Commentary on the Pentateuch, Commentary 1 · Chapter 50
CHAP. L. Verſ. 1. And Joſeph fell upon his fathers face]
AS willing to have wept him alive again, if poſſible; foreign, famulor, curo .i. remedia morbo adhibco. foreign. Adrian. Imp. Tritum eſt, nullum medicum eſſe peritum, niſi 30 homines, Orco demiſcrit. Farewell Phyſick, was Chaucers Motto. Olim exponebatur aeger obvio cuilibet ſanandus.yet more moderate then his father had been in the ſuppoſed death of him, by an evil beaſt devouring him. But of mourning for the dead, ſee Notes on Chap. 23.2.
Verſ. 2. And Ioſeph commanded his ſervants the Phyſitians] Phyſitians (it ſeems) were formerly of no great eſteem; perhaps it was, becauſe, through ignorance, they many times officiouſly killed their patients. We know who it was that cryed out, upon his death-bed, Many Phyſitians have killed the Emperour. And it is grown to a Proverb; No Phyſitian can be his crafts-maſter, till he have been the death of thirty men. The Egyptians, to prevent this miſchief, appointed for every ordinary diſeaſe, a ſeveral Phyſitian; enjoyning them to ſtudy the cure of that only. And till then, the faſhion was to lay the ſick man at his door: where every paſſenger was bound to enquire the nature of his diſeaſe; that if either himſelf, or any within his knowledg, had recovered of the like, Plutarch. Herodot. lib. 1.he might tell by what means, or ſtay to make tryal of that skill he had upon the Patient. Phyſick is, without queſtion, the ordinance of God, Exod. 15.26.Exod. 31.19. He ſtiles himſelf, Jehovah Rophe, the Lord the Phyſitian. And a Phyſitian is more worth then many others, foreign. Hom.ſaith the Heathen Poet. Uſe them we muſt, when there is need, Mar. 2.17. 1 Tim. 4.4. but not idolize them; as 2 Chron. 16.12. [And the Phyſitians embalmed Iſrael] According to the cuſtome of that country; Herodot. Euterpe. Plin. lib. 11. cap. 27.2 Chron. 16.14. & 21.16.concerning which, he that will ſee more, may read in Heredotus and Pliny. This cuſtome continued alſo in after-ages, as well among Jews as Gentiles. But the Devil turned it, in time, into moſt vain ſuperſtition, both among the Greeks, whom Lucian frequently jeers for it; and among the Latines; witneſs that of Ennius, Tarquinii corpus bona foemina lavit & unxit. Ioſeph embalmed his fathers corpſe, partly to honour him with this ſolemnity; and partly, to preſerve him for ſo long a journey; but principally, to teſtifie his faith of the Reſurrection, and that incorruption he hoped for at the laſt day. Some think the Apoſtle hath relation to this, foreign, voce medi….in that, 1 Cor. 15.29. and they read it thus; Why do they then waſh over the dead? Confer Act, 9 37.
Verſ. 3. And the Egyptians mourned for him ſeventy dayes] Longer then Ioſeph mourned; they did it through ignorance, and as men without hope; (for both which, ſee 1 Theſſ. 4.13.) Ioſeph could look thorow h…s own loſs, and ſee his fathers gain beyond it. Beſides, Hieron. ad Julian.he could ſay, as Hierome in like caſe, Tuliſti, Domine, patrem, quem ipſe de leras: Non contriſtor quòd recepiſti; ago gratias, quò dediſti. Cic. de …inib. lib. 2.And if Epicures could comfort themſelves in their greateſt dejections, ex praeteritarum voluptatum recordatione; How much more could Ioſeph now? not only by calling to mind this laſt ſeventeen years enjoyment of his dear father, beyond all hope and expectation; but chiefly, that happy change his father had made, from darkneſs to light, from death to life, from ſorrow to ſolace; from a factious world, to a heavenly habitation, where he drinks of that torrent of pleaſure, without let or loathing.
Verſ. 4. Speak, I pray you, in the cars of Pharaoh] He ſpake not to the King himſelf, but ſet others a work. Not becauſe he was fallen out of favour, Parcus.(for he had the happineſs to be favourite to five Kings, Orus, Amaſis, Chebron, Amenophes, and Mephiris, in the eleventh year of whoſe reign, he dyed) but becauſe he was now a mourner; and ſuch were not wont to come before Kings, Eſth. 4.2. though none but ſuch as mourn, are ſuffered to come before God, Matth. 5.4.
