Annotations on the Pentateuch, Psalms, Song of Songs, Biblical commentary 1 · Chapter 47
CHAP. XLVII.
1, Ioseph presenteth five of his brethren, 7, and his father before Pharaoh. 11, He giveth them habitation and maintenance. 13, The famine increasing, Ioseph for corne getteth all the Egyptians money, 16, their cattell, 18, their lands to Pharaoh. 22, The Priests land was not bought. 23, He letteth the land to the Egyptians for a fift part. 28, Iakobs age. 29, He sweareth Ioseph, to bury him with his fathers.
ANd Ioseph came, and told Pharaoh; and said, my father and my brethren; and their flockes and their herds, and all that they have; are come, out of the land of Canaan: and behold they are in the land of Goshen. And he tooke some of his brethren; five men: and presented them, before Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said, unto his brethren, what are your workes? And they said unto Pharaoh, thy servants are sheepherds; both we, and also our fathers. And they said unto Pharaoh; for to sojourne in the land, are wee come: for there is no pasture, for the flocks, which thy servants have; for the famine is heavy, in the land of Canaan: and now, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell, in the land of Goshen. And Pharaoh said, unto Ioseph, saying: thy father & thy brethren, are come unto thee. The land of Egypt, it is before thee; in the best of the land, make thou thy father and thy brethren to dwell…: let them dwell, in the land of Goshen; and if thou knowest, that there bee among them, men of activitie: then appoint thou them rulers of cattell, over those which I have. And Ioseph brought-in, Iakob his father; and made him stand, before Pharaoh: and Iakob, blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said, unto Iakob: how many are the dayes, of the yeeres of thy life? And Iakob said, unto Pharaoh; the dayes, of the yeeres of my pilgrimages; are an hundred, and thirtie yeeres: few and evill, have beene the dayes, of the yeeres of my life; and they have not attained, unto the dayes of the yeers of the life of my fathers; in the daies, of their pilgrimages. And Iakob, blessed Pharaoh: and went out, from before Pharaoh. And Ioseph placed, his father and his brethren; and gave them a possession, in the land of Egypt; in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses: as Pharaoh had commanded. And Ioseph nourished his father & his brethren; and all his fathers house: with bread, according to the little-ones. And there was no bread, in all the land; for the famine was very heavy: and the land of Egypt, & the land of Canaan, fainted; by reason of the famin. And Ioseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, & in the land of Canaan; for the corne which they bought: and Ioseph brought the money into Pharaohs house. And the money was spent out of the land of Egypt, and out of the land of Canaan: and all the Egyptians came unto Ioseph saying, give us bread; and why should we dye, in thy presence: because money faileth. And Ioseph said, give your cattell; and I will give you, for your cattell: if money faile. And they brought their cattell, unto Ioseph; and Ioseph gave them bread, for horses, and for cattell of the flocke, and for cattell of the herd, and for asses: and hee led them with bread, for all their cattell; in that yeere. And that yeere, was ended; and they came unto him, in the second yeere, and said unto him, we will not hide it from my Lord; how-that money is spent, and the possession of beasts, (is come) unto my Lord: there is not left, before my Lord; ought save our bodies, and our land. Wherfore shall we dye before thine eyes; both wee and our land? buy us and our land, for bread: and wee will be, wee and our land, servants to Pharaoh; and give thou seed, that wee may live and not die, that the land be not desolate. And Ioseph bought all the land of Egypt, for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold, every man his field; because the famine prevailed over them: and the land became Pharaohs. And the people, he removed them to cities: from one end of the border of Egypt, even to the other end thereof. OnelyOnly the land of the priests bought he not: for the priests had an allowance from Pharaoh; and they did eat their allowance, which Pharaoh gave them; therfore, they sold not their land. And Ioseph said unto the people; behold, I have bought you this day, and your land, for Pharaoh: loe here is seed for you, and yee shall sow the land. And it shalbe, in the revenue; that you shal give the fift part unto Pharaoh: and four parts shall be for you; for seed of the field, and for your meat, and for them that are in your houses, & for meat for your little-ones. And they said, thou hast preserved-us-alive: let us finde grace in the eyes of my Lord; & we will be servants to Pharaoh. And Ioseph put it for a statute, unto this day, over the land of Egypt, for the fift part unto Pharaoh: onelyonly the land of the priests, of them alone; was not Pharaohs. And Israel dwelt, in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen: and they held-possession therin, and were fruitfull and multiplied exceedingly.
