Genesis 37 commentary

In Joseph's history we see something of Christ, who was first humbled and then exalted. It also shows the lot of Christians, who must through many tribulations enter into the kingdom. It is a history that has none like it, for displaying the various workings of the human mind, both good and bad, and the singular providence of God in making use of them for fulfilling his purposes. Though Joseph was his father's darling, yet he was not bred up in idleness. Those do not truly love their children, who do not use them to business, and labour, and hardships. The fondling of children is with good reason called the spoiling of them. Those who are trained up to do nothing, are likely to be good for nothing. But Jacob made known his love, by dressing Joseph finer than the rest of his children. It is wrong for parents to make a difference between one child and another, unless there is great cause for it, by the children's dutifulness, or undutifulness. When parents make a difference, children soon notice it, and it leads to quarrels in families. Jacob's sons did that, when they were from under his eye, which they durst not have done at home with him; but Joseph gave his father an account of their ill conduct, that he might restrain them. Not as a tale-bearer, to sow discord, but as a faithful brother.

God gave Joseph betimes the prospect of his advancement, to support and comfort him under his long and grievous troubles. Observe, Joseph dreamed of his preferment, but he did not dream of his imprisonment. Thus many young people, when setting out in the world, think of nothing but prosperity and pleasure, and never dream of trouble. His brethren rightly interpreted the dream, though they abhorred the interpretation of it. While they committed crimes in order to defeat it, they were themselves the instruments of accomplishing it. Thus the Jews understood what Christ said of his kingdom. Determined that he should not reign over them, they consulted to put him to death; and by his crucifixion, made way for the exaltation they designed to prevent.

How readily does Joseph wait his father's orders! Those children who are best beloved by their parents, should be the most ready to obey them. See how deliberate Joseph's brethren were against him. They thought to slay him from malice aforethought, and in cold blood. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, 1Jo 3:15. The sons of Jacob hated their brother because their father loved him. New occasions, as his dreams and the like, drew them on further; but this laid rankling in their hearts, till they resolved on his death. God has all hearts in his hands. Reuben had most reason to be jealous of Joseph, for he was the first-born; yet he proves his best friend. God overruled all to serve his own purpose, of making Joseph an instrument to save much people alive. Joseph was a type of Christ; for though he was the beloved Son of his Father, and hated by a wicked world, yet the Father sent him out of his bosom to visit us in great humility and love. He came from heaven to earth to seek and save us; yet then malicious plots were laid against him. His own not only received him not, but crucified him. This he submitted to, as a part of his design to redeem and save us.

They threw Joseph into a pit, to perish there with hunger and cold; so cruel were their tender mercies. They slighted him when he was in distress, and were not grieved for the affliction of Joseph, see Am 6:6; for when he was pining in the pit, they sat down to eat bread. They felt no remorse of conscience for the sin. But the wrath of man shall praise God, and the remainder of wrath he will restrain, Ps 76:10. Joseph's brethren were wonderfully restrained from murdering him, and their selling him as wonderfully turned to God's praise.

When Satan has taught men to commit one sin, he teaches them to try to conceal it with another; to hide theft and murder, with lying and false oaths: but he that covers his sin shall not prosper long. Joseph's brethren kept their own and one another's counsel for some time; but their villany came to light at last, and it is here published to the world. To grieve their father, they sent him Joseph's coat of colours; and he hastily thought, on seeing the bloody coat, that Joseph was rent in pieces. Let those that know the heart of a parent, suppose the agony of poor Jacob. His sons basely pretended to comfort him, but miserable, hypocritical comforters were they all. Had they really desired to comfort him, they might at once have done it, by telling the truth. The heart is strangely hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Jacob refused to be comforted. Great affection to any creature prepares for so much the greater affliction, when it is taken from us, or made bitter to us: undue love commonly ends in undue grief. It is the wisdom of parents not to bring up children delicately, they know not to what hardships they may be brought before they die. From the whole of this chapter we see with wonder the ways of Providence. The malignant brothers seem to have gotten their ends; the merchants, who care not what they deal in so that they gain, have also obtained theirs; and Potiphar, having got a fine young slave, has obtained his! But God's designs are, by these means, in train for execution. This event shall end in Israel's going down to Egypt; that ends in their deliverance by Moses; that in setting up the true religion in the world; and that in the spread of it among all nations by the gospel. Thus the wrath of man shall praise the Lord, and the remainder thereof will he restrain.

1. And Jacob dwelt. Moses confirms what he had before declared, that, by the departure of Esau, the land was left to holy Jacob as its sole possessor. Although in appearance he did not obtain a single clod; yet, contented with the bare sight of the land, he exercised his faith; and Moses expressly compares him with his father, who had been a stranger in that land all his life. Therefore, though by the removal of his brother to another abode, Jacob was no little gainer; yet it was the Lord’s will that this advantage should be hidden from his eyes, in order that he might depend entirely upon the promise.

