Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The disappearance of the name Jehovah, therefore, is to be explained, partly from the fact that previous revelations and acts of grace had given rise to other phrases expressive of the idea of Jehovah, which not only served as substitutes for this name of the covenant God, but in certain circumstances were much more appropriate; and partly from the fact that the sons «f Jacob, including Joseph, did not so distinctly recognise in their course the saving guidance of the covenant God, as to be able to describe it as the work of Jehovah. This imperfect insight, however, is intimately connected with the fact that the direct revelations of God had ceased; and that Joseph, although chosen by God to be the preserver of the house of Israel and the instrument in accomplishing His plans of salvation, was separated at a very early period from the fellowship of his father's house, and formally naturalized in Egypt, and though endowed with the supernatural power to interpret dreams, was not favoured, as Daniel afterwards was in the Chaldsean court, with visions or revelations of God. Consequently we cannot place Joseph on a level with the three patriarchs, nor assent to the statement, that " as the noblest blossom of the patriarchal life is seen in Joseph, as in him the whole meaning of the patriarchal life is summed up and fulfilled, so in Christ we see the perfect blossom and sole fulfilment of the whole of the Old Testament dispensation" (Kurtz, Old Covenant ii. 95), as being

^ The very fact that the author of Genesis, who wrote in the light of the further development and fuller revelation of the ways of the Lord with Joseph and the whole house of Jacob, represents the career of Joseph as a gracious interposition of Jehovah (chap, xxxix.), and yet makes Joseph himself speak of Elohim as arranging the whole, is by no means an unimportant testimony to the historical fidelity and truth of the narrative; of which further proofs are to be found in the faithful and exact representation of the circumstances, manners, and customs of Egypt, as Hengstenberg has proved in his Egypt and the Books of Moses, from a comparison of these accounts of Joseph's life with ancient documents and monuments connected with this land.

either correct or scriptural, so far as the first portion is concerned. For Joseph was not a medium of salvation in the same way as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was indeed a benefactor, not only to his brethren and the whole house of Israel, but also to the Egyptians; but salvation, i.e, spiritual help and culture, he neither brought to the Gentiles nor to the house of Israel. In Jacob's blessing he is endowed with the richest inheritance of the first-born in earthly things; but salvation is to reach the nations through Judah. We may therefore without hesitation look upon the history of Joseph as a " type of the pathway of the Church, not of Jehovah only, but also of Christ, from lowliness to exaltation, from slavery to liberty, from suffering to glory" (Delitzsch); we may also, so far as the history of Israel is a type of the history of Christ and His Church, regard the life of Joseph, as believing commentators of all centuries have done, as a type of the life of Christ, and use these typical traits as aids to progress in the knowledge of salvation; but that we may not be seduced into typological trifling, we must not overlook the fact, that neither Joseph nor his career is represented, either by the prophets or by Christ and His apostles, as typical of Christ, — in anything like the same way, for example, as the guidance of Israel into and out of Egypt (Hos. xi. 1 cf. Matt. ii. 15), and other events and persons in the history of Israel.

Vers. 1-4. The statement in ver. 1, which introduces the iholedoth of Jacob, " And Jacob dwelt in the land of his father s pilgrimage, in the land of Canaan" implies that Jacob had now entered upon his father's inheritance, and carries on the patriarchal pilgrim-life in Canaan, the further development of which was determined by the wonderful career of Joseph. This strange and eventful career of Joseph commenced when he was 17 years old. The notice of his age at the commencement of the narrative which follows, is introduced with reference to the principal topic in it, viz. the sale of Joseph, which was to prepare the way, according to the wonderful counsel of God, for the fulfilment of the divine revelation to Abraham respecting the future history of his seed (xv. 13 sqq.). While feeding the flock with his brethren, and, as he was young, with the sons of Bilhah and

Zilpah, who were nearer his age than the sons of Leah, he brought an evil report of them to his father (Hin intentionally indefinite, connected with D^S"! without an article). The words "IV^ t^^nij " and he a lad" are subordinate to the main clause: they are not to be rendered, however, " he was a lad with the sons," but, '' as he was young, he fed the flock with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah." — Ver. 3. '' Israel (Jacob) loved Joseph more than all his (other) sons, because he was born in his old age" as the first-fruits of the beloved Eachel (Benjamin was hardly a year old at this time). And he made him C'QQ npra; a long coat with sleeves ('^ltwv aarpwyaXeio^j Aqu., or darpar/aXdyTOf;, LXX. at 2 Sam. xiii. 18, tunica talaris, Vulg. ad Sam.), i.e. an upper coat reaching to the wrists and ankles,'^such as noblemen and kings' daughters wore, not " a coat of many colours" (" bunter Hock" as Luther renders it, from the '^(^tTcova ttocklXov, tunicam polymitam, of the LXX. and Yulgate). This partiality made Joseph hated by his brethren; so that they could not " speak peaceably unto him" i.e. ask him how he was, offer him the usual salutation, " Peace be with thee."

Vers. 5-11. This hatred was increased when Joseph told them of two dreams that he had had: viz. that as they were binding sheaves in the field, his sheaf ^' stood and remained standing," but their sheaves placed themselves round it and bowed down to it; and that the sun (his father), and the moon (his mother, "not Leah, but Rachel, who was neither forgotten nor lost"), and eleven stars (his eleven brethren) bowed down before him. These dreams pointed in an unmistakeable way to the supremacy of Joseph; the first to supremacy over his brethren, the second over the whole house of Israel. The repetition seemed to establish the thing as certain (cf. xli. 32); so that not only did his brethren hate him still more " on account of his dreams and words" (ver. 8), i.e. the substance of the dreams and the open interpretation of them, and become jealous and envious, but his father gave him a sharp reproof for the second, though he preserved the matter, i.e. retained it in his memory ("^^^ LXX. SierrjpTja-e, cf. aweTtjpei, Luke ii. 19). The brothers with their ill-will could not see anything in the dreams but the suggestions of his own ambition and pride of heart; and even the father, notwithstanding his partiality, was grieved by the second dream. The dreams are not represented as divine revelations; yet they are not to be regarded as pure flights of fancy from an ambitious heart, but as the presentiments of deep inward feelings, which were not produced without some divine influence being exerted upon Joseph's mind, and therefore were of prophetic significance, though they were not inspired directly by God, inasmuch as the purposes of God were still to remain hidden from the eyes of men for the saving good of all concerned.

Vers. 12-24. In a short time the hatred of Joseph's brethren grew into a crime. On one occasion, when they were feeding their flock at a distance from Hebron, in the neighbourhood of Shechem (Nablus, in the plain of Mukhnah), and Joseph who was sent thither by Jacob to inquire as to the welfare (shalom, valetudo) of the brethren and their flocks, followed them to Dothain or Dotlian, a place 12 Roman miles to the north of Samaria (Sebaste), towards the plain of Jezreel, they formed the malicious resolution to put him, " this dreamer," to death, and throw him into one of the pits, i.e. cisterns, and then to tell (his father) that a wild beast had slain him, and so to bring his dreams to nought.— Vers. 21 sqq. Reuben, who was the eldest son, and therefore specially responsible for his younger brother, opposed this murderous proposal. He dissuaded his brethren from killing Joseph (^^}, 'B niin), and advised them to throw him " into this pit in the desert^' i.e. into a dry pit that was near. As Joseph would inevitably perish even in that pit, their malice was satisfied; but Reuben intended to take Joseph out again, and restore him to his father. As soon, therefore, as Joseph arrived, they took off his coat with sleeves and threw him into the pit, which happened to be dry.

Vers. 25-36. Reuben had saved Joseph's life indeed by his proposal; but his intention to send him back to his father was frustrated. For as soon as the brethren sat down to eat, after the deed was performed, they saw a company of Ishmaelites from Gilead coming along the road which leads from Beisan past Jenin (Rob. Pal. iii. 155) and through the plain of Dothan to the great caravan road that runs from Damascus by Lejun (Legio, Megiddo), Ramleh, and Gaza to Egypt (Rob. iii. 27, 178). The caravan drew near, laden with spices: viz. nXDJ, gum-tragacanth; nV, balsam, for which Gilead was celebrated (xliii. 11; Jer. viii. 22, xlvi. 11); and D"S, ladanum, the fragrant resin of the cistus-rose. Judah seized the opportunity to propose to his brethren to sell Joseph to the Ishmaelltes. " What profit have we,"' he said, " that we slay our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites; and our hand, let it not lay hold of him (sc. to slay him), for he is our brother, our fleshP Reuben wished to deliver Joseph entirely from his brothers' malice. Judah also wished to save his life, though not from brotherly love so much as from the feeling of horror, which was not quite extinct within him, at incurring the guilt of fratricide; but he w^ould still like to get rid of him, that his dreams might not come true. Judah, like his brethren, was probably afraid that their father might confer upon Joseph the rights of the first-born, and so make him lord over them. His proposal was a welcome one. When the Arabs passed by, the brethren fetched Joseph out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmaehtes, who took him into Egypt. The different names given to the traders — viz. Ishmaelites (vers. 25, 27, and 285), Midianites (ver. 28a), a,nd Medanites (ver. 36) — do not show that the account has been drawn from different legends, but that these tribes were often confounded, from the fact that they resembled one another so closely, not only in their common descent from Abraham (xvi. 15 and xxv. 2), but also in the similarity of their mode of life and their constant change of abode, that strangers coujd hardly distinguish them, especially when they appeared not as tribes but as Arabian merchants, such as they are here described as being: " Midianitish men, merchants^ That descendants of Abraham should already be met with in this capacity is by no means strange, if we consider that 150 years had passed by since Ishmael's dismissal from his father's house, — a period amply sufficient for his descendants to have grown through marriage into a respectable tribe. The price, " twenty (sc, shekels) of silver," was the price which Moses afterwards fixed as the value of a boy between 5 and 20 (Lev. xxvii. 5), the average price of a slave being 30 shekels (Ex. xxi. 32). But the Ishmaelites naturally wanted to make money by the transaction. — Vers. 29 sqq. The business was settled in Reuben's absence; probably because his brethren suspected that he intended to rescue Joseph. When he came to the pit and found Joseph gone, he rent his clothes (a sign of intense grief on the part of the natural man) and exclaimed: " The boy is no more, and I, whither shall Igo T^ — how shall I account to his father for his disappearance I But the brothers were at no loss; they dipped Joseph's coat in the blood of a goat and sent it to his father, with the message, " We have found this; see whether it is thy sorts coat or notr Jacob recognised the coat at once, and mourned bitterly in mourning clothes (P^) for his son, whom he supposed to have been devoured and destroyed by a wild l^east (^llb H^D inf, abs. of Kal before Pual, as an indication of undoubted certainty), and refused all comfort from his children, saying, " No Q^, immoy elliptical: Do not attempt to comfort me, for) / will go down mourning into Sheol to my son^ Sheol denotes the place where departed souls are gathered after death; it is an infinitive form from p^^ to demand, the demanding, applied to the place which inexorably summons all men into its shade (cf. Prov. xxx. 15, 16; Isa. V. 14; Hab. ii. 5). How should his sons comfort him, when they were obliged to cover their wickedness with the sin of lying and hypocrisy, and when even Reuben, although at first beside himself at the failure of his plan, had not courage enough to disclose his brothers* crime? — Yer. 36. But Joseph, while his father was mourning, was sold by the Midianites to Potiphar, the chief of Pharaoh's trabantes, to be first of all brought low, according to the wonderful counsel of God, and then to be exalted as ruler in Egypt, before whom his brethren would bow down, and as the saviour of the house of Israel. The name Potiphar is a contraction of Poti Pherah (xli. 50); the LXX. render both IIeTe(^prj<; or 'neT€<f)prj (yid. xli. 50). D^D (eunuch) is used here, as in 1 Sam. viii. 15 and in most of the passages of the Old Testament, for courtier or chamberlain, without regard to the primary meaning, as Potiphar was married. " Captain of the guard'' (Zi^. captain of the slaughterers, i.e. the executioners), commanding officer of the royal body-guard, who executed the capital sentences ordered by the king, as was also the case with the Chaldeans (2 Kings xxv. 8; Jer. xxxix. 9, Hi. 12. See my Commentary on the Books of Kings, vol. i. pp. 35, 36, Eng. Tr.).

