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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
The second journey. Benjamin accompanying. Joseph maketh himself known to his brethren. Their return. Jacob’s joy.
Genesis 43-45
A. The trial of the brethren. Their repentance and Joseph’s reconcilableness. Joseph and Benjamin.
Gen_43:1 to Gen_44:17
Gen_44:1 :And Joseph commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth. 2And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, 3and his corn-money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken. As 4soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses. And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore 5have ye rewarded evil for good? Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? Ye have done evil in so doing. 6And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these same words. 7And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing; 8Behold, the money which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan; how then should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold? 9With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondmen. 10And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words; he with whom it is found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless. 11Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack. 12And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. 13Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city. 14And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house; for he was yet there; and they fell before him on the ground. 15And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? Wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine? 16And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants; behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found. 17And he said, God forbid that I should do so; but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your father.
Chap. Gen_44:18 to Gen_45:28
Gen_45:1 Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. 2And he wept aloud; and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. 3And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence. 4And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye 5sold into Egypt. Now, therefore, be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me thither; for God did send me before you to preserve life. 6For these two years hath the famine been in the land; and yet there are five years in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. 7And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity 8in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God; and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. 9Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt; come down unto me, tarry not; 10And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen [East district of Egypt; the name is of Koptic origin. Uncertain: district of Hercules], and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children’s children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast; 11And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty. 12And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. 13And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither. 14And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them; and after that his brethren talked with him.
2. Gen_43:15-30. Joseph and Benjamin.—And stood before Joseph.—Knobel justly states that the audience they had with Joseph did not take place until afterwards. The meaning here is that they took their place in front of Joseph’s house, together with Benjamin and the presents, and so announced to him their arrival.—Bring these men home.—With joy had Joseph observed Benjamin with them, and concludes from thence that they had practised no treachery upon him, through hatred to the children of Rachel, the darlings of their father. Benjamin’s appearance sheds a reconciling light upon the whole group. He intends, therefore, to receive them in a friendly and hospitable manner. His staying away, however, until noon, characterizes not only the great and industrious statesman, but also the man of sage discretion, who takes time to consult with himself about his future proceeding.—And stay.—Bohlen’s assertion that the higher castes in Egypt ate no meat at all, is refuted by Knobel, p. 326.—At noon.—The time when they partook of their principal meal (Gen_18:1).—And the men were afraid.—Judging from their former treatment they know not what to make of their being thus led into his house. If a distinction, it is an incomprehensibly great one; they, therefore, apprehended a plan for their destruction. Some monstrous intrigue they, perhaps, anticipate, having its introduction in the reappearance of the money in their sacks, whilst the fearful imagination of an evil conscience begins to paint the consequences (see Gen_43:18). “A thief, if unable to make restitution, was sold as a slave (Exo_22:3).” Therefore they are not willing to enter until they have justified themselves about the money returned in their sacks. They address themselves, on this account, to Joseph’s steward, with an explanatory vindication.—When we came to the inn.—In a summary way they here state both facts (Gen_42:27; Gen_42:35) together. For afterwards they might have concluded that the money found in the sack of one of them was a sign that that money had been returned in all the sacks.—In full weight.