And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed him. Ver. 1. And Joseph fell upon his father's face.] As willing to have wept him alive again, if possible; yet more moderate than his father had been in the supposed death of him by an evil beast devouring him. But of mourning f... [ Continue Reading ]
And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel. Ver. 2. _And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians._] Physicians, _a_ it seems, were formerly of no great esteem; perhaps it was because, through ignorance, they many times officiously... [ Continue Reading ]
And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days. Ver. 3. _And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days._] Longer than Joseph mourned; they did it through "ignorance," and as men "without ho... [ Continue Reading ]
And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, Ver. 4. _Speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh._]. He spake not to the king himself, but set others to work. No... [ Continue Reading ]
My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again. Ver. 5. _In my grave which I have digged for me._] A usual thing of old. 2Ch 16:14... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear._ Ver. 6. _As he made thee swear._] Oaths must be religiously kept, even those that are private, betwixt friend and friend. For, although whatsoever is more than yea and nay, in our ordinary communication, is evil, Mat 5... [ Continue Reading ]
And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, Ver. 7. _And with him went up all the servants._] That is, most of them, as Matthew 3:5. In doing the patriarch this honour, they stand renowned... [ Continue Reading ]
And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father's house: only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen. Ver. 8. _Only their little ones._] And some to look to them.... [ Continue Reading ]
And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company. Ver. 9. _A very great company._] This was for the honour of Jacob at his death, whose greatest care had been to honour God in his whole life.... [ Continue Reading ]
And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which [is] beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days. Ver. 10. _And he made a mourning for his father._] Not seventy days, as those infidels did, Genesis 50:3. But why m... [ Continue Reading ]
And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This [is] a grievous mourning to the Egyptians: wherefore the name of it was called Abelmizraim, which [is] beyond Jordan. Ver. 11. _Abelmizraim, which is beyond Jordan._] A gracious providence o... [ Continue Reading ]
And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. Ver. 15. _Joseph will peradventure hate us._] An ill conscience, we are sure, still haunts them as a hell-hag, and fills them wit... [ Continue Reading ]
And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, Ver. 16. _Thy father did command, &c._] It is a just question, whether there were ever a true word of all this. For Jacob, probably, never knew how ill they had used Joseph, as is above said. But if this h... [ Continue Reading ]
So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. Ver. 17. _Forgive, I pray thee now._] In t... [ Continue Reading ]
And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we [be] thy servants. Ver. 18. _Behold, we be thy servants._] Oh that God might hear such words fall from us, prostrate at his feet! How soon would he take us up and embrace us! _Deus redire nos sibi, non perire, desid... [ Continue Reading ]
And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for [am] I in the place of God? Ver. 19. _Am I in the place of God?_] q.d., Can I hurt you when God intends good to you? Is it for me to cross his decree?... [ Continue Reading ]
But as for you, ye thought evil against me; [but] God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as [it is] this day, to save much people alive. Ver. 20. _But God meant it unto good._] God altereth the property, as of his people's sufferings, which in themselves are the fruit of sin and a piece of the c... [ Continue Reading ]
Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them. Ver. 21. _I will nourish you._] To requite your kindness, that consulted to starve me in the waterless pit. This was a noble way of revenging; this was heroical, and fit for Chris... [ Continue Reading ]
And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father's house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years. Ver. 22. _And Joseph lived an hundred and ten years._] Fourscore of these he lived in great wealth, and all of them, perhaps, in very good health; as Pliny _a_ reports of one Xenophilus, that he lived... [ Continue Reading ]
And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third [generation]: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph's knees. Ver. 23. Brought up upon Joseph's knees.] Who with great joy danced and dandled them. So God is said to do his people, Deu 33:3 as some understand it. _a... [ Continue Reading ]
And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Ver. 24. _And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die._] A sad saying to them, poor souls. For now began their misery and slavery in... [ Continue Reading ]