Commentary on Genesis, Chapter 47
CHAP. XLVII.
Ver. 1. JOſeph came and told Pharaoh, &c.] He had his Warrant ſome time ago, to ſend for his Father and his Family, XLV. 17, &c. But it was good Manners to acquaint him they were come; and to know his Pleaſure, how he ſhould diſpoſe of them.
Behold, they are in the Land of Goſhen.] They ſtop there (which was the entrance of Egypt) till they know thy Pleaſure.
Ver. 2. And he took ſome of his Brethren, &c.] The Hebrew word Miktſe (which we tranſlate ſome) ſignifies in common Language, de extremitate, from the fagg-end, as we ſpeak, of his Brethren. Which hath made ſome imagine, he preſented the meaneſt of his Brethren to Pharaoh; that he might neither be afraid of them; nor think of advancing them to Employments in the Court or Camp. But this is a mere Fancy; the word here denoting only, that he took from among all his Brethren five of them: As Bochart obſerves, who tranſlates it ex omnibus fratribus ſuis; taking it to be like that Phraſe, XIX. 4. where we tranſlate it, from all Quarters. P. I. Hierozoic. Lib. II. cap. 34.
Ver. 3. Both we and our Fathers.] It is not an Employment we have lately taken up, but were bred to it by our Anceſtors: Who followed the ſame Profeſſion. For this was the moſt ancient way of living, as Columella obſerves in his Preface. In ruſticatione antiquiſſima eſt ratio paſcendi, eademque quaeſtuoſiſſima. In Country buſineſs, the moſt ancient, as well as moſt gainful, is the way of feeding Cattle. From whence he thinks came the name of PECƲNIA for Money, and PECƲ LIƲM, for Riches, à pecoribus, from Cattle; becauſe the Ancients had no other Poſſeſſions. Et adhuc apud quaſdam gentes unum hoc reperitur divitiarum genus. And to this Day, ſaith he, there is no other Riches to be found among ſome Nations. Which is ſtill true of the Abyſſines, eſpecially of the Beklenſes, as Ludolphus aſſures us. L. I. Hiſt. Aethiop. cap, 10. §. 8. and Comment. in Hiſtor. L. IV. cap. 4. n. 13.
Ver. 4. To ſojourn in the Land are we come.] We do not deſire to ſettle, but only to ſojourn here, during the Famine.
For the Famine is ſore in the Land of Canaan.] It was an high Country, in compariſon with Egypt; and the Graſs ſooner burnt up there, than in Goſhen: Which being a very low Country, they found ſome Paſture in it for their Flocks, and therefore beſeech him to ſuffer them to dwell there. For, as St. Auſtin obſerves, from thoſe that knew the Country; there was more Graſs in the Mariſhes and Fenny parts of Egypt, when the Nile did not overflow enough to make plenty of Corn. Queſt. CLX. in Gen.
Ver. 6. The Land of Egypt is before thee.] It is all in thy Power; diſpoſe of them as thou pleaſeſt.
Any Man of activity.] Vigorous and induſtrious; and that underſtands his buſineſs.
Make them Rulers over my Cattle.] Such as Doeg was to Saul, 1 Sam. XXI. 7. And thoſe great Officers mentioned 1 Chron. XXVII. 29, 30, 31. were to King David. For the Eaſtern Kings raiſed part of their Revenue from Cattle; and ſo did the Egyptian (it appears by this place) who had ſome prime Officers, to overſee the lower ſort of Shepherds. This ſhows that all Shepherds were not an abomination to the Egyptians, but only thoſe of other neighbouring Nations (the Arabians, Phoenicians, and Aethiopians) who were either an ill ſort of People; or, forbidden by the Laws of Egypt (which abounded with Cattle) to Traffick with them there.
Ver. 7. Jacob bleſſed Pharaoh.] Gave him Thanks for his Favour; and prayed for his Health and Safety: For that's the Bleſſing of an Inferior to a Superior. Thus Naaman prays Eliſha, Take a Bleſſing of thy Servant, i. e. an acknowledgment of my Obligations to thee.
Ver. 9. Pilgrimage.] So good Men are wont to call their Life; though they never ſtir from their native Soil: Looking upon it as a Paſſage, not a Settlement. But Jacob had reaſon to call his Life ſo more literally: Having been toſſed from place to place, ever ſince he went from his Father's Houſe into Meſopotamia, and returned from thence into Canaan. Where he dwelt a while at Succoth; and then at Shechem; and after that removed to Bethel; and ſo to Hebron unto his Father Iſaac; from whence he was now come into Egypt.
Few and evil have been the Days, &c.] They had been few, in compariſon with his Fore-fathers; and evil, becauſe full of Labour and Care; Grief and Sorrow upon many occaſions.
Ver. 10. Jacob bleſſed Pharaoh.] At meeting and at parting, ſuch Salutations were uſual. See Verſe 7.