—There was, as yet, no coined money, only rings or pieces of metal, which were reckoned by weight.—Peace be to you.—It can hardly be supposed that the steward was let into Joseph’s plan. He knew, however, that Joseph himself had ordered the return of the money, and might have supposed that Joseph’s course toward them, as his countrymen, had in view a happy issue. In this sense it is that he encourages them.—Your God and the God of your father.—The shrewd steward is acquainted with Joseph’s religiousness, and, perhaps, has adopted it himself. He undoubtedly regards them as confessors of the same faith with Joseph. Knobel: “His own good fortune each man deduces from the God he worships (Hos_2:7).”—Has given you treasure.—Thus intimating some secret means by which God had given it to them; but for all this they still remain uneasy, though sufficiently calmed by his verbal acknowledgment of receipt: I had your money, but more so by the releasing of Simeon. It is not until now that they enter the house which they had before regarded as a snare. Now follow the hospitable reception, the disposition of the presents, Joseph’s greeting, and their obeisance.—And he asked them of their welfare.—This was his greeting. See the contrast, Gen_37:4. For the inquiry after their father’s welfare they thank him by the most respectful obeisance, an expression of their courtesy and of their filial piety. They represent their father, just as Benjamin represents the mother, and so it is that his dream of the sun and moon fulfils itself (Gen_37:9). If we suppose Benjamin born about a year before Joseph’s sale, he would be now twenty-three years of age. Knobel does not know how to understand the repeated expressions of his youth ( ðַòַø , etc.). But they are explained from the tender care exercised towards him, and from the great difference between his age and that of his brothers.—And he said.—It is very significant that Joseph does not wait for an answer. He recognizes him immediately, and his heart yearns.—My son.—An expression of inner tenderness, and an indication, at the same time, of near relationship.—And Joseph made haste.—His overwhelming emotion, the moment he saw his brethren, like Jacob’s love of Rachel, has a gleam of the New-Testament life. It is not, however, to be regarded as a simple feeling; it is also an emotion of joy at the prospect of that reconciliation which he had, for some time, feared their hatred towards Rachel’s children might prevent, and so bring ruin upon Benjamin, upon Jacob’s house, and upon themselves. No emotions are stronger than those arising from the dissolution of a ban, with which there is, at the same time, taken away the danger of a dark impending doom, and the old hardening of impaired affection.
3. Gen_43:31-34. The banquet in honor of Benjamin.—And he washed his face.—A proof of the depth of his emotion. It was still hard for him to maintain a calm and composed countenance.—And they set on for him by himself.—Three tables, from two different causes. Joseph’s caste as priest, and in which he stood next to the king, did not allow him to eat with laymen. And, moreover, neither Joseph’s domestics, nor his guests, could, as Egyptians, eat with Hebrews. Concerning the rigidness of the Egyptian seclusion, see Knobel, p. 328. Besides, the Hebrews were nomads (Gen_46:34). On the Egyptian castes, see Von Raumer, Vorlesungen über die alte Gesch, i. p. 133.—And they set.—They were surprised to see themselves arranged according to their age. But the enigma becomes more and more transparent; whilst strange presentiments are more and more excited. The transaction betrays the fact that they are known to the spirit of the house, and that it can distinguish between their ages. The Egyptians sat at table, instead of reclining; as appears from their pictures.—And he took and sent messes.—They were thus distinguished by having portions sent to them; whilst, as yet, they were hindered by no laws from eating of Joseph’s meat.—But Benjamin’s mess.—This is a point not to be overlooked in the proving of the brethren; it is an imitation, so to say, of the coat of many colors. It would determine whether Benjamin was to become an object of their jealousy, just as his father’s present had before been to him the cause of their hatred (so also Keil, p. 264). His mess is five times larger than the rest. “Such abundance was an especial proof of respect. To the guest who was to be distinguished there were given, at a meal, the largest and best pieces (1Sa_9:23; Hom.Il. vii. 321, etc.). Among the Spartans the king received a double portion (Herod, vi. 57, etc.); among the Cretans the Archon received four times as much (Heraclid. Polit. 3). Five was a favorite number among the Egyptians (Gen_41:34; Gen_45:22; Gen_47:2; Gen_47:24; Isa_19:18). It may be explained, perhaps, from the supposed five planets.—And they drank and were merry with him.—Intoxication is not meant here (see Hag_1:6), but a state of exhilaration, in which they first lose their fear of the Egyptian ruler. Benjamin was sitting as a guardian angel between them, and it was already a favorable sign, that the distinction showed to him did not embitter their joy. Nevertheless, whether Joseph had reached the zenith of an inexpressible rapture, as Delitzsch says, may be questioned. In all this happy, anticipation, we may suppose him still a careful observer of his brethren, according to the proverb invino veritas. At all events, the effect of the present to Benjamin was to be tested, and their disposition towards him was to undergo a severe probing.
