Commentary on Genesis, Chapter 46
CHAP. XLVI.
Ver. 1. CAme to Beerſheba.] Which was in his way from Hebron (where he now lived, XXXV. 27.) into Egypt: Lying in the moſt Southerly Parts of Canaan; near that Wilderneſs through which the Iſraelites went, when they came from Egypt.
And offered ſacrifice.] Recommended himſelf and his Family, unto God's Protection in his Journey to Egypt, and unto his Preſervation, when he came there. And he the rather called upon God in this Place, becauſe both his Father and Grand-Father had found. Favour with him here, XXI. 33. XXVI. 23.
Ʋnto the God of his Father Iſaac.] Who was his immediate Anceſtor, and had conferred the Bleſſing of Abraham upon him: And therefore he mentions him rather than Abraham.
Ver. 2. In the Viſions of the Night.] See upon XX. 3.
Jacob, Jacob.] He redoubles his Name to awaken his Attention; and he calls him Jacob rather than Iſrael, (as he is called in the beginning of the Verſe) to remember him what he was Originally, and that by his Favour he was made Iſrael.
Ver. 3. Fear not to go down into Egypt.] He was afraid, perhaps, that if Joſeph ſhould die, his Family might be made Slaves. For which he had ſome reaſon, from what was ſaid to Abraham, in a like Viſion, XV. 13.
I will make of thee a great Nation.] He renews the Promiſe, which at the ſame time was made to Abraham, That his Seed ſhould be as numerous as the Stars of Heaven, XV. 5.
Ver. 4. I will go down with thee, &c.] Take care of thee in thy Journey, that no Evil ſhall befal thee; and preſerve thee and thy Family there.
And bring thee up again.] i. e. His Poſterity, who ſhould multiply there: For the Scripture ſpeaks of Parents and Children, as one Perſon.
Put his Hands upon thine Eyes.] Be with thee when thou leaveſt this World; and take care of thy Funeral, when thou art dead. For this was the firſt thing that was done, when one expired, to cloſe his Eyes: Which was performed both among Greeks and Romans (as many Authors inform us) by the neareſt Relations, or deareſt Friends. See Mr. Selden, L. II. de Synedr. cap. 7. n. 12. and Menochius, de Repub. Hebr. L. VIII. cap. 4. Qu. XI.
In ſhort, by theſe words God aſſures him, that Joſeph ſhould not die, while he lived, (as Mr. Selden obſerves out of Baal-haturim, in his Additions to the fore-named Chapter, p. 737.) and that he ſhould die in Peace, having his Children about him.
Ver. 7. His Daughters.] He had but one Daughter, and therefore the Plural Number is uſed for the Singular, (as verſe 23. Sons is put for Son) or, elſe he includes his Grand-Daughter, who, in Scripture-Language, is called the Daughter of her Grand-Father. But the firſt ſeems the trueſt Account, if what is ſaid verſe 15. be conſidered. Where the whole Number of his Deſcendants from Leah being ſummed up, Dinah (under the Name of Daughters) muſt be taken in, to make up three and thirty; reckoning Jacob himſelf alſo, for one of them.
Ver. 9. Hanoch.] From whom came the Family of the Hanochites, as we read Numb. XXVI. 5.
Phallu.] From whom, in like manner, ſprung the Family of the Phalluites; as Moſes there notes: And ſays the ſame of the reſt of Reuben's Sons, that they were the Fathers of Families, when they came into Egypt.
Ver. 10. Jemuel.] This Son of Simeon is called Nemuel in Numb. XXVI. 12. and 1 Chron. IV. 24.
Ohad.] He is named among the Sons of Simeon, when Moſes was ſent to bring them out of Egypt, Exod. VI. 15. But either he had no Poſterity, or they were extinct: For ſhortly after there is no mention of him, in Numb. XXVI. 12. Nor is he to be found among his Sons in 1 Chron. IV. 24.
