land."

I. The villages of Goshen illustrate the mysterious path of divine purposes. Without that residence in Goshen we cannot see how Israel could have inherited its holy land; for Israel was not to be like Ishmael, a mere horde of bandit warriors, or a wandering race of unsettled Bedouins. The race was to exist for a purpose on the earth, and from the years of the discipline of despotism a spirit would infiltrate itself into the vast multitude; a mind, a Hebrew mind, would be born, fostered, and transmitted.

II. It is to the villages of Goshen that believers may turn to find how, when circumstances look most hopeless and men are most helpless, they are not forgotten or forsaken of God; how in the night-time of a nation’s distress the lamp of truth may somewhere be burning brightly.

III. There was safety in Goshen. There came a time when God in a very fearful manner arose for the deliverance of His Church. The firstborn throughout the land of Egypt died, and there was a great cry throughout the land; but Israel was safe.

E. Paxton Hood, The Preacher’s Lantern, vol. iii., p. 405.

CALVI�, "5.And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph. It is to be ascribed to the favor of God that Pharaoh was not offended when they desired that a separate dwelling-place might be granted to them; for we know that nothing is more indignantly borne by kings, than that their favors should be rejected. Pharaoh offers them a perpetual home, but they rather wish to depart from him. Should any one ascribe this to modesty, on the ground that it would have been proud to ask for the right of citizenship, in order that they might enjoy the same privilege as natives; the suggestion is indeed plausible. It is, however, fallacious, for in asking to be admitted as guests and strangers, they took timely precaution that Pharaoh should not hold them bound in the chains of servitude. The passage of Sophocles is known: —

>rannon ejmporeu>etai, Kei>nou ojti< dou>lov, kan ejleu>qerov mo>lh| (184)

">Who refuge seeks within a tyrant’s door, When once he enters there, is free no more. Langhorne’s Plutarch

It was therefore of importance to the sons of Jacob to declare, in limine , on what condition they wished to live in Egypt. And so much the more inexcusable was the cruelty exercised towards them, when, in violation of this compact, they were most severely oppressed, and were denied that opportunity of departure, for which they had stipulated. Isaiah indeed says that the king of Egypt had some pretext for his conduct, because the sons of Jacob had voluntarily placed themselves under his authority, (Isaiah 52:4;) but he is speaking comparatively, in order that he may the more grievously accuse the Assyrians, who had invaded the posterity of Jacob, when they were quiet in their own country, and expelled them thence by unjust violence. Therefore the law of hospitality was wickedly violated when the Israelites were oppressed as slaves, and when the return into their own country, for which they had silently covenanted, was denied them; though they had professed that they had come thither as guests; for fidelity and humanity ought to have been exercised towards them, by the king, when once they were received under his protection. It appears, therefore, that the children of Israel so guarded themselves, as in the presence of God, that they had just ground of complaint against the Egyptians. But seeing that the pledge given them by the king proved of no advantage to them according to the flesh; let the faithful learn, from their example, to train themselves to patience. For it commonly happens, that he who enters the court of a tyrant, is under the necessity

of laying down his liberty at the door.

COFFMA�, "Verse 5-6"And Pharaoh spoke unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee: 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."

Leupold paraphrased Pharaoh's first statement here, as "So I see your father and brothers have arrived."[6] This is also an acknowledgment of the fact that they were there upon Pharaoh's invitation, as confirmed by his stating again the permission granted along with the invitation for them to live in Egypt. In fact, he even enhanced his permission by saying, in effect: that Joseph's kindred might settle anywhere they liked. It is blind criticism indeed that would make this whole episode a SURPRISE to Pharaoh and the design for Israel's removal to Goshen a result of devious maneuvering by Joseph. Leupold called Pharaoh's words here, "a gracious royal acknowledgment."[7]

Pharaoh here not only granted formal royal permission for the settlement in Goshen, not merely through Joseph, but by direct word in the presence of five representatives of Israel, even throwing in the proposition that, if Joseph approved, it would be good to place his own cattle under their supervision! There could hardly be any doubt that such was done.

It is a gross error to read Pharaoh's opening statement as an indicator that the arrival of Israel was a SURPRISE, or that they had just arrived. "This in no way indicates the time of their arrival."[8]

TRAPP, "Genesis 47:5 And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee:

Ver. 5. And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph.] Kind he was, and constant, to so good a servant; as Darius likewise was to his Zopyrus, whom he preferred before the taking of twenty Babylons; (a) the King of Poland to his noble servant Zelislaus, to whom he sent a golden hand, instead of that hand he lost in his wars (b)

BI 5-6, "In the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell

The best gifts of God bestowed on His people

1. In the first place, GOD GIVETH THE BEST UNTO HIS TRUE ISRAEL. He gives them a land of rest, He gives them a land of safety, He gives them a land of abundance, and He giveth them the best things in that land. He not only pardons them, but His pardon is a costly pardon. He not only gives them righteousness, but He gives them a glorious righteousness. Does He supply their wants? It is all fulness He gives them; even for the supply of the little ones, as you observe in the twenty-fourth verse: “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 the seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones,”

unfolding this great truth—that the supply which is in Christ, is not only for the least, but for the least wants of the least; that there is nothing minute in God’s sight. He has provided for helplessness of body, for nervousness of spirit, for a distracted mind, for strong inward temptations, for outward trials, for domestic afflictions, for everything that concerns us in that straight way, the straightness of which at times no one can enter into but the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

II. But now observe, secondly, WHY IT IS GOD DOES THIS.

1. Wherever God acteth, He acted as God—greatly; what He doeth, He doeth as God, worthy God. You and I act below ourselves; God never can act below Himself. The great God in His forgiveness is great; in His righteousness He is great; in the abundant supplies of His grace He is great; in the freeness of His salvation He is great; in the sympathies of His love He is great; and that because He is God (see Isa_55:7-9; Hos_11:8-9).

2. But there is another reason; that is, the love which He bears towards His Israel. Who can describe what that love is?

3. But there is another reason, and I think, if I were to lose sight of that, I should lose sight of the Gospel itself; every blessing that the Israel of God enjoy, they enjoy for the true Joseph’s sake. It is not for their sakes, but it is for Christ’s sake.

III. THE PRACTICAL REARING OF THIS IMPORTANT SUBJECT.

1. Great cause for deep thankfulness.

2. Then there is in the subject that which should lead to great stirring up of desire. We should desire that we may enter into the best of the land.

3. I am sure we have great cause for deep abasement as we think of the subject. God has given us the best; what have we given Him? (J. H.Evans, M. A.)

6 and the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any among them with special ability, put them in charge of my own livestock.”

CLARKE, "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 אנשי"חילbearing fatigue, and of rendering their authority respectable.

Rulers over my cattle - mikneh signifies not only cattle, but possessions or מקנהproperty 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 was an abomination to the Egyptians, however we may understand or qualify the expression, is it to be supposed that Pharaoh should desire that the brethren of his prime minister, of his chief favorite, should be employed in some of the very meanest offices in the land? We may therefore safely understand Pharaoh 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.

GILL, "The land of Egypt is before thee,.... To choose what part of it he should judge most suitable and agreeable to his father and brethren:

in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell, in the land of Goshen let them dwell; as is requested; and which was, as Pharaoh here suggests, the best part of the land, the most fertile and fruitful, and the fittest for cattle, being full of pastures through the river Nile and the canals of it, and Goshen being the most fertile portion in the land of Rameses, as in Gen_47:11; this, Dr. Shaw observes (k), could be no other than what lay within two or three leagues at the most from the Nile, because the rest of the Egyptian Arabia, which reaches beyond the influence of this river to the eastward, is a barren inhospitable wilderness:

and if thou knowest any man of activity among them; strong in body, and of great parts, and endowments of mind, and of great skill, and diligence, and industry in the management of flocks and herds:

then make them rulers over my cattle; or "rulers of cattle over those that are mine" (l): that is, over his shepherds, to take care that they do their work well and faithfully: from whence it appears that Pharaoh had flocks and herds and shepherds; and therefore it cannot be thought that the Egyptians in those times abstained from eating of animals, or that all shepherds, without exception, were an abomination to them, only foreign ones that lived on spoil and plunder, and made excursions into their country for such purposes: the office he assigned to men of skill and industry was like that which Doeg the Edomite was in, who was the chief of the herdsmen of Saul, 1Sa_21:7.

CALVI�, "6.The land of Egypt. This is recorded not only to show that Jacob was courteously received, but also, that nothing was given him by Joseph but at the command of the king. For the greater was his power, the more strictly was he bound

to take care, lest, being liberal with the king’s property, he might defraud both him and his people. And I would that this moderation so prevailed among the nobles of the world, that they would conduct themselves, in their private affairs, no otherwise than if they were plebeians: but now, they seem to themselves to have no power, unless they may prove it by their license to sin. And although Joseph, by the king’s permission, places his family amidst the best pastures; yet he does not avail himself of the other portion of the royal beneficence, to make his brethren keepers of the king’s cattle; not only because this privilege would have excited the envy of many against them, but because he was unwilling to be entangled in such a snare.

COKE, "Genesis 47:6. Make them rulers over my cattle— These words seem much to strengthen the interpretation of the last verse in the former chapter, which affirms, that shepherds were not held as impious and profane by the AEgyptians, but only as men of a mean and despicable profession: and, indeed, one can hardly conceive, that a man of Joseph's understanding would have introduced his family to Pharaoh, under a character profane and detestable to the AEgyptians. He had good reasons for desiring that they should assume a character, which was rather contemptible, as he wished them to be fixed in Goshen, and to be preserved distinct from all commerce with the AEgyptians. He wanted them not to become courtiers, or to be employed in any concerns of the state: he knew the designs of Providence with respect to them, and therefore chose that they should assume an employment which would continue them in that state of sojourning, whereto the Abrahamic family were destined, till the time appointed for their complete possession of Canaan. Much of the Eastern riches consisted in cattle, and great part of the king's revenue was raised from them; on which account there were some prime officers, to oversee the lower sort of shepherds. Such was Doeg to Saul, 1 Samuel 21:7 and those officers mentioned, 1 Chronicles 27:29; 1 Chronicles 27:34. and such was Tyrrhus to king Latinus, "Tyrrhus, chief master of the royal herd."

TRAPP, "Genesis 47:6 The land of Egypt [is] before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest [any] men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.

Ver. 6. If thou knowest any men of activity.] Or ability of body and mind; such as "Jeroboam, a mighty man of valour," [1 Kings 11:28] and fit for the work; prudent and diligent, ingenious and industrious, that hath a dexterity and handiness to the business. Such St Paul would have all Christians to be. [Titus 3:8; Titus 3:14] "Let them that have believed in God," saith he, "be careful to maintain good works," or profess honest trades, "for necessary uses," and that therein they be their crafts masters, and excel others, Aιεν αριστευειν και υπειροχον εµµεναι αλλων. This was Cicero’s posy from his youth, as himself witnesseth. And Plutarch tells us that all his strife and drift was, all his life long, to leave others behind him, and to be the best at anything he ever undertook. (a) This should he every man’s endeavour in his place and station, as that which is "good before God, and profitable unto men," as the apostle there subjoineth. Solomon also assures us that such shall "stand before kings," and not live long in a low place. [Proverbs 22:29]

WHEDO�, "6. The land of Egypt is before thee — “Although they belonged to the abominated caste, all Egypt was at their disposal for Joseph’s sake.

In the land of Goshen let them dwell — Since this is your petition.

And if thou knowest any men of activity among them — Rather, men of ability, namely, for such office.

Make them rulers over my cattle — Literally, princes of (the shepherds or herdsmen of) my cattle. �ot overseers of his household, (as A. Clarke,) for the word signifies only property in cattle. (Gesenius; Knobel.) Pharaoh would make Joseph’s brethren, as far as they were competent, overseers of his herdsmen and shepherds. So Doeg, the Edomite, was overseer of Saul’s herdsmen. (1 Samuel 21:7.)” — �ewhall.

“The land where Israel was to dwell is here called Goshen, and in Genesis 47:11, Rameses. In Exodus 12:37, Israel is said to have set out from Rameses. This place was near the seat of government, since Joseph told his father that he would there dwell near him, (Genesis 45:10,) and apparently between Palestine and Joseph’s residence, (Genesis 46:28-29,) which was probably usually at Memphis, although sometimes, perhaps, at Zoan. See note on Exodus 1:8. It was under the government of Egypt, and yet hardly reckoned a part of the country, and appears not to have been occupied to any great extent by the native inhabitants, as the reason assigned for settling the Israelites there is, that they might not come in contact with the Egyptians. Genesis 46:33-34. Every thing thus indicates that Goshen, or Rameses, was the frontier province, nearest to Palestine, lying along the Pelusiac arm of the �ile, and stretching from thence eastward to the desert. The Israelites may have spread eastward as they multiplied, across the Pelusiac to or across the Tanitic arm. This was the best of the land for a pastoral people like Israel, although not so fertile as the country nearer the �ile; yet it was well irrigated from Egypt’s great river. It was traversed by an ancient canal, which, according to Strabo, once carried the �ile water into the Red Sea, and on the banks of which it is probable that the Israelites built the treasure-city Raamses or Rameses. Exodus 1:11. This canal traversed the wadies Tumeylat and Seven Wells, which was the richest portion of Goshen, although the Israelites doubtless drove their flocks up the water-courses into fertile tracts of the desert. The present Sweet-water Canal of M. Lesseps has simply reopened the works of the Pharaohs, carrying the �ile water through these broad wadies to Lake Timsah, and thence south through the Bitter Lakes to the Red Sea at Suez.

“Robinson made careful inquiries concerning the fertility of this province at present, and found that it now ‘bears the highest valuation, yields the largest revenue,’ and that ‘there are here more flocks and herds than anywhere else in Egypt, and also more fishermen.’ — Biblical Researches, 1:54. This country now produces, according to Lane, (Modern Egyptians, 1:242,) cucumbers and melons, gourds, onions, leeks, beans, chick-peas and lupins; and the inhabitants also make use of small salted fish for food; a list of productions closely corresponding with that

given in �umbers 11:5, where the murmuring Israelites say, ‘We remember the fish that we did eat in Egypt freely, the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic.’ The opening of the Suez Canal has increased the fertility of the land since the visits of Robinson and Lane.

“Large heaps of ruins are now found south-west of Belbeis, which are called by the Arabs the hills or graves of the Jews, (Tel el Jehud, Turbeh el Jehud,) which may be memorials of the Israelitish sojourn. Many traces of ancient sites are scattered along the Wady Tumeylat. The geographical position of Goshen was such that the plagues of hail and darkness might sweep down the �ile valley, and even cover Zoan, while Goshen (on the east) was left untouched.” — �ewhall.

7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him before Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed[a] Pharaoh,

CLARKE, "Jacob blessed Pharaoh - Saluted him on his entrance with Peace be unto thee, or some such expression of respect and good will. For the meaning of the term to bless, as applied to God and man, See Clarke on Gen_2:3 (note).

GILL, "And Joseph brought in Jacob his father,.... That is, some time after he had introduced his five brethren, and had gotten the grant of Goshen for them, when he sent, for his father from thence, or he came quickly after to Tanis or Memphis, where Pharaoh's court was:

and set him before Pharaoh; presented Jacob to him, and placed his father right before Pharaoh, perhaps in a chair, or on a seat, by Pharaoh's order, because of his age, and in honour to him:

and Jacob blessed Pharaoh; wished him health and happiness, prayed for his welfare, and gave him thanks for all his kindness to him and his; and he blessed him not only in a way of civility, as was usual when men came into the presence of princes, but in an authoritative way, as a prophet and patriarch, a man divinely inspired of God, and who had great power in prayer with him: the Targum of Jonathan gives us his prayer

thus,"may it be the pleasure (i.e. of God) that the waters of the Nile may be filled, and that the famine may remove from the world in thy days.''

HE�RY 7-10, " The respect Joseph, as a son, showed to his father.1. He presented him to Pharaoh, Gen_47:7. And here,

(1.) Pharaoh asks Jacob a common question: How old art thou? Gen_47:8. A question usually put to old men, for it is natural to us to admire old age and to reverence it (Lev_19:32), as it is very unnatural and unbecoming to despise it, Isa_3:5. Jacob's countenance, no doubt, showed him to be very old, for he had been a man of labour and sorrow; in Egypt people were not so long-lived as in Canaan, and therefore Pharaoh looks upon Jacob with wonder; he was as a show in his court. When we are reflecting upon ourselves, this should come into the account, “How old are we?”

(2.) Jacob gives Pharaoh an uncommon answer, Isa_3:9. He speaks as becomes a patriarch, with an air of seriousness, for the instruction of Pharaoh. Though our speech be not always of grace, yet it must thus be always with grace. Observe here, [1.] He calls his life a pilgrimage, looking upon himself as a stranger in this world, and a traveller towards another world: this earth his inn, not his home. To this the apostle refers (Heb_11:13), They confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims. He not only reckoned himself a pilgrim now that he was in Egypt, a strange country in which he never was before; but his life, even in the land of his nativity, was a pilgrimage, and those who so reckon it can the better bear the inconvenience of banishment from their native soil; they are but pilgrims still, and so they were always. [2.] He reckons his life by days; for, even so, it is soon reckoned, and we are not sure of the continuance of it for a day to an end, but may be turned out of this tabernacle at less than an hour's warning. Let us therefore number our days (Psa_90:12), and measure them, Psa_39:4. [3.] The character he gives of them is, First, That they were few. Though he had now lived 130 years, they seemed to him but a few days, in comparison with the days of eternity, the eternal God, and the eternal state, in which a thousand years (longer than ever any man lived) are but as one day. Secondly, That they were evil. This is true concerning man in general, he is of few days, and full of trouble (Job_14:1); and, since his days are evil, it is well they are few. Jacob's life, particularly, had been made up of evil days; and the pleasantest days of his life were yet before him. Thirdly, That they were short of the days of his fathers, not so many, not so pleasant, as their days. Old age came sooner upon him than it had done upon some of his ancestors. As the young man should not be proud of his strength or beauty, so the old man should not be proud of his age, and the crown of his hoary hairs, though others justly reverence it; for those who are accounted very old attain not to the years of the patriarchs. The hoary head is a crown of glory only when it is found in the way of righteousness.

(3.) Jacob both addresses himself to Pharaoh and takes leave of him with a blessing (Gen_47:7): Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and again, Gen_47:10, which was not only an act of civility (he paid him respect and returned him thanks for his kindness), but an act of piety - he prayed for him, as one having the authority of a prophet and a patriarch. Though in worldly wealth Pharaoh was the greater, yet, in interest with God, Jacob was the greater; he was God's anointed, Psa_105:15. And a patriarch's blessing was not a thing to be despised, no, not by a potent prince. Darius valued the prayers of the church for himself and for his sons, Ezr_6:10. Pharaoh kindly received Jacob, and, whether in the name of a prophet or no, thus he had a prophet's reward, which sufficiently recompensed him, not only for his courteous converse with him, but for all the other kindnesses he showed to him and his.

JAMIESO�,"Joseph brought in Jacob his father— There is a pathetic and most affecting interest attending this interview with royalty; and when, with all the simplicity and dignified solemnity of a man of God, Jacob signalized his entrance by imploring the divine blessing on the royal head, it may easily be imagined what a striking impression the scene would produce (compare Heb_7:7).

K&D 7-9, "Joseph then presented his father to Pharaoh, but not till after the audience of his brothers had been followed by the royal permission to settle, for which the old man, who was bowed down with age, was not in a condition to sue. The patriarch saluted the king with a blessing, and replied to his inquiry as to his age, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are 130 years; few and sorrowful are the days of my life's years, and have not reached (the perfect in the presentiment of his approaching end) the days of the life's years of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” Jacob called

his own life and that of his fathers a pilgrimage (מגורים), because they had not come into actual possession of the promised land, but had been obliged all their life long to wander about, unsettled and homeless, in the land promised to them for an inheritance, as in a strange land. This pilgrimage was at the same time a figurative representation of the inconstancy and weariness of the earthly life, in which man does not attain to that true rest of peace with God and blessedness in His fellowship, for which he was created, and for which therefore his soul is continually longing (cf. Psa_39:13; Psa_119:19, Psa_119:54; 1Ch_29:15). The apostle, therefore, could justly regard these words as a declaration of the longing of the patriarchs for the eternal rest of their heavenly

fatherland (Heb_11:13-16). So also Jacob's life was little (מעט) and evil (i.e., full of toil and trouble) in comparison with the life of his fathers. For Abraham lived to be 175 years old, and Isaac 180; and neither of them had led a life so agitated, so full of distress and dangers, of tribulation and anguish, as Jacob had from his first flight to Haran up to the time of his removal to Egypt.

CALVI�, "7.And Joseph brought in Jacob his father. Although Moses relates, in a continuous narrative, that Jacob was brought to the king, yet I do not doubt that some time had intervened; at least, till he had obtained a place wherein he might dwell; and where he might leave his family more safely, and with a more tranquil mind; and also, where he might refresh himself, for a little while, after the fatigue of his journey. And whereas he is said to have blessed Pharaoh, by this term Moses does not mean a common and profane salutation, but the pious and holy prayer of a servant of God. For the children of this world salute kings and princes for the sake of honor, but, by no means, raise their thoughts to God. Jacob acts otherwise; for he adjoins to civil reverence that pious affection which causes him to commend the safety of the king to God. And Jeremiah prescribes this rule to the Jews, that they should pray for the peace of Babylon as long as they were to live in exile; because in the peace of that land and empire their own peace would be involved. (Jeremiah 29:7.) If this duty was enjoined on miserable captives, forcibly deprived of their liberty, and torn from their own country; how much more did Jacob owe it to a king so humane and beneficent? But of whatever character they may be who rule over us, we are commanded to offer up public prayers for them. (1 Timothy 2:1.)

Therefore the same subjection to authority is required severally from each of us.

BE�SO�, "Genesis 47:7. Jacob blessed Pharaoh — Which is repeated, Genesis 47:10, as being a circumstance very remarkable. And remarkable surely it was that the greater, for such Pharaoh was in all external things, in wealth, power and glory, should be blessed of the less, Hebrews 7:7. But before God, and in reality, Jacob was much greater than Pharaoh. It is probable, therefore, that he not only saluted him, prayed for and thanked him for all his favours to him and his, all which the original word, here rendered blessed, often means; but that he blessed him with the authority of a patriarch and a prophet: and a patriarch’s blessing was a thing not to be despised, no, not by a potent prince.

COFFMA�, "Verses 7-10"And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How many are the days of the years of thy life? 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. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh."

"And Jacob blessed Pharaoh ..." The word for "blessed," occurring here and in Genesis 47:10, "could be translated `saluted,' but the normal and strongly preferred meaning is blessed."[9] Leupold gave the actual meaning of the word in this passage as, "to bless with an invocation."[10] It is a fad with certain critics to choose the most inappropriate meaning allowed by Biblical terms.

This episode is one of the grand scenes of the Bible. Pharaoh was the autocratic ruler of the mightiest nation on earth; Jacob was the patriarchal head of God's Chosen Race, through whom redemption would come to all mankind. That Jacob was fully conscious of his own status in that situation is evident in what he did. As long as Egypt sheltered and protected the covenant people, that long, God blessed and protected Egypt. But when another king arose who "knew not Joseph," and when Egypt turned viciously upon the Israel of God, the heavenly blessing was withdrawn, and one disaster after another overwhelmed them. One may wonder if Pharaoh appreciated this blessing. To him, Jacob might have seemed to be merely an old man seeking relief from the starvation that threatened to wipe out his family, but the hand of the Almighty was upholding Jacob, and the blessing of God was surely his to bestow.

"The years of my pilgrimage ..." Here is a glimpse of the way Jacob viewed his life. �either he nor his father ever owned any of the land of promise except the burial place at Machpelah and a few acres around Shechem. "They looked for the city that hath the foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews 11:10). Jacob's word here is a testimonial to his acceptance of the promise God made to Abraham, and of his absolute belief in the ultimate fulfillment of it. �one of the patriarchs

viewed the world as their permanent dwelling place, nor the earth as the true home of the soul. The mightiest king on earth had just given him a deed to Goshen, but Jacob was still a "pilgrim." Our English word for "pilgrim" literally means "one who crosses the field," and came into usage during the Crusades, when, upon nearly any given morning, settled residents could see a lonely "wanderer" on the way to the Holy Land, "crossing the field." Montgomery had this:

"A pilgrim is one seeking a country that has not yet been reached. The remembrance of this keeps the life God-ward. Its blessedness consists not in present enjoyment, but in preparation for the life to come."[11]"Few and evil have been the days ..." Jacob's father and grandfather had attained ages of 175 for Abraham (Genesis 25:7), and 180 for Isaac (Genesis 35:28); and Jacob's words here indicated that he did not expect to live as long a life as his "fathers" had lived. Of course, he lived an additional 17 years after he made this statement, but even at 147, his age when he died, his words remained true.

"Evil ..." This is not a reference to Jacob's wickedness but to the severe and trying experiences which life had brought to him. �ot all of the terrible experiences were the result of his own doing, but some were: the preference that his father had for Esau; his purchase of the birthright; the ensuing hatred of Esau; the shameful treatment he received from his father-in-law Laban; the long years of servitude in the outdoors; the unhapppiness of his wives due to internal conditions in his family; the hatred of his sons toward Jacob's favorite, Joseph; their sale of Joseph, represented to Jacob as Joseph's death; rape of Dinah; the shameless massacre of the Shechemites by two of his sons; Reuben's incest with one of Jacob's wives; the bitter famine; the imprisonment of Simeon; Jacob's horror upon learning Benjamin would have to go to Egypt; the following anxiety about him ... all these things left their mark upon the heart of Jacob, hence, his reference to them here.

COKE, "Genesis 47:7. Jacob blessed Pharaoh— When the word, bless, says Calmet, is applied to God, it signifies to thank, or praise; when to men, it signifies, to wish them health, prosperity, or happiness: in which latter sense it is here used. Jacob blessed Pharaoh, i.e.. wished him health, and a long and happy reign, in gratitude for the protection with which he had honoured him and his family; and probably he did this in the name of the God of his fathers. The common salutation among the Jews, O king, live for ever! was of this same kind.

ELLICOTT, "(7) Jacob blessed Pharaoh.—The presentation of Jacob to Pharaoh seems to have been a much more solemn matter than that of Joseph’s brethren. Pharaoh looks upon them with interest as the brothers of his vizier, grants their request for leave to dwell in Goshen, and even empowers Joseph to make the ablest of them chief herdsmen over the royal cattle. But Jacob had attained to an age which gave him great dignity: for to an Egyptian 120 was the utmost limit of longevity. Jacob was now 130, and Pharaoh treats him with the greatest honour, and twice accepts his blessing. More must be meant by this than the usual salutation, in which each one presented to the king prayed for the prolongation of

his life. Pharaoh probably bowed before Jacob as a saintly personage, and received a formal benediction.

SIMEO�, "JACOB’S I�TERVIEW WITH PHARAOH

Genesis 47:7-10. And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil hare the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers, in the days of their pilgrimage. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.

TO acknowledge God in all our ways, and to commit our way to him, secures to us, as we are told, his gracious interposition for the direction of our paths, and the accomplishment of our desires. It is possible that Jacob, after he had set out towards Egypt in the waggons that Joseph had sent for him, felt some doubts about the propriety of leaving the promised land, when, at his advanced age, he could have no reasonable prospect of returning thither with his family. But, knowing from experience the efficacy of prayer, he betook himself to that never-failing remedy: he stopped at Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the Lord. That very night God vouchsafed to appear to him in a vision, and to dissipate his fears, by an express command to proceed on his journey, and by a promise that he should in due time be brought back again [�ote: Genesis 46:1-4.]. He then prosecuted his journey in safety, and had a most affecting interview with his beloved Joseph. Soon after his arrival, five of his sons were introduced to Pharaoh; and afterwards he himself. It is this introduction of the aged patriarch to Pharaoh that we are now more particularly to consider. In the account given us of the interview, we notice,

I. The question which Pharaoh put to Jacob—

[It could not be expected that persons so remote from each other in their station, their views, and habits of life, should have many topics in common with each other whereon to maintain a long and interesting conversation. The interview seems to have been very short, and of course the conversation short also. All that is related concerning it contains only one short question. This, as far as it related to Jacob, was a mere expression of kindness and respect on the part of Pharaoh. To have questioned him about matters which he did not understand, would have been embarrassing to Jacob, and painful to his feelings: and to have asked him about any thing in which neither party was at all interested, would have betrayed a great want of judgment in Pharaoh. The topic selected by Pharaoh was liable to no such objection: for it is always gratifying to a person advanced in years to mention his age, because the “hoary head, especially if found in the way of righteousness, is always considered as a crown of glory [�ote: Proverbs 16:31; Leviticus 19:32.].”

As a general question, independent of the history, it cannot fail of suggesting many important thoughts to all to whom it is addressed. “How old art thou?” Art thou far

advanced in life? how much then of thine allotted time is gone, and how little remains for the finishing of the work that is required of thee! how diligently therefore shouldst thou redeem every hour that is now added to thine expiring term! Art thou, on the contrary, but just setting out in the world? how little dost thou know of its snares, temptations, sorrows! what disappointments and troubles hast thou to experience! and how deeply art thou concerned to have thy news rectified, and thy conduct regulated by the word of God! Whatever be thine age, thou shouldst consider every return of thy birth-day rather as a call to weep and mourn, than as an occasion of festivity and joy: for it is the knell of a departed year; a year that might, in all probability, have been far better improved; a year in which many sins have been committed, which are indelibly recorded in the book of God’s remembrance, and of which you must shortly give a strict account at his judgment-seat.]

We notice,

II. Jacob’s answer to it—

[The patriarch’s mind was fraught with zeal for God; and therefore not contenting himself with a plain short answer, he framed his reply in words calculated to make a deep impression on the mind of Pharaoh, without giving him the smallest offence.

He insinuates, and repeats the idea, that life is but a “pilgrimage;” that we are merely sojourners in a foreign land, and that our home and our inheritance is in a better country. This part of his speech is particularly noticed in the Epistle to the Hebrews, as being an open acknowledgment of his principles as a worshipper of Jehovah, and of his expectations in a better world [�ote: Hebrews 11:13-14; Hebrews 11:16.]. He intimates also that his years, though they had been an hundred and thirty, were few. This age might appear great to Pharaoh; but it was not near equal to that of Jacob’s progenitors [�ote: Terah was 205 years old; Abraham 175; Isaac 180.]. On a retrospect, every person’s days appear to have been but few. Various incidents of former life seem to have been but recently transacted; the intervening time being lost, as it were, like valleys intercepted by adjacent hills. He further declares, that these years of his had been replete with evil. Certainly his life, from the time that he fled from the face of his brother Esau to that hour, had been a scene of great afflictions. His fourteen years’ servitude to Laban, the disgrace brought on him and his family by Dinah his only daughter, the murderous cruelty of his vindictive sons, the jealousies of all his children on account of his partiality to Joseph, the sudden loss of Joseph, and all his recent trials, had greatly embittered life to him, and made it appear like a sea of troubles, where wave followed wave in endless succession. And who is there that does not find, (especially in more advanced life,) that the evil, on the whole, outweighs the good?

These hints, offered in so delicate a manner to a potent monarch, with whom he had only one short interview, afford a beautiful pattern for our imitation, at the same time that they convey important instruction to our minds.]

We conclude with commending to your imitation the whole of Jacob’s conduct towards Pharaoh—

[At his first admission into Pharaoh’s presence, and again at his departure from him, this holy patriarch blessed him. We do not suppose that he pronounced his benediction in a formal and authoritative manner, as Melchizedec did to Abraham; but that he rendered him his most grateful acknowledgments for the favours he had conferred, and invoked the blessing of God upon him and upon his kingdom on account of them. Such a mode of testifying his gratitude became a servant of Jehovah, and tended to lead the monarch’s thoughts to the contemplation of the only true God. And well may it put to shame the greater part of the Christian world, who systematically exclude religion from their social converse, under the idea that the introduction of it would destroy all the comfort of society — — — True Christians, however, should learn from this instance not to be ashamed of their religion; but, as inoffensively as possible, to lead men to the knowledge of it; and to make the diffusion of it a very essential part of all their intercourse with each other — — — More especially we should embrace every opportunity of impressing on our own minds and on the minds of others the true end of life; that we may thereby secure that rest which remaineth for us after our short but weary pilgrimage.]

BI, "And Joseph brought in Jacob his father

Joseph and his father

I. JOSEPH HONOURED HIS FATHER JACOB BY SHOWING HIM THE UTMOST RESPECT (Gen_46:29).

II. JOSEPH HONOURED HIS FATHER BY SHOWING HIS LOVE FOR HIM. One of our martyr-Presidents never stood higher in the nation’s eyes than when he turned around, after his inauguration, and, before all the assembled thousands, greeted his mother with a filial kiss.

III. JOSEPH HONOURED HIS FATHER BY HIS PURE AND NOBLE LIFE. Words of respect are comparatively worthless unless they have a life behind them.

IV. JOSEPH HONOURED HIS FATHER BY PRESENTING HIM SO PROMPTLY TO PHARAOH. He shows not a particle of shame of his rusticity, Jacob’s homespun must have contrasted strangely with Pharaoh’s purple; Jacob’s uncouth phrases of country-life with the king’s polished diction. Joseph knew well enough how such people were ordinarily despised at the court, and yet how he omits no chance to show to Pharaoh how much he loved and honoured his father. The story is told of the Dean of Canterbury, afterwards Archbishop Tillotson, that one day after he had attained his churchly honours, an old man from the country, with uncouth manners, called at his door and inquired for John Tillotson. The foot man was about to dismiss him with scorn for presuming to ask in that familiar way for his master, when the Archbishop caught sight of his visitor and flew down the stairs to embrace the old man before all the servants, exclaiming with tones of genuine delight, “It is my beloved father!” We all admire such exhibitions of filial love, which overcomes the fear of the cool conventionalities of the world, and we find from our lesson that Pharaoh was touched by his prime minister’s loyalty to his poor relations, for he gave him this royal token of his pleasure: “The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and thy brethren to dwell;”

&c. (F. E. Clark.)