4. Gen_44:1-17. The trial of the brothers’ disposition towards Benjamin, especially after his great distinction.—And he commanded the steward of his house.—The return of money does not belong to this trial, but only the cup in Benjamin’s sack. Knobel is incorrect in calling this also a chastisement. So also is Delitzsch, in holding that a surrender of Benjamin by his brethren loses all authentic support, in the fact that in all the sacks something was found that did not belong to them. Rather is Benjamin the only one who must appear as guilty, and as having incurred the doom of slavery (Gen_44:17).—Up, follow after the men.—The haste is in order that they may not anticipate him in the discovery, and so defeat the accusation by their voluntary return. The steward is to inquire only for the silver cup.—And whereby indeed he divineth.—“In Egypt, the country of oracles (Isa_19:3), hydromancy also was practised, i. e., to predict events from appearances presented by the liquid contents of a cup, either as standing or as thrown. This mode of divination is still practised. It was called ðִçֵùׁ , lit., whispering (in magic formulas or oracles), divinare.” Delitzsch. Compare also Knobel, p. 329. The indicating signs were either the refraction of the rays of light, or the formation of circles on the water, or of figures, or of small bubbles, whenever something was thrown in. According to Bunsen, however, the aim was, by fixing the eyes of the diviner upon a particular point in the cup, to put him into a dream-like or clairvoyant state. Concerning this kulikomancy, or cup-divination, see Schröder. The cup is, therefore, marked, not only as a festive, but also as a most sacred, utensil of Joseph; and, on this account, to take it away was considered as a heinous crime. Knobel, in his peculiar way, here tries to start a contradiction. “According to the Elohist (he says), Joseph gets his knowledge of the future from God (Gen_40:8); whilst here he derives it from hydromancy, as practised by one received into the caste of the priests.” So, too, did he swear, in all earnestness, by the life of Pharaoh; and the older exegetes would relieve us from the apprehension that in so doing he might have taken a false oath! In a vigorous denial, and with eloquent speech, do the accused repel the charges of the steward and give strong expression to the consciousness of their innocence.—With whomsoever it be found, let him die.—Whilst consenting to their proposal, the steward moderates it in accordance with the aim of the prosecution. The possessor of the cup alone is demanded, and he, not to die, but to become Joseph’s slave. He presents this forthwith, so that the discovery again of the money may not be taken into consideration, and that temporary fear of death may not harm Benjamin. Benjamin only is to appear as the culprit, and this is in order to find out whether or not his brethren would abandon him. For these reasons the money found in the sacks is not noticed at all.—And began at the eldest.—This was in order to mask the deception.—They rent their clothes.—This was already a favorable sign; another, that they would not let Benjamin go alone, but returned with him to the city; third, that they put themselves under the direction of Judah, who had become surety for Benjamin; and fourth, that they, together with Benjamin, prostrated themselves as penitents before Joseph.—Wot ye not?—Joseph’s reproach was not so much for the vileness, as for the imprudence, of the act; since he intends to conduct the severe trial as sparingly as possible. The Hebrew ðַçֵùׁ , etc., denotes here a divinely-derived or supernatural knowledge, to which Joseph lays claim, not only as a member of the caste of priests, but as the well-known interpreter of the dreams, owing his reception into this caste to his remarkable clear-sightedness.—That such a man as I.—He puts on the appearance of boasting, not to represent them as mean persons, but only as inferior to himself in a contest of craftiness. Thus he meets the supposed improbability that he could still divine although the cup was taken from him.—And Judah said, What shall we say?—Judah considers Benjamin as lost, and without inquiring how the cup came into his sack, he recognizes in this dark transaction the judgment of God upon their former guilt. This appears from his declaration: We are my lord’s servants.—Benjamin, it is true, had no part in that old guilt; neither had Reuben and Judah directly, but concerning this no explanation could be given in the court of the Egyptian ruler. In a masterly manner, therefore, he so shapes his speech ambiguously that the brethren are reminded of their old guilt, and admonished to resign themselves to the divine judgment, whilst Joseph can understand it only that they are all interested in the taking of the cup, and he especially, as the one confessing for them. I, above all, am guilty, says the innocent one, in order that he might share the doom of slavery with the apparent criminal. In this disguised speech the reservatio mentalis appears in its most favorable aspect. For his brethren he utters a truth: Jacob’s sons have incurred the divine judgment. For Joseph his words are a seeming subterfuge, and yet a most magnanimous one. Thus the two noble sons of Jacob wrestle with each other in the emulation of generosity, one in the false appearance of a despot and boaster, the other forced to a falsity of self-accusation that seems bordering on despair.—And he said, God forbid that I should do so.—Here is the culmination of the trial. Benjamin is to be a slave; the others may return home without him. Will they not be really glad to have got rid of the preferred and favorite child of Rachel, in such an easy way? But now is the time when it comes true: “Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise” (see Gen_49:8).