Ver. 11. In the Land of Rameſes.] In that part of Goſhen, which in the days of Moſes was called Rameſes; from the Name of the City which the Hebrews built there for Pharaoh. Unleſs, perhaps, the City was called ſo from the Country of Rameſes, wherein it ſtood.
Ver. 12. And Joſeph nouriſhed his Father, &c.] Though there was ſome Paſture in this Country for their Cattle, yet not Food enough for themſelves; which Joſeph therefore took care to ſupply them withal.
According to their Families.] According as their Children were more, or fewer, ſo he proportioned their allowance.
Ver. 13. There was no Bread in all the Land.] This was the third Year of the Famine, (XLV. 6.) in which all the Corn, which Men had ſtored up in their ſeveral Families, was wholly ſpent.
Ver. 14. And Joſeph gathered up all the Money, &c.] As long as the Egyptians had any Money left, they bought Corn of Joſeph: Which ſupported them all the third; and, it is probable, the fourth and fifth Year of the Famine.
And Joſeph brought the Money into Pharaoh's Houſe.] Into the Treaſury; which he filled, and not his own Coffers, as Philo obſerves.
Ver. 15. And when Money failed.] This we may probably conceive, was in the ſixth Year of the Famine: When they were forced to ſell their Cattle for Food.
Ver. 18. They came the ſecond Year.] i. e. The next Year after the ſale of their Cattle; which was the laſt of the Famine, as appears from the next Verſe.
Ver. 19. Wherefore ſhould we die, we and our Land?] The Land is ſaid to die, (as Bochart obſerves, in the beginning of his Hierozoicon) cùm inculta jacet & deſolata, when it lies untill'd and deſolate: As he ſhows by examples out of ſome Poets.
We, and our Land will be Servants unto Pharaoh.] We, that were Free, will become the King's Bond-men: And our Land, which was our own, we will hold of him.
And give us Seed, &c.] This ſhows it was now the laſt Year of the Famine: They deſiring Corn not merely for Food, but alſo to Sow; in hopes to have a Crop the next Year. For Joſeph had told them, there ſhould be but ſeven Years of Famine: And it is likely Nilus had now begun to overflow the Country, as formerly; which confirmed his word.
Ver. 20. And Joſeph bought all the Land of Egypt for Pharaoh.] So the whole Country became the King's Demeſne; in which no Man had any Propriety but himſelf.
Ver. 21. As for the People, he removed them to Cities.] Remote from thoſe wherein they had formerly dwelt. Under the word Cities, is comprehended all the Villages about them.
From one end of the borders of Egypt, &c.] Tranſplanted them into far diſtant Parts of the Country; from whence he brought others, in like manner, into their places: That they might in time, forget the Dominion they formerly had in the Lands they had ſold; and that there might be no Combination afterward to regain them: The old Owners being ſeparated far one from another.
Ver. 22. Only the Land of the Prieſts bought he not.] This is commonly noted, as a great piece of Religion in Joſeph, that he took not away the Land of thoſe who were God's Miniſters: Though engaged, it's thought, in Superſtitious, if not Idolatrous Services, (for that the word Cohanim here ſignifies Prieſts, not Princes, as ſometimes it doth, the ancient Verſions generally agree.) But it is plain they were in no neceſſity to ſell their Lands, having their Diet continually from the King: Which is given as the reaſon (in the following part of this Verſe) why he did not buy them. This therefore is rather to be obſerved, that the Prieſts had anciently ſome Publick Lands allotted to them for the ſupport of their Dignity. For both Herodotus and Diodorus tell us, they had a Publick Maintenance, as Voſſius obſerves, Lib. I. de Idolol. cap. 29. The Prieſthood being confined to certain Families, (as it was in Iſrael to that of Aaron) and held in ſuch Veneration, that they were all not only foreign, free from paying Tributes, and foreign, next to the King in Honour and in Power; but received a third of the Royal Revenues: Out of which they maintained the Publick Sacrifices, and their Servants, and foreign, provided for their own Neceſſities. Thus Diodorus Siculus, L. I. as I find him alledged by Jac. Capellus in his Hiſt. Sacra & Exot. ad A. M. 2294. Conſtantine the Great, in part, imitated this Conſtitution, in that Law of his, which made even all the Profeſſors of Learning free from all Publick Charges of any ſort, beſides the Salary he allowed them; that they might the more chearfully follow their ſeveral Studies.
Ver. 23. Behold, I have bought you this day, and your Land, &c.] The Bargain could not be denied; but he would not be ſo rigid as to tye them ſtrictly to it. For in the next Verſe, he requires only a fifth part of the increaſe of their Ground for the King; and tells them, the reſt ſhould be their own. An act of great Humanity and Equity: Wherein he ſhow'd himſelf, both a good Man, and a wiſe States-Man; in taking away all matter of complaint from the People. For a tenth part of the increaſe was due, in all likelihood, to the King before, (XXVIII. 22.) which he now only doubles: When he might have taken all; or, given them but one or two parts, and kept all the reſt for the King.
