Commentary on Genesis, Chapter 42
CHAP. XLII.
Ver. 1. AND when Jacob ſaw that there was Corn in Egypt, &c.] He ſaw, perhaps, ſome paſs by laden with Corn, which they had bought there. Or, one Senſe (as is frequent in Scripture) is put for another: Seeing for Hearing; as it is expreſſed, verſe 2.
Why do ye look one upon another?] As idle People uſe to do, while none of them will ſtir to ſeek Relief. Or, rather, as Men that know not what courſe to take, expecting who would begin to adviſe for their Preſervation.
Ver. 2. That we may live, and not die.] He excites them to make no further delay, by the great Neceſſity wherein they were; no leſs than danger of periſhing.
Ver. 4. Leſt miſchief befal him.] He being, as yet, but young, and not uſed to travel, Jacob was afraid the Journey might be hazardous to him. Beſides, he could not but deſire to have ſome of their Company; though this was not his principal Reaſon.
Ver. 5. Came to buy Corn among thoſe that came.] People came from all Parts thereabout, upon the ſame Buſineſs: And Jacob's Sons among others; whom, perhaps, they met withal upon the Road.
Ver. 6. And Joſeph was the Governor, &c.] The Hebrew word Schallit ſignifies ſometimes, one that hath abſolute Power: And ſeems to be uſed here to ſet forth the high Authority which Joſeph exerciſed under Pharaoh.
He it was that ſold to all the People of the Land.] Appointed at what Rates Corn ſhould be ſold, in every Part of the Country. For it is not to be ſuppoſed that he in Perſon, could treat with every man that came to buy: But he, by his Deputies, who obſerved his Orders.
And Joſeph's Brethren came.] It ſhould ſeem by this, that all Foreigners, were ordered to come to him; in the Royal City, where he reſided: Or, at leaſt, their Names were brought to him, that he might ſpeak with ſuch as he thought fit: And thereby get the better Intelligence of the State of their ſeveral Countries; and be ſure to ſee his Brethren, who, he knew, would be conſtrained to come thither.
They bowed themſelves before him, &c.] Unwittingly fulfilled his Dream. This ſeems to have been done after the manner of their own and other Eaſtern Countries; not of Egypt, where they only bowed the Knee, XLI. 40.
Ver. 7. Spake roughly to them.] Gave them hard words, as we ſpeak. Or, ſpake in a harſh Tone to them, and with a ſtern Countenance.
Ver. 8. And they knew not him.] They had not ſeen him in twenty Years: In which time a Youth alters far more than grown Men do; ſo that, though he knew them, they might not know him. Who appeared alſo in ſuch Pomp and State, that it made them not think of him: And he ſpake alſo to them by an Interpreter, verſe 23: Which repreſented him as a Stranger to them.
Ver. 9. Ye are Spies.] He did not think they were ſuch Perſons, but ſaid this to provoke them, to give an account of themſelves, and of his Father. Nor is there any reaſon to look upon this as a Lye. For they are not words of Affirmation, but of Probation or Trial: Such as Judges uſe, when they examine ſuſpected Perſons, or inquire into a Crime, of which Men are accuſed. And therefore have the force of an Interrogation; Are ye not Spies? Or, I muſt take you for Spies, till you prove the contrary.
To ſee the nakedneſs of the Land are ye come.] The weak Places of the Country; which are leaſt defenſible. Or, as others will have it, the Secrets of the Land: For it is the ſame word that is uſed to expreſs, the privy Parts.
Ver. 11. We are all one Man's Sons.] There needed no more than this to take off his ſuſpicion. For no Man would have ſent his Sons, but rather his Servants, if they had come upon an ill Deſign: Or, at leaſt, not all his Sons; or, not all of them together in a Company: But diſperſed them rather about the Country. Nor was it probable, that one Man could have a Deſign upon Egypt; but all the great Men of Canaan muſt have joyned in it: And then they would have ſent Men of different Families, not all of one alone.
We are true Men.] This was a good Argument, that they ſaid true, when they told him (verſe 10.) they had no other buſineſs in Egypt but to buy Corn.
Ver. 12. And he ſaid unto them, Nay, &c.] Unleſs you have better Arguments than this, I muſt take you for Spies. He ſlights their Argument, as great Men ſometimes do, when they know not preſently how to anſwer it. He had a mind alſo to have them give a further account of their Family, that he might be informed what was become of his Brother Benjamin.
Ver. 13. Thy Servants are twelve Brethren, &c.] They inforce their former Argument, by relating their Condition more fully and diſtinctly. But ſtill it amounts to no more than this; That it was not likely a Parent would venture all his Children, in ſuch a Deſign, as they were ſuſpected to come about.