An interview with royalty

I desire to linger awhile on this thrilling scene. There are wise, good lessons in it.

1. I look upon it first of all and see an attractive picture of venerable old age. “The hoary head is a crown of glory,” says Solomon, “if it he found in the way of righteousness.” Age invests many things with a beauty of its own. An aged oak, wide-spread, gnarled, and weather-warped, stalwart, green, and stately; or an ancient castle, weatherworn and storm-swept, moss-clad and ivy-covered, its grey towers still standing bold and brave to all the winds of heaven; but of all attractive pictures that old time can draw, nothing is more winsome than the silver locks and mellowed features of godly old age. They remind me of some retired Greenwich or Chelsea veteran who can tell the tale of scars and wounds, of hair-breath escapes, of brave comrades, of stirring campaigns, of hard-fought battles; only this has been a holier war, followed by a dearer peace and more sweet reward and victories than ever followed Trafalgar or Waterloo. So with the godly character. It is beautiful in all its stages from youth to manhood; hut surely, fairest of all when age, experience, and grace hath ripened it into saintliness, and something of the heavenly shines outward from the soul within. As I look upon this aged patriarch confronting all the splendours of Pharaoh’s court, I see him standing on the utmost border, waiting to be ushered into the presence of a grand Monarch, into a fairer palace, and among a richer and nobler throng, and where he himself will be the wearer of a richer crown. As I look upon this strange scene in Pharaoh’s palace, I see that there is something grander and more powerful in moral worth than in any kind or amount of material power or possessions. In the epistle to the Hebrews I find this sentence, “Without contradiction, the less is blessed of the greater.” Jacob has something and can procure something which makes the monarch less than he, something which makes him better and greater than the king. It is the blessing of God. It is power with God. It is that influence from heaven and with heaven which belongs to moral goodness and virtue, and especially to aged piety everywhere and at all times. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Never forget that righteousness is far away greater than the riches.

2. And once more, as I look upon that striking scene in Pharaoh’s palace and listen to the aged patriarch’s words, I think of his testimony concerning life. He calls it a pilgrimage. Young men! have you ever thought of that? Behind you there is a stern uncompromising power that is always muttering, “Move on! Move on! March through the moments! hurry through the hours! tramp along the days! tread through the mouths! stride along the years! You can’t halt! You can’t step backward. Move on!” Oh, but this is a tremendous view of human life! God help us from this hour to walk aright; to keep the path of duty, the ways of the Lord, lest the later stages of our pilgrimage find us in swamp and quagmire, scorching desert or thorny jungle when our strength is exhausted and the dull night winds blow!

3. I notice, too, that Jacob calls his days evil days. He means by that they had been sorrowful, full of trouble and care. Well, his was a hard life, he had had disappointment and distress beyond the common. If you will read his history you will find that his own conduct had to answer largely for his cares; his sins were the seed of his sorrows; his wrong-doing caused the very most of his rough usage, and nobody knew that better than Jacob did himself. Sin is the mother of sorrow, and its seeds sown in the life are sure to bring a harvest of pain. There is an Australian

weapon called the boomerang, which is thrown so as to describe a series of curves and comes back at last to the feet of the thrower. Sin is a boomerang which we throw off into space, but it turns upon its author, and strikes the soul that launched it.

4. Learn another lesson from this striking picture—a lesson of God’s sure faithfulness. Jacob with all his faults had served and trusted God. His troubles and distresses had helped to bring him more fully into pious confidence and patient faith; and his trust in God brought about all things right at last. (J. J. Wray.)

Jacob and Pharaoh

1. The chief value of this narrative is that it affords one of the most impressive of all illustrations of the providential purposes of God.

2. We gain here some insight into the business regulations of a successful government. Pharaoh appears to have been a model king. He managed the state on business principles. The first question he asked these strangers who had come to settle in his kingdom was, “What is your occupation?” Such a government expects its subjects to be men of business. No idlers were wanted there in time of famine; none but men of ability, active habits, prudence, capacity.

3. We find in this scene an example of courtesy. There is a touching simplicity and an air of vivid reality in this picture, which leads to intuitive recognition of its genuineness. Jacob respected Pharaoh’s office, and Pharaoh respected Jacob’s age.

4. We have here also a model for conversation.

5. This scene suggests a sad retrospect. Jacob as a prince had prevailed with God. He had gained the birthright, but he had not escaped the consequences of his own sins. Men do not escape the fruits of sin by receiving honours in the kingdom of God. God’s grace may brighten the future, but nothing else than righteous living can make happy memories; and the shadows of youthful transgression stretch across a long life.

6. We have in this scene a remainder of our eternal relations with God. (A. E. Dunning.)

Jacob and Pharaoh

I. A STRANGE MEETING. Meetings of historical characters and their results an interesting study (Diogenes and Alexander, Columbus and Ferdinand, Luther and Charles V., Milton and Galileo, &c.). None more remarkable than this.

1. Strange circumstances led to it.

2. A strange introduction given to it. Joseph presented five of his brethren to the king. These probably were the five eldest, who were at this time advanced in life.

3. Strange conversation marked it. Pharaoh, apparently overwhelmed by the venerable aspect of Jacob, inquired his age. Jacob, talking to a much younger man, calls his own life short.

4. Strange consequences flowed from it. Nearly 400 years ago this meeting left its mark on history, never to be effaced. Consequences to Israel and Egypt.

5. After the farewell was spoken they appear to have never seen each other again.

II. A STRANGE CONTRAST,

1. A patriarch, and a prince. The one the head of God’s chosen people, now numbering a few souls, to become a nation; the other the head of a mighty people, already a great nation.

2. A servant of God, and a worshipper of idols. The one the head of a people who were to become great and powerful; the other the king of a nation that should afterwards be humbled.

3. An Israelitish shepherd, and an Egyptian monarch. The occupation of the one an abomination to the other.

4. A poor man, and a rich man. The one, through his son, the benefactor and the deliverer of the other.

5. A very aged man, and a man in the prime of life. Age of Pharaoh uncertain, but the age of Jacob 130 years.

III. A STRANGE COMMENT, i.e., on life.

1. It is a pilgrimage. Not a settled, permanent, certain ,state. A journey from the cradle to the grave. Among strange people, scenes, trials, and joys. Over hills of prosperity and across plains of content, down valleys of sorrow and poverty.

2. Counted by days. The unit of measurement very short. Know not what a day may bring forth.

3. Few. Yet 130 years. How few are our years! Few as compared with eternity; or even with life of many (Methuselah, &c.). Few, compared with hopes, projects, &c.

4. Evil. Full of sin, sorrow, &c. Little done that is good. Man born to trouble. Uncertain. Full of changes.

5. Yet the longest life only a pilgrimage, and reckoned by days. Learn:

1. The best meeting for us is the meeting of the penitent sinner with the merciful Saviour. Arrangements are made for it, good results will inevitably flow from it. The closet is the audience-chamber.

2. The best contrast for us is between the old state of nature and the new state of grace. May we all realize it, and enjoy its blessings.

3. Then our new life, hopes, &c., will be a comment on the Saviour’s power, and on the work of the Holy Spirit (written epistles, &c.). And when this short pilgrimage is over, we shall, in eternity, comment upon the wonderful love of God, and the blessed life in heaven. (J. C. Gray.)

Joseph introduces Jacob and his family to Pharaoh

I. THE INTRODUCTION.

1. Of Joseph’s brethren. In this appears—

(1) Joseph’s character for fidelity to his promise.

(2) Joseph’s respect for constituted authority.

(3) The straightforwardness of Joseph’s brethren (Gen_47:3-4).

2. Of Joseph’s father.

(1) The reverence due to age.

(2) The priesthood of age.

II. THE RECEPTION.

1. Of the brethren.

2. Of Jacob. (T. H. Leale.)

Joseph’s filial conduct

I. SEEKING ROYAL FAVOUR.

1. Approaching the king.

2. Speaking for others.

3. Presented to the king.

II. SECURING ROYAL AID.

1. Kindly inquiry (Gen_47:3).

2. Truthful statement (Gen_47:4).

3. Generous permission (Gen_47:6).

III. DISPENSING ROYAL BOUNTY.

1. The father honoured (Gen_47:7).

2. A home bestowed (Gen_47:11).

3. The family nourished (Gen_47:12). (American Sunday School Times.)

Growth by transplanting

I. The conduct of Joseph in reference to the settlement in Goshen is an example of THE POSSIBILITY OF UNITING WORLDLY PRUDENCE WITH HIGH RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLE AND GREAT GENEROSITY OF NATURE. He had promised his brothers a home in that fertile Eastern district, which afforded many advantages in its proximity to Canaan, its adaptation to pastoral life, and its vicinity to Joseph when in Zoan, the capital. But he had not consulted Pharaoh, and, however absolute his authority, it scarcely stretched to giving away Egyptian territory without leave. So his first care, when the wanderers arrive, is to manage the confirmation of the grant. He goes about it with considerable astuteness—a hereditary quality, which is redeemed from blame because used for unselfish purposes and unstained by deceit. He does not tell Pharaoh how far he had gone, but simply announces that his family are in Goshen, as if awaiting the monarch’s further pleasure. Then he introduces a deputation, no doubt carefully chosen, of five of his brothers (as if the whole number would have been too formidable), previously instructed how to answer. He knows what Pharaoh is in the habit of asking, or he knows that he can lead him to ask the required question, which will bring out the fact of their being shepherds, and utilize the prejudice against that occupation, to insure

separation in Goshen. All goes as he had arranged. Joseph is a saint and a politician. His shrewdness is never craft; sagacity is not alien to consecration. No doubt it has to be carefully watched lest it degenerate; but prudence is as needful as enthusiasm, and he is the complete man who has a burning fire down in his heart to generate the force that drives him, and a steady hand on the helm, and a keen eye on the chart, to guide him. Be ye “wise as serpents,” but also “harmless as doves.”

II. WE MAY SEE IN JOSEPH’S CONDUCT ALSO AN INSTANCE OF A MAN IN HIGH OFFICE AND NOT ASHAMED OF HIS HUMBLE RELATIONS. It is as if some high official in Paris were to walk in half-a-dozen peasants in blouse and sabots, and present them to the president as “my brothers.” It was a brave thing to do; and it teaches a lesson which many people in America and England, who have made their way in the world, would be nobler and more esteemed if they learned.

III. The brothers’ word to Pharaoh is another instance of THAT IGNORANT CARRYING OUT OF THE DIVINE PURPOSES WHICH WE HAVE ALREADY HAD TO NOTICE. They thought of five years, and it was to be nearly as many centuries. They thought of temporary shelter and food; God meant an education of them and their descendants. Over all this story the unseen Hand hovers, chastising, guiding, impelling; and the human agents are free and yet fulfilling an eternal purpose, blind and yet accountable, responsible for motives, and mercifully ignorant of consequences. So we all play our little parts. We have no call to be curious as to what will come of our deeds. This end of the action, the motive of it, is our care; the other end, the outcome of it, is God’s business to see to.

IV. We may also observe HOW TRIVIAL INCIDENTS ARE WROUGHT INTO GOD’S SCHEME. The Egyptian hatred of the shepherd class secured one of the prime reasons for the removal from Canaan, the unimpeded growth of a tribe into a nation.

V. THE INTERVIEW OF JACOB WITH PHARAOH IS PATHETIC AND BEAUTIFUL. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

Jacob before Pharaoh

I. THE IMPRESSIVE SPECTACLE OF A VENERABLE OLD AGE.

1. Picture the old man’s attitude of soul toward God, and death, and the world to come.

2. His retrospect of life, and how he now sees events in their true proportions and bearings.

3. His own subdued passions and amiable spirit.

4. His concern for, and interest in, the rising generation.

II. THE SUPERIORITY OF MORAL OVER MATERIAL GREATNESS AND WORTH. “Jacob blessed Pharaoh” (Heb_8:7).

III. A LESSON ON LIFE’S EVANESCENCE AND VANITY (Gen_47:9).

1. A natural reflection.

2. It may be a morbid and evil reflection. Better to imitate the Psalmist’s thankful hopefulness (Psa_23:1-6).

IV. A LESSON OF TRUST IN GOD TO BRING ABOUT ALL THINGS RIGHT AT LAST.

(T. G. Horton.)

Jacob and Pharaoh

I. THE PATRIARCH JACOB, IN HIS OLD AGE, A SOJOURNER IN EGYPT.

II. JACOB AND THE PHARAOH OF EGYPT.

III. JOSEPH, THE AFFECTIONATE SON AND NOBLE BROTHER.

1. The reality of Joseph’s love for his brothers, as well as for his lather, is found in the abundant provision he made for them all.

2. This evidence of Joseph’s forgiveness of his brother’s great wrong to him, and of his care for them, completes the picture of one of the most beautiful characters presented in history.

3. And this perfection of character, combining so many qualities, presents him to us not only as a beautiful model of manliness, of filial and fraternal love, but also as one of the most perfect types of our great exemplar, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lessons:

1. God’s faithfulness to His people.

2. Notwithstanding the Divine love, God’s people are not exempt from suffering.

3. A good son maketh the heart of his father to rejoice.

4. Let us learn more perfectly the duty of loving one another. (D. C. Hughes, M. A.)

8 Pharaoh asked him, “How old are you?”

GILL, "And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, how old art thou? Or, "how many are the days of the years of thy life?" which way of speaking Jacob takes up, and very pertinently makes use of in his answer that follows: Dr. Lightfoot (m) thinks Pharaoh had never seen so old a man before, so grave a head, and so grey a beard, and in admiration asked this question.

JAMIESO�,"Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?— The question was put from the deep and impressive interest which the appearance of the old patriarch had

created in the minds of Pharaoh and his court. In the low-lying land of Egypt and from the artificial habits of its society, the age of man was far shorter among the inhabitants of that country than it had yet become in the pure bracing climate and among the simple mountaineers of Canaan. The Hebrews, at least, still attained a protracted longevity.

CALVI�, "8.How old art thou? This familiar question proves that Jacob was received courteously and without ceremony. But the answer is of far greater moment, in which Jacob declares that the time of his pilgrimage was a hundred and thirty years. For the Apostle, in his epistle to the Hebrews, (Hebrews 11:13,) gathers hence the memorable doctrine, that God was not ashamed to be called the God of the patriarchs, because they had confessed themselves to be strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Of one man only this is mentioned; but because he had been instructed by his forefathers, and had handed down the same instruction to his son, the Apostle honors them all with the same eulogy. Therefore, as they were not ashamed to wander during the whole course of their life, and to be opprobriously called foreigners and strangers wherever they came; so God vouchsafed to them the incomparable dignity, that they should be heirs of heaven. But (as it has been said before) no persons ever had a more peculiar and hereditary possession in the world, than the holy fathers had in the land of Canaan. The Lord is said to have cast his line, in order that he might assign to each nation its bounds: but an eternal possession, through a continual succession of ages, was never promised to any nation, as it was to the posterity of Abraham. In what spirit, then, ought we to dwell in a world, where no certain repose, or fixed abode is promised us? Moreover, this is described by Paul as the common condition of all pious persons under the reign of Christ, that they should “have no certain dwelling-place;” (1 Corinthians 4:11;) not that all should be alike cast out as exiles, but because the Lord calls all his people, as by the sound of the trumpet, to be wanderers, lest they should become fixed in their nests on earth. Therefore, whether any one remains in his own country, or is compelled continually to change his place, let him diligently exercise himself in the meditation, that he is sojourning, for a short time, upon earth, till, having completed his course, he shall depart to the heavenly country.

BE�SO�, "Genesis 47:8. How old art thou? — A question usually put to old men, for it is natural to us to admire old age, and to reverence it. Jacob’s countenance, no doubt, showed him to be old, for he had been a man of labour and sorrow. In Egypt people were not so long-lived as in Canaan, and therefore Pharaoh looks upon Jacob with wonder.

TRAPP, "Genesis 47:8 And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old [art] thou?

Ver. 8. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob.] This king took not pleasure, as those Persian kings did, in a wild retiredness, or stern austerity, but in a mild affableness, and heart attracting courtesy, He shows not himself strange or stoical, but sweet and sociable. So Atticus seemed in his carriage, cornraunls infimis, par principibus. Adrian, the Emperor, would most courteously confer with the lowest. Vespasian was

wont, not only to greet the chief senators, but even private persons; inviting them many times to his table; himself again going to their houses, especially if he found them learned and virtuous. (a) Pharaoh might find Jacob both these; and so make very good use of him, as his faithful counsellor. Princes had learned men ever with them, called monitors or remembrancers ( µνηµονες): as Dio had his Plato; Scipio, his Polybius, &c. Abimelech made much of Abraham, and afterwards of Isaac; some think it was for their skill in physic and astronomy. (b) Why might not Pharaoh find and favour the same worth in Jacob, and learn the same wisdom from him, that his senators, by his appointment, did of his son Joseph?

BI, "Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?

Old year’s theme: “How old art thou?"

I. A COMMON QUESTION.

II. A SOLEMN QUESTION.

1. It is the solemnity of memory.

2. It is the solemnity of responsibility.

3. The question ought to create a solemn gratitude.

III. JACOB’S ANSWER.

IV. HIS LIFE MEASURED. “Days.” It is best not to take life in the lump, but to study it in detail.

V. HIS LIFE DESCRIBED.

VI. HIS LIFE SHORT.

1. He compared them with the ages of his fathers, and they seemed few.

2. Perhaps he compared them also with the great age of the world.

3. Compared with the solemn eternity, how short is our mortal career!

VII. HIS LIFE EVIL. A biography whose lines were written in tears.

VIII. HIS LIFE A PILGRIMAGE. (Chas. F. Deems, D. D.)

Time reckoned

Life always seems short in the retrospect; and that light of past experience is the only true light. He only who has paced the ground knows it. Life’s true measure is not years, but epochs of progress towards the ideal which the Creator has set before us. As the tree’s chronicles are its rings, so those of the soul are its definite expansions.

I. Ask yourself, how far am I advanced in my KNOWLEDGE OF TRUTH. Do I know God yet? Do I know Christ and Him crucified? Do I discern spiritual things, or am I yet but a babe “crying for the light”?

II. How much have I developed in CHARACTER, grown in spiritual size, toward the statue of the perfect man in Christ Jesus?

III. What RECORD have I made in my Lord’s service? Veteran means old; but the

soldier attains the title not by years—rather by the campaigns and battles in which he was found faithful. What noble fights have I made against evil? What service rendered the needy? What comfort brought the sick? What help to discouraged souls? (The Homiletic Review.)

How old art thou?

The wise reckoning of time will be of essential use to us—it may save us from overwhelming and eternal disaster.

I. How OLD ART THOU, O CHRISTIAN, computed by God’s standard?

1. OLD enough to be brought under infinite obligations to God’s redeeming, converting, and preserving grace.

2. Old enough to have made great attainments in the Divine life.

3. Old enough to have learned the ways of a deceitful heart, and the power of the adversary of God and man.

4. Old enough to have caught the heavenly spirit of the Master, and from the land of Beulah to get now and then a ravishing view of the unutterable glory beyond.

II. How OLD ART THOU, O IMPENITENT SINNER?

1. Old enough to have run up a fearful account against thy soul in “the book of God’s remembrance.”

2. Old enough to make the work of future repentance extremely bitter and difficult.

3. Old enough to make it well-nigh certain, if you still persist in impenitent sin, that you will never retrace your guilty steps and take hold on life. (J. M. Sherwood, D. D.)

What is your age?

We do not care to know how old you are by the almanac. You may keep this secret, as some are wont to do. But we would like to know to-day what is your age, by some standard, other than that of time.

I. ARE YOU MEASURING LIFE BY WEALTH? Longevity is not promised to the rich as such, nor to the poor; but those who observe the law of God, which is life to them that keep it (Pro_4:22; Deu_32:47).

II. ARE YOU MEASURING LIFE BY REPUTATION? Let it be a name for being and doing good, and do not run after even this, but let it follow you, as it certainly will if you keep such an aim before you, though you may, modestly, not consent to it. Two immortalities are possible to you and me—one in this, and another in the other world.

III. ARE YOU MEASURING LIFE BY ITS LENGTH? The sum of one’s years who has spent none of them for the service of God is equal to zero. His life is a blank.

IV. THE WISEST, SAFEST, TRUEST ESTIMATE OF LIFE.

1. Reflection. The thoughts he expresses are a good index of one’s age.

2. Moderation.’ It is folly to rush through life at break-neck speed. He who goes

softly, goes safely; and he who goes safely, goes far.

3. Religion (Pro_4:7). (W. H. Luckenbach.)

Pharaoh’s question to Jacob

I. Let us consider THE QUESTION PUT BY PHARAOH TO JACOB—“How old art thou?” The propriety of looking back to and of considering the past period of our existence is pointed out in Scripture. Of my younger hearers I might ask, “How old art thou?” They could probably give an accurate reply to the question—“I am seven, eight, ten, or fifteen years old.” Well, then, let me ask, what of that? or rather how much does it imply? What sins and neglect does it not remind you of? What duties does it not suggest? Or, I might speak to persons in middle life, or who are verging on its confines. You may have found prosperity, or at least some measure of comfort and respectability attendant on steadiness, sobriety and industry. Your temporal affairs may have been on the whole prosperous; your children may, like olive-branches, have grown up around you. Then, assuredly there is reason for thankfulness, and ground for acknowledging the goodness and long-suffering of a Father in heaven. There is yet a third and less numerous class, to whom the question in the text ought to be impressive—“How old art thou?” You have witnessed changes in society, almost revolutions of opinion. Many with whom you were once intimate have been removed; the haunts of youth are peopled almost entirely by strangers. All things admonish thee to prepare for meeting God; to set thy house in order; to improve the time that remains.

II. Let us now turn to JACOB’S REPLY, in answer to Pharaoh’s question.

1. As to its length, life may be spoken of as made up of comparatively few days. Looking forward, half, or even a quarter of a century, may seem a protracted time; looking back, it appears greatly diminished.

2. Jacob’s address to Pharaoh embodied the statement that man’s days upon earth may be considered as not only “few,” but also as “evil.” Nothing, indeed, which God has given to man ought to be viewed as in itself and as essentially evil. Present comfort, length of days, intercourse with society, diligence in business, temperate enjoyment, are all good, all lawful; but sin has interposed. The spiritual eyesight is clouded, and the spiritual energy has become benumbed. Man himself may be truly spoken of as man’s worst foe. (A. R. Bonar, D. D.)

The pilgrim and the king

History presents to us few more striking contrasts than the Hebrew pilgrim and the Egyptian king. “The things seen and temporal, and the things not seen and eternal,” have seldom stood more fairly in front of each other than there. The old shepherd who had no possession on earth but a Divine promise—the king who wielded the sceptre of the most splendid monarchy in the world. But there was something in that old pilgrim which made him a meet companion for kings—a king, too, of an elder and mightier line. From the first dawn ofcivilization there were men moving about the pathways of that eastern world, playing indeed a chief part on its theatre, who had absolutely no right or power but that which their sense of a Divine vocation conferred upon them; and no means of influence, but such as the recognition of their spiritual calling by the princes among whom they lived, bestowed. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, were emphatically, God’s prophets.

They had nothing if they had not that seal. The whole secret of their power was the belief that the God of Heaven was with them; that they were the friends and living organs of that supreme and only Lord. These lofty and earnest shepherds seemed to step down from a superior sphere; and some of its lustre streamed round them as they moved on God’s errands around the already darkening pathways of the world. Jacob stood before the Egyptian monarch as the embodiment of that which had faded into a dim tradition in Egypt; it belonged to the glorious golden age of which all peoples had memories, out of which they were beginning to weave for themselves dreams of a paradise restored. The chief prince of the world felt humbled before this lonely, lofty pilgrim; as the representative of a mightier than Pharaoh was troubled by the calm glances of a poorer, sadder, more godlike pilgrim, who stood for judgment helpless before his bar. Spiritual power is the supreme power, and none know it like monarchs of genius.

“Don’t talk to me against the divinity of Christ,” said Napoleon; “I know what man can do, and He was more than man who has done all this.” The men who, like Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Napoleon, stand on the very pinnacle of earthly greatness, are the men who are most perplexed and awe-struck by the sense that there is a power above them which sweeps through their armies as magnetism sweeps through mountains, and has an armoury of words more mighty infinitely than their spears and swords. Something of this spiritual grandeur invested this aged and weary pilgrim, and drew the likeness of a crown around his brow as he stood before the Egyptian king. Aged he was, and bowed, and sad, and weary. He halted, too, as one who had been sore wounded in the battle of life. There were furrows seamed on his brow, and channels worn in his cheeks, which were eloquent of tears and cares. The expression of high intellectual power on his brow must have been dimmed somewhat by the traces of that suffering which made him the “man of sorrows” of his time. There was a promise in his face which his life of schemes and snares, fears and flights, had half broken; and yet there was a look of faith and a glow of hope which seemed to carry on the promise, and to lay it up with God to preserve and to complete. A strange, bewildering man. So sad, so broken; so grand, so powerful. A prince having power with man and with God, and bearing it in his gesture; a man who had prevailed, sore buffeted, in the battle in which Pharaoh and all his people had gone down into the dust. And he stood there before the world’s chief potentate, who knew no superior will upon earth to his own. There was a nobleness of a kind about Pharaoh also. The man who on such a throne had an eye for the dignity of such a pilgrim was no vulgar king. He was a man of far-reaching plans and high achievements; and as he sat there smooth, sleek, royally garbed and tended, at the height of human power and splendour, and gazed on the sad old man before him, a sense of something in the universe to which his mortal might was but as a marsh-fire to a star, stole over him, and he bowed beneath the blessing of a superior hand. And what now of the pilgrim, and what of the king? Where is the state and the splendour of the Pharaohs? Their cities are buried beneath the sands of the desert; the dust of time has settled on their names. Their temples, their palaces, their treasures, are ruins; their wrecks have mingled with the sands of the Lybian waste. Their tombs alone endure, sad sentinels of the desert; sole witnesses that men of such state and splendour once lived in Egypt, and covered its soil with the monuments of their power and pride. And the pilgrim? His name after four thousand years shines more brightly than ever on the roll of earth’s most mighty and illustrious spirits. Ages have but confirmed the title which he won in that long and stern night-wrestle with the angel. His little company who dwelt round him in his tents grew rapidly into a nation, which has exercised in all ages a transcendent influence on the progress of the world. And to this day the noblest and most cultivated in Christendom pore earnestly over his history, and find in the way in which he won his princedom fresh inspirations of

courage and of hope. (J. B. Brown, B. A.)

The measurement of years

There is a right way and a wrong way of measuring a door, or a wall, or an arch, or a tower; and so there is a right way and a wrong way of measuring our earthly existence. It is with reference to this higher meaning that I confront you, this morning, with the stupendous question of the text, and ask: “How old art thou?”

I. There are many who measure their life by mere WORLDLY GRATIFICATION. When Lord Dundas was wished a happy new year, he said: “It will have to be a happier year than the past, for I hadn’t one happy moment in all the twelve months that have gone.” But that has not been the experience of most of us. We have found that though the world is blighted with sin, it is a very bright and beautiful place to reside in. We have had joys innumerable. There is no hostility between the Gospel and the merriments and the festivities of life. If there is any one who has a right to the enjoyments of the world, it is the Christian, for God has given him a lease to everything in the promise: “ All are yours.” But I have to tell you that a man who measures his life on earth by mere worldly gratification is a most unwise man. Our life is not to be a game of chess. It is not a dance in lighted hall, to quick music. It is not the froth of an ale pitcher. It is not the settings of a wine cup. It is not a banquet with intoxication and roystering. It is the first step on a ladder that mounts into the skies, or the first step on a road that plunges in a horrible abyss. So that in this world we are only keying up the harp of eternal rapture, or forging the chain of an eternal bondage.

II. Again: I remark that there are many who measure their life on earth by THEIR SORROWS AND THEIR MISFORTUNES. Through a great many of your lives the ploughshare hath gone very deep, turning up a terrible furrow. The brightest life must have its shadows, and the smoothest path its thorns. On the happiest brood the hawk pounces. No escape from trouble of some kind. Misfortune, trial, vexation, for almost every one. Pope, applauded of all the world, has a stoop in the shoulder that annoys him so much that he has a tunnel dug, so that he may go unobserved from garden to grotto, and from grotto to garden. Canno, the famous Spanish artist, is disgusted with the crucifix that the priest holds before him, because it is such a poor specimen of sculpture. And yet it is unfair to measure a man’s life by his misfortunes, because where there is one stalk of nightshade, there are fifty marigolds and harebells; where there is one cloud thunder-charged, there are hundreds that stray across the heavens, the glory of land and sky asleep in their bosom.

III. Again: I remark that there are many people who measure their life on earth by the AMOUNT OF MONEY THEY HAVE ACCUMULATED. They say: “The year 1847, 1857, 1867, was wasted.” Why? Made no money. Now, it is all cant and insincerity to talk against money as though it had no value. It is refinement, and education, and ten thousand blessed surroundings. It is the spreading of the table that feeds your children’s hunger. It is the lighting of the furnace that keeps you warm. Bonds, and mortgages, and leases have their use, but they make a poor yardstick with which to measure life.

IV. But I remark: there are many who measure their life by their MORAL AND SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT. It is not sinful egotism for a Christian man to say: “I am purer than I used to be. I am more consecrated to Christ than I used to be. I have got over a great many of the bad habits in which I used to indulge. I am a great deal better man than I used to be.” It is not base egotism for a soldier to say: “I know more about

military tactics than I used to before I took a musket in my hand, and learned to ‘present arms,’ and when I was a pest to the drill-officer.” It is not base egotism for a sailor to say: “I know how better to ‘pull’ the windlass and clue down the mizzen topsail than I used to before I had ever seen a ship.” And there is no sinful egotism when a Christian man, fighting the battles of the Lord, or, if you will have it, voyaging towards a haven of eternal rest, says: “I know more about spiritual tactics, and about voyaging towards heaven, than I used to.”

V. I remark again: there are many who are measuring life by the AMOUNT OF GOOD THEY CAN DO. John Bradford said he counted that day nothing at all in which he had not, by pen or tongue, done some good. Contrast the death scene of a man who has measured life by the worldly standard with the death scene of a man who has measured life by the Christian standard. Quin, the actor, in his last moments said: “I hope this tragic scene will soon be over, and I hope to keep my dignity to the last.” Malherbe said, in his last moments, to the confessor; “Hold your tongue I your miserable style puts me out of conceit of heaven.” Lord Chesterfield, in his last moments, when he ought to have been praying for his soul, bothered himself about the proprieties of the sick-room, and said: “Give Dayboles a chair.” Godfrey Kneller spent his last hours on earth in drawing a diagram of his own monument. Compare the silly and horrible departure of such men with the seraphic glow on the face of Edward Payson, as he said in his last moment: “The breezes of heaven fan me. I float in a sea of glory.” This is a good day in which to begin a new style of measurement. How old art thou? You see the Christian way of measuring life and the worldly way of measuring it. I leave it to you to say which is the wisest and best way. (Dr. Talmage.)

How old art thou?

I. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN CONVERSANT WITH LIFE’S SUFFERINGS? Take even the life of a believer. A devout pastor, closing tranquilly a prosperous career, intermingled with words of faith and hope the significant declaration, “It is a fight to be born, a fight to live, and a fight to die.” And what do such facts teach us? They forbid idolatry of pleasures so disappointing and so piercing. They direct us for happiness to God and glory. They commend to our aspiration a better country, which is a heavenly—a country where possessions are unimperilled, bliss embittered, and sorrows are forgotten as the stream of brooks that pass away.

II. How LONG HAVE YOU BEEN CONVERSANT WITH SIN? Who can look back on his past course and not be ashamed in the retrospect? What shortcomings—excesses—follies I What time lost l What privileges perverted! What cleavings to the dust! It is well to mourn over our trespasses. If this sorrow be sincere, it will be salutary.

III. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN CONVERSANT WITH LIFE’S MERCIES? God was merciful to Jacob; and what have been His mercies to you? They have not been few nor small. He has clothed you, fed you, sheltered you. When you have been sick, He has healed you; when you have been imperilled, He has rescued you. In the review of your past life every stage of it demands the acknowledgment, “Hitherto hath the Lord helped me.”

IV. I trust that many of you have not only been born, BUT BORN AGAIN—“born not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, by the Word of God which liveth and abideth for ever.” In that case we have to ask concerning a new life—a divine life, “How old art thou?” How LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN CHRIST? Since when have you turned from

idols—idolized sins and pleasures—to serve the living and the true God? But whether or not you have this mercy in possession, know assuredly that you have it in offer. (D. King, LL. D.)

Two ways of measuring life

There was a very old man—eighty-three years of age—and somebody said to the old man, “How old are you?” He said, “I am three years old.” “Three years old?” was the reply. “Why, you are eighty-thee!” “No,” he said. “My body is eighty-three years old, but my soul is only three years old. My old life is eighty years old, but my new life is three years old. I did not begin to live till three years ago. So my soul is only three years old.” A person was asked, “Where were you born—in Brighton?” The man said, “I was born in London, and I was born in Liverpool!” “How can you be born in two places? “ was the reply. “If you were born in London, you could not be born in Liverpool.” “I was,” said the man; “and I will let you see how that was. My body was born in London, but my soul was born in Liverpool. It was not till I lived in Liverpool that I cared about my soul!” (J. Vaughan, M. A.)

