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Matthew Henry |
G E N E S I S
CHAP. XLVI.
Jacob is here removing to Egypt in his old age, forced thither by a
famine, and invited thither by a son. Here,
I. God sends him thither,
II. All his family goes with him,
III. Joseph bids him welcome,
| Jacob Sacrifices at Beersheba. | B. C. 1707. |
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1 And Israel took his journey with
all that he had, and came to
Beer-sheba, and offered sacrifices unto
the God of his father Isaac.
2 And
God spake unto Israel in the visions
of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob.
And he said, Here am I.
3 And he
said, I am God, the God of thy father:
fear not to go down into Egypt;
for I will there make of thee a great
nation:
4 I will go down with thee
into Egypt; and I will also surely
bring thee up again: and Joseph shall
put his hand upon thine eyes.
The divine precept is, In all thy ways acknowledge
God; and the promise annexed to
it is, He shall direct thy paths. Jacob has
here a very great concern before him, not
only a journey, but a removal, to settle in
another country, a change which was very
surprising to him (for he never had any other
thoughts than to live and die in Canaan), and
which would be of great consequence to his
family for a long time to come. Now here
we are told,
I. How he acknowledged God in this way.
He came to Beersheba, from Hebron, where
he now dwelt; and there he offered sacrifices
to the God of his father Isaac,
v. 1.
He chose that place, in remembrance of the communion
which his father and grandfather had with God
in that place. Abraham called on God
there
(ch. xxi. 33),
so did Isaac
(ch. xxvi. 25),
and therefore Jacob made it the place of his
devotion, the rather because it lay in his way.
In his devotion,
1. He had an eye to God as
the God of his father Isaac, that is, a God in
covenant with him; for by Isaac the covenant
was entailed upon him. God had forbidden
Isaac to go down to Egypt when
there was a famine in Canaan
(ch. xxvi. 2),
which perhaps Jacob calls to mind when he
consults God as the God of his father Isaac,
with this thought, “Lord, though I am very
desirous to see Joseph, yet if thou forbid me
to go down to Egypt, as thou didst my father
Isaac, I will submit, and very contentedly
stay where I am.”
2. He offered sacrifices,
extraordinary sacrifices, besides those at his
stated times; these sacrifices were offered,
(1.) By way of thanksgiving for the late
blessed change of the face of his family, for
the good news he had received concerning
Joseph, and for the hopes he had of seeing
him. Note, We should give God thanks for
the beginnings of mercy, though they are not
yet perfected; and this is a decent way of
begging further mercy.
(2.) By way of
petition for the presence of God with him in
his intended journey; he desired by these
sacrifices to make his peace with God, to obtain
the forgiveness of sin, that he might
take no guilt along with him in this journey,
for that is a bad companion. By Christ, the
great sacrifice, we must reconcile ourselves
to God, and offer up our requests to him.
(3.) By way of consultation. The heathen
consulted their oracles by sacrifice. Jacob
would not go till he had asked God’s leave:
“Shall I go down to Egypt, or back to Hebron?”
Such must be our enquiries in
doubtful cases; and, though we cannot expect
immediate answers from heaven, yet, if
we diligently attend to the directions of the
word, conscience, and providence, we shall
find it is not in vain to ask counsel of God.
II. How God directed his paths: In the
visions of the night (probably the very next
night after he had offered his sacrifices, as
God spoke unto him,
v. 2.
Note,
Those who desire to keep up communion
with God shall find that it never fails on his
side. If we speak to him as we ought, he
will not fail to speak to us. God called him
by name, by his old name, Jacob, Jacob, to
remind him of his low estate; his present
fears did scarcely become an Israel. Jacob,
like one well acquainted with the visions of
the Almighty, and ready to obey them, answers,
“Here I am, ready to receive orders:”
and what has God to say to him?
1. He renews the covenant with him: I
am God, the God of thy father
(v. 3);
that is,
“I am what thou ownest me to be: thou
shalt find me a God, a divine wisdom and
power engaged for thee; and thou shalt find
me the God of thy father, true to the covenant
made with him.”
2. He encourages him to make this removal
of his family: Fear not to go down into
Egypt. It seems, though Jacob, upon the
first intelligence of Joseph’s life and glory
in Egypt, resolved, without any hesitation,
I will go and see him; yet, upon second
thoughts, he saw some difficulties in it, which
he knew not well how to get over. Note,
Even those changes that seem to have in
them the greatest joys and hopes, yet have
an alloy of cares and fears, Nulla est sincera
voluptas–There is no unmingled pleasure.
