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Matthew Henry |
G E N E S I S
CHAP. XLV.
It is a pity that this chapter and the foregoing should be parted,
and read asunder. There we had Judah’s intercession for Benjamin,
with which, we may suppose, the rest of his brethren
signified their concurrence; Joseph let him go on without interruption,
heard all he had to say, and then answered it all in one word,
“I am Joseph.” Now he found his brethren humbled for
their sins, mindful of himself (for Judah had mentioned him
twice in his speech), respectful to their father, and very tender
of their brother Benjamin; now they were ripe for the comfort
he designed them, by making himself known to them, the story
of which we have in this chapter. It was to Joseph’s brethren
as clear shining after rain, nay, it was to them as life from the
dead. Here is,
I. Joseph’s discovery of himself to his brethren,
and his discourse with them upon that occasion,
II. The orders Pharaoh, hereupon, gave to fetch Jacob and his
family down to Egypt, and Joseph’s despatch of his brethren,
accordingly, back to his father with those orders,
III. The joyful tidings of this brought to Jacob,
&c.
| Joseph Discovers Himself to His Brethren. | B. C. 1707. |
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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.
2 And he wept aloud: and the
Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh
heard.
3 And 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.
4 And 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 sold into Egypt.
5 Now
therefore be not grieved, nor angry
with yourselves, that ye sold me
hither: for God did send me before
you to preserve life.
6 For 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.
7 And God sent me before you
to preserve you a posterity in the earth,
and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8 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.
9 Haste
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:
10 And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen,
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:
11 And
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.
12 And, behold,
your eyes see, and the eyes of
my brother Benjamin, that it is my
mouth that speaketh unto you.
13 And 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.
14 And he
fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck,
and wept; and Benjamin wept upon
his neck.
15 Moreover he kissed all
his brethren, and wept upon them: and
after that his brethren talked with him.
Judah and his brethren were waiting for
an answer, and could not but be amazed to
discover, instead of the gravity of a judge,
the natural affection of a father or brother.
I. Joseph ordered all his attendants to
withdraw,
v. 1.
The private conversations
of friends are the most free. When Joseph
would put on love he puts off state, and it
was not fit his servants should be witnesses
of this. Thus Christ graciously manifests
himself and his loving-kindness to his people,
out of the sight and hearing of the world.
II. Tears were the preface or introduction
to his discourse,
v. 2.
He had dammed up
this stream a great while, and with much ado:
but now it swelled so high that he could no
longer contain, but he wept aloud, so that
those whom he had forbidden to see him
could not but hear him. These were tears of
tenderness and strong affection, and with
these he threw off that austerity with which
he had hitherto carried himself towards his
brethren; for he could bear it no longer.
This represents the divine compassion towards
returning penitents, as much as that of
the father of the prodigal,
III. He very abruptly (as one uneasy till
it was out) tells them who he was: I am Joseph.
They knew him only by his Egyptian
name, Zaphnath-paaneah, his Hebrew name
being lost and forgotten in Egypt; but now
he teaches them to call him by that: I am
Joseph; nay, that they might not suspect it
was another of the same name, he explains
himself
(v. 4):
I am Joseph, your brother.
This would both humble them yet more for
their sin in selling him, and would encourage
them to hope for kind treatment. Thus
when Christ would convince Paul he said, I
am Jesus; and when he would comfort his
disciples he said, It is I, be not afraid. This
word, at first, startled Joseph’s brethren;
they started back through fear, or at least
stood still astonished; but Joseph called
kindly and familiarly to them: Come near, I
pray you. Thus when Christ manifests himself
to his people he encourages them to draw
near to him with a true heart. Perhaps,
being about to speak of their selling him, he
would not speak aloud, lest the Egyptians
should overhear, and it should make the
Hebrews to be yet more an abomination to
them; therefore he would have them come
near, that he might whisper with them, which,
now that the tide of his passion was a little
over, he was able to do, whereas at first he
could not but cry out.
