And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. Ver. 1. In the land of his father's sojournings (Marg.).] The dukes of Edom had habitations in the land of their possessions. Gen 36:43 But Jacob, with his father Isaac, were pilgrims in the land of Canaan; conten... [ Continue Reading ]
_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._ Ver. 2. _These are the generations.... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 3. _Because he was the son of his old age._] The Chaldee Paraphrast renders it morally, Because he was a wise son, _in quo ante canos sapientia:_ such a one as... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 4. _They hated him._] 1. There is a _passion_ of hatred: this is a kind of averseness, and rising of the heart against a man, when one seeth him; so that he... [ Continue Reading ]
And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told [it] his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. Ver. 5. _And Joseph dreamed._] Of divine dreams to be regarded as oracles, _See Trapp on "_ Gen 20:3 _"_ They hated him yet the more.] So the Jews did Jesus, for his parables; especially when he spake of hi... [ Continue Reading ]
And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: Ver. 6. _Hear, I pray you, this dream._] Thus he bespeaketh them, not out of a vain glorious boasting, but out of youthful simplicity, and because himself wondered at it. God also had a holy hand in it.... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 7. _We were binding sheaves._] This was fulfilled, when they came to him for grain into Egypt. Here Joseph dreams o... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 8. _Shalt thou indeed reign over us?_] They rightly interpreted the dream, yet stubbornly resist the revealed will of Go... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 9. _Behold, the sun, and the moon._] The father of the family should be as the sun, full of heavenly light, an... [ Continue Reading ]
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? Ver. 10. _And his father rebuked him._] Either as not yet... [ Continue Reading ]
And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying. Ver. 11. _And his brethren envied him._] Envy is a filthy fruit of the flesh Gal 5:21 and the devil; who is called, the envious man; Matthew 13:19 _; _ Mat 13:25 and such wisdom is said to be "devilish." Jam 3:15 The Pharisees, envyin... [ Continue Reading ]
And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. Ver. 12. _In Shechem._] Sixty miles from Hebron, where Jacob now dwelt.... [ Continue Reading ]
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]. Ver. 13. _And he said to him, Here am I._] "Children obey your parents," - _quorum divina est dignitas,_ saith Chrysostom: our parents are Yεοι εφεστι... [ Continue Reading ]
_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._ Ver. 14. _Well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks._] His first care is for the welfare of hi... [ Continue Reading ]
And a certain man found him, and, behold, [he was] wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? Ver. 15. _What seekest thou?_] This was not the angel Gabriel, as the Hebrews will have it; but some courteous passenger, that thus offereth himself to wandering Joseph, and... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed [their flocks]._ Ver. 16. _I seek my brethren._] He stayed not at Shechem, whither his father sent him; but missing them there, he seeks farther, till he found them. This is true obedience, whether to God or man, when we look n... [ Continue Reading ]
_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._ Ver. 17. _And found them in Dothan._] That is, In _Defection._ So found our Saviour his lost sheep, in utter defection, both of doctrine and manners:... [ Continue Reading ]
And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. Ver. 18. _They conspired against him._] So did the husbandmen against Christ: "This is the heir," say they, &c. Luk 20:14 The word is by one rendered, They craftily conspired. The Greek hath... [ Continue Reading ]
And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. Ver. 19. _Behold, this dreamer._] This captain dreamer, or, this architect of dreams. A lewd scoff, and, by it, a cruel calumny. Envy, so it may gall, or kill, cares not how true or false it be, that, it allegeth: it usually aggravates the... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 20. _And we will say._] So they consult, to cover their murder with a lie. One sin admitted makes way for another. He that h... [ Continue Reading ]
And Reuben heard [it], and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him. Ver. 21. _And he delivered him out of their hands._] Josephus relates his arguments, whereby he prevailed with them: as (1.) That God would surely see them; (2.) Their father would extremely grieve at it;... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 22. _Shed no blood._] Every drop of it hath a tongue to cry for vengeance. Well might King... [ Continue Reading ]
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; Ver. 23. _They stripe Joseph out of his coat._] For, (1) It an eyesore to them; (2.) There with they would colour their cruelty. And this while they... [ Continue Reading ]
And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit [was] empty, [there was] no water in it. Ver. 24. _They cast him into a pit._] Where they meant he should pine and perish with hunger, which is a more cruel death than to die by the sword. Lam 4:9 Thus died Drusus by the command of Tiberius; f... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 25. _And they sat down to eat._] To weep for their wickedness, they should h... [ Continue Reading ]
And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit [is it] if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? Ver. 26. _What profit is it? &c._] _Cui bono_ said that old judge in Rome. _a_ This is a song that most men will listen to. As the Jassians in Strabo, delighted with the music of an excellent harper... [ Continue Reading ]
_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._ Ver. 27. _For he is our brother, and our flesh._] This consideration should be, as the angel's call to Abraham, to stay our hand from striking an... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 28. _For twenty pieces of silver._] A goodly price! not all out the price of a slave. Exo 21:32... [ Continue Reading ]
And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph [was] not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. Ver. 29. _He rent his clothes._] In token of extreme passion. A custom in use also among some heathens.... [ Continue Reading ]
And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child [is] not; and I, whither shall I go? Ver. 30. _The child is not; and I, &c._] In an old manuscript, I met with these words thus pathetically rendered: - “Heu quid agam! periit puer ille, puer puer ille.” Reuben was the oldest, and therefore t... [ Continue Reading ]
And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood; Ver. 31. _And dipped the coat in the blood._] That Jacob might think his son Joseph was dead; and so make no further inquiry after him.... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 32. Know now whether it be thy son's coat.] One Philip, bishop of Beauvieu, in France, in the time of our Richard I, being a martial man... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 33. It is my son's coat, &c.] The Lord may well say as much of hypocrites: Their outward form of godliness is the garb of my sons and daughters; but some evil spirit hath d... [ Continue Reading ]
And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. Ver. 34. _Mourned for his son many days._] _Puerilitas est periculorum pelagus._ Few live to be old, for one evil beast or another that devours them: as for one apple that hangs till it falls, many are... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 35. _And all his sons, &c._] Oh, faces hatched with impudence! Oh, hearts hewn out of a rock! Could... [ Continue Reading ]
And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, [and] captain of the guard. Ver. 36. _And the Midianites._] Little knew Joseph what God was in doing. Have patience, till he have brought both ends together.... [ Continue Reading ]