Good deeds healthy

Ancient Grecian and Roman ladies used to reckon their age from the date of their marriage. Many wise persons have reckoned their years from the time that they really began to live as they ought. Mere existence can hardly be said to be living.

“We live in deeds, not years—in thoughts, not breaths,

In feelings, not in figures on a dial:

We should count time by heart-throbs: he lives most

Who feels most, thinks the noblest, acts the best.”

A good man was once told he might live six years if he gave up working, but he would die in two or three years if he continued to work. He replied he had much rather spend the shorter time on earth in trying to do good. But hard work seldom shortens life. John Wesley was an indefatigable worker, and when he was seventy-three years old he said he was better and stronger than he was at twenty-three years of age; and he attributed this, under God, to his early rising, his activity, his undisturbed sleep, and his even temper. Said he, “I feel and grieve, but I fret at nothing.” Some, however, who do not observe and obey the laws of health, are cut off in the midst of their days. Young people should feel, “It is time to seek the Lord,” for religion alone prepares for a really happy and profitable existence; then it ever becomes more and more difficult to turn to God and to live aright the longer these duties are neglected; moreover, no one should give to the world and to Satan the best of their days and energies, and then hope to give to God and to their spiritual and eternal duties and interests, the paltry and miserable residue of their existence. When Care was old, he said his greatest pleasure arose from the remembrance of the good deeds he had done (see also, Pro_16:31; Lev_19:32).

Knowing the time of life

When Mr. Moggridge (universally known as Old Humphrey) was a lad, his father taught him how to know what o’clock it was. When the boy could tell the time, his father said, “I have taught you to know the time of the day; I must now teach you how to find out the

time of your life. The Bible describes the years of man to be threescore and ten or fourscore years. Now, life is very uncertain, and you may not live a single day longer; but if we divide the fourscore years of an old man’s life into twelve parts, like the dial of the clock, it will allow almost seven years for every figure. When a boy is seven years old, then it is one o’clock in his life; and this is the case with you: when you arrive at fourteen years, it will be two o’clock with you; and when at twenty-one, it will be three o’clock, should it please God thus to spare your life. In this manner you may always know the time of your life, and looking at the clock may perhaps remind you of it. My great grandfather, according to this calculation, died at twelve o’clock; my grandfather at eleven, and my father at ten. At what hour you and I shall die, Humphrey, is only known to Him to whom all things are known.”

How old art thou?

A venerable lady was once asked her age. “Ninety-three,” was the reply. “The Judge of all the earth does not mean that I shaft have any excuse for not being prepared to meet Him.”

9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers.”

CLARKE, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage - megurai, of my מגוריsojourning or wandering. Jacob 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.

Have not attained unto the - life of my fathers - Jacob lived in the whole one hundred and forty-seven years; Isaac his father lived one hundred and eighty; and

Abraham his grandfather, one hundred and seventy-five. These were days of years in comparison of the lives of the preceding patriarchs, some of whom lived nearly ten centuries!

GILL, "Genesis 47:9Jacob said unto Pharaoh, the days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years,.... He calls his life a "pilgrimage"; as every good man's is; they are not at home in their own country, they are seeking a better, even an heavenly one: Jacob's life was very emphatically and literally a pilgrimage; he first dwelt in Canaan, from thence he removed to Padanaram, and sojourned there awhile, and then came to Canaan again; for some time he dwelt at Succoth, and then at Shechem, and after that at Hebron, and now he was come down to Egypt, and he had spent one hundred and thirty years of his life in this way: and with this perfectly agrees the account of Polyhistor from Demetrius (n), an Heathen writer, who makes the age of Jacob when he came into Egypt one hundred and thirty, and that year to be the third year of the famine, agreeably to Gen_45:6,

few and evil have the days of the years of my life been; see Job_14:1; he calls his days but "few", in comparison of the long lives of the patriarchs in former times, and especially in comparison of the days of eternity: and "evil", because of the many afflictions he had met with; as from Esau, from whose face he was obliged to flee lest he should kill him, Gen_27:41; and in Laban's house, where he served for a wife fourteen years, and endured great hardships, Gen_31:41; and at Shechem, where his daughter was ravished, Gen_34:2, and his sons made that slaughter of the Shechemites, Gen_34:25, which he feared would cause his name to stink, Gen_34:30; and at Ephrath, where he buried his beloved Rachel, Gen_35:16; and at Hebron, where his sons brought him such an account as if they believed his beloved son Joseph was destroyed by a wild beast, Gen_37:32,

and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage; his grandfather Abraham lived to be one hundred amnd seventy five years of age, Gen_25:7, and his father Isaac lived to the age of one hundred and eighty, Gen_35:28.

JAMIESO�,"The days of the years of my pilgrimage, etc.— Though a hundred thirty years, he reckons by days (compare Psa_90:12), which he calls few, as they appeared in retrospect, and evil, because his life had been one almost unbroken series of trouble. The answer is remarkable, considering the comparative darkness of the patriarchal age (compare 2Ti_1:10).

SBC, "Those who looked only on the outer life of Jacob would scarcely have thought that his days were either few or evil. It was conscience that spoke out in these words—conscience, which so often throws a reflected sadness over our estimate of things.

I. The helpfulness of Jacob’s character is this—that it is the history of a bad man, of a man who started with every disadvantage of natural character and training, but who notwithstanding became eventually a good man.

II. The one redeeming point in Jacob’s character—that which (humanly speaking) made him capable of better things, and enabled him to rise above his brother Esau and above

his former self—was his faith. The great difference between Esau and Jacob was this: the former lived only in the visible and tangible world; his horizon was bounded by the narrow limits of our merely earthly life; but Jacob lived in a far wider world, a world which included spiritual interests and spiritual personages. This was why Esau sold his birthright—Jacob bought it. The same faith which caused him to value the birthright afterwards was the means of his salvation. His long and painful schooling, his wrestling with the angel at the ford of Jabbok, would have been impossible but for his faith, his grasp of spiritual realities. If Esau had had a vision of God and of angels, and of a ladder reaching up to heaven, he might have been frightened for the moment, but he would have shaken off the thought of it directly he awoke; the keenness of his appetite, the necessity of getting breakfast, would have been to him the realities of the hour. If one had wrestled with him through the night he might have fled in wrath, or died in obstinacy; but he would never have divined that that strong foe was a friend in disguise—he would never have thought of asking and extorting a blessing.

III. Jacob was saved by faith, and this is the way in which we are to be saved also. Faith is the handle whereby grace takes hold of us. Without faith it is impossible to please God, because unless we realise the unseen we are in fact shut up within the world of sense—we are shut out from God and He from us.

R. Winterbotham, Sermons and Expositions, p. 36.

The patriarch called his days few and evil, not because his life was shorter than his fathers’, but because it was nearly over. When life is past, it is all one whether it has lasted two hundred years or fifty. And it is the fact that life is mortal which makes it under all circumstances equally feeble and despicable.

I. This sense of the nothingness of life is much deepened when we contrast it with the capabilities of us who live it. Our earthly life gives promise of what it does not accomplish. It promises immortality, yet it is mortal; it contains life in death and eternity in time, and it attracts us by beginnings which faith alone brings to an end.

II. Such being the unprofitableness of this life viewed in itself, it is plain how we should regard it while we go through it. We should remember that it is scarcely more than an accident of our being—that it is no part of ourselves, who are immortal; The regenerate soul is taken into communion with saints and angels, and its "life is hid with Christ in God." It looks at this world as a spectator might look at some show or pageant, except when called upon from time to time to take a part.

J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. iv., p. 214; also Selection from the same, p. 341.

CALVI�, "9.Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been. Jacob may here seem to complain that he had lived but a little while, and that, in this short space of time, he had endured many and grievous afflictions. Why does he not rather recount the great and manifold favors of God which formed an abundant compensation for every kind of evil? Besides, his complaint respecting the shortness of life seems unworthy of him; for why did he not deem a whole century and a third

part of another sufficient for him? But if any one will rightly weigh his words, he rather expresses his own gratitude, in celebrating the goodness of God towards his fathers. For he does not so much deplore his own decrepitude, as he extols the vigor divinely afforded to his fathers. Certainly it was no new and unwonted thing to see a man, at his age, broken down and failing, and already near to the grave. Wherefore, this comparison (as I have said) was only intended to ascribe glory to God, whose blessing towards Abraham and Isaac had been greater than to himself. But he does not compare himself with his fathers in sufferings, as if they had been treated with greater indulgence; for we know that they had been tried to the utmost with all kinds of temptations: he merely states that he had not attained their age; as if he had said, “I, indeed, have arrived at those years which, by others, is deemed a mature old age, and which complete the proper term of life; but the Lord so prolonged the life of my fathers, that they far exceeded this limit.” He makes mention of evil days, in order to show that he was not so much broken down and consumed by years, as by labors and troubles; as if he had said, “My senses might yet have flourished in their vigor, if my strength had not been exhausted by continual labors, by excessive cares, and by most grievous sufferings.” We now see that nothing was less in the mind of the holy man than to expostulate with God. Yet it may seem absurd that he speaks of his life as being shorter than that of his fathers. For, whence does he conjecture that so little time should still remain for him, as to prevent him from attaining their age? Should any one answer, that he formed this conjecture from the weakness of his body, which was half dead; the solution will not prove satisfactory. For Isaac had dimness of sight and trembling limbs thirty years before his death. But it is not absurd to suppose that Jacob was every moment giving himself over to death, as if the sepulcher were before his eyes. He was, however, uncertain what length of time was decreed for him in the secret counsel of God. Wherefore, being unconcerned about the remainder of his life, he speaks just as if he were about to die on the next day.

BE�SO�, "Genesis 47:9. Observe, 1st, Jacob calls his life a pilgrimage, looking upon himself as a stranger in this world, and a traveller toward another. He reckoned himself not only a pilgrim now he was in Egypt, a strange country in which he never was before, but his life, even in the land of his nativity, was a pilgrimage. 2d, He reckoned his life by days; for even so it is soon reckoned; and we are not sure of the continuance of it for a day to an end, but may be turned out of this tabernacle at less than an hour’s warning. 3d, The character he gives of them was, 1st, That they were few.

Though he had now lived one hundred and thirty years, they seemed to him but as a few days, in comparison of the days of many of his ancestors, and especially of the days of eternity, in which a thousand years are but as one day. 2d, That they were evil. This is true concerning man in general, Job 14:1, he is of few days and full of trouble: Jacob’s life particularly had been made up of evil days; the pleasantest days of his life were yet before him. 3d, That they were short of the days of his fathers; not so many, not so pleasant as their days. Old age came sooner upon him than it had done upon some of his ancestors.

COKE, "Genesis 47:9. Of my pilgrimage— The life of a believer is no other than a pilgrimage; while distant from his heavenly country, he has no abiding city. This is the beautiful idea, under which the language of sacred Scripture represents life in general. It is peculiarly applicable to the lives of the patriarchs, but to none of them so much as to the life of Jacob. For what could be more truly a pilgrimage, than that of this holy man, always tossed from place to place, in Mesopotamia, in Canaan, in AEgypt, from Succoth, from Sichem, from Beth-el, from Hebron? Their lives were a proof and confession of a future state: thus they declared themselves, pilgrims and strangers on the earth, desiring a better country, that is, an heavenly, Hebrews 11:13; Hebrews 11:40.

An hundred and thirty years— We are not to suppose that Moses relates all the conversation which passed between Pharaoh and Jacob: but what he has related, is extremely important to fix the sacred Chronology; for the age of Jacob, when he came into AEgypt, serves to discover the age of each of his sons, and to verify the different capital epochs of the sacred history. Jacob lived seventeen years after his arrival in the land of Goshen, and died, aged one hundred and forty-seven, a life, though long in comparison of ours, yet short, compared with Abraham's, who lived one hundred and seventy-five years, and Isaac's, who lived one hundred and eighty. In this light his days were few and evil, full of toils and griefs, and embittered with many calamities.

ELLICOTT, "(9) My pilgrimage.—Heb., my sojournings; and so at end of verse. The idea of a pilgrimage is a modern one. Even in 1 Peter 2:11 “pilgrim” means in the Greek a stranger who has settled in a country of which he is not a native. So, too, here Jacob was not a pilgrim, for he was no traveller bound for religious motives to some distant shrine, but he was a sojourner, because Canaan was not the native land of his race.

Few and evil.—Evil certainly: for from the time when he deceived his father, Jacob’s life had been one of great anxiety and care, in addition to his many sorrows. If he had gained wealth in Haran, it had been by great industry and personal toil, aggravated by Laban’s injustice. On his return, there was the double terror of Laban’s pursuit behind and Esau’s menacing attitude in front. He had then long lain ill at Succoth, waiting till time healed his sprained hip. His entry into the promised land had been made miserable by his daughter’s dishonour and the fierce conduct of his sons. And when his home was in sight, he had lost his beloved Rachel; and finally, been compelled to remain at a distance from his father, because Esau was there chief and paramount. His father dies, and Esau goes away; but the ten years between Isaac’s death and the descent into Egypt had been years of mourning for Joseph’s loss. All these troubles had fallen upon him, and made his days evil; but they were few only in comparison with those of his father and grandfather. In Pharaoh’s eyes Jacob had lived beyond the usual span of human existence; but to himself he seemed prematurely old. His end came after seventeen years of peaceful decay spent under Joseph’s loving care.

The land of Rameses.—See �ote on Genesis 45:10. Though the LXX. take “land of

Rameses” as equivalent to Goshen, it was more probably some special district of it, for, as we have seen, Goshen was a territory of vast extent. Raamses (Exodus 1:11) is the same word, though the Masorites have given it different vowels; but whether such a town already existed, or whether when built it took its name from the district, we cannot tell. If there were such a place, it would at this period be a poor village, consisting of a few shepherds’ huts; but long afterwards, in the days of King Rameses II., “it was the centre of a rich, fertile, and beautiful land, described as the abode of happiness, where all alike, rich and poor, lived in peace and plenty.”—Canon Cook, Excursus on Egyptian Words, p. 487. It deserved therefore its description as “the best of the land.”

TRAPP, "Genesis 47:9 And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage [are] an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.

Ver. 9. The days of the years of my pilgrimage.] All saints here are sojourners, all good people "pilgrims and strangers." [1 Peter 2:11 Hebrews 11:13-14] Far they are from home, and meet with hard measure; as Israel did in Egypt; as those three worthies in Babylon. [Daniel 3:23] Their manners are of another manner: hence the world owns them not. [John 15:19] But God both owns and honours them; he knows their whole way; [Psalms 1:6] "leads them in his hand"; [Isaiah 63:13] "guides them with his eye"; [Psalms 32:8] "bears them in his bosom," [Isaiah 40:11] when ways are rough and rugged; provides "mansions" [John 14:2-3] for them, where they shall "rest in their beds," [Isaiah 57:2] feast "with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," [Matthew 8:11] walk arm in arm with angels, [Zechariah 3:7] be "gathered to their people," [Genesis 25:8 Hebrews 12:23] to their God, to their Christ," &c. - Provided that, in the meanwhile, they "set their faces towards Sion, inquiring the way"; [Jeremiah 50:4-5] that they walk therein "from strength to strength"; [Psalms 84:7] that they take in good part any kindness, as Ruth did; [Ruth 2:10] that they put up any unkindness, as Paul did; [Galatians 4:12] that they make much of any company; [Psalms 119:63] send home by any hand; [�ehemiah 2:5] "abstain from fleshly lusts"; [1 Peter 2:11] and have "their conversation in heaven"; [Philippians 3:20] eating, drinking, and sleeping eternal life; so wishing to be at home, yet waiting the Father’s call; sighing out, when moved to be merry, - as the French king did, when prisoner here in England, in the days of King Edward III, - "How can we sing songs in a strange land?" [Psalms 137:4]

�ISBET, "A TIRED PILGRIM‘And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been,’ etc.Genesis 47:9Those who looked only on the outer life of Jacob would scarcely have thought that his days were either few or evil. It was conscience that spoke out in these words—conscience, which so often throws a reflected sadness over our estimate of things.

I. The helpfulness of Jacob’s character is this—that it is the history of a bad man, of a man who started with every disadvantage of natural character and training, but who notwithstanding became eventually a good man.

II. The one redeeming point in Jacob’s character—that which (humanly speaking) made him capable of better things, and enabled him to rise above his brother Esau and above his former self—was his faith. The great difference between Esau and Jacob was this: the former lived only in the visible and tangible world; his horizon was bounded by the narrow limits of our merely earthly life; but Jacob lived in a far wider world, a world which included spiritual interests and spiritual personages. This was why Esau sold his birthright—Jacob bought it. The same faith which caused him to value the birthright afterwards was the means of his salvation. His long and painful schooling, his wrestling with the angel at the ford of Jabbok, would have been impossible but for his faith, his grasp of spiritual realities. If Esau had had a vision of God and of angels, and of a ladder reaching up to heaven, he might have been frightened for the moment, but he would have shaken off the thought of it directly he awoke; the keenness of his appetite, the necessity of getting breakfast, would have been to him the realities of the hour. If one had wrestled with him through the night he might have fled in wrath, or died in obstinacy; but he would never have divined that that strong foe was a friend in disguise—he would never have thought of asking and extorting a blessing.

III. Jacob was saved by faith, and this is the way in which we are to be saved also. Faith is the handle whereby grace takes hold of us. Without faith it is impossible to please God, because unless we realise the unseen we are in fact shut up within the world of sense—we are shut out from God and He from us.

Rev. R. Winterbotham.Illustration

(1) ‘It is remarkable how greatness insensibly feels the awful power of goodness. Pharaoh asks for the blessing of this old, withered man, and Jacob the Supplanter, having become Israel the Prince, is able to communicate blessing to the greatest monarch of his time. Pilgrim souls which walk with God may become so rich in spiritual power that they may shed untold blessings on those with whom they come in contact. Let us seek to buy more of the refined gold which Jesus offers, that we may enrich others.’

(2) ‘The whole patriarchal theology may be summed in one great article, trust in the covenant God,—a trust for life, a trust for death, for the present being, or for any other being. There was something exceedingly sublime in this faith. They were like men standing on the border of an immense ocean all unknown as to its extent, its other shore, if it had any or its utter boundlessness. Ready to launch forth at the Divine command, they had the assurance that all would be well, whatever might be their individual destiny, since this covenant God was also the God of their fathers, who must, therefore, in some way “live unto Him,” that is, they must have yet a being that would make them the proper subjects of such a covenant relationship.’

MACLARE�, "GROWTH BY TRA�SPLA�TI�GTWO RETROSPECTS OF O�E LIFEGenesis 47:9. - Genesis 48:15 - Genesis 48:16.These are two strangely different estimates of the same life to be taken by the same man. In the latter Jacob categorically contradicts everything that he had said in the former. ‘Few and evil,’ he said before Pharaoh. ‘All my life long,’ ‘the Angel which redeemed me from all evil,’ he said on his death-bed.

If he meant what he said when he spoke to Pharaoh, and characterised his life thus, he was wrong. He was possibly in a melancholy mood. Very naturally, the unfamiliar splendours of a court dazzled and bewildered the old man, accustomed to a quiet shepherd life down at Hebron. He had not come to see Pharaoh, he only cared to meet Joseph; and, as was quite natural, the new and uncongenial surroundings depressed him. Possibly the words are only a piece of the etiquette of an Eastern court, where it is the correct thing for the subject to depreciate himself in all respects as far inferior to the prince. And there may be little more than conventional humility in the words of my first text. But I am rather disposed to think that they express the true feeling of the moment, in a mood that passed and was followed by a more wholesome one.I put the two sayings side by side just for the sake of gathering up one or two plain lessons from them.1. We have here two possible views of life.�ow the key to the difference between these two statements and moods of feeling seems to me to be a very plain one. In the former of them there is nothing about God. It is all Jacob. In the latter we notice that there is a great deal more about God than about Jacob, and that determines the whole tone of the retrospect. In the first text Jacob speaks of ‘the days of the years of my pilgrimage,’ ‘the days of the years of my life,’ and so on, without a syllable about anything except the purely earthly view of life. Of course, when you shut out God, the past is all dark enough, grey and dismal, like the landscape on some cloudy day, where the woods stand black, and the rivers creep melancholy through colourless fields, and the sky is grey and formless above. Let the sun come out, and the river flashes into a golden mirror, and the woods are alive with twinkling lights and shadows, and the sky stretches a blue pavilion above them, and all the birds sing. Let God into your life, and its whole complexion and characteristics change. The man who sits whining and complaining, when he has shut out the thought of a divine Presence, finds that everything alters when he brings that in.And, then, look at the two particulars on which the patriarch dwells. ‘I am only one hundred and thirty years old,’ he says; a mere infant compared with Abraham and Isaac! How did he know he was not going to live to be as old as either of them? And ‘if his days were evil,’ as he said, was it not a good thing that they were few? But, instead of that, he finds reasons for complaint in the brevity of the life which, if it were as evil as he made it out to be, must often have seemed wearisomely long, and dragged very slowly. �ow, both things are true-life is short, life is long. Time is elastic-you can stretch it or you can contract it. It is short compared with the duration of God; it is short, as one of the Psalms puts it pathetically, as compared

with this �ature round us-’The earth abideth for ever’; we are strangers upon it, and there is no abiding for us. It is short as compared with the capacities and powers of the creatures that possess it; but, oh! if we think of our days as a series of gifts of God, if we look upon them, as Jacob looked upon them when he was sane, as being one continued shepherding by God, they stretch out into blessed length. Life is long enough if it manifests that God takes care of us, and if we learn that He does. Life is long enough if it serves to build up a God-pleasing character.It is beautiful to see how the thought of God enters into the dying man’s remembrances in the shape which was natural to him, regard being had to his own daily avocations. For the word translated ‘fed’ means much more than supplied with nourishment. It is the word for doing the office of shepherd, and we must not forget, if we want to understand its beauty, that Jacob’s sons said, ‘Thy servants are shepherds; both we and also our fathers.’ So this man, in the solitude of his pastoral life, and whilst living amongst his woolly people who depended upon his guidance and care, had learned many a lesson as to how graciously and tenderly and constantly fed, and led, and protected, and fostered by God were the creatures of His hand.It was he, I suppose, who first gave to religious thought that metaphor which has survived temple and sacrifice and priesthood, and will survive even earth itself; for ‘I am the Good Shepherd’ is as true to-day as when first spoken by Jesus, and ‘the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall lead them,’ and be their Shepherd when the flock is carried to the upper pastures and the springs that never fail. The life which has brought us that thought of a Shepherd-God has been long enough; and the days which have been so expanded as to contain a continuous series of His benefits and protections need never be remembered as ‘few,’ whatsoever be the arithmetic that is applied to them.The other contradiction is equally eloquent and significant. ‘Few and evil’ have my days been, said Jacob, when he was not thinking about God; but when he remembered the Angel of the Presence, that mysterious person with whom he had wrestled at Peniel, and whose finger had lamed the thigh while His lips proclaimed a blessing, his view changed, and instead of talking about ‘evil’ days, he says, ‘The Angel that redeemed me from all evil.’ Yes, his life had been evil, whether by that we mean sorrowful or sinful, and the sorrows and the sins had been closely connected. A sorely tried man he had been. Far away back in the past had been his banishment from home; his disappointment and hard service with the churlish Laban; the misbehaviour of his sons; the death of Rachel-that wound which was never stanched; and then the twenty years’ mourning for Rachel’s son, the heir of his inheritance. These were the evils, the sins were as many, for every one of the sorrows, except perhaps the chiefest of them all, had its root in some piece of duplicity, dishonesty, or failure. But he was there in Egypt beside Joseph. The evils had stormed over him, but he was there still. And so at the end he says, ‘The Angel . . .redeemed me from evil, though it smote me. Sorrow became chastisement, and I was purged of my sin by my calamities.’ The sorrows are past, like some raging inundation that comes up for a night over the land and then subsides; but the blessing of fertility which it brought in its tawny waves abides with me yet. Joseph is by my side. ‘I had not thought to see thy face, and God hath showed me the face of thy seed.’ That sorrow is over. Rachel’s grave is still by the wayside, and that sorest

of sorrows has wrought with others to purify character. Jacob has been tried by sorrows; he has been purged from sins. ‘The Angel delivered me from all evil.’ So, dear friends, sorrow is not evil if it helps to strip us from the evil that we love, and the ills that we bear are good if they alienate our affections from the ills that we do.2. Secondly, note the wisdom and the duty of taking the completer and brighter view.These first words of Jacob’s are very often quoted as if they were the pattern of the kind of thing people ought to say, ‘Few and evil have been the days of the years of my pilgrimage.’ That is a text from which many sermons have been preached with approbation of the pious resignation expressed in it. But it does not seem to me that that is the tone of them. If the man believed what he said, then he was very ungrateful and short-sighted, though there were excuses to be made for him under the circumstances. If the days had been evil, he had made them so.But the point which I wish to make now is that it is largely a matter for our own selection which of the two views of our lives we take. We may make our choice whether we shall fix our attention on the brighter or on the darker constituents of our past.Suppose a wall papered with paper of two colours, one black, say, and the other gold. You can work your eye and adjust the focus of vision so that you may see either a black background or a gold one. In the one case the prevailing tone is gloomy, relieved by an occasional touch of brightness; and in the other it is brightness, heightened by a background of darkness. And so you can do with life, fixing attention on its sorrows, and hugging yourselves in the contemplation of these with a kind of morbid satisfaction, or bravely and thankfully and submissively and wisely resolving that you will rather seek to learn what God means by darkness, and not forgetting to look at the unenigmatical blessings, and plain, obvious mercies, that make up so much of our lives. We have to govern memory as well as other faculties, by Christian principle. We have to apply the plain teaching of Christian truth to our sentimental, and often unwholesome, contemplations of the past. There is enough in all our lives to make material for plenty of whining and complaining, if we choose to take hold of them by that handle. And there is enough in all our lives to make us ashamed of one murmuring word, if we are devout and wise and believing enough to lay hold of them by that one. Remember that you can make your view of your life either a bright one or a dark one, and there will be facts for both; but the facts that feed melancholy are partial and superficial, and the facts that exhort, ‘Rejoice in the Lord alway; and again I say, Rejoice,’ are deep and fundamental.3. So, lastly, note how blessed a thing it is when the last look is the happiest.When we are amongst the mountains, or when we are very near them, they look barren enough, rough, stony, steep. When we travel away from them, and look at them across the plain, they lie blue in the distance; and the violet shadows and the golden lights upon them and the white peaks above make a dream of beauty. Whilst we are in the midst of the struggle, we are often tempted to think that things go hardly with us and that the road is very rough. But if we keep near our dear Lord, and hold by His hand, and try to shape our lives in accordance with His will-whatever be their outward circumstances and texture-then we may be very sure of this, that when the end comes, and we are far enough away from some of the sorrows to see what they lead to and blossom into, then we shall be able to say, It

was all very good, and to thank Him for all the way by which the Lord our God has led us.In the same conversation in which the patriarch, rising to the height of a prophet and organ of divine revelation, gives this his dying testimony of the faithfulness of God, and declares that he has been delivered from all evil, he recurs to the central sorrow of his life; and speaks, though in calm words, of that day when he buried Rachel by ‘Ephrath, which is Bethel.’ But the pain had passed and the good was present to him. And so, leaving life, he left it according to his own word, ‘satisfied with favour, and full of the blessing of the Lord.’ So we in our turns may, at the last, hope that what we know not now will largely be explained; and may seek to anticipate our dying verdict by a living confidence, in the midst of our toils and our sorrows, that ‘all things work together for good to them that love God.’

BI, "And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been

A pensive retrospect

I. LIFE HAS BEEN TO HIM A PILGRIMAGE. He thinks of all his wanderings from that far-off day when at Bethel he received the promise of God’s presence “in all places whither thou goest,” till this last happy and yet disturbing change. But he is thinking not only, perhaps not chiefly, of the circumstances, but of the spirit, of his life. This is, no doubt, the confession “that they were strangers and pilgrims” referred to in the Epistle to the Hebrews. He was a pilgrim, not because he had often changed his place of abode, but because he sought the city which had foundations, and therefore, could not be at home here. The goal of his life lay in the far future; and whether he looked for the promises to be fulfilled on earth, or had the unformulated consciousness of immortality, and saluted the dimly descried coast from afar while tossing on life’s restless ocean, he was effectually detached from the present, and felt himself an alien in the existing order. We have to live by the same hope, and to let it work the same estrangement, if we would live noble lives. Not because all life is change, nor because it all marches steadily on to the grave, but because our true home—the community to which we really belong, the metropolis, the mother city of our souls—is above, are we to feel ourselves strangers upon earth. They who only take into account the transiency of life are made sad, or sometimes desperate, by the unwelcome thought. But they whose pilgrimage is a journey home may look that transiency full in the face, and be as glad because of it as colonists on their voyage to the old country which they call “home,” though they were born on the other side of the world and have never seen its green fields.

II. To JACOB’S EYES HIS DAYS SEEM FEW. Abraham’s one hundred and seventy-five years, Isaac’s one hundred and eighty, were in his mind. But more than these was in his mind. The law of the moral perspective is other than that of the physicial. The days in front, seen through the glass of anticipation, are drawn out; the days behind, viewed through the telescope of memory, are crowded together. What a moment looked all the long years of his struggling life—shorter now than even had once seemed the seven years of service for his Rachel, that love had made to fly past on such swift wings! That happy wedded life, how short it looked! A bright light for a moment, and

“Ere a man could say ‘ Behold!’

The jaws of darkness did devour it up.”

It is well to lay the coolness of this thought on our fevered hearts, and, whether they be

torn by sorrows or gladdened with bliss, to remember “this also will pass” and the longest stretch of dreary days be seen in retrospect, in their due relation to eternity, as but a moment. That will not paralyze effort nor abate sweetness, but it will teach preparation, and deliver from the illusions of this solid-seeming shadow which we call life.

III. THE PENSIVE RETROSPECT DARKENS, AS THE OLD MAN’S MEMORY DWELLS UPON THE PAST. His days have not only been few—that could be borne—but they have been “evil,” by which I understand not unfortunate so much as faulty. We have seen in former lessons the slow process by which the crafty Jacob had his sins purged out of him, and became “God’s wrestler.” Here we learn that old wrong-doing, even when forgiven—or, rather, when and because for-given—leaves regretful memories life-long. The early treachery had been long ago repented of and pardoned by God and man. The nature which hatched it had been renewed. But here it starts up again, a ghost from the grave, and the memory of it is full of bitterness. No lapse of time deprives a sin of its power to sting. As in the old story of the man who was killed by a rattlesnake’s poison fang imbedded in a boot which had lain forgotten for years, we may be wounded by suddenly coming against it long after it is forgiven by God and almost forgotten by ourselves. Many a good man, although he knows that Christ’s blood has washed away his guilt, is made to possess the iniquities of his youth. “Thou shalt be ashamed and confounded, and never open thy mouth any more, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done.”

IV. BUT THIS SHADED RETROSPECT IS ONE-SIDED. It is true, and in some moods seems all the truth; but Jacob saw more distinctly, and his name was rightly Israel, when, laying his trembling hands on the heads of Joseph’s sons, he laid there the blessing of “the God which fed me all my life long, . . . the Angel which redeemed me from all evil.” That was his last thought about his life as it began to be seen in the breaking light of eternal day. Pensive and penitent memory may call the years few and evil, but grateful faith even here, and still more the cleared vision of heaven, will discern more truly that they have been a long miracle of loving care, and that all their seeming evil has “been transmuted into good. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

The nothingness of life

The patriarch called his days few and evil, not because his life was shorter than his father’s, but because it was nearly over. When life is past, it is all one whether it has lasted two hundred years or fifty. And it is the fact that life is mortal which makes it under all circumstances equally feeble and despicable.

I. THIS SENSE OF THE NOTHINGNESS OF LIFE IS MUCH DEEPENED WHEN WE CONTRAST IT WITH THE CAPABILITIES OF US WHO LIVE IT. Our earthly life gives promise of what it does not accomplish. It promises immortality, yet it is mortal; it contains life in death and eternity in time, and it attracts us by beginnings which faith alone brings to an end.

II. Such being the unprofitableness of this life viewed in itself, IT IS PLAIN HOW WE SHOULD REGARD IT WHILE WE GO THROUGH IT. We should remember that it is scarcely more than an accident of our being—that it is no part of ourselves, who are immortal. The regenerate soul is taken into communion with saints and angels, and its “life is hid with Christ in God.” It looks at this world as a spectator might look at some show or pageant, except when called upon from time to time to take a part. (J.

H.Newman, D. D.)

Jacob’s retrospect

Jacob looked back on his life and saw but three things—God, love, grief. These were all he had to speak of. They were a trinity of the past; they dwarfed everything else.

I. “GOD appeared unto me at LUZ.” This one first and great appearance of God was memorable in all his life, because it was the first. It stamped itself upon his life; even in old age the memory of it was not obscured, effaced, or weakened, but was with him in the valley of the shadow of death.

II. Less august, but even more affecting, was the second of his three experiences—LOVE. Of all whom he had known, only two names remained to him in the twilight between this life and the other—God and Rachel. The simple mention of Rachel’s name by the side of that of God is itself a monument to her.

III. The third of these experiences was that RACHEL WAS BURIED. When Rachel died, the whole world had but one man in it, and he was solitary, and his name was Jacob. Application:

1. See how perfectly we are in unity with the life of this, one of the earliest men. How perfectly we understand him! How the simplest experiences touch us to the quick!

2. The filling up of life, however important in its day, is in retrospect very insignificant.

3. The significance of events is not to be judged by their outward productive force, but by their productiveness in the inward life.

4. In looking back through the events of life, though they are innumerable, yet those that remain j last are very few—not because all the others have perished, but because they group themselves and assume moral unity in the distance. (H. W. Beecher.)

