_JOSEPH INTERPRETS THE DREAMS OF PHARAOH, AND ADVISES HIM CONCERNING THE SEVEN YEARS OF PLENTY. PHARAOH CONSTITUTES JOSEPH GOVERNOR OF AEGYPT, AND GIVES HIM A WIFE, BY WHOM HE HAS TWO SONS. THE SEVEN YEARS OF PLENTY PASS, AND THE FAMINE BEGINS._ _Before Christ 1717._... [ Continue Reading ]
AT THE END OF TWO FULL YEARS— i.e.. Two years after the event recorded in the former chapter, God was pleased to send Pharaoh a prophetic dream, the scene of which was on the banks of the _river Nile,_ to which AEgypt owed all its fertility: and consequently nothing could be represented with more pr... [ Continue Reading ]
BLASTED WITH THE EAST WIND— To this wind, Bishop Patrick observes, is ascribed in Scripture all the mischiefs done to corn or fruit, by blasting, smutting, mildews, locusts, &c. Exodus 10:13.Psalms 78:26. Ezekiel 17:10. Jonah 4:8. It is more pernicious, in AEgygt than in other places, because it com... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS SPIRIT WAS TROUBLED; AND HE SENT— The peculiarity of the dreams made a strong impression upon Pharaoh's spirit; and, desirous to be satisfied with respect to their meaning, he sent for all those whose province and profession it was to interpret dreams; but he inquired of them in vain; the rules... [ Continue Reading ]
I DO REMEMBER MY FAULTS— That is, "my ingratitude in forgetting and neglecting a person who gave me great comfort in my affliction, and foretold my advancement when confined in the prison.... [ Continue Reading ]
ME HE, &C.— See note on Genesis 41:21 ch. 40:... [ Continue Reading ]
DUNGEON, &C.— See ch. 40: Genesis 41:15. Joseph put off his garments and habit of mourning, such as became and were expressive of his afflicted state, and appeared in a proper dress before the king. The AEgyptians never shaved or cut their hair in times of public or private distress; on other occasi... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JOSEPH ANSWERED, &C.— With pious modesty Joseph answers the king, in almost the same terms which Daniel afterwards used, who was influenced by the same pious and holy principles. See Daniel 2:28. He elevates the monarch's mind to the first cause of the dreams which so troubled him, and engages h... [ Continue Reading ]
AND, BEHOLD, THERE CAME, &C.— "Phantasms in dreams," says Bishop Warburton, "were superstitiously thought to be _symbolical:_ God, therefore, when it was his good pleasure to send dreams to Pharaoh, made two well-known symbols the foundation of them; and this, doubtless, in order to engage the dream... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THEY HAD EATEN, &C.— It would be difficult to give a more lively idea of the extreme horrors of famine, than that which arises from this picture; the kine which devoured the others, without losing any thing of their ill favour, is the most expressive emblem of that dreadful judgment.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND FOR THAT THE DREAM WAS DOUBLED, &C.— We may remark here, 1st, That Joseph informs Pharaoh his dream was doubled, both for the fuller confirmation of the certainty, and the speedy execution of the event foretold: 2ndly, and which is the most essential, Both here, and in the foregoing discourse, G... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW THEREFORE LET PHARAOH, &C.— It was the Spirit of God, and not his own ambition, which inspired Joseph to give this counsel to Pharaoh. He was ignorant himself whom GOD would destine to the charge; and how could he flatter himself that he should be elevated to such a station, who came out of pris... [ Continue Reading ]
OFFICERS, &C.— The Hebrew signifies, literally, _overseers._ The Hebrew פקיד _pekid,_ as the Greek επισκοπος, whence we have formed our English word _bishop,_ is a man who has a charge or office, for any business, civil, military, or ecclesiastic. _FIFTH PART OF THE LAND_— That is, the fifth part of... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THEM— That is, the _overseers_ gather all the _food;_ that is, all the fifth part appropriated to the king, of the following good years, and _lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh;_ that is, in granaries appointed for that purpose in every city, and to be under the immediate power and direction... [ Continue Reading ]
THE THING WAS GOOD, &C.— Though a young man, and a stranger, Joseph had already rendered himself conspicuous by his explication of the dreams of the officers of Pharaoh in prison; and now, not only his exposition of the figures which Pharaoh saw in his dream, was so natural, that it was apt to beget... [ Continue Reading ]
IN WHOM THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS— The original is, the Spirit of the _Aleim._ I cannot conceive any foundation for Le Clerc's interpretation, who would have us believe that Pharaoh speaks the language of an idolater, ascribing Joseph's wisdom to magic, or a familiarity with his idol gods; for, granting... [ Continue Reading ]
SHALT BE OVER MY HOUSE— Be the chief minister of my court, Psalms 105:21. _He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance. And according to thy word,_ conformably to thy orders, _shall all my people be ruled._ The Hebrew is, according to thy word shall my people _kiss_; that is; they... [ Continue Reading ]
PHARAOH TOOK OFF HIS RING— Thus he invested him with authority; for rings were anciently worn by princes, not by way of ornament only, but as a badge of their imperial dignity; and, as the royal signets, they descended to their successors. Thus Alexander, when he found himself dying, took off his ri... [ Continue Reading ]
RIDE IN THE SECOND CHARIOT— That is, in the chariot royal, which belonged to the first person in the kingdom, after the monarch himself. Thus Darius made his mother Sysigambis ride in the chariot next himself. _BOW THE KNEE_— There have been various opinions concerning the Hebrew word אברךֶ _abrac,_... [ Continue Reading ]
I AM PHARAOH— That is, I reserve to myself only the title of _Pharaoh_ or _King;_ thou shalt possess the whole power; or, rather, _I am Pharaoh;_ I retain the dignity, and first place, as king; thou shalt be absolute and independent of all others but me. Some understand it as an oath; _so true as I... [ Continue Reading ]
ZAPHNATH-PAANEAH— The most probable interpretation of these words, is _the revealer of secrets:_ the Chaldee targum has it, _the man to whom secrets are revealed._ And of the Greek versions cited in the Hexapla, one renders the words, _a man that knoweth secrets;_ another, _one to whom futurity is r... [ Continue Reading ]
JOSEPH WAS THIRTY YEARS OLD— He was seventeen years old when he was sold into AEgypt, and consequently had been thirteen years in slavery when he _stood before Pharaoh,_ an eastern phrase expressing his advancement; for the great counsellors and ministers alone were admitted into the interior parts... [ Continue Reading ]
MANASSEH: FOR GOD, &C.— He gives the reason for calling his son _Manasseh,_ or _forgetting; because God,_ says he, _hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house;_ that is, _all my toil_ in _my father's house:_ GOD hath defaced the remembrance of all the hardships I suffered from my bre... [ Continue Reading ]
THE DEARTH WAS IN ALL LANDS— It extended itself to Syria, to the land of Canaan; and, in general, throughout the neighbouring countries. When any thing spreads far and wide, it is said, in the language of almost all nations, to be propagated through the world, over all lands, or all the earth. Bisho... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN ALL THE LAND OF AEGYPT WAS FAMISHED— The people of AEgypt soon consumed their substance; avarice, most probably, inciting them, at first, to export much of their corn to other nations; or, certainly, as Joseph exacted only a fifth part, they had enough left to have maintained them much longer t... [ Continue Reading ]