Jachin.] Is called Jarib in 1 Chron. IV. 24. and is thought by ſome to have been the Grand-Father of Zimri, whom Phineas ſlew in his Fornication with the Midianitiſh Woman.
Ver. 12. Er and Onan died in the Land of Canaan.] And therefore are not to be numbred among them, that went down into Egypt: But in ſtead of them the two Sons of Pharez are ſet down, though, perhaps, not now born; to ſupply the place of Er and Onan.
The Sons of Pharez, were Hezron and Hamul.] When Jacob went down into Egypt, Pharez was ſo young, that one can ſcarce think he had two Sons at that time: But they were born ſoon after, before Jacob died. And St. Auſtin ſeems to have truly judged, that Jacob's deſcent into Egypt, comprehends all the ſeventeen Years, which he lived after it. Or, we may conceive it poſſible, that their Mother was with Child of them, when Jacob went down into Egypt. For then Pharez is thought to have been fourteen Years old; at which Age it is ſo far from being incredible that he might have two Sons, that in theſe latter Ages, ſome have begotten a Child when they were younger. Jul. Scaliger, a Man of unqueſtionable Credit, aſſures us, that in his memory, there was a Boy, not quite twelve Years old, who had a Daughter by a Couſin of his, who was not quite ten. Rem notam narro, & cujus memoria adhuc recens eſt in Aquitania. This was a known thing, the memory of which was then freſh in Aquitain.
Ver. 13. And the Sons of Iſſachar, Tola.] Some have wondred that he ſhould give his eldeſt Son a Name that ſignifies a Worm. Perhaps it was (as Bochart conjectures) becauſe he was a poor ſhriveled Child when he was born, not likely to live. And yet it pleaſed God, that he became a great Man, from whom ſprang a numerous Off-ſpring, Numb. XXVI. 23. and ſo fruitful, that in the Days of David there were numbred above two and twenty thouſand of them, 1 Chron. VII. 2. who were Men of Might and Valour.
Ver. 15. Which ſhe bare unto Jacob in Padan-Aram.] She bare the Fathers of them there: But the Children were born in Canaan.
All the Souls of his Sons and Daughters, &c.] See verſe 7.
Ver. 19. Rachel, Jacob's Wife.] She was his only choice, as was noted before, on XLIV. 27.
Ver. 21. The Sons of Benjamin, &c.] He being now but about twenty four Years old, we cannot well think he had all theſe Sons when he went down into Egypt: But ſome of them were born afterward, before Jacob died; as was ſaid before, verſe 12. Yet they are all here mention'd, becauſe they were moſt of them now born, and all became the Heads of Families in their Tribe. It is poſſible he might begin ſo early to beget Children, as to have all theſe before they went into Egypt. See Verſe 12.
Ver. 26. Came out of his Loins.] In the Hebrew, out of his Thigh. A modeſt Expreſſion: The Parts ſerving for the Propagation of Mankind, being placed between the Thighs.
All the Souls were threeſcore and ſix.] i. e. Leaving out Joſeph and his two Sons (who did not come with Jacob into Egypt, but were there already) and Jacob himſelf, (who could not be ſaid to come out of his own Loins) they made juſt this Number.
Ver. 27. All the Souls, which came into Egypt, were threeſcore and ten.] There is a remarkable difference between this Verſe and the foregoing. There (verſe 26.) they only are numbred who came with Jacob into Egypt: Which were no more than threeſcore and ſix. But here are numbred all that came into Egypt, (viz. firſt and laſt) which plainly comprehend Jacob, Joſeph and his two Sons: And make up threeſcore and ten.
Ver. 28. And he ſent Judah before him.] Who ſeems by the whole Story, to have been the moſt eminent among Jacob's Children, when Joſeph was gone; as was noted before, XLIV. 14.
To direct his way, &c.] To give Joſeph notice of his coming; and to receive Directions from him, in what part of Goſhen he ſhould expect him.
And they came into the Land of Goſhen.] Into that part of it which Joſeph had appointed.