AND IAKOB LIVED, in the land of Egypt seventeen yeers: and the daies of Iakob, the yeers of his life; were an hundred & fortie yeers, & seven yeers. And the daies of Israel drew nigh, to dye: & he called his sonne Ioseph, and said unto him; if now I have found grace in thine eyes; put I pray thee thy hand under my thigh: & thou shalt doe with me, mercy and truth; bury mee not I pray thee, in Egypt. But I will lye with my fathers: & thou shalt cary me, out of Egypt; and bury me, in their burying place: and hee said, I will doe according to thy word. And he said, sweare unto me; and hee sware unto him: and Israel bowed-himselfe, upon the beds head.
Annotations.
SOme] or part: the Greeke faith onelyonly, of his brethren.
V. 3. your workes] that is, your occupation. So Gen. 46. 33. sheepherds.] Hebr. a feeder of sheepe, the singular being put for all, as Gen. 3. 2. or understand, every of them is a sheepherd.
Vers. 6. before thee] exposed unto, and free for thee. So Gen. 13. 9. and 20. 15. and 34. 10. of activity] or, of ability, power, prowesse. It implieth as well fitnesse of mind, as of body: and so prudence, diligence, valour, Exod. 18. 21. rulers] or masters: princes. those which I have] meaning either those …; as the Greeke translateth, ruler of my cattell: or those rulers (those shepherds) which I have already.
Vers. 7. blessed] that is, saluted him, with prayer for his welfare, and thanks for his bountie. So blessing is used for saluting, 2 King. 4. 29. for praying, Num. 6. 23. 24. for thanks giving, Mat. 26. 26. with Luk. 22. 19. Againe, Iakob blessed Pharaoh when he went out, verse 10. that is, tooke his leave, commending him to God.
Vers. 9. pilgrimages] or sojournings: so hee calleth it, rather then life, both for his many removings from place to place, on earth; and for that we have here no abiding citie, Heb. 13. 14. and 11. 9. 13. See before, in Gen. 23. 4. are 130. yeeres] his being in the third yeere of the famine, Gen. 45. 6. Ioseph being 30. yeres old, 7. yeeres before the famine, Gen. 41. 46. sheweth that Ioseph was borne when his father Iakob was 91. yeeres old: which was the fourteenth yeere of his service to Laban, Gen. 30. 25. and 31. 41. and so Iakob was 77. yeere old, when hee was sent of his parents from the face of Esau and to get a wife in Mesopotamia, Gen. 28. 1. 2. 10. of my fathers] for Abraham lived 175. yeeres, Gen. 25. 7. Isaak 180. yeeres, Gen. 35. 28.
Vers. 11. placed] or seated, made to dwell. Rameses] a citie in the land of Goshen in Egypt: mentioned after in Exod. 12. 37.
Vers. 12. nourished] or sustained, fostered with all things needfull: as he had promised, Gen. 45. 11. and after in Gen. 50. 21. Hereupon he is called the feeder and stone of Israel, Gen. 49. 24. The Greeke translateth it esitometrei, that is, hee gave them their measure of corne (or portion of meat;) A like word Sitometrion is used for a portion of meat in Luk. 12. 42. which seemeth to have reference unto this place. according to the little ones] that is, according to the number that was in their families, as well small as great. In this sense the Greeke translateth, according to the bodies, that is, the number of their persons. See Gen. 50. 21. The Hebrew may also be Englished, to the mouth of a little one; meaning, as meat is put into a childs mouth, lovingly, tenderly, carefully.
Vers. 13. the land] the Chaldee expoundeth it, the people of the land, fainted, (or were wearied.) So the Greeke also translateth it, fainted: other, raged; as Prov. 26. 18.
Vers. 15. and why] or for why? but and, is oft used in troubled and passionate speeches; see Genes. 27. 28.
Vers. 16. give you] to weet, bread, as the Greeke explaineth, & the next verse confirmeth; meaning in exchange for their cattell.
Vers. 17. led them] that is, sed and nourished, as the Greeke interpreteth it.
Vers. 18. the 2. yeere] namely after their cattell were sold: which was the sixt yeere of the famine. possession of beasts] that is, flocks and herds and other beasts.
Vers. 19. and our land] to weet, dye, that is, be desol…e and barren: as the Greeke explaineth it thus, that therefore we dye not before thee, and our land bee desolate, buy us, &c.