We must always rejoice with trembling.
Jacob had many careful thoughts about this
journey, which God took notice of.
(1.) He
was old, 130 years old; and it is mentioned
as one of the infirmities of old people that
they are afraid of that which is high, and
fears are in the way,
Eccl. xii. 5.
It was a
long journey, and Jacob was unfit for travel,
and perhaps remembered that his beloved
Rachel died in a journey.
(2.) He feared lest
his sons should be tainted with the idolatry
of Egypt, and forget the God of their fathers,
or enamoured with the pleasures of Egypt,
and forget the land of promise.
(3.) Probably
he thought of what God had said to
Abraham concerning the bondage and affliction
of his seed
(ch. xv. 13),
and was apprehensive
that his removal to Egypt would
issue in that. Present satisfactions should
not take us off from the consideration and
prospect of future inconveniences, which
possibly may arise from what now appears
most promising.
(4.) He could not think of
laying his bones in Egypt. But, whatever
his discouragements were, this was enough
to answer them all, Fear not to go down into
Egypt.
3. He promises him comfort in the removal.
(1.) That he should multiply in Egypt:
“I will there, where thou fearest that thy
family will sink and be lost, make it a great
nation. That is the place Infinite Wisdom
has chosen for the accomplishment of that
promise.”
(2.) That he should have God’s
presence with him: I will go down with thee
into Egypt. Note, Those that go whither
God sends them shall certainly have God
with them, and that is enough to secure them
wherever they are and to silence their fears;
we may safely venture even into Egypt if
God go down with us.
(3.) That neither he
nor his should be lost in Egypt: I will surely
bring thee up again. Though Jacob died in
Egypt, yet this promise was fulfilled,
[1.] In the bringing up of his body, to be buried
in Canaan, about which, it appears, he was
very solicitous,
[2.] In the
bringing up of his seed to be settled in Canaan.
Whatever low or darksome valley we
are called into at any time, we may be confident,
if God go down with us into it, that
he will surely bring us up again. If he go
with us down to death, he will surely bring
us up again to glory.
(4.) That living and
dying, his beloved Joseph should be a comfort
to him: Joseph shall put his hand upon
thine eyes. This is a promise that Joseph
should live as long as he lived, that he should
be with him at his death, and close his eyes
with all possible tenderness and respect, as
the dearest relations used to do. Probably
Jacob, in the multitude of his thoughts within
him, had been wishing that Joseph might do
this last office of love for him: Ille meos
oculos comprimat–Let him close my eyes;
and God thus answered him in the letter of
his desire. Thus God sometimes gratifies
the innocent wishes of his people, and makes
not only their death happy, but the very circumstances
of it agreeable.
| Jacob’s Removal to Egypt. | B. C. 1706. |
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5 And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba:
and the sons of Israel carried
Jacob their father, and their little
ones, and their wives, in the wagons
which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
6 And they took their cattle, and their
goods, which they had gotten in the land
of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob,
and all his seed with him:
7 His
sons, and his sons’ sons with him,
his daughters, and his sons’ daughters,
and all his seed brought he with him
into Egypt.
8 And these are the
names of the children of Israel, which
came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons:
Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.
9 And the
sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Phallu,
and Hezron, and Carmi.
10 And the
sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin,
and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar,
and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish
woman.
11 And the sons of Levi;
Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
12 And the sons of Judah; Er, and Onan,
and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zerah:
but Er and Onan died in the land of
Canaan. And the sons of Pharez were
Hezron and Hamul.
13 And the sons
of Issachar; Tola, and Phuvah, and
Job, and Shimron.
14 And the sons
of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon, and
Jahleel.
15 These be the sons of Leah,
which she bare unto Jacob in Padan-aram,
with his daughter Dinah: all the
souls of his sons and his daughters
were thirty and three.
16 And the
sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi,
Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi,
and Areli.
17 And the sons of Asher;
Jimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and
Beriah, and Serah their sister: and
the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel.
18 These are the sons of Zilpah,
whom Laban gave to Leah his
daughter, and these she bare unto Jacob,
even sixteen souls.
19 The sons
of Rachel Jacob’s wife; Joseph, and
Benjamin.