The following sketch from the life of Judah is intended to point out the origin of the three leading families of the future princely tribe in Israel, and at the same time to show in what danger the sons of Jacob would have been of forgetting the sacred vocation of their race, through marriages with Canaanitish women, and of perishing in the sin of Canaan, if the mercy of God had not interposed, and by leading Joseph into Egypt prepared the way for the removal of the whole house of Jacob into that land, and thus protected the family, just as it was expanding into a nation, from the corrupting influence of the manners and customs of Canaan. This being the intention of the narrative, it is no episode or interpolation, but an integral part of the early history of Israel, which is woven here into the history of Jacob, because the events occurred subsequently to the sale of Joseph.

Vers. 1-11. About this time, i,e, after the sale of Joseph, while still feeding the flocks of Jacob along with his brethren (xxxvii. 26),^ Judah separated from them, and went down (from Hebron, xxxvii. 14, or the mountains) to Adullam, in the lowland (Josh. XV. 35), into the neighbourhood of a man named Hirah. " He pitched (his tent, xxvi. 25) up to a man of AduU larriy^ i.e. in his neighbourhood, so as to enter into friendly intercourse with him. — Vers. 2 sqq. There Judah married the daughter of Shuah, a Canaanite, and had three sons by her: Ger ("iP), Onan, and Shelah. The name of the place is mentioned when the last is born, viz. Chezib or Achzib (Josh. xv. 44; Micah i. 14),

^ As the expression " at that time" does not compel us to place Judah's marriage after the sale of Joseph, many have followed Augustine ((gusset. 123), and placed it some years earlier. But this assumption is rendered extremely improbable, if not impossible, by the fact that Judah was not merely accidentally present when Joseph was sold, but was evidently living with his brethren, and had not yet set up an estabUshment of his own; whereas he had settled at Adullam previous to his marriage, and seems to have lived there up to the time of the birth of the twins by Thamar. Moreover, the 23 years which intervened between the taking of Joseph into Egypt and the migration of Jacob thither, furnish space enough for all the events recorded in this chapter. If we suppose that Judah, who was 20 years old when Joseph was sold, went to Adullam soon afterwards and married there, his three sons might have been born four or five years after Joseph's captivity. And if his eldest son was born about a year and a half after the sale of Joseph, and he married him to Thamar when he was 15 years old, and gave her to his second son a year after that, Onan's death would occur at least five years before Jacob's removal to Egypt; time enough, therefore, both for the generation and birth of the twin -sons of Judah by Thamar, and for Judah's two journeys into Egypt with his brethren to buy corn. (See chap, xlvi. 8 sqq.)

in the southern portion of the lowland of Judah, that the descendants of Shelah might know the birth-place of their ancestor. This was unnecessary in the case of the others, who died childless.— Vers. 6 sqq. When Ger was grown up, according to ancient custom (cf. xxi. 21, xxxiv. 4) his father gave him a wife, named Thamar, probably a Canaanite, of unknown parentage. But Ger was soon put to death by Jehovah on account of his wickedness. Judah then wished Onan, as the brother-in-law, to marry the childless widow of his deceased brother, and raise up seed, i,e. a family, for him. But as he knew that the first-born son would not be the founder of his own family, but would perpetuate the family of the deceased and receive his inheritance, he prevented conception when consummating the marriage by spilling the semen. nyiN nn^, " destroyed to the ground (i.e. let it fall upon the ground), so as not to give seed to his brother" (iro for rin only here and Num. xx. 21). This act not only betrayed a want of affection to his brother, combined with a despicable covetousness for his possession and inheritance, but was also a sin against the divine institution of marriage and its object, and was therefore punished by Jehovah with sudden death. The custom of levirate marriage, which is first mentioned here, and is found in different forms among Indians, Persians, and other nations of Asia and Africa, was not f oupded upon a divine command, but upon an ancient tradition, originating probably in Chaldea. It was not abolished, however, by the Mosaic law (Deut. XXV. 5 sqq.), but only so far restricted as not to allow it to interfere with the sanctity of marriage; and with this limitation it was enjoined as a duty of affection to build up the brother's house, and to preserve his family and name (see my Bibl. Archaologie, § 108). — ^Ver. 11. The sudden death of his two sons so soon after their marriage with Thamar made Judah hesitate to give her the third as a husband also, thinking, very likely, accord-^ ing to a superstition which we find in Tobit iii. 7 sqq., that either she herself, or marriage with her, had been the cause of her husbands' deaths. He therefore sent her away to her father's house, with the promise that he would give her his youngest son as soon as he had grown up; though he never intended it seriously, "/or he thought lest (|B "^D^, ue, he was afraid that) he also might die like his brethren"

Vers. 12-30. But when Thamar, after waiting a long time, saw that Shelah had grown up and yet was not given to her as a husband, she determined to procure children from Judah himself, who had become a widower in the meantime; and his going to Timnath to the sheep-shearing afforded her a good opportunity. The time mentioned (" the days multiplied," i,e. a long time passed by) refers not to the statement which follows, that Judah's wife died, but rather to the leading thought of the verse, viz. Judah's going to the sheep-shearing. Dn3*1: he comforted himself, Le* he ceased to mourn. Tim,nath is not the border town of Dan and Judah between Beth-shemesh and Ekron in the plain (Josh. xv. 10, xix. 43), but Timnah on the mountains of Judah (Josh. xv. 57, cf. Rob. Pal. ii. 343, note), as the expression " went up " shows. The sheep-shearing was a fete with shepherds, and was kept with great feasting. Judah therefore took his friend Hirah with him; a fact noticed in ver. 12 in relation to what follows. — ^Vers. 13, 14. As soon as Thamar heard of Judah's going to this feast, she took off her widow's clothes, put on a veil, and sat down, disguised as a harlot, by the gate of Enayim, where Judah would be sure to pass on his return from Timnath. Enayim was no doubt the same as Enam in the lowland of Judah (Josh. xv. 34). — Vers. 15 sqq. When Judah saw her here and took her for a harlot, he made her an offer, and gave her his signet-ring, with the band \^'^^^) by which it was hung round his neck, and his staff, as a pledge of the young buck-goat which he offered her. They were both objects of value, and were regarded as ornaments in the East, as Herodotus (i. 195) has shown with regard to the Babylonians (see my BibL Arch, 2, 48). He then lay with her, and she became pregnant by him. — Vers. 19 sqq. After this had occurred, Thamar laid aside her veil, put on her widow's dress again, and returned home. When Judah, therefore, sent the kid by his friend Hirah to the supposed harlot for the purpose of redeeming his pledges, he could not find her, and was told, on inquiring of the inhabitants of Enayim, that there was no HKHp there. ^Y^^\}: lit. " the consecrated," i.e. the hierodule, a woman sacred to Astarte, a goddess of the Canaanites, the deification of the generative and productive principle of nature; one who served this goddess by prostitution (vid. Deut. xxiii. 18). This was no doubt regarded as the most respectable designation for public prostitutes in Canaan. — Vers. 22, 23. When his friend returned with the kid and reported his want of success, Judah resolved to leave his pledges with the girl, that he might not expose himself to the ridicule of the people by any further inquiries, since he had done his part towards keeping his promise. " Let her take them (Le, keep the signet-ring and staff) for her^ self that we may not become a (an object of) ridicule, ^^ The pledges were unquestionably of more value than a young hegoat.

Vers. 24-26. About three months afterwards (t^^^p prob. for ^?^^ with the prefix d) Judah was informed that Thamar had played the harlot and was certainly (n^n) with child. He immediately ordered, by virtue of his authority as head of the tribe, that she should be brought out and burned. Thamar was regarded as the affianced bride of Shelah, and was to be punished as a bride convicted of a breach of chastity. But the Mosaic law enjoined stoning in the case of those who were affianced and broke their promise, or of newly married women who were found to have been dishonoured (Deut. xxii. 20, 21, 23, 24); and it was only in the case of the whoredom of a priest's daughter, or of carnal intercourse with a mother or a daughter, that the punishment of burning was enjoined (Lev. xxi. 9 and XX. 14). Judah's sentence, therefore, was more harsh than the subsequent law; whether according to patriarchal custom, or on other grounds, cannot be determined. When Thamar was brought out, she sent to Judah the things which she had kept as a pledge, with this message: " By a man to whom these belong am I with child: look carefully therefore to whom this signet-ring, and band, and stick belongJ^ Judah recognised the things as his own, and was obliged to confess, " She is more in the right than I; for therefore (sc. that this might happen to me, or that it might turn out so; on ]'2'7V'^3 see chap, xviii. 5) have I not given her to my son Shelah." In passing sentence upon Thamar, Judah had condemned himself. His sin, however, did not consist merely in his having given way to his lusts so far as to lie with a supposed public prostitute of Canaan, but still more in the fact, that by breaking his promise to give her his son Shelah as her husband, he had caused his daughter-in-law to practise this deception upon him, just because in his heart he blamed her for the early and sudden deaths of his elder sons, whereas the real cause of the deaths which had so grieved his paternal heart was the wickedness of the sons themselves, the mainspring of which was to be found in his own marriage with a Canaanite in violation of the patriarchal call. And even if the sous of Jacob were not unconditionally prohibited from marrying the daughters of Canaanites, Judah's marriage at any rate had borne such fruit in his sons Ger and Onan, as Jehovah the covenant God was compelled to reject. But if Judah, instead of recognising the hand of the Lord in the sudden death of his sons, traced the cause to Thamar, and determined to keep her as a childless widow all her life long, not only in opposition to the traditional custom, but also in opposition to the will of God as expressed in His promises of a numerous increase of the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Thamar had by no means acted rightly in the stratagem by which she frustrated his plan, and sought to procure from Judah himself the seed of which he was unjustly depriving her, though her act might be less criminal than Judah's. For it is evident from the whole account, that she was not driven to her sin by lust, but by the innate desire for children (ore 8e TratSoTroaa? X^P^'^y '^^^ °^ <f)Ckr}hovla<; tovto 6 Gdfjuap ifjLrjxavw^TO, — Theodoret); and for that reason she was more in the right than Judah. Judah himself, however, not only saw his guilt, but he confessed it also; and showed both by this confession, and also by the fact that he had no further conjugal intercourse with Thamar, an earnest endeavour to conquer the lusts of the flesh, and to guard against the sin into which he had fallen. And because he thus humbled himself, God gave him grace, and not only exalted him to be the chief of the house of Israel, but blessed the children that were begotten in sin.