Verſ. 5. In my grave which I have digged for me] An uſual thing of old, 2 Chron. 16.14. Matth. 27.60. See the Notes on Chap. 23. verſ. 9. Quintillus Plautianus, an ancient Senatour of Rome, in the dayes of Severus the Emperour, Poſtulavit, ut ea quae ad ſepulturam ſuam comparaverat, &c. foreign. Dio.being wrongfully accuſed and condemned to dye, deſired afore his death, to ſee thoſe things that he had long ſince laid by for his burial. Which when he ſaw to be little worth with long lying, Quid hoc rei eſt, inquit? itane cunctati ſumus? What a thing is this, ſaid He? Have we made no more haſte to dye then ſo?
Ver 6. As he made thee ſwear] Oathes muſt be religiouſly kept, even thoſe that are private, betwixt friend and friend. For although whatſoever is more then Yea and Nay, in our ordinary communication, is evil, Matth. 5.37. yet a private oath, (as betwixt Boaz and Ruth) ſo it be ſparingly and warily uſed, is not unlawful. For in ſerious and weighty affairs, if it be lawful in private to admit God as a Judge, why may he not as well be called to witneſs, and to avenge? But this only in caſe of neceſſity, when Yea and Nay will not be taken.
Verſ. 7. And with him went up all the ſervants] That is, moſt of them; as Matth. 3.5. In doing the Patriarch this honour, they ſtand renowned for thankful men; and ſuch (ſaith One) are worth their weight in gold. Bleſſed be he of the Lord, who leaveth not off his kindneſſe to the living and to the dead Ruth 2.20. But how baſe was Bonner, that railed ſo bitterly againſt his Patrone Cromwell, Act. & Mon. 1089.(whoſe creature he had been) after his death; calling him the rankeſt heretick that ever lived, and that it had been good he had been diſpatcht long ago? And Cardinal Pool plaid the unworthy man, in having an intent to take up King Henry the eighth's body at Windſor, and to have burned it. Ibid. 1905.This the Papiſts did to Paulus Phagius, a learned German, that dyed at Cambridge, being ſent for over by King Edward the ſixth. And although they never heard him ſpeak, Ibid. 1789.for he dyed ſoon after his coming into the Realm, having not time either to diſpute, or preach here, yet they unburied him, and burnt his bones. Of all fowl, we moſt hate and deteſt crowes; and of all beaſts, thoſe called Jackals, (a kinde of foxes in Barbary) becauſe the one diggs up the graves and devoures the fleſh; the other picks out the eyes of the dead.D. Featly his Tranſubſtant. exploded. 219.
Verſ. 10. And he made a mourning for his father] Not ſeventy dayes, as thoſe Infidels did, verſ. 3.
But why mourned he at all, Ob. Sol.ſith God had ſignified his will?
So far forth as ſomething concurs with Gods Will, that is grievous to us, we may mourn moderately without offence.
Verſ. 11. Abel-Mizraim, which is beyond Iordan] A gracious providence of God, (as Piſcator well obſerveth) that for the confirmation of the Iſraelites faith, when they were to paſs over Jordan, and afterwards, there ſhould be a ſtanding monument there, of the tranſportation of Iacobs body out of Egypt, into Canaan, Rom. 8.28.for burial-ſake. Thus all things work together for good to Gods beloved.
Verſ. 15. Ioſeph will peradventure hate us] An ill conſcience, we are ſure, ſtill haunts them as a hell-hag, and fills them with unqueſtionable conviction and horrour. B…tter be langold to a lion, then to an unquiet conſcience. See Notes on Chap. 4. ver. 14. and Notes on Chap. 42. ver. 21. Such take no more reſt, then one upon a rack, or bed of thorns. There were not many to kill Cain beſides his father and his mother, and yet he cryes, Every one that finds me, &c.
Verſ. 16. Thy father did command, &c] It is a juſt queſtion, whether there were ever a true word of all this. For Iacob, probably, never knew how ill they had uſed Ioſeph, as is above-ſaid: But if this had been his command howſoever, as they pretend, would not Iacob have ſpoken himſelf for them to Ioſeph, afore he dyed? Prov. 29.25.Fear of man cauſeth lying, Zeph. 3.13. and ſo brings a ſnare to the ſoul.