IV. He endeavours to assuage their grief
for the injuries they had done him, by showing
them that whatever they designed God
meant it for good, and had brought much
good out of it
(v. 5):
Be not grieved, nor
angry with yourselves. Sinners must grieve,
and be angry with themselves, for their sins;
yea, though God by his power brings good out
of them, for no thanks are due to the sinner
for this: but true penitents should be greatly
affected when they see God thus bringing
good out of evil, meat out of the eater.
Though we must not with this consideration
extenuate our own sins and so take off the
edge of our repentance, yet it may be well
thus to extenuate the sins of others and so
take off the edge of our angry resentments.
Thus Joseph does here; his brethren needed
not to fear that he would avenge upon them
an injury which God’s providence had made
to turn so much to his advantage and that of
his family. Now he tells them how long the
famine was likely to last–five years; yet
(v. 6)
what a capacity he was in of being kind
to his relations and friends, which is the
greatest satisfaction that wealth and power
can give to a good man,
v. 8.
See what a
favourable colour he puts upon the injury
they had done him: God sent me before you,
v. 5, 7.
Note,
1. God’s Israel is the particular
care of God’s providence. Joseph
reckoned that his advancement was not so
much designed to save a whole kingdom of
Egyptians as to preserve a small family of
Israelites: for the Lord’s portion is his people;
whatever becomes of others, they shall
be secured.
2. Providence looks a great way
forward, and has a long reach. Even long
before the years of plenty, Providence was
preparing for the supply of Jacob’s house in
the years of famine. The psalmist praises
God for this
(Ps. cv. 17):
He sent a man before
them, even Joseph. God sees his work
from the beginning to the end, but we do
not,
How admirable are the
projects of providence! How remote its
tendencies! What wheels are there within
wheels, and yet all directed by the eyes in
the wheels, and the spirit of the living creature!
Let us therefore judge nothing before
the time.
3. God often works by contraries.
The envy and contention of brethren threaten
the ruin of families, yet, in this instance,
they prove the occasion of preserving Jacob’s
family. Joseph could never have been the
shepherd and stone of Israel if his brethren
had not shot at him, and hated him; even
those that had wickedly sold Joseph into
Egypt yet themselves reaped the benefit of
the good God brought out of it; as those
that put Christ to death were many of them
saved by his death.
4. God must have all
the glory of the seasonable preservations of
his people, by what way soever they are effected.
It was not you that sent me hither,
but God,
v. 8.
As, on the one hand, they
must not fret at it, because it ended so well,
so on the other hand they must not be proud
of it, because it was God’s doing, and not
theirs. They designed, by selling him into
Egypt, to defeat his dreams, but God thereby
designed to accomplish them.
Howbeit he meaneth not so.
V. He promises to take care of his father
and all the family during the rest of the years
of famine.
1. He desires that his father
may speedily be made glad with the tidings
of his life and dignity. His brethren must
hasten to Canaan, and must inform Jacob
that his son Joseph was lord of all Egypt;
(v. 9):
they must tell him of all his glory
there,
He knew it would be a refreshing
oil to his hoary head and a sovereign
cordial to his spirits. If any thing would
make him young again, this would. He desires
them to give themselves, and take with
them to their father, all possible satisfaction
of the truth of these surprising tidings:
Your eyes see that it is my mouth,
v. 12.
If they would recollect themselves, they might
remember something of his features, speech,
&c., and be satisfied.
2. He is very earnest
that his father and all his family should come
to him to Egypt: Come down unto me, tarry
not,
v. 9.
He allots his dwelling in Goshen,
that part of Egypt which lay towards Canaan,
that they might be mindful of the country
from which they were to come out,
He promises to provide for him: I
will nourish thee,
v. 11.
Note, It is the duty
of children, if the necessity of their parents do
at any time require it, to support and supply
them to the utmost of their ability; and
Corban will never excuse them,
This is showing piety at home,
Our Lord Jesus being, like Joseph, exalted
to the highest honours and powers of the
upper world, it is his will that all that are
his should be with him where he is,
This is his commandment, that we
be with him now in faith and hope, and a
heavenly conversation; and this is his promise,
that we shall be for ever with him.