20 And unto Joseph in
the land of Egypt were born Manasseh
and Ephraim, which Asenath
the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of
On bare unto him.
21 And the sons
of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher,
and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi,
and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and
Ard.
22 These are the sons of Rachel,
which were born to Jacob: all
the souls were fourteen.
23 And the
sons of Dan; Hushim.
24 And the
sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni,
and Jezer, and Shillem.
25 These are
the sons of Bilhah, which Laban gave
unto Rachel his daughter, and she
bare these unto Jacob: all the souls
were seven.
26 All the souls that
came with Jacob into Egypt, which
came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s
sons’ wives, all the souls were threescore
and six;
27 And the sons of
Joseph, which were born him in Egypt,
were two souls: all the souls of the
house of Jacob, which came into Egypt,
were threescore and ten.
Old Jacob is here flitting. Little did he
think of ever leaving Canaan; he expected,
no doubt, to die in his nest, and to leave his
seed in actual possession of the promised land:
but Providence orders it otherwise. Note,
Those that think themselves well settled may
yet be unsettled in a little time. Even old
people, who think of no other removal than
that to the grave (which Jacob had much
upon his heart,
sometimes live to see great changes in their family.
It is good to be ready, not only for the grave,
but for whatever may happen betwixt us and
the grave. Observe,
1. How Jacob was
conveyed; not in a chariot, though chariots
were then used, but in a waggon,
v. 5.
Jacob
had the character of a plain man, who did not
affect any thing stately or magnificent; his
son rode in a chariot
(ch. xli. 43),
but a waggon
would serve him.
2. The removal of what
he had with him.
(1.) His effects
(v. 6),
cattle and goods; these he took with him
that he might not wholly be beholden to
Pharaoh for a livelihood, and that it might
not afterwards be said of them, “that they
came beggars to Egypt.”
(2.) His family,
all his seed,
v. 7.
It is probable that they had
continued to live together in common with
their father; and therefore when he went
they all went, which perhaps they were the
more willing to do, because, though they had
heard that the land of Canaan was promised
them, yet, to this day, they had none of it
in possession. We have here a particular
account of the names of Jacob’s family, his
sons’ sons, most of whom are afterwards mentioned
as heads of houses in the several
tribes. See
&c. Bishop
Patrick observes that Issachar called his
eldest son Tola, which signifies a worm, probably
because when he was born he was a
very little weak child, a worm, and no man,
not likely to live; and yet there sprang from him
a very numerous offspring,
Note, Living and dying do not go by probability.
The whole number that went down
into Egypt was sixty-six
(v. 26),
to which add
Joseph and his two sons, who were there
before, and Jacob himself, the head of the
family, and you have the number of seventy,
The LXX. makes them seventy-five,
and Stephen follows them
(Acts vii. 14),
the reason of which we leave to the conjecture of
the critics; but let us observe,
[1.] Masters
of families ought to take care of all under
their charge, and to provide for those of their
own house food convenient both for body and
soul. When Jacob himself removed to a
land of plenty, he would not leave any of his
children behind him to starve in a barren
land.
[2.] Though the accomplishment of
promises is always sure, yet it is often slow.
It was now 215 years since God had promised
Abraham to make of him a great nation
(ch. xii. 2);
and yet that branch of his seed on
which the promise was entailed had increased
only to seventy, of which this particular
account is kept, that the power of God in
multiplying these seventy to so vast a multitude,
even in Egypt, may appear the more
illustrious. When God pleases, a little one
shall become a thousand,
Isa. lx. 22.
| Meeting between Jacob and Joseph. | B. C. 1706. |
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28 And he sent Judah before him
unto Joseph, to direct his face unto
Goshen; and they came into the land
of Goshen.
29 And Joseph made
ready his chariot, and went up to
meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and
presented himself unto him; and he
fell on his neck, and wept on his neck
a good while.
30 And Israel said unto
Joseph, Now let me die, since I have
seen thy face, because thou art yet
alive.
31 And Joseph said unto his
brethren, and unto his father’s house,
I will go up, and show Pharaoh, and
say unto him, My brethren, and my
father’s house, which were in the land
of Canaan, are come unto me;
32 And the men are shepherds, for their
trade hath been to feed cattle; and
they have brought their flocks, and
their herds, and all that they have.