b. History of the reconciliation, of the recognition, and of their meeting each other again under the antithesis of Judah and Joseph, Gen_44:18 to Gen_45:15.—1. Gen_44:18-34. Judah as surety and substitute for Benjamin before Joseph. Judah’s speech is not only one of the grandest and fairest to be found in the Old Testament (connecting itself, as it does, with an increased significance, to those of Eliezer and Jacob), but, at the same time, one of the most lofty examples of self-sacrifice contained therein.—Then Judah came near unto him and said.—Peclus facit disertum, the heart makes eloquent. Necessity, and the spirit of self-sacrifice, give the inspiring confidence ( ðáῤῥçóßá ).—In my lord’s ears.—He presses towards him, that he may speak the more impressively to his ear and to his heart (Gen_50:4; 1Sa_18:23). And yet, with all his boldness, he neglects not the courteous and prudent attitude.—For thou art as Pharaoh.—In this Judah intends to recognize the sovereignty which could not be affronted with impunity. For Joseph, however, there must have been in it the stinging reminder that the acme of severity was now reached. The vivid, passionate style of narration, as the ground of treatment in the cases presented, is ever the basis of all Bible speeches.—And his brother is dead.—Joseph has here a new unfolding of the destiny to which God had appointed him; especially does he begin to perceive its meaning in relation to his father Jacob (Gen_44:28). This language strengthens what is said about Benjamin, as the one favorite child of an aged father—doubly dear because his brother is dead.—And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father.—From this it appears why Joseph confined them three days in prison. They had refused to bring Benjamin. It appears, too, that they had consented to bring him only because Joseph had especially desired it, and had intimated a favorable reception (“that I may set mine eyes upon him,” see Jer_39:12). Judah gently calls his attention to this as though it were a promise. And, finally, they are brought to this determination on account of the pressure of the famine. It had cost them, too, a hard struggle with the father. The quotation of Jacob’s words (Gen_44:27-29) shows how easily they now reconcile themselves to the preference of Rachel and her sons in the heart of Jacob.—That my wife.—Rachel was his wife in the dearest sense of the word, the chosen of his heart. Therefore, also, are her two sons near to him.—And the one went out from me.—Here Joseph learns his father’s distress on his own account. His mourning and longing for him shows how dear Benjamin must be, now the only child of his old age.—When he seeth that the lad is not is with us.—With the utmost tenderness Benjamin is sometimes called the youngest child, sometimes the lad. Out of this a frigid criticism, that has no heart to feel or understand it, would make contradictions. If Joseph has his way, Jacob will die of sorrow. And now Judah speaks the decisive word,—one which the mere thread of the narration would not have led us to anticipate, but which springs eloquently from the rhetoric of the heart.—For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father.—Therefore the passionate entreaty that Joseph would receive him as a substitute of the one who had incurred the sentence of slavery. In all this he makes no parade of his self-sacrifice. He cannot, and will not, return home without Benjamin. He would even regard it as a favor that he should be received in his place. He would rather die as a slave in Egypt, than that his eyes should behold the sorrows of his father. So stands he before us in his self-humiliation, in his self-sacrifice, equal in both with Joseph, and of as true nobility of soul.
