Commentary on Genesis, Chapter 50
CHAP. L.
Ver. 1. JOſeph fell on his Father's Face.] He was tranſported by his Affection, to the tendereſt Expreſſions of it: Though he was a Man in great Dignity and Authority.
And kiſſed him.] It is likely he firſt cloſed his Eyes, as God promiſed he ſhould do, XLVI. 4. (and as the Cuſtom was) and then parted from his Body with a Kiſs. Of which we find many Examples both among Heathen and Chriſtian People: But they will not warrant us to ſay that it was done by every Body; for all that I have obſerved were ſuch near Relations as Joſeph was to Jacob. Thus Ovid repreſents Niobe as kiſſing her ſlain Sons; and Meleager's Siſters kiſſing him when he lay dead: And Corippus repreſents Juſtin the younger falling upon Juſtinian, and weeping, and kiſſing him, juſt as Joſeph did here:
Ʋt prius ingrediens corpus venerabile vidit;
Incubuit lachrymans, atque oſcula frigida carpſit
Divini patris.
Yet Dionyſ. Areopag. Cap. VII. Eccleſ. Hierarch. deſcribing the Funerals of Chriſtians, ſaith, the Biſhop prayed over the Corps when it was brought into the Church, and after Prayer, foreign, &c. both he himſelf kiſſed the dead Perſon, and after him all that were preſent did the ſame: So it ſeems to have been their taking a ſolemn leave of the Dead, till they met in another World.
Ver. 2. His Servants the Phyſicians.] Great Men anciently, among other Servants that waited on them, had a Phyſician. And Joſeph, being Vice-Roy of Egypt, may well be ſuppoſed to have kept more than one in his Retinue.
To embalm his Father.] Of which there was now the greater neceſſity; becauſe his Body was to be carried a great way to its Sepulchre. And both Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus tell us there were thoſe in Egypt who profeſſed the Art of Preſerving Bodies from Corruption. Which, it is likely, was part of their Phyſicians Employment: For the word Ropheim (which we tranſlate Phyſicians) conſtantly ſignifies in Scripture, ſuch as cure or heal ſick Bodies. But the LXX here aptly enough tranſlate it foreign, (thoſe that prepared and fitted Bodies for their Interment, by embalming them, as we tranſlate it) becauſe this now was their proper buſineſs. Whence it is that Pliny ſaith, Lib. XI. cap. 37. Mos eſt Aegyptiis cadavera aſſervare medicata, it is the Cuſtom of the Egyptians to preſerve dead Bodies ordered by the Phyſicians Art. In which Art they excelled all other People: Bodies of their Embalming remaining to this Day; and are often brought into theſe Countries, under the Name of Mummy: Concerning which a late German Phyſician (Joach. Struppius) hath written a peculiar Treatiſe.
And the Phyſicians embalmed Iſrael.] The fore-named Authors (Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus) tell us the manner how it was performed; and at what Rates: There being three ſeveral Prices, according to the Coſt that Men would beſtow upon their Friends. Upon the Firſt Rank of Funerals they ſpent a Talent of Silver: The Second coſt about twenty Pound: About the Third they made ſmall Expence, as Diodorus expreſly tells us, L. I. §. 2. p. 57. Edit. Hen. Steph. And Herodotus in three diſtinct Chapters, ſhows how they ordered the Bodies of the better, middle, and meaner ſort, ſo as to preſerve them; and yet with greater or leſſer Expence. Vid. Euterpe cap. 86, 87, 88. If things were thus in Joſeph's Days; it is not to be thought that he would ſpare any coſt; but had his Father's Body embalmed in the nobleſt manner.