Vers. 27-30. Thamar brought forth twins; and a circumstance occurred at the birth, which does occasionally happen when the children lie in an abnormal position, and always impedes the delivery, and which was regarded in this instance as so significant that the names of the children were founded upon the fact. At the birth ^^f}!^ " there was a hand^^ i.e. a hand came out (1^1 as in Job xxxvii. 10, Prov. xiii. 10), round which the midwife tied a scarlet thread, to mark this as the first-born. — Ver. 29. " And it came to pass, lohen it (the child) drew back its hand (^IT'P? for:iT^ ^^^''7? as in chap. xl. 10), behold its brother came out. Then sJie (the midwife) said^ What a breach

Tiast tJiou made for thy part? Upon thee the breach;^' i.e. thou bearest the blame of the breach. pQ signifies not rupturam perinoei, but breaking through by pressing forward. From that he received the name of Perez (breach, breaker through). Then the other one with the scarlet thread came into the world, and was named Zerah (n^t exit, rising), because he sought to appear first, whereas in fact Perez was the first-bom, and is even placed before Zerah in the lists in chap. xlvi. 12, Num. xxvi. 20. Perez was the ancestor of the tribe-prince Nahshon (Num. ii. 3), and of king David also (Ruth iv. 18 sqq.; 1 Chron. ii. 5 sqq.). Through him, therefore, Thamar has a place as one of the female ancestors in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

Vers. 1-18. In Potiphar's house. — Potiphar had bought him of the Ishmaelites, as is repeated in ver. 1 for the purpose of resuming the thread of the narrative; and Jehovah was with him, so that he prospered in the house of his Egyptian master. ^''pVD K^^K: a man who has prosperity, to whom God causes all that he undertakes and does to prosper. When Potiphar perceived this, Joseph found favour in his eyes, and became his servant, whom he placed over his house (made manager of his household affairs), and to whom he entrusted all his property i^'^:^^^ ver. 4 = i^■t^^ptf^^5-!'^ vers. 5, 6). This confidence in Joseph increased, when he perceived how the blessing of Jehovah (Joseph's God) rested upon his property in the house and in the field; so that now " he left to Joseph everythmg that he had, and did not trouble himself i^^5 (with or near him) about anything but his own eating.''^ — Vers. 6^ sqq. Joseph was handsome in form and feature; and Potiphar's wife set her eyes upon the handsome young man, and tried to persuade him to lie with her. But Joseph resisted the adulterous proposal, referring to the unlimited confidence which his master had placed in him. He (Potiphar) was not greater in that house than he, and had given everything over to him except her, because she was his wife. " How could he so abuse this confidence, as to do this great wickedness and sin against God!" — Vers. 10 sqq. But after she had repeated her enticements day after day without success, " it came to pass at that time (n?n Di>n3 for the more usual njn Di*3 (chap. 1. 20), lit, about this day, i.e. the day in the writer's mind, on which the thing to be narrated occurred) that Joseph came into his house to attend to his duties^ and there were none of the house-servants withinJ^ And she laid hold of him by his garment and entreated him to lie with her; but he left his garment in her hand and fled from the house. — Vers. 13-18. When this daring assault upon Joseph's chastity had failed, on account of his faithfulness and fear of God, the adulterous woman reversed the whole affair, and charged him with an attack upon her modesty, in order that she might have her revenge upon him and avert suspicion from herself. She called her house-servants and said, " See, he (her husband, whom she does not think worth naming) has brought us a Hebrew man (" no epitheton ornans to Egyptian ears: xliii. 32") to mock us (pnv to show his wantonness; us, the wife and servants, especially the female portion): he came in unto me to lie with me; and I cried with a loud voice... and he left his garment by rne." She said v^K "by my side," not "in my hand," as that would have shown the true state of the case. She then left the garment lying by her side till the return of Joseph's master, to whom she repeated her tale.

Vers. 19-23. Joseph in prison. — Potiphar was enraged at what he heard, and put Joseph into the prison where ("'t^'t? for D^ '^tJ'^?J xl. 3 like xxxv. 13) the king's prisoners (stateprisoners) were confined. '^'i\Ji:>T\ n^ll: lit. the house of enclosure, from nriDj to surround or enclose (oyypuiyi.a, LXX.); the stateprison surrounded by a wall. This was a very moderate punishment. For according to Diod. Sic. (i. 78) the laws of the Egyptians were TriKpol irepl twv yvva/,K(ov vofiot. An attempt at adultery was to be punished with 1000 blows, and rape upon a free woman still more severely. It is possible that Potiphar was not fully convinced of his wife's chastity, and therefore did not place unlimited credence in what she said.^ But even in that

^ Credihile est aliquod fuisse indicium^ quo Josephum innocentem esse Potiphari constiteret; neque enim servi vita tanti erat ut ei parceretur in tarn gravi delicto. Sed licet innocuum^ in carcere tamen detinebat^ ut uxoris honori et suo consuleret (Clericus). The chastity of Egyptian women has been in bad repute from time immemorial (Diod. Sic. i. 59; Herod, ii. 111). Even in the middle ages the Fatimite Hakim thought it necessary to adopt case it was the mercy of the faithful covenant God, which now as before (xxxvii. 20 sqq.) rescued Joseph's life.

Vers. 21—23. In the prison itself Jehovah was with Joseph, procuring him favour in the eyes of the governor of the prison, so that he entrusted all the prisoners to his care, leaving everything that they had to do, to be done through him, and not troubling himself about anything that was in his hand, i.e. was committed to him, because Jehovah made all that he did to prosper. " The keeper^* was the governor of the prison, or superintendent of the gaolers, and was under Potiphar, the captain of the trabantes and chief of the executioners (chap. xxxvii. 36).

Vers. 1-8. The head cup-bearer and head baker had com mitted crimes against the king of Egypt, and were imprisoned in " the prison of the house of the captain of the trabantes^ the prison where Joseph himself was confined;^* the state-prison, according to Eastern custom, forming part of the same building as the dwelling-house of the chief of the executioners. From a regard to the exalted position of these two prisoners, Potiphar ordered Joseph to wait upon them, not to keep watch over them; for ^l^< Ij^Q does not mean to appoint as guard, but to place by the side of a person. — Ver. 5. After some time Q' days," ver. 4, as in iv. 3), and on the same night, these two prisoners had each a peculiar dream, '^ each one. according to the interpretation of his dream;^^ i.e. each one had a dream corresponding to the interpretation which specially applied to him. On account of these dreams, which seemed to them to have some bearing upon their fate, and, as the issue proved, were really true omens of it, Joseph found them the next morning looking anxious, and asked them the reason of the trouble which was depicted upon their countenances. — Ver. 8. On their replying that they had dreamed, and there was no one to interpret the dream, Joseph reminded them first of all that "interpretations are God's,"" come from severe measures against their immorality (Bar-Hebrsei, cliron. p. 217), and at the present day, according to Burckhardt (arab. Sprichworter, pp. 222, 227), chastity is " a great rarity" among women of every rank in Cairo.

God, are His gift; at the same time he bade them tell him their dreams, from a consciousness, no doubt, that he was endowed with this divine gift.

Vers. 9-15. The cup-bearer gave this account: "/w my dream, behold there was a vine before me, and on the vine three branches; and it was as though blossoming, it shot forth its blossom (njfj either from the hapax L p==njf:^ or from Hif: with the fem. termination resolved into the 3 pers. suff.: Ewald, § 257d), its clusters ripened into grapes. And PharaoKs cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them, into PharaoKs cup, and gave the cup into PharaoKs hand" In this dream the office and duty of the royal cup-bearer were represented in an unmistakeable manner, though the particular details must not be so forced as to lead to the conclusion, that the kings of ancient Egypt drank only the fresh juice of the grape, and not fermented wine as well. The cultivation of the vine, and the making and drinking of wine, among the Egyptians, are established beyond question by ancient testimony and the earliest monuments, notwithstanding the statement of Herodotus (2, 77) to the contrary (see Hengstenberg, Egypt and the Books of Moses, pp. 13 sqq.). — Vers. 12 sqq. Joseph then gave this interpretation: The three branches were three days, in which time Pharaoh would restore him to his post again (" lift up his head," i.e, raise him from his degradation, send and fetch him from prison, 2 Kings xxv. 27). And he added this request (ver. 14): " O^dy think of me, as it goes well with thee, and show favour to me,., for I was stolen (i.«. carried away secretly and by force; I did not abscond because of any crime) out of the land of the Hebrews (the land where the Ibrim live); and here also I have done nothing (committed no crime) /or which they should put me into the hole." 112: the cell, applied to a prison as a miserable hole, because often dry cesspools were used as prisons.

Vers. 16-19. Encouraged by this favourable interpretation, the chief baker also told his dream: " / too,... in my dream: behold, baskets of white bread upon my head, and in the top basket all kinds of food for Pharaoh, pastry; and the birds ate it out of the basket from my head." In this dream, the carrying of the baskets upon the head is thoroughly Egyptian; for, according to Herod. 2, 35, the men in Egypt carry burdens upon the head, the women upon the shoulders. And, according to the monuments, the variety of confectionary was very extensive (cf. Hengst p. 27). In the opening words, ** / too," the baker points to the resemblance between his dream and the cup-bearer's. The resemblance was not confined to the sameness of the numbers— three baskets of white bread, and three branches of the vine, — but was also seen in the fact that his official duty at the court was represented in the dream. But instead of Pharaoh taking the bread from his hand, the birds of heaven ate it out of the basket upon his head. And Joseph gave this interpretation: " The three baskets signify three days: within that time Pharaoh will take away thy head from thee (" lift up thy head," as in ver. 13, but with ^yVp " away from thee," i.e. behead thee), and hang thee on the stake (thy body after execution; vid. Deut. xxi.

22, 23), and the birds vnll eat thy flesh from off thee^ However simple and close this interpretation of the two dreams may appear, the exact accordance with the fulfilment was a miracle wrought by God, and showed that as the dreams originated in the instigation of God, the interpretation was His inspiration also.

Vers. 20-23. Joseph's interpretations were fulfilled three days afterwards, on the king's birth-day. nipn DV: the day of being born; the inf, Hoph. is construed as a passive with the accus, obj.y as in chap. iv. 18, etc. Pharaoh gave his servants a feast, and lifted up the heads of both the prisoners, but in very different ways. The cup-bearer was pardoned, and reinstated in his office; the baker, on the other hand, was executed. — Ver.

