Joseph buys all the land A. M. 2301. B. C. 1703. W CHAP. XLVII. 15 And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for w why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth. 16 And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail. 17 And they brought their cattle unto Joseph and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses; and he fed them with bread for all their cattle, for that year. A. M. 2302. B. C. 1702. of Egypt for Pharaoh. both we and our land? buy us and A. M. 2302. our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate. 20 And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh's. 21 (And as for the people, he removed them to cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof.) Only the land of the priests bought 18 When that year was ended, he not; for the priests had a portion assigned B. C. 1702. they came unto him the second them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands. year, and said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also bath our herds of cattle; there is not aught left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies and our lands: 19 Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, w Ver. 19.- Heb. led them. -y Ezra vii. 24. at that time could not be plentiful, the cash of the whole nation was thus exhausted, as far as that had circulated among the common people. Verse 16. Give your cattle] This was the wisest measure that could be adopted, both for the preservation of the people and of the cattle also. As the people had not grain for their own sustenance, consequently they could have none for their cattle; hence the cattle were in the most imminent danger of starving; and the people also were in equal danger, as they must have divided a portion of that bought for themselves with the cattle, which for the sake of tillage, &c., they wished of course to preserve till the seven years of famine should end. The cattle being bought by Joseph were supported at the royal expense, and very likely returned to the people at the end of the famine; for how else could they cultivate their ground, transport their merchandise, &c., &c.? For this part of Joseph's conduct he certainly deserves high praise and no censure, Verse 18. When that year was ended] The sixth year of the famine, they came unto him the second year, which was the last or seventh year of the famine, in which it was necessary to sow the land that there might be a crop the succeeding year; for Joseph, on whose prediction they relied, had foretold that the famine should continue only seven years, and consequently they expected the eighth year to be a fruitful year provided the land was sowed, without which, though the inundation of the land by the Nile might amount to the sixteen requisite cubits, there could be no crop. Verse 19. Buy us and our land for bread] In times of famine in Hindostan, thousands of children have been sold to prevent their perishing. In the Burman empire the sale of whole families to discharge debts is very common.-Ward's Customs. B. C. 1701. 23 Then Joseph said unto the A. M. 2203. people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land. 2 Or, princes; chap. xli. 45; 2 Sam. viii. 18. Verse 21. And as for the people, he removed them to cities] It is very likely that Joseph was influenced by no political motive in removing the people to the cities, but merely by a motive of humanity and prudence. As the corn was laid up in the cities he found it more convenient to bring them to the place where they might be conveniently fed; each being within the reach of an easy distribution. Thus then the country which could afford no sustenance was abandoned for the time being, that the people might be fed in those places where the provision was deposited. Verse 22. The land of the priests bought he not] From this verse it is natural to infer that whatever the religion of Egypt was, it was established by law and supported by the state. Hence when Joseph bought all the lands of the Egyptians for Pharaoh, he bought not the land of the priests, for that was a portion assigned them by Pharaoh; and they did eat-did live on, that portion. This is the earliest account we have of an established religion supported by the state. Verse 23. I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh] It fully appears that the kingdom of Egypt was previously to the time of Joseph a very limited monarchy. The king had his estates; the priests had their lands; and the common people their partrimony independently of both. The land of Rameses or Goshen appears to have been the king's land, ver. 11. The priests had their lands, which they did not sell to Joseph, ver. 22, 26; and that the people had lands independent of the crown, is evident from the purchases Joseph made, ver. 19, 20; and we may conclude from those purchases that Pharaoh had no power to levy taxes upon his subjects to increase his own revenue until he had bought the original right And which each individual had in his possessions. when Joseph bought this for the king he raised the 257 C b 26 And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part; except the land of the ⚫ priests only, which became not Pharaoh's. 27 And Israel a dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly. a Chap. xxxiii. 