Verſ. 17. Forgive I pray thee now] In this caſe a man is bound, not only to let fall all wrath, and deſire of revenge, but to make a ſolemn profeſſion of hearty forgiveneſs, Luk. 17.4. If the wrongdoer ſay, I repent, you muſt ſay, I forgive; as ever you hope to be forgiven of God. Our Saviour, Luk. 11.14. ſeems to make our forgiving our treſpaſſers, the intervenient cauſe (that which they call Sine qua non) of Gods forgiving us. Mark this, leſt we be conſtrained to do, as Latimer reports of ſome in his dayes, that being not willing to forgive their enemies, would not ſay their Pater-noſter, leſt they ſhould therein curſe themſelves; but inſtead thereof, took their Lady-Pſalter in hand, becauſe they were perſwaded, that, by that, they might obtain forgiveneſs of favour, without putting of ſo hard a condition, as forgiveneſs of their enemies. [For they did unto thee evil] Joſeph had long agone ſeen their ſorrow; never till now, heard their confeſſion; and is abundantly ſatisfied. Think the ſame of God. Do but confeſs, and he muſt forgive, upon his Faithfulneſs, 1 Iob. 4.9. In the Courts of men, it is the ſafeſt plea (ſaith Quintilian) to cry, Non feci; not ſo here. Take away the iniquity of thy ſervant, ſaith David; and to prove himſelf ſo, he adds, For I have done fooliſhly, 2 Sam. 24.10. Acknowledg the debt, and God will forthwith croſs the book.
Forgive the treſpaſſe of the ſervants of the God, &c.] Nothing ſhould more perſwade to unity, then religion, Eph. 4.3. 4, 5. Others may cleave together, as the clay in Nebuchadnezzars image; but the Saints only incorporate into each other.
Verſ. 18. Behold we be thy ſervants] Oh that God might hear ſuch words fall from us, proſtrate at his feet! How ſoon would he take us up, and embrace us! Deus redire nos ſibi, non perire, deſiderat, ſaith Chryſologus, foreign, ſaith Baſil; ſuffundere ſanguinem quam effundere, ſaith Tertullian. I agnized my ſin, and the amends was ſoon made, ſaith David, Pſal. 32.
Verſ. 19. Am I in the place of God?] q.d. Can I hurt you, when God intends good to you? Is it for me to croſs his decree?
Verſ. 21. I will nouriſh you] To requite your kindneſs, that conſulted to ſtarve me, in the waterleſs pit. This was a noble way of revenging; this was heroicall, and fit for chriſtian imitation. If thy enemy hunger, feed him.
Verſ. 22. And Ioſeph lived an hundered and ten years] Fourſcore of theſe, he lived in great wealth; and all of them, perhaps, in very good health; as Pliny reports of one Xenophilus, Plin. lib. 7. cap. 5.that he lived 105 years without ſickneſs; which yet was a rare thing, and few mens happineſs.
Verſ. 23. Brought up on Joſephs knees] Who with great joy, danced and dandled them. So God is ſaid to do his people, Deut. Pedibus ſuis inſervit. Metaph. a parentibus qui filioles ſuos quos chares habent, ſic tracttant. Cartw. hiſt. Chriſti. Sic Shindler. Buxtorf, Qui priù digito coelum attingere videbantur, nunc bumi derepente ſerpere ſiderates eſſe diceres. Bud. 1 Chron. 7.22. Pſal. 78.9.33.3. As ſome underſtand it.
Verſ. 24. And Ioſeph ſaid unto his brethren, I dye] A ſad ſaying to them poor ſouls. For now began their miſery and ſlavery in Egypt. When Epaminondas dyed, his whole country dyed with him; the Thebanes were never after known by their victories, but by their overthrowes. When Auguſtus dyed, the Sun ſeemed to the Romanes, to fall from heaven▪ ſuch an alteration preſently followed in that State. When Lewis the twelfth departed this world, (ſaith Budaeus) he that erewhile ſeemed to touch heaven with his finger, lay groveling, as if he had been thunderſtruck. All Iſraels proſperity dyed with Joſiah; and ſo did their liberty and worldly felicity with Ioſeph. His Nephews, the Ephramites, attempted, before the time, their own deliverance, not long after Ioſephs death, even whiles their father Ephraim was yet alive, but with ill ſucceſs, to his great grief and regret. Haſty work ſeldom ends well: how this of mine will do, I know not, made up (as it might be) in little more then four-moneths ſpace, amidſt manifold feares and diſtractions, at ſpare-hours: and bearing date, from mine enlargement, Anno Dom. 1643.Iuly the 11. that happy day, that ſaw me both a priſoner, and a free-man, by the good hand of my God, upon me; to whom be glory and praiſe for ever. As for this my book (made purpoſely, to teſtifie my thankfulneſs to God, mine Almighty Deliverer, See mine Epiſt. Dedicat. ſet before my Com. on the four Evangel.and to thoſe, whom he was pleaſed to uſe, as inſtruments of my much-indeared liberty;) ſuch as it is, foreign; as he ſaid of his Rhetoricks: and, if I ſhall caſt in my verdict,
Cum relego, Ovid. de Pont. Eleg 1.6.ſcripſiſſe pudet, quia plurima cerne, Me quoque, qui ſcripſi, judice, digna lini,
Deo Soli Gloria.
FINIS.