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Matthew Henry |
G E N E S I S
CHAP. XXXVII.
At this chapter begins the story of Joseph, who, in every subsequent
chapter but one to the end of this book, makes the greatest
figure. He was Jacob’s eldest son by his beloved wife Rachel,
born, as many eminent men were, of a mother that had been
long barren. His story is so remarkably divided between his
humiliation and his exaltation that we cannot avoid seeing
something of Christ in it, who was first humbled and then
exalted, and, in many instances, so as to answer the type of
Joseph. It also shows the lot of Christians, who must through
many tribulations enter into the kingdom. In this chapter we
have,
I. The malice his brethren bore against him. They hated
him,
1. Because he informed his father of their wickedness,
2. Because his father loved him,
3. Because he
dreamed of his dominion over them,
II. The mischiefs
his brethren designed and did to him.
1. The kind visit
he made them gave an opportunity,
2. They designed
to slay him, but determined to starve him,
3. They changed their purpose, and sold him for a slave,
4. They made their father believe that he was torn in
pieces,
5. He was sold into Egypt to Potiphar,
And all this was working together for good.
| The History of Joseph. | B. C. 1729. |
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1 And Jacob dwelt in the land
wherein his father was a stranger,
in the land of Canaan.
2 These are
the generations of Jacob. Joseph,
being seventeen years old, was feeding
the flock with his brethren; and the
lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and
with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s
wives: and Joseph brought unto his
father their evil report.
3 Now Israel
loved Joseph more than all his children,
because he was the son of his old
age: and he made him a coat of many
colours.
4 And when his brethren saw
that their father loved him more than
all his brethren, they hated him, and
could not speak peaceably unto him.
Moses has no more to say of the Edomites,
unless as they happen to fall in Israel’s way;
but now applies himself closely to the story
of Jacob’s family: These are the generations
of Jacob. His is not a bare barren genealogy
as that of Esau
(ch. xxxvi. 1),
but a memorable useful history. Here is,
1. Jacob a
sojourner with his father Isaac, who has yet
living,
v. 1.
We shall never be at home, till
we come to heaven.
2. Joseph, a shepherd,
feeding the flock with his brethren,
v. 2.
Though he was his father’s darling, yet he
was not brought up in idleness or delicacy.
Those do not truly love their children that
do not inure them to business, and labour,
and mortification. The fondling of children
is with good reason commonly called the spoiling
of them. Those that are trained up
to do nothing are likely to be good for nothing.
3. Joseph beloved by his father
(v. 3),
partly for his dear mother’s sake that was
dead, and partly for his own sake, because he
was the greatest comfort of his old age; probably
he waited on him, and was more observant
of him than the rest of his sons; he
was the son of the ancient so some; that is,
when he was a child, he was as grave and
discreet as if he had been an old man, a child,
but not childish. Jacob proclaimed his affection
to him by dressing him finer than the
rest of his children: He made him a coat of divers
colours, which probably was significant of
further honors intended him. Note, Though
those children are happy that have that in
them which justly recommends them to their
parents’ particular love, yet it is the prudence
of parents not to make a difference between
one child and another, unless there be a great
and manifest cause given for it by the children’s
dutifulness or undutifulness; paternal
government must be impartial, and managed
with a steady hand.
4. Joseph hated by his
brethren,
(1.) Because his father loved him;
when parents make a difference, children soon
take notice of it, and it often occasions feuds
and quarrels in families.
(2.) Because he
brought to his father their evil report. Jacob’s
sons did that, when they were from under
his eye, which they durst not have done if
they had been at home with him; but Joseph
gave his father an account of their bad carriage,
that he might reprove and restrain
them; not as a malicious tale-bearer, to sow
discord, but as a faithful brother, who, when
he durst not admonish them himself, represented
their faults to one that had authority
to admonish them. Note,
[1.] It is common
for friendly monitors to be looked upon as
enemies. Those that hate to be reformed hate
those that would reform them,
[2.] It is common for those that are beloved
of God to be hated by the world; whom
Heaven blesses, hell curses. To those to
whom God speaks comfortably wicked men
will not speak peaceably. It is said here of
Joseph, the lad was with the sons of Bilhah;
some read it, and he was servant to them,
they made him their drudge.