VI. Endearments were interchanged between
him and his brethren. He began with
the youngest, his own brother Benjamin, who
was but about a year old when Joseph was
separated from his brethren; they wept on
each other’s neck
(v. 14),
perhaps to think of
their mother Rachel, who died in travail of
Benjamin. Rachel, in her husband Jacob,
had been lately weeping for her children, because,
in his apprehension, they were not–Joseph
gone, and Benjamin going; and now
they were weeping for her, because she was
not. After he had embraced Benjamin, he,
in like manner, caressed them all
(v. 15);
and then his brethren talked with him freely and
familiarly of all the affairs of their father’s
house. After the tokens of true reconciliation
follow the instances of a sweet communion.
| Pharaoh’s Kindness to Joseph. | B. C. 1707. |
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16 And the fame thereof was heard
in Pharaoh’s house, saying, Joseph’s
brethren are come: and it pleased
Pharaoh well, and his servants.
17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say
unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade
your beasts, and go, get you unto the
land of Canaan;
18 And take your
father and your households, and come
unto me: and I will give you the good
of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat
the fat of the land.
19 Now thou art
commanded, this do ye; take you
wagons out of the land of Egypt for
your little ones, and for your wives,
and bring your father, and come.
20 Also regard not your stuff; for the
good of all the land of Egypt is yours.
21 And the children of Israel did so:
and Joseph gave them wagons, according
to the commandment of Pharaoh,
and gave them provision for the way.
22 To all of them he gave each man
changes of raiment; but to Benjamin
he gave three hundred pieces of silver,
and five changes of raiment.
23 And
to his father he sent after this manner;
ten asses laden with the good
things of Egypt, and ten she asses
laden with corn and bread and meat
for his father by the way.
24 So he
sent his brethren away, and they departed:
and he said unto them, See
that ye fall not out by the way.
Here is,
1. The kindness of Pharaoh to
Joseph, and to his relations for his sake: he
bade his brethren welcome
(v. 16),
though it
was a time of scarcity, and they were likely to
be a charge to him. Nay, because it pleased
Pharaoh, it pleased his servants too, at least
they pretended to be pleased because Pharaoh
was. He engaged Joseph to send for
his father down to Egypt, and promised to
furnish them with all conveniences both for
his removal thither and his settlement there.
If the good of all the land of Egypt (as it
was not better stocked than any other land,
thanks to Joseph, under God) would suffice
him, he was welcome to it all, it was all his
own, even the fat of the land
(v. 18),
so that
they need not regard their stuff,
v. 20.
What
they had in Canaan he reckoned but stuff, in
comparison with what he had for them in
Egypt; and therefore if they should be constrained
to leave some of that behind them,
let them not be discontented; Egypt would
afford them enough to make up the losses of
their removal. Thus those for whom Christ
intends shares in his heavenly glory ought
not to regard the stuff of this world: The
best of its enjoyments are but stuff, but
lumber; we cannot make sure of it while we are
here, much less can we carry it a way with us;
let us not therefore be solicitous about it, nor
set our eyes or hearts upon it. There are
better things reserved for us in that blessed
land whither our Joseph has gone to prepare
a place.
II. The kindness of Joseph to his father
and brethren. Pharaoh was respectful to
Joseph, in gratitude, because he had been an
instrument of much good to him and his
kingdom, not only preserving it from the
common calamity, but helping to make it
considerable among the nations; for all their
neighbours would say, “Surely the Egyptians
are a wise and an understanding people,
that are so well stocked in a time of scarcity.”
For this reason Pharaoh never thought any
thing too much that he could do for Joseph.
Note, There is a gratitude owing even to inferiors;
and when any have shown us kindness
we should study to requite it, not only
to them, but to their relations. And Joseph
likewise was respectful to his father and
brethren in duty, because they were his near
relations, though his brethren had been his
enemies, and his father long a stranger.
1. He furnished them for necessity,
He gave them wagons and provisions for the
way, both going and coming; for we never
find that Jacob was very rich, and, at this
time, when the famine prevailed, we may
suppose he was rather poor.
2. He furnished
them for ornament and delight. To
his brethren he gave two suits apiece of good
clothes, to Benjamin five suits, and money
besides in his pocket,
To his father
he sent a very handsome present of the varieties
of Egypt,
Note, Those that are
wealthy should be generous, and devise liberal
things; what is an abundance good for,
but to do good with it?
