G
E N E S I S
CHAP. XLVII.
In this chapter we have instances, I. Of
Joseph's kindness and affection to his relations, presenting his brethren
first and then his father to Pharaoh (ver. 1-10), settling them in Goshen, and
providing for them there (ver. 11, 12), and paying his respects to his father
when he sent for him, ver. 27-31. II. Of Joseph's justice between prince and
people in a very critical affair, selling Pharaoh's corn to his subjects with
reasonable profits to Pharaoh, and yet without any wrong to them, ver. 13,
&c. Thus he approved himself wise and good, both in his private and in his
public capacity.
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Pharaoh's
Generosity; Jacob Presented to Pharaoh.
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B. C. 1706.
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1 Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and
said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all
that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and,
behold, they are in the land of Goshen. 2 And he took some
of his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh.
3 And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they
said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and also
our fathers. 4 They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in
the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks; for
the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee,
let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen. 5 And Pharaoh spake
unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee:
6 The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy
father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if
thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over
my cattle. 7 And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him
before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 And Pharaoh said unto
Jacob, How old art thou? 9 And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The
days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years: few
and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained
unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their
pilgrimage. 10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before
Pharaoh. 11 And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and
gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the
land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. 12 And Joseph nourished
his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread,
according to their families.
Here is, I. The
respect which Joseph, as a subject, showed to his prince. Though he was his
favourite, and prime-minister of state, and had had particular orders from him
to send for his father down to Egypt, yet he would not suffer him to settle
till he had given notice of it to Pharaoh, v. 1. Christ, our Joseph,
disposes of his followers in his kingdom as it is prepared of his Father,
saying, It is not mine to give, Matt. xx. 23.
II. The respect
which Joseph, as a brother, showed to his brethren, notwithstanding all the
unkindness he had formerly received from them.
1. Though he was
a great man, and they were comparatively mean and despicable, especially in
Egypt, yet he owned them. Let those that are rich and great in the world learn
hence not to overlook nor despise their poor relations. Every branch of the
tree is not a top branch; but, because it is a lower branch, is it therefore
not of the tree? Our Lord Jesus, like Joseph here, is not ashamed to call
us brethren.
2. They being
strangers and no courtiers, he introduced some of them to Pharaoh, to kiss
his hand, as we say, intending thereby to put an honour upon them among
the Egyptians. Thus Christ presents his brethren in the court of heaven, and
improves his interest for them, though in themselves unworthy and an
abomination to the Egyptians. Being presented to Pharaoh, according to the
instructions which Joseph had given them, they tell him, (1.) What was their
business--that they were shepherds, v. 3. Pharaoh asked them (and
Joseph knew it would be one of his first questions, ch. xlvi. 33), What
is your occupation? He takes it for granted they had something to do, else
Egypt should be no place for them, no harbour for idle vagrants. If they would
not work, they should not eat of his bread in this time of scarcity. Note, All
that have a place in the world should have an employment in it according to
their capacity, some occupation or other, mental or manual. Those that need
not work for their bread must yet have something to do, to keep them from
idleness. Again, Magistrates should enquire into the occupation of their
subjects, as those that have the care of the public welfare; for idle people
are as drones in the hive, unprofitable burdens of the commonwealth. (2.) What
was their business in Egypt--to sojourn in the land (v. 4), not to
settle there for ever, only to sojourn there for a time, while the famine so
prevailed in Canaan, which lay high, that it was not habitable for shepherds,
the grass being burnt up much more than in Egypt, which lay low, and where the
corn chiefly failed, while there was tolerably good pasture.
3. He obtained
for them a grant of a settlement in the land of Goshen, v. 5, 6. This
was an instance of Pharaoh's gratitude to Joseph; because he had been such a
blessing to him and his kingdom, he would be kind to his relations, purely for
his sake. He offered them preferment as shepherds over his cattle, provided
they were men of activity; for it is the man who is diligent in his business
that shall stand before kings. And, whatever our profession or employment is,
we should aim to be excellent in it, and to prove ourselves ingenious and
industrious.
III. The respect
Joseph, as a son, showed to his father.
1. He presented
him to Pharaoh, v. 7. And here,
(1.) Pharaoh asks
Jacob a common question: How old art thou? v. 8. A question
usually put to old men, for it is natural to us to admire old age and to
reverence it (Lev. xix. 32), as it is very unnatural and unbecoming to despise
it, Isa. iii. 5. Jacob's countenance, no doubt, showed him to be very old, for
he had been a man of labour and sorrow; in Egypt people were not so long-lived
as in Canaan, and therefore Pharaoh looks upon Jacob with wonder; he was as a
show in his court. When we are reflecting upon ourselves, this should come
into the account, "How old are we?"