15.- b Verse 22.- c Or, princes; verse 22. d Ver. 11.- C Chap. xlvi. 3.—f Heb. the days of the years of his life; see ver. 9.- - So Deut. xxxi. 14; 1 Kings ii. 1. crown an ample revenue, though he restored the lands, by obliging each to pay one fifth of the product to the king, ver. 24. And it is worthy of remark that the people of Egypt well understood the distinction between subjects and servants; for when they came to sell their land, they offered to sell themselves also, and said: Buy us and our land, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh, ver. 19. 66 Diodorus Siculus, lib. i., gives the same account of the ancient constitution of Egypt. "The land," says he, was divided into three parts: 1. One belonged to the PRIESTS, with which they provided all sacrifices, and maintained all the ministers of religion. 2. A second part was the KING'S, to support his court and family, and to supply expenses for wars if they should happen. Hence there were no taxes, the king having so ample an estate. 3. The remainder of the land belonged to the SUBJECTS, who appear (from the account of Diodorus) to have been all soldiers, a kind of standing militia, liable, at the king's expense, to serve in all wars for the preservation of the state." This was a constitution something like the British; the government appears to have been mixed, and the monarchy properly limited, till Joseph, by buying the land of the people, made the king in some sort despotic. But it does not appear that any improper use was made of this, as in much later times we find it still a comparatively limited monarchy. Verse 24. Ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh] This is precisely the case in Hindostan; the king has the fifth part of all the crops. Verse 26. And Joseph made it a law] That the people should hold their land from the king, and give him the fifth part of the produce as a yearly tax. Beyond this it appears the king had no farther demands. The whole of this conduct of Joseph has been as strongly censured by some as applauded by others. It is natural for men to run into extremes in attacking or defending any position. Sober and judi258 а Jacob's death draws near. B. C. 1689. 28 And Jacob lived in the land A. M. 2335. of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was a hundred forty and seven years. 29 And the time drew nigh that Israel must die; and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, hput, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt: k cious men will consider what Joseph did by Divine appointment as a prophet of God, and what he did merely as a statesman from the circumstances of the case, the complexion of the times, and the character of the people over whom he presided. When this is dispassionately done, we shall see much reason to adore God, applaud the man, and perhaps in some cases censure the minister. Joseph is never held up to our view as an unerring prophet of God. He was an honoured instrument in the hands of God of saving two nations from utter ruin, and especially of preserving that family from which the Messiah was to spring, and of perpetuating the true religion among them. In this character he is represented in the sacred pages. His conduct as the prime minister of Pharaoh was powerfully indicative of a deep and consummate politician, who had high notions of prerogative, which led him to use every prudent means to aggrandize his master, and at the same time to do what he judged best on the whole for the people he governed. See the conclusion of the 50th chapter. Verse 29. Put-thy hand under my thigh] See on chap. xxiv. 2. As God had Verse 30. I will lie with my fathers] promised the land of Canaan to Abraham and his posterity, Jacob considered it as a consecrated place, under the particular superintendence and blessing of God and as Sarah, Abraham, and Isaac were interred near to Hebron, he in all probability wished to lie, not only in the same place, but in the same grave; and it is not likely that he would have been solicitous about this, had he not considered that promised land as being a type of the rest that remains for the people of God, and a pledge of the inheritance among the saints in light. Verse 31. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head.] Jacob was now both old and feeble, and we may suppose him reclined on his couch when Joseph came; that he afterwards sat up erect (see chap. ( 18 ) Joseph visits CHAP. XLVIII. his dying father. xlviii. 