Ver. 29. Preſented himſelf to him.] With ſuch Reverence, as a Son owes to his Father: Who embraced him moſt tenderly. For ſome referr the next words to Jacob, he fell on his Neck, &c.] Which expreſſes the higheſt Affection.
And wept on his Neck a good while.] We read before how Joſeph fell upon Benjamin's Neck, and wept; which was anſwered by the like endearments on Benjamin's part, XLV. 14. But the Affection wherewith Jacob embraced Joſeph, (as Maimonides underſtands it) or (as R. Solomon Jarchi) Joſeph embraced his Father, far ſurpaſſed that. For they continued longer infolded in one another's Arms; where Tears of Joy flowed ſo faſt, that for a good while they could not ſpeak.
Ver. 30. And Iſrael ſaid unto Joſeph.] Some make this an Argument, that it was Joſeph, who, lighting out of his Chariot, threw himſelf into his Father's Arms and wept, &c. Which made Moſes now more diſtinctly mention who ſaid the following words.
Now let me die, &c.] Theſe words ſignifie that he now enjoyed the utmoſt Happineſs he could deſire on Earth; which therefore he was willing to leave, becauſe nothing could be added to it. Theſe were the firſt Thoughts which his Paſſion ſuggeſted to him; though to live with Joſeph, and to enjoy his Converſation, was far more than barely to ſee his face.
Ver. 32. The Men are Shepherds, &c.] He ſeems to have been afraid, leſt Pharaoh ſhould have preferred his Brethren, and made them Courtiers, or Commanders in the Army, &c. which might have procured them the Envy of the Egyptians: And, beſides, have ſeparated them one from another. Whereas by profeſſing themſelves Shepherds, and Traders in Cattle, they kept all together in a Body, ſeparate from the Egyptians. Which two Reaſons are ſuggeſted by Joſephus.
Ver. 33. What is your Occupation?] Your way of living: For Men did not live idly in thoſe Days.
Ver. 34. Ye ſhall ſay, Thy Servants Trade hath been, &c.] He directs them to Juſtifie, what he told them he would inform Pharaoh.
That ye may dwell in the Land of Goſhen.] A rich Country, abounding with Paſturage, and alſo next adjoyning to Canaan (as was noted before, XLV. 10.) unto which, when the time came, they might the more eaſily return.
For every Shepherd.] Not univerſally, without limitation, but every Foreign Shepherd. For a conſiderable part of the Egyptian People were Shepherds, as Diodorus Siculus tells us, (L. I. §. 2. p. 47. Edit. Steph.) where he ſaith the Country being divided into three Parts, the Prieſts had one, their King a ſecond, and the Soldiers a third: And there were three other Ranks of Men under theſe, viz. Shepherds, Husbandmen, and Artificers. The Husbandmen, he ſaith, ſerved their King, and Prieſts, and Military Men in tilling their Ground, for ſmall Wages, and ſpent all their time in it. And the like account, he ſaith, is given of their Shepherds, who, from their Fore-fathers, followed that way of living. Which makes it plain they could not abominate thoſe who were ſo ſerviceable to them; though they might contemn them as mean People, who never roſe to any higher Employment. But we need not go to him for the proof of this: It being apparent from this very Book, that the Egyptians had Sheep, and Oxen, as well as Horſes and Aſſes, which they ſold to Joſeph for Corn in the time of Famine, (XLVII. 17.) and that Pharaoh ſpake to Joſeph to make ſuch of his Brethren as were Men of Skill, Rulers over his Flocks, (XLVII. 6.) which is a demonſtration they bred Cattle as well as other Nations. And therefore if we will underſtand this to be true of all Shepherds, without exception, then by Egyptians (to whom Shepherds are ſaid to be an abomination) we muſt not underſtand all the People of the Country of Egypt, (Shepherds being a part of them) but only the Courtiers and great Men, as in XLV. 2. the Egyptians are ſaid to hear Joſeph weep, i. e. thoſe that belong'd to the Court: Who, it is likely, deſpiſed Shepherds, (as Rupertus Tuitienſis long ago expounded this Paſſage) but that is far ſhort of abominating them, which the Hebrew word imports. But after all this, I do not ſee how they could be contemptible, if it be true which the ſame Diodorus ſaith, p. 58. That when they buried a Corps, and made the Funeral Encomium, they never mentioned the Parentage of the deceaſed, foreign, making account that all the People of Egypt, were alike well-born.