33 And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh
shall call you, and shall say, What
is your occupation?
34 That ye shall
say, Thy servants’ trade hath been
about cattle from our youth even until
now, both we, and also our fathers:
that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen;
for every shepherd is an abomination
unto the Egyptians.
We have here, I. The joyful meeting
between Jacob and his son Joseph, in which
observe,
1. Jacob’s prudence in sending Judah
before him to Joseph, to give him notice of
his arrival in Goshen. This was a piece of
respect owing to the government, under the
protection of which these strangers had come
to put themselves,
We should be very
careful not to give offence to any, especially
not to the higher powers.
2. Joseph’s filial respect to him. He went
in his chariot to met him, and, in the interview,
showed,
(1.) How much he honoured
him: He presented himself unto him. Note,
It is the duty of children to reverence their
parents, yea, though Providence, as to outward
condition, has advanced them above
their parents.
(2.) How much he loved him.
Time did not wear out the sense of his obligations,
but his tears which he shed abundantly
upon his father’s neck, for joy to see
him, were real indications of the sincere and
strong affection he had for him. See how
near sorrow and joy are to each other in this
world, when tears serve for the expression of
both. In the other world weeping will be
restrained to sorrow only; in heaven there is
perfect joy, but no tears of joy: all tears,
even those, shall there be wiped away,
because the joys there are, as no joys are
here, without any alloy. When Joseph embraced
Benjamin he wept upon his neck, but
when he embraced his father he wept upon
his neck a good while; his brother Benjamin
was dear, but his father Jacob must be
dearer.
3. Jacob’s great satisfaction in this meeting:
Now let me die,
v. 30.
Not but that it was
further desirable to live with Joseph, and to
see his honour and usefulness; but he had
so much pleasure and satisfaction in this first
meeting that he thought it too much to
desire or expect any more in this world,
where our comforts must always be imperfect.
Jacob wished to die immediately, and
lived seventeen years longer, which, as our
lives go now, is a considerable part of a man’s
age. Note, Death will not always come just
when we call for it, whether in a passion of
sorrow or in a passion of joy. Our times
are in God’s hand, and not in our own; we
must die just when God pleases, and not
either just when we are surfeited with the
pleasures of life or just when we are overwhelmed
with its griefs.
II. Joseph’s prudent care concerning his
brethren’s settlement. It was justice to
Pharaoh to let him know that such a colony
had come to settle in his dominions. Note,
If others repose a confidence in us, we must
not be so base and disingenuous as to abuse
it by imposing upon them. If Jacob and his
family should come to be a charge to the
Egyptians, yet it should never be said that
they came among them clandestinely and by
stealth. Thus Joseph took care to pay his
respects to Pharaoh,
But how shall
he dispose of his brethren? Time was when
they were contriving to get rid of him; now
he is contriving to settle them to their satisfaction
and advantage: this is rendering
good for evil. Now,
1. He would have
them to live by themselves, separate as much
as might be from the Egyptians, in the land
of Goshen, which lay nearest to Canaan, and
which perhaps was more thinly peopled by
the Egyptians, and well furnished with pastures
for cattle. He desired they might live
separately, that they might be in the less
danger both of being infected by the vices of
the Egyptians and of being insulted by the
malice of the Egyptians. Shepherds, it seems,
were an abomination to the Egyptians, that is,
they looked upon them with contempt, and
scorned to converse with them; and he
would not send for his brethren to Egypt to
be trampled upon. And yet,
2. He would
have them to continue shepherds, and not to
be ashamed to own that as their occupation
before Pharaoh. He could have employed
them under himself in the corn-trade, or
perhaps, by his interest in the king, might
have procured places for them at court or in
the army, and some of them, at least, were
deserving enough; but such preferments
would have exposed them to the envy of the
Egyptians, and would have tempted them to
forget Canaan and the promise made unto
their fathers; therefore he contrives to continue
them in their old employment. Note,
(1.) An honest calling is no disparagement,
nor ought we to account it so either in ourselves
or in our relations, but rather reckon
it a shame to be idle, or to have nothing to
do.
(2.) It is generally best for people to
abide in the callings that they have been bred
to, and used to,
Whatever employment or condition God, in his providence,
has allotted for us, let us accommodate
ourselves to it, and satisfy ourselves with it,
and not mind high things. It is better to be
the credit of a mean post than the shame of
a high one.
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