The retrospect

1. The character given of human life. He considers this life as a pilgrimage.

2. The estimate of its worth. He counted the days of the years of his life to be few and evil.

3. The consequent necessity of provision for its ultimate result.

I. We are to consider this life under the figure which the text sets before us. It is a pilgrimage. Let us dwell for a short time on the practical view of life which is taken by the true believer.

1. He does not regard this world as his home. There are many who live in it as if they were permanently fixed in it. But the Christian pilgrim is conscious that he has a home to which he is travelling. “There remaineth a rest for the people of God.”

II. We notice the estimate which true wisdom gives us of the real worth of this life, regarded in itself. “Few and evil,” said the patriarch, “have the days of the years of my life been.” Life is short. And oh! how short!—how limited! “The days of our years are threescore years and ten”; sometimes with difficulty they reach to fourscore years. But

how few of our race reach even the nearer limit! But the wise estimate of human life is not only that it is short in its duration, but that it is evil in its nature. It is evil, as it is the scene of continual trial and affliction, as it is chequered by calamities of various kinds, which bow down the spirit, and gradually render the end of life desirable. But we observe, again, that life is full of evil, because it is full of sin. Jacob knew his own heart well, and the contemplation of his own history could afford him no self-satisfaction. Let the votary of this world make a fair estimate of his days. “They are few and evil.” Can you make better of them? The cutting conviction of your heart, when you look within, is that they are so. You have no means of lengthening their duration. You cannot dismiss their oppressive sorrows.

III. We notice, then, the absolute need of a provision for the ultimate result of life. In conclusion, the subject suggests to us a few practical remarks.

1. It becomes all those who make a Christian profession diligently to examine their own ground of hope for a better world.

2. Again, we are called upon by our professed principles to take care that we are not bound down by an improper attachment to the perishing goods of this world.

3. We are called upon by our principles, as pilgrims towards another and a better world, to do our utmost as faithful stewards of the gifts of God in alleviating the sufferings and the sorrows of our fellow-creatures.

4. There is a duty incumbent on us also to use every fair opportunity of inculcating on our fellow-men the consideration of the true character of this life and its speedy termination. (E. Craig.)

The greatness and the littleness of human life

I. CONTRAST THIS POOR VANISHING LIFE OF OURS WITH THE GREAT CAPABILITIES OF OUR SOULS.

II. CONSIDER SOME FACTS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE.

1. Consider the case of a man who dies full of days,

2. Consider the case of a man who dies before his time.

3. Consider the ease of the death-beds of some of the saints.

III. OUR DUTY IN THE PRESENCE OF THESE FACTS.

1. Seek eternal life.

2. Look forward to the compensations of another world. (T. H.Leale.)

Jacob before Pharaoh

I. LIFE AS A DISCIPLINE.

1. The changes of life often bring us nearer to the changeless God.

2. Bereavements teach us to set our affections on things above.

3. The heavy trials of life often remind of past sin and cause despondency, and yet

reveal the wisdom and love of God.

II. LIFE AS A PILGRIMAGE.

1. Life is long in anticipation, but short in retrospect.

2. Life is bright in anticipation, and sad in retrospect.

3. Life as a pilgrimage is an incentive to effort (Heb_11:13 - 1Pe_2:11-25).

4. Life as a pilgrimage is an encouragement to endurance.

Conclusion:

1. What cause we have for gratitude, trust, hope!

2. To what are you looking forward?

3. What effect has your hope upon your life (1Jn_3:3)?

4. Who is your guide? Self, Satan, or God? (A. F. Joscelyne, B. A.)

Human life in retrospect

I. HUMAN LIFE IS RETROSPECT IS SADDENING.

1. Unsettled.

2. Brief. The shorter perhaps the better.

3. Evil. Because—

(1) Never to be recalled.

(2) Memory of moral imperfections more or less distressing.

II. IT STANDS IN CONTRAST WITH IT IN PROSPECT. Hope makes life to the young a settled, lengthened, and joyous thing.

III. IT SUGGESTS THE IDEA OF A BETTER EXISTENCE. Underlying this wail of the old patriarch, there was an impression of a life settled, long, and blessed. This impression was the standard by which he measured the ever-changing, brief, and unblessed past. Truly, a belief in a future life is almost necessary to reconcile us to the present. (Homilist.)

Man’s life on earth a pilgrimage

I. THAT THE LIFE OF MAN UPON EARTH IS A PILGRIMAGE.

II. THAT MAN’S DAYS IN THIS PILGRIMAGE STATE ARE FEW AND EVIL.

III. THE CAUSE OF THIS; AND WHETHER, AND HOW FAR, THE EVIL ADMITS OF A CURE. Inferences:

1. Is this a pilgrimage state? Then why should we be so much attached to or affected with anything here—a country where we are pilgrims?

2. Are our days few? Then let us make haste, for we have a great work to do.

3. Are they evil? Then why are we in love with them? Why unwilling to go where days

are evil no more?

4. Has God provided a cure? Then let us take care we do not reject it. (J. Benson.)

Life

I. LIFE IN ITS GENERAL CHARACTER.

1. It is evil. This may be understood as including two things—sin and affliction. Sin is evil and only evil, and that continually. This is man’s true misery, and the only way to save man from misery is to save him from sin. Affliction is not misery; it may not have the sting of moral guilt in it, and therefore, although in itself an evil, by God’s merciful guidance it may become the means of great good to us.

2. This leads us to remark that another feature in man’s natural life is that it is met by the great redemption of Christ Jesus the Lord. The man who uttered the words of my text spoke also of the Divine Messenger who redeemed him from all evil.

3. Life may become a pilgrimage to heaven. You may travel through the wilderness to Canaan; you may now set out for a city which hath foundations, whose Maker and Builder is God. Will you?

II. LIFE AS TO THE PERIOD OF TIME IN WHICH IT FALLS.

1. What a contrast between the time when the patriarch lived and our own!

2. And what is its state?

3. It is a time of great discovery and rapid and well-nigh universal communication.

4. The missionary work of the Church has only been preparatory; soon it will break forth in its proper strength.

5. The Church is being tried as silver is tried; every man’s work is being tried of what sort it is.

6. There is a yearning in the Church of God for union; this we hail with delight!

III. LIFE IS ITS INDIVIDUALITY. “My life.”

1. Consider your life as a gift from God with its consequent responsibilities.

2. Your life as the time of your salvation.

3. But, again, let me remind you that your life is the opportunity for Christian activity.

IV. AND, LASTLY, LIFE AS TO ITS BREVITY, AND THE DIVISION OF ITS DURATION.

1. Its shortness. It is not only a vanity, but a short-lived vanity.

2. But think for a moment of its swiftness. Have you ever seen a shadow run along the ground, darkening the places beautified by the beams of the sun, but quickly disappearing? Such is man’s life; “for he fleeth as it were a shadow, and continueth not.” A weaver’s shuttle is very swift in its motion; in a moment it is thrown from one side of the web to the other; yet our days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle. “My days are swifter than a post,” says one; “they flee away as the eagle that hasteth to the prey”; the eagle flying, not with his ordinary flight, for that is not sufficient to

represent the swiftness of our days, but as when he flies upon his prey, which is with an extraordinary swiftness. (T. E. Thoresby.)

Life: its duration, shortness, and uncertainty

I. The general life of man was in ancient times, that is, in the first ages of the world, MUCH LONGER THAN AT PRESENT. AS old as Methuselah has passed into a proverb. He lived 969 years. Adam lived 930 years. Noah lived longer than Adam by 20 years. He died at the age of 950. Lamech lived 777 years. But, after the flood, we scarcely read of one who lived up to even 200. And it is thought by some that, when God brought about the flood, He at the same time, by a Divine decree, shortened man’s life. The three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, little surpassed this age; and we know that many of those connected with them sank into their graves at a very much earlier age.

II. THE LIFE OF MAN NOW IS NOT ONLY SHORT, BUT UNCERTAIN. The death that happens, happens frequently in a place when we least expect it. Those who we think are going to die many times earlier, and those who we think have years of life before them drop unexpectedly into the grave.

III. THE LIFE OF MAN IS CHEQUERED WITH EVIL. “Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been.” All people have their troubles. To use the expressive language of Scripture, “Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.” As Christians we are expressly warned to be prepared for trouble. “In the world,” says our Lord to His then immediate disciples, and doubtless He meant the same truth to be conveyed to us, “in the world,” says He, “ye shall have tribulation.” And, again, intimating the same truth, He says, “Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves.” But I need not accumulate texts on a truth so evident, and so fully verified by experience. Who is there without trouble? Who has not heavy cares on his mind? Who can, with joyous mind, say that his fond expectations have not been disappointed? (W. Lupton, M. A.)

The shortness of life

I. IT IS SHORT IN COMPARISON WITH THE LIVES OF THE EARLY MEMBERS OF THE HUMAN FAMILY.

II. HUMAN LIFE IS SHORT IN COMPARISON WITH OUR EXPECTATIONS OF ITS CONTINUANCE.

III. HUMAN LIFE IS SHORT IN COMPARISON WITH ETERNITY.

IV. HUMAN LIFE IS SHORT IN COMPARISON WITH THE WEIGHTY INTERESTS WHICH ARE AFFECTED AND UNALTERABLY SETTLED BY IT.

V. HUMAN LIFE IS NOT ONLY SHORT, BUT ALTOGETHER UNSATISFACTORY.

1. The shortness of life is a consoling reflection to the Christian.

2. The shortness of life should admonish those who are impenitent immediately to enter on the work of their salvation. (I. Foot, D. D.)

Two views of life

I. THERE IS A SENSE IN WHICH LIFE MAY BE REGARDED AS EVIL.

1. It appears so when we consider the disparity between the good it affords and the good we desire. “The earth hath He given to the children of men,” and it is a goodly inheritance. Its sights and sounds are dear to our hearts; we love it as our first home—the only home we have hitherto known. But, like Jacob and his fathers when they sojourned in the promised land, we seek a better country; this world, with all its beauty, glory, and grandeur, does not satisfy our hearts. Our spiritual instincts make it impossible for us to find here perfect rest; they point us to the future, and are a prophecy of the world that shall be revealed.

2. Life may appear evil when we compare what it is with what in many cases it might be. Men spoil their own lives, and then complain that life is evil; they mar and rend the picture, and murmur because its beauty has disappeared; they run the ship upon the rocks, and weep to find her a wreck; they crush the flower with a rude hand, and are disappointed because it withers.

II. But the words of Jacob do not exhaust the subject; IN THE HIGHEST, TRUEST SENSE LIFE IS GOOD AND NOT EVIL.

1. It is the gift of God. He thought it right, and wise, and kind that we should be. Our existence appeared to Him a good and desirable thing; and what is good in His sight is and must be so in reality, for He sees things as they are, and not as they seem.

2. Our life is under His control. Let us then trust His perfect love. Seeing that He is with us in the ship, we will not fear the voyage, stormy though it be.

3. Our present life is connected with an endless future. (T. Jones.)

The days of our pilgrimage

Pilgrimage is the broad condition of every life-course that passes upward, as well as onward, and has its bourne in God. Pharaoh speaks of years of life, Jacob of pilgrimage. Pharaoh measured existence by days of power and pleasure, by banquets, triumphs, and festivals of the gods. Jacob by the stages where, after stern battle, he had left a lust, a vice, a weakness buried; by the waning of the stars which lit his night of sorrow, and the rosy flush in the east which was already brightening, breaking into the morning of his everlasting day. It is a very wonderful fact that God’s elect, His friends, in the early dawn of history, were men who lived upon promises, and who possessed absolutely not one clod of the land which God called their own, except the cave where they buried their dead. Very splendid, very wealthy, was their inheritance Gen_13:14-17). But the cave which they bought of Ephron (Gen_23:1-20.)was their only possession in the land which yet was all their own. Pilgrimage of the hardest, sternest character was their portion; and the wonder is that they never made a moan over it, and never reproach the justice and fidelity of the Lord. Bravely they accepted their lot as pilgrims; and they blessed the angel who had guided their pilgrimage when their heads were bowed in death. What had they then which was a richer possession than those graves? Well, they had the land; all its beauty and splendour, morning pomp and golden evening mists, moonlight that silvered its ridges, shadows that slept in its hollows, stars that watched its wolds through the dewy night, and the myriad gems that glittered a laughing welcome to the rising day. They had that; it was all their own. They lived with Nature as God’s children alone can live with her, and were filled with her blessing. Yes! they had the land, as we may all have the land, as no lustful heathen could have the land; and with hearts bursting with joy

and thankfulness they praised His name, whose bounty and tenderness had laid all this wealth of beauty and splendour at their feet. Yes! they had the land, and they held it by the tenure of praise. And the things which were seen were prophets to them of the things which were not seen. Through the vestibule they looked into the temple; they had vision of fairer homes, of brighter suns, in the world to which they had the mysterious entrance; where, too, they had seen the white-winged troops of angels gleaming in the celestial sunlight, and whence they had heard the voice of the Invisible King. The pilgrims held in fee two worlds. They had the promise of the life that now is (compare Lot and Abraham), and of the life that is to come. And bravely Jacob bears witness before Pharaoh of his pilgrim life and lot. To Pharaoh earth was the home; men were pilgrims in the shades. Here the sunlight, the sun warmth, the joy of a home; there, behind the veil, the king could see only a rout of shivering, shuddering ghosts. Jacob had his pilgrimage here; his home, his kingdom, in eternity. Some sense of this perhaps flashed on the king as he gazed. It was a strange puzzle to him. Nebuchadnezzar, Herod, Pilate, Felix, were all perplexed by it in their times. These pilgrims, landless, penniless, powerless, were after all heaven’s priests and kings. But there is something special in the experience which this pilgrim confesses before the king. “Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been.” A sad and weary old man. Would faithful Abraham or pious Isaac have borne this testimony? The life of the one was nobler, purer, grander, than Jacob’s; the life of the other more simple and serene. The old age of either would have been fairer and brighter to look upon. Jacob’s experience, on the other hand, has much to do with the habit of his nature and the sins and follies of his life. It is one of the most profoundly interesting biographies in history; because of the breadth of human experience it covers, the heights and the depths through which this princely pilgrim passed. He had a keen and subtle intellect, easily tempted to display itself in cunning, but with a lordly power in its compass when set on its noblest use. While he had a craving, grasping appetite for riches, and intense power of acquisition, joined with a grand faculty of spiritual insight and constant vision of the realities of the unseen world. A power at once to grope and to soar; now the huckster, now the seer. Two powerful natures struggling within for the mastery; the spirit wresting the victory from the flesh through bitter anguish and wasting pain. This false brother, this crafty steward, this scheming chief, this foolish father, had terrible lessons to learn at the hand of the Angel who was redeeming him from all evil; and it is the glory of the man that he had patience, courage, and faith to learn them, and to bless the Angel who had redeemed him as he bowed on his bed’s head in death. He was such a pilgrim as most of us may be, with the double nature strongly developed. He might have made a successful venture of this life, as men count success, if God would have let him. But God endowed him with a nature which marred his prosperity, which would be aiming at unseen blessings, far-off fruits of birthright, and everlasting results. It is the battle of the two natures, both so strong and in such high development, which makes the striking interest of the patriarch’s history. Few and evil were his days compared with his fathers, for his heart was rent by contending passions, his home was torn by hostile factions. The patriarch had won his freedom when he stood before Pharaoh; but the marks of the struggle, the dim eye, the furrowed brow, the sad lip, were on him. (J. B. Brown, B. A.)

Disappointment in life

A recent writer, who spent some years on the banks of the Nile and on its waters, and who mixed freely with the inhabitants of Egypt, says: “‘Old Jacob’s speech to Pharaoh really made me laugh, because it is so exactly like what a Fellah says to a Pacha, ‘Few and

evil have the days of the years of my life been,’ Jacob being a most prosperous man, but it is manners to say all that.” But Eastern manners need scarcely be called in to explain a sentiment which we find repeated by one who is generally esteemed the most self-sufficing of Europeans. “I have ever been esteemed,” Goethe says, “one of Fortune’s chiefest favourites; nor will I complain or find fault with the course my life has taken. Yet, truly, there has been nothing but toil and care; and I may say that, in all my seventy-five years, I have never had a month of genuine comfort. It has been the perpetual rolling of a stone, which I have always had to raise anew.” Jacob’s life had been almost ceaseless disquiet and disappointment. A man who had fled his country, who had been cheated into a marriage, who had been compelled by his own relative to live like a slave, who was only by flight able to save himself from a perpetual injustice, whose sons made his life bitter—one of them by the foulest outrage a father could suffer, two of them by making him, as he himself said, to stink in the nostrils of the inhabitants of the land he was trying to settle in, and all of them by conspiring to deprive him of the child he most dearly loved—a man who at last, when he seemed to have had experience of every form of human calamity, was compelled by famine to relinquish the land for the sake of which he had endured all and spent all, might surely be forgiven a little plaintiveness in looking back upon his past. The wonder is to find Jacob to the end unbroken, dignified, and clear-seeing, capable and commanding, loving and full of faith. (M. Dods, D. D.)

Jacob’s pilgrimage

It was very true of the past of Jacob’s life that it had been a pilgrimage, for he had been twenty-one years a stranger in the land of Padan-aram, and even after his return to Canaan he had not dwelt continuously in one place. For years, indeed, he had been at Hebron, near the Machpelah cave, where the ashes of his fathers were entombed; but now again he was away from the only spots of earth in Shechem and in Hebron which legally he could call his own. So with literal exactness he could say that his life had been a pilgrimage. But the expression had a forward as well as a backward look. It told that he was seeking a home beyond the grave, that he was desiring the better country, “even the heavenly,” and that his hopes were anchored there. It indicated that his feelings regarding his fathers were not so distinct and definite indeed, but of the same kind as those of Baxter when he wrote concerning a venerable relative who died at the age of a hundred years: “She is gone after many of my choicest friends, and I am following even at the door. Had I been to enjoy them only here, it would have been but a short comfort mixed with many troubles which all our failings and sins, and some degree of unsuitableness between the nearest and dearest, cause. But I am going after them, to that blessed society where life and light and love, and therefore harmony, concord, and joy are perfect and everlasting.” Thrice happy they who can look forward to such an end of their pilgrimage! (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

The shortness of life

Remember that life at the longest is very short. Therefore, do at once that which you feel you ought to do at all. Yea, do first that which is most important. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Young man, do not leave it to a future day, but do it now, that all your life may be one of usefulness and enjoyment. Men of middle-age, you have a vivid sense of the rapidity with which your years have gone, but they will go just as rapidly in the future as in the past, and you will be on your death-bed before you know it;

therefore, “what thy hands find to do, do it with thy might.” Men of old-age, you have to make haste, for you have no time to lose. The ancient law said kindly as to the sale of an estate, “according to the number of the years thou shalt diminish the price”; the nearer they were to the Jubilee, the cheaper were they to sell their land. So the nearer you come to the end of your days, you ought to hold earthly things more loosely, and prize heavenly things more highly. When your business day is drawing to a close, you hasten to finish your work, and sometimes you do more in the last hour than in all that went before. As your paper becomes more filled you write more closely, to get all in that you want to say. And in the same way, the older you grow, you should become the more earnest in the service of your God in Christ. And if you have not yet begun to serve Him, I beseech you to begin now! When Napoleon came on the field of Marengo, it was late in the afternoon, and he saw that the battle was really lost. But looking at the western sun, he said, “There is just time to recover the day! “ and giving out his orders with that rapid energy for which, combined with quick perception of what an emergency needed, he was so remarkable, he turned a defeat into a victory. So your sun is nearing its setting, but there is time, in the present opportunity, to “recover the day.” Avail yourself of it, therefore, at once, lest your life should end in utter blank, eternal failure. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

A backward look

A backward look is very different from a forward look in life. A quarter of a century, or a half-century, would seem a long way ahead to a young person; but how short it seems when it is remembered by those who have passed it! And our estimates of value vary as much as our estimates of time, in looking forward or backward. It is not those things which we thought most of while we were striving for them, that seem of highest worth when we have them, or when we remember how they missed us. Among the memories of Jacob, his pleasantest, we may be sure, were not his cheating Esau, or his deceiving his father, or his getting the advantage of Laban. Nor was it saddest to him to remember his disappointment in the loss of Joseph. There can be no doubt that the one-tenth which Jacob gave to the Lord was more of a treasure to him in memory than the nine-tenths he held on to; and that his being lamed at Penuel was a pleasanter recollection than his standing up so firmly to lie to Isaac at Beer-sheba. The days of the years of our lives will seem few enough at the best when we come to their close. Whether they are then to seem evil, or not, will depend on the use we now make of them. No day spent in the Lord’s service, no self-denial or generous act for others, will ever be counted evil in its memory. Now is the time to make ready for a pleasant old age—if our lives should be long spared. (H. C. Trumbull.)

Jacob’s confession

We have a comment upon this answer, in Heb_11:13-14, where it is called a “confession,” and its implication is insisted on: “They that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.” We may see in it a charming example of spirituality, and how such a state of mind will find a way of introducing religion, even in answer to the most simple and common questions. We go into the company of a great man, and come away without once thinking of introducing religion: nay, it would seem to us almost rude to attempt it. But wherefore? Because of our want of spiritual-mindedness. If our spirits were imbued with a sense of Divine things, we should think of the most common concerns of life in a

religious way; and so thinking of them, it would be natural to speak of them. Jacob, in answer to this simple question, introduces several important truths, and that without any force or awkwardness. He insinuates to Pharaoh that he and his fathers before him were strangers and pilgrims upon the earth—that their portion was not in this world, but in another—that the life of man, though it extended to a hundred and thirty years, was but a few days—that those few days were mixed With evil; all which, if the king properly reflected on it, would lead him to set light by the earthly glory with which he was loaded, and to seek a crown which fadeth not away. (A. Fuller.)

Reflections on life

When I look back to the earlier and middle periods of my life, and now, in my old age, think how few are left of those who were young with me, I always think of a summer residence at a bathing-place. When you arrive, you make acquaintance and friends of those who have already been there some time, and who leave in a few weeks. The loss is painful. Then you turn to the second generation, with which you live a good while and become most intimate. But this goes also, and leaves us alone with the third, which comes just as we are going away, and with which we have nothing to do. I have been esteemed one of Fortune’s chiefest favourites; nor will I complain or find fault with the course my life has taken. Yet, truly there has been nothing but toil and care; and I may say that in all my seventy-five years I have never had a month of genuine comfort. It has been the perpetual rolling of a stone, which I have always had to raise anew. (Goethe.)

Life a pilgrimage

If men have been termed pilgrims and life a journey, then we may add that the Christian pilgrimage far surpasses all others in the following important particulars: in the goodness of the road, in the beauty of the prospects, in the excellence of the company, and in the vast superiority of the accomodation provided for the Christian traveller when he has finished his course. (H. G. Salter.)

Theodore Monod said he would like the epitaph on his tombstone to be “Here Endeth the First Lesson.” (S. Smiles.)

The true indication of old age

“Old age,” remarks Bishop Patrick, “is not to be known by a withered face, but by a mortified spirit; not by the decays of the natural body, but by the weakness of the body of sin; not by the good we have enjoyed, but by the good we have done; and if we be prepared for death, we have lived long enough; if our life be a death, then no death can be untimely to us.”

The course of a Christless life

The whole course of a man’s life out of Christ is nothing but a continual trading in vanity, running a circle of toil and labour, and reaping no profit at all. (Archbishop Leighton.)

Home after the journey of life

Mr Hughes tells a characteristic anecdote of starting one winter’s night with his friend, Charles Kingsley, to walk down to Chelsea, and of their being caught in a dense fog before they had reached Hyde Park Corner. “Both of us,” Mr. Hughes adds, “knew the way well, but we lost it half-a-dozen times, and Kingsley’s spirit seemed to rise as the fog thickened!” “Isn’t this like life?” he said, after one of our blunders; “a deep yellow fog all round, with a dim light here and there shining through. You grope your way on from one lamp to another, and you go up wrong streets and back again. But you get home at last—there’s always light enough for that.” (Clerical Library.)

10 Then Jacob blessed[b] Pharaoh and went out from his presence.

GILL, "And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.When he took his leave of him, he blessed him, in like manner as when he came into his presence, by wishing all happiness to him, and giving him thanks for the honour he had done him, and the favours he had conferred on him and his.

K&D, "After this probably short interview, of which, however, only the leading incidents are given, Jacob left the king with a blessing.

11 So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh directed.

GILL, "And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt,.... Houses to dwell in, lands to till, and pastures to feed their flocks and herds in:

in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh commanded; according to Jarchi and Aben Ezra, the land of Rameses was a part of the land of Goshen: Jerom (o) says, that Rameses was a city the children of Israel built in Egypt, and that the province was formerly so called in which Jacob and his sons dwelt; but if it is the same with the city which was built by them, it is here called so by anticipation: but Aben Ezra is of opinion that it is not the same, and indeed the names are differently pointed and pronounced; that built by the Israelites is Raamses, and was one of the treasure cities of Pharaoh, and never inhabited by the Israelites; the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem call this land the land of Pelusium; but this part of the country lay not in the Pelusiac, but rather in the Heliopolitan home: Sir John Marsham is of opinion (p) that Rameses is the name of Pharaoh, the then present king of Egypt, as there were several of the kings of Egypt of that name; and therefore he thinks this land was the king's land, the land of King Rameses, which Joseph placed his father and brethren in by the order of Pharaoh: but it seems rather to be the name of a place, and is thought by Dr. Shaw (q) to be the same with Cairo: a very learned man (r) takes this to be the name of the land of Goshen, after the coming of the Israelites into it, and observes, that, in the Egyptian language, "Remsosch" signifies men that live a pastoral life, and so this country was called Ramses or Remsosch, as being the country of the shepherds; and the same learned writer (s) is of opinion, that the land of Goshen is the same with the Heracleotic nome, or district, which lies in the great island the Nile makes above Memphis, and which is now called by the Arabs Fioum, it being the best and most fruitful part of all Egypt; which is confirmed by the testimony of Strabo, who says (t) it excels all the rest of the nomes, or districts; that it is the only one that produces olives, large and perfect, with fine fruit, which, if well gathered, make good oil, but all the rest of Egypt is without oil; moreover it produces wine not a little (whereas Herodotus says (u)vines were wanting in Egypt, i.e. in other parts of it), also corn and pulse, and other seeds: and that Fioum, as it is now called, is the most fruitful, and is the most pleasant part of all Egypt, having vines, olives, figs, and fruits of all sorts, the most excellent, and some of which are not to be found in other parts of the country, the same, writer proves from various travellers and historians (w); particularly Leo Africanus says (x), that the Sahidic nome, in which he places Fium, excels all the other parts of Egypt in plenty of pulse, as peas, beans, &c. and of animals and linen, though all Egypt is very fruitful: and Vansleb (y) says, the province of Fium has been always esteemed one of the most excellent in all Egypt, because of its fruitful fields, its great riches, and pleasant gardens,--all that grows here is of a better taste than in other provinces: here are fields full of rose trees, and woods of fig trees, which are not in other parts of Egypt; the gardens are full of all manner of trees, pears, oranges, lemons, peaches, plums, and apricots:--in Fium only, says he, of all the provinces of Egypt, are vineyards--nor is any province so much cut into channels as this: they all proceed from Joseph's river, and have bridges over them, made with burnt bricks very strong; and tradition says they

were built in the days of the Pharaohs; and it is the opinion of the Coptics, that these kings employed the Israelites in making: bricks for those bridges, which is very probable, from the infinite number of men needful to make such a prodigious quantity: this part of Egypt where Israel dwelt, by all relations, being so excellent, the impudence of Celsus (z)the Heathen is very surprising, when he affirms that the nation of the Jews, becoming numerous in Egypt, were ordered to dwell apart as sojourners, and to feed their flocks in places vile and despicable.

HE�RY, " He provided well for him and his, placed him in Goshen (Gen_47:11), nourished him and all his with food convenient for them, Gen_47:12. This bespeaks, not only Joseph a good man, who took this tender care of his poor relations, but God a good God, who raised him up for this purpose, and put him into a capacity of doing it, as Esther came to the kingdom for such a time as this. What God here did for Jacob he has, in effect, promised to do for all his, that serve him and trust in him. Psa_37:19, In the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

JAMIESO�,"Joseph placed his father and his brethren ... in the best of the land— best pasture land in lower Egypt. Goshen, “the land of verdure,” lay along the Pelusiac or eastern branch of the Nile. It included a part of the district of Heliopolis, or “On,” the capital, and on the east stretched out a considerable length into the desert. The ground included within these boundaries was a rich and fertile extent of natural meadow, and admirably adapted for the purposes of the Hebrew shepherds (compare Gen_49:24; Psa_34:10; Psa_78:72).

COFFMA�, "Verse 11-12"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 commanded. And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, according to their families."

"The land of Rameses ..." This was authored by Moses, writing long after these events, as an identification of Goshen which his generation would be able to understand. Rameses, a city later built in Goshen, was not constructed until the children of Israel, then enslaved, built it for Pharaoh (Exodus 1:11).

"Give them a possession ..." "This means they were allowed to acquire property."[12] "Joseph deeded a portion of the land of Goshen to them."[13] Later, when all of the Egyptians had to sell their land to Pharaoh, whereas Israel was provided for without such an arrangement, the stage was set for the eventual repudiation of the privileged status enjoyed by Israel.

COKE, "Genesis 47:11. In the land of Rameses— Some great writers are of opinion, that Rameses is the name of a king, and that the part assigned to the family of Jacob belonged to the royal territories. There was certainly a king of this name among the kings of AEgypt. Others suppose, that this was the name of a province in the land of Goshen, assigned to Joseph's family, and that the city mentioned, Exodus 1:11 was denominated from the province. The former opinion, however, which is Sir John

Marsham's, seems most probable; for it appears from the sequel of the chapter, that, at this time, king, priests, and people, had their lands independent of each other; so that it is reasonable to think that this land, where the Israelites were settled, was a part of the king's domains.

REFLECTIO�S.—Jacob's family being arrived, Joseph acquaints Pharaoh. Whereupon,

1. We have their introduction to Pharaoh. Joseph was not, like many a great man now-a-days, ashamed of his poor relations: he calls them brethren, and presents them at court. �ote; Christ is not ashamed of the meanest of his brethren, nor will refuse to present them before the throne of God, with exceeding great joy.

2. Pharaoh's kind reception of them. He inquires their occupation: and having received their answer, and heard the design of their coming, he appoints them the land of Goshen for their flocks, and bids Joseph prefer any man among them who was active, over the royal herds. �ote; (1.) For our Jesus's sake, we shall find favour in the presence of the heavenly King. (2.) Every member of the commonwealth must by his occupation contribute to its welfare: no idle vagrants, no drones should live in the hive. (3.) Activity and ingenuity in our profession, is the way to preferment in it.

3. The particular regard paid to old Jacob. Pharaoh kindly inquires after his age, for hoary locks engage respect. Jacob replies with the submission of an inferior; and with the piety of a patriarch blesses Pharaoh. �ote; (1.) Every Christian counts his life a pilgrimage. (2.) The longest age is but a few days compared with eternity; and the happiest life has a great alloy of evil. (3.) Our days are considerably shortened: they are now, compared with those of old, but a span long. (4.) An old man's benediction is to be revered; and the prayers of aged ministers and saints much to be valued.

4. By Joseph's care, they are settled in the best of the land, and supplied abundantly with every necessary. Blessed be God for that better Jesus, who satisfies the souls of his people with plenteousness.

K&D, "Joseph assigned to his father and his brethren, according to Pharaoh's command, a possession (אח/ה) for a dwelling-place in the best part of Egypt, the land of Raëmses, and provided them with bread, “according to the mouth of the little ones,” i.e., according to the necessities of each family, answering to the larger or smaller number of

their children. 2ל2ל with a double accusative (Ges. §139). The settlement of the Israelites

is called the land of Raëmses (רעמסס, in pause רעמסס Exo_1:11), instead of Goshen, either

because the province of Goshen (Γεσέµ, lxx) is indicated by the name of its former capital Raëmses (i.e., Heroopolis, on the site or in the immediate neighbourhood of the modern Abu Keisheib, in Wady Tumilat (vid., Exo_1:11), or because Israel settled in the vicinity of Raëmses. The district of Goshen is to be sought in the modern province of el Sharkiyeh (i.e., the eastern), on the east side of the Nile, towards Arabia, still the most fertile and productive province of Egypt (cf. Robinson, Pal. i. 78, 79). For Goshen was

bounded on the east by the desert of Arabia Petraea, which stretches away to Philistia

(Exo_13:17, cf. 1Ch_7:21) and is called Γεσέµ 9ραβίας in the Septuagint in consequence (Gen_45:10; Gen_46:34), and must have extended westwards to the Nile, since the Israelites had an abundance of fish (Num_11:5). It probably skirted the Tanitic arm of the Nile, as the fields of Zoan, i.e., Tanis, are said to have been the scene of the mighty acts of God in Egypt (Psa_78:12, Psa_78:43, cf. Num_13:22). In this province Joseph assigned his relations settlements near to himself (Gen_45:10), from which they could quickly and easily communicate with one another (Gen_46:28; Gen_48:1.). Whether he lived at Raëmses or not, cannot be determined, just because the residence of the Pharaoh of that time is not known, and the notion that it was at Memphis is only based upon utterly uncertain combinations relating to the Hyksos.

12 Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their children.

GILL, "And. Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and his father's household, with bread,.... For though there might be in Rameses pasture sufficient for their cattle, yet not corn for their families, the famine still continuing; during which time Joseph, as a dutiful and affectionate son, and as a kind brother, supplied them with all necessary provision, signified by bread:

according to their families; according to the number of them, some of his brethren having more and others less in their families; and in proportion to their number he distributed food unto them, so that there was no want: or "according to the mouth of an infant" (a); he nourished them like infants, he put as it were the bread into their mouths, and fed them with as much care and tenderness as infants are fed; and they had no more care to provide food for themselves than children have, such a full and constant supply was handed forth to them: in this Joseph was an eminent type of Christ, who supplies the wants of his people.