2) while conversing with his son, and receiving | the Hebrews, chap. xi. 21, quotes literatim; therehis oath and promise; and that when this was finished fore some have supposed that Jacob certainly had a he bowed himself upon the bed's head-exhausted with carved image on the head or top of his staff, to which the conversation, he again reclined himself on his bed he paid a species of adoration; or that he bowed himis before. This seems to be the simple meaning, self to the staff or sceptre of Joseph, thus fulfilling the which the text, unconnected with any religious system prophetic import of his son's dreams! The sense of or prejudice, naturally proposes. But because n the Hebrew text is given above. If the reader preshachah, signifies not only to bow but to worship, be- fers the sense of the Septuagint and the Epistle to cause acts of religious worship were performed by the Hebrews, the meaning is, that Jacob, through bowing or prostration, and because no mittah, a bed, feebleness, supported himself with a staff, and that, by the change of the points, only becomes matteh, a when he got the requisite assurance from Joseph that staff, in which sense the Septuagint took it, translating his dead body should be carried to Canaan, leaning on the original words thus : Και προσεκύνησεν Ισραηλ επι his staff he bowed his head in adoration to God, who TO акρоv τns paẞdov avrov, and Israel worshipped upon had supported him all his life long, and hitherto fulthe top of his staff, which the writer of the Epistle to filled all his promises. CHAPTER XLVIII. Joseph, hearing that his father was near death, took his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh, and went to Goshen, to visit him, 1. Jacob strengthens himself to receive them, 2. Gives Joseph an account of God's appear ing to him at Luz, and repeating the promise, 3, 4. Adopts Ephraim and Manasseh as his own sons, 5, 6. Mentions the death of Rachel at Ephrath, 7. He blesses Ephraim and Manasseh, preferring the former, who was the younger, to his elder brother, 8-17. Joseph, supposing his father had mistaken in giving the right of primogeniture to the youngest, endeavours to correct him, 18. Jacob shows that he did it designedly, prophecies much good concerning both; but sets Ephraim the youngest before Manasseh, 19, 20. Jacob speaks of his death, and predicts the return of his posterity from Egypt, 21. And gives Joseph a portion above his brethren, which he had taken from the Amorites, 22. C. 1689. A. M. 2315. AND it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed. 3 And Jacob said unto Joseph, God almighty appeared unto me at a Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, 4 And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will a Ch. xxviii. 13, 19; xxxv. 6, 9, &c. Ch. xvii. 8.- - Ch. xli. 50; xlvi. 20; Josh. xiii. 7; xiv. 4.- d Ch. xxxv. 9, 16, 19. NOTES ON CHAP. XLVIII. Verse 1. One told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick] He was ill before, and Joseph knew it; but it appears that a messenger had been now despatched to inform Joseph that his father was apparently at the point of death. (see chap. xvii. 1,) appeared to me at Luz, afterwards called Beth-El; see chap. xxviii. 13; xxxv. 6, 9. Verse 5. And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh-are mine] I now adopt them into my own family, and they shall have their place among my twelve sons, and be treated in every respect as those, and have an equal interest in all the spiritual and temporal blessings of the covenant. Verse 2. Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.] He had been confined to his bed before, (see chap. xlvii. 31,) and now, hearing that Joseph Verse 7. Rachel died by me, &c.] Rachel was the was come to see him, he made what efforts his little wife of Jacob's choice, and the object of his unvaryremaining strength would admit, to sit up in bed to ing affection; he loved her in life-he loves her in receive his son. This verse proves that a bed, not a death: many waters cannot quench love, neither can staff, is intended in the preceding chapter, ver. 31. the floods drown it. A match of a man's own making, Verse 3. God Almighty] " El Shaddai, the all-when guided by reason and religion, will necessarily sufficient God, the Outpourer and Dispenser of mercies, be a happy one. When fathers and mothers make Ephraim and Manasseh blessed, GENESIS. and made tribes in Israel. k B. C. 1689. I had not God hath A. M. 2315. in the way, when yet there was brought them near unto him; and he A. M. 2315. B. C. 1689. but a little way to i come unto unto kissed them, and embraced them. Ephrath and I buried her there in the way 11 And Israel said unto Joseph, of Ephrath; the same is Beth-lehem. thought to see thy face and lo, 8 And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, showed me also thy seed. Who are these? 12 And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. 