We muſt confine therefore this Aſſertion to Foreign Shepherds; and it is not eaſie to give the reaſon why they were an abomination to the Egyptians, who were Shepherds themſelves. Onkelos and Jonathan, with a great many others, think that they would not converſe (for that is meant by abomination) with the Hebrew Shepherds, becauſe they had no greater regard to thoſe Creatures which the Egyptians worſhipped, than to breed them up to be eaten. But there is no good proof that they worſhipped Sheep or Oxen in thoſe Days; and, on the contrary, it appears both out of Herodotus, and Diodorus Siculus, that they ſacrificed ſuch Creatures, in their Days, and alſo eat of the Sacrifices, when they had done. See Herodot. in Euterpe, Cap. 40, 41. And therefore the reaſon given by others for this Abhorrence is not ſolid; that the Egyptians did eat no Fleſh, and upon that ſcore could not endure thoſe that did. This is the Account which Aben Ezra gives of this Matter; who fanſies they were like the Indians, in his time, who abominated Shepherds, becauſe they drunk Milk; contrary to their Manners, who taſted nothing that came from any living Creature. But, as it cannot be proved that this Superſtition was ſo old as Jacob's time; ſo the contrary is evident from this very Book, XLIII. 16. where Joſeph bids his Steward go home and ſlay and make ready a Dinner for his Brethren: Whom he did not intend to entertain after the Hebrew but after the Egyptian Faſhion; that he might not be known by them. And ſo Herodotus informs us, that in his days, though they abſtained from ſome Animals, yet they eat of others: Both Fiſh and Birds. Euterpe, cap. 78. And Diodorus giving an account after what manner their Kings lived, ſaith they uſed a ſimple Diet, eating Veal and Geeſe, &c. L. I. §. 2. p. 45. Edit. Steph.
Joſ. Scaliger therefore thinks this ſort of Men were abominable, becauſe they had often raiſed Rebellion in Egypt, and made a King of their own; who erected that which is called the Paſtoral Kingdom. This is embraced by many great Men, who have only the Authority of Manetho for it; who ſays theſe were Phoenician Shepherds (as Joſephus tells us, Lib. I. contra Appion.) who reigned in Egypt, and burnt their Cities, threw down their Temples; in ſhort, omitted no ſort of Cruelties. Upon this account the famous Bochartus (Lib. IV. Canaan, cap. 4.) thinks it poſſible the Egyptians hated Shepherds, who had done ſo much Miſchief: And, I may add, the Hebrew Shepherds Joſeph might think would be more abominated, becauſe they came out of that very Country, from whence thoſe Phoenician Rovers made their Invaſion. But as it doth not appear that they who did the fore-named Miſchief, were all Foreigners: So the time which is aſſigned for this Paſtoral Kingdom, doth not agree with the Scripture-Story. For it is ſaid to have been in the One thouſand one hundred and twelfth Year before the Iſraelites going out of Egypt; in the XVth Dynaſty, as they call it: That is, about Two and forty Years after the Flood, when Mizraim the Father of the Egyptians was ſcarce born, or was very young.
Our great Primate Ʋſſer endeavours to avoid this abſurdity, by placing this Invaſion (which he thinks was out of Arabia) three hundred Years after the Flood: When they took Memphis; over-run all the lower Egypt; and their firſt King, there reigned nineteen Years. But I have this to except; that Abraham coming a good while after this into Egypt, was well entertained there; though he was as much a Shepherd as his Grand-Child Jacob. See Gen. XII.