The youngeſt is this Day with our Father.] This was the thing he deſired to know.
And one is not.] Is dead. So they thought, becauſe they had heard nothing of him, in twenty Years ſpace.
Ver. 14. This is that I ſpake unto you, &c.] This confirms what I ſaid, and gives me juſt ground for ſuſpicion, that you are Spies: Becauſe you pretend to have another Brother, which is not likely; for why ſhould not your Father ſend all, as well as ſo many? This was but a Cavil; but ſerved to compaſs his End: Which was to ſee his Brother.
Ver. 15. Hereby ſhall ye be proved.] By this very thing ſhall you be tried; whether you be honeſt Men, or no.
By the life of Pharaoh, &c.] As ſure as Pharaoh lives; or, ita ſalvus ſit, ſo let Pharaoh be ſafe and in Health, as I will keep you here, till I ſee your younger Brother. Others expound it, If Pharaoh have any Authority here, i. e. be King of this Country, you ſhall not ſtir from hence, &c. But moſt Authors take this for an Oath: The Original of which is well explained by Mr. Selden in his Titles of Honour, p. 45. where he obſerves, that the Name of Gods being given to Kings very early, foreign, (as Ariſtotle ſpeaks, L. VI. Ethic. cap. 1.) from the excellence of their Heroick Vertue, which made them anciently great Benefactors to Mankind: Thence aroſe the Cuſtom of ſwearing by them; which Aben Ezra ſaith continued in his time (about 1170.) when Egypt was governed by Caliphs. If any Man ſwore by the King's Head, and was found to have ſworn falſly, he was puniſhed capitally. And when Schach Iſmael, the firſt Sophi, got the Perſian Empire, no Oath was held ſo Sacred (as Leunclavius reports) as to ſwear by his Head, i. e. in effect, by his Life.
But St. Baſil will not have this to be an Oath: But a ſolemn Aſſeveration, to perſuade Belief. For ſaith he, (Tom. I. Hom. in Pſal. XV. p. 155.) foreign, &c. There are certain Speeches which have the faſhion of Oaths, and yet are not Oaths: But foreign, ſerve only to perſuade the Auditors. Such he takes this to be; and that of St. Paul, foreign, by our rejoycing, 1 Corinth. XV. 31. where he ſaith the Apoſtle was not unmindful of the Evangelical Commandment, not to ſwear: But by a Speech, in form of an Oath, he would have them believe that his glorying in them (or rather in Chriſt) was dearer to him than any thing elſe. And the truth is, Judah ſeems to have taken theſe words of Joſeph, only for a ſolemn Proteſtation, XLIII. 3. wherein he expoſed the Life of Pharaoh (which was moſt dear to him) unto Execration, if he was not as good as his word. So G. Calixtus underſtands it.
Ver. 16. Send one of you, and let him fetch your Brother.] At firſt he propoſed, that only one of them ſhould return home, to bring their Brother to him; and all the reſt remain, in the mean time, Priſoners in Egypt.
Ver. 17. And he put them all together into Ward, &c.] That they might conſult one with another, which of them ſhould go to fetch Benjamin; about which, it ſeems, they could not agree: Every one fearing to be the Meſſenger of ſuch ſad Tidings to their Father; who might ſuſpect they were all loſt.
Ver. 18. Joſeph ſaid unto them the third day, &c.] I have no mind to deſtroy you: For I know there is a God, who will puniſh all Injuſtice and Cruelty. Therefore I make this new Propoſition to you.
Ver. 19. Let one of your Brethren, &c.] This ſhall be the proof of your Honeſty. Inſtead of ſending one of you to your Father, you ſhall all go but one; who ſhall remain bound in Priſon till you bring your younger Brother: And in the mean time carry Proviſion for your Families.
Ver. 20. But bring your youngeſt Brother, &c.] Fail not to let me ſee your youngeſt Brother: And ſo ſhall you juſtifie your ſelves to be no Spies; and ſuffer nothing.
And they did ſo.] They conſented to this Propoſal.
Ver. 21. And they ſaid one to another.] They that had the chief Hand, in the Conſpiracy againſt Joſeph, began upon this occaſion to make the following Reflections on it.
We are verily guilty, &c.] See the Power of Conſcience, which flies in their Face and reproaches them for a Fact committed above twenty Years ago.
In that we ſaw the anguiſh of his Soul, &c.] We would have no pity, when he beſought us with Tears; and now nothing that we can ſay, will move this Man. They obſerve their Guilt in their Puniſhment. For, as they had thrown Joſeph into a Pit, ſo they had been thrown into a Priſon themſelves: And as nothing he could ſay, would incline them to ſpare him, ſo now they found Joſeph inexorable to them.
