Commentary on Genesis, Chapter 43
CHAP. XLIII.
Ver. 1. AND the Famine was ſore, &c.] Still increaſed to a greater ſcarcity.
Ver. 2. When they had eaten up the Corn, that they brought out of Egypt.] So that they had nothing to live upon, but only the poor Crop, that their own Country produced: Which could not long ſuſtain them.
Buy us a little Food.] He hoped, it is likely, the next Year would be better; and ſo only deſired a ſupply of their preſent Neceſſity.
Ver. 3. And Judah ſpake unto him, &c.] Reuben had ſpoken to him in vain, (XLII. 37, 38.) and Levi, perhaps, had not yet recovered his Intereſt in him, ſince the barbarous Action at Shechem: And therefore Judah took upon him to perſuade his Father; being next in Birth, and of no ſmall Authority among his Brethren.
Ye ſhall not ſee my Face.] But be taken for Spies; and ſo loſe their lives.
Ver. 5. We will not go down.] Becauſe it would not only have been to no purpoſe: But alſo indangered their lives.
Ver. 6. Wherefore dealt ye ſo ill with me, &c.] It was unkindly done of you, to tell him of another Brother. For what need was there to ſay any thing of one who was not with you?
Ver. 7. The Man askt us ſtraitly, &c.] They having told him, they were all one Man's Sons, XLII. 11. he might well ask them, what Mans? And whether there were any more of them? And whether their Father and Brother were yet living?
And we told him according to the tenor of theſe words.] Anſwered every Queſtion, as Truth required.
Ver. 8. Send the Lad with me.] Truſt him with me. He calls him Lad, becauſe he was the youngeſt of them all; and one of whom his Father was as tender, as if he had been a little Child: Though indeed he had Children of his own, XLVI. 21.
That we may live, &c.] Theſe were very moving Arguments; the Preſervation of a whole Family; Benjamin and all: Who, if he went, might return in ſafety; but, if he ſtaid at home, muſt periſh with all the reſt.
Ver. 9. I will be ſurety for him.] Be bound in what Penalty thou pleaſeſt, to bring him back.
Of my hand ſhalt thou require him.] Puniſh me (who will be anſwerable for him) if he miſcarry.
Bear the blame for ever.] Lie under thy Diſpleaſure, as long as I live. All this ſignifies only, that he would do his utmoſt to ſecure him: And rather ſuffer the heavieſt thing himſelf, than loſe Benjamin.
Ver. 10. For except we had lingred, &c.] If thou hadſt not hindred us by theſe ſcruples about Benjamin, we had been there and at home again, by this time.
Ver. 11. Take of the beſt Fruits.] The Hebrew word Mizzimrath ſignifies, of the moſt praiſed; or, as Bochart more literally interprets it, quae in hac terra ſunt maximè decantata, (P. II. Hierozoic. Lib. V. cap. 9.) thoſe Fruits which are moſt celebrated in the Land of Canaan: Which was as famous for the things following, as Egypt was for Corn. And it ſeems at this time did not want them; which might make them more acceptable in Egypt, where they grew at no time. For Egypt being a low and plain Country, and Canaan an hilly; it made their Products very different.
Balm.] Rather Reſin, as was obſerved on XXXVII. 25.
Honey.] For which this Country was famous; eſpecially in ſome Parts of it, about Tekoah, as Bochart alſo obſerves. And therefore was a fit Preſent for a King, as we ſee in the Story of David, 2 Sam. XVII. 29: And was carried from hence, to the Marts of Tyre, Ezek. XXVII. 17.
Spices.] The word Necoth ſignifies Storax, as was alſo obſerved before, XXXVII. 25.
Myrrhe.] Which Bochart tranſlates Maſtich.
Nuts.] He alſo proves by many Arguments, that the word Botnim ſignifies thoſe Nuts we call Piſtachio's. Which may well be numbred among the beſt Fruits of the Land: Being very friendly to the Stomach and Liver; powerful againſt Poiſon; and highly eſteemed, by the Ancients, as a delicious Food. And ſo Maimonides and Kimchi expound the word.
Almonds.] They are fitly joyned with Piſtachio's, as he obſerves; being fructus congeneres: And therefore Dioſcorides treats of them together: And Theophraſtus deſcribes the Piſtachio as foreign, like unto Almonds. Vid. Canaan, Lib. I. cap.
Ver. 12. Take double Money.] Other Money beſides their firſt. Which, if it ſignifie as much more as the firſt; the reaſon was becauſe he thought, Corn might now be grown dearer.
Ver. 14. If I be bereaved, I am bereaved.] I ſubmit unto it, and will bear it as patiently as I am able. Or, as ſome paraphraſe it; as I have been bereaved of Joſeph and Simeon, ſo now I am of Benjamin: No new thing happens to me; but I have been uſed to ſuch Afflictions: Which I may therefore bear more equally.