CALVI�, "12.And Joseph nourished his father, etc., according to their families

(185) Some explain the expression, “the mouth of the little one,” as if Joseph nourished his father and his whole family, in the manner in which food is conveyed to the mouths of children. These interpreters regard the form of speech as emphatical, because, during the famine, Jacob and his family had no more anxiety about the providing of food than children, who cannot even stretch out their hand to receive it. Others translate it “youth,” but I know not with what meaning. (186) Others take it, simply, according to the proportion and number of the little children. To me the genuine sense seems to be that he fed all, from the greatest to the least. Therefore, there was sufficient bread for the whole family of Jacob, because, by the care of Joseph, provision was made to supply nourishment even to the little ones. In this manner Moses commemorates both the clemency of God, and the piety of Joseph; for it was an instance of uncommon attention, that these hungry husband men, who had not a grain of corn, were entirely fed at his expense.

BE�SO�, "Genesis 47:12. With bread according to their families — לחם לפי הש Š, literally, with bread to the mouth of the little one — That is, as much as every one desired, without any restraint, mouth being put for desire, as chap. Genesis 24:57; Isaiah 30:2; or, as a little child is nourished: he, as it were, put their meat into their very mouths: it was brought to them without any more care or pains of their own, than an infant takes for its food.

TRAPP, "Genesis 47:12 And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household, with bread, according to [their] families.

Ver. 12. And Joseph nourished his father.] For which end he was "sent before" [Psalms 105:17] by God: and for whose sake so many thousands were preserved, that else would have perished. What fools, then, are they that hunt out the saints, their only safeguard! and hate them to whom they owe all the good they have! This is, with the foolish deer, to eat up the leaves that hide them from the huuter.

MACLARE�, "GROWTH BY TRA�SPLA�TI�GGenesis 47:1 - Genesis 47:12.1. The conduct of Joseph in reference to the settlement in Goshen is an example of the possibility of uniting worldly prudence with high religious principle and great generosity of nature. He had promised his brothers a home in that fertile eastern district, which afforded many advantages in its proximity to Canaan, its adaptation to pastoral life, and its vicinity to Joseph when in Zoan, the capital. But he had not consulted Pharaoh, and, however absolute his authority, it scarcely stretched to giving away Egyptian territory without leave. So his first care, when the wanderers arrive, is to manage the confirmation of the grant. He goes about it with considerable astuteness-a hereditary quality, which is redeemed from blame because used for unselfish purposes and unstained by deceit. He does not tell Pharaoh how far he had gone, but simply announces that his family are in Goshen, as if awaiting the monarch’s further pleasure. Then he introduces a deputation, no doubt carefully chosen, of five of his brothers {as if the whole number would have been too formidable}, previously instructed how to answer. He knows what Pharaoh is in the

habit of asking, or he knows that he can lead him to ask the required question, which will bring out the fact of their being shepherds, and utilise the prejudice against that occupation, to ensure separation in Goshen. All goes as he had arranged. Thanks partly to the indifference of the king, who seems to have been rather a roi fainéant in the hands of his energetic maire du palais, and to have been contented to give, with a flourish of formality, as a command to Joseph, what Joseph had previously carefully suggested to him {vers. 6, 7}. There is nothing unfair in all this. It is good, shrewd management, and no fault can be found with it; but it is a new trait in the ideal character of a servant of God, and contrasts strongly with the type shown in Abraham. �one the less, it is a legitimate element in the character and conduct of a good man, set down to do God’s work in such a world. Joseph is a saint and a politician. His shrewdness is never craft; sagacity is not alien to consecration. �o doubt it has to be carefully watched lest it degenerate; but prudence is as needful as enthusiasm, and he is the complete man who has a burning fire down in his heart to generate the force that drives him, and a steady hand on the helm, and a keen eye on the chart, to guide him. Be ye ‘wise as serpents’ but also ‘harmless as doves.’

2. We may note in Joseph’s conduct also an instance of a man in high office and not ashamed of his humble relations. One of the great lessons meant to be taught by the whole patriarchal period was the sacredness of the family. That is, in some sense, the keynote of Joseph’s history. Here we see family love, which had survived the trial of ill-usage and long absence, victorious over the temptation of position and high associates. It took some nerve and a great deal of affection, for the viceroy, whom envious and sarcastic courtiers watched, to own his kin. What a sweet morsel for malicious tongues it would be, ‘Have you heard? He is only the son of an old shepherd, who is down in Goshen, come to pick up some crumbs there!’ One can fancy the curled lips and the light laugh, as the five brothers, led by the great man himself, made their rustic reverences to Pharaoh. It is as if some high official in Paris were to walk in half a dozen peasants in blouse and sabots, and present them to the president as ‘my brothers.’ It was a brave thing to do; and it teaches a lesson which many people, who have made their way in the world, would be nobler and more esteemed if they learned.3. The brother’s words to Pharaoh are another instance of that ignorant carrying out of the divine purposes which we have already had to notice. They evidently contemplate only a temporary stay in the country. They say that they are come ‘to sojourn’-the verb from which are formed the noun often rendered ‘strangers,’ and that which Jacob uses in Genesis 47:9, ‘my pilgrimage.’ The reason for their coming is given as the transient scarcity of pasturage in Canaan, which implies the intention of return as soon as that was altered. Joseph had the same idea of the short duration of their stay; and though Jacob had been taught by vision that the removal was in order to their being made a great nation, it does not seem that his sons’ intentions were affected by that-if they knew it. So mistaken are our estimates. We go to a place for a month, and we stay in it for twenty years. We go to a place to settle for life, and our tent-pegs are pulled up in a week. They thought of five years, and it was to be nearly as many centuries. They thought of temporary shelter and food; God meant an education of them and their descendants. Over all this story the unseen Hand hovers, chastising, guiding, impelling; and the human agents are free

and yet fulfilling an eternal purpose, blind and yet accountable, responsible for motives, and mercifully ignorant of consequences. So we all play our little parts. We have no call to be curious as to what will come of our deeds. This end of the action, the motive of it, is our care; the other end, the outcome of it, is God’s business to see to.4. We may also observe how trivial incidents are wrought into God’s scheme. The Egyptian hatred of the shepherd class secured one of the prime reasons for the removal from Canaan-the unimpeded growth of a tribe into a nation. There was no room for further peaceful and separate expansion in that thickly populated country. �or would there have been in Egypt, unless under the condition of comparative isolation, which could not have been obtained in any other way. Thus an unreasonable prejudice, possibly connected with religious ideas, became an important factor in the development of Israel; and, once again, we have to note the wisdom of the great Builder who uses not only gold, silver, and precious stones, but even wood, hay, stubble-follies and sins-for His edifice.5. The interview of Jacob with Pharaoh is pathetic and beautiful. The old man comports himself, in all the later history of Joseph, as if done with the world, and waiting to go. ‘Let me die, since I have seen thy face,’ was his farewell to life. He takes no part in the negotiation about Goshen, but has evidently handed over all temporal cares to younger hands. A halo of removedness lies round his grey hairs, and to Pharaoh he behaves as one withdrawn from fleeting things, and, by age and nearness to the end, superior even to a king’s dignity. As he enters the royal presence he does not do reverence, but invokes a blessing upon him. ‘The less is blessed of the better.’ He has nothing to do with court ceremonials or conventionalities. The hoary head is a crown of honour, Pharaoh recognises his right to address him thus by the kindly question as to his age, which implied respect for his years. The answer of the ‘Hebrew Ulysses,’ as Stanley calls him, breathes a spirit of melancholy not unnatural in one who had once more been uprooted, and found himself again a wanderer in his old age. The tremulous voice has borne the words across all the centuries, and has everywhere evoked a response in the hearts of weary and saddened men. Look at the component parts of this pensive retrospect.Life has been to him a ‘pilgrimage’. He thinks of all his wanderings from that far-off day when at Bethel he received the promise of God’s presence ‘in all places whither thou goest,’ till this last happy and yet disturbing change. But he is thinking not only, perhaps not chiefly, of the circumstances, but of the spirit, of his life. This is, no doubt, the confession ‘that they were strangers and pilgrims’ referred to in the Epistle to the Hebrews. He was a pilgrim, not because he had often changed his place of abode, but because he sought the ‘city which hath foundations,’ and therefore could not be at home here. The goal of his life lay in the far future; and whether he looked for the promises to be fulfilled on earth, or had the unformulated consciousness of immortality, and saluted the dimly descried coast from afar while tossing on life’s restless ocean, he was effectually detached from the present, and felt himself an alien in the existing order. We have to live by the same hope, and to let it work the same estrangement, if we would live noble lives. �ot because all life is change, nor because it all marches steadily on to the grave, but because our true home-the community to which we really belong, the metropolis, the mother city of our souls-is above, are we to feel ourselves strangers upon earth. They who only

take into account the transiency of life are made sad, or sometimes desperate, by the unwelcome thought. But they whose pilgrimage is a journey home may look that transiency full in the face, and be as glad because of it as colonists on their voyage to the old country which they call ‘home,’ though they were born on the other side of the world and have never seen its green fields.To Jacob’s eyes his days seem ‘few.’ Abraham’s one hundred and seventy-five years, Isaac’s one hundred and eighty, were in his mind. But more than these was in his mind. The law of the moral perspective is other than that of the physical. The days in front, seen through the glass of anticipation, are drawn out; the days behind, viewed through the telescope of memory, are crowded together. What a moment looked all the long years of his struggling life-shorter now than even had once seemed the seven years of service for his Rachel, that love had made to fly past on such swift wings! That happy wedded life, how short it looked! A bright light for a moment, and‘Ere a man could say “Behold!”The jaws of darkness did devour it up.’It is well to lay the coolness of this thought on our fevered hearts, and, whether they be torn by sorrows or gladdened with bliss, to remember ‘this also will pass’ and the longest stretch of dreary days be seen in retrospect, in their due relation to eternity, as but a moment. That will not paralyse effort nor abate sweetness, but it will teach proportion, and deliver from the illusions of this solid-seeming shadow which we call life.The pensive retrospect darkens as the old man’s memory dwells upon the past. His days have not only been few-that could be borne-but they have been ‘evil’ by which I understand not unfortunate so much as faulty. We have seen in preceding pages the slow process by which the crafty Jacob had his sins purged out of him, and became ‘God’s wrestler.’ Here we learn that old wrong-doing, even when forgiven-or, rather, when and because forgiven-leaves regretful memories lifelong. The early treachery had been long ago repented of and pardoned by God and man. The nature which hatched it had been renewed. But here it starts up again, a ghost from the grave, and the memory of it is full of bitterness. �o lapse of time deprives a sin of its power to sting. As in the old story of the man who was killed by a rattlesnake’s poison fang embedded in a boot which had lain forgotten for years, we may be wounded by suddenly coming against it, long after it is forgiven by God and almost forgotten by ourselves. Many a good man, although he knows that Christ’s blood has washed away his guilt, is made to possess the iniquities of his youth. ‘Thou shalt be ashamed and confounded, and never open thy mouth any more, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done.’But this shaded retrospect is one-sided. It is true, and in some moods seems all the truth; but Jacob saw more distinctly, and his name was rightly Israel, when, laying his trembling hands on the heads of Joseph’s sons, he laid there the blessing of ‘the God which fed me all my life long, . . .’the Angel which redeemed me from all evil.’ That was his last thought about his life, as it began to be seen in the breaking light of eternal day. Pensive and penitent memory may call the years few and evil, but grateful faith even here, and still more the cleared vision of heaven, will discern more truly that they have been a long miracle of loving care, and that all their seeming evil has been transmuted into good.

BI, "And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household, with bread

Types of the Holy Eucharist

I. WHO WAS THIS THAT FED HIS BRETHREN IN THE TIME OF DEARTH? Act_7:11). Joseph, “separate from his brethren” (Gen_49:26), “sold to be a bond servant” (Psa_105:17), tried, afflicted, and imprisoned, so that “the iron entered into his soul” (Psa_105:18), was a true type of Jesus our Lord, Who became a “stranger unto His brethren, an alien unto His mother’s children” (Psa_69:8; Psa_88:7; Psa_88:18), Who took upon Him the form of a servant” (Php_2:7), was afflicted and smitten (Isa_53:4-5, and cf. Psa_88:8). Then, too, as Joseph brought out of prison (Psa_105:19-20). set over all the land of Egypt (Gen_41:41; Gen_41:43; Psa_105:21), saluted as Zaphnath-pasneah (Gen_41:45), “the Saviour of the world” (Neals), sustained the life of all nations by miraculous supplies of bread (Gen_41:57): even so Jesus our Lord, the true Joseph, “taken from prison and from judgment” (Isa_53:8), entrusted with all power (Mt Eph_1:20-23), “exalted to the right hand of God to be a Prince and a Saviour” (Act_5:31), now feeds countless thousands throughout all the world, with Himself, the Living Bread, in the Holy Eucharist.

II. WHOM DID JOSEPH FEED?

1. All countries—for “all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn: because that the famine was so sore in all lands” (Gen_41:57). So in one sense our True Joseph “giveth food to all flesh” (Psa_136:25), and “openeth His hand, and filleth all things living with plenteousness” (Psa_145:16; Psa_104:27; Psa_28:1-9).

2. Joseph fed his people, the Egyptians, for “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 unto you, do . . . And Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians” Gen_41:55-56). “And when money failed . . . all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread . . . And Joseph gave them bread” Gen_47:15; Gen_47:17). So now Jesus our Lord, the True Joseph, prepares a table in the wilderness of this world, at which He feeds His people, not with common food, but with spiritual good things, help, benedictions, knowledge, grace, “to deliver their soul from death and to feed them in the time of dearth” (Psa_33:18), so that they may eat and crave for that still greater food, the Holy Eucharist, of which He spake (Psa_81:11), “open thy mouth,” &c.

3. But Joseph specially cared for his brethren—his kinsfolk according to the flesh—for he brought them into his house and feasted them Gen_43:17; Gen_43:34), he gave them provision for the way (Gen_42:25). So now our own Joseph, Jesus our Lord, hath special care for His elect (Wis_3:9), the saints of the Most High whom He is not ashamed to call His brethren (Heb_2:11), He brings them into His house, He makes them to sit down to meat, at His table in His kingdom, He comes forth and serves them, saying, “Come, eat of My bread and drink of the wine that I have mingled” (Pro_9:5), “for My flesh is meat indeed and My blood is drink indeed” (Joh_6:55). Thus do the poor eat andare satisfied. They are full, yet hungry still.

III. WHEN DID JOSEPH FEED THEM?

1. “When the dearth was in all lands,” “and the famine was over all the face of the earth,” and was “sore in all lands” (Gen_41:54; Gen_41:56-57), “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” Gen_47:13), then “Joseph nourished his father and his brethren and all his father’s household, with bread.” So now, “in the time of dearth,” when there is a sore and grievous famine in the weary land of this world and multitudes are perishing with hunger, because they cannot satisfy the cravings of their immortal spirit with the husks that the swine do eat Luk_15:16), our True Joseph feedeth the hungry, satisfieth the fainting soul with Himself, the bread of God, and saith to every soul that is hungering and thirsting after righteousness (Mat_5:6), “Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it” (Psa_81:11.)

2. After he had “made himself strange unto them” (Gen_42:7-8), he nourishes them with bread. So now Jesus our Lord appears “in another form,” and makes Himself strange as it were unto us by veiling His beauty and His brightness under the veils of bread and wine, as it is written, “Verily Thou art a God that hidest Thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour” Isa_45:15).

3. When his brethren had repented of their wickedness and fault, and were sorry for their sin—for they said, “We are verily guilty concerning our brother.” So now it is when we have confessed our wickedness, and are sorry for our sins (Psa_38:18; Psa_51:3), when we have examined ourselves (1Co_11:28; 1Co_11:31-32), when we “do truly and earnestly repent us of our sins . . . and have made our humble confession to Almighty God, meekly kneeling upon our knees”; then is it that our dear Lord vouchsafes to feed and nourish us with that True Wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and that True Bread that strengtheneth man’s heart, in the Holy Communion.

IV. WHERE DID JOSEPH NOURISH HIS BRETHREN WITH BREAD?

1. He fed and feasted them in his house, at his princely table, albeit sitting apart from them (Gen_43:16-17; Gen_43:32); whereas the Greater One than Joseph, even Jesus our King, receiveth sinners and eateth with them Luk_15:2) at His own royal table of Sacred Communion (Luk_22:30), in His house the Church (1Ti_3:15; Heb_3:6).

2. Also Joseph gave his brethren provision for the way (Gen_42:25; Gen_45:21): so our Blessed Lord invites us to draw nigh unto the altar of God, and “strengthen ourselves with the Bread of Life” now, whilst we are in the way, saying, “Arise and eat” of My Flesh and drink of My Blood, “because the journey is too great for thee” (1Ki_19:7).

3. He fed and nourished them in Goshen (Gen_46:28; Gen_47:1; Gen_47:4; Gen_47:27; Gen_50:8; Gen_50:22); so it is in the true Goshen that Jesus our King Eternal feeds His brethren at the marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev_19:1-21.), and reveals Himself to them face to face.

V. How DID JOSEPH NOURISH HIS BRETHREN?

1. He fed his brethren at no expense to themselves—for “Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way; and thus did he unto Gen_42:25, and cf Gen_43:12; Gen_43:21-24; Gen_45:20-24; Gen_47:11-12; Gen_47:27; Gen_50:21 not once nor twice. So Jesus our Saviour feeds us with His own most Blessed Body and Blood, and satisfies our mouth with good things, “without money and without price” (Isa_55:1-2), again and yetagain throughout our earthly pilgrimage.

2. He nourished them with corn (Gen_42:19; Gen_50:25), and wine Gen_43:34), and bread (Gen_47:12), and so “saved their lives by a great deliverance”; and yet the food which Joseph provided was perishable in its nature, and they who partook of it died at their appointed time. Whereas our True Joseph—Who is the Corn of Wheat

(Joh_12:24), the Wine that cheereth God and man (Jdg_9:13), and theBread of God which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the Joh_6:33)—gives us Food which is incorruptible, and is the seed of immortality, seeing that “This is the Bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof, and not die,” “if any man eat of this Bread he shall live for ever.” (W. F. Shaw, B. D.)

Joseph and the Famine

13 There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine.

BAR�ES, "Gen_47:13-26Joseph introduces remarkable changes into the relation of the sovereign and the

people of Egypt. “There was no bread in all the land.” The private stores of the wealthy were probably exhausted. “And Joseph gathered up all the silver.” The old stores of grain and the money, which had flowed into the country during the years of plenty, seem to have lasted for five years. “And Joseph brought the silver into Pharaoh’s house.” He was merely the steward of Pharaoh in this matter, and made a full return of all the payments that came into his hands. “The silver was spent.” The famishing people have no more money; but they must have bread. Joseph is fertile in expedients. He proposes to take their cattle. This was really a relief to the people, as they had no means of providing them with fodder. The value of commodities is wholly altered by a change of circumstances. Pearls will not purchase a cup of water in a vast and dreary wilderness. Cattle become worthless when food becomes scarce, and the means of procuring it are exhausted. For their cattle Joseph supplies them with food during the sixth year.

GILL, "And there was no bread in all the land,.... The land of Egypt and the parts adjacent, but in Pharaoh's storehouses, all being consumed that were in private hands the first two years of the famine:

for the famine was very sore; severe, pressed very hard:

so that the land of Egypt, and all the land of Canaan, fainted by reason of the

famine; that is, the inhabitants of both countries, their spirits sunk, as well as their flesh failed for want of food: or "raged" (b); became furious, and were like madmen, as the word signifies; according to Kimchi (c), they were at their wits' end, knew not what to do, as Aben Ezra interprets it, and became tumultuous; it is much they had not in a violent manner broke open the storehouses of corn, and took it away by force; that they did not must be owing to the providence of God, which restrained them, and to the care and prudence of Joseph as a means, who, doubtless, had well fortified the granaries; and very probably there were a body of soldiers placed everywhere, who were one of the three parts or states of the kingdom of Egypt, as Diodorus Siculus (d) relates; to which may be added, the mild and gentle address of Joseph to the people, speaking kindly to them, giving them hopes of a supply during the famine, and readily relieving them upon terms they could not object to.

HE�RY, "Care being taken of Jacob and his family, the preservation of which was especially designed by Providence in Joseph's advancement, an account is now given of the saving of the kingdom of Egypt too from ruin; for God is King of nations as well as King of saints, and provideth food for all flesh. Joseph now returns to the management of that great trust which Pharaoh had lodged in his hand. It would have been pleasing enough to him to have gone and lived with his father and brethren in Goshen; but his employment would not permit it. When he had seen his father, and seen him well settled, he applied himself as closely as ever to the execution of his office. Note, Even natural affection must give way to necessary business. Parents and children must be content to be absent one from another, when it is necessary, on either side, for the service of God or their generation. In Joseph's transactions with the Egyptians observe,

I. The great extremity that Egypt, and the parts adjacent, were reduced to by the famine. There was no bread, and they fainted (Gen_47:13), they were ready to die, Gen_47:15, Gen_47:19. 1. See here what a dependence we have upon God's providence. If its usual favours are suspended but for a while, we die, we perish, we all perish. All our wealth would not keep us from starving if the rain of heaven were but withheld for two or three years. See how much we lie at God's mercy, and let us keep ourselves always in his love. 2. See how much we smart by our own improvidence. If all the Egyptians had done for themselves in the seven years of plenty as Joseph did for Pharaoh, they had not been now in these straits; but they regarded not the warning they had of the years of famine, concluding that tomorrow shall be as this day, next year as this, and much more abundant. Note, Because man knows not his time (his time of gathering when he has it) therefore his misery is great upon him when the spending time comes, Ecc_8:6, Ecc_8:7. 3. See how early God put a difference between the Egyptians and the Israelites, as afterwards in the plagues, Exo_8:22; Exo_9:4, Exo_9:26; Exo_10:23. Jacob and his family, though strangers, were plentifully fed on free cost, while the Egyptians were dying for want. See Isa_65:13, My servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry. Happy art thou, O Israel. Whoever wants, God's children shall not, Psa_34:10.

JAMIESO�,"there was no bread in all the land— This probably refers to the second year of the famine (Gen_45:6) when any little stores of individuals or families were exhausted and when the people had become universally dependent on the government. At first they obtained supplies for payment. Before long money failed.

CALVI�, "13.And all the land of Canaan fainted. It was a memorable judgment of

God, that the most fertile regions, which were accustomed to supply provisions for distant and transmarine nations, were reduced to such poverty that they were almost consumed. The word להה (lahah,) which Moses uses, is explained in two ways. Some say that they were driven to madness on account of the famine; others, that they were so destitute of food that they fainted; but whichever method of interpretation be approved, we see that they who had been accustomed to supply others with food, were themselves famishing. Therefore it is not for those who cultivate fertile lands to trust in their abundance; rather let them acknowledge that a large supply of provision does not so much spring from the bowels of the earth, as it distills, or rather flows down from heaven, by the secret blessing of God. For there is no luxuriance so great, that it is not soon exchanged for barrenness, when God sprinkles it with salt instead of rain. Meanwhile, it is right to turn our eyes to that special kindness of God by which he nourishes his own people in the midst of famine, as it is said in Psalms 37:19. If, however, God is pleased to try us with famine, we must pray that he would prepare us to endure hunger with a meek and equal mind, lest we should rage, like fierce, and even ravenous wild beasts. And although it is possible that grievous commotions were raised during the protracted scarcity, (as it is said in the old proverb that the belly has no ears,) yet the more simple sense of the passage seems to me to be, that the Egyptians and Canaanites had sunk under the famine, and were lying prostrate, as if at the point of death. Moreover, Moses pursues the history of the famine, with the intention of showing that the prediction of Joseph was verified by the event; and that, by his skill and industry, the greatest dangers were so well and dexterously provided against, that Egypt ought justly to acknowledge him as the author of its deliverance.

BE�SO�, "Genesis 47:13. The land fainted — So the Chaldee renders the word תלה. That is, the spirits of the people were depressed and sunk within them, and their flesh also wasted for want of food. But many critics prefer translating the words, The land raged, or became furious. This is commonly the case with the lower class of people in a time of scarcity and famine. Instead of being humbled under the chastening hand of God, they are filled with rage both against him and their governors, and become furious.

Genesis 47:19-25. Wherefore shall we die, we and our land? — Land may be said to die when it is desolate and barren; or when the fruits of it die, or, which is the same in effect, do not live and flourish. Buy us and our land for bread — The severity of the famine brought them to this. To obtain bread they not only readily parted with their money, their cattle, their lands, but even at last sold themselves nay, and thought themselves under great obligations to Joseph that they could, even on these apparently hard terms, obtain food! How thankful we ought to be in this country, that we seldom know, by experience, what either famine or scarcity means!

COFFMA�, "Verse 13-14"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 also fainted by reason of the famine. 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 Pharaoh's house."

This is the first of three stages during the latter years of the famine in which Pharaoh became owner of all the land except that of the priests (Israel perhaps excluded), and the people became serfs on the land. In this stage, Pharaoh got all the money.

TRAPP, "Genesis 47:13 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.

Ver. 13. The famine was very sore.] Of this famine mention is made by Justin, lib. i., and Orosius, lib. i., cap. 8.

So that the land of Egypt fainted.] Furebat, saith Junius. The Egyptians in the fifth year of the famine began to rage, if they could have told at what; and were well-nigh mad. Our Saviour’s friends "went out to lay hold of him: for they said, He is beside himself." (a) [Mark 3:21] Or, as some render it, he will faint: for, Mark 3:20, "The multitude came so together, that they could not so much as eat bread." These Egyptians, whether they fainted or fretted, it was for want of bread. Joseph had foretold them of this seven years’ famine; but saturity and security had so besotted them, that they feared nothing, till they felt it. Fulness bred forgetfulness; and now they are ready to let fly at others, because pinched with that penury that they might have prevented. "The wickedness of a man perverts his way, and his heart frets against the Lord." [Proverbs 19:3] See it in that furious king, 2 Kings 6:33.

BI 13-26, "Joseph gathered up 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

The morality of Joseph’s administration

The significance of the transaction is obvious; it brought men back to first principles; made them feel, in a very practical way, their absolute dependence on God, and on that one man through whom God was pleased to deal with them.But what are we to think about its morality? Was Joseph right in buying men? The following considerations, are, to my own mind, satisfactory.

1. Joseph was acting under Divine guidance in an extraordinary emergency. It was not his own wisdom that foresaw the plenty and the famine, and which devised the plan he was raised up to carry out. It was God who gave him the message to Pharaoh, and it was God more than Pharaoh who exalted him to absolute power.

2. It is unreasonable to impute mean motives or cruelty to a man whose character, before this time and after it, was so singularly noble and good.

3. The people themselves proposed this arrangement, and they accepted it with gratitude. “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.”

4. Left to themselves, where would they have been? Even supposing that every farmer from the cataracts to the seaboard had been as fully persuaded that famine was coming as men generally are that they must soon die, yet greed and the craving for present indulgence would have got the better of their prudence during the years of plenty; and long before the fourth year of continuous famine, Egypt would have become one grave. As it was, Joseph saved their lives, and saved them also from the utter moral ruin into which years of indolent pauperism would have sunk them. “As for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt, even to the other end.” I understand this to mean, not that Joseph transported the population of the Delta to the vicinity of the Cataracts, and vice versa, but that he brought them in from the fields, where they could do nothing, and provided them some form of work in the towns. The fact is recorded to the honour of Joseph. When our own government has had to deal with famine, it has exhausted its ingenuity in making work for the relieved. “So far, then, is Joseph’s plan of selling instead of giving the corn to the people, from being a matter of reprehension, that we ought to be astonished at a course of proceeding which anticipated the discoveries of the nineteenth century after Christ, and at the strength of mind which enabled the minister of the Egyptian crown to forego the vulgar popularity which profuse but unreasonable bounty can always secure.”

5. The arrangement, as described by the sacred narrative, was a highly beneficent one. The record is very brief and subordinate, but its meaning becomes sufficiently clear on candid examination. (A. M.Symington, D. D.)

Joseph’s policy vindicated

1. The believer in the divine inspiration of the Scriptures is not bound to vindicate the policy of Joseph in every particular.

2. It would be manifestly unfair to judge Joseph’s policy by the principles of modern political economy or by those of New Testament enforcement and obligation. We must put him in the environment of his age, and we have no right to expect from him conformity to a standard which was not at that time in existence.

3. The policy itself was approved by those who had the best means of judging of its character, and who, as being directly and immediately concerned, would have felt its hardships if there had been any in the case. But, so far from regarding him as an oppressor, the people hailed him as a benefactor.

4. It must not be forgotten that Egypt is an exceptional country, and that, from the constant dependence of the people on the irrigation of their fields, and the continual changes made in the surface of the country by the annual inundation of the river, in the way of obliterating landmarks, and removing part of the soil from the one side of the Nile to the other, the holding of all the lands by the crown would have special public advantages which could not well be either enjoyed or appreciated by the inhabitants of other territories. In conversation upon this subject the other day with the venerable author of “The Land and the Book,” I discovered that he was inclined to find the explanation of Joseph’s settlement with the people for their lands in the unusual character of the country itself; and from what he then said I gathered that he would fully agree with Bishop Browne, when, in the “Speaker’s Commentary,” he alleges, “The peculiar nature of the land, its dependence on the overflow of the Nile,

and the unthrifty habits of the cultivators, made it desirable to establish a system of centralization, perhaps to introduce some general principle of irrigation, in modern phraseology, to promote the prosperity of the country by great government works, in preference to leaving all to the uncertainty of individual enterprise. If this were so, then the saying ‘Thou hast saved our lives’ was no language of Eastern adulation, but the verdict of a grateful people.”

5. For the rest, this policy of Joseph’s did not create a scarcity for the advantage either of himself or of the monarch, but it provided the means of meeting a scarcity; it did not withhold corn, and so earn the curse of the people, but it frankly brought it out as it was required, and sold it at a price that was mutually agreed upon; it did not insist on everything in the bond, no matter what hardship might be thereby occasioned, for, so far as appears, Joseph not only gave the people seed for their fields, but also gave them back their cattle, which he had meanwhile preserved to them; above all, it neither bought what was not in existence, nor sold what was not in actual possession, and so it had in it nothing which makes it in any respect a parallel case to those speculative combinations among ourselves with which some have sought to classify it. True, it left the government owners of the land, but, as we have seen, that was the most convenient settlement both for the carrying out of systematic works for the prevention of similar national calamities in the future, and for the stoppage of all litigation over matters of boundary; and one-fifth part of the produce, considering the fertility of the soil, was not an exorbitant rental, especially if it included all government imposts of every sort. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

Joseph’s conduct

This part of Joseph’s conduct has been thought by some very exceptionable, as tending to reduce a nation to poverty and slavery. I am not sure that it was entirely right, though the parties concerned appear to have cast no reflection upon him. If it were not, it only proves that Joseph, though a good and great man, yet was not perfect. The following remarks, if they do not wholly exculpate him from blame, may at least serve greatly to extenuate the evil of his conduct:

(1) He does not appear to have been employed by the country, but by the king only, and that for himself. He did not buy up corn during the plentiful years, at the public expense, but at that of the king, paying the people the full price for their commodities, and as it would seem out of the king’s private purse.

(2) In supplying their wants, it was absolutely necessary to distribute the provisions, not by gift, but by sale; and that, according to what we should call the market price; otherwise the whole would have been consumed in half(the time, and the country have perished.

(3) The slavery to which they were reduced was merely that of being tenants to the king, and who accepted of one-fifth of the produce for his rent. Indeed it was scarcely possible for a whole nation to be greatly oppressed, without being driven to redress themselves; and, probably, what they paid in aftertimes as a rent, was much the same thing as we pay in taxes, enabling the king to maintain his state, and support his government, without any other burdens. There is no mention, I believe, in history of this event producing any ill effects upon the country. Finally: Whatever he did, it was not for himself, or his kindred, but for the king, by whom he was employed. The utmost therefore that can be made of it to his

disadvantage, does not affect the disinterestedness of his character. (A. Fuller.)

14 Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying, and he brought it to Pharaoh’s palace.

CLARKE, "Gathered up all the money - i. e., by selling corn out of the public stores to the people; and this he did till the money failed, Gen_47:15, till all the money was exchanged for corn, and brought into Pharaoh’s treasury. Be sides the fifth part of the produce of the seven plentiful years, Joseph had bought additional corn with Pharaoh’s money to lay up against the famine that 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 Pharaoh, sold out at the same price. And as money 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.

GILL, "And Joseph gathered up all the money,.... Not that he went about to collect it, or employed men to do it, but he gathered it, being brought to him for corn as follows: even all

that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: by which means those countries became as bare of money as of provisions:

and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house: into his repository, as the Targum of Jonathan, into his treasury, not into his own house or coffers, in which he acted the faithful part to Pharaoh; for it was with his money he bought the corn, built storehouses, kept men to look after them to sell the corn; wherefore the money arising from thence belonged to him; nor did he do any injury to the people: they sold their corn in the time of plenty freely; he gave them a price for it, it then bore, and he sold it out again to them, at a price according to the season; nor was it ever complained of, that it was an exorbitant one; it was highly just and necessary it should be at a greater price than when it was bought in, considering the great expense in the collection,

preservation, and distribution of it: it must be a vast sum of money he amassed together, and Dr. Hammond (e) thinks it probable that this Pharaoh, who, by Joseph's advice, got all this wealth, is the same with Remphis, of whom Diodorus Siculus (f) says, that he spent his time in minding the taxes and heaping up riches from all quarters, and left more behind him than any of the kings that reigned before, even in silver and gold four million talents, the same that Herodotus (g) calls Rhampsinitus, who, he says, had the greatest quantity of money of any of the kings of Egypt.