Ver. 3. And forty Days were fulfilled for him.] That is, for his Embalming: Which could not be finiſhed in a little time. For Diodorus tells us of ſeveral Officers who were employed about it, one after another: And ſays expreſly they ſpent more than thirty Days in it. Which differs ſomething from what is here related: But, it is likely, in future Times (when Diodorus lived) they might have attained to a greater Perfection in this Art; and made their Spices penetrate the whole Body in leſs than forty Days, but more than thirty. And Herodotus doth not really differ from this, when he ſaith, in the place before-named, foreign, when they had done theſe things, (ſtuft the Body with Myrrh, Caſſia, and other Spices, except Frankincenſe) foreign, they pickled it in Nitre, where it lay ſoaking ſeventy Days. That is, thirty Days more; till the forty were made up ſeventy: Longer than which neither the Bodies of the better, nor the meaner ſort were to be ſalted. But after that, they were wrapped in fine Linen and Gums; to make it ſtick like glue: And ſo they delivered the Body to the Kindred of the deceaſed intire (as Diodorus writes, p. 58.) in all its Features, the very Hairs of the Eye-lids being preſerved.
There have been ſome ſo moroſe, as to cenſure Joſeph for following the perverſe Cuſtoms, as they call them, of the Egyptians: Who ſpent too much upon dead Bodies. But they ſhould have conſidered how much more perverſe it is, not to follow the decent Cuſtoms of the Country where we live: And that dead Bodies, eſpecially of the Faithful are not to be neglected, but treated (as St. Auſtin ſpeaks, L. I. de Civ. Dei, cap. 13.) as the Organs of the Holy Ghoſt: Which the Ancients, he thinks, did well to carry to their Funerals, officiosâ Pietate.
And the Egyptians mourned for him ſeventy Days.] i. e. All that time they were preparing his Body, in the manner before-related, for its Funeral: Which Herodotus ſays, was juſt LXX Days. He alſo and Diodorus deſcribe their manner of Mourning; and ſay that they daubed their Heads with Mud (as the Jews ſprinkled Aſhes on their Heads) and went about lamenting till the Corps was buried: Abſtaining from Bathing, and from Wine, and from all delicate Food, or fine Clothes. Which latter part of their Mourning, it's likely, might be in uſe in Joſeph's time; though not the former, of beſmearing their Heads and Faces with Mud. But it is ſufficient to ſay that they appeared in the Habit of Mourners, (all the time the Body was Embalming) which was very various in different times and places: And continued in ſome Countries a great many Days longer, than in others. This time of LXX Days may ſeem to ſome too long: But Jacobus Capellus propoſes this to their Conſideration (Hiſt. Exot. & Sacra. ad A. M. 2310.) that Joſeph being next to their King, the Egyptians honoured his Father with a Royal Funeral, and a Mourning of LXX Days: Which he thinks is a round Number for Seventy two: For Diodorus ſays ſo many were the Days of Mourning for their King. It ſeeming reaſonable to them, that as they gave the Fifth part of the increaſe of their Land, to their King when he was alive; ſo they ſhould beſtow the Fifth part of the Year upon him, in Mourning for him when he was dead: Which was juſt LXXII, not reckoning the five odd Days, which did not come into their account. As to thoſe who object, that this was immoderate Mourning, having more of Ambition, than Piety in it; his Anſwer is, That (granting it to be true) Joſeph did not bring in this Cuſtom; and had peculiar reaſon to follow what he found in uſe there: That they might be the more condemned who vexed the innocent Poſterity; on whoſe Parent they had beſtowed Royal Honours. Beſides, there is ſomething due to Kings and great Men, to diſtinguiſh them from the Dregs of the People.
Ver. 4. And when the Days of mourning were paſt.] That is, the LXX Days before-named.
Joſeph ſpake unto the Houſe of Pharaoh.] To the great Officers of the Court; unto whom, it is moſt probable, he ſpake by a Meſſenger: Strict Mourners (ſuch as Joſeph was) uſing to keep cloſe in their Chambers, and not to appear in publick, or make viſits. At leaſt it was againſt the Cuſtom to appear in the Court (if the ſame uſage was there in theſe Days, which was in the Perſian Court in Mordecai's time; and ſuch rational Cuſtoms one cannot but think were very ancient) in the Habit of a Mourner, Eſth. IV. 1, 2. For which reaſon he did not go himſelf to make the following Requeſt to Pharaoh: They who were in the ſtate of Mourning being lookt upon as defiled.
