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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Genesis 46:28 - 46:28
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This list of the house of Jacob is followed by an account of the arrival in Egypt.
Gen 46:28
Jacob sent his son Judah before him to Joseph, “to show (לְהֹורֹת) before him to Goshen;” i.e., to obtain from Joseph the necessary instructions as to the place of their settlement, and then to act as guide to Goshen.
Gen 46:29
As soon as they had arrived, Joseph had his chariot made ready to go up to Goshen and meet his father (וַיַּעַל applied to a journey from the interior to the desert or Canaan), and “showed himself to him there (lit., he appeared to him; נִרְאָה, which is generally used only of the appearance of God, is selected here to indicate the glory in which Joseph came to meet his father); and fell upon his neck, continuing (עֹוד) upon his neck (i.e., in his embrace) weeping.”
Gen 46:30
Then Israel said to Joseph: “Now (הַפַּעַם lit., this time) will I die, after I have seen thy face, that thou (art) still alive.”
Gen 46:31-32
But Joseph told his brethren and his father's house (his family) that he would to up to Pharaoh (עָלָה here used of going to the court, as an ideal ascent), to announce the arrival of his relations, who were מִקְנֶה אַנְשֵׁי “keepers of flocks,” and had brought their sheep and oxen and all their possessions with them.
Gen 46:33-34
At the same time Joseph gave these instructions to his brethren, in case Pharaoh should send for them and inquire about their occupation: “Say, Thy servants have been keepers of cattle from our youth even until now, we like our fathers; that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination of the Egyptians.” This last remark formed part of Joseph's words, and contained the reason why his brethren should describe themselves to Pharaoh as shepherds from of old, namely, that they might receive Goshen as their dwelling-place, and that their national and religion independence might not be endangered by too close an intercourse with the Egyptians. The dislike of the Egyptians to shepherds arose from the fact, that the more completely the foundations of the Egyptian state rested upon agriculture with its perfect organization, the more did the Egyptians associate the idea of rudeness and barbarism with the very name of a shepherd. This is not only attested in various ways by the monuments, on which shepherds are constantly depicted as lanky, withered, distorted, emaciated, and sometimes almost ghostly figures (Graul, Reise 2, p. 171), but is confirmed by ancient testimony. According to Herodotus (2, 47), the swine-herds were the most despised; but they were associated with the cow-herds (βουκόλοι) in the seven castes of the Egyptians (Herod. 2, 164), so that Diodorus Siculus (1, 74) includes all herdsmen in one caste; according to which the word βουκόλοι in Herodotus not only denotes cow-herds, but a potiori all herdsmen, just as we find in the herds depicted upon the monuments, sheep, goats, and rams introduced by thousands, along with asses and horned cattle.