23. But the former forgot Joseph in his prosperity, and did nothing to procure his liberation.

Vers. 1-36. Pharaoh's dreams and their interpretation.— Two full years afterwards (Q^PJ accus. " in days," as in chap. xxix. 14) Pharaoh had a dream. He was standing by the Nile, and saw seven fine fat cows ascend from the Nile and feed in the Nile-grass (IHK an Egyptian word); and behind them seven others, ugly (according to ver. 19, unparalleled in their ugliness), lean ("IK^S nipl " thin in flesh," for which we find in ver. 19 ni^ " fallen away," and "IK^^ nSpi withered in flesh, fleshless), which placed themselves beside those fat ones on the brink of the Nile and devoured them, without there being any effect to show that they had eaten them. He then awoke, but fell asleep again and had a second, similar dream: seven fat (ver. 22, full) and fine ears grew upon one blade, and were swallowed up by seven thin (ver. 23, " and hardened") ones, which were blasted by the east wind (^^"11^ i.e. the S.E. wind, Chamsin, from the desert of Arabia). — Ver. 7. " Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold it was a di^eam." The dream was so like reality, that it was only when he woke that he perceived it was a dream. — Ver. 8. Being troubled about this double dream, Pharaoh sent the next morning for all the scribes and wise men of Egypt, to have it interpreted. D^Dp")nj from tO'in a stylus (pencil), are the lepoypafi/jbareUy men of the priestly caste, who occupied themselves with the sacred arts and sciences of the Egyptians, the hieroglyphic writings, astrology, the interpretation of dreams, the foretelling of events, magic, and conjuring, and who were regarded as the possessors of secret arts (yid. Ex. vii. 11) and the wise men of the nation. But not one of these could interpret it, although the clue to the interpretation was to be found in the religious symbols of Egypt. For the cow was the symbol of Isis, the goddess of the all-sustaining earth, and in the hieroglyphics it represented the earth, agriculture, and food; and the Nile, by its overflowing, was the source of the fertility of the land. But however simple the explanation of the fat and lean cows ascending out of the Nile appears ^ be, it is " the fate of the wisdom of this world, that where it suffices it is compelled to be silent. For it belongs to the government of God to close the lips of the eloquent, and take away the understanding of the aged (Job xii. 20)." Baumgarten,

Vers. 9 sqq. In this dilemma the head cup-bearer thought of Joseph; and calling to mind his offence against the king (xl. 1), and his ingratitude to Joseph (xl. 23), he related to the king how Joseph had explained their dreams to him and the chief baker in the prison, and how entirely the interpretation had come true. — Vers. 14 sqq. Pharaoh immediately sent for Joseph. As quickly as possible he was fetched from the prison; and after shaving the hair of his head and beard, and changing his clothes, as the customs of Egypt required (see Hengst. Egypt and the Books of Moses, p. 30), he went in to the king. On the king's saying to him, " / have heard of thee {T?V de te), thou hearest a dream to interpret it,^' — i.e. thou only needest to hear a dream, and thou canst at once interpret it, -Joseph replied, " Not I (^Vf^j lit, " not so far as me," this is not in my power, vid. xiv. 24), God will answer PharaoKs good,^ i.e. what shall profit Pharaoh; just as in chap. xl. 8 he had pointed the two prisoners away from himself to God. Pharaoh then related his double dream (vers. 17-24), and Joseph gave the interpretation (vers. 25-32): '^The dream of Fharaoh is one (i.e. the two dreams have the same meaning); God hath shoiced Pharaoh what He is about to do.** The seven cows and seven ears of corn were seven years, the fat ones very fertile years of superabundance, the lean ones very barren years of famine; the latter would follow the former over the whole land of Egypt, so that the years of famine would leave no trace of the seven fruitful years; and, "/or that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice " {i.e. so far as this fact is concerned, it signifies) " that the thing is firmly resolved by Gody and God will quickly carry it out.*' In the confidence of this interpretation which looked forward over fourteen years, the divinely enlightened seer s glance was clearly manifested, and could not fail to make an impression upon the king, when contrasted with the perplexity of the Egyptian augurs and wise men. Joseph followed up his interpretation by the advice (vers. 33-36), that Pharaoh should " look out (^"}.!'.) a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt; " and cause (^W) that in the seven years of superabundance he should raise fifths (K^n)j i.e. the fifth part of the harvest, through overseers, and have the corn, or the stores of food (/ri^), laid up in the cities " under the hand of the king," i.e. by royal authority and direction, as food for the land for the seven years of famine, that it might not perish through famine.

Vers. 37-57. Joseph's promotion. — This counsel pleased Pharaoh and all his servants, so that he said to them, " Shall we find a man like this one, in whom the Spirit of God is V* " The Spirit of Elohim;** i.e. the spirit of supernatural insight and wisdom. He then placed Joseph over his house, and over all Egypt; in other words, he chose him as his grand vizier, saying to him, " After God hath showed thee all this, there is none discreet and wise as thou.** P^\ ^^?"^V, " according to thy mouth (i.e. command, chap. xlv. 21) shall my whole people arrange itself** P?^J does not mean to kiss (Rabb., Ges., etc.), for ^V p^^ is not Hebrew, and kissing the mouth was not customary as an act of homage, but " to dispose, arrange one's self" {ordine disposuit). *^ Onli/ in the throne will I be greater than thou^ — Vers. 42 sqq. As an installation in this post of honour, the king handed him his signet-ring, the seal which the grand vizier or prime minister wore, to give authority to the royal edicts (Esth. iii. 10), clothed him in a byssus dress (W^ fine muslin or white cotton fabric),^ and put upon his neck the golden chain, which was usually worn in Egypt as a mark of distinction, as the Egyptian monuments show (Hgst. pp. 30, 31). — Ver. 43. He tlien had him driven in the second chariot, the chariot which followed immediately upon the king's state-carriage; that is to say, he directed a solemn procession to be made through the city, in which they (heralds) cried before him T)?'^ (i-e- bow down), — an Egyptian word, which has been pointed by the Masorites according to the Hiphil or Aphel of ^"13. In Coptic it is abork, projicere, with the signs of the imperative and the second person. Thus he placed him over all Egypt. pri31 inf, absoL as a continuation of the finite verb (vid, Ex. viii. 11; Lev. xxv. 14, etc.). — Ver. 44. " lam Pharaoh,^ he said to him, " and without thee shall no man lift his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt;" Le, I am the actual king, and thou, the next to me, shalt rule over all my people. — Yer. 45. But in order that Joseph might be perfectly naturalized, the king gave him an Egyptian name, Zaphnath-Paaneah, and married him to Asenathy the daughter of Potipherah, the priest at On. The name Zaphnath-Paaneah (a form adapted to the Hebrew, for Wov6ofjL(f>avT]'^ (LXX.); according to a Greek scholium, awrrjp KoaiJLoVy " salvator mundi" {Jerome))^ answers to the Coptic P'SOte-m-ph-enehy — P the article, sote salvation, m the sign of the genitive, ph the article, and eneh the world (lit, cetas, seculum); or perhaps more correctly, according to Bosellini and more recent Egyptologists, to the Coptic P-sont-em-phranh, i.e. sustentator vitcBy support or sustainer of life, with reference to the call entrusted to him by God.^ Asenathy ^AaeveO (LXX.), possibly

^ See my Bibl. Antiquities, § 17, 5. The reference, no doubt, is to the iadtirot T^tuinv^ worn by the Egyptian priests, which was not made of linen, but of i\iQfrutez quem aliqui gossipion vacant^ plures xylon et ideo LINA inde facia xylina. Nee ulla sunt eis candore mollitiave prseferenda. — Vestes inde sacerdotibus jiEgypti gratissimae. Plin. h. n. xix. 1.

2 Luther in his version, '* privy councillor," follows the rabbinical explanation, which was already to be found in Josephus (Ant. ii. 6, 1): x.pvTnZB *vpir9}s^ from n^D^ == DIJIDV occulta^ and njyD revelator.

connected with the name Neitli, the Egyptian Pallas. Poti- Phera, IIeTe(^prj (LXX.), a Coptic name signifying ille qui solis est, consecrated to the sun ((pprj witli the aspirated article signifies the sun in Memphitic). On was the popular name for Ileliopolls (HXLovTroXi^;, LXX.), and according to CyrilL Alex, ad Hos. V. 8 signifies the sun; whilst the name upon the monuments is ta-Rd or pa-Ed, house of the sun (Brugsch, lleisebericht, p. 50). From a very early date there was a celebrated temple of the sun here, with a learned priesthood, which held the first place among the priests' colleges of Egypt {Herod. 2, 3; Heiigst. pp. 32 sqq.). This promotion of Joseph, from the position of a Hebrew slave pining in prison to the highest post of honour in the Egyptian kingdom, is perfectly conceivable, on the one hand, from the great importance attached in ancient times to the interpretation of dreams and to all occult science, especially among the Egyptians, and on the other hand, from the despotic form of government in the East; but the miraculous power of God is to be seen in the fact, that God endowed Joseph with the gift of infallible interpretation, and so ordered the circumstances that this gift opened the way for him to occupy that position in which he became the preserver, not of Egypt alone, but of his own family also. And the same hand of God, by which he had been so highly exalted after deep degradation, preserved him in his lofty post of honour from sinking into the heathenism of Egypt; although, by his alliance with the daughter of a priest of the sun, the most distinguished caste in the land, he had fully entered into the national associations and customs of the land. — Ver. 46. Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh, and went out from him and passed through all the land of Egypt, i.e. when he took possession of his ofhce; consequently he had been in Egypt for 13 years as a slave, and at least three years

Vers. 47 sqq. For the seven years of superabundance the land bore D'V^p?, in full hands or bundles; and Joseph gathered all the provisional store of these years (i.e. the fifth part of the produce, which was levied) into the cities. " The food of the field of the city, which was round about it, he brought into the midst of it;' i.e. he provided granaries in the towns, in which the corn of the whole surrounding country was stored. In this manner he collected as much com " as the sand of the sea," until he left off reckoning the quantity, or calculating the number of bushels, which the monuments prove to have been the usual mode adopted (vid. Ilengst. p. 36). — Vers. 50-52. During the fruitful years two sons were born to Joseph. Tlie first-born he named Manasseh, i.e. causing to forget; "/or, he said, God hath made me forget all my toil and all my father^ s house (^^^^, an Aram. Piel form, for ""^K^^, on account of the resemblance in sound to TWyd)^ Hcec pia est, ac sancta gratiarum actio, quod Deus oblivisci eum fecit pristinas omnes cerumnas: sed nullus honor tanti esse debuit, ut desiderium et memoriam patemce domus ex animo deponeret {Calvin). But the true answer to the question, whether it was a Christian boast for him to make, that he had forgotten father and mother, is given by Luther: " I see that God would take away the reliance which I placed upon my father; for God is a jealous God, and will not suffer the heart to have any other foundation to rely upon, but Him alone." This also meets the objection raised by Theodoret, why Joseph did not inform his father of his life and promotion, but allowed so many years to pass away, until he was led to do so at last in consequence of the arrival of his brothers. The reason of this forgetfulness and silence can only be found in the fact, that through the wondrous alteration in his condition he had been led to see, that he was brought to Egypt according to the counsel of God, and was redeemed by God from slavery and prison, and had been exalted by Him to be lord over Egypt; so that, knowing he was in the hand of God, the firmness of his faith led him to renounce all wilful interference with the purposes of God, which pointed to a still broader and more glorious goal {Baumgarten, Delitzsch). — Ver. 52. The second son he named Ephraim, i.e, double-fruitfulness; "/or God hath made me fruitful in the land of my affliction^ Even after his elevation Egypt still continued the land of affliction, so that in this word we may see one trace of a longing for the promised land. — Vers. 53-57. When the years of scarcity commenced, at the close of the years of plenty, the famine spread over all (the neighbouring) lands; only in Egypt was there bread. As the famine increased in the land, and the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, he directed them to Joseph, who " opened all in which was" (bread), i.e. all the granaries, and sold corn (*^^^, denom. from "^^K^, signifies to trade in corn, to buy and sell corn) to the Egyptians, and

(as the writer adds, with a view to what follows) to all the world (pKn"73j ver. 57), that came thither to buy corn, because the famine was great on every hand. — Years of famine have frequently fallen, like this one, upon Egypt, and the neighbouring countries to the north. The cause of this is to be seen in the fact, that the overflowing of the Nile, to which Egypt is indebted for its fertility, is produced by torrents of rain falling in the alpine regions of Abyssinia, which proceed from clouds formed in the Mediterranean and carried thither by the wind; consequently it has a common origin with the rains of Palestine (see the proofs in Hengst. pp. 37 sqq.).