(2.) Jacob gives
Pharaoh an uncommon answer, v. 9. He speaks as becomes a patriarch,
with an air of seriousness, for the instruction of Pharaoh. Though our speech
be not always of grace, yet it must thus be always with grace. Observe here,
[1.] He calls his life a pilgrimage, looking upon himself as a stranger
in this world, and a traveller towards another world: this earth his inn, not
his home. To this the apostle refers (Heb. xi. 13), They confessed that
they were strangers and pilgrims. He not only reckoned himself a pilgrim
now that he was in Egypt, a strange country in which he never was before; but
his life, even in the land of his nativity, was a pilgrimage, and those who so
reckon it can the better bear the inconvenience of banishment from their
native soil; they are but pilgrims still, and so they were always. [2.] He
reckons his life by days; for, even so, it is soon reckoned, and we are
not sure of the continuance of it for a day to an end, but may be turned out
of this tabernacle at less than an hour's warning. Let us therefore number our
days (Ps. xc. 12), and measure them, Ps. xxxix. 4. [3.] The character he gives
of them is, First, That they were few. Though he had now lived 130
years, they seemed to him but a few days, in comparison with the days of
eternity, the eternal God, and the eternal state, in which a thousand years
(longer than ever any man lived) are but as one day. Secondly, That
they were evil. This is true concerning man in general, he is of few days,
and full of trouble (Job xiv. 1); and, since his days are evil, it is well
they are few. Jacob's life, particularly, had been made up of evil days; and
the pleasantest days of his life were yet before him. Thirdly, That
they were short of the days of his fathers, not so many, not so pleasant, as
their days. Old age came sooner upon him than it had done upon some of his
ancestors. As the young man should not be proud of his strength or beauty, so
the old man should not be proud of his age, and the crown of his hoary hairs,
though others justly reverence it; for those who are accounted very old attain
not to the years of the patriarchs. The hoary head is a crown of glory only
when it is found in the way of righteousness.
(3.) Jacob both
addresses himself to Pharaoh and takes leave of him with a blessing (v.
7): Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and again, v. 10, which was not only
an act of civility (he paid him respect and returned him thanks for his
kindness), but an act of piety--he prayed for him, as one having the authority
of a prophet and a patriarch. Though in worldly wealth Pharaoh was the
greater, yet, in interest with God, Jacob was the greater; he was God's
anointed, Ps. cv. 15. And a patriarch's blessing was not a thing to be
despised, no, not by a potent prince. Darius valued the prayers of the church
for himself and for his sons, Ezra vi. 10. Pharaoh kindly received Jacob, and,
whether in the name of a prophet or no, thus he had a prophet's reward, which
sufficiently recompensed him, not only for his courteous converse with him,
but for all the other kindnesses he showed to him and his.
2. He provided
well for him and his, placed him in Goshen (v. 11), nourished
him and all his with food convenient for them, v. 12. This
bespeaks, not only Joseph a good man, who took this tender care of his poor
relations, but God a good God, who raised him up for this purpose, and put him
into a capacity of doing it, as Esther came to the kingdom for such a time as
this. What God here did for Jacob he has, in effect, promised to do for all
his, that serve him and trust in him. Ps. xxxvii. 19, In the days of famine
they shall be satisfied.
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Distressed Occasioned by the Famine.
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B. C. 1706.
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13 And there was no bread in all
the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all
the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. 14 And Joseph
gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land
of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into
Pharaoh's house. 15 And when money failed in the land of Egypt,
and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give
us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth.
16 And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if
money fail. 17 And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and
Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and
for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for
all their cattle for that year. 18 When that year was ended, they
came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will
not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also
hath our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but
our bodies, and our lands: 19 Wherefore shall we die before thine
eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land
will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and
not die, that the land be not desolate. 20 And Joseph bought all
the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field,
because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh's.
21 And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the
borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof. 22 Only the
land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned
them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them:
wherefore they sold not their lands. 23 Then Joseph said unto the
people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here
is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land. 24 And it shall
come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto
Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your
food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little
ones. 25 And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find
grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants.
26 And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that
Pharaoh should have the fifth part; except the land of the priests
only, which became not Pharaoh's.