2. Gen_45:1-5. Joseph’s reconciliation and making himself known.—Then Joseph could not refrain.—The brethren had not merely stood the trial; Judah’s eloquence had overpowered him. Reconciliation never measures itself by mere right; it is not only full but running over. Thus is it said of Israel: “he wrestled with God and prevailed.” We must distinguish, therefore, between two elements in Joseph’s emotion: first, his satisfied reconciliation, and, secondly, his inability to restrain any longer, though in presence of all the beholders, the strong agitation of his swelling heart. See a full representation of this as given by Delitzsch (p. 558). When, however, he says, that Benjamin’s brothers, do not press him (Benjamin) with reproaches, notwithstanding they had reason to regard him as guilty, and as having, by his theft, plunged them into misfortunes, there must be borne in mind their earlier suspicions as expressed Gen_43:18. Doubtless they now conjectured that they were the victims of some Egyptian intrigue; still they recognized it as a divine judgment, and this was the means of their salvation. In their resignation to suffering for Benjamin’s sake, in their sorrow for their father’s distress, Joseph saw fruits for repentance that satisfied him. He beheld in them the transition from the terror of judgment to a cheerful courage of self-sacrifice, in which Judah offers himself as a victim for him, inasmuch as he does it for his image. This draws him as with an irresistible power to sympathize with their distress, and so the common lot becomes the common reconciliation.—Cause every man to go out from me.—He wished to be alone with his brethren at the moment when he made himself known to them. The Egyptians must not see the emotion of their exalted lord, the deep abasement of the brethren, and the act of holy reconciliation which they could not understand. Neither was the theocratic conception of the famine, and of his own mission, for Egyptian ears.—And he wept aloud.—With loud cryings he began to address them; so that his weeping was heard by all who were without, and even by the people in the house of Pharaoh. It follows that Joseph’s dwelling must have been near the palace; “his residence was at Memphis.” (Knobel.)—I am Joseph.—This agitating announcement, for which, however, their despair may have prepared them, he knows not better how to mitigate than by the question: Doth my father yet live?—He had already heard this several times, yet he must ask again, not because he doubted, but that, in the assurance of this most joyful news he may show them his true Israelitish heart, and inspire them with courage. Nor are we to forget that Judah’s words had vividly pictured to him the danger that the old man might die on account of Benjamin’s absence, and that it now began painfully to suggest itself to him, how much he might have imperilled his father’s life by the trial of his brethren.—For they were troubled.—In their terror they seem to draw back.—Come near to me, I pray you.—I am Joseph your brother whom ye sold into Egypt.—It seems as if he had to confess for them the thing they most dreaded.—Now therefore be not grieved.—Seeing their sorrow and repentance, he would now raise them to faith. The one portion of them, namely, those who were conscious of the greater guilt, must not mar this favorable state of soul, and render faith more difficult by their excessive mourning, nor should the guiltless (Reuben, Judah, Benjamin) produce the same effect by angry recriminations.—To preserve life.—To this they are now to direct their attention.
3. Gen_45:5-13. Joseph’s divine peace, and divine mission.—To preserve life did God send me.—What they had done for evil God had turned to good. And now, having repented and been forgiven, as God had shown to them in his dealings, they are now in a state to understand his gracious purposes. A closer explanation of these words, which would require the giving of his whole history, he, for the present, discreetly waives.—And yet there are five years.—This shows already the point towards which his mind is aiming—to draw them down to Egypt.—Neither earing nor harvest.—A vivid representation of the years of famine.—Before you to preserve you.—The preservation of Jacob’s house seems now of more importance than that of the Egyptians, and the surrounding peoples.—By a great deliverance.—The question was not one of assistance merely, however great, but of deliverance from death and famine. It may, however, be so called in reference to the great future, and as containing in it the final deliverance of the world.—So now it was not you,—but God.