Vers. 1-6. With the words " Why do ye look atone anotherV^ viz. in such a helpless and undecided manner, Jacob exhorted his sons to fetch com from Egypt, to preserve his family from starvation. Joseph's ten brothers went, as their aged father would not allow his youngest son Benjamin to go with them, for fear that some calamity might befall him (N"^iJ = i^'^\>^ xliv. 29 as in ver- 38 and xlix. 1); and they came " in the midst of the comers^'' i.e, among others who came from the same necessity, and bowed down before Joseph with their faces to the earth. For he was " the ruler over the land," and had the supreme control of the sale of the corn, so that they were obliged to apply to him. t3wn seems to have been the standing title which the Shemites gave to Joseph as ruler in Egypt; and from this the later legend of SaXarc^ the first king of the Hyksos arose (Josephus c. Ap. i. 14). The only other passages in which the word occurs in the Old Testament are in writings of the captivity or a still later date, and there it is taken from the Chaldee; it belongs, however, not merely to the Aramaean thesaurus, but to the Arabic also, from which it was introduced into the passage before us.

Vers. 7-17. Joseph recognised his brothers at once; but they could not recognise a brother who had not been seen for 20 years, and who, moreover, had not only become thoroughly Egyptianized, but had risen to be a great lord. And he acted as a foreigner ("^3^^^!) towards them, speaking harshly, and asking them whence they had come. In ver. 7, according to a truly Semitic style of narrative, we have a condensation of what is more circumstantially related in vers. 8-17. — Vers. 9 sqq. As the sight of his brethren bowing before him with the deepest reverence reminded Joseph of his early dreams of the sheaves and stars, which had so increased the hatred of his brethren towards him as to lead to a proposal to kill him, and an actual sale, he said to them, " Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land (i.e, the unfortified parts of the kingdom which would be easily accessible to a foe) ye are come;^' and persisted in this charge notwithstanding their reply, ''Nay, my lord, hut (1 see Ges. § 155, 16) ^o buy food are thy servants come. We are all one mans sons i^^^\ for 'i^n^t^j only in Ex. xvi. 7, 8; Num. xxxii. 32; 2 Sam. xvii. 12; Lam. iii. 42): honest (D^Pr) «^^ ^^; thy servants are no spies J^ Cum exploratio sit delictum capitale, non est verisimile; quod pater tot filios uno tempore vitce periculo expositurus sit {J, Gerhard). But as their assertion failed to make any impression upon the Egyptian lord, they told him still more particularly about their family (vers. 13 sqq.): " Twelve are thy servants, brothers are we, sons of a man in the land of Canaan; and behold the youngest is now with our father, and one is no more (}^'*^ as in chap, v. 24). Joseph then replied, " That is it (xin neut. like xx. 16) that I spake unto you, saying ye are spies. By this shall ye be proved: By the life of Pharaoh! ye shall not (D^, like xiv. 23) go hence, unless your youngest brother come hither. Send one of yon^ and let him fetch your brother; but ye shall be in bonds, and yo-ur words shall be proved, whether there be truth in you or not. By the life of Pharaoh! ye are truly spies T He then had them put into custody for three days. By the coming of the youngest brother, Joseph wanted to test their assertion, not because he thought it possible that he might not be living with them, and they might have treated him as they did Joseph {Kn.), but because he wished to discover their feelings towards Benjamin, and see what affection they had for this son of Rachel, who had taken Joseph's place as his father's favourite. And with his harsh mode of addressing them, Joseph had no intention whatever to administer to his brethren " a just punishment for their wickedness towards him," for his heart could not have stooped to such mean revenge; but he wanted to probe thoroughly the feelings of their hearts, " whether they felt that they deserved the pun- ishment of God for the sin they had committed,'* and how they felt towards their aged father and their youngest brother.^ Even in the fact that he did not send the one away directly to fetch Benjamin, and merely detain the rest, but put the whole ten in prison, and afterwards modified his threat (vers. 18 sqq.), there was no indecision as to the manner in which he should behave towards them — no "wavering between thoughts of wrath and revenge on the one hand, and forgiving love and meekness on the other;" but he hoped by imprisoning them to make his brethren feel the earnestness of his words, and to give them time for reflection, as the curt "is no more" with which they had alluded to Joseph's removal was a sufficient proof that they had not yet truly repented of the deed.

Vers. 18-25. On the third day Joseph modified his severity. " This do and live^^ i.e. then ye shall live: " / fear God" One shall remain in prison, but let the rest of you take home "corn for the famine of your families," and fetch your youngest brother, that your words may be verified, and ye may not die, i.e. may not suffer the death that spies deserve. That he might not present the appearance of <iespotic caprice and tyranny by too great severity, and so render his brethren obdurate, Joseph stated as the reason for his new decision, that he feared God. From the fear of God, he, the lord of Egypt, would not punish or slay these strangers upon mere suspicion, but would judge them justly. How differently had they acted towards their brother! The ruler of all Egypt had compassion on their families who were in Canaan suffering from hunger; but they had

^ Joseph nihil aliud agit quam ut revelet peccatura fratnim hoc durissimo opere et sermone. Descendunt enim Id Mgjiptnm una cum aliis emtum frumentum, securi et negligentes tam atrocis delicti, cujus sibi erant conscii, quasi nihil unquam deliquissent contra patrem decrepitiim aut fratrem innocentem, cogitant Joseph jam diu exemtum esse rebus humanis, patrem vero rerum omnium ignarum esse. Quid ad nos? Non agunt poenitentiam. Hi sihces et adamantes frangendi et conterendi sunt ac aperiendi oculi eorum, ut videant atrocitatem sceleris sui, idque ubi perfecit Joseph statim verbis et gestibus humaniorem se prsBbet eoeque honorifice tractat. — HsBC igitur atrocitas scelerum movit Joseph ad explorandos animos fratrum accuratius, ita ut non solum priorum delictorum sed et cogitationum pravarum memoriam renovaret, ac fuit sane inquisitio satis ingrata et acerba et tamen ab animo placidissimo profecta. Ego durius eos tractassem. Sed h»c acerbitas, quam prae se fert, non pertinet ad vindicandum injuriara sed ad salutarem eorum poenitentiam, nt humilientur. — Luther.

intended to leave their brother in the pit to starve! These and similar thoughts could hardly fail to pass involuntarily through their minds at Joseph's words, and to lead them to a penitential acknowledgment of their sin and unrij^hteousness. The notion that Joseph altered his first intention merely from regard to his much afflicted father, appears improbable, for the simple reason, that he can only have given utterance to the threat that he would keep them all in prison till one of them had gone and fetched Benjamin, for the purpose of giving the greater force to his accusation, that they were spies. But as he was uot serious in making this charge, he could not for a moment have thought of actually carrying out the threat. ''And they did so:'^ in these words the writer anticipates the result of the colloquy which ensued, and which is more fully narrated afterwards. Joseph's intention was fulfilled. The brothers now saw in what had happened to them a divine retribution: ''Surely we atone because of our brother, whose anguish of soul we saw, when he entreated us and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon ws." And Reuben reminded them how he had warned them to no purpose, not to sin against the boy — "and even his blood... behold it is required^* (cf. ix. 5); i.e. not merely the sin of casting him into the pit and then selling him, but his death also, of which we have been guilty through that sale. Thus they accused themselves in Joseph's presence, not knowing that he could understand; "for the interpreter was between them" Joseph had conversed with them through an interpreter, as an Egyptian who was ignorant of their language. " The interpreter," viz. the one appointed for that purpose; rii:^2 like xxvi. 28. But Joseph understood their words, and "turned away and wept" (ver. 24), with inward emotion at the wonderful leadings of divine grace, and at the change in his brothers' feelings. He then turned to them again, and, continuing the conversation with them, had Simeon bound before their eyes, to be detained as a hostage (not Reuben, who had dissuaded them from killing Joseph, and had taken no part in the sale, but Simeon, the next in age). He then ordered his men to fill their sacks with corn, to give every one {^^ as in chap. xv. 10) his money back in his sack, and to provide them with food for the journey.

Vers. 26—38. Thus they started with their asses laden with the corn. On the way, when they had reached their halting- place for the night, one of them opened his sack to feed the ass, and found his money in it. p^D, camping-place for the night, is merely a resting-place, not an inn, both here and in Ex. iv. 24; for there can hardly have been caravanserais at that time, either in the desert or by the desert road, nnnox: an antiquated word for a corn-sack, occurring only in these chapters, and used even here interchangeably with P^. — Ver 28. When this discovery was made known to the brethren, their hearts sank within them. They turned trembling to one another, and said, " What is this that God hath done to us! " Joseph had no doubt had the money returned, " merely because it was against his nature to trade with his father and brethren for bread;" just as he had caused them to be supphed with food for the journey, for no other reason than to give them a proof of his good-will. And even if he may have thought it possible that the brothers would be alarmed when they found the money, and thrown into a state of much greater anxiety from the fear of being still further accused by the stern lord of Egypt of cheating or of theft, there was no reason why he should spare them this anxiety, since it could only help to break their hard hearts still more At any rate, this salutary effect was really produced, even if Joseph had no such intention. The brothers looked upon this incomprehensible affair as a punishment from God, and neglected in their alarm to examine the rest of the sacks. — Vers. 29-34. On their arrival at home, they told their father all that had occurred. — Vers. 35 sqq. But when they emptied their sacks, and) to their own and their father's terror, found their bundles of money in their separate sacks, Jacob burst out with the complaint, ^' Ye are making me childless! Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone, and will ye take Benjamin! All this falls upon m,e " ('"'Jp? for |p3 as in Pro v. xxxi. 29). — Vers. 37, 38. Reuben then offered his two sons to Jacob as pledges for Benjamin, if Jacob would entrust him to his care: Jacob might slay them, if he did not bring Benjamin back — the greatest and dearest offer that a son could make to a father. But Jacob refused to let him go. " If mischief befell him by the way^ ye would bring down my grey hairs with sorrow into Sheol " (cf. xxxvii. 35).