13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near unto him. h Heb. heavy; Isaiah vi. 10; lix. 1.- iChap. xxvii. 27. * Chap. xlv. 26. matches for their children, which are dictated by mo-gular goodness, and be highly meritorious." Should tives, not of affection, but merely of convenience, positions of this kind pass without reprehension? I worldly gain, &c., &c., such matches are generally trow not. By the law of God and nature Joseph was wretched; it is Leah in the place of Rachel to the end as much bound to pay his dying father this filial reof life's pilgrimage. spect, as he was to reverence his king, or to worship his God. As to myself, I must freely confess that I see nothing peculiarly amiable in this part of Joseph's conduct; he simply acquitted himself of a duty which God, nature, decency, and common sense, imperiously demanded of him, and all such in his circumstances, to discharge. To the present day children in the east, next to God, pay the deepest reverence to their pa Verse 8. Who are these?] At verse 10 it is said, that Jacob's eyes were dim for age, that he could not see-could not discern any object unless it were near him; therefore, though he saw Ephraim and Manasseh, yet he could not distinguish them till they were brought nigh unto him. Verse 11. I had not thought to see thy face] There is much delicacy and much tenderness in these expres-rents. sions. He feels himself now amply recompensed for his long grief and trouble on account of the supposed death of Joseph, in seeing not only himself but his two sons, whom God, by an especial act of favour, is about to add to the number of his own. Thus we find that as Reuben and Simeon were heads of two distinct tribes in Israel, so were Ephraim and Manasseh; because Jacob, in a sort of sacramental way, had adopted them with equal privileges to those of his own sons. Verse 12. Joseph-bowed himself with his face to the earth.] This act of Joseph has been extravagantly extolled by Dr. Delaney and others. "When I consider him on his knees to God," says Dr. Delaney, "I regard him as a poor mortal in the discharge of his duty to his CREATOR. When I behold him bowing before Pharaoh, I consider him in the dutiful posture of a subject to his prince. But when I see him bending to the earth before a poor, old, blind, decrepit father, I behold him with admiration and delight. How doth that humiliation exalt him!" This is insufferable! for it in effect says that it is a wondrous condescension in a young man, who, in the course of God's providence, with scarcely any efforts of his own, was raised to affluence and worldly grandeur, to show respect to his father! And that respect was the more gratuitous and condescending, because that father was poor, old, blind, and decrepit! The maxim of this most exceptionable flight of admiration is, that "children who have risen to affluence are not obliged to reverence their parents when reduced in their circumstances, and brought down by the weight of years and infirmities to the sides of the grave; and should they acknowledge and reverence them, it would be a mark of sin And if we Besides, before whom was Joseph bowing? Not merely his father, but a most eminent PATRIARCH; one highly distinguished by the Lord, and one of the three of whom the Supreme Being speaks in the most favourable and affectionate manner; the three who received and transmitted the true faith, and kept unbroken the Divine covenant; I AM the GOD of ABRAHAM, the GOD of ISAAC, and the GOD of JACOB. He has never said, I am the GOD of JOSEPH. compare the father and the son as men, we shall find that the latter was exceeded by the former in almost endless degrees. Joseph owed his advancement and his eminence to what some would call good fortune, and what we know to have been the especial providence of God working in his behalf, wholly independent of his own industry, &c., every event of that providence issuing in his favour. Jacob owed his own support and preservation, and the support and preservation of his numerous family, under God, to the continual exercise of the vast powers of a strong and vigorous mind, to which the providence of God seemed ever in opposition; because God chose to try to the uttermost the great gifts which he had bestowed. If therefore the most humble and abject inferior should reverence dignity and eminence raised to no common height, so should Joseph bow down his face to the earth before JACOB. Besides, Joseph, in thus reverencing his father, only followed the customs of the Egyptians among whom he lived, who, according to Herodotus, (Euterpe, c. 80,) were particularly remarkable for the reverence they paid to old age. "For if a young person meet his senior, he instantly turns aside to make way for him; if an aged person enter an apartment, the youth always Form of the blessing pronounced B. C. 1689. CHAP. XLVIII. B. C. 1689. on Ephraim and Manasseh. A M. 2315. 