—Here he makes a pointed contrast: not you; in this is contained: first, his forgiveness; secondly, his declaration of the nullity of their project, and its disappearance before the great decree of God. Thrice does he make these comforting declarations. But in what respects was it God? He made him, first, a father unto Pharaoh, that is, a paternal counsellor (2Ch_2:12; 2Ch_4:16). “It was an honorary distinction of the first minister, and which also existed among the Persians (Appendix to Est_2:6; Est_6:10), and the Syrians (1 Maccab. Gen_11:32).” Knobel. These words also refer to the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams, and the advice connected with it. The consequence was, that he obtained this high position which he can now use for the preservation of his father’s house.—Come down unto me.—The immediate invitation given without any conference with Pharaoh shows his firm position; but it was, nevertheless, a hazardous undertaking of his agitated, yet confident heart.—In the land of Goshen.—(Gen_47:11).—Raamses.—A district of Lower Egypt, north of the Nile, and very fruitful (Gen_47:6; Gen_47:11), especially in grass (Gen_46:34). “Even at this day the province of Scharkijah is considered the best part of Egypt (Robinson. ‘Palæst.,’ 1:96).” Knobel. See The same, p. 333, and the Biblical Dictionaries. See also Bunsen.—And there will I nourish thee.—The expression ôֶּï úִּåָּøֵùׁ may mean, that thou mayest not become a possession, that is, fall into slavery through poverty, and thus Knobel interprets it with reference to Gen_47:19, etc.; but it may also mean, that thou mayest not be deprived of thy possessions, so as to suffer want,—an interpretation which is to be preferred.—And behold your eyes.—If their father in his distrust (see Gen_45:25) should not credit their testimony, he will undoubtedly believe the eyes of Benjamin.—All my glory.—He perceives that his aged father, oppressed by sorrows, can only be revived again through vivid representations (see Gen_45:27).
4. Gen_45:14-15. The solemnity of the salutation.—And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck.—Benjamin is the central point whence leads out the way to reconciliation.—Kissed all his brethren.—The seal of recognition, of reconciliation, and of salutation.—And wept upon them.—Delitzsch: “While he embraced them.” But of Benjamin it is said, he wept upon his neck. Benjamin would seem to remain standing whilst the brothers bow themselves; so that Joseph, as he embraced, wept upon them.—And after that his brethren talked with him.—Not until now can they speak with him,—now that they have been called, and been forgiven, in so solemn and brotherly a manner. The joy is gradually brought out by an assurance, thrice repeated, that he did not impute their deed to them, but recognized in it the decree and hand of God.
c. The joyful message to Jacob. Gen_45:16-28.—Pharaoh’s commission to Jacob.—And the fame thereof was heard.—At the recognition Joseph was alone with his brethren; now that he has made known their arrival, he avows himself as belonging to them.—And it pleased Pharaoh well.—Recognitions of separated members of the same family have an extraordinary power to move the human heart, and we already know that Pharaoh was a prince of sound discernment, and of a benevolent disposition. But what was pleasing to Pharaoh was also pleasing to his courtiers, and his servants. Besides, Joseph had rendered great service, and had, therefore, a claim to Egyptian sympathy. Thus far a dark shadow had rested on his descent; for he had come to Egypt as a slave. Now he appears as a member of a free and noble nomadic family.—And Pharaoh said unto Joseph.—First, he extends an invitation to the brethren agreeing with Joseph’s previous invitation. Then follows a commission to Joseph, the terms of which bear evidence of the most delicate courtliness.—The good of the land.—This is generally taken as meaning the best part of the land, that is, Goshen (Raschi, Gesenius, and others). Knobel, according to Gen_45:20; Gen_45:23, interprets it, of the good things of Egypt: whatever good it possesses shall be theirs. The connection with the following: the fat of the land, would seem to point to a leasing of possession, but, of course, not in the sense of territorial dominion. It is not an argument against this that the leasing of places is afterwards asked for (Gen_46:34; Gen_47:4). On the contrary, the petition there made rather rests on a previous general promise.—Now thou art commanded.—Pharaoh had refrained from using the form of command towards Joseph, but now in adopting it, in a case of his own personal interest, it must be regarded as, in fact, a refined courtesy. It is the very strongest language of authorization.—This do ye.—He regards the cause of Joseph, and his brethren, as one and inseparable. The sense, therefore, is not: cause thy brethren so to do (Knobel); for they, of themselves, could not take wagons from Egypt.—For your little ones.