5 And Joseph dreamed a dream,
and he told it his brethren: and they
hated him yet the more.
6 And he
said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this
dream which I have dreamed:
7 For,
behold, we were binding sheaves in
the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and
also stood upright; and, behold, your
sheaves stood round about, and made
obeisance to my sheaf.
8 And his
brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed
reign over us? or shalt thou indeed
have dominion over us? And
they hated him yet the more for his
dreams, and for his words.
9 And he
dreamed yet another dream, and told
it his brethren, and said, Behold, I
have dreamed a dream more; and, behold,
the sun and the moon and the
eleven stars made obeisance to me.
10 And he told it to his father, and
to his brethren: and his father rebuked
him, and said unto him, What
is this dream that thou hast dreamed?
Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren
indeed come to bow down ourselves
to thee to the earth?
11 And
his brethren envied him; but his father
observed the saying.
Here,
I. Joseph relates the prophetical
dreams he had,
Though he was now very young (about seventeen
years old), yet he was pious and devout, and
well-inclined, and this fitted him for God’s
gracious discoveries of himself to him. Joseph
had a great deal of trouble before him,
and therefore God gave him betimes this
prospect of his advancement, to support and
comfort him under the long and grievous
troubles with which he was to be exercised.
Thus Christ had a joy set before him, and so
have Christians. Note, God has ways of
preparing his people beforehand for the
trials which they cannot foresee, but which
he has an eye to in the comforts with which
he furnishes them. His dreams were,
1. That his brethren’s sheaves all bowed to his,
intimating upon what occasion they should
be brought to do homage to him, namely, in
seeking to him for corn; their empty sheaves
should bow to his full one.
2. That the sun,
and moon, and eleven stars, did obeisance to
him,
v. 9.
Joseph was more of a prophet
than a politician, else he would have kept
this to himself, when he could not but know
that his brethren did already hate him and
that this would but the more exasperate them.
But, if he told it in his simplicity, yet God
directed it for the mortification of his brethren.
Observe, Joseph dreamed of his preferment,
but he did not dream of his imprisonment.
Thus many young people, when they are setting
out in the world, think of nothing but prosperity
and pleasure, and never dream of trouble.
II. His brethren take it very ill, and are
more and more enraged against him
(v. 8):
Shalt thou indeed reign over us? See here,
1. How truly they interpreted his dream,
that he should reign over them. Those become
the expositors of his dream who were
enemies to the accomplishment of it, as in
Gideon’s story
they perceived
that he spoke of them,
The event exactly answered to this interpretation,
&c.
2. How scornfully
they resented it: “Shalt thou, who are but
one, reign over us, who are many? Thou,
who are the youngest, over us who are
older?” Note, The reign and dominion of
Jesus Christ, our Joseph, have been, and
are, despised and striven against by a carnal
and unbelieving world, who cannot endure
to think that this man should reign over
them. The dominion also of the upright, in
the morning of the resurrection, is thought
of with the utmost disdain.
III. His father gives him a gentle rebuke
for it, yet observes the saying,
Probably he checked him for it, to lessen the
offence which his brethren would be apt to
take at it; yet he took notice of it more than
he seemed to do: he insinuated that it was
but an idle dream, because his mother was
brought in, who had been dead some time
since; whereas the sun, moon, and eleven
stars, signify no more than the whole family
that should have a dependence upon him,
and be glad to be beholden to him. Note,
The faith of God’s people in God’s promises
is often sorely shaken by their misunderstanding
the promises and then suggesting
the improbabilities that attend the performance;
but God is doing his own work, and
will do it, whether we understand him aright
or no. Jacob, like Mary
(Luke ii. 51),
kept
these things in his heart, and no doubt remembered
them long afterwards, when the
event answered to the prediction.
12 And his brethren went to feed
their father’s flock in Shechem.