Ver. 5. My Father made me ſwear, &c.] See XLVII. 29, 30. where Jacob engaged him by an Oath to carry his Body into Canaan, to be buried there: That he might keep up ſome Claim to that Country, by Vertue of the Sepulchre, which his Grand-Father had there purchaſed; and where his Father Iſaac lay buried.
Which I have digged for me.] In the Cave that Abraham had bought, Gen. XXIII. (which was a large place) Jacob, it ſeems, had taken care to have a Grave digged for himſelf. From which and ſuch like Examples St. Auſtin argues (in the place quoted above, on Verſe 3.) the Bodies of the dead, eſpecially of good Men, are to be treated with ſuch a Regard, as they themſelves thought was due to them.
Ver. 6. According as he made thee ſwear.] The Religion of an Oath, it appears from hence, was in thoſe Days ſo Sacred, that the King who had not ſworn himſelf, would not have another Man violate it, for his ſake: Who might have pretended he could not ſpare Joſeph ſo long from his buſineſs, being his Chief Miniſter in the Land of Egypt. Such Heathen Kings as theſe will riſe up in Judgment againſt thoſe Chriſtian Princes, who make a Jeſt of their Oaths.
Ver. 7. All the Servants of Pharaoh.] This ſeems to be explain'd by the next words, the Elders of his Houſe; the Principal Officers of Court. For the word all muſt be underſtood with ſome limitation, as uſually in Scripture: Some being left behind, no doubt, to wait upon the King. Thus in Matth. III. 5. all Judaea is ſaid to have gone out to John's Baptiſm, i. e. a great many.
The Elders of his Houſe, &c.] I have obſerved before on XXIV. 2. that Elder is a Name of Dignity: As the Hieruſalem Targum there expounds it inſtead of his Servant the Elder of his Houſe, having theſe words, His Principal Servant, who was ſet over all the reſt, as their Governor. And it appears by this place that this was uſed not only by the Hebrews, but by the Egyptians, long before Moſes his time, as a Title of Honour, and Dignity: As it hath ſince been by all Nations whatſoever. See Mr. Selden, Lib. I. de Synedr. cap. 14.
All the Elders of the Land of Egypt.] The Principal Perſons in Authority and Dignity, throughout the whole Country, as well as thoſe of the Court: Such as were Governors of Provinces, and Cities, and Counſellors, &c. Which Honour they did to Jacob, in all likelihood, by Pharaoh's Command: For how well ſoever they might ſtand affected to Joſeph, they could not of their own accord deſert their Charge.
Ver. 8. All the Houſe of Joſeph, &c.] Their whole Family; except ſuch as were neceſſary to look after their little Ones and their Flocks, &c. This Verſe alſo ſhows, the word all muſt have a limited Sence.
Ver. 9. And there went up with him both Chariots and Horſemen.] As a guard to him; which, it is likely, always attended him, as Vice-Roy of the Kingdom: But now might be neceſſary for his Safety, as he paſſed through the Deſarts; or, ſhould meet with any oppoſition, when he came to challenge his burying-place. Though it is probable that Matter was ſetled beforehand with the Canaanites; who were in no Condition to oppoſe the Kingdom of Egypt: Which was grown very rich, and they very poor by the late Famine.
And it was a very great company.] That he might appear in greater State, at ſuch a Solemnity.
Ver. 10. And they came to the threſhing-floor of Atad.] Some take Atad for a Place, and tranſlate the word before it in the ſame Sence, as if he had ſaid they came to Goren-Atad. But Forſterus in his Lexicon thinks Atad was the proper Name of a Man, who was eminent in that Country for his Threſhing-floor. Though there are thoſe who take it for a Bramble, with which that Floor was fenced in: For ſo the word ſignifies, Judg. IX. 14. And the Africans called a Bramble Atadim (as Bochart obſerves, L. II. Canaan, cap. 15.) which is the Plural Number of Atad. But the Talmudiſts are ſo fanciful, that, not ſatisfied with ſuch reaſons, they ſay Jacob's Coffin was here ſurrounded with Garlands (Crowns they call them) juſt like a Threſhing-floor, which is hedged about with Thorns. For the Tradition, they ſay is, that the Sons of Eſau, Iſhmael, and Keturah all met here; and ſeeing Joſeph's Crown hanging over the Coffin, they all pull'd off theirs, and hanged them up in the ſame manner. So the Excerpt. Gemarae in Sota, Cap. I. §. 45.