—“Egypt was rich in wagons and horses; they are not mentioned among the nomadic Hebrews.” The small two-wheeled wagons of the Egyptians “could be also used on the roadless wastes of the desert.” Keil.—Also regard not your stuff.—They should not grieve over the articles of furniture they would have to leave behind; since they would have everything abundantly in Egypt.—The children of Israel.—A decisive step for the house of Israel.—Joseph gave them wagons—and provision for the way.—Changes of raiment.—Lange: Lit., festival habits (holiday clothing) as a change for the usual dress.—But to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.—He makes amends to this guiltless brother after the well-meant alarm which he had given him.—And to his father.—In these presents love seems to surpass the measure of its aim, since Jacob had been invited to come speedily to Egypt; but there might possibly be hindrances to the journey. Besides the ten asses were for the common transportation, and the occasion of their dismission is employed to send along with them costly things of various kinds from the land.—See that ye fall not out by the way.—The old explanation: do not quarrel by the way, is held by Knobel, Delitzsch and Keil, in opposition to Michaelis, Gesenius, and others, who make it an admonition: fear not. But the language, and the situation, both favor the first interpretation. The less guilty ones among them might easily be tempted to reproach the others, as Reuben had done already.—Joseph is yet alive.—In this message his heart lost its warmth and joy. He had not full trust in them. It was by no means the incredulity of joy (Luk_24:44), because the news seemed too strangely good to be true; rather had his suspicion, in its reciprocal working with their long consciousness of guilt, made him fundamentally mistrustful. And now that dreadful shalit of Egypt turns out to be his son Joseph! Even Benjamin’s witness fails to clear up his amazement.—And when he saw the wagons.—Not until they had told him all the words of Joseph, and added, perhaps, their own confession—how they had sold him, how Joseph had forgiven them, how he had referred them to the divine guidance—is Jacob able to believe fully their report; and, now, in connection with all this, there come the Egyptian wagons, as a seal of the story’s truth, as a symbol of Joseph’s glory, a sign, in fact, from God, that the dark enigma of his old years is about to be solved in the light of a “golden sunset.”—It is enough.—His longing is appeased, he has as good as reached the goal.—I will go.—The old man is again young in spirit. He is for going immediately; he could leap, yes, fly.
“Now purified at last, with hope revived,
For life’s new goal he starts.”
(See the close of the Œdipus Coloneus.) Delitzsch: “Thus Jacob’s spirit lives again.—And Israel said.—It is Israel now that speaks. How significant this change of name.”
(Gen_43:1 to Gen_44:17)
1. The pressure of want, and its power in the hand of providence: 1) How inexorable in its demands. Jacob is to deliver up Benjamin. 2) How full of grace in its designs. By it alone can Jacob’s house be delivered from the burden of deadly guilt.
2. Judah’s confidence. “A lion’s whelp” (Gen_49:9). This confidence he would not have had, if he had not formerly proposed to sell Joseph in order to save him, or had be not been willing to sacrifice himself for Benjamin’s safe return: The spirit of self-sacrifice is the great source of courage.
3. It is in the name of Israel that Jacob treats with his sons in the giving up of Benjamin. His reproach, too (Gen_43:6), is in the name of Israel. It seems to come, indeed, from Jacob’s weakness, and to be, therefore, wrongly used; but behind the mere sound there lies the hidden announcement of a suspicion that they were dealing unfairly with the sons of Rachel. We now recognize Israel’s character, especially in the following traits: 1) Not to his other sons does he entrust Benjamin, not even to Reuben, whose weakness he knows, but only to Judah, whose frankness, honesty, and strength seem to inspire him with confidence. 2) He again employs the old weapon, the giving of presents to a threatening antagonist; yet well knowing that the Egyptian would not, like Esau, look to the quantity so much as the quality of the things offered, and so he sends him the most highly prized or celebrated products of the land. 3) With a severe uprightness does he require his sons to return the money found in their sacks, and thus disarm the suspicion of the Egyptian. 4) He entrusts to them Benjamin as their brother. 5) He commits himself to the protection of Almighty God, i. e., the delivering and protecting God of the patriarchs, who wrought miracles on their behalf. 6) He resigns himself to God’s providence, even at the risk of becoming entirely childless.