3. He dismissed
them with a seasonable caution: See that
you fall not out by the way,
v. 24.
He knew
they were but too apt to be quarrelsome; and
what had lately passed, which revived the
remembrance of what they had done formerly
against their brother, might give them
occasion to quarrel. Joseph had observed
them to contend about it,
To one
they would say, “It was you that first upbraided
him with his dreams;” to another,
“It was you that said, Let us kill him;” to
another, “It was you that stripped him of
his fine coat;” to another, “It was you that
threw him into the pit,” &c. Now Joseph,
having forgiven them all, lays this obligation
upon them, not to upbraid one another.
This charge our Lord Jesus has given to
us, that we love one another, that we live in
peace, that whatever occurs, or whatever former
occurrences are remembered, we fall not
out. For,
(1.) We are brethren, we have all
one Father.
(2.) We are his brethren, and
we shame our relation to him who is our
peace, if we fall out.
(3.) We are guilty,
verily guilty, and, instead of quarrelling with
one another, have a great deal of reason to
fall out with ourselves.
(4.) We are, or hope
to be, forgiven of God whom we have all offended,
and therefore should be ready to forgive
one another.
(5.) We are by the way, a
way that lies through the land of Egypt,
where we have many eyes upon us, that seek
occasion and advantage against us, a way
that leads to Canaan, where we hope to be
for ever in perfect peace.
| The History of Joseph. | B. C. 1707. |
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25 And they went up out of Egypt,
and came into the land of Canaan unto
Jacob their father,
26 And told him,
saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is
governor over all the land of Egypt.
And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed
them not.
27 And they told
him all the words of Joseph, which he
had said unto them: and when he saw
the wagons which Joseph had sent to
carry him, the spirit of Jacob their
father revived:
28 And Israel said, It
is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive:
I will go and see him before I die.
We have here the good news brought to
Jacob.
1. The relation of it, at first, sunk
his spirits. When, without any preamble,
his sons came in, crying, Joseph is yet alive,
each striving which should first proclaim it,
perhaps he thought they bantered him, and
the affront grieved him; or the very mention
of Joseph’s name revived his sorrow, so that
his heart fainted,
It was a good while
before he came to himself. He was in such
care and fear about the rest of them that at
this time it would have been joy enough to
him to hear that Simeon was released, and
that Benjamin had come safely home (for he
had been ready to despair concerning both
these); but to hear that Joseph is alive is too
good news to be true; he faints, for he believes
it not. Note, We faint, because we do
not believe; David himself had fainted if he
had not believed,
2. The confirmation
of it, by degrees, revived his spirit.
Jacob had easily believed his sons formerly
when they told him, Joseph is dead; but he
can hardly believe them now that they tell
him, Joseph is alive. Weak and tender spirits
are influenced more by fear than hope, and
are more apt to receive impressions that are
discouraging than those that are encouraging.
But at length Jacob is convinced of the truth
of the story, especially when he sees the
waggons which were sent to carry him (for
seeing is believing), then his spirit revived.
Death is as the waggons which are sent to
fetch us to Christ: the very sight of it approaching
should revive us. Now Jacob is
called Israel
(v. 28),
for he begins to recover
his wonted vigour.
(1.) It pleases him to
think that Joseph is alive. He says nothing
of Joseph’s glory, of which they told him; it
was enough to him that Joseph was alive.
Note, Those that would be content with less
degrees of comfort are best prepared for
greater.
(2.) It pleases him to think of going
to see him. Though he was old, and the
journey long, yet he would go to see Joseph,
because Joseph’s business would not permit
him to come to see him. Observe, He says,
“I will go and see him,” not, “I will go and
live with him;” Jacob was old, and did not
expect to live long; “But I will go and see
him before I die, and then let me depart in
peace; let my eyes be refreshed with this
sight before they are closed, and then it is
enough, I need no more to make me happy
in this world.” Note, It is good for us all
to make death familiar to us, and to speak of
it as near, that we may think how little we
have to do before we die, that we may do it
with all our might, and may enjoy our comforts
as those that must quickly die, and
leave them.
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