Ver. 15. Stood before Joſeph.] Preſented themſelves to him in his Office, (as we ſpeak) or, in the Place, where he gave Audience to thoſe who came to Petition him, or to buy Corn of him. For it is plain, by the next Verſe, that he was not at his own Houſe.
Ver. 16. Bring theſe Men home.] Conduct them to my Houſe.
And ſlay.] The Hebrew Phraſe ſignifies a great ſlaughter; of ſeveral ſorts of Creatures perhaps; that there might be a plentiful Proviſion.
Ver. 18. And the Men were afraid, &c.] Every thing (as was obſerved before, XLII. 28.) terrifies a guilty Conſcience.
And fall upon us.] i. e. Kill us.
And take us for Bond-men, &c.] Rather, or, take us for Bond-men and our Aſſes.
Ver. 19. They came near to the Steward, &c.] They deſired to ſpeak with him, before they entred into the Houſe: That they might ſet themſelves right in his Opinion.
Ver. 20. We came at the firſt time to buy Food.] And we paid for it what was demanded.
Ver. 21. When we came to the Inn, &c.] There we found that very Money, to a Farthing, in our Sack's Mouth, &c.
Ver. 22. We cannot tell who put our Money, &c.] We are ignorant how it came there; but ſuppoſe it was by ſome miſtake: And therefore have brought it again, with new Money for another Purchaſe.
Ver. 23. Peace be to you.] Trouble not your ſelves about that Matter.
Your God, and the God of your Fathers, &c.] This Steward had learnt of Joſeph the knowledge of the True God: To whoſe Kindneſs he bids them aſcribe this Event.
And he brought Simeon out unto them.] Unbound; as free as themſelves.
Ver. 24. Gave them Water.] Ordered Water to be brought, as the Cuſtom was, to waſh their Feet. See XVIII. 4.
Ver. 26. Bowed themſelves to the ground.] Here again was Joſeph's Dream fulfilled. See XLII. 6.
Ver. 28. Thy ſervant our Father, &c.] Here they made a Reverence to him, in the Name of their Father: Whereby that part of the Dream (XXXVII. 9, 10.) which concerned him, was alſo fulfilled. And they ſpeak likewiſe of him in an humble Style; ſignifying his inferiority to Joſeph.
Ver. 29. Saw his Brother Benjamin.] He had ſeen him before, verſe 16. but did not think fit to take notice of him at the firſt: Or, perhaps, was then full of buſineſs, when they preſented themſelves at their firſt appearance; and had not leiſure to ſpeak with them till Dinner-time.
God be gracious unto thee, my Son.] He bleſſed him, as Superiors were wont to do thoſe below them: Whom they called their Sons, with reſpect to themſelves, as Fathers of the Country.
Ver. 30. His Bowels did yern.] He felt a great commotion within himſelf; which he was not able to keep from breaking out: And therefore he made haſte out of the Room where they were; as if ſome other buſineſs called him away.
Ver. 31. Set on Bread.] Set the Dinner upon the Table.
Ver. 32. And they ſet on for him by himſelf, &c.] There ſeems to have been three Tables. One, where he ſat alone in State: Another where his Brethren ſat: And a third where the great Men of Egypt were entertained.
For the Egyptians might not eat Bread with the Hebrews, &c.] Becauſe the Hebrews (ſaith Jonathan) did eat thoſe Beaſts which the Egyptians worſhipped. And to the ſame purpoſe writes Onkelos. In which regard the Egyptians were as ſcrupulous to eat with a Grecian in after-times, as now with an Hebrew. So Bochart obſerves out of Athenaeus, L. VII. Deipnoſ. where Anaxandrides, a Comedian, jeers the Egyptians for worſhipping an Eel, as a Great God, whom we, ſaith he, think to be moſt excellent Meat. And out of Herodotus, who in his Euterpe, cap. 41. ſaith no Egyptian Man or Woman would kiſs the Mouth of a Greek; nor make uſe of a Knife, a Spit, or a Pot belonging to them; nor take a bit of Beef cut with a Greek's Knife. See Bochart's Hierozoic. P. I. Lib. II. cap. 53. And Dr. Spencer, de Rit. Hebr. p. 125. But though it appear by ſuch Paſſages, that in the time of Herodotus and other fore-named Writers, ſeveral Animals were held ſo Sacred among the Egyptians that they would not eat them, yet it may well be queſtioned whether it were ſo in the Days of Joſeph. For there is not the leaſt ſign of it in this Story; much leſs of their worſhipping ſuch Creatures: The worſhip of the famous Ox, called Apis, being a much later Invention, as many learned Men have demonſtrated: And ſome of them having given probable Reaſons that Joſeph himſelf was the Perſon at firſt repreſented by that Figure under the Name of Ab, i. e. Father of his Country. See Ger. Voſſius. L. I. de Idol. cap. 29.