This Anguiſh of his Soul, and his Entreaties are not mentioned before, (Chap. XXXVII.) but could not but be ſuppoſed, if they had not been mentioned here.
Ver. 22. And Reuben anſwered them, &c.] You ſhould have hearkned unto me, and then you had not come into this Diſtreſs.
Behold alſo, his Blood is required.] You killed him, and now you muſt pay for it with the loſs of your Lives. For he thought him to be dead.
Ver. 23. Spake to them by an Interpreter.] This ſhows the Egyptian Tongue and the Hebrew were different; though in ſome words they might agree.
Ver. 24. And he turned himſelf about from them.] And went into ſome other Room.
And wept.] Natural Affection was too ſtrong for the Perſon he put on: And would not ſuffer him to counterfeit any longer.
Returned to them, and communed with them.] When he had vented his Paſſion, and compoſed himſelf to his former Temper, he repeated to them what he had told them before: But added withal, That if they brought Benjamin with them, they might Traffick in the Land, verſe 34.
And took from them Simeon.] Who, the Hebrews ſay, was the Perſon that put Joſeph into the Pit: And therefore was now ſerved in his kind. This, I think, may be fairly conjectured, That Reuben being reſolved to ſave him, and Judah alſo inclined to favour him; if Simeon had joyned with them, their Authority might have prevailed to deliver him.
And bound him before their Eyes.] Cauſed him to be bound in their preſence; to ſtrike the greater Terror into them.
Ver. 25. To give them Proviſion for the way.] That they might carry what they bought intire, for the uſe of their Family.
And thus he did unto them.] Thus the Perſon, to whom Joſeph gave that Command, did unto them.
Ver. 26. And they laded their Aſſes with Corn, &c.] It is not ſaid how many Aſſes they laded; but one would gueſs by what follows, only each Man one. For they went only to fetch a preſent Supply: Not thinking of providing againſt a long Famine.
Ver. 27. And as one of them opened his Sack, &c.] Wherein was their Proviſion for the Way, verſe 25.
Ver. 28. He ſaid unto his Brethren, &c.] Who all preſently opened their Sacks and found their Money there. For ſo the Story is told by Judah at their return to Egypt, XLIII. 21: And both by that place and this, it appears this hapned to them when they came unto their Inn, to reſt themſelves, in their firſt Day's Journey.
And their Heart failed them, &c.] Their Guilt made them afraid; otherwiſe they would have rejoyced. But all things terrifie an evil Conſcience: Which made them think ſome Deſign was laid to undo them all.
What is this that God hath done unto us?] Now God was in all their Thoughts, as the Chief Governor of all things; whoſoever was the Inſtrument.
Ver. 30. The Man who is the Lord of the Land.] By this it appears Joſeph was little leſs than a King, i. e. in his Authority and Sway, which he bare in that Country.
Took us for Spies.] In the Hebrew it is, He gave us, i. e. treated us as Spies; by delivering us to be put in Priſon.
Ver. 34. And ye ſhall traffick in the Land.] Buy Corn, or any thing elſe the Country affords; without any lett or impediment.
Ver. 35. When both they and their Father ſaw the bundles of Money, &c.] They had ſeen the ſame before: Therefore this is ſet down to expreſs the Fear which Jacob himſelf was in, at the ſight of the Money; though we may well ſuppoſe their Fear was increaſed, when they perceived him to have the ſame Apprehenſions which they had, of ſome Deſign that might be laid againſt their Lives, when they returned to Egypt, though they brought their younger Brother with them.
Ver. 36. Simeon is not.] He lookt upon him as dead; being in the Power of ſo rough a Man, as they deſcribed the Lord of the Land to be: Eſpecially if he did not ſend Benjamin thither, as, for the preſent, he was reſolved not to do.
All theſe things are againſt me.] Or, upon me, as the Hebrew words carry it. Theſe are heavy Burdens, which lie upon me, not upon you: Who can be content to have Benjamin go, after I have loſt two of my Sons already.
Ver. 37. Slay my two Sons if I bring him not to thee.] Nothing could be more fooliſhly ſaid; for what Good would it do Jacob (nay, what an increaſe of his Affliction would it have been) to loſe two Grand-Children, after he had loſt another Son? But it was ſpoken out of a paſſionate Deſire to redeem Simeon, and to make more Proviſion for their Family: Being confident that Joſeph (who profeſſed to fear God, verſe 18.) would be as good as his Word.
Ver. 38. He is left alone.] The only Child of his Mother.
Bring down my grey Hairs with ſorrow to the Grave.] You will make me, who am worn away already, die with Grief.