Beyond Jordan.] Some tranſlate it, On this ſide Jordan. Both are true, with reſpect to ſeveral Places: For it was on this ſide Jordan with reſpect to thoſe in Canaan: But beyond Jordan with reſpect to thoſe who came unto Canaan, through the Deſarts; as Joſeph did now, and the Iſraelites afterward. Why Joſeph paſſed this way, which was very much about; and not the direct Road, which was a great deal ſhorter, is hard to tell. Perhaps it was a better way for Chariots: For it is not probable they feared any oppoſition from the Philiſtines, or Edomites; with whom the Matter might have been concerted (as we now ſpeak) beforehand, if they had apprehended their paſſage would meet with any hindrance from them.
There they mourned, &c.] Wherein this great and ſore lamentation conſiſted, we are not able to give a certain account: But, in after-times, they ſat with their Faces covered; having Aſhes ſprinkled on their Heads; crying out with a mournful Voice; ſometimes wringing, ſometimes clapping their Hands together; ſmiting their Breaſts, or their Thighs; with many other expreſſions of Grief and Sorrow. But why they made this Lamentation at the Floor of Atad, rather than at the Grave, is harder to reſolve. Perhaps it was a more convenient place to ſtay in ſeven Days, than that where he was to be buried: And the Mourning being made in the Country where the Body was laid, was the ſame as if it had been made at the Grave. Or, it was the Faſhion, perhaps, at the very entrance of the Country, where they carried a Corps to be buried, to fall into a Lamentation: And they made the ſame again, when they came to the Place where it was interred: Though there is nothing of that here mentioned.
Seven Days.] That that was the time of Publick Mourning among Jews in ſucceeding Ages, it appears from many Inſtances: Particularly 1 Sam. XXXI. 13. Eccluſ. XXII. 13. Judith XVI. 29. And juſt ſo long their Joy laſted at ſolemn Weddings; as we read in XXIX of this Book, verſe 27.
Ver. 11. This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians.] By this it appears this was a ſolemn Publick Mourning, in which the Egyptians themſelves joyned, though not related to him. And therefore, it's likely, conſiſted in ſuch Wailings, and outward Expreſſions of Sorrow, as were made even by thoſe who had no inward Grief. For in following times there were a ſort of Men called foreign, Lamenters, (from the Hebrew word Saphad uſed in the foregoing Verſe) who had a Publick Office, as our Bearers have, to attend upon Funerals and make doleful Lamentations. See Buxtorf. Lex Talmud. f. 1524.
Abel-Mitzraim.] This ſhows the Lamentation was exceeding great, that it chang'd the very Name of the Place where it was made: Or, at leaſt, gave a Name to it.
Ver. 14. And Joſeph returned into Egypt, &c.] They had a proſperous Journey: And there is no ground for what ſome Jews bid us here note; that not one Man was loſt, though they had a Battle with the Edomites in their way to Canaan.
Ver. 15. Joſeph will peradventure hate us, &c.] Their Guilt was ſo great, that it continued to make them ſuſpicious.
Ver. 16. And they ſent Meſſengers unto Joſeph.] The ſame Guilt made them fearful to go themſelves: But they firſt tried how he would anſwer a Meſſenger they ſent to him (for it doth not appear there was more than one) in all their Names; with a Letter, perhaps, confirming what he delivered by word of Mouth. Some think this Meſſage was ſent before they went to bury their Father; while the time of Mourning laſted: When Joſeph's Heart, they thought, was tender, and his Father freſh in memory. But this is not a ſufficient reaſon, to make us think, it was not done in order of time, as it is here placed in the Story.