4. The prized fruits of the land of Canaan. In Jacob’s words there appears an objective poetry, or the poetry of the lands, as it may be called. First of all, it consists in their noblest products, not as they serve the common wants of life, but rather its healing, adornment, and festivity. When he selected them, however, Jacob could have had but little thought how mighty the influence these noble gifts of Canaan’s soil would have upon the great Egyptian ruler,—how they would impress him as the wonders of his youth, the glories of his native land.
5. Joseph’s state of soul at the appearance of Benjamin: 1) His joy; 2) his deep emotion; 3) his doubt, and the modes of testing it: a. the feast; b. the cup; c. the claim to Benjamin. If at the first meeting with his brethren Joseph had to struggle with his ill-humor, he now has to contend with the emotions of fraternal love.
6. The agitating changes in the trial of Joseph’s brethren: 1) From fear to joy: 2) from joy to sorrow; 3) and again from sorrow to joy.
7. Their negotiation with the steward, or the delusions of fear. They are innocent (respecting the money), and yet guilty (in respect to their old crime). Having once murdered confidence, there lies upon them the penalty of mistrust, compelling them to regard even Joseph’s house as a place of treachery. They could have no trust whilst remaining unreconciled.
8. The steward. Joseph’s spirit had been imparted to his subordinates.
9. Good fortune abounding (the money given to them; Simeon set free; the honorable reception; the banquet; the messes); and yet they had no peace, because the pure foundation for it was not yet laid.
10. Joseph’s deep emotion, a sign of reconciliation.
11. The banquet, and Egyptian division of castes. (The distinction of caste is here recognized as custom interpenetrated by dogma, and this gives the method of the struggle. Joseph sends messes from his table. The true tendency of the caste doctrine is to absorb everything into that of the priesthood.) Egyptian forms (honorary dishes; the number five). An Israelitish meal. As the banquet of Joseph’s joy, of his hope, of his trying watch. As the feast of reviving hope in Joseph’s brethren; their participation without envy in the honoring of Benjamin. As an introduction to the last trial, and a preparation for it.
12. The successful issue in the fearful proving of Israel’s sons.
2. And I said. This citing of Jacob’s language, in Judah’s speech, must have had something especially agitating for Joseph,—all the more so because the speaker is not aware of the deep impression it must have made upon him. In this citation of Jacob’s last words in respect to that old event, there is reflected, as Schröder rightly remarks, Jacob’s doubt. I said, that is, I thought at that time.
3. The moral requisites of reconciliation, whether human or divine, are quite obvious in our narrative. Reuben represents the better element in the moral struggle, Benjamin the innocent party, Judah the surety, who takes upon himself the real guilt of his brethren and the factitious guilt of Benjamin. Repentance, faith, and the spirit of sacrifice, severally appear in these representatives. Through three stages do these elements prepare the reconciliation to Joseph’s heart and to the brethren as opposed to him. It has for its foundation a religious ground, though only in an Old-Testament measure. The thrice-repeated declaration of Joseph: Ye have not sent me, but God has done it, is the strongest expression of restored peace and forgiveness. As Benjamin, so to speak, had taken his place, the conclusion avails: Whatever ye have done to him, ye have done it even unto me.
4. It is an especial New-Testament trait in Joseph’s mode of thinking, that he so fully recognizes how the sin of his brethren, after having been atoned for, is entirely taken away; the divine providence having turned it to good. This truth, which he so promptly read in his mission, many Christians, and even many theologians, are yet spelling out in the letter. Joseph, however, recognizes, as the central point of the divine guidance, his mission to save Israel’s house from starvation, and to preserve it for a great deliverance. In this thought there lies enclosed the anticipation of a future and an endless salvation. For this end the treachery of the brethren is first turned away, as guilt expiated, and then, under the divine guidance, turned to good. Thus Joseph’s mission becomes a type of the cross of Christ; though the expiating points, which are found separated in Joseph’s history, are wholly concentrated in the person of Jesus. Here they appear in divers persons: It is Reuben the admonisher, Benjamin the innocent, Judah the surety, Joseph the betrayed and the forgiving, Jacob the father of a family pressed down by the guilt of his house.
5. Joseph’s kiss of peace reminds us of Christ’s greeting to his disciples and to the world.
6. Benjami