13 And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not
thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem?
come, and I will send thee unto them.
And he said to him, Here am I.
14 And he said to him, Go, I pray thee,
see whether it be well with thy brethren,
and well with the flocks; and
bring me word again. So he sent him
out of the vale of Hebron, and he
came to Shechem.
15 And a certain
man found him, and, behold, he was
wandering in the field: and the man
asked him, saying, What seekest thou?
16 And he said, I seek my brethren:
tell me, I pray thee, where they feed
their flocks.
17 And the man said,
They are departed hence; for I heard
them say, Let us go to Dothan. And
Joseph went after his brethren, and
found them in Dothan.
18 And when
they saw him afar off, even before he
came near unto them, they conspired
against him to slay him.
19 And they
said one to another, Behold, this
dreamer cometh.
20 Come now therefore,
and let us slay him, and cast him
into some pit, and we will say, Some
evil beast hath devoured him: and we
shall see what will become of his
dreams.
21 And Reuben heard it,
and he delivered him out of their
hands; and said, Let us not kill him.
22 And Reuben said unto them, Shed
no blood, but cast him into this pit
that is in the wilderness, and lay no
hand upon him; that he might rid
him out of their hands, to deliver him
to his father again.
Here is,
I. The kind visit which Joseph,
in obedience to his father’s command, made
to his brethren, who were feeding the flock
at Shechem, many miles off. Some suggest
that they went thither on purpose, expecting
that Joseph would be sent to see them, and
that then they should have an opportunity
to do him a mischief. However, Joseph and
his father had both of them more of the innocence
of the dove than of the wisdom of
the serpent, else he had never come thus into
the hands of those that hated him: but God
designed it all for good. See in Joseph
an instance,
1. Of dutifulness to his father.
Though he was his father’s darling, yet he
was made, and was willing to be, his father’s
servant. How readily does he wait his father’s
orders! Here I am,
v. 13.
Note, Those
children that are best beloved by their parents
should be most obedient to their parents; and
then their love is well-bestowed and well-returned.
2. Of kindness to his brethren.
Though he knew they hated him and envied
him, yet he made no objections against his
father’s commands, either from the distance
of the place or the danger of the journey, but
cheerfully embraced the opportunity of showing
his respect to his brethren. Note, It is
a very good lesson, though it is learnt with
difficulty and rarely practised, to love those
that hate us; if our relations do not their
duty to us, yet we must not be wanting in
our duty to them. This is thank-worthy.
Joseph was sent by his father to Shechem,
to see whether his brethren were well there,
and whether the country had not risen upon
them and destroyed them, in revenge of their
barbarous murder of the Shechemites some
years before. But Joseph, not finding them
there, went to Dothan, which showed that he
undertook this journey, not only in obedience
to his father (for then he might have returned
when he missed them at Shechem, having
done what his father told him), but out of
love to his brethren, and therefore he sought
diligently till he found them. Thus let
brotherly love continue, and let us give proofs
of it.
II. The bloody and malicious plot of his
brethren against him, who rendered good for
evil, and, for his love, were his adversaries.
Observe,
1. How deliberate they were in the
contrivance of this mischief: when they saw
him afar off, they conspired against him,
v. 18.
It was not in a heat, or upon a sudden provocation,
that they thought to slay him, but
from malice prepense, and in cold blood.
Note, Whosoever hateth his brother is a
murderer; for he will be one if he have an
opportunity,
Malice is a
most mischievous thing, and is in danger of
making bloody work where it is harboured and
indulged. The more there is of a project and
contrivance in a sin the worse it is; it is bad
to do evil, but worse to devise it.
2. How
cruel they were in their design; nothing less
than his blood would satisfy them: Come,
and let us slay him,
v. 20.
Note, The old
enmity hunts for the precious life. It is
the blood-thirsty that hate the upright
and it is the blood of the saints
that the harlot is drunk with.
3. How scornfully
they reproached him for his dreams
(v. 19):
This dreamer cometh; and
(v. 20),
We shall see what will become of his dreams.