HE�RY, "he price they had come up to, for their supply, in this exigency. 1. They parted with all their money which they had hoarded up, Gen_47:14. Silver and gold would not feed them, they must have corn. All the money of the kingdom was by this means brought into the exchequer. 2. When the money failed, they parted with all their cattle, those for labour, as the horses and asses, and those for food, as the flocks and the herds, Gen_47:17. By this it should seem that we may better live upon bread without flesh than upon flesh without bread. We may suppose they parted the more easily with their cattle because they had little or no grass for them; and now Pharaoh saw in reality what he had before seen in vision, nothing but lean kine. 3. When they had sold their stocks off their land, it was easy to persuade themselves (rather than starve) to sell their land too; for what good would that do them, when they had neither corn to sow it nor cattle to eat of it? They therefore sold that next, for a further supply of corn. 4. When their land was sold, so that they had nothing to live on, they must of course sell themselves, that they might live purely upon their labour, and hold their lands by the base tenure of villenage, at the courtesy of the crown. Note, Skin for skin, and all that a man hath, even liberty and property (those darling twins), will he give for his life; for life is sweet. There are few (though perhaps there are some) who would even dare to die rather than live in slavery, and dependence on an arbitrary power. And perhaps there are those who, in that case, could die by the sword, in a heat, who yet could not deliberately die by famine, which is much worse, Lam_4:9. Now it was a great mercy to the Egyptians that, in this distress, they could have corn at any rate; if they had all died for hunger, their lands perhaps would have escheated to the crown of course, for want of heirs; they therefore resolved to make the best of bad.

CALVI�, "14.And Joseph gathered up all the money. Moses first declares that the Egyptian king had acted well and wisely, in committing the work of providing corn to the sole care and authority of Joseph. He then commends the sincere and faithful administration of Joseph himself. We know how few persons can touch the money of kings without defiling themselves by peculation. Amid such vast heaps of money, the opportunity of plundering was not less than the difficulty of self-restraint. But Moses says, that whatever money Joseph collected, he brought into the house of the king. It was a rare and unparalleled integrity, to keep the hands pure amidst such heaps of gold. And he would not have been able to conduct himself with such moderation, unless his divine calling had proved as a bridle to hold him in; for they who are restrained from thefts and rapaciousness by worldly motives alone, would immediately put forth their hand to the prey, unless they feared the eyes and the judgments of men. But inasmuch as Joseph might have sinned without a witness of his fault; it follows that the true fear of God flourished in his breast. Plausible and well coloured pretexts, in excuse of the theft, would doubtless present themselves. “When you are serving a tyrant, why may it not be lawful for you to apply some part of the gain to your own advantage?” So much the more does it appear that he

was fortified by downright honesty; since he repelled all temptations, lest he should desire fraudulently to enrich himself at the expense of another.

TRAPP, "Genesis 47:14 And Joseph gathered up 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.

Ver. 14. And Joseph gathered up all the money.] There is something, then, besides grace, that is better than money: though misers will as easily part with their blood, (a) as with their good. Constantinople was lost through the citizens’ covetousness. The like is reported of Heidelberg. Worthy they were, in this name, to have been served as the great Caliph of Babylon was by the great Cham of Tartary. He was set in the midst of those infinite treasures which he and his predecessors had most covetously amassed; and bidden to eat of that gold, silver, and precious stones, what he pleased, and make no spare. In which order, the covetous catiff kept for certain days, miserably died for hunger. (b) Money is a baser thing than "food and raiment": these if we have, "let us be content." [1 Timothy 6:8]

15 When the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all Egypt came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? Our money is all gone.”

GILL, "And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan,.... It had been all spent in the third, fourth, and fifth years of the famine; for it seems to be at the end of the fifth, or beginning of the sixth year of the famine, that this was the case, since we after read of a second or following year, which was very plainly the last, since seed was given them to sow the land with, which shows the time of drought to be near at an end:

all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, give us bread; freely, for nothing, since they had no money to buy any with: no mention is made of the Canaanites, who

could not presume to come and ask for corn on such a footing:

for why should we die in thy presence? before his eyes, he not relieving them when it was in his power to do it; they knew such an argument as this would work upon a mind so humane, tender, and generous as was Joseph's:

for the money faileth; all was gone, they had none left to purchase corn with; or they suggest they should not have desired to have had it at free cost.

K&D 15-17, "Gen_47:15-17When the money was exhausted, the Egyptians all came to Joseph with the petition:

“Give us bread, why should we die before thee” (i.e., so that thou shouldst see us die, when in reality thou canst support us)? Joseph then offered to accept their cattle in payment; and they brought him near their herds, in return for which he provided them

that year with bread. נהל: Piel to lead, with the secondary meaning, to care for (Psa_23:2; Isa_40:11, etc.); hence the signification here, “to maintain.”

CALVI�, "15.And when money failed. Moses does not mean that all the money in Egypt had been brought into the royal treasury; for there were many of the nobles of the court free from the effects of the famine; but the simple meaning of the expression is that nearly all had been exhausted; that now the common people had not money enough to buy corn; and that, at length, extreme necessity had driven the Egyptians to the second remedy of which he is about to speak. Moreover, although, like persons driven to desperation, they might seem arrogantly to rise up against Joseph; yet the context shows that nothing was farther from their minds than to terrify, by their boldness, the man whose compassion they suppliantly implore. Wherefore the question, Why should we die in thy presence? has no other signification than that they felt themselves ruined, unless his clemency should afford them relief. But it may be asked how the Canaanites supported their lives. There is indeed no doubt that a grievous pestilence, the attendant on famine, would carry off many, unless they received assistance from other regions, or were miserally fed on herbs and roots. And perhaps the barrenness was not there so great, but that they might gather half, or a third part of their food, from the fields,

TRAPP, "Genesis 47:15 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.

Ver. 15. Why should we die in thy presence?] When it is in thy power to save us alive in this our extreme indigency? Qui non cum potest, iuvat, occidit, saith the proverb. And, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do evil? to save, or to destroy a life?" [Mark 3:4] - intimating that not to save when we may, is to destroy. The Egyptians, therefore, put Joseph to it. Money they had none, but must have answered, if now it had been required of them, as those inhabitants of Andros did Themistocles. He being sent by the Athenians for tribute money, told them that he

came on that errand accompanied with two goddesses; eloquence to persuade, and violence to enforce them. Whereunto the Andraeans made this answer; that they had on their side, also, two goddesses as strong; necessity, (a) they had it not, and impossibility, whereby they could not part with that which they possessed not. (b)

16 “Then bring your livestock,” said Joseph. “I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone.”

CLARKE, "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, etc., 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, etc., etc.? For this part of Joseph’s conduct he certainly deserves high praise and no censure.

GILL, "And Joseph said, give your cattle,.... Oxen, sheep, horses, asses, as follows:

and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail; that is, corn for cattle, if they had no money to give.

JAMIESO�,"And Joseph said, Give your cattle— “This was the wisest course that could be adopted for the preservation both of the people and the cattle, which, being bought by Joseph, was supported at the royal expense, and very likely returned to the people at the end of the famine, to enable them to resume their agricultural labors.”

CALVI�, "16.Give your cattle. It was a miserable spectacle, and one which might have softened hearts of iron, to see rich farmers, who previously had kept provision stored in their granaries for others, now begging food. Therefore, Joseph might be deemed cruel, because he does not give bread gratuitously to those who are poor and exhausted, but robs them of all their cattle, sheep, and asses. Seeing, however, that Joseph is transacting the business of another, I dare not charge his strictness

with cruelty. If, during the seven fruitful years, he had extorted corn by force from an unwilling people, he would now have acted tyrannically in seizing their flocks and herds. But seeing that they had been at liberty to lay up, in their private stores, what they had sold to the king, they now pay the just penalty of their negligence. Joseph also perceived that they were deprived of their possessions by a divine interposition, in order that the king alone might be enriched by the spoils of all. Besides, since it was lawful for him to offer corn for sale, it was also lawful for him to exchange it for cattle. Truly, the corn belonged to the king; why then should he not demand a price from the purchasers? But they were poor, and therefore it was but just to succor them in their want. Were this rule to prevail, the greater part of sales would be unlawful. For no one freely parts with what he possesses. Wherefore, if his valuation of the cattle was fair, I do not see what was deserving of reprehension in the conduct of Joseph; especially as he was not dealing with his own property, but had been appointed prefect over the corn, with this condition, that he should acquire gain, not for himself, but for the king. If any one should object that he ought at least to have exhorted the lying to content himself with the abundant pecuniary wealth which he had obtained; I answer, that Moses relates, by the way, but a few things out of many. Any one, therefore, may easily conjecture, that a business of such great consequence, was not transacted by Joseph, without the cognizance and judgment of the king. But what, if it appeared to the king’s counselors, an equitable arrangement, that the farmers should receive, in return for their cattle, food for the whole year? Lastly, seeing that we stand or fall by the judgment of God alone, it is not for us to condemn what his law has left undecided.

COKE, "Genesis 47:16. Joseph said, Give your cattle— There was certainly no injustice, as Chandler in his Vindication observes, in making the AEgyptians pay for the corn, which Joseph had bought with Pharaoh's money, and laid up with great care and expence: and in demanding their cattle, he had, most probably, a view to save them; for, as they had not corn for themselves, they could much less have it for their cattle; and therefore this was the only way to preserve the lives of both, and to prevent that waste of the corn which must have been made if they had had the keeping and feeding of the cattle themselves: and it is highly probable, that he returned them their cattle after the famine, when they were fixed again in their several habitations, otherwise it would have been hardly possible for them to support their families, and carry on their business.

ELLICOTT, "(16) Give your cattle.—As the people were in want of food, and their land incapable of cultivation as long as the �ile ceased to overflow, this was a merciful arrangement, by which the owners were delivered from a burden, and also a portion of the cattle saved for the time when they would be needed again for agricultural purposes. As the charge of so many cattle in time of dearth would be a very serious matter (1 Kings 18:5-6), we now see the reason why Pharaoh wished the ablest of Joseph’s brethren to be employed in the task; and probably while there was no food for them in the �ile Valley, there would still be grass in the alluvial soil of the delta, which men used to move about with cattle would be able to find.

17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys. And he brought them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock.

GILL, "And they brought their cattle unto Joseph,.... Which they might the more readily do, since there was scarce any grass to feed them with; and though some of them were creatures used for food, yet might be so lean and poor for want of grass, as not to be fit to eat; and besides, they could do better without flesh than without bread:

and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses; with which Egypt abounded, to which many places of Scripture have respect, Deu_17:16,

and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds; the sheep and the oxen; which shows that these creatures were bred and fed by them, and were, no doubt, slain, and used for food:

and for the asses; which were used for carrying burdens:

and he fed them with bread for all their cattle, for that year; which seems to be the sixth year of the famine: one would wonder what Joseph should do with all their cattle, where put them, and feed them, in such a time of drought; though it is probable the number was not exceeding large, since they only fetched one year's provision of bread.

ELLICOTT, "(17) Horses . . . flocks . . . herds . . . asses.—The mention of horses is a most important fact in settling the much-debated question as to the dynasty under which Joseph became governor of Egypt. When Abram went there, horses do not seem as yet to have been known (see �ote on Genesis 12:16), but oxen and asses were common, and the former indigenous in the country (Maspero, Histoire Ancienne, pp. 11, 12). The horse was introduced by the Hyksos, according to Lenormant, Les Prem. Civilisations, i., 306 ff.; Rawlin-son, Egypt, i., 74; and the first representation of one is drawing the war-chariot of the king who expelled them. The “flocks” are expressly said in the. Hebrew to be sheep. This, too, is important; for while goats were indigenous in Egypt, sheep do not appear in the most ancient

monuments, though they were introduced at an earlier date than horses.

TRAPP, "Genesis 47:17 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.

Ver. 17. And Joseph gave them bread in exchange,] An ancient and yet usual way of traffic, with savages and barbarians especially; as in Virginia, &c., where they usually change, as Glaueus did with Diomedes, χρυσεα χαλκειων. (a)

18 When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, “We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land.

CLARKE, "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.

GILL, "When the year was ended, they came unto him the second year,.... Which seems to be the seventh and last year of the years of famine; not the second year of the famine, as Jarchi, but the second year of their great distress, when having spent all their money they parted with their cattle; for it cannot be thought that they should be drained of their money and cattle too in one year:

and said unto him, we will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; both these were well known to

Joseph, and therefore cannot be the things which they say they would not hide: Musculus thinks it should be rendered in the past tense, "we have not hid"; this they told him the last year, that their money was gone, and he knew he had their cattle for their last year's provision: the sense seems to be this, that seeing their money was spent, and their cattle were in the hands of Joseph, they would not, and could not conceal from him what follows:

there is not enough left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies and our lands; and the one were starving and the other desolate.

K&D, "Gen_47:18-19

When that year had passed (ם??, as in Psa_102:28, to denote the termination of the year), they came again “the second year” (i.e., after the money was gone, not the second

of the seven years of famine) and said: “We cannot hide it from my lord (אדוני, a title similar to your majesty), but the money is all gone, and the cattle have come to my

lord; we have nothing left to offer to my lord but our bodies and our land.” אם is an 2י

intensified 2י following a negation (“but,” as in Gen_32:29, etc.), and is to be understood elliptically; lit., “for if,” sc., we would speak openly; not “that because,” for the causal

signification of אם is not established. ם? with אל is constructio praegnans: “completed to

my lord,” i.e., completely handed over to my lord. לפני is the same: “left before my נשBרlord,” i.e., for us to lay before, or offer to my lord. “Why should we die before thine eyes, we and our land! Buy us and our land for bread, that we may be, we and our land, servants (subject) to Pharaoh; and give seed, that we may live and not die, and the

land become not desolate.” In the first clause נמות is transferred per zeugma to the land;

in the last, the word שם? is used to describe the destruction of the land. The form שם? is

the same as קל? in Gen_16:4.

CALVI�, "18.They came to him the second year. Moses does not reckon the second year from the date of the famine, but from the time when the money had failed. But since they knew, from the oracle, that the termination of the dearth was drawing near, they desired not only that corn should be given them for food, but also for seed. Whence it appears that they had become wise too late, and had neglected the useful admonition of God, at the time when they ought to have made provision for the future. Moreover, when they declare that their money and cattle had failed, they do it, not for the purpose of expostulating with Joseph, as if they had been unjustly deprived of these things by him; but for the purpose of showing that the only thing remaining for them was to purchase food and seed at the price of their lands, and that they could not otherwise be preserved, unless Joseph would enter into this compact. For it would have been the part of impudence to offer no price or compensation. They begin by saying, that they had nothing at hand, and that, therefore, their lives would be lost, unless Joseph were willing to buy their lands; and in order to excite his compassion, they ask again, why he would suffer them to die, and their very land to perish? For this is the death of the earth, when the cultivation of it is neglected, and when, being reduced to a desert, it can bring forth

nothing more.

TRAPP, "Genesis 47:18 When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide [it] from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:

Ver. 18. We will not hide it from my lord.] Confess we our pitiful indigence also to God, and he will furnish us with food and seed. Say with learned Pomeran, Etiamsi non sum dignus, nihilo minus tamen sum indigens.

PETT, "Verses 18-20‘And when that year ended they came to him the second year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord how that our silver is all spent, and the herds of cattle are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands. Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land be not desolate.” So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for the Egyptians sold every man his field because the famine was severe on them, and the land became Pharaoh’s.’“And when that year ended they came to him the second year.” This is not the second year of the famine. We have already seen that Jacob and his family tribe have had sufficient silver to tide them through two years. This is ‘the second year’ after the one in which the silver had run out and the majority pledged their animals. It is thus well into the famine.

�ow the people pledge themselves and their land to Pharaoh. In one sense nothing changes. They still live on the land and they still serve Pharaoh and pay taxes. It is the conception that is different. There is a new sense in which they are no longer freeholders and they are no longer freemen, although the old social distinctions between men would not change. This especially affects the ‘nobility’ who have been jealous of their influence and independence but whose power is now crushed.

“Give us seed that the land be not desolate.” This may indicate attempts to maintain some kind of crops on the land. Some would certainly attempt to use what water there was to irrigate land and grow some kind of meagre crop. The �ile was not completely empty. Or it may signify that at this stage they see the end of the famine in sight. The former seems more likely. They are bravely trying to keep some form of normality on the land, some signs of life among the continuing deadness.

19 Why should we perish before your eyes—we

and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate.”

CLARKE, "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.

GILL, "Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land?.... Beholding their miserable condition, and not helping them; die they must unless they had bread to eat, and their land die also if they had not seed to sow; that is, would become desolate, as the Septuagint version renders it; so Ben Melech observes, that land which is desolate is as if it was dead, because it produces neither grass nor fruit, whereas when it does it looks lively and cheerful:

buy us and our land for bread; they were willing to sell themselves and their land too for bread to support their lives, nothing being dearer to a man than life:

and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh; both should be his; they would hold their land of him, and be tenants to him:

and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land may not be desolate; entirely so; some parts of it they could sow a little upon, as on the banks of the Nile, or perhaps that river might begin to overflow, or they had some hopes of it, especially from Joseph's prediction they knew this was the last year of famine, and therefore it was proper to sow the ground some time in this, that they might have a crop for the provision of the next year; and they had no seed to sow, and if they were not furnished with it, the famine must unavoidably continue, notwithstanding the flow of the Nile.

COKE, "Genesis 47:19. Wherefore shall we die—we, and our land— Land may be said, metaphorically, to die, when it lies uncultivated and desolate: this is agreeable, says Calmet, to the language of the poets, and of the best elastic writers. So Martial says, suburbanus ne moriatur ager.* Seneca, sata et vivere et mori dicimus.† See Job 14:7-8.

* That the land about the city may not die.

† We say that the corn-land either lives or dies.

Buy us and our land for bread— It is to be observed here, that this is the voluntary offer of the people, not the demand of Joseph. We observed in a former note, that the land was divided among the king, the priests, and the people: but this national calamity, as Bishop Warburton observes, made a great revolution in property, and brought the whole possessions of the people into the king's hands, which must needs make a prodigious accession of power to the crown. But Joseph, in whom the offices of a minister and patriot supported each other, and jointly concurred to the public service, prevented, for some time, the ill effects of this accession, by his farming out the new domain to the old proprietors on very easy conditions. We may well suppose this wise disposition to have continued till that new king arose who knew not Joseph, that is, who would obliterate his memory, as averse to his system of policy. He greatly affected despotic government; to support which, he established a standing militia, and endowed it with lands formerly the people's, who now became a kind of villains to this order.

And give us seed— This proves that the present was the last year of the famine. The AEgyptians, full of confidence in the predictions of Joseph, offered to sell themselves, and their land, to their king, that they might have seed to sow, in hopes of a crop the next year: for Joseph had told them there would be but seven years of famine; and possibly the �ile, the source of plenty, had begun to overflow the land as usual.

TRAPP, "Genesis 47:19 Wherefore shall 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, that the land be not desolate.

Ver. 19. Buy us and our land for bread.] It was their own desire, therefore no injury. �ay, it was charity in Joseph, in remitting their services, and taking only their lands: yea, liberality, in reserving the fifth part only to the king; when husbandmen usually till for half the increase. And this the Egyptians thankfully acknowledge, Genesis 47:25.

20 So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their

fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh’s,

GILL, "And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh,.... Not for himself, nor did he entail it on his posterity, but for Pharaoh, who became sole proprietor of it:

for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them; everyone that had a field sold it to buy bread for his family, so great was the famine; no mention is made of their houses, either because these went with their lands, or they were so mean that they were of little account, and would scarce bear any price; for as Diodorus Siculus (h) reports of the Egyptians, they were less careful of the structure of their houses, and exceeded all bounds in the magnificence of their sepulchres:

so the land became Pharaoh's; not only with respect to dominion and government, so it was before, but with respect to property; before, every man's field, and garden, and vineyard were his own, and he was in possession thereof for his own use, but now being sold, were Pharaoh's; and they held them of him, and paid a rent for them in a manner hereafter directed by a law.

K&D 20-21, "Gen_47:20-21Thus Joseph secured the possession of the whole land to Pharaoh by purchase, and

“the people he removed to cities, from one end of the land of Egypt to the other.” לערים,

not from one city to another, but “according to (= κατά) the cities;” so that he distributed the population of the whole land according to the cities in which the corn was housed, placing them partly in the cities themselves, and partly in the immediate neighbourhood.

CALVI�, "20.And Joseph bought all the land. Any one might suppose it to be the height of cruel and inexplicable avarice, that Joseph should take away from the miserable husband men, the very fields, by the produce of which they nourished the kingdom. But I have before showed, that unless every kind of purchase is to be condemned, there is no reason why Joseph should be blamed. If any one should say that he abused their penury; this alone would suffice for his excuse, that no wiles of his, no circumvention, no force, no threats, had reduced the Egyptians to this necessity. He transacted the king’s business with equal fidelity and industry; and fulfilled the duties of his office, without resorting to violent edicts. When the famine became urgent, it was lawful to expose wheat to sale, as well to the rich as to the poor: afterwards it was not less lawful to buy the cattle; and now, at last, why should it not be lawful to acquire the land for the king, at a just price? To this may

be added, that he extorted nothing, but entered into treaty with them, at their own request. I confess, indeed, that it is not right to take whatever may be offered without discrimination: for if severe necessity presses, then he who wishes, by all means, to escape it, will submit to hard conditions. Therefore, when any one thus invites us, to defraud him, we are not, by his necessities, rendered excusable. But I do not defend Joseph, on this sole ground, that the Egyptians voluntarily offered him their lands, as men who were ready to purchase life, at any price; but I say, this ought also to be considered, that he acted with equity, even though he left them nothing. The terms would have been more severe, if they themselves had been consigned to perpetual slavery; but he now concedes to them personal liberty, and only covenants for their fields, which, perhaps, the greater part of the people had bought from the poor. If he had stripped of their clothing those whom he was feeding with corn, this would have been to put them indirectly and slowly to death. For what difference does it make, whether I compel a man to die by hunger or by cold? But Joseph so succors the Egyptians, that in future they should be free, and should be able to obtain a moderate subsistence by their labor. For though they might have to change their abode, yet they are all made stewards of the king: and Joseph restores to them, not only the lands, but the implements which he had bought. Whence it appears that he had used what clemency he was able, in order to relieve them. Meanwhile, let those who are too intent on wealth beware lest they should falsely employ Joseph’s example as a pretext: because it is certain that all contracts, which are not formed according to the rule of charity, are vicious in the sight of God; and that we ought, according to that equity which is inwardly dictated to us by a secret instinct of nature, so to act towards others, as we wish to be dealt with ourselves.

COFFMA�, "Verses 20-26"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 Pharaoh's. 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. 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. 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. 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 for your little ones. And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants. 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 Pharaoh's."

There is no end of debate among scholars concerning this handling of a severe social welfare situation, but we shall not enter into it. We may not even be sure that Joseph agreed with all this, for he was not king; he was deputy. The distinction that Pharaoh "gave to" the priests, whereas Joseph sold to others could indicate Joseph's disagreement with that policy. Certainly, the status of the population as tenants with

a 20 percent rental going to Pharaoh was not a harsh arrangement. Our own U. S. government takes about 20 percent of our income. In Turkey during this century, and in Persia, "Peasants must hand over one-half to three-fourths of their production!"[14] Evidently, the people agreed with it; and it was continued until the times of Moses as the standard arrangement.

ELLICOTT, "Joseph has been accused of reducing a free people to slavery by his policy. Undoubtedly he did vastly increase the royal power; but from what we read of the vassalage under which the Egyptians lived to a multitude of petty sovereigns, and also to their wives, their priests, and their embalmers, an increase in the power of the king, so as to make it predominant, would be to their advantage. The statement made here that the land in Egypt belonged entirely to the king is confirmed by Herodotus and other Greek authorities. The same is the case in India at this day; only, instead of the rent being a fifth part of the produce, it is in India a fixed annual sum, which is settled at comparatively distant intervals. In Burmah the agriculturists hold their land directly from the Crown.

TRAPP, "Genesis 47:20 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.

Ver. 20. So the land became Pharaoh’s.] Regi acquisivit imperium despoticum. This the Egyptians would never have yielded unto, but that stark hunger drove the wolf out of the wood, as the proverb is. Philo Judaeus reports of a heathenish people who in their wars used only this expression, to put spirit into their soldiers; estote viri, libertas agitur. The contention was hot in this land between prince and people for fourscore years together, about liberty and property; and ceased not till the great charter, made to keep the beam right between sovereignty and subjection, was in the maturity of a judicial prince, Edward I, freely ratified. (a)

21 and Joseph reduced the people to servitude,[c] from one end of Egypt to the other.

CLARKE, "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.

GILL, "And as for the people, he removed them,.... From the places where they dwelt, that it might appear they had no more property there, and might forget it, and be more willing to pay rent elsewhere; and their posterity hereafter could have no notion of its being theirs, or plead prescription; and besides, by such a removal and separation of the inhabitants of cities, some to one place, and some to another, sedition and mutiny might be prevented: he had them

to cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt, even unto the other end thereof; according to the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem, those that dwelt in provinces, or in country towns and villages, he removed to cities, and those that dwelt in cities he removed into provinces, and placed them at the utmost distance from their former habitations, for the reasons before given; and the above Targums suggest another reason, to teach the Egyptians not to reproach the Israelites with being exiles and strangers, when they were all of them removed from their native places, and were strangers, where they were.

HE�RY, "For their persons, he removed them to cities, Gen_47:21. He transplanted them, to show Pharaoh's sovereign power over them, and that they might, in time, forget their titles to their lands, and be the more easily reconciled to their new condition of servitude. The Jewish writers say, “He removed them thus from their former habitations because they reproached his brethren as strangers, to silence which reproach they were all made, in effect, strangers.” See what changes a little time may make with a people, and how soon God can empty those from vessel to vessel who had settled upon their lees. How hard soever this seems to have been upon them, they themselves were at this time sensible of it as a very great kindness, and were thankful they were not worse used: Thou hast saved our lives, Gen_47:25. Note, There is good reason that the Saviour of our lives should be the Master of our lives. “Thou hast saved us; do what thou wilt with us.”

IV. The reservation he made in favour of the priests. They were maintained on free cost, so that they needed not to sell their lands, Gen_47:22. All people will thus walk in the name of their God; they will be kind to those that attend the public service of their God, and that minister to them in holy things; and we should, in like manner, honour our God, by esteeming his ministers highly in love for their work's sake.

JAMIESO�,"as for the people, he removed them to cities— obviously for the convenience of the country people, who were doing nothing, to the cities where the corn stores were situated.

CALVI�, "21.And as for the people, he removed them to cities. This removal was, indeed, severe; but if we reflect how much better it was to depart to another place;

in order that they might be free cultivators of the land, than to be attached to the soil, and employed as slaves in servile work; no one will deny that this was a tolerable, and even a humane exercise of authority. Had each person cultivated his field, as he had been accustomed to do, the exaction of tribute would have seemed to be grievous. Joseph, therefore, contrived a middle course, which might mitigate the new and unwonted burden, by assigning new lands to each, with a tribute attached to them. The passage may, however, be differently expounded; namely, that Joseph caused all the farmers to go to the cities to receive the provisions, and to settle their public accounts. If this sense is approved, the fact that Egypt was divided into provinces, afterwards called nomes, may probably hence have received its origin. This removing from place to place would, however, have been alike injurious to the king and to the people at large, because they would not be able to make their skill and practice applicable to new situations. Yet, since the matter is not of great moment, and the signification of the word is ambiguous, I leave the question undecided.

BE�SO�, "Genesis 47:21. He removed them, &c. — He transplanted them, to show Pharaoh’s sovereign power over them, and that they might, in time, forget their titles to their lands, and be the more easily reconciled to their new condition of servitude. How hard soever this seems to have been upon them, they themselves were sensible of it as a great kindness, and were thankful they were not worse used.

COKE, "Genesis 47:21. As for the people, he removed them to cities— Chandler, in his Vindication, observes well, "that in ch. Genesis 41:48. we are told, that Joseph gathered up the food, and laid it up in the cities; the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same: so that, instead of suffering the people to live in the country, where it would have been difficult to have taken due care of them, he removed them into the cities where the corn was laid up, for the better conveniency of feeding them; an act of the greatest prudence, compassion, and generosity!" which account of Joseph's conduct is so natural, and so consistent with the rest of his character, that it renders equally vain the objections urged against him for thus transplanting the people, and the political and far-fetched reasons urged by many writers for his doing so. The text does not say, nor give the least hint to suppose, that he removed families from one city to another, and transplanted them to places most remote from their former possessions, which would have bred infinite confusion, been attended with great difficulties, and have made Joseph universally detested. We only read that he removed the people TO CITIES, from one end of the borders of AEgypt, even to the other end thereof, i.e.. very plainly, did cause the people throughout all the land of AEgypt to leave the country, and come to the cities where the corn was deposited, where they might more easily be fed, and when their absence from the country would be of no detriment, as tillage was at a stand. See Delaney's Revelation Examined, vol. 3: p. 227.

ELLICOTT, "(21) He removed them to cities.—Joseph’s object in this measure was most merciful. As the corn was stored up in the cities, the people would be sure of

nourishment only if they were in the immediate neighbourhood of the food. As a consequence, possibly, of Joseph’s policy, the number of cities in the Valley of the �ile became so enormous that Herodotus computes them at 20,000. Thus the people would not dwell at any distance from their lands, while it would be impossible for them to reside actually on their plots of ground, as these every year are overflowed by the �ile.

TRAPP, "Genesis 47:21 And as for the people, he removed them to cities from [one] end of the borders of Egypt even to the [other] end thereof.

Ver. 21. And as for the people, he removed them.] So to alter tim propriety of their land, and to settle it upon Pharaoh; who with his own money had bought it. See his prudence and policy for his lord and master. So Daniel, though sick, did the king’s business with all his might. These were, as the philosopher saith, πεπραγωνοι ολοκληροι; few such now-a-days. Great need we have all to flee to Christ who "dwells with prudence"; [Proverbs 8:12] as Agur did, when he found his own foolishness. It was he that made Aholiab wise-hearted.

PETT, "Verse 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 of it.’This refers to a largish part of the people and was probably for administrative convenience. �ot all would be taken away from the land. But the task of feeding the people was onerous and it would be easier if they were all in one place. Once the crisis was over they could move back. Previously they may have been unwilling to leave their land, but now that it belongs to Pharaoh things are different. The whole scenario is of a gradually worsening situation.

The LXX has here ‘he made slaves of them.’ This involves changing he‘evir le‘arim to he‘evid la‘avadim and assumes the d was later read as an r (they are very similar in Hebrew) and that the v dropped out, but this may have been due to failure to understand why he gathered them in cities. But it may be that LXX is witness to an early reading.

“Made slaves” is an emotive term capable of many meanings. If the thought is that they ceased to be ‘freemen’ this has already been stated. But in one sense the people of Egypt were always seen as ‘slaves of Pharaoh’ for he was a god. It is true that there would be a sense of a loss of independence but their overall condition has not worsened. They simply have to recognise their responsibility to pay ‘the fifth’ (see later). There is no suggestion that they are bitter about it. Rather they are grateful and look on Joseph as their ‘saviour’. Thus the reading may be correct. But there is much to be said for retaining the ‘harder reading’.

22 However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

CLARKE, "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.

GILL, "Only the land of the priests bought he not,.... Not from any special affection for them, or any superstitious veneration of them, which can never be thought of so good a man, but for a reason following, which shows they had no need to sell them:

for the priests had a portion assigned them, by Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them; they had a certain allowance by the day of provision granted them, on which they lived; so Herodotus says (i) of the priests of Egypt, that they spend nothing of their own, but sacred food is provided for them, and great plenty of the flesh of geese and oxen is given daily to everyone of them. And this was a delicate affair, which Joseph could not intermeddle with, but in prudence must leave it as he found it, and do as had been used to be done; this depending on the will and pleasure of Pharaoh, if not upon the constitution of the land, as it seems to be from Diodorus Siculus (k), who divides Egypt into three parts; and the first part he assigns to the priests, who, according to him, were maintained out of their own revenues. Some understand this of "princes" (l), the word sometimes being used of them, and interpret it of the officers and courtiers of Pharaoh, his nobles, that dwelt in his palace, and had their portion of food from him; but the former sense seems best:

wherefore they sold not their lands; they were not obliged to it, having provision from the king's table, or by his appointment.

JAMIESO�,"Only the land of the priests bought he not— These lands were inalienable, being endowments by which the temples were supported. The priests for

themselves received an annual allowance of provision from the state, and it would evidently have been the height of cruelty to withhold that allowance when their lands were incapable of being tilled.

K&D, "Gen_47:22

The lands of the priests Joseph did not buy, “for the priests had an allowance from Pharaoh, and ate their allowance, which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they sold not

their lands.” חק a fixed allowance of food, as in Pro_30:8; Eze_16:27. This allowance was granted by Pharaoh probably only during the years of famine; in any case it was an arrangement which ceased when the possessions of the priests sufficed for their need, since, according to Diod. Sic. i. 73, the priests provided the sacrifices and the support of both themselves and their servants from the revenue of their lands; and with this Herodotus also agrees (2, 37).