THE SECOND VISIT OF JOSEPH S BRETHREN TO EGYPT, ALONG WITH BENJAMIN. — CHAP. XLIII.

Vers. 1-15. When the corn brouglit from Egypt was all consumed, as the famine still continued, Jacob called upon his sons to go down and fetch a little corn (little in proportion to their need). — Vers. 3 sqq. Judah then declared, that they would not go there again unless their father sent Benjamin with them; for the man (Joseph) had solemnly protested (ivn ^V^) that they should not see his face without their youngest brother. Judah undertook the consultation with his father about Benjamin's going, because Reuben, the eldest son, had already been refused, and Levi, who followed Reuben and Simeon, had forfeited his father's confidence through his treachery to the Shechemites (chap, xxxiv.). — Vers. 6 sqq. To the father's reproachful question, why they had dealt so ill with him, as to tell the man that they had a brother, Judah replied: ''The man asked after us and our kinsmen: Is your father yet alive? have ye a brother? And we answered him in conformity (^3 ^V as in Ex. xxxiv. 27, etc.) with these words (i.e. with his questions). Could we know, then, that he would say, Bring your brother down? " Joseph had not made direct inquiries, indeed, about their father and their brother; but by his accusation that they were spies, he had compelled them to give an exact account of their family relationships. So that Judah, when repeating the main points of the interview, could very justly give them in the form just mentioned.— Yer. 8. He then repeated the only condition on which they would go to Egypt again, referring to the death by famine which threatened them, their father, and their children, and promising that he would himself be surety for the youth ("'I^i''!!, Benjamin was twenty-three years old), and saying, that if he did not restore him, he would bear the blame (^^C ^^ ^® guilty ^^ ^ sin and atone for it, as in 1 Kings i. 21) his whole life long. He then concluded with the deciding words, ''for if we had not delayed, surely we should already have returned a second time.^' — Yer. 11. After this, the old man gave way to what could not be avoided, and let Benjamin go. But that nothing might be wanting on his part, which could contribute to the success of the journey, he suggested that they should take a present for the man, and that they should also take the money which was brought back in their sacks, in addition to what was necessary for the corn they were to purchase; and he then commended them to the mercy of Almighty God. " If it must he so, yet do this (fc<iQ?< belongs to the imperative, although it precedes it here, cf. xxvn. 37): take of the prize (the most choice productions) of the land —a little balm and a little honey (t^^?l the Arabian dibs, either new honey from bees, or more probably honey from grapes,— a thick syrup boiled from sweet grapes, which is still carried every year from Hebron to Egypt), gum-dragon and myrrh (yid. xxxvn. 25), pistachio nuts and almondsr D^???, which are not mentioned anywhere else, are, according to the Samar. vers., the fruit of the pistacia vera, a tree resembling the terebinth,— long angular nuts of the size of hazel-nuts, with an oily kernel of a pleasant flavour; it does not thrive in Palestine now, but the nuts are imported from Aleppo.— Ver. 12. " And take second (i.e. more) money ip^^ ^D? is different from ^^'^7^^'^ doubling of the money = double money, ver. 15) in your hand; and the money that returned in your sacks take with you again; perhaps it is a mistake;' i.e. was put in your sacks by mistake.— Ver. 14. Thus Israel let his sons go with the blessing, " God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he mxiy liberate to you your other brother (Simeon) and Benjamin;'' and with this resigned submission to the will of God, " And I, if lam bereaved, lam bereaved," I e if I am to lose my children, let it be so! For this mode of expression, cf. Esth. iv. 16 and 2 Kings vii. 4. ^n^^K^ with the pausal a, answering to the feelings of the speaker, which is frequently used for 0; e.g. ^'1^\ for ^^l?\, chap. xlix. 27.

Vers. 16-25. When the brethren appeared before Joseph, he ordered his steward to take them into the house, and prepare a dinner for them and for him. nhL5 the original form of the imperative for nnp. But the brethren were alarmed, thinking that they were taken into the house because of the money which returned the first time (2m which came back, they could not imagine how), that he might take them unawares (lit. roll upon them), and fall upon them, and keep them as slaves, along with their asses. For the purpose of averting what they dreaded, they approached (ver. 19) the steward and told him, "at the door of the house," before they entered therefore, how, at the first purchase of corn, on opening their sacks, they found the money that had been paid, " every one's money in the mouth of his sack, our money according to its weight,*^ i.e. in full, and had now brought it back, together with some more money to buy corn, and they did not know who had put their money in their sacks (vers. 20-22). The steward, who was initiated into Joseph's plans, replied in a pacifying tone, " Peace be to you (D3^ Di^K^ is not a form of salutation here, but of encouragement, as in tludg. vi. 23): fear not; your God and the God of your father has given you a treasure in your sacks; your money came to me; " and at the same time, to banish all their fear, he brought Simeon out to them. He then conducted them into Joseph's house, and received them in Oriental fashion as the guests of his lord. But, previous to Joseph's arrival, they arranged the present which they had brought with them, as they heard that they were to dine with him.

Vers. 26-34. WTien Joseph came home, they handed him the present with the most reverential obeisance. — Ver. 27. Joseph first of all inquired after their own and their father's health (D^i^K^ first as substantive, then as adjective = Dp^ xxxiii. 18), whether he was still living; which they answered with tlianks in the affirmative, making the deepest bow. His eyes then fell upon Benjamin, the brother by his own mother, and he asked whether this was their youngest brother; but without waiting for their reply, he exclaimed, " God he gracious to thee, my son.'" ^^nj for l^n^. as in Isa. XXX. 19 (cf. Ewald, § 251 J). He addressed him as " my son," in tender and, as it were, paternal affection, and with special regard to his youth. Benjamin was 16 years younger than Joseph, and was quite an infant when Joseph was sold. — Vers. 30, 31. And "his (Joseph's) bowels did yearn" (l"i^?^ lit, were compressed, from the force of love to his brother), so that he was obliged to seek (a place) as quickly as possible to weep, and went into the chamber, that he might give vent to his feelings in tears; after which, he washed his face and came out again, and, putting constraint upon himself, ordered the dinner to be brought in. — Vers. 32, 33. Separate tables were prepared for him, for his brethren, and for the Egyptians who dined with them. This was required by the Egyptian spirit of caste, which neither allowed Joseph, as minister of state and a member of the priestly order, to eat along with Egyptians who were below him, nor the latter along with the Hebrews as foreigners. " TTiey cannot (i.e. may not) eat (cf. Deut. xii. 17, xvi. 5, xvii. 15). For ifds was an abomination to the Egyptians,^'' The Hebrews aud others, for example, slaughtered and ate animals, even female animals, which were regarded by the Egyptians as sacred; so that, according to Herod, ii. 41, no Egyptian would use the knife, or fork, or saucepan of a Greek, nor would any eat of the flesh of a clean animal which had been cut up with a Grecian knife (cf. Ex. viii. 22). — Vers. 33, 34. The brothers sat in front of Joseph, 'Hhe Jirst-born according to his birthright, and the smallest (youngest) according to his smallnesi (youth);" i.e, the places were arranged for them according to their ages, so that they looked at one another with astonishment, since this arrangement necessarily impressed them with the idea that this great man had been supernaturally enlightened as to their family affairs. To do them honour, they brought (KK^, Ges. § 137, 3) them dishes from Joseph, i.e. from his table; and to show especial honour to Benjamin, his portion tvas five times larger than that of any of the others (DiT Ut. hands, grasps, as in chap, xlvii. 24; 2 Kings xi. 7). The custom is met with elsewhere of showing respect to distinguished guests by giving them the largest and best pieces (1 Sara. ix. 23, 24; Homer, II. 7, 321; 8, 162, etc.), by double portions (e.g. the kings among the Spartans, Herod. 6, 57), and even by fourfold portions in the case of the Archons among the Cretans (^Ileraclid. polit. 3). But among the Egyptians the number 5 appears to have been preferred to any other (cf. chap. xli. 34, xlv. 22, xlvii. 2, 24; Isa. xix. 18). By this partiality Joseph intended, with a view to his further plans, to draw out his brethren to show their real feelings towards Benjamin, that he might see whether they would envy and hate him on account of this distinction, as they had formerly envied him his long coat with sleeves, and hated him because he was his fathei''s favourite (xxxvii. 3, 4). This honourable treatment and entertainment banished all their anxiety and fear. " They drank, and drank largely ivith him,^^ i.e, they were perfectly satisfied with what they ate and drank; not, they were intoxicated (cf. Hag. i. 9).

Vers. 1-13. The test. — Vers. 1, 2. After the dinner Joseph had his brothers' sacks filled by his steward with corn, a? much as they could hold, and every one's money placed inside; and

III addition to that, had his own silver goblet put into Benjamin's sack. — Vers. 3-G. Then as soon as it was light ("liK, 3d pers. perf. in o: Ges. § 72, 1), they were sent away with their asses. But they were hardly outside the town, " not far off," when he directed his steward to follow the men, and as soon as he overtook them, to say, " Wherefore have ye re^mrded evil for good? Is it not this from which my lord drinketh, and he is accustomed to prophesy from it? Ye have done an evil deed T^ By these words they were accused of theft; the thing was taken for granted as well known to them all, and the goblet purloined was simply described as a very valuable possession of Joseph's, t^^nj: lit. to whisper, to mumble out formularies, incantations, then to prophesy, divinare. According to this, the Egyptians at that time practised XeKavoaKOirir) or XeKavo^avrela and vBpo/jLavT6La, the plate and water incantations, of which Jamblichus speaks (de myst. iii. 14), and which consisted in pouring clean water into a goblet, and then looking into the water for representations of future events; or in pouring water into a goblet or dish, dropping in pieces of gold and silver, also precious stones, and then observing and interpreting the appearances in the water (cf. Varro apud August, civ, Dei 7, 35; Flin, h, n. 37, 73; Straho, xvi. p. 762). Traces of this have been continued even to our own day (see Norden s Journey through Egypt and Nubia). But we cannot infer with certainty from this, that Joseph actually adopted this superstitious practice. The intention of the statement may simply have been to represent the goblet as a sacred vessel, and Joseph as acquainted with the most secret things (ver. 15). — Vers. 7-9. In the consciousness of their innocence the brethren repelled this charge with indignation, and appealed to the fact that they brought back the gold which was found in their sacks, and therefore could not possibly have stolen gold or silver; and declared that whoever should be found in possession of the goblet, should be put to death, and the rest become slaves. — Ver. 10. The man replied, ''Now let it he even (03 placed first for the sake of emphasis) according to your words: with whom it is found, he shall he my slave, and ye (the rest) shall remain hlamelessJ^ Thus he modified the sentence, to assume the appearance of justice.— Vers. 11-13. They then took down their sacks as quickly as possible; and he examined them, beginning with the eldest and finishing with the youngest; and the goblet was found iu Benjamin's sack. With anguish and alarm at this new calamity they rent their clothes (yid. xxxvii. 34), loaded their asses again, and returned to the city. It would now be seen how they felt in their inmost hearts towards their father's favourite, who had been so distinguished by the great man of Egypt: w^hether now as formerly they were capable of giving up their brother, and bringing their aged father with sorrow to the grave; or whether they were ready, with unenvying, self-sacrificing love, to give up their own liberty and lives for him. And they stood this test.