Ver. 25. Thou haſt ſaved our lives, &c.] We owe our very Lives to thee; and therefore let us but have thy Favour, and we ſhall willingly be Pharaoh's Servants. This is an high Expreſſion of their Thankfulneſs, for ſuch good Terms as he offered them; which they readily accepted: With profeſſions of their Obligation to be Pharaoh's Bond-men.
Ver. 26. Joſeph made it a Law.] By his Advice this Law was enacted; whereby the Power of the Egyptian Kings was mightily increaſed; for we read not of the like Conſtitution in any other Nation. Thucydides indeed relates that the People of Attica paid to Piſiſtratus the twentieth part of their Corn; and Appianus Alexandr. ſays, the old Romans paid the tenth of their Corn, and the fifth of their Fruit: But it was the peculiar Prerogative of the Egyptian Kings, to have the fifth of all the increaſe of the Field: Which Joſeph procured them by his admirable Management.
Ver. 27. And Iſrael dwelt in the Land, &c.] See Verſe 11.
And they had poſſeſſions therein.] They could have no Land of their own, (for all the Country was become Pharaoh's) but the meaning is, they farmed (as we ſpeak) Land of the King; to whom they became Tenants.
And grew and multiplied exceedingly.] And conſequently inlarged their Habitation beyond the Territory of Rameſes, where they were firſt placed, into other Parts of Goſhen. Which we muſt not fanſie to have been a Country now empty of People: For though, perhaps, about Rameſes there might be ſome vacant Ground, ſufficient for Jacob's Family, when they came firſt to plant there: Yet when they increaſed very much, no doubt, they lived among the Egyptians, where they could find admiſſion. This plainly appears at their going from thence, Exod. XII. 22, 23. where God Commands them to ſprinkle their Door-Poſts with the Blood of the Paſchal Lamb, to ſecure them from the deſtruction, which was coming upon their Neighbours, who wanted this Mark of Safety.
29. If I have now found grace in thy ſight.] This is a Phraſe uſed a little before, verſe 25. in a little different Sence. For there it ſignifies the Favour ſhown to another: But here is as much, as if thou loveſt me.
Put thy Hand under my Thigh.] i. e. Swear to me, as it is explain'd in verſe 31. See XXIV. 2.
Deal kindly and truly with me.] Show me true Kindneſs, in promiſing and performing what I deſire. See XXIV. 27, 49.
Ver. 30. I will lie with my Fathers, &c.] So all Men naturally deſire to do: But he had a peculiar reaſon for it. Which was his belief that the Country where their Bodies lay, was his in Reverſion; and that God, in due time, would put his Children into poſſeſſion of it. For which time they could not but the more earneſtly long, becauſe the Bodies of their Anceſtors were there buried. See L. 5. which explains the reaſon why Jacob exacts an Oath of Joſeph; not becauſe he doubted he might not otherwiſe fulfil his Deſire; but that Pharaoh might be willing to let him carry his Body thither, when he found he lay under ſo Sacred an Obligation to do it.
Ver. 31. And Iſrael bowed himſelf upon the Bed's head.] Raiſed up his Head from his Pillow, and bowed: Either to Joſeph, in Thankfulneſs for his Promiſe; or, to God, for the Aſſurance he had received, that he ſhould be buried with his Pious Fore-fathers: Or, elſe this bowing was the uſual Ceremony, wherewith an Oath was attended. The Chaldee Paraphraſt thinks the Divine Glory now appeared; which Jacob devoutly worſhipped. But, if the Author to the Hebrews had not underſtood his bowing to be an act of Worſhip, the Interpretation of ſome modern Writers might, perhaps, have been thought reaſonable: Who tranſlate theſe words thus, He laid himſelf down upon his Pillow: As weak Men are wont to do; after they have ſat up a while, to diſpatch ſome buſineſs. For the Hebrew word Schacah, which ſignifies to bow the Body; ſignifies alſo to fall down upon the Earth: And therefore might be here tranſlated lie down. But the Apoſtle, as I ſaid, hath over-ruled all ſuch Conceits, if we ſuppoſe him to tranſlate this Paſſage, Hebr. XI. 21. Which to me indeed doth not ſeem evident. For the Apoſtle is there ſpeaking of another thing; not of what Jacob did now, when Joſeph ſware to him; but of what he did after theſe things, (XLVIII. 1.) when he bleſſed Joſeph's Sons. Then the Apoſtle ſays, he worſhipped upon the top of his Staff. Which is not the tranſlation of Moſes his words in this place: But words of his own, whereby he explains the following Story; and ſhows how ſtrong his Faith was, when his Body was ſo weak that he was not able to bow himſelf and worſhip, without the help of his Staff. This clearly removes all the difficulty, which Interpreters have made about reconciling the words of Moſes here in this Verſe, to the Apoſtle's words in that.
But however this be, Jacob's bowing here, I doubt not, ſignifies worſhipping; as the Vulgar Latin takes it: Where the word God is added, (which is not in the Hebrew) and theſe words thus tranſlated, Iſrael worſhipped God, turning himſelf to the Bed's head.