This shows what it was that fretted and enraged
them. They could not endure to think
of doing homage to him; this was what they
were plotting to prevent by the murder of
him. Note, Men that fret and rage at God’s
counsels are impiously aiming to defeat them;
but they imagine a vain thing,
God’s counsels will stand.
4. How they
agreed to keep one another’s counsel, and to
cover the murder with a lie: We will say,
Some evil beast hath devoured him; whereas
in thus consulting to devour him they proved
themselves worse than the most evil beasts;
for evil beasts prey not on those of their own
kind, but they were tearing a piece of themselves.
III. Reuben’s project to deliver him,
Note, God can raise up friends for his
people, even among their enemies; for he
has all hearts in his hands. Reuben, of all
the brothers, had most reason to be jealous
of Joseph, for he was the first-born, and so
entitled to those distinguishing favours which
Jacob was conferring on Joseph; yet he proves
his best friend. Reuben’s temper seems to
have been soft and effeminate, which had betrayed
him to the sin of uncleanness; while
the temper of the next two brothers, Simeon
and Levi, was fierce, which betrayed them to
the sin of murder, a sin which Reuben startled
at the thought of. Note, Our natural constitution
should be guarded against those
sins to which it is most inclinable, and improved
(as Reuben’s here) against those sins
to which it is most averse. Reuben made a
proposal which they thought would effectually
answer their intention of destroying Joseph,
and yet which he designed should
answer his intention of rescuing Joseph out
of their hands and restoring him to his father,
probably hoping thereby to recover his
father’s favour, which he had lately lost; but
God overruled all to serve his own purpose
of making Joseph an instrument to save
much people alive. Joseph was here a type
of Christ. Though he was the beloved Son
of his Father, and hated by a wicked world,
yet the Father sent him out of his bosom to
visit us in great humility and love. He came
from heaven to earth, to seek and save us;
yet then malicious plots were laid against him.
He came to his own, and his own not only received
him not, but consulted against him: This
is the heir, come let us kill him; Crucify him,
crucify him. This he submitted to, in pursuance
of his design to redeem and save us.
23 And it came to pass, when Joseph
was come unto his brethren, that
they stript Joseph out of his coat, his
coat of many colours that was on him;
24 And they took him, and cast him
into a pit: and the pit was empty,
there was no water in it.
25 And
they sat down to eat bread: and they
lifted up their eyes and looked, and,
behold, a company of Ishmeelites came
from Gilead with their camels bearing
spicery and balm and myrrh, going to
carry it down to Egypt.
26 And Judah
said unto his brethren, What
profit is it if we slay our brother, and
conceal his blood?
27 Come, and let
us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and
let not our hand be upon him; for he
is our brother and our flesh. And his
brethren were content.
28 Then there
passed by Midianites merchantmen;
and they drew and lifted up Joseph
out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the
Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver:
and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
29 And Reuben returned unto the
pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in
the pit; and he rent his clothes.
30 And he returned unto his brethren,
and said, The child is not; and I,
whither shall I go?
We have here the execution of their plot
against Joseph.
1. They stripped him, each
striving to seize the envied coat of many colours,
Thus, in imagination, they degraded
him from the birthright, of which perhaps this
was the badge, grieving him, affronting their
father, and making themselves sport, while
they insulted over him. “Now, Joseph, where
is the fine coat?” Thus our Lord Jesus was
stripped of his seamless coat, and thus his
suffering saints have first been industriously
divested of their privileges and honours, and
then made the off-scouring of all things.
2. They went about to starve him, throwing him
into a dry pit, to perish there with hunger
and cold, so cruel were their tender mercies,
Note, Where envy reigns pity is
banished, and humanity itself is forgotten,
So full of deadly poison is
malice that the more barbarous any thing is
the more grateful it is. Now Joseph begged
for his life, in the anguish of his soul
(ch. xlii. 21),
entreated, by all imaginable endearments,
that they would be content with his coat and
spare his life. He pleads innocence, relation,
affection, submission; he weeps and makes
supplication, but all in vain. Reuben alone
relents and intercedes for him,
But he cannot prevail to save Joseph from
the horrible pit, in which they resolve he
shall die by degrees, and be buried alive. Is
this he to whom his brethren must do
homage? Note, God’s providences often
seem to contradict his purposes, even when
they are serving them, and working at a
distance towards the accomplishment of
them.