Thy Father commanded before he died.] This was a feigned Story: For we do not find that Joſeph had acquainted his Father with their uſage of him. Or, if he did, it would have been more proper to have left this Charge with Joſeph, than with them; or, rather, he knew him ſo well, that he needed not to command him to take no Revenge.
Ver. 17. Forgive the treſpaſs.] So we well tranſlate the Hebrew Phraſe, Take away the Treſpaſs: Which is uſed elſewhere in this Book, XVIII. 24, 26. and in Hoſea XIV. 2. And by forgive is meant, Remitte paenam quam ab illis poſſis jure exigere propter peccatum in te commiſſum: As Bochart well explains this Paſſage, P. I. Hierozoic. Lib. II. cap. 41. Remit the Puniſhment, which thou maiſt juſtly exact of them, for the Offence they committed againſt thee.
Of the Servants of the God of thy Father.] They urge beſides the Command of their Father, and the Relation they had to him as his Brethren; that they were of the ſame Religion with him: Which makes the greateſt conjunction of Minds and Affections, if it be rightly underſtood and practiſed. For how can the Worſhippers of the ſame God, hate one another? There are thoſe who think they call themſelves the Servants of God, not merely upon the account of their Worſhipping the True God; but becauſe they were Teachers alſo of the True Religion: For this made them, above other Iſraelites, to be the Servants of God. So Jac. Alting. L. III. Schilo, cap. 14.
And Joſeph wept when they ſpake unto him.] By their Meſſenger. Which ſhows he was ſo far from being Angry at them; that he pitied them, and had a tender Affection to them.
Ver. 18. And his Brethren alſo went, &c.] The Meſſenger acquainting them, how he ſtood affected to them; and, it's likely, carrying back a kind Meſſage from him, and an Invitation to come to him; they went to his Houſe and humbled themſelves at his Feet. In which Joſeph's Dream was ſtill further fulfilled.
We are thy Servants.] They had not yet overcome their Fear (ſo cloſe did their Guilt ſtick to their Conſciences) and therefore call themſelves his Servants; not his Brethren. They had ſold him to be a Servant; and now they offer themſelves to be ſo to him.
Ver. 19. For am I in the place of God?] His Father Jacob had ſaid the ſame to Rachel, XXX. 2. to perſuade her to ſubmit to Divine Providence: Which ſeems to be the ſcope of the words here. Shall I preſume to oppoſe my ſelf to what is come to paſs: As if I were God, and not He, who hath ordered things ſo much for our Good? This appears to be the Sence by what follows: And may be thus expreſſed; Shall I puniſh you for that (for that may be meant by being in the place of God, to whom Vengeance belongs) which God hath turned ſo much to all our Advantage? Though the words may be ſimply rendred, I am in the place of God, without an Interrogation. As much as to ſay, I have nouriſhed and ſuſtained you all this while, and can you think I will now do you hurt?
Ver. 20. But as for you, ye thought evil againſt me, &c.] It is true indeed, ye thought to deſtroy me: But God deſigned by that very evil contrivance of yours, to bring about the greateſt Good both to you and me.
To bring to paſs, as it is this Day, &c.] To accompliſh what you now ſee, the Preſervation of our whole Family: Which he underſtands by much People, in the next words, who by this means were ſaved from periſhing. Herein appears the wonderful Wiſdom of God's Over-ruling Providence: Which, contrary to the Nature of Sin, and the Will of Sinners, turns the Evil they do into Good: And directs it to the moſt excellent Ends.
Ver. 21. Now therefore fear you not.] He again incourages their Hope; by repeating what he had ſaid, verſe 19.
I will nouriſh you, &c.] I will ſtill take care of you all, as I have done hitherto.
And he comforted them, &c.] With ſuch Diſcourſe as this, he raiſed up their drooping Spirits: For he ſpake moſt kindly to them.
Ver. 22. And Joſeph dwelt in Egypt, &c.] He continued in Egypt; and ſo did his Brethren, to their dying Day. And, no doubt, made his Word good to them: Being one of the greateſt Examples of Heroick Vertue: To which none can arrive, unleſs they be meek and placable as he was. For, Nihil eſt magnum, quod non idem ſit placidum; as Seneca truly ſaid.