Vers. 20. of Egypt] or, of the Egyptians; as the Greeke translateth.
Vers. 21. removed] or made them passe, which was to change their right, and translate the proprietie of their land to Pharaoh, therefore the Gr. interpreteth, he brought them into bondage unto him for servants. Thargum Ierusalemy giveth another reason hereof, that the Egyptians should not deride the sonnes of Iakob that were strangers among them. Here was an extraordinary punishment of God, upon others of Chams posterity, brought into bondage. See Gen. 9. 25.
Vers. 22. the priests] or Princes: the originall word signifieth both; as is observed on Gen. 41. 45. and 14. 18. But both Greeke and Chaldee here translate it priests. an allowance] or constitution, statute: that is, a constituted portion of food, (their daily bread) assigned and allowed them. The Greeke translateth it, a gift; the Chaldee a portion. See also Prov. 30. 8.
Vers. 24. in the revenue] that is, the increase, when it brings forth fruit: as the Chaldee explaineth. parts] Hebr. hands: in Chaldee parts: see Genes. 43. 34.
Vers. 25. let us finde grace] vouchsafe to deale in this businesse for us with Pharaoh. See this phrase, Gen. 33. 15.
Vers. 27. exceedingly] or, vehemently, very mightily. so God fulfilled his promise, Gen. 46. 3.
foreign Here beginneth the twelfth Section of the law, (and last of Genesis) called And (Iakob) lived. See Gen. 6. 9. This section hath but one letter to distinguish it, whereas the other have three. Hereupon some reckon but 53. Sections in the whole law, joyning this with the former. But one R. Abraham, in Zeror Hammor, speaking of this one letter, S. which standeth for Sethumah, that is, close, thinketh this to be a closed section, because (saith he) it is the key, and seale of this booke, yea of the whole law, and of all the Prophets, unto the dayes of Christ. For in Iakobs blessing (Gen. 49.) are shewed all the captivities of Israel and the deliverances, untill the Teacher of Iustice come, as it is written, untill Shiloh come. And because the time of Christs comming was unknown, and none could or should understand it: therefore this Section is continued with the former, without any great distinction: &c.
Vers. 28. 17. yeere] so long Ioseph nourished his father in Egypt, as Iakob had nourished Ioseph 17. yeere, at home: Gen. 37. 2.
Vers. 29. to dye] that is, that he must dye. See Gen. 23. 8. my thigh] to sweare: with this rite, Abraham took an oath of his servant: see Gen. 24. 2. doe with me mercy] or, deale mercifully (kindly) with me. See Gen. 24. 49.
Vers. 30. But I will lye] or, when I shall lye-downe (that is, sleepe) with my fathers, then thou shalt cary me, &c. burying-place] or, grave. This Iakob required, in faith, (as the Apostle observeth of Ioseph, Heb. 11. 22.) beleeving the promises made of God, for his seed to returne and inherit that land, which was a figure of their heavenly inheritance. Gen. 50. 24. 25. Hebr. 11. 9. 10. 14. 16. The Hebrew Doctors note of Iakob, that his whole body was buried in Cancan; of Ioseph, that his bones onelyonly were buried there, (Gen. 50. 25.) and of Moses, that neither his body nor his bones were there buried; yet was he advanced above them all, in that he was buried of God, no man knowing of his sepulchre, Deut. 34. 6. R. Menachem, and the Zohar on Gen. 47.
Vers. 31. bowed himselfe] namely unto God, with thankfulnesse, who had after other blessings, given him now this assurance by Iosephs promise and oath, that hee should be caried into Canaan, the figure of the kingdome of heaven. Therefore this particular is related by Paul, as a testimony of Iakobs faith, Heb. 11. 21. the beds head] whereon hee lay in his age and weakenesse, and on the head (or bolster) wherof, he rested himselfe, worshipping God. The like is said of David in his old age; that he bowed himselfe upon the bed, when hee blessed God. 1 King. 1. 47. 48. The Hebrew Mittah, a bed; the Lxxij. Greeke interpreters, having a copie without vowels (Mtth) did read it Matteh; which signifieth a staffe, and so translated it: whom the Apostle followeth, saying, on the top of his staffe, Heb. 11. 21. which might also well be, that hee helped himselfe, by leaning on his staffe, and resting on the bolster of the bed. Howbeit the two Chaldee Paraphrasts, and other Greeke versions (save that of the Lxxij) translate according to the vowelled Hebrew, bed.