3. They slighted him when he was
in distress, and were not grieved for the
affliction of Joseph; for when he was pining
away in the pit, bemoaning his own misery,
and with a languishing cry calling to them
for pity, they sat down to eat bread,
v. 25.
(1.) They felt no remorse of conscience for
the sin; if they had, it would have spoiled
their appetite for their meat, and the relish
of it. Note, A great force put upon conscience
commonly stupefies it, and for the time deprives
it both of sense and speech. Daring
sinners are secure ones. But the consciences
of Joseph’s brethren, though asleep now,
were roused long afterwards,
(2.) They were now pleased to think how they
were freed from the fear of their brother’s
dominion over them, and that, on the contrary,
they had turned the wheel upon him.
They made merry over him, as the persecutors
over the two witnesses that had tormented
them,
Note, Those that
oppose God’s counsels may possibly prevail
so far as to think they have gained their
point, and yet be deceived.
4. They sold
him. A caravan of merchants very opportunely
passed by (Providence so ordering it),
and Judah made the motion that they should
sell Joseph to them, to be carried far enough
off into Egypt, where, in all probability, he
would be lost, and never heard of more.
(1.) Judah proposed it in compassion to Joseph
(v. 26):
“What profit is it if we slay our brother?
it will be less guilt, and more gain, to
sell him.” Note, When we are tempted to
sin, we should consider the unprofitableness
of it. It is what there is nothing to be got
by.
(2.) They acquiesced in it, because
they thought that if he were sold for a slave
he would never be a lord, if sold into Egypt
he would never be their lord; yet all this was
working towards it. Note, The wrath of
man shall praise God, and the remainder of
wrath he will restrain,
Joseph’s
brethren were wonderfully restrained from
murdering him, and their selling him was as
wonderfully turned to God’s praise. As
Joseph was sold by the contrivance of Judah
for twenty pieces of silver, so was our Lord
Jesus for thirty, and by one of the same
name too, Judas. Reuben (it seems) had
gone away from his brethren, when they sold
Joseph, intending to come round some other
way to the pit, and to help Joseph out of it,
and return him safely to his father. This was
a kind project, but, if it had taken effect,
what had become of God’s purpose concerning
his preferment in Egypt? Note, There
are many devices in man’s heart, many devices
of the enemies of God’s people to destroy
them and of their friends to help them,
which perhaps are both disappointed, as
these were; but the counsel of the Lord,
that shall stand. Reuben thought himself
undone, because the child was sold: I, whither
shall I go?
v. 30.
He being the eldest,
his father would expect from him an account
of Joseph; but, as it proved, they would all
have been undone if he had not been sold.
31 And they took Joseph’s coat, and
killed a kid of the goats, and dipped
the coat in the blood;
32 And they
sent the coat of many colours, and they
brought it to their father; and said,
This have we found: know now whether
it be thy son’s coat or no.
33 And he knew it, and said, It is my
son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured
him; Joseph is without doubt rent in
pieces.
34 And Jacob rent his clothes,
and put sackcloth upon his loins, and
mourned for his son many days.
35 And all his sons and all his daughters
rose up to comfort him; but he refused
to be comforted; and he said,
For I will go down into the grave
unto my son mourning. Thus his
father wept for him.
36 And the
Midianites sold him into Egypt unto
Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and
captain of the guard.
I. Joseph would soon be missed, great
enquiry would be made for him, and therefore
his brethren have a further design, to
make the world believe that Joseph was torn
in pieces by a wild beast; and this they did,
1. To clear themselves, that they might not
be suspected to have done him any mischief.