Joſeph lived an hundred and ten Years.] Not ſo long as his Fore-fathers; for he was the Son of his Father's old Age, and lived a great part of his time full of Thought and Care: Having the Weight of a great Kingdom's Affairs lying on him. For eighty of theſe Years he ſpent in Egypt (being but thirty Years old when he firſt ſtood before Pharaoh) in great Proſperity indeed; but in no leſs ſolicitude to diſcharge ſo great a Truſt as was committed to him.
Ver. 23. Ephraims Children of the third Generation.] i. e. His great Grand-Children. In which Jacob's Prediction began to be fulfilled, XLVIII. 19, 20. XLIX. 25. We find indeed that after Joſeph's death (I ſuppoſe) Ephraim had ſome of his Children ſlain, 1 Chron. VII. 21, &c. But God ſo bleſſed thoſe who remained, that when Moſes took an account of them after their coming out of Egypt; they were increaſed to above eight thouſand, more than the Children of Manaſſeh, Numb. I. 33, 35.
Brought up upon Joſeph's Knees.] He lived to embrace and dandle them (as we now ſpeak) in which old Men and Women much delight. Machir had only Gilead by his firſt Wife; but he had more Children by a ſecond, as we read 1 Chron. VII. 16. All which were born before Joſeph died; and, perhaps, by Children he means the Children of his Grand-Children.
Joſeph's great Authority, and his Children's great Increaſe, over-awed his Brethren ſo that they never durſt diſpute their Father's Will: In which he gave a double Portion unto them. Which one would gueſs by their Temper, was as diſpleaſing to them, as their Father's Kindneſs to Joſeph anciently had been: But they durſt not oppoſe it; nor do we find they quarrelled at it.
Ver. 24. God will ſurely viſit you.] He explains his meaning by what follows; and bring you out of this Land, &c. For the word viſit is uſed indifferently either for beſtowing good things, or inflicting evil. Thus he died in the ſame Faith with his Anceſtors: That God would make good his Promiſes to them.
Ver. 25. And Joſeph took an Oath.] As his Father had done of him, XLVII. 30, 31.
Of the Children of Iſrael.] Not only of his Brethren mentioned before, verſe 24. but of all their Family, who were to ſucceed them; and might live (when his Brethren were dead) to carry his Body out of Egypt; which he deſired, for the ſame reaſon his Father had done.
Carry up my Bones from hence.] He did not deſire to be carried immediately after his death, as his Father was when his Embalming was finiſhed; but that they ſhould carry him when they themſelves returned to Canaan: By which time he knew his Fleſh would be quite dried up, and nothing left but Bones. The reaſon why he did not deſire to be carried away preſently, was, that his Body remaining with them, they might look upon it as a Pledge and ſecurity of the Promiſe God had made, of giving them the Poſſeſſion of that Land; wherein he deſired to be buried, or not buried at all. But he had repeated it twice, that God would ſurely viſit them, (verſe 24, 25.) and was ſo confident of it, that he deſired to be kept unburied, till the time of that Viſitation. Perhaps alſo he conſidered that they could not be of ſuch Authority, as he had been; to prevail to have his Body carried to Canaan, as his Father's was: And therefore deſired them not to think of laying him there; till that time came, when they ſhould make a ſolemn and univerſal departure thither.
We read nothing what became of the reſt of his Brethren, but Joſephus ſaith they were all carried into the Land of Canaan to be buried: For they had the ſame deſire, in all likelihood, and gave the ſame charge concerning their Bodies; to keep Poſterity in hope, that God would certainly bring them thither. Which the words of St. Stephen alſo may ſeem to import; when he ſaith Acts VII. 15, 16. Jacob died, and our Fathers, and were carried over into Sichem, &c. though we read of none of their Fathers beſide Joſeph; yet it ſeems the Tradition was, that they were all carried thither, after his Example. And ſo St. Hierom ſaith, That he ſaw at Sichem the Sepulchres of the XII Patriarchs. Epitaph. Paulae, cap. 6.