Therefore it is moſt likely that this Abhorrence, is to be reſolved only into the very different Manners of the Hebrews from the Egyptians: Particularly at their Meals, in the way of dreſſing their Meat, or in their eating. For we know ſome of the Jews themſelves afterwards ſcrupled to eat with thoſe who had unwaſhen Hands; and ſeveral Nations have avoided ſuch Familiarity with others, merely on the account of their different Cuſtoms. Of which the Egyptians were exceeding tenacious, as Herodotus himſelf informs us; particularly in their eating. For he concludes his Diſcourſe about their Feaſts with this Obſervation, (in his Book before-mention'd, cap. 28.) foreign. Uſing their own Country Cuſtoms, they receive no other. And in the Ninety firſt Chapter of the ſame Book, he ſaith, that as they would uſe no Greek Cuſtoms, ſo (to ſpeak all in a word) foreign, &c. Neither would they uſe the Cuſtoms of any other Men in the World whatſoever. Nay, one Part of Egypt differed extreamly from another: For in the Theban Province they abſtained from Sheep, and ſacrificed Goats; but, in the Mendeſian, quite contrary, they abſtained from Goats, and ſacrificed Sheep: As he tells us in his Euterpe, cap. 42. And the wiſeſt of them were ſo nicely Superſtitious, that ſome of them thought it unlawful to eat of the Head of any living Creature; others of the Shoulder-blade; others of the Feet; others of ſome like part. So Sextus Empiricus tells us, Lib. III. Pyrrh. Hypot. cap. 24. foreign, &c. Upon which ſcore I do not know but ſuch kind of People might be ſo whimſical, as to refuſe to eat with one another.
Ver. 33. They ſat before him.] For that was the Cuſtom before the way of lying upon Beds was invented. See XXVII. 19. XXXVII. 25.
And the Men marvelled one at another.] That they ſhould be ſo exactly diſpoſed, according to the order of their Birth: And ſo kindly treated by one that had lately uſed them very roughly.
Ver. 34. And he took and ſent meſſes, &c.] Ordered thoſe that waited to take and carry Meſſes from his own Table, unto theirs. For ſuch was the ancient Cuſtom, for great Men to honour ſuch as were in their Favour, by ſending Diſhes to them, which were firſt ſerved up to themſelves: From whence they were called MISSA, Meſſes, things ſent. The ancient way of eating alſo is to be obſerved, which was not like ours: As appears by Plutarch in his Sympoſ. Lib. II. Q. ult. where he diſputes, which was the better Cuſtom, to eat out of one common Diſh; or, every one to have a Diſh to himſelf: As the manner was in old time. When all the Meat being ſet on the Table, the Maſter of the Feaſt diſtributed to every one their Portion.
Benjamin's Meſs was five times as much, &c.] He had five Diſhes to their one: Which was intended as a peculiar Reſpect to him. Or, as others underſtand it, there was five times as much Meat in his Meſs, as in one of theirs. Which might well be part of the cauſe of their wonder, verſe 33.
And they drank.] After they had dined, plenty of Wine was brought in, for every one to drink as much as they pleaſed. For ſuch is the Cuſtom of the Abyſſines at this Day; not to drink or talk at Dinner; but after the Meat is taken away: As Ludolphus aſſures us from Telezius. Who takes it to have been the ancient Cuſtom among other Nations; particularly the Romans: For which he alledges thoſe Verſes of Virgil, Aeneid. I.
Poſtquam prima quies epulis, menſaeque remotae
Crateras magnas ſtatuunt, & vina coronant.
I mention Wine here in Egypt: For though Herodotus ſaith in his Days they had no Vines, but uſed Drink made of Barley, i. e. ſuch as ours (Lib. II. cap. 77.) yet in the time of Joſeph it ſeems to have been otherwiſe. For it is not likely the chief Butler would have dreamt of a Vine and Grapes, and preſſing them into Pharaoh's Cup, (XL. 9, 10, 11.) if he had never ſeen them in Egypt.
And were merry with him.] So we well tranſlate the laſt words of this Chapter; which ſignifie their drinking plentifully; more liberally than at home: Not till they were drunk (as R. Solomon ſaith ſome uſed to abuſe this place, to countenance that Vice) but till they were very cheerful. For they could not be ſo ſenſleſs, as before ſo great a Man, in a ſtrange place, where they were alſo full of fear, to make themſelves drunk.