Genesis 45

THen Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him, and he cryed, cause every man to go out from me Remove all the Egyptians out of my presence and chamber. Which he did partly that he might maintain the honour of his place, and not make himself cheap and contemptible to the Egyptians, by his excessive tears and passions and by his free and familiar and affectionate converse with his brethren; and partly to preserve the reputation of his brethren, by concealing their fault from the Egyptians.: and there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.

And he wept aloud His tears and voice which had been hitherto kept in by main force, now breaking forth with greater violence.; and the Egyptians, and the house of Pharaoh heard Some who were near, with their own ears, and others by report..

And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; Does my father yet live He repeats his former question, Gen. 43. 27. either because he questioned the truth of their former relation or would be further satisfied in it, it being usual with men to ask over and over again what they long to know; or because he now desired a more particular relation of his fathers condition, and how he did bear up under all his calamities.. And his brethren could not answer him: for they were troubled at his presence From a sudden and deep sense of their horrid guile and their just fear of some dreadful punishment..

And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me Be not afraid of me, but come nearer to me with chearfulness and confidence, that you may be assured that I am he, and that we may more freely and privately discourse together so as none others may hear. It is probable that Ioseph sate in state, and that they hitherto kept a due distance from him., I pray you: and they came near, and he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt (i. e.) Sold unto them that brought me into Egypt, and sold me there. See Gen. 37. 28. and 39. 1. So they sold him into Egypt occasionally and eventually..

Now therefore be not grieved To wit, immoderately, and for the injury which you did to me, or for the danger which you have brought upon your selves. Otherwise he does not disswade them from a godly sorrow for their offence against God, for the procurement of which he designed and used that strange and rough carriage towards them., nor angry with your selves Neither excessively torment your selves with the remembrance of the fact, neither break forth into contentions and wrath, and upbraidings of one another., that ye sold me hither: for God did send me God by his wise, powerful, and gracious Providence overruled your evil intentions to an happy end. before you to preserve life Not only your lives, for the expression is here indefinite and general, but the lives of all the people in this and the neighbouring Countries. Which though it does not lessen your sin, yet ought to qualifie your sorrow..

For these two years has the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest Neither sowing nor reaping, except in a few places near Nilus, because the people could not spare seed-corn, and would not lose it, understanding from Joseph that their cost and labour would be lost and that the famine would be of long continuance..

And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity That you and your Children might be sustained and preserved in this time of... amine, and afterwards abundantly multiplied, as God has promised. Or, for a g... at, or escaping, (i. e.) that you who are now but an handful, escaping this danger, may grow into a vast mul... ude: The word... on or escaping is here put for the persons that do escape, as it is 2 Chron. 30. 6. Isa. 10. 20. and as captivity is oft put for the Captives, as it is Numb. 21. 1. Deut. 21. 10. And so what was said in the former clause is repeated in this with an emphatical addition. in the earth, and to save your live, by a great deliverance m.

So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God That I came to this place and pitch of honour and power is not to be imputed to your design, which was of another nature, but to Gods over-ruling providence, which ordered the circumstances of your action, so as I should be brought to this place and state. Compare Gen. 50. 20.. and he has made me a father to Pharaoh To advise him and to provide for him, as fathers do for their Children, and to have the authority respect and power of a father with him., and Lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

Haste you, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus says thy son Joseph; God has made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not.

And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen A part of Egypt borde... ng upon Canaan, well watered and fit for cattel, and theref... e most prop... for the Israelites not only for present use, and to keep them at some distance from the inward parts of Egypt and from the Court, but also that they might have Canaan always in their eye and mind and in Gods time might with least disadvantage march thither. I... seph promiseth this place either because it was least inhabited, being in the borders of the Land, or because he justly presumed upon the Kings favour, and knew that the growing Famine would give him opportunity to dispose of the people as he pleased., and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy childrens c... ildren, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast.

And there will I nourish thee (for yet there are five years of famine) lest thou, and thy houshold, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.

And behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you Because I speak to you not by an interpreter, as hitherto I have done, but immediately and in the Hebrew Language..

And you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen, and ye shall haste, and bring down my father hither.

And he fell upon his brother Benjamins neck, and wept: and Benjamin wept upon his neck.

Moreover, he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him To wit, freely and familiarly, being encouraged by his kindness..

And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaohs house, saying, Josephs brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants Because they all owed their lives unto Ioseph and his favour was now fresh and present, and therefore he had more influence upon them, and they more kindness for him..

And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye, Lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan.

And take your father, and your housholds, and come unto me, and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land The choicest fruits of the land. Fat oft is put for the best of any sort, as Numb. 18. 12, 29. Deut. 32. 14. Psal. 63. 5. and 147. 14..

Now thou art commanded Besides that absolute power which I have given thee to dispose of all things as thou pleasest, I do particularly and especially command thee to do this thing., this do ye; Take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father and come.

Also regard not your stuff Heb. Let not your eye pity or spare any part of your stuff, as loath to leave it behind you, or afraid to lose it. Sparing or pitying is an act of the mind, but it is ascribed to the eye here, as also Ezek. 7. 4, 9. and 16. 5. partly because there it discovers it self by tears or otherwise; and partly because the sight of the eye does oft affect the heart and move pity.: for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.

And the children of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.

To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment New and handsome garments which upon their coming into Pharaohs presence and on other occasions they might wear in stead of those more old and homely ones which they brought with them from Canaan. Compare Iudg. 14. 12, 19. 2 King. 5. 5.: but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.

And to his father he sent after this manner Heb. according to this. What? Either what went before, changes of raiment, or what follows, ten asses, &c.. ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she asses laden with corn, and bread, and meat for his father by the way.

So he sent his brethren away, and they departed, and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out Or, contend, one with another, each vindicating himself and laying the blame upon his brother. by the way.

And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father.

And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governour over all the land of Egypt. And Jacobs heart fainted Or, was weakned, or failed, he fell into a swoon, as it is ordinary, because of the greatness and suddenness of the news and the conflict of contrary and violent passions, raised hereby, grief at the remembrance of his former loss, and excessive joy for Iosephs recovery and felicity; hope that this might be true, and fear lest it should be but a fiction of theirs: any one of these passions are able to cause a fainting of the Spirits, but much more when all meet together, especially in an aged person., for he believed them not Partly because of the greatness and strangeness and desireableness of the thing, compare Psal. 126. 1. and partly because they were by this very relation convicted of one lye about Ioseph in saying that he was dead, and therefore might easily be thought guilty of another..

And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them; and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived.

And Israel said, It is enough I desire no more, no greater happiness in this world, than to see him. Which when I have done, I am willing to die.; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.