Note, We have all learned of Adam to cover
our transgression,
When the
devil has taught men to commit one sin, he
then teaches them to conceal it with another,
theft and murder with lying and perjury;
but he that covers his sin shall not prosper
long. Joseph’s brethren kept their own and
one another’s counsel for some time, but
their villany came to light at last, and it is
here published to the world, and the remembrance
of it transmitted to every age.
2. To
grieve their good father. It seems designed
by them on purpose to be revenged upon him
for his distinguishing love of Joseph. It was
contrived on purpose to create the utmost
vexation to him. They sent him Joseph’s
coat of many colours, with one colour more
than it had had, a bloody colour,
They
pretended they had found it in the fields, and
Jacob himself must be scornfully asked, Is
this thy son’s coat? Now the badge of his
honour is the discovery of his fate; and it is
rashly inferred from the bloody coat that
Joseph, without doubt, is rent in pieces. Love
is always apt to fear the worst concerning
the person beloved; there is a love that
casteth out fear, but that is a perfect love.
Now let those that know the heart of a parent
suppose the agonies of poor Jacob, and put
their souls into his soul’s stead. How
strongly does he represent to himself the
direful idea of Joseph’s misery! Sleeping or
waking, he imagines he sees the wild beast
setting upon Joseph, thinks he hears his
piteous shrieks when the lion roared against
him, makes himself tremble and grow chill,
many a time, when he fancies how the beast
sucked his blood, tore him limb from limb,
and left no remains of him, but the coat of
many colours, to carry the tidings. And no
doubt it added no little to the grief that he
had exposed him, by sending him, and sending
him all alone, on this dangerous journey,
which proved so fatal to him. This cuts him
to the heart, and he is ready to look upon
himself as an accessory to the death of his
son. Now,
(1.) Endeavours were used to
comfort him. His sons basely pretended to do
it
(v. 35);
but miserable hypocritical comforters
were they all. Had they really desired
to comfort him, they might easily have done
it, by telling him the truth, “Joseph is alive,
he is indeed sold into Egypt, but it will be an
easy thing to send thither and ransom him.”
This would have loosened his sackcloth, and
girded him with gladness presently. I wonder
their countenances did not betray their guilt,
and with what face they could pretend to
condole with Jacob on the death of Joseph,
when they knew he was alive. Note, The
heart is strangely hardened by the deceitfulness
of sin. But,
(2.) It was all in vain:
Jacob refused to be comforted,
v. 35.
He was
an obstinate mourner, resolved to go down to
the grave mourning. It was not a sudden
transport of passion, like that of David,
Would God I had died for thee, my son, my
son! But, like Job, he hardened himself in
sorrow. Note,
[1.] Great affection to any
creature does not prepare for so much the
greater affliction, when it is either removed
from us or embittered to us. Inordinate
love commonly ends in immoderate grief; as
much as the sway of the pendulum throws
one way, so much it will throw the other
way.
[2.] Those consult neither the comfort
of their souls nor the credit of their
religion that are determined in their sorrow
upon any occasion whatsoever. We must
never say, “We will go to our grave mourning,”
because we know not what joyful days
Providence may yet reserve for us, and it is
our wisdom and duty to accommodate ourselves
to Providence.
[3.] We often perplex
ourselves with imaginary troubles. We fancy
things worse than they are, and then afflict
ourselves more than we need. Sometimes
there needs no more to comfort us than to
undeceive us: it is good to hope the best.
II. The Ishmaelites and Midianites having
bought Joseph only to make their market
of him, here we have him sold again (with
gain enough to the merchants, no doubt) to
Potiphar,
Jacob was lamenting the
loss of his life; had he known all he would
have lamented, though not so passionately,
the loss of liberty. Shall Jacob’s freeborn
son exchange the best robe of his family
for the livery of an Egyptian lord, and all the
marks of servitude? How soon was the land
of Egypt made a house of bondage to the
seed of Jacob! Note, It is the wisdom of
parents not to bring up their children too
delicately, because they know not to what
hardships and mortifications Providence may
reduce them before they die. Jacob little
thought that ever his beloved Joseph would
be thus bought and sold for a servant.
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