Vers. 14-34. Result of the test. — Vers. 14-17. With Judah leading the way, they came into the house to Joseph, and fell down before him begging for mercy. Joseph spoke to them harshly: " What kind of deed is this that ye have done f Did ye not know that such a man as I (^a. man initiated into the most secret things) would certainly divine this? " ^^^ augurari. Jndah made no attempt at a defence. " miat shall we say to my lord? how speak, how clear ourselves? God (Ha-Elohim, the personal God) has found out the wickedness of thy servants (i.e. He is now punishing the crime committed against our brother, cf. xlii. 21). Behold, we are my lord!s slaves, both we, and he in whose hand the cup was founds But Joseph would punish mildly and justly. The guilty one alone should be his slave; the others might go in peace, i.e, uninjured, to their father. — Vers. 18 sqq. But that the brothers could not do. Judah, who had pledged himself to his father for Benjamin, ventured in the anguish of his heart to approach Joseph, and implore him to liberate his brother. " I would give y^rj much," says Luther, " to be able to pray to our Lord God as well as Judah prays to Joseph here; for it is a perfect specimen of prayer, the true feeling that there ought to be in prayer." Beginning with the request for a gracious hearing, as he was speaking to the ears of one who was equal to Pharaoh (who could condemn or pardon like the king), Judah depicted in natural, affecting, powerful, and irresistible words the love of their aged father to this son of his old age, and his grief when they told him that they were not to come into the presence of the lord of Egypt again without Benjamin; the intense anxiety with which, after a severe struggle, their father had allowed him to come, after he

(Judah) had offered to be answerable for his life; and the grievous fact, that if they returned without the youth, they must bring down the grey hairs of their father with sorrow to the grave. — Ver. 21. To ^' set eyes upon him'* signifies, with a gracious intention, to show him good-Avill (as in Jer. xxxix. 12, xl. 4). — Ver. 27. " That my wife bore me two (sons):" Jacob regards Rachel alone as his actual wife (cf. xlvi. 19). — Ver. 28 ""P^^J, preceded by a preterite, is to be rendered " and I was obliged to say. Only (nothing but) torn in pieces has he become,^'— Ver. 30. '^ His soul is bound to his soul:'' equivalent to, " he clings to him with all his soul." — Vers. 33, 34. Judah closed his appeal with the entreaty, ''Now let thy servant (me) remain instead of the lad as slave to my lordy but let the lad go up with his brethren; for how could I go to my father without the lad being with me! (I cannot,) that I may not see the calamity which will befall my father! "

Vers. 1-15. The recognition. — Ver. 1. After this appeal, in which Judah, speaking for his brethren, had shown the tenderest affection for the old man who had been bowed down by their sin, and the most devoted fraternal love and fidelity to the only remaining son of his beloved Rachel, and had given a sufficient proof of the change of mind, the true conversion, that had taken place in themselves, Joseph could not restrain himself any longer in relation to all those who stood round him. He was obliged to relinquish the part which he had hitherto acted for the purpose of testing his brothers' hearts, and to give full vent to his feelings. " He called out: Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man (of his Egyptian attendants), with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brethren" quia effusio ilia affectuum et cTTopyrjf; erga fratres et parentem tantafuit^ ut non posset ferre alienorum prcesentiam et aspectum (Luther), — Vers. 2, 3. As soon as all the rest were gone, he broke out into such loud weeping, that the Egyptians outside could hear it; and the house of Pharaoh, i.e, the royal family, was told of it (cf. vers. 2 and 16). He then said to his brethren: "/am Joseph. h my father still alive V That his father was still living, he had not only been informed before (xliii. 27), but had just been told again; but his filial heart impels him to make sure of it once more.° " But his brethren could not ansiver him, for they were terrified before him: " they were so smitten in their consciences, that from astonishment and terror they could not utter a word. —Vers. 4, 5. Joseph then bade his brethren approach nearer, and said: " / am Joseph, your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. But now be not grieved nor angry with yourselves (D3'?;vn in^-i'X as in chap. xxxi. 35) that ye sold me hither; for God hath sent me before you to preserve life.'* Sic enim Joseph interpretatur venditionem. Vos quidem me vendidistis, sed Deus emit, asseruit et vindicavit me sibi pastorem, principem et salvatorem populorum, eodem consilio, quo videbar amissus et perditus (Luther). " For," he continues in explanation, " now there are two years of famine in the land, and there are five years more, in which there will be no ploughing and reaping. And God hath sent me before you to establish you a remnant (cf. 2 Sam. xiv. 7) upon the earth (i.e.^ to secure to you the preservation of the tribe and of posterity during this famine), and to preserve your lives to a great deliverance'' i.e. to a great nation delivered from destruction, cf. 1. 20. HD^bsa that which has escaped, the band of men or multitude escaped from death and destruction (2 Kings xix. 30, 31). Joseph announced prophetically here, that God had brought him into Egypt to preserve through him the family which He had chosen for His own nation, and to deliver them out of the danger of starvation which threatened them now, as a very great nation.— Ver. 8. ''And now (this was truly the case) it was not you that sent me hither; but God {Ha-Elohim, the personal God, in contrast with his brethren) hath made me a father to Pharaoh {i.e. his most confidential counsellor and friend; cf. 1 Mace. xi. 32, Ges. thes. 7), and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt; " cf. xli. 40, 41.

Vers. 9 sqq. Joseph then directed his brethren to go up to their father with all speed, and invite him in his name to come without delay, with all his family and possessions, into Egypt, where he would keep him near himself, in the land of Goshen (see xlvii. 11), that he might not perish in the still remaining five years of famine. ^}^ \ ver. 11, lit. to be robbed of one's possessions, to be taken possession of by another, from Kh; to take possession.— Vers. 12, 13. But the brethren were so taken by surprise and overpowered by this unexpected discovery, that to convince them of tlie reality of the whole affair, Joseph was obliged to add, " Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. And tell my father all my glory in Egypt, and all that ye have seen, and bring my father quickly hither." — Vers. 14, 15. Pie then fell upon Benjamin's neck and wept, and kissed all his brethren and wept on them, i.e. whilst embracing them; " and after that, his brethren talked with him^ P ^?.n^ ' after Joseph by a triple assurance, that what they had done was the leading of God for their own good, had dispelled their fear of retribution, and, by embracing and kissing them with tears, had sealed the truth and sincerity of his words.

Vers. 16-28. Invitation to Jacob to come into Egypt. — Vers. 16 sqq. The report of the arrival of Joseph's brethren soon found its way into the palace, and made so favourable an impression upon Pharaoh and his courtiers, that the king sent a message through Joseph to his brethren to come with their father and their families (''your houses ^^) into Egypt, saying that he would give them " the good of the land of Egypt^^ and they should eat '' the fat of the land" niD, "the good," is not the best part, but the good things (produce) of the land, as in vers. 20, 23, xxiv. 10, 2 Kings viii. 9. ^2^ fat, i.e. the finest productions.— Vers. 19, 20. At the same time Pharaoh empowered Joseph (" thou art commanded ") to give his brethren carriages to take with them, in which to convey their children and wives and their aged father, and recommended them to leave their goods behind them in Canaan, for the good of all Egypt was at their service. From time immemorial Egypt was rich in small, two-wheeled carriages, which could be used even where there were no roads (cf. chap. 1. 9, Ex. xiv. 6 sqq. with Isa. xxxvi. 9) " Jjet not your eye look with mourning {^^^) at your goods; " i.e^ do not trouble about the house-furniture which you are obliged to leave behind. The good-will manifested in this invitation of Pharaoh towards Jacob's family wsls to be attributed to the feeling of gratitude to Joseph, and " is related circumstantially, because this free and honourable invitation involved the right of Israel to leave Egypt again without obstruction " (JDelitzsch).

Vers. 21 sqq. The sons of Israel carried out the instructions of Joseph and the invitation of Pharaoh (vers. 25-27). But Joseph not only sent carriages according to Pharaoh's directions, and food for the journey, he also gave them presents, changes of raiment, a suit for every one, and five suits for Benjamin, as well as 300 shekels of silver. ni7Db> ^^S)pn: change of clothes, clothes to change; i,e. dress clothes which were worn on special occasions and frequently changed (Judg. xiv. 12, 13, 19; 2 Kings V. 5). ''And to his father he sent like these;^^ i.e, not changes of clothes, but presents also, viz. ten asses " carrying of the good of Egypt," and ten she-asses with com and provisions for the journey; and sent them off with the injunction: Vpn'i'NI, iJLTJ opyi^eaOe (LXX.), " do not get angry by the way." Placatus erat Joseph fratribus^ simut eos admonet, ne quid turbarum moveant, Timendum enim erat, ne quisque se purgando crimen transferre in alios studeret atqiie ita surgeret contentio {Calvin). — Vers. 25-28. When they got back, and brought word to their father, "Joseph is still living, yea CPl an emphatic assurance, Ewald, § 3306) he is ruler in all the land of Egypt, his heart stopped, for he believed them not;" i.e. his heart did not beat at this joyful news, for he put no faith in what they said. It was not till they told him all that Joseph had said, and he saw the carriages that Joseph had sent, that " the spirit of their father Jacob revived; and Israel said: It is enough! Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.^^ Observe the significant interchange of Jacob and Israel, When once the crushed spirit of the old man was revived by the certainty that his son Joseph was still alive, Jacob was changed into Israel, the " conqueror overcoming his grief at the previous misconduct of his sons " {Fr, v. Meyer).