Care being taken of Jacob and his family, the preservation of which was
especially designed by Providence in Joseph's advancement, an account is now
given of the saving of the kingdom of Egypt too from ruin; for God is King of
nations as well as King of saints, and provideth food for all flesh. Joseph
now returns to the management of that great trust which Pharaoh had lodged in
his hand. It would have been pleasing enough to him to have gone and lived
with his father and brethren in Goshen; but his employment would not permit
it. When he had seen his father, and seen him well settled, he applied himself
as closely as ever to the execution of his office. Note, Even natural
affection must give way to necessary business. Parents and children must be
content to be absent one from another, when it is necessary, on either side,
for the service of God or their generation. In Joseph's transactions with the
Egyptians observe,
I. The great extremity that Egypt, and the parts adjacent, were reduced to by
the famine. There was no bread, and they fainted (v. 13), they
were ready to die, v. 15, 19. 1. See here what a dependence we have
upon God's providence. If its usual favours are suspended but for a while, we
die, we perish, we all perish. All our wealth would not keep us from starving
if the rain of heaven were but withheld for two or three years. See how much
we lie at God's mercy, and let us keep ourselves always in his love. 2. See
how much we smart by our own improvidence. If all the Egyptians had done for
themselves in the seven years of plenty as Joseph did for Pharaoh, they had
not been now in these straits; but they regarded not the warning they had of
the years of famine, concluding that to-morrow shall be as this day, next year
as this, and much more abundant. Note, Because man knows not his time (his
time of gathering when he has it) therefore his misery is great upon him when
the spending time comes, Eccl. viii. 6, 7. 3. See how early God put a
difference between the Egyptians and the Israelites, as afterwards in the
plagues, Exod. viii. 22; ix. 4, 26; x. 23. Jacob and his family, though
strangers, were plentifully fed on free cost, while the Egyptians were dying
for want. See Isa. lxv. 13, My servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry.
Happy art thou, O Israel. Whoever wants, God's children shall not, Ps.
xxxiv. 10.
II. The price they had come up to, for their supply, in this exigency. 1. They
parted with all their money which they had hoarded up, v. 14. Silver
and gold would not feed them, they must have corn. All the money of the
kingdom was by this means brought into the exchequer. 2. When the money
failed, they parted with all their cattle, those for labour, as the horses and
asses, and those for food, as the flocks and the herds, v. 17. By this
it should seem that we may better live upon bread without flesh than upon
flesh without bread. We may suppose they parted the more easily with their
cattle because they had little or no grass for them; and now Pharaoh saw in
reality what he had before seen in vision, nothing but lean kine. 3. When they
had sold their stocks off their land, it was easy to persuade themselves
(rather than starve) to sell their land too; for what good would that do them,
when they had neither corn to sow it nor cattle to eat of it? They therefore sold that next, for a further
supply of corn. 4. When their land was sold, so that they had nothing to live
on, they must of course sell themselves, that they might live purely upon
their labour, and hold their lands by the base tenure of villanage, at the
courtesy of the crown. Note, Skin for skin, and all that a man hath,
even liberty and property (those darling twins), will he give for his life;
for life is sweet. There are few (though perhaps there are some) who would
even dare to die rather than live in slavery, and dependence on an arbitrary
power. And perhaps there are those who, in that case, could die by the sword,
in a heat, who yet could not deliberately die by famine, which is much worse,
Lam. iv. 9. Now it was a great mercy to the Egyptians that, in this distress,
they could have corn at any rate; if they had all died for hunger, their lands
perhaps would have escheated to the crown of course, for want of heirs; they
therefore resolved to make the best of bad.
III. The method
which Joseph took to accommodate the matter between prince and people, so that
the prince might have his just advantage, and yet the people not be quite
ruined. 1. For their lands, he needed not come to any bargain with them while
the years of famine lasted; but when these were over (for God will not contend
for ever, nor will he be always wroth) he came to an agreement, which it seems
both sides were pleased with, that the people should occupy and enjoy the
lands, as he thought fit to assign them, and should have seed to sow them with
out of the king's stores, for their own proper use and behoof, yielding and
paying only a fifth part of the yearly profits as a chief rent to the crown.