14 And Israel stretched out his did walk, the God which fed me A. M. 2315. right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's all my life long unto this day, head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the first-born. 15 And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, " before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac I Ver. 19. Heb. xi. 21.- Chap. xvii. 1; xxiv. 40. Credebant hoc grande nefas, et morte piandum, Barbato cuicumque puer. Juv. Sat. xiii., v. 54. DRYDEN. Indeed, though Dr. Delaney is much struck with what he thinks to be great and meritorious condescension and humility on the part of Joseph; yet we find the thing itself, the deepest reverence to parents and old age, practised by all the civilized nations in the worid, not as a matter of meritorious courtesy, but as a point of rational and absolute duty. 16 The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. P Amos ix. 12; Acts xv. 17.- a Heb. as fishes do increase; see Num. i. 46; xxvi. 34, 37. certainly comes from the mere mercy of God, without any merit on man's part; and a sufficiency of this is offered to every man, Tit. ii. 11, 12. But it is not less certain that God loves those best who are most faithful to this grace. Verse 15. He blessed Joseph] The father first, and then the sons afterwards. And this is an additional proof to what has been adduced under ver. 12, of Jacob's superiority; for the less is always blessed of the greater. The God which fed me all my life long] Jacob is now standing on the verge of eternity, with his faith He sees his life to be a series of Strong in God. mercies; and as he had been affectionately attentive, provident, and kind to his most helpless child, so has God been unto him; he has fed him all his life long; he plainly perceives that he owes every morsel of food which he has received to the mere mercy and kindness of God. Verse 16. The Angel which redeemed me from all evil] hammalac haggoel. The Mos ger, the Redeemer or Kinsman; for so goel signifies; for this term, in the law of Moses, is applied to that person whose right it is, from his being nearest Verse 14. Israel stretched out his right hand, &c.] akin, to redeem or purchase back a forfeited inheritLaying hands on the head was always used among ance. But of whom does Jacob speak? We have the Jews in giving blessings, designating men to any often seen, in the preceding chapters, an angel of God office, and in the consecration of solemn sacrifices. appearing to the patriarchs; (see particularly chap. xvi. This is the first time we find it mentioned; but we 7, and the note there;) and we have full proof that often read of it afterwards. See Num. xxvii. 18, this was no created angel, but the Messenger of the 23; Deut. xxxiv. 9; Matt. xix. 13, 15; Acts vi. 6; Divine Council, the Lord Jesus Christ. Who then 1 Tim. iv. 14. Jacob laid his right hand on the head was the angel that redeemed Jacob, and whom he inof the younger, which we are told he did wittingly-voked to bless Ephraim and Manasseh? Is it not well knowing what he was about, for (or although) Manasseh was the first-born, knowing by the Spirit of prophecy that Ephraim's posterity would be more powerful than that of Manasseh. It is observable how God from the beginning has preferred the younger to the elder, as Abel before Cain; Shem before Japheth; Isaac before Ishmael; Jacob before Esau; Judah and Joseph before Reuben; Ephraim before Manasseh; Moses before Aaron; and David before his brethren. "This is to be resolved entirely into the wise and secret counsel of God, so far as it regards temporal blessings and national privileges, as the apostle tells us, Rom. ix. 11; see the notes on chap. xxv. 23. But this preference has no concern with God's conferring a greater measure of his love and approbation on one person more than another; compare Gen. iv. 7, with Heb xi. 4, and you will see that a difference in moral character was the sole cause why God preferred Abel to Cain."-Dodd. The grace that converts the soul JESUS? He alone can be called Goel, the redeeming Kinsman; for he alone took part of our flesh and blood that the right of redemption might be his; and that the forfeited possession of the favour and image of God might be redeemed, brought back, and restored to all those who believe in his name. To have invoked any other angel or messenger in such a business would have been impiety. Angels bless not; to God alone this prerogative belongs. With what confidence may a truly religious father use these words in behalf of his children: "JESUS, the CHRIST, who hath redeemed me, bless the lads, redeem them also, and save them unto eternal life!" Let my name be named on them] "Let them be ever accounted as a part of my own family; let them be true Israelites-persons who shall prevail with God as I have done; and the name of Abraham-being partakers of his faith; and the name of Isaac-let them be as remarkable for submissive obedience as he |