CALVI�, "22.Only the land of the priests. The priests were exempted from the common law, because the king granted them a maintenance. It is, indeed, doubtful, whether this was a supply for their present necessity, or whether he was accustomed to nourish them at his own expense. But seeing that Moses makes mention of their lands, I rattler incline to the conjecture, that, whereas they had before been rich, and this dearth had deprived them of their income, the king conferred this privilege upon them; and hence it arose that their lands remained unto them free. (187) The ancient historians, however, injudiciously invent many fables concerning the state of that land. I know not whether the statement that the farmers, content with small wages, sow and reap for the king and the priests, is to be traced to this regulation of Joseph or not. But, passing by these things, it is more to the purpose to observe, what Moses wished distinctly to testify; namely, that a heathen king paid particular attention to Divine worship, in supporting the priests gratuitously, for the purpose of sparing their lands and their property. Truly this is placed before our eyes, as a mirror, in which we may discern that a sentiment of piety which they cannot wholly efface, is implanted in the minds of men. It was the part of foolish, as well as of wicked superstition, that Pharaoh nourished such priests as these, who infatuated the people by their impostures: yet this was, in itself, a design worthy of commendation, that he did not suffer the worship of God to fall into decay; which, in a short time, must have happened, if the priests had perished in the famine. Whence we infer how sedulously we ought to be on our guard, that we undertake nothing with an indiscreet zeal; because nothing is more easy, in so great a corruption of human nature, than for religion to degenerate into frivolous trifles. �evertheless, because this inconsiderate devotion (as it may be called) flowed from a right principle, what should be the conduct of our princes, who desire to be deemed Christians? If Pharaoh was so solicitous about his priests, that he nourished them to his own destruction, and that of his whole kingdom, in order that he might not be guilty of impiety against false gods; what sacrilege is it, in Christian princes, that the lawful and sincere ministers of holy things should be neglected, whose work they know to be approved by God, and salutary to themselves? But it may be asked,

whether it was lawful for holy Joseph to undertake this office, for by so doing, he employed his labor in cherishing impious superstitions? But though I can readily grant that in such great, and arduous, and manifold offices of trust, it was easy for him to slide into various faults; yet I dare not absolutely condemn this act; nor can I, however, deny that he may have erred, in not resisting these superstitions with sufficient boldness. But since he was required by no law, to destroy the priests by hunger, and was not altogether allowed to dispense the king’s corn at his own pleasure; if the king wished that food should be gratuitously supplied to the priests, he was no more at liberty to deny it to them than to the nobles at court. Therefore, though he did not willingly take charge of such dependents, yet when the king imposed the duty upon him, he could not refuse it, though he knew them to be unworthy to be fed on the dirt of oxen.

COKE, "Genesis 47:22. Only the land of the priests bought he not— Lord Shaftesbury has from this circumstance taken occasion to observe, in his usual way, "to what height of power the established priesthood was arrived, since the crown offered not to meddle with the church-lands: and that, in this great revolution, nothing was attempted, so much as by way of purchase or exchange, in prejudice of this landed clergy; the prime minister himself having joined his interest with theirs, and entered, by marriage, into this alliance." But his lordship seems to have forgotten, 1st, That the priesthood, in those days, was confined to the heads of families who were persons of the highest rank and power, almost equal to the king, consulted upon all matters of consequence, and who, upon a vacancy, were often raised to the throne. 2nd, That in consequence of their birth and dignity, and not of their priesthood, this great privilege was founded long before Joseph's time, and not by his indulgence and partiality to them. 3rdly, That out of their estates they defrayed all the charges of the sacrifices, ornaments, utensils, and other religious ceremonies, which were here performed with the highest and most costly splendor. And, 4thly, That they were the king's chief assistant counsellors, ministers, recorders, &c. as well as the professors and teachers of all arts and sciences, and the judges, chief magistrates, and officers of the kingdom; whose estates, therefore, how great soever we suppose them, could hardly exceed the expence necessary to support them in all those offices. So that it could not but have been unjust, as well as imprudent and dangerous, for the king, or his prime minister, to have made such an attempt to have alienated them. Univ. Hist.

ELLICOTT, "(22) The priests had a portion assigned to them of Pharaoh.—Herodotus (ii. 37) mentions that it was still the custom in Egypt for the priests to have a daily allowance of’ cooked food. Very probably this usage began in Joseph’s time; but it is not here ascribed to him, but to the king himself. Being thus supplied with food, they did not sell their lands; and with this, again, the Greek accounts tally, as they represent the king, the priests, and the warriors as the only landholders in Egypt. The last class, however, held their land from the king.

TRAPP, "Genesis 47:22 Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion [assigned them] of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh

gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands.

Ver. 22. Only the land of the priests bought he not.] Ministers’ maintenance, we see, is of the law of nature. Jezebel provided for her priests; Micah for his Levite. "Do ye not know," saith that great apostle, "that they which minister about holy things, live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar, are partakers with the altar?" [1 Corinthians 9:13] Where, by "holy things," St Ambrose understands the law of the Gentiles by "the altar," the law of the Jews. Before them both, Melchizedek, δεδεκατωκε, tithed Abraham; by the same right, whereby he blessed him. [Hebrews 7:6] As after them, the apostle rightly infers, "Even so hath the Lord ordained, that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel." [1 Corinthians 9:14] But where hath the Lord ordained it? "The workman is worthy of his meat," saith Matthew; [Matthew 10:10] "of his hire," saith Luke: [Luke 10:7] of both, no doubt; as the labourers in harvest, who have better fare provided than ordinary, and larger wages. See �ehemiah’s zeal for church maintenance, �ehemiah 13:10; �ehemiah 13:14. He knew well that a scant offering makes a cold altar; and that, ad tenuitatem beneficiorum necessario sequitur ignorantia sacerdotum; as in Ireland, where, in former time, some of the bishops had no more revenue than the pasture of two milk cows, &c. In the whole province of Connaught the stipend of the incumbent is not above forty shillings; in some places but sixteen shillings. (a) Melancthon (b) complains of his Germany, that the ministers for most part were ready to say with him in Plautus: Ego non servio libenter: herus meus me non habet libenter, tamen utitur me ut lippls oculis. Such use Micah made of his Levite; more fit to have made a Gibeonite, to cleave wood, than to divide the word; and yet he maintained him; and doubted not, thereupon, to promise himself God’s blessing. He is a niggard to himself, that scants his beneficence to a prophet; [Matthew 10:41] whose very cold water shall not go unrewarded. Many rich refuse to give anything to the minister’s maintenance; (c) because they cannot be tithed. But "be not deceived; God is not mocked," saith the apostle in this very case. "Let him that is taught in the word, communicate unto him that teacheth in all his goods." [Galatians 6:6-7] Such tribes as had more cities in their inheritance were to part with more to the priests: such as had fewer, with less. [�umbers 35:8] The equity of which proportion is still in force. The Jews, (d) at this day, though not in their own country, nor having a Levitical priesthood, yet those who will be reputed religious among them do distribute, in lieu of tithes, the tenth of their increase unto the poor: being persuaded that God doth bless their increase the more; according to that proverb of theirs, Tithe and be rich. But how is both the word and the world now altered among us? All is thought by the most to be well saved that is kept from the minister; whom to deceive is held neither sin nor pity. Fisco potius apud multos consulitur quam Christo, ac tonsioni potius gregis quam attentioni; as one complaineth, (e) Covetous patrons care not to sauce their meat with the blood of souls; while by them, et succus pecori, lac et subducitur agnis, (f) Besides, they bestow their benefices, non ubi optima, sed ubi quaestuosissime; being herein worse than these Egyptians, shall I say? nay, than the traitor Judas. He sold the head, they the members: he the shepherd, they the sheep; he but the body, they the souls; like that Romish strumpet, [Revelation 18:13] of whom they have learned it. But let them look to it, lest they ruin their wages of wickedness, with Judas. In the

meanwhile, let them give us a just commentary upon that in Proverbs 20:25, and tell us who hath authority to take that, from a church, shall I say? nay, from God, that hath been once given him? We can tell them a sad story, of five servants of Cardinal Wolsey’s, employed by him, in tot piorum hominum donariis intervertendis, saith the annalist, (g) and came all to fearful ends. Two of them disagreed; and, challenging the field, one killed the other, and was hanged for it. A third drowned himself in a well. The fourth, from great riches, fell to extreme beggary and was starved with hunger. The last, one Dr Alan, being Archbishop of Dublin, was there cruelly murdered by his enemies. �ow, if divine justice so severely and exemplarily pursued and punished these that converted those abused goods of the Church to better uses without question, though they looked not at that, but at the satisfying of their own greedy lusts, what will be the end of such sacrilegious persons as enrich themselves with that which should be their minister’s maintenance? Sacrum, sacrove commendatum qui clepserit rapseritque, parricida esto, said the Roman law. (h) It is not only sacrilege, but parricide, to rob the Church.

WHEDO�, "22. Land of the priests bought he not — Pharaoh’s reverence for the ministers of religion would not allow an alienation of their land from them.

Their portion which Pharaoh gave them — During the years of famine he ordered them to be supplied from the public treasury, without money and without price. This is represented as Pharaoh’s act rather than Joseph’s. The latter, of course, would not interfere. He had married the daughter of one of the priests. But the sacred writer clearly intimates that the reverence shown to the Egyptian priesthood by this measure was for Pharaoh’s sake, not for his own.

PETT, "Verse 22‘Only the land of the priests he did not buy. For the priests had a portion from Pharaoh and ate their portion which Pharaoh gave them, and for that reason they did not sell their land.’The priests were powerful and influential. Furthermore they were provided with their food by Pharaoh. Thus they did not need to sell their land and remained semi-independent. We know that in the later so-called �ew Kingdom this was so. The extensive Temple lands were not formally included in Pharaoh’s right of possession. This is further support for the view that this was not under the Hyksos. They would not have given such benefits to the priests who were opposed to them, the priests of Re and Atum.

23 Joseph said to the people, “�ow that I have

bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so you can plant the ground.

CLARKE, "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 patrimony independently of both. The land of Rameses or Goshen appears to have been the king’s land, Gen_47:11. The priests had their lands, which they did not sell to Joseph, Gen_47:22, Gen_47:26; and that the people had lands independent of the crown, is evident from the purchases Joseph made, Gen_47:19, Gen_47:20; 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 crown an ample revenue, though he restored the lands, by obliging each to pay one fifth of the product to the king, Gen_47:24. 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, Gen_47:19.

Diodorus Siculus, lib. i., gives the same account of the ancient constitution of Egypt. “The land,” says he, “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 net appear that any improper use was made of this, as in much later times we find it still a comparatively limited monarchy.

GILL, "Then Joseph said unto the people,.... After he had bought their land, and before the removal of them to distant parts:

behold, I have bought you this day, and your land, for Pharaoh: which he observes to them, that they might take notice of it, and confirm it, or object if they had

anything to say to the contrary:

lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land: by which it should seem that they were not removed from the spot where they lived, but retained their own land under Pharaoh, and had seed given them to sow it with, which may seem contrary to Gen_47:21; wherefore that must be understood of a purpose and proposal to remove them, and not that it was actually done; or, as Musculus gives the sense, Joseph by a public edict called all the people from the extreme parts of Egypt to the cities nearest to them, and there proclaimed the subjection of them, and their lands to Pharaoh, but continued them to them as tenants of his; unless it should be said, that in those distant parts to which they were sent, land was put into their hands to till and manure for the king, and have seed given them to sow it with; but this seems to be said to them at the same time the bargain was made.

JAMIESO�,"Joseph said, Behold, etc.— The lands being sold to the government (Gen_47:19, Gen_47:20), seed would be distributed for the first crop after the famine; and the people would occupy them as tenants-at-will on the payment of a produce rent, almost the same rule as obtains in Egypt in the present day.

CALVI�, "23.Then Joseph said unto the people. Here Moses describes the singular humanity of Joseph, which, as it then repressed all complaints, so, at this time, it justly dispels and refutes the calumnies with which he is assailed. The men, who were entirely destitute, and, in a sense, exiles, he reinstates in their possessions, on the most equitable condition, that they should pay a fifth part of the produce to the king. It is well known that formerly, in various places, kings have demanded by law the payment of tenths; but that, in the time of war, they doubled this tax. Therefore, what injury, can we say, was done to the Egyptians, when Joseph burdened the land, bought for the king, with a fifth part of its income; especially seeing that country is so much richer than others, that with less labor than elsewhere, it brings forth fruit for the maintenance of its cultivators? Should any one object that the king would have acted more frankly had he taken the fifth part of the land; the answer is obvious, that this was useful not only as an example, but also, for the purpose of quieting the people, by shutting the mouths of the captious. And certainly this indirect method, by which Joseph introduced the tax of a fifth part, had no other object than that of inducing the Egyptians to cultivate their lands with more alacrity, when they were convinced that, by such a compact, they were treated with clemency. And to this effect was their confession, which is recorded by Moses, expressed. For, first, they acknowledge that they owe their lives to him; secondly, they do not refuse to be the servants of the king. Whence we gather, that the holy man so conducted himself between the two parties, as greatly to enrich the king, without oppressing the people by tyranny. And I wish that all governors would practice this moderation, that they would only so far study the advantage of kings, as could be done without injury to the people. There is a celebrated saying of Tiberius Caesar, which savored little of tyranny, though he appears to have been a sanguinary and insatiable tyrant, that it is the part of a shepherd to shear the flock, but not to tear off the skin. At this day, however, kings do not believe that they rule

freely, unless they not only flay their subjects, but entirely devour them. For they do not generally invest any with authority, except those who are sworn to the practice of slaughter. So much the more does the clemency of Joseph deserve praise, who so administered the affairs of Egypt, as to render the immense gains of the king compatible with a tolerable condition of the people.

COKE, "Genesis 47:23-25. Then Joseph said, &c.— These three verses confirm all that we have said of the wisdom and humanity of Joseph. A wise minister of state, but, at the same time, generous, tender, and compassionate, he acquired for his king all that his subjects possessed; yet, instead of rigorously insisting upon the bargain they had made, he returns them their estates, and only lays a tax upon them for the better support of his prince's crown and government, at the rate of four shillings in the pound, or a fifth part; which he found by trial, from what was taken up in the seven years of plenty, AEgypt could well spare; a favour, which we see the people acknowledge with the utmost gratitude, confessing, that he had been the very saviour of their lives. Thou hast saved our lives; let us find grace in the sight of my lord; we thankfully accept the generous grant, and we will be Pharaoh's servants, i.e.. hold our lands of him, and pay him the fifth part of the produce: which words of the people evidently prove their high satisfaction with Joseph, and sufficiently exculpate him from any of that blame wherewith modern infidelity has laboured to blacken his reputation.

ELLICOTT, "(23) Lo, here is seed for you.—As Joseph would give them seed wherewith to sow their fields only when the famine was nearly over, these arrangements seem to have been completed shortly before the end of the seventh year; and then, with seed it would be necessary also to supply them with oxen to plough the soil, and swine wherewith to trample in the seed (Rawlinson, Egypt, i. 76). A fifth part of the produce would be a very moderate rent, especially as there were no rates or taxes to be paid. The whole expenses of the State had to be defrayed from this rent.

�ISBET, "‘YE ARE BOUGHT WITH A PRICE’‘Behold I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh.’Genesis 47:23The R.V. translates the song of the elders thus: ‘Thou wast slain, and didst purchase unto God with thy blood, men of every kindred’ (Revelation 5:9); but the Greek word might be rendered, ‘Thou didst buy for God.’ It is the same word as is used in 2 Peter 2:1, ‘denying the Lord that bought them.’ ‘Ye are not your own,’ says the Apostle Paul, ‘for ye were bought with a price.’

I. It was a great stroke of statesmanship, which vastly added to the stability of Pharaoh’s throne, when all Egypt became his, and the very lives of the people. It must have been little short of a revolution, introducing conditions like those which obtained in England in the old feudal times. But how great the revolution which happens in a man’s life, when he realises that by the death of the Cross Jesus purchased us, all we are, and all we stand for, to be for God! We were bought for

God.

II. When once we realise this, we are set free as by a great deliverance. We are free of all men, because we are the bond-slaves of God. We cry with Paul: ‘Henceforth let no man trouble me, for I bear branded on my body the marks of Jesus’ (Galatians 6:17, r.v.). We see that time, talents, money, position, are all His purchased acreage, which we must cultivate for our Master; so that the revenue of the crops may be made over to Him who owns all. Food, sleep, recreation, are attended to, not as ends in themselves, but as the proper care due to that purchased possession which we are expected to preserve on Christ’s behalf (Ephesians 1:14).

PETT, "Verse 23‘Then Joseph said, “Behold I have bought you this day, and your land, for Pharaoh. Look here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land, and it shall be that at the ingatherings you shall give one fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food and for those of your households and for food for your little ones.” ’The famine is now approaching its end and Joseph declares their new position. From now on they are debtors to Pharaoh for one fifth of their produce, and on these terms he provides them with seed for sowing. This is not onerous. It may well be that they had already been paying this amount in taxes. And to receive seed at the end of a famine was luxury indeed. This has ever been the problem of a famine, that the seed has been consumed and little is left for sowing.

“This day.” This clearly is not intended to mean that the transaction from start to finish took place on that day. These transactions took place over fairly long periods. ‘This day’ refers to the end position. He is really saying, ‘this day I declare to you that ---’ and from this day they must fulfil the responsibility of the fifth.

We can compare with this how later Israel would have to give one tenth to Yahweh as well as many sacrifices and offerings. One fifth is a typically Egyptian proportion.

K&D 23-27, "Gen_47:23-27Then Joseph said to the people: “Behold I have bought you this day and your land for

Pharaoh; there have ye (הא only found in Eze_16:43 and Dan_2:43) seed, and sow the

land; and of the produce ye shall give the fifth for Pharaoh, and four parts (ידת, as in Gen_43:34) shall belong to you for seed, and for the support of yourselves, your families and children.” The people agreed to this; and the writer adds (Gen_47:26), it became a law, in existence to this day (his own time), “with regard to the land of Egypt for Pharaoh with reference to the fifth,” i.e., that the fifth of the produce of the land should be paid to Pharaoh.

Profane writers have given at least an indirect support to the reality of this political reform of Joseph's. Herodotus, for example (2, 109), states that king Sesostris divided the land among the Egyptians, giving every one a square piece of the same size as his

hereditary possession (κλGρον), and derived his own revenue from a yearly tax upon them. Diod. Sic. (1, 73), again, says that all the land in Egypt belonged either to the priests, to the king, or to the warriors; and Strabo (xvii. p. 787), that the farmers and traders held rateable land, so that the peasants were not landowners. On the monuments, too, the kings, priests, and warriors only are represented as having landed property (cf. Wilkinson, Manners and Customs, i. 263). The biblical account says nothing about the exemption of the warriors from taxation and their possession of land, for that was a later arrangement. According to Herod. 2, 168, every warrior had received

from former kings, as an honourable payment, twelve choice fields (Jρουραι) free from taxation, but they were taken away by the Hephaesto-priest Sethos, a contemporary of Hezekiah, when he ascended the throne (Herod. 2, 141). But when Herodotus and

Diodorus Sic. attribute to Sesostris the division of the land into 36 νοµοί, and the letting of these for a yearly payment; these comparatively recent accounts simply transfer the arrangement, which was actually made by Joseph, to a half-mythical king, to whom the later legends ascribed all the greater deeds and more important measures of the early Pharaohs. And so far as Joseph's arrangement itself was concerned, not only had he the good of the people and the interests of the king in view, but the people themselves accepted it as a favour, inasmuch as in a land where the produce was regularly thirty-fold, the cession of a fifth could not be an oppressive burden. And it is probable that Joseph not only turned the temporary distress to account by raising the king into the position of sole possessor of the land, with the exception of that of the priests, and bringing the people into a condition of feudal dependence upon him, but had also a still more comprehensive object in view; viz., to secure the population against the danger of starvation in case the crops should fail at any future time, not only by dividing the arable land in equal proportions among the people generally, but, as has been conjectured, by laying the foundation for a system of cultivation regulated by laws and watched over by the state, and possibly also by commencing a system of artificial irrigation by means of canals, for the purpose of conveying the fertilizing water of the Nile as uniformly as possible to all parts of the land. (An explanation of this system is given by Hengstenberg in his Dissertations, from the Correspondance d'Orient par Michaud, etc.) To mention either these or any other plans of a similar kind, did not come within the scope of the book of Genesis, which restricts itself, in accordance with its purely religious intention, to a description of the way in which, during the years of famine, Joseph proved himself to both the king and people of Egypt to be the true support of the land, so that in him Israel already became a saviour of the Gentiles. The measures taken by Joseph are thus circumstantially described, partly because the relation into which the Egyptians were brought to their visible king bore a typical resemblance to the relation in which the Israelites were placed by the Mosaic constitution to Jehovah, their God-King, since they also had to give a double tenth, i.e., the fifth of the produce of their lands, and were in reality only farmers of the soil which Jehovah had given them in Canaan for a possession, so that they could not part with their hereditary possessions in perpetuity (Lev_25:23); and partly also because Joseph's conduct exhibited in type how God entrusts His servants with the good things of this earth, in order that they may use them not only for the preservation of the lives of individuals and nations, but also for the promotion of the purposes of His kingdom. For, as is stated in conclusion in Gen_47:27, not only did Joseph preserve the lives of the Egyptians, for which they expressed their acknowledgements (Gen_47:25), but under his administration the house of Israel was able, without suffering any privations, or being brought into a relation of dependence

towards Pharaoh, to dwell in the land of Goshen, to establish itself there (נאחז as in Gen_

34:10), and to become fruitful and multiply.

24 But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children.”

CLARKE,"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.

GILL, "And it shall come to pass, in the increase,.... When the land shall produce an increase, and it shall be gathered in:

that you shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh; a fifth part of the increase:

and four parts shall be your own; for the following uses, one part

for seed of the field: to sow again with for the next year: a second part

for your food; for food for themselves: a third part

for them of your household; their servants and maids: and the fourth part

for food for your little ones; for their children, be they young or old; or however four parts of five he proposed they should have for their own use, and for the maintenance of their families, which was a kind and generous proposal, when all might have been demanded, and they and theirs treated as slaves.

25 “You have saved our lives,” they said. “May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh.”

GILL, "And they said, thou hast saved our lives,.... Preserved them from death through famine, by laying up stores of corn, which he had sold out to them for their money, cattle, and land, or otherwise they must have perished, they and theirs, and this favour they thankfully acknowledge:

let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants; signifying, that they esteemed it a great favour to be so on the foot of the bargain made with them, and they desired a continuance in it.

ELLICOTT, "(25) Thou hast saved our lives.—The people were more than satisfied with Joseph’s regulations; and if he had made them dependent upon the Pharaoh, apparently he had broken the yoke of the smaller lords, the hereditary princes of the districts into which Egypt was parcelled out; and they were more likely to be well-treated by the ruler of the whole land than by men of inferior rank. On these hereditary principalities at the period of the twelfth dynasty, see Maspero, Hist. Anc, p. 121.

TRAPP, "Genesis 47:25 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.

Ver. 25. Let us find grace.] That is, Do us the favour to intercede for us to Pharaoh, that we may be his perpetual farmers, and hold of him. It seems that Pharaoh was no proper name, but common to the kings of Egypt; as Caesar, to the emperors of Rome; a title of honour, as His Majesty amongst us. Otherwise these poor people had been too bold with his name.

PETT, "Verse 25‘And they said, “You have saved our lives. Let us find favour in the eyes of my lord and we will be servants to Pharaoh.” ’The people are profoundly grateful. They do not look on Joseph’s measures as harsh. They rather think of him as the one who has delivered them from disaster. He has well served Pharaoh. And in their gratitude they pledge themselves anew to the service of Pharaoh.

We must remember that they still have their lands, they still have their cattle, they still have their social standings, only they are in pledge to Pharaoh. It is only the most influential who are really affected for they have lost something of their independence. And even they are grateful to have survived the famine.

26 So Joseph established it as a law concerning land in Egypt—still in force today—that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests that did not become Pharaoh’s.

CLARKE, "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 judicious 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 to our view as an unerring prophet of God. He was an honored 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 at Gen_50:26(note).

GILL, "And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day,.... With the consent of Pharaoh, his nobles, and all the people of the land, who readily came into it; and so it became, a fundamental law of their constitution, and which continued to the times of Moses, the writer of this history:

that Pharaoh should have the fifth part; that is, of the increase the whole land of Egypt produced:

except the land of the priests only, which became not Pharaoh's; it not being bought by him; so Diodorus Siculus (m), as he assigns the first part of the land to the priests, so he says they were free from all taxes and tribute, and next to the king were possessed of honour and authority.

HE�RY, ". The method which Joseph took to accommodate the matter between prince and people, so that the prince might have his just advantage, and yet the people not be quite ruined. 1. For their lands, he needed not come to any bargain with them while the years of famine lasted; but when these were over (for God will not contend for ever, nor will he be always wroth) he came to an agreement, which it seems both sides were pleased with, that the people should occupy and enjoy the lands, as he thought fit to assign them, and should have seed to sow them with out of the king's stores, for their own proper use and behoof, yielding and paying only a fifth part of the yearly profits as a chief rent to the crown. This became a standing law, Gen_47:26. And it was a very good bargain to have food for their lands, when otherwise they and theirs must have starved, and then to have their lands again upon such easy terms. Note, Those ministers of state are worthy of double honour, both for wisdom and integrity, that keep the balance even between prince and people, so that liberty and property may not intrench upon prerogative, nor the prerogative bear hard upon liberty and property: in the multitude of such counsellors there is safety. If afterwards the Egyptians thought it hard to pay so great a duty to the king out of their lands, they must remember, not only how just, but how kind, the first imposing of it was. They might thankfully pay a fifth where all was due. It is observable how faithful Joseph was to him that appointed him. He did not put the money into his own pocket, nor entail the lands upon his own family; but converted both entirely to Pharaoh's use; and therefore we do not find that his posterity went out of Egypt any richer than the rest of their poor brethren. Those in public trusts, if they raise great estates, must take heed that it be not at the expense of a good conscience, which is much more valuable.

COKE, "Genesis 47:26. Joseph made it a law— Chandler remarks, that Joseph, to his honour, was so far from enslaving the country, that, with the consent of king and people, he settled both the rights of the crown and of the subject upon the foundation of an irrepealable law, and was the first who limited the power of their princes. This circumstance seems confirmed by Diodorus, who, among other instances of the good government of AEgypt, mentions this, b. 1: "That the people were not oppressed with taxes; and that the husbandmen rented their lands, at a small price, of the king, the priests, and the soldiers:" a happiness which they seem to have derived from Joseph's constitution.

Except the land of the priests only— i.e.. Except the fifth part of the land of the priests only, their land not becoming subject to the payment of any taxes.

REFLECTIO�S.—Business must interrupt the pleasing intercourse of friends: now Jacob is settled, Joseph returns to his employment. The famine was severe; the years of plenty had been neglected by the improvident people, and now they are ready to die for want: their money, their stock, their land, are first parted with; and, rather

than perish, they offer themselves for meat: better live servants, they thought, than die of famine. Learn from the whole, (1.) How suddenly all our worldly comforts may leave us. If God withholds but the dew of heaven from us, all we possess cannot keep us from starving. (2.) To defraud the ministry, or render it despicable by want, was regarded even by the heathens as impious. Let those remember, who possess the revenues of churches where the minister scarcely eats bread from the altar which he serves, and they who pay a scandalous pittance for the service, while themselves live on the fleeces of the sheep they never feed, that even the AEgyptian Pharaoh shall rise up in judgment to condemn them.

WHEDO�, "26. Joseph made it a law — It has been thought exorbitant and oppressive that Pharaoh should have the fifth part of the produce of the land. But we should observe, 1) That during the years of plenty the land of Egypt yielded an excessive abundance, (Genesis 41:47; Genesis 41:49,) and the Egyptians had no difficulty in laying up one fifth. 2) The people made no objection to Joseph’s law. 3) The liability of that land to suffer from famine made it a simple matter of wise government to lay up stores of grain for such times of need. This law of Joseph maintained for the king an ample but not oppressive revenue, while at the same time it virtually restored the land to the people, and made the king’s relation to them that of a provident and nourishing father.

“All the main points in the statements of this chapter are confirmed by Herodotus, Diodorus, Strabo, and the monuments. Herodotus (ii, 109) says, that Sesostris divided the soil among the inhabitants, assigning square plots of land of equal size to all, and obtained his revenue from a rent paid annually by the holders. Diodorus (i, 54) says, that Sesoosis divided the whole country into thirty-six nomes, and set nomarchs over each to take care of the royal revenue and administer their respective provinces. Strabo (xvii, p. 787) tells us, that the occupiers of the land held it subject to a rent. Again, Diodorus (i, 73, 74) represents the land as possessed only by the priests, the king, and the warriors, which testimony is confirmed by the sculptures. Wilkinson, i, p. 263. The discrepancy of this from the account in Genesis is apparent in the silence of the latter concerning thelands assigned to the warrior caste. The reservation of their lands to the priests is expressly mentioned in Genesis 47:22; but nothing is said of the warriors. There was, however, a marked difference in the tenure of land by the warriors from that by the priests. Herod. otus (ii, 168) says, that each warrior had assigned to him twelve arurae of land (each arura being a square of one hundred Egyptian cubits;) that is to say, there were no landed possessions vested in the caste, but certain fixed portions assigned to each person; and these, as given by the sovereign’s will, so apparently were liable to be withheld or taken away by the same will; for we find that Sethos, the contemporary of Sennacherib, and therefore of Hezekiah and Isaiah, actually deprived the warriors of those lands which former kings had conceded to them. Herod. 2:141. It is, therefore, as Knobel remarks, highly probable that the original reservation of their lands was only to the priests, and that the warrior caste did not come into possession of their twelve arurae each till after the time of Joseph. In the other important particulars the sacred and profane accounts entirely tally, namely, that by royal

appointment the original proprietors of the land became crown tenants, holding their land by payment of a rent or tribute; whilst the priests only were left in full possession of their former lands and revenues. As to the particular king to whom this is attributed by Herodotus and Diodorus, Lepsius (Chronol. Egypt., i, p. 304) supposes that this was not the Sesostris of Manetho’s twelfth dynasty, (Osirtasen of the Monuments,) but a Sethos or Sethosis of the nineteenth dynasty, whomhe considers to be the Pharaoh of Joseph.

“The nineteenth dynasty is, however, certainly much too late a date for Joseph. It may be a question whether the division of the land into thirty-six nomes and into square plots of equal size by Sesostris, be the same transaction as the purchasing and restoring of the land by Joseph. The people were already in possession of their property when Joseph bought it, and they received it again on condition of paying a fifth of the produce as a rent. But whether or not this act of Sesostris be identified with that of Joseph, (or the Pharaoh of Joseph), the profane historians and the monuments completely bear out the testimony of the author of Genesis as to the condition of land tenure, and its origin in an exercise of the sovereign’s authority.” — Speaker’s Commentary.

PETT, "Verse 26‘And Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth. Only the land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh’s.’The writer summarises the position as it still is in his day. How long the fifth remained the standard we do not know. But when the Hyksos took over things would change. This would suggest he wrote before that time.

But how does this tie in with what we know of conditions in Egypt? Certainly we know that in the period before the Hyksos there was a feudal system whereby the land was largely owned by the nobility with the peasantry under their control. This would clearly be brought to an end by Joseph’s reforms, and confirms the picture presented. Assuming, as we have suggested, that this took place before the advent of the Hyksos, their coming would change the situation in the part of Egypt that they controlled. They in fact restored the land to a feudal system.

But when they were expelled and the so-called �ew Kingdom was established the whole land was expropriated and transferred to Pharaoh, being declared his exclusive property. This may well have been because it was seen as a restoration of the position before the reign of the Hyksos, which would thus confirm the accuracy of the Joseph story. This position then continued for many centuries.

27 �ow the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.

BAR�ES, "Gen_47:27-31And they were possessed thereof. - They become owners or tenants of the soil in

Goshen. The Israelites were recognized as subjects with the full rights of freemen. “They grew and multiplied exceedingly.” They are now placed in a definite territory, where they are free from the contamination which arises from promiscuous intermarriage with an idolatrous race; and hence, the Lord bestows the blessing of fruitfulness and multiplication, so that in a generation or two more they can intermarry among themselves. It is a remarkable circumstance that until now we read of only two daughters in the family of Jacob. The brothers could not marry their sisters, and it was not desirable that the females should form affinity with the pagan, as they had in general to follow the faith of their husbands. Here the twelfth section of the Pentateuch terminates.

GILL, "And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen,.... The historian returns to the account of the Israelites, having before observed the placing of them in Goshen by Joseph, at the direction of Pharaoh, in compliance with their own request; and here they continued until they were grown more numerous, when they were obliged to spread themselves further in this same country:

and they had possessions therein; fields and vineyards, as the Targum of Jonathan; all the land was Pharaoh's, and they rented of him as his people did, it may be supposed:

and grew, and multiplied exceedingly; even in Jacob's lifetime they grew rich and numerous.

