_And it came to pass after these things, that [one] told Joseph, Behold, thy father [is] sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim._ Ver. 1. _Behold, thy father is sick._] And yet it was "Jacob have I loved." So, "Behold, he whom thou lovest is sick." Joh 11:3 _Si amatur, quomod... [ Continue Reading ]
_And [one] told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed._ Ver. 2. _And Israel strengthened himself._] _Ipse aspectus viri boni delectat,_ saith Seneca; sure it is that the sight of a dear friend reviveth the sick. One man, for... [ Continue Reading ]
And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, Ver. 3. _God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz._] The truly thankful keep calendars and catalogues of God's gracious dealings with them, and delight, to their last, to recount and reckon them up;... [ Continue Reading ]
And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee [for] an everlasting possession. Ver. 4. _For an everlasting possession._] This is fully made good to the Israel of God, those heirs... [ Continue Reading ]
And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, [are] mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. Ver. 5. _As Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine._] God hath in like sort adopted us for his dear children; saying, ... [ Continue Reading ]
And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, [and] shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance. Ver. 6. _After the name of their brethren._] That is, of Ephraim and Manasseh; as if they were not their brethren, but their sons. Thus Jacob transfers the bi... [ Continue Reading ]
And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet [there was] but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same [is] Bethlehem. Ver. 7. _And I buried her there._] He could not carry her to the cave of Mach... [ Continue Reading ]
And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, Who [are] these? Ver. 8. _Who are these?_] Here Jacob, seeing Joseph's two sons, and now first understanding who they were, breaks off his speech to Joseph, till the two last verses of the chapter, and starts blessing his sons; teaching us to be "ready to... [ Continue Reading ]
And Joseph said unto his father, They [are] my sons, whom God hath given me in this [place]. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them. Ver. 9. _They are my sons, whom God, &c._] The Lord Christ in like sort presents us to his heavenly Father with, "Here am I, and the chi... [ Continue Reading ]
And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed. Ver. 11. _I had not thought to see thy face._] God delights to outbid the hopes of his people, and to be better to them than their deserts, than their desires, yea, than their faith. Isaiah 54... [ Continue Reading ]
And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. Ver. 12. _From between his knees._] That is, From between his father's knees, that he might place them right to receive the blessing, presenting them again according to their age. This he did for th... [ Continue Reading ]
And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought [them] near unto him. Ver. 13. _Both, Ephraim in his right hand._] The right hand hath the pre-eminence of the left among most people: yet not so amo... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid [it] upon Ephraim's head, who [was] the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh [was] the firstborn._ Ver. 14. _Guiding his hands wittingly._] _Cognoscebat palpando manibus suis,_ saith Junius: _In... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,_ Ver. 15. _God, beforewhom my fathers did walk._] This is the highest praise that can be given to ancestors; this is the crown of all commendation, to have... [ Continue Reading ]
The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. Ver. 16. _The Angel which redeemed me._] Christ, the Angel of the Covenant, the Mediator of the Ne... [ Continue Reading ]
And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head. Ver. 17. _And when Joseph saw that, &c._] So great a prophet and diviner as Joseph was, in this was out in hi... [ Continue Reading ]
And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this [is] the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head. Ver. 18. _Not so, my father, &c._] Here are a couple of holy prophets differing in their judgments; yet not about the substance of the blessing, but the circumstance of it. Wonder not... [ Continue Reading ]
_And his father refused, and said, I know [it], my son, I know [it]: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations._ Ver. 19. _And his father refused, and said._] Here are father an... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh._ Ver. 20. _And he set Ephraim before._] God many times sets the younger before the elder; makes the last to be first, and the first last; to show... [ Continue Reading ]
And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers. Ver. 21. _Behold, I die._] This was a speech of faith, uttered without the least fear, consternation, or dismayment. As it was no more betwixt God and Moses, but "Go up and die... [ Continue Reading ]
Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow. Ver. 22. _I have given thee one portion._] Joseph had the double portion, as Judah the dignity, from Reuben; who had forfeited both by his incest. And here it app... [ Continue Reading ]