Vers. 1-7. " So Israel took his journey (from Hebron, chap. xxxvii. 14) with all who belonged to him, and came to Beersheba." There, on the border of Canaan, where Abraham and Isaac had called upon the name of the Lord (xxi. 33, xxvi. 25), he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac, ut sibi frmum et ratum esse testetur foedus, quod Deus ipse cum Fatribus pepigerat {Calvin), Even though Jacob might see the ways of God in the wonderful course of his son Joseph, and discern in the friendly invitation of Joseph and Pharaoh, combined with tlie famine prevaiUng in Canaan, a divine direction to go into Egypt; yet this departure from the land of promise, in whicli his fathers had lived as pilgrims, was a step which necessarily excited serious thouglits in his mind as to his own future and that of his family, and led him to commend himself and his followers to the care of the faithful covenant God, whether in so doing he thought of the revelation which Abram had received (chap. XV. 13-16), or not.— Ver. 2. Here God appeared to him in a vision of the night (HNiD, an intensive plural), and gave him, as once before on his flight from Canaan (xxviii. 12 sqq.), the comforting promise, ''lam i'xn (the Mighty One), the God ^f ^% father: fear not to go down into Egypt ('T["!'? for nniD, as in Ex. ii. 4 nin for nin, cf. Ges. § 69, 3, AnmVl); for I will there make thee a great nation, I will go down with thee into Egypt, and I— bring thee up again also will /, and Joseph shall close thine eyes'' rhv'Ul an inf abs. appended emphatically (as in chap. xxxi. 15); according to Ges. inf Kal.~Y ers. 5-7. Strengthened by this promise, Jacob went into Egypt with children and children's children, his sons driving their aged father together with their wives and children in the carriages sent by Pharaoh, and taking their flocks with all the possessions that they had acquired in Canaan.^

Vers. 8-27. The size of Jacob's family, which was to grow into a great nation, is given here, with evident allusion to the fulfilment of the divine promise with which he went into Egypt. The list of names includes not merely the " sons of Israel" in the stricter sense; but, as is added immediately afterwards, ''Jacob and his sons,' or, as the closing formula expresses it (ver. 27), "all the souls of the house of Jacob, who came into Egypt" (nxBH for nS3 n^^'x, Ges, § 109), including the patriarch himself, and Joseph with his two sons, who were born before Jacob's arrival in Egypt. If we reckon these, the house of Jacob consisted of 70 souls; and apart from these, of ^^, besides his sons' wives. The sons are arranged according to the four mothers. Of Leah

^ Such a scene as this, with the emigrants taking their goods laden upon asses, and even two children in panniers upon an ass's back, may be seen depicted upon a tomb at Beni Hassan^ which might represent the immigration of Israel, although it cannot be directly connected with it. (See the particulars in Hengstenberg, Egypt and the Books of Moses.)

there are given 6 sons, 23 grandsons, 2 great-grandsons (sons of Pharez, whereas Er and Onan, the sons of Judah who died in Canaan, are not reckoned), and 1 daughter, Dinah, who remained unmarried, and was therefore an independent member of the house of Jacob; in all, therefore, 6 + 23 + 2 + 1 = 32, or with Jacob, 33 souls. Of Zilpah, Leah's maid, there are mentioned 2 sons, 11 grandsons, 2 great-grandsons, and 1 daughter (who is reckoned like Dinah, both here and Num. xxvi. 46, for some special reason, which is not particularly described); in all, 2 + 11 + 2 + 1 = 16 souls. Oi Rachel, "Jacob's (favourite) wife," 2 sons and 12 grandsons are named, of whom, according to Num. xxvi. 40, two were great-grandsons, = 14 souls; and of Rachel's maid Bilhah, 2 sons and 5 grandsons = 7 souls. The whole number therefore w^as 33 + 16+ 14 + 7 = 70.^ The wives of Jacob's sons are neither mentioned by name nor reckoned, because the families of Israel were not founded by them, but by their husbands alone. Nor is their parentage given either here or anywhere else. It is merely casually that one of the sons of Simeon is called the son of a Canaanitish woman (ver. 10); from which it may be inferred that it was quite an exceptional thing for the sons of Jacob to take their wives from among the Canaanites, and that as a rule they were chosen from their paternal relations in Mesopotamia; besides whom, there were also their other relations, the families of Ishmael, Keturah, and Edom. Of the "daughters of Jacob" also, and the " daughters of his sons," none are mentioned except Dinah and Serah the daughter of Asher, because they were not the founders of separate houses.

If w^e look more closely into the list itself, the first thing which strikes us is that Pharez, one of the twin-sons of Judah, who were not born till after the sale of Joseph, should already have had two sons. Supposing that Judah's marriage to the

^ Instead of the number 70 given here, Ex. i. 5, and Deut. x. 22, Stephen speaks of 75 (Acts vii. 14), according to the LXX., which has the number 75 both here and Ex. i. 5, on account of the words which follow the names of Manasseh and Ephraim in ver. 20: eyiuovro li viol 'Mocuxaa^, Qvg iTiKiv etvT^ >} 'TToLXKotK'Ti 9] 2:^^06, Tou Mofc^'V' Mflt;^/© B« syeuvnas rov Fot- X««S. viol hi ''^(Pputfc cthihiipov Muvetaari' lovrcihctoifA kxI Teiotf^. viol Ze 2ou- Tu'Koi.oc,^' 'Eluf^: and which are interpolated by conjecture from chap. 1. 23, and Num. xxvi. 29, 35, and 36 (33, 39, and 40), these three grandsons and two great-grandsons of Joseph being reckoned in.

dauiihter of Shuah the Canaanite occurred, notvvitlistaiKlin£r the reasons advanced to the contrary in chap, xxxviii., before the sale of Joseph, and shortly after the return of Jacob to Canaan, during the time of his sojourn at Shechein (xxxiii. 18), it cannot have taken place more than five, or at the most six, years before Joseph was sold; for Judah was only three years older than Joseph, and was not more than 20 years old, therefore, at the time of his sale. But even then there would not be more than 28 years between Judah's marriage and Jacob's removal to Egypt; so that Pharez would only be about 11 years old, since he could not have been born till about 17 years after Judah's marriage, and at that age he could not have had two sons. Judah, again, could not have taken four sons with him into Egypt, since he had at the most only two sons a year before their removal (xlii. 37); unless indeed we adopt the extremely improbable hypothesis, that two other sons were born within the space of 11 or 12 months, either as twins, or one after the other. Still less could Benjamin, who was only 23 or 24 years old at the time (yid. pp. 311 and 319), have had 10 sons already, or, as Num. xxvi. 38-40 shows, eight sons and two grandsons. From all this it necessarily follows, that in the list before us grandsons and great-grandsons of Jacob are named who were born afterwards in Egypt, and who, therefore, according to a view w^hich we frequently meet with in the Old Testament, though strange to our modes of thought, came into Egypt in lumhis patrum. That the list is really intended to be so understood, is undoubtedly evident from a comparison of the " sons of Israel " (ver. 8), whose names it gives, with the description given in Num. xxvi. of the whole community of the sons of Israel according to their fathers' houses, or their tribes and families. In the account of the families of Israel at the time of Moses, which is given there, we find, with slight deviations, all the grandsons and great-grandsons of Jacob whose names occur in this chapter, mentioned as the founders of the families, into which the twelve tribes of Israel were subdivided in Moses' days. The deviations are partly in form, partly in substance. To the former belong the differences in particular names, which are sometimes only different forms of the same name; e.g. Jemuel and Zohar (ver. 10), for Nemuel and Zerah (Num. xxvi. 12, 13); Ziphion and Arodi (ver. 16), for Zephon and Arod (Num. xxvi.

15 and 17); Huppim (ver. 21) for Hupham (Num. xxvi. 39); Ehi (ver. 21), an abbreviation of Ahiram (Num. xxvi. 38): sometimes different names of the same person; viz. Ezbon (ver. 16) and Ozni (Num. xxvi. 16); Muppim (ver. 21) and Shupham (Num. xxvi. 39); Hushim (ver. 23) and Shuham (Num. xxvi. 42). Among the differences in substance, the first to be noticed is the fact, that in Num. xxvi. Simeon's son Ohad, Asher's son Ishuah, and three of Benjamin's sons, Becher, Gera, and Rosh, are missing from the founders of families, probably for no other reason than that they either died childless, or did not leave a sufficient number of children to form independent families. With the exception of these, according to Num. xxvi., all the grandsons and great-grandsons of Jacob mentioned in this chapter were founders of families in existence in Moses' time. From this it is obvious that our list is intended to contain, not merely the sons and grandsons of Jacob, who were already bom when he went down to Egypt, but in addition to the sons, who were the heads of the twelve tribes of the nation, all the grandsons and great-grandsons who became the founders of mishpaclioth, i.e. of independent families, and who on that account took the place or were advanced into the position of the grandsons of Jacob, so far as the national organization was concerned.

On no other hypothesis can we explain the fact, that in the time of Moses there was not one of the twelve tribes, except the double tribe of Joseph, in which there were families existing, that had descended from either grandsons or great-grandsons of Jacob who are not already mentioned in this list. As it is quite inconceivable that no more sons should have been bom to Jacob's sons after their removal into Egypt, so is it equally inconceivable, that all the sons bom in Egypt either died childless, or founded no families. The rule by which the nation descending from the sons of Jacob was divided into tribes and families (mishpachoth) according to the order of birth was this, that as the twelve sons founded the twelve tribes, so their sons, i.e. Jacob's grandsons, were the founders of the families into which the tribes were subdivided, unless these grandsons died without leaving children, or did not leave a sufficient number of male descendants to form independent families, or the natural rule for the formation of tribes and families was set aside by other events or causes. On this hypothesis we can also explain the other real differences between this list and Num. xxvi.; viz. tlie fact that, according to Num. xxvi. 40, two of the sons of Benjamin mentioned in ver. 21,Naaman and Ard, were his grandsons, sons of Belah; and also the circumstance, that in ver. 20 only the two sons of Joseph, who were already born when Jacob arrived in Egypt, are mentioned, viz. Manasseh and Ephraim, and none of the sons who were born to him afterwards (xlviii. 6). The two grandsons of Benjamin could be reckoned among his sons in our list, because they founded independent families just like the sons. And of the sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim alone could be admitted into our list, because they were elevated above the sons born to Joseph afterwards, by the fact that shortly before Jacob's death he adopted them as his own sons and thus raised them to the rank of heads of tribes; so that wherever Joseph's descendants are reckoned as one tribe (e,g. Josh. xvi. 1, 4), Manasseh and Ephraim form the main divisions, or leading families of the tribe of Joseph, the subdivisions of which were founded partly by their brothers who were bom afterwards, and partly by their sons and grandsons. Consequently the omission of the sons bom afterwards, and the grandsons of Joseph, from whom the families of the two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, who were elevated into tribes, descended, forms only an apparent and not a real exception to the general rule, that this list mentions all the grandsons of Jacob who founded the families oi the twelve tribes, without regard to the question whether they were born before or after the removal of Jacob's house to Egypt, since this distinction was of no importance to the main purpose of our list. That this was the design of our list, is still further confirmed by a comparison of Ex. i. 5 and Deut. x. 22, where the seventy souls of the house of Jacob which went into Egypt are said to constitute the seed which, under the blessing of the Lord, had grown into the numerous people that Moses led out of Egypt, to take possession of the land of promise. From this point of view it was a natural thing to describe the seed of the nation, which grew up in tribes and families, in such a way as to give the germs and roots of all the tribes and families of the whole nation; i.e. not merely the grandsons who were born before the migration, but also the grandsons and great-grandsons who were born in Egypt, and became founders of independent families. By thus embracing all the founders of tribes and families, the significant number 70 was obtained, in which the number 7 (formed of the divine number 3, and the world number 4, as the seal of the covenant relation between God and Israel) is multiplied by the number 10, as the seal of completeness, so as to express the fact that these 70 souls comprehended the whole of the nation of God.^