Ver. 26. So Joſeph died.] After he had taken the fore-named Oath of them, and aſſured them again of the Truth of God's Promiſe: Which were the laſt things he did.
Some, perhaps, may think it ſtrange that ſo wiſe and great a Man as Joſeph, whoſe dying words, one cannot but think, would have left a deep impreſſion upon his Brethren, ſhould not give them abundance of good Counſel at his departure from this World: And lay ſome other Charge upon them, beſides this of carrying up his Bones to the Land of Canaan. But Moſes did not intend to write all that excellent Men ſaid and did: And we may very well think, when he declared his ſtedfaſt Faith in the Promiſe made to Abraham (which the Apoſtle takes notice of, Hebr. XI. 22.) and aſſured them God would perform it; he enlarged himſelf on that Subject, in more words than are here related.
Being an hundred and ten Years old.] This was ſaid before, verſe 22. but here repeated to ſignifie he did not live a Year beyond it; and ſo died juſt fifty four Years after his Father; and an hundred forty four Years before their departure out of Egypt.
And they embalmed him.] His Brethren took the ſame care of his Body, that he had done of his Father's, ver. 2. See there. For that Joſeph died before any of his Brethren, the Jews gather from Exod. I. 6. where it's ſaid, Joſeph died, and all his Brethren. He firſt, and they followed him. But not content with this, ſome of them adventure to tell us how many Years every one of them lived; nay, the very Month and Day of their Birth, as may be ſeen in R. Bechai. Reuben, for inſtance, they ſay was born the XIV Day of Ciſleu, and died when he was CXXV Years old, &c.
And he was put in a Coffin in Egypt.] To be preſerved in that Cheſt or Ark (as the Hebrew word is commonly tranſlated) till they themſelves went from thence. Herodotus in the Book above-named (Euterpe cap. 86, 90.) ſpeaks of the foreign, Cheſts wherein dead Bodies were incloſed after their Embalming: Which they laid foreign, in the Houſe or Cell where theſe Cheſts were repoſited, reared againſt the Wall of it. Whether Joſeph's Coffin was put into ſuch a common Repoſitory, or, rather, preſerved in a place by it ſelf, we cannot determine. But the Chaldee hath an odd Conceit (as G. Schikkard obſerves in his Jus Regium, p. 159.) that it was kept in the River Nile. Which aroſe, perhaps, from a miſtake of the relation which that Author had met withal, of the Place where they laid their Bodies: Which were let down very deep Wells, or Vaults ſome call them (ſome of which were not far from the River Nile) and ſo put into a Cave, which was at the bottom of thoſe Wells. For ſo F. Vanſleb and others who have gone to ſearch for Mummies, deſcribe the Places where they lie: And tell us they found ſome of the Coffins made of Wood (not putrefied to this Day) and others of Clothes paſted together, forty times double; which were as ſtrong as Wood, and not at all rotten.
The Reader cannot but obſerve, That from the time of Joſeph's advancement to the Government, till the time of his death, i. e. for LXXX Years, there is no mention of the death of any King in Egypt. For it was not Moſes his Intention to write the Hiſtory of that Kingdom, or to give us the Series of their Kings: But only to acquaint us with the Series of the Patriarchs, and give ſome account of them, from the Creation to his own time. All other things muſt be learnt out of other Authors. And, according to Euſebius, whom Jac. Capellus follows, the firſt King of the XVIIIth. Dynaſty (when the Egyptian Hiſtory he makes account ceaſed to be fabulous) was Amos: Whoſe Dream Joſeph interpreted, and was by him preferred. After he had reigned XXV Years he left the Kingdom to Chebros; who reigned XIII Years. Next to whom was Amenophis (as much as to ſay, a Servant of Noph, i. e. Memphis) who reigned XXI Years: And then left the Kingdom to Mephres, who held it XII Years. To whom Joſephus, out of Manetho, ſubſtitutes Amerſis, and ſays he reigned XXII Years. And then ſucceeded Mephramuthoſis, who reigned XXVI Years: In the beginning of whoſe time Joſeph died.
The END of the Book of GENESIS.