HE�RY 27-31, "Observe, 1. The comfort Jacob lived in (Gen_47:27, Gen_47:28); while the Egyptians were impoverished in their own land, Jacob was replenished in a strange land. He lived seventeen years after he came into Egypt, far beyond his own expectation. Seventeen years he had nourished Joseph (for so old he was when he was sold from him, Gen_37:2), and now, by way of requital, seventeen years Joseph nourished him. Observe how kindly Providence ordered Jacob's affairs, that when he was old, and least able to bear care or fatigue, he had least occasion for it, being well provided for by his son without his own forecast. Thus God considers the frame of his people. 2. The care Jacob died in. At last the time drew nigh that Israel must die, Gen_47:29. Israel, a prince with God, that had power over the angel and prevailed, yet must yield to death. There is no remedy, he must die: it is appointed for all men, therefore for him; and there is no discharge in that war. Joseph supplied him with bread, that he might not die by famine; but this did not secure him from dying by age or sickness. He

died by degrees; his candle was not blown out, but gradually burnt down to the socket, so that he saw, at some distance, the time drawing nigh. Note, It is an improvable advantage to see the approach of death before we feel its arrests, that we may be quickened to do what our hand finds to do with all our might: however, it is not far from any of us. Now Jacob's care, as he saw the day approaching, was about his burial, not the pomp of it (he was no way solicitous about that), but the place of it. (1.) He would be buried in Canaan. This he resolved on, not from mere humour, because Canaan was the land of his nativity, but in faith, because it was the land of promise (which he desired thus, as it were, to keep possession of, till the time should come when his posterity should be masters of it), and because it was a type of heaven, that better country which he that said these things declared plainly that he was in expectation of, Heb_11:14. He aimed at a good land, which would be his rest and bliss on the other side death. (2.) He would have Joseph sworn to bring him thither to be buried (Gen_47:29, Gen_47:31), that Joseph, being under such a solemn obligation to do it, might have that to answer to the objections which otherwise might have been made against it, and for the greater satisfaction of Jacob now in his dying minutes. Nothing will better help to make a death-bed easy than the certain prospect of a rest in Canaan after death. (3.) When this was done Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head, yielding himself, as it were, to the stroke of death (“Now let it come, and it shall be welcome”), or worshipping God, as it is explained, Heb_11:21, giving God thanks for all his favours, and particularly for this, that Joseph was ready, not only to put his hand upon his eyes to close them, but under his thigh to give him the satisfaction he desired concerning his burial. Thus those that go down to the dust should, with humble thankfulness, bow before God, the God of their mercies, Psa_22:29.

CALVI�, "27.And Israel dwelt in the land. Moses does not mean that Jacob and his sons were proprietors of that land which Pharaoh had granted them as a dwelling-place, in the same manner in which the other parts of Egypt were given to the inhabitants for a perpetual possession: but that they dwelt there commodiously for a time, and thus were in possession by favor, provided they continued to be peaceable. Hence the cause that they so greatly increased, in a very short space of time. Therefore, what is here related by Moses belongs to the history of the following period; and he now returns to the proper thread of his narrative, in which he purposed to show how God protected his Church from many deaths; and not that only, but wonderfully exalted it by his own secret power.

COFFMA�, "Verse 27-28"And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they got them possessions therein, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly. And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were a hundred and forty and seven years."

If only a hundred went down into Egypt with Jacob, a five percent annual growth rate would have put them over 200 by the time Jacob died. By the time of the Exodus, their number had reached over 2,000,000, with over 600,000 fighting men above the age of twenty (�umbers 1:46)!

PETT, "Verses 27-31The Family Tribe Prosper - Jacob’s Plea (Genesis 47:27-31)

Genesis 47:27

‘And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and they obtained possessions in it and were fruitful, and multiplied greatly.’This summary states what happened after the famine was over and covers many years. Jacob and the Family Tribe prosper greatly (by now the name ‘Israel’ is beginning to be attached to the tribe - note the plural, ‘they obtained’) and become even wealthier. Furthermore they continue expansion, with nothing to hinder them, and many children are born to the tribe. They ‘multiply greatly.’ Their move appears to be a success. They see no reason to return to Canaan. But Jacob’s heart is still there.

Genesis 47:28-31

‘And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were one hundred and forty seven years, and the time drew near that Israel must die, and he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favour in your sight put, I pray you, your hand under my thigh and deal kindly and truly with me. Do not bury me, I beg of you, in Egypt, but when I sleep with my fathers you will carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” And he said, “I will do as you have said.” And he said, “Swear to me.” And he swore to him. And Israel bowed himself on the bed’s head.’Jacob lives another seventeen years, reaching one hundred and thirty seven. It is probable that we are not to see this as too literal. It is doubtful if account was kept of age so accurately and there are grounds for thinking that the patriarchal ages are to be seen as round symbolic numbers. For this see The Use of �umbers in the Ancient �ear East and in Genesis. But he is clearly of a great age (compare Genesis 47:9).

�ow, with death approaching, he is concerned that he should be buried with his fathers in the land of Canaan. He therefore calls Joseph to come to him privately for he has a favour to ask him which only Joseph can guarantee, for what he will ask may well conflict with recognised Egyptian protocol.

“If I have found favour in your sight.” He remembers the high position occupied by his son. ‘Put your hand under my thigh’ - a typical type of oath, possibly seen as swearing on his life producing functions (compare Genesis 24:2). ‘Swear to me.’ This will not only put Joseph under obligation but will enable him to thwart any other plans by anyone else. �o one would dispute an oath to a dying man and it will give him leverage with Pharaoh whose permission will have to be sought (see Genesis 50:4-6).

“And Israel bowed himself on the bed”s head.’ This probably represents the weak old man bowing to his son, assisted by the bedhead, partly because of who he is, but also in gratitude at his firm promise. It stresses how weak he is. But it may be partly because of his blindness (Genesis 48:10). The end was not to be long in coming.

Jacob Adopts Ephraim and Manasseh and Gives Them His Dying Blessing (Genesis 48:1-22)

28 Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven.

BAR�ES, "Gen_47:28-31Jacob lives seventeen years in Egypt, and so survives the famine twelve years. “He

called his son Joseph.” Joseph retained his power and place near Pharaoh after the fourteen years of special service were completed; hence, Jacob looks to him for the accomplishment of his wishes concerning the place of his burial. “Put thy hand under my thigh” Gen_24:2. He binds Joseph by a solemn asseveration to carry his mortal remains to the land of promise. “And Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed.” On receiving the solemn promise of Joseph, he turns toward the head of the bed, and assumes the posture of adoration, rendering, no doubt, thanks to God for all the mercies of his past life, and for this closing token of filial duty and affection. The Septuagint has the

rendering: Oπί"τQ"Jκρον"τGσRάβδον"αTτοU epi to ākron akron tēs rabdou autou “on the top of his staff,” which is given in the Epistle to the Hebrews Heb_11:21. This is obtained by a mere change in the vowel pointing of the last word.

GILL, "And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years,.... He lived just the same term of years with Joseph in Egypt as he had lived with him in Syria and Canaan, Gen_37:2; about two hours' walk from Fium are now to be seen the ruins of an ancient town, which the Coptics say was inhabited by the patriarch Jacob, and for this cause they name it, yet, Modsellet Jacub, or the tabernacle of Jacob (n), which place is supposed to be in the land of Goshen, see Gen_47:11,

so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years; he was one hundred and thirty when he stood before Pharaoh, Gen_47:9; and now had lived in Egypt seventeen years, as in the above clause, which together make up the sum; and this exact time of the years of his life is given by Polyhistor from Demetrius, an Heathen writer (o).

CALVI�, "28.And Jacob lived. It was no common source of temptation to the holy old man, to be an exile from the land of Canaan, for so many years. Be it so, that on account of the famine, he was compelled to go to Egypt; why could he not return when the fifth year was passed? For he did not stupidly lie there in a state of torpor, but he remained quiet, because free egress was not allowed him. Wherefore, also, in this respect, God did not lightly exercise his patience. For, however sweet might be the delights of Egypt, yet he was more than miserable to be deprived of the sight of that land which was the lively figure of his celestial country. With the men of this world, indeed, earthly advantage would have prevailed: but such was the piety of the holy man, that the profit of the flesh weighed nothing against the loss of spiritual good. But he was more deeply wounded, when he saw his death approaching: because, not only was he himself deprived of the inheritance promised to him, but he was leaving his sons, of doubtful, or at least of feeble, faith, buried in Egypt as in a sepulcher. Moreover, his example is proposed to us, that our minds may not languish or become enfeebled by the weariness of a protracted warfare: yea, the more Satan attempts to depress them to the earth, the more fervently let them look and soar towards heaven.

BE�SO�, "Genesis 47:28. Jacob lived seventeen years after he came into Egypt, far beyond his own expectation: seventeen years he had nourished Joseph, for so old he was when he was sold from him, and now, seventeen years Joseph nourished him. Observe how kindly Providence ordered Jacob’s affairs; that when he was old, and least able to bear care and fatigue, he had least occasion for it, being well provided for by his son without his own forecast.

TRAPP, "Genesis 47:28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years.

Ver. 28. Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years.] So long he had nourished Joseph; and so long Joseph nourished him; paying his αντιθρεπτηρια to the utmost penny. These were the sweetest days that ever Jacob saw. God reserved his best to the last. "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for," be his beginning and his middle never so troublesome, "the end of that man is peace." [Psalms 37:37] A Goshen he shall have, either here or in heaven.

K&D 28-31, "Jacob lived in Egypt for 17 years. He then sent for Joseph, as he felt that his death was approaching; and having requested him, as a mark of love and faithfulness, not to bury him in Egypt, but near his fathers in Canaan, he made him assure him on oath (by putting his hand under his hip, vid., p. 164) that his wishes should be fulfilled. When Joseph had taken this oath, “Israel bowed (in worship) upon the bed's head.” He had talked with Joseph while sitting upon the bed; and when Joseph had promised to fulfil his wish, he turned towards the head of the bed, so as to lie with his face upon the bed, and thus worshipped God, thanking Him for granting his wish, which sprang from living faith in the promises of God; just as David also worshipped upon his bed (1Ki_1:47-48). The Vulgate rendering is correct: adoravit Deum conversus

ad lectuli caput. That of the lxx, on the contrary, is προσεκύνησεν ]σρα^λ Oπ_"τQ"Jδρον τGς

Rάβδου αTτοU (i.e., ה aה); and the Syriac and Itala have the same (cf. Heb_11:21). But no fitting sense can be obtained from this rendering, unless we think of the staff with which

Jacob had gone through life, and, taking αTτου therefore in the sense of αbτοU, assume that Jacob made use of the staff to enable him to sit upright in bed, and so prayed, bent

upon or over it, though even then the expression המטה remains a strange one; so that ראש

unquestionably this rendering arose from a false reading of המטה, and is not proved to be correct by the quotation in Heb_11:21. “Adduxit enim lxx Interpr. versionem Apostolus, quod ea tum usitata esset, non quod lectionem illam praeferendam judicaret (Calovii Bibl. illustr. ad h. l.).

29 When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt,

GILL, "And the time drew nigh that Israel must die,.... As all men must, by the appointment of God, even good men, the Israel of God; though they shall not die a spiritual death, nor an eternal one, yet a corporeal one, which is for their good, and is a blessing to them; the sting being removed, and so not a penal evil, which is owing to Christ's dying for them, who has abolished death as such; and there is a time fixed for their death, beyond which they must not live, and before which they must not die, but when the time comes there is no avoiding it; the time of Jacob's death was drawing on, as he perceived by the great decline of his natural strength, and perhaps by a divine impulse on his mind:

and he called his son Joseph; sent for him, by a messenger, to come to him:

and said unto him; when he was come:

if now I have found grace in thy sight; which is not spoken in a way of submission, as from an inferior to a superior, as the phrase is sometimes used; or as signifying what would be esteemed as a favour should it be granted, but it is as if he should say, if thou hast any filial affection for me as a parent, and art willing to show love and respect to me, do as follows:

put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: a gesture in swearing, as Jarchi observes, Gen_24:2; adding, for explanation's sake:

and deal kindly and truly with me; "kindly", by promising and swearing to do what he after desires; and "truly", by observing his oath, and fulfilling his promise:

bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt; not choosing to lie among idolaters at death, with whom he cared not to have any fellowship in life.

JAMIESO�,"the time drew nigh that Israel must die— One only of his dying arrangements is recorded; but that one reveals his whole character. It was the disposal of his remains, which were to be carried to Canaan, not from a mere romantic attachment to his native soil, nor, like his modern descendants, from a superstitious feeling for the soil of the Holy Land, but from faith in the promises. His address to Joseph - “if now I have found grace in thy sight,” that is, as the vizier of Egypt - his exacting a solemn oath that his wishes would be fulfilled and the peculiar form of that oath, all pointed significantly to the promise and showed the intensity of his desire to enjoy its blessings (compare Num_10:29).

CALVI�, "29.And he called his son Joseph. Hence we infer, not only the anxiety of Jacob, but his invincible magnanimity. It is a proof of great courage, that none of the wealth or the pleasures of Egypt could so allure him, as to prevent him from sighing for the land of Canaan, in which he had always passed a painful and laborious life. But the constancy of his faith appeared still more excellent, when he, commanding his dead body to be carried back to Canaan, encouraged his sons to hope for deliverance. Thus it happened that he, being dead, animated those who were alive and remained, as with the sound of a trumpet. For, to what purpose was this great care respecting his sepulture, except that the promise of God might be confirmed to his posterity? Therefore, though his faith was tossed as upon the waves, yet it was so far from suffering shipwreck, that it conducted others into the haven. Moreover, he demands an oath from his son Joseph, not so much on account of distrust, as to show that a matter of the greatest consequence was in hand. Certainly he would not, by lightly swearing, profane the name of God: but the more sacred and solemn the promise was, the more ought all his sons to remember, that it was of great importance that his body should be carried to the sepulcher of his fathers. It is also probable that he prudently thought of alleviating any enmity which might be excited against his son Joseph. For he knew that this choice of his sepulcher would be, by no means, gratifying to the Egyptians; seeing it seemed like

casting a reproach on their whole kingdom. This stranger, forsooth, as if he could find no fit place for his body in this splendid and noble country, wishes to be buried in the land of Canaan. Therefore, in order that Joseph might more freely dare to ask, and might more easily obtain, this favor from the king, Jacob binds him by an oath. And certainly Joseph afterwards makes use of this pretext, to avoid giving offense. This also was the reason why he required Joseph to do for him that last office, which was a duty devolving on the brothers in common; for such a favor would scarcely have been granted to the rest; and they would not have ventured on the act, unless permission had been obtained. But, as strangers and mean men, they had neither favor nor authority. Besides, it was especially necessary for Joseph to be on his guard, lest becoming ensnared by the allurements of Egypt, he should gradually forsake his own kindred. It must, however, be known, that the solemnity of an oath was designedly interposed by Jacob, to show that he did not, in vain, desire for himself, a sepulcher in the land where he had met with an unfavorable reception; where he had endured many sufferings; and from which, at length, being expelled by hunger, he had become an exile. As to his commanding the hand to be put under his thigh, we have explained what this symbol means in Genesis 24:2

BE�SO�, "Genesis 47:29. And the time drew nigh that Israel must die — Israel, that had power over the angel, and prevailed, yet must yield to death. He died by degrees; his candle was not blown out, but gradually burned down, so that he saw, at some distance, the time drawing nigh. He would be buried in Canaan, not because Canaan was the land of his nativity, but in faith, because it was the land of promise, which he desired thus, as it were, to keep possession of until the time should come when his posterity should be masters of it: and because it was a type of heaven, that better country, which he was in expectation of. When this was done, Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head — Worshipping God, as it is explained, Hebrews 11:21, giving God thanks for all his favours, and particularly for this, that Joseph was ready to put his hand upon his eyes. Thus they that go down to the dust should, with humble thankfulness, bow before God, the God of their mercies.

COFFMA�, "Verses 29-31"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; but when I sleep with my fathers, thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their dwelling place. And he said, I will do as thou hast said. And he said, Swear unto me: and he swore unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head."

In his death, Jacob would bear witness to his faith in God by requesting burial with Abraham and Isaac in the cave of Machpelah. He had the utmost confidence in the Word of God which had assured him that his posterity would not remain in Egypt. Joseph honored this promise when his father actually died.

We note in passing that the Septuagint (LXX) version of the last phrase here is, "Leaning upon the top of his staff" and is thus quoted in Hebrews 11:21. Scholars point out that there is only the slightest difference between the Hebrew words for

"staff" and "bed," indicating perhaps some possible damage to the text in transmission. What is meant is merely that Jacob prayed (or worshipped) leaning either upon the bedstead, or as supported by his staff.

Before leaving this chapter, it should be noted that some scholars believe Joseph restored the lands to the people at the time of imposing the 20 percent levy. Leupold wrote: "Apparently Joseph restored the cattle and livestock, merely charging what was not an exorbitant tax for a fertile land."[15] Josephus supports such a view:

"When the misery (famine) ceased, Joseph came to every city, and gathered together the people belonging thereunto, and gave them back entirely their lands, exhorting them to fall to their husbandry with cheerfulness, and to pay back to the king a fifth part. The men rejoiced at thus becoming unexpectedly the possessors of their lands and cheerfully did what was enjoined them."[16]We shall close this chapter with the discerning words of Keil:

"The relationship into which the Egyptians were brought to their visible king bore a typical resemblance to the relation in which the Israelites were placed by the Mosaic constitution to Jehovah, their God-King, since they also had to give a double tenth, a fifth of the produce of their lands, and in reality were only farmers of the soil of Canaan ... and they could not sell it."[17]

ELLICOTT, "(29) The time drew nigh that Israel must die—For seventeen years Jacob lived in Egypt, and saw the growing prosperity of his race under the fostering hand of Joseph. Placed at the entrance of Egypt, on the side of Arabia and Palestine, the clans of his sons would daily grow in number by the addition of Semitic immigrants, by whose aid they would make the vast and fertile region assigned them, and which had previously had but a scanty population, a well-cultivated and thriving land. But at last Jacob feels his end approaching, though apparently he was not as yet in immediate danger of death. But there was a wish over which he had long pondered; and desiring to have his mind set at rest, he sends for Joseph, and makes him promise that he will bury him in the cave at Machpelah. We find him again charging all his sons to grant him this request (Genesis 49:29-32); nor need we seek for any remote reason for it. Jacob’s whole nature was a loving one, and strongly influenced by home and domestic feelings; and at Machpelah his nearest relatives were buried. In the next chapter he dwells upon Rachel’s death, and his burial of her apart from the rest at Ephrath; and this seems to have increased his grief at her loss. At Machpelah, Abraham. whom he had known as a boy, his beloved father and mother, and Leah, who had evidently at last won his affections, all lay; and there, naturally, he too wished to lie among his own.

Put . . . thy hand under my thigh.—See �ote on Genesis 24:2.

TRAPP, "Genesis 47:29 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, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt:

Ver. 29. Bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt.] This he requested, partly to testify his faith concerning the Promised Land, heaven, and the resurrection; partly to confirm his family in the same faith; and that they might not be glued to the pleasures of Egypt, but wait for their return to Canaan; and partly also to declare his love to his ancestors, together with the felicity he took in the communion of saints.

BI 29-30, "Bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt

Lessons -

1. Approaching death should make men put their houses in order, and prepare for the grave.

2. The best of sons are best trusted with the interring of parents.

3. Favour, benevolence, and fidelity dying parents may beg of surviving children.

4. Parents may bind children not to bury them in places inconvenient (Gen_47:29).

5. The law of nature may appoint burial with fathers, much more the law of faith.

6. The faith of the Patriarchs did work as to the place of burial to appoint it.

7. The testamental word of parents, though hard, yet should be sacred with good sons (Gen_47:30).

8. Holy worship of God is meet from dying saints, for His gracious disposal to the grave. (G. Hughes, B. D.)

Prepared for death

Montmorency, constable of France, having been mortally wounded at an engagement, was exhorted by those who stood around him to die like a good Christian, and with the same courage which he had shown in his lifetime. To this he most nobly replied in the following manner:—“Gentlemen and fellow-soldiers, I thank you all very kindly for your anxious care and concern about me; but the man who has been enabled to endeavour to live well for fourscore years past can never need to seek now how to die well for a quarter of an hour.” (Dictionary of Religious Anecdote.)

Ready for death

At the time when His Majesty, George the Third, desirous that himself and family should repose in a less public sepulchre than that of Westminster Abbey, had ordered a royal tomb to be constructed at Windsor, Mr. Wyatt, his architect, waited upon him with a detailed report and plan of the building, and of the manner in which “he proposed to arrange its various recesses.” The king minutely examined the whole, and when finished, Mr. Wyatt, in thanking His Majesty said he had ventured to occupy so much of His Majesty’s time and attention with these details in order that it might not be necessary to bring so painful a subject again under his notice. To this the good king replied, “Mr. Wyatt, I request that you will bring the subject before me whenever you please. I shall attend with as much pleasure to the building of a tomb to receive me when I am dead as I would to the decoration of a drawing-room to hold me while living, for, Mr. Wyatt, if it

please God that I shall live to be ninety or a hundred years old I am willing to stay; but if it please God to take me this night I am ready to obey the summons.” (Dictionary of Religious Anecdote.)

Love of home in death

It is almost the universal custom in America, and seems to be growing in favour here, for great men to be buried in the place where they have mostly lived, and among their own kith and kin. Washington lies at Mount Vernon; Lincoln at Springfield; Emerson and Hawthorne under the pines of New England; Irving on the banks of the Hudson; Clay in Kentucky. They are laid to rest not in some central city or great structure, but where they have lived, and where their families and neighbours may accompany them in their long sleep. (One Thousand New Illustrations.)

Preparation for death

This may suggest to those who have family arrangements to make, that they should not defer the making of them until they come to be in the article of death, but should settle their affairs while yet they are in full health, in the possession of a sound mind, and in calm, unbiassed spirit. If, for example, a will has to be made by a man—and every man, if he have anything to leave, both for his own sake and for the sake of those who are most nearly related to him, should make a will—why should he postpone the making of it until he come to die? It will not bring death any sooner if he should make it at once, and it may prevent many evils if it is made now. Then, if God should greatly prosper him in future years, and should thus alter his circumstances, let him destroy the former will and make another, lest terrible injustice and hardship be done to the survivors by putting them back into a scale of living to which they have not for long been accustomed, and leaving them with a pitiful provision instead of an ample sustenance such as could easily have been provided. I have known cases of great suffering just from this cause. Let every man keep his affairs well in hand, so that those around him shall have to mourn only his departure when he dies, and shall have no cause to blame him for want of thought for his nearest and his dearest relations. If there is anything that you feel you ought to do in the way of settling your affairs, so as to secure peace and comfort among the members of your family when you die, do it at once, for the uncertainty of life is proverbial, and you know not what a day may bring forth. You cannot read the newspapers for a week together without discovering that many unseemly squabbles over the division of property might have been prevented if those who in business were so energetic in the making of money had possessed only the foresight to arrange calmly, and in circumstances in which there could be no ground for the insinuation either of undue influence on the part of ethers, or of incompetence on their own, for its division. If there is anything you feel impelled to say or do before you die, then say or do it now, and the older you are, let the now be only the more emphatic. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

Jacob’s request to be buried in Canaan

This request was rooted in something deeper than the merely natural desire of a man to have his body laid beside those of his nearest kindred. Under the New Testament dispensation, indeed, we have learned that it makes no matter where our bodies are

buried, for by His brief occupancy of the tomb of Joseph the Lord Jesus Christ has consecrated the whole earth as a cemetery for His people; and by His resurrection from the grave He has given us the assurance that they that sleep in Him, wheresoever their resting-places are, shall hear His voice at the last great day, and shall come forth in spiritual and incorruptible forms to meet Him in the skies. The mere locality of our grave, therefore, is of comparatively small importance, whether we are laid away under the arctic snows, like the brave explorers who accompanied the dauntless Franklin, or beneath the shade of tropical shrubs on the rim of the Dark Continent, like those missionary martyrs who by their sepulchres have taken possession of the Machpelah in that new Land of Promise, or in the dark, unfathomed caves of ocean, with the white foam of the waves for our shroud, and the whistling of the winds for our requiem. It is all one to the Christian where his body is laid. And yet even the Christian has the natural desire to be laid beside his kindred; so that in all our cemeteries we have family lots, and in many of our old country homesteads we come yet upon the quiet and secluded enclosure where the ashes of the first settlers and those of their successors lie. But Jacob’s desire that his body should be laid in Machpelah had a deeper root than nature. The land of Canaan was his by God’s covenant. He had not yet obtained it. For aught that he could see, he was to die without entering on its possession; but even in his death he would show that he still believed that his children would have its ownership, and therefore he made Joseph swear that he would bury him in the sepulchre of his fathers. Nor was this all. He wanted his sons and his descendants to know that Egypt was not their rest. He desired to fix their minds on Canaan, and to fan in their hearts the desire to return thither when God should open up the way. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

Buried where born

The inclination to return in old age to the place which is endeared by the recollections of infancy is very general. It is mentioned by Goldsmith, with that finished delicacy of description which scarcely admits of improvement, and by Chalien, in some of the most beautiful lines in the French language. It is thus described in some of the practical prose of Chateaubriand: “After having wandered over the globe, man, by an affecting species of instinct, likes to return and die on the spot which gave him birth, and to sit for a moment, on the border of the grave, under the same tree which overshadowed his cradle.” As John Leyden lay dying in India, whither he had gone to make his fortune, his heart dwelt on its child-memories, and his last words were about the little rural hamlet where he was born..

30 but when I rest with

my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me

where they are buried.”

“I will do as you say,” he said.

CLARKE, "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.

GILL, "But I will lie with my fathers,.... Abraham and Isaac, whose bodies lay in the land of Canaan, where Jacob desired to be buried; partly to express his faith in the promised land, that it should be the inheritance of his posterity; and partly to draw off their minds from a continuance in Egypt, and to incline them to think of removing thither at a proper time, and to confirm them in the belief of their enjoyment of it; as well as to intimate his desire after, and faith in the heavenly glory he was going to, of which Canaan was a type:

and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt; into the land of Canaan:

and bury me in their burying place; in the burying place of his fathers, in the cave of Machpelah, near Hebron; see Gen_49:30,

and he said, I will do as thou hast said; Joseph promised his father to fulfil his request, and do as he had desired of him.

CALVI�, "30.But I will lie with my fathers (188) It appears from this passage, that the word “sleep,” whenever it is put for “die,” does not refer to the soul, but to the body. For, what did it concern him, to be buried with his fathers in the double cave, (189) unless to testify that he was associated with them after death? And by what bond were he and they joined together, except this, that not even death itself could extinguish the power of their faith; which would seem to utter this voice from the same sepulcher, �ow also we have a common inheritance.

TRAPP, "Genesis 47:30 But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out

of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said.

Ver. 30. Bury me in their burying place.] That he might keep possession, at least by his dead body, of the Promised Land. There they would be buried, not pompously, but reverently, that they might rise again with Christ. Some of the fathers think that these patriarchs were those that rose corporally with him. [Matthew 27:53]

31 “Swear to me,” he said. Then Joseph swore to him, and Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.[d]

CLARKE, "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 Gen_48:2) while conversing with his son, and receiving his oath and promise; and that when this was finished he bowed himself upon the bed’s head - exhausted with the conversation, he again reclined himself on his bed as before. This seems to be the simple meaning, which the text unconnected with any

religious system or prejudice, naturally proposes. But because שחה shachah, signifies not only to bow but to worship, because acts of religious worship were performed by bowing

or prostration, and because מטה mittah, a bed, by the change of the points, only becomes

matteh, a staff, in which sense the Septuagint took it, translating the original words thus:

Και"προσεκυνησεν"Ισραηλ"επι"το"ακρον"της"Rαβδου"αυτου, and Israel worshipped upon the top of his staff, which the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, Heb_11:21, quotes literatim; therefore some have supposed that Jacob certainly had a carved image on the head or top of his staff, to which he paid a species of adoration; or that he bowed himself to the staff or scepter of Joseph, thus fulfilling the prophetic import of his son’s dreams! The sense of the Hebrew text is given above. If the reader prefers the sense of the Septuagint and the Epistle to the Hebrews, the meaning is, that Jacob, through feebleness, supported himself with a staff, and that, when he got the requisite assurance from Joseph that his dead body should be carried to Canaan, leaning on his staff be bowed his head in adoration to God, who had supported him all his life long, and hitherto fulfilled all his promises.

GILL, "And he said, swear unto me,.... This he required, not from any distrust of Joseph, but to show his own eagerness, and the intenseness of his mind about this thing, how much he was set upon it, and what an important thing it was with him; as also, that if he should have any objections made to it, or arguments used with him to divert him from it, by Pharaoh or his court, he would be able to say his father had bound him by an oath to do it, which would at once stop their mouths, and be judged a sufficient reason for what he did, see Gen_50:5,

and he sware unto him; not only gave his promise, but confirmed it with an oath:

and Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head: not in a way of civil respect to Joseph, giving him thanks for the assurance he had given him, that he would bury him, not in Egypt, but in Canaan; but in a religious way to God, giving thanks to him that he had lived to see his son Joseph, who, according to the promise, would close his eyes, and that he had inclined his heart to fulfil his request; though some think that no more is meant, than that after Jacob had spent himself in discoursing with Joseph, he sunk down and reclined on his pillow at his bed's head, to take some rest; for as for what the apostle says in Heb_11:21; that refers to another thing at another time; See Gill on Heb_11:21.

HAWKER, "REFLECTIONS

What sweet lessons do the lives of the Patriarchs Jacob and Joseph afford, of endearing ties of parental and filial affection? Would we learn the influence of grace refining nature’s feelings, let us read over those sacred records.

Reader! do not forget to spiritualize the Egyptian monarch’s question to the hoary Patriarch, and ask the same of your own heart. How old are you m grace? What years, what days can you number since you were new born? Few and evil no doubt are the best of our days in the best of our pilgrimage. But do not forget that the spiritual arithmetic is not counted by natural calculations’ for the child of grace shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner still remaining in an unconverted, unrenewed state, being an hundred gears old shall be accursed.

From the tender affection of Joseph to his dying father, in the promise he made him, let me turn my eyes and contemplate Joseph’s LORD and Saviour in the promise he troth left to all his people. He saith to all the true spiritual seed of Israel now, as to the Patriarch himself; Fear not to go down to the grave, I will be with thee. And this thought is a sweet thought: the covenant holds good in death as in life. The grave cannot dissolve it. When we live, we live unto the LORD: and when we die, we die unto the Lord: so that living or dying we are the LORD’S. O thou that hast the keys of hell and death; sweetest Saviour! be thou my GOD, my guide and my companion, both in life and in death: then to live will be CHRIST, and to die will be gain.

JAMIESO�,"Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head— Oriental beds are mere mats, having no head, and the translation should be “the top of his staff,” as the apostle renders it (Heb_11:21).

COKE, "Genesis 47:31. Bowed himself upon the bed's head— The Septuagint and Syriac versions render this, Israel worshipped upon the top of his staff; and I see no sort of reason why the Hebrew should not have been rendered exactly the same in our version of the Bible; for, literally, it is, and Israel bowed himself upon the head of his staff, המטה עלאראש al rosh hammittah; מטה matteh, signifies, a rod, staff, or stick, or any thing upon which men are inclined, or lean; and in this view there is no contradiction between the passage, Hebrews 11:21 and the present: here it is only a mistake in our translation of the Bible, which has too exactly copied the Vulgate. The bowing himself was probably an act of religious worship; and Hallett remarks, that the leaning on his staff, is pertinently mentioned to intimate, that, feeble as he was, he would worship God in the best manner he was able. He thought it so great a privilege to be buried in the land of Canaan, that he bowed his head, in token of thankfulness for it. The bowing of David, mentioned 1 Kings 1:47-48. was an act of religious worship. See Judges 7:15. Exodus 4:31; Exodus 12:27.

REFLECTIO�S.—While others pined with want, Jacob and his family lived in plenty. His old age passed on as peaceful and serene, as his former days had been tempestuous. �ote; It is a peculiar blessing to age, to have ease and rest, because it is most unfit for toil and labour. And now the time of Israel's death approached: this is the certain end of the longest life: happy they who see the approaches of death, and prepare for it accordingly. One great concern now engaged the patriarch's heart, and that was the disposal of his corpse. He desires to lie in the land of promise, as a confirmation to his posterity of their possession of it, and as a token of his own hope in that better rest which remained for the people of God. Joseph at his desire visits him, and swears to fulfil this his dying command; then Israel is satisfied, and bows in acknowledgment of the mercy. �ote; When we can with confidence trust the Divine promise, and rest on the Divine oath, we shall with pleasure say, �ow let thy servant depart in peace.CALVI�, "31.And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head. By this expression, Moses again affirms that Jacob esteemed it a singular kindness, that his son should have promised to do what he had required respecting his burial. For he exerts his weak body as much as he is able, in order to give thanks unto God, as if he had obtained something most desirable. He is said to have worshipped towards the head of his bed: because, seeing he was quite unable to rise from the bed on which he lay, he yet composed himself with a solemn air in the attitude of one who was praying. The same is recorded of David (1 Kings 1:47) when, having obtained his last wish, he celebrates the grace of God. The Greeks have translated it, at the top of his staff: which the Apostle has followed in the Epistle to the Hebrews, (Hebrews 11:21.) And though the interpreters seem to have been deceived by the similitude of words; because, with the Hebrews, מוטה (mitah) signifies “bed,” מוטה (motah,) “a staff;” yet the Apostle allows himself to cite the passage as it was then commonly used, lest he might offend unskillful readers, without necessity. (190) Moreover, they who expound the words to mean that Jacob worshipped the scepter of his son, absurdly trifle. The exposition of others, that he bowed his head, leaning on the top of his staff, is, to say the least, tolerable. But since there is no ambiguity in the words of

Moses, let it suffice to keep in memory what I have said, that, by this ceremony, he openly manifested the greatness of his joy.

ELLICOTT, "(31) Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.—The LXX., followed by the Epistle to the Hebrews (Genesis 11:21) and the Syriac, read, “on the top of his staff.” The word in the Hebrew, without vowels, may mean either bed or staff, and as we have mentioned above (Genesis 22:14), the points indicating the vowels were added in later times, and while valuable as representing a very ancient tradition, are nevertheless not of final authority. The rendering, however, of the Authorised Version is the most satisfactory. It was scarcely worth mentioning that Jacob bowed before Joseph, leaning on his staff; but the picture of the aged patriarch leaning back upon his bed, content and happy in his son’s promise, and giving thanks to God for the peace of his approaching end, is one full of pathos and dignity.

TRAPP, "Genesis 47:31 And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.

Ver. 31. And Israel bowed himself.] In way of thankfulness to God, framing himself to the lowliest gesture he was able; rearing himself up upon his pillow, "leaning" also "upon" his third leg, "his staff." [Hebrews 11:21] In effaeta senecta, fides non effaeta.