This became a standing law, v. 26. And it was a very good bargain to
have food for their lands, when otherwise they and theirs must have starved,
and then to have their lands again upon such easy terms. Note, Those ministers
of state are worthy of double honour, both for wisdom and integrity, that keep
the balance even between prince and people, so that liberty and property may
not intrench upon prerogative, nor the prerogative bear hard upon liberty and
property: in the multitude of such counsellors there is safety. If afterwards
the Egyptians thought it hard to pay so great a duty to the king out of their
lands, they must remember, not only how just, but how kind, the first imposing
of it was. They might thankfully pay a fifth where all was due. It is
observable how faithful Joseph was to him that appointed him. He did not put
the money into his own pocket, nor entail the lands upon his own family; but
converted both entirely to Pharaoh's use; and therefore we do not find that
his posterity went out of Egypt any richer than the rest of their poor
brethren. Those in public trusts, if they raise great estates, must take heed
that it be not at the expense of a good conscience, which is much more
valuable. 2. For their persons, he removed them to cities, v. 21. He
transplanted them, to show Pharaoh's sovereign power over them, and that they
might, in time, forget their titles to their lands, and be the more easily
reconciled to their new condition of servitude. The Jewish writers say,
"He removed them thus from their former habitations because they
reproached his brethren as strangers, to silence which reproach they were all
made, in effect, strangers." See what changes a little time may make with
a people, and how soon God can empty those from vessel to vessel who had
settled upon their lees. How hard soever this seems to have been upon them,
they themselves were at this time sensible of it as a very great kindness, and
were thankful they were not worse used: Thou hast saved our lives, v.
25. Note, There is good reason that the Saviour of our lives should be the
Master of our lives. "Thou hast saved us; do what thou wilt with
us."
IV. The
reservation he made in favour of the priests. They were maintained on free
cost, so that they needed not to sell their lands, v. 22. All people
will thus walk in the name of their God; they will be kind to those that
attend the public service of their God, and that minister to them in holy
things; and we should, in like manner, honour our God, by esteeming his
ministers highly in love for their work's sake.
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Jacob's Charge Concerning His Burial.
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B. C. 1706.
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27 And Israel dwelt in the land of
Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew,
and multiplied exceedingly. 28 And Jacob lived in the land of
Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was a hundred forty and seven
years. 29 And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he
called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy
sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly
with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt: 30 But I will lie
with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their
buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said. 31 And he
said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the
bed's head.
Observe, 1. The
comfort Jacob lived in (v. 27, 28); while the Egyptians were
impoverished in their own land, Jacob was replenished in a strange land. He
lived seventeen years after he came into Egypt, far beyond his own
expectation. Seventeen years he had nourished Joseph
(for so old he was when he was sold from him, ch. xxxvii. 2), and now,
by way of requital, seventeen years Joseph nourished him. Observe how kindly
Providence ordered Jacob's affairs, that when he was old, and least able to
bear care or fatigue, he had least occasion for it, being well provided for by
his son without his own forecast. Thus God considers the frame of his people.
2. The care Jacob died in. At last the time drew nigh that Israel must die,
v. 29. Israel, a prince with God, that had power over the angel and
prevailed, yet must yield to death. There is no remedy, he must die: it
is appointed for all men, therefore for him; and there is no discharge in that
war. Joseph supplied him with bread, that he might not die by famine; but this
did not secure him from dying by age or sickness. He died by degrees; his
candle was not blown out, but gradually burnt down to the socket, so that he
saw, at some distance, the time drawing nigh. Note, It is an improvable
advantage to see the approach of death before we feel its arrests, that we may
be quickened to do what our hand finds to do with all our might: however, it
is not far from any of us. Now Jacob's care, as he saw the day approaching,
was about his burial, not the pomp of it (he was no way solicitous about
that), but the place of it. (1.) He would be buried in Canaan. This he
resolved on, not from mere humour, because Canaan was the land of his
nativity, but in faith, because it was the land of promise (which he desired
thus, as it were, to keep possession of, till the time should come when his
posterity should be masters of it), and because it was a type of heaven, that
better country which he that said these things declared plainly that he was in
expectation of, Heb. xi. 14. He aimed at a good land, which would be his rest
and bliss on the other side death. (2.) He would have Joseph sworn to bring
him thither to be buried (v. 29, 31), that Joseph, being under such a
solemn obligation to do it, might have that to answer to the objections which
otherwise might have been made against it, and for the greater satisfaction of
Jacob now in his dying minutes. Nothing will better help to make a death-bed
easy than the certain prospect of a rest in Canaan after death. (3.) When this
was done Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head, yielding himself, as
it were, to the stroke of death ("Now let it come, and it shall be
welcome"), or worshipping God, as it is explained, Heb. xi. 21, giving
God thanks for all his favours, and particularly for this, that Joseph was
ready, not only to put his hand upon his eyes to close them, but under his
thigh to give him the satisfaction he desired concerning his burial. Thus
those that go down to the dust should, with humble thankfulness, bow before
God, the God of their mercies, Ps. xxii. 29.
Contents
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