From whence I conclude, That if this Story of Manetho be true, it hapned after the time of Abraham; and ſo was freſh in their memory. Such a third Rebellion of the Shepherds the ſame Manetho mentions, within leſs than two hundred Years before the Children of Iſrael's departure out of Egypt. But this ſeems to be a Story framed, from that departure of the Iſraelites themſelves (who were Shepherds) out of Egypt under the Conduct of Moſes. And ſo Joſephus, and ſeveral of the ancient Chriſtians (Tatianus, Juſtin Martyr, and Clem. Alexand.) underſtood it. See Ʋſſer. ad An. M. 2179.
All this conſidered Gaulmin (in his Notes upon the Book called the Life of Moſes, p. 267, &c.) hath more probably conjectured, That this averſation to Shepherds aroſe from their being generally addicted, in thoſe Parts, to Robbery: Which way of life made them abominable. This he juſtifies out of Heliodorus, L. I. and Achilles Tatius, L. III. who deſcribe the ſeat of theſe foreign and foreign (whom the Egyptians called Hyſch) and the manner of their Life. To which Opinion I find Bochartus himſelf inclined before he died, and confirms it (in his Hierozoic. L. II. c. 44. P. I.) by many Proofs, that Shepherds anciently were furax hominum genus, a thieviſh ſort of People; which made them odious. Againſt which I ſee no exception but this; that Aulus Gellius tells us (Lib. XI. cap. 18.) out of an ancient Lawyer, That the old Egyptians held all manner of Thefts to be lawful, and did not puniſh them. And Diodorus Siculus mentions this Law among them, That they who would live by Robbery, were to enter their Names, and bring what they ſtole, immediately to the Prieſt. Who mulct the Man that was robbed a fourth part; and gave it to the Thief. By which means all Thefts were diſcovered, and Men were made more careful, to look well after their Goods. But one cannot believe this Law was of ſuch Antiquity, as the Times of Joſeph: Or, if it was, thoſe Out-Laws (as I may call them) who robb'd upon the Borders, were not concerned in it: Nor had their Neighbours, who were no leſs addicted to Theft, the benefit of it. Particularly thoſe in Paleſtine, from whence Jacob came; one would gueſs by what we read 1 Chron. VII. 21, 22. were then much addicted to Robbery. For, before this Generation ended, we are told there the Men of Gath ſlew ſeveral of the Sons of Ephraim, (who himſelf was then alive) for they came down to take their Cattle, ſaith that Holy Writer; that is, to get what Plunder they could in Goſhen: Where the Ephraimites defending their Cattle, were ſome of them killed by the Philiſtines, to the great grief of their Father. The Ethiopians alſo are noted by Strabo (Lib. XVII. p. 787.) to live for the moſt part, foreign, after a very poor, ſharking, roving manner, by feeding Cattle, where they could find Food for them. And immediately adds, foreign, that all things were quite contrary among the Egyptians, who were a more civilized People, inhabiting certain and known Places, &c. Which ſhows that their Manners were very different; which eaſily bred hatred. Which appears by what Plutarch ſaith, (in his Book de Iſid. & Oſir.) that the Egyptians avoided the Converſation of black People: Which was the Complexion of the Ethiopians. And for ſome ſuch reaſon, he ſaith, in the ſame Book, they avoided all Mariners (of other Nations, that is) as here Moſes ſays they did Shepherds, upon ſome or other of the accounts before-mentioned.
It looks like a piece of great Generoſity in Joſeph, not to conceal from Pharaoh the Quality of his Family: Though ſuch kind of Men were under a very ill Character. He hoped they would diſtinguiſh themſelves from ſuch vile Shepherds, as had made the Name odious: And if they did not gain the Love of the Egyptians, they would be the more ſecured in the Love of God, by not learning their evil Manners and Superſtitions; from which they would be preſerved, by having no Converſation with them.