2. These are the generations of Jacob. By the word תולדות toledoth we are not so much to understand a genealogy, as a record of events, which appears more clearly from the context. For Moses having thus commenced, does not enumerate sons and grandsons, but explains the cause of the envy of Joseph’s brethren, who formed a wicked conspiracy against him, and sold him as a slave: as if he had said “Having briefly summed up the genealogy of Esau, I now revert to the series of my history, as to what happened to the family of Jacob.” The second verse is rendered by Professor Bush in a manner different from that of any other commentator whom the Editor has had the opportunity of consulting. His view of the passage is, at least, worthy of consideration. “The correct translation,” he says, “is doubtless the following: ‘Joseph, being seventeen years old, was tending his brethren among the flocks, and he a (mere) lad, (even) the sons of Bilhah, etc.’ The mention of his youth is brought in parenthetically, as something peculiarly worthy of notice; while the clause, ‘the sons of Bilhah, etc.,’ is designed to limit and specify the term ‘brethren’ going before.” This interpretation he proceeds to vindicate by reference to passages of similar construction, which we have not room to quote. The point which it would establish is, that Jacob assigned to his boy, of seventeen years of age, the superintendence or oversight of the sons of Bilhah among the flocks; so that he was rather an overlooker of the shepherds than of the sheep. This would show more clearly the propriety of Joseph’s conduct, in carrying an ill report of his brethren to their father; and would also account for the hostility they felt towards him. But it may be doubted whether this interpretation can stand. — Ed. Moreover, Moses being about to speak of the abominable wickedness of Jacob’s sons, begins with the statement, that Joseph was dear beyond the rest to his father, because he had begotten him in his old age: and as a token of tender love, had clothed him with a coat woven of many colors. But it was not surprising that the boy should be a great favorite with his aged father, for so it is wont to happen: and no just ground is here given for envy; seeing that sons of a more robust age, by the dictate of nature, might well concede such a point. Moses, however, states this as the cause of odium, that the mind of his father was more inclined to him than to the rest. The brethren conceive enmity against the boy, whom they see to be more tenderly loved by their father, as having been born in his old age. “Son of his old age.” The Chaldee renders it, “a wise son;” as if he were a man in intellect, while a boy in years. This would avoid a difficulty; for Benjamin was far more properly the son of Jacob’s old age than Joseph. — Ed. If they did not choose to join in this love to their brother, why did they not excuse it in their father? Hence, then, we perceive their malignant and perverse disposition. But, that a manycoloured coat and similar trifles inflamed them to devise a scheme of slaughter, is a proof of their detestable cruelty. Moses also says that their hatred increased, because Joseph conveyed the evil speeches of his brethren to their father. Some expound the word evil as meaning some intolerable crime; but others more correctly suppose, that it was a complaint of the boy that his brothers vexed him with their reproaches; for, what follows in Moses, I take to have been added in explanation, that we may know the cause for which he had been treated so ill and with such hostility. It may be asked, why Moses here accuses only the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, when, afterwards, he does not exempt the sons of Leah from the same charge? One, indeed, of her sons, Reuben, was milder than any of the rest; next to him was Judah, who was his uterine brother. But what is to be said of Simon? What of Levi? Certainly since they were older, it is probable that they were leaders in the affair. The suspicion may, however, be entertained, that because these were the sons of concubines and not of true wives, their minds would be more quickly moved with envy; as if their servile extraction, on the mother’s side, subjected them to contempt.

6. And Joseph dreamed a dream. Moses having stated what were the first seeds of this enmity, now ascends higher, and shows that Joseph had been elected, by the wonderful purpose of God, to great things; that this had been declared to him in a dream; and that, therefore, the hatred of his brethren broke forth into madness. God, however, revealed in dreams what he would do, that afterwards it might be known that nothing had happened fortuitously: but that what had been fixed by a celestial decree, was at length, in its proper time, carried forward through circuitous windings to its completion. It had been predicted to Abraham that his seed should be wanderers from the land of Canaan. In order, then, that Jacob might pass over into Egypt, this method was divinely appointed; namely, that Joseph, being president over Egypt in a time of famine, might bring his father thither with his whole family, and supply them with food. Now, from the facts first related, no one could have conjectured such a result. The sons of Jacob conspire to put the very person to death, without whom they cannot be preserved; yea, he who was ordained to be the minister of salvation to them, is thrown into a well, and with difficulty rescued from the jaws of death. Driven about by various misfortunes, he seems to be an alien from his father’s house. Afterwards, he is cast into prison, as into another sepulcher, where, for a long time, he languishes. Nothing, therefore, was less probable than that the family of Jacob should be preserved by his means, when he was cut off from it, and carried far away, and not even reckoned among the living. Nor did any hope of his liberation remain, especially from the time in which he was neglected by the chief butler; but being condemned to perpetual imprisonment, he was left there to rot. God, however, by such complicated methods, accomplishes what he had purposed. Wherefore, in this history, we have not only a most beautiful example of Divine Providence, but also two other points are added especially worthy of notice: first, that the Lord performs his work by wonderful and unusual modes; and, secondly, that he brings forth the salvation of his Church, not from magnificent splendor, but from death and the grave. Besides, in the person of Joseph, a lively image of Christ is presented, as will more fully appear from the context. But since these subjects will be often repeated, let us follow the thread of Moses’ discourse. God, of his mere grace, conferred peculiar honor on the boy, who was the last but one among twelve, in giving him the priority among his brethren. For, by what merit or virtue shall we say that he attained the lordship over his brethren? Afterwards he seemed, indeed, to acquire this by his own great beneficence: but from the dream we learn, that it was the free gift of God, which in no way depended upon Joseph’s beneficence. Rather, he was ordained to be chief, by the mere good pleasure of God, in order that he might show kindness to his brethren. Now, since the Lord was, at that time, wont to reveal his secrets by two methods — by visions and by dreams — one of these kinds is here noted. For no doubt Joseph had often dreamed in the common manner: but Moses shows that a dream was now divinely sent to him, which might have the force and weight of an oracle. We know that dreams are often produced by our daily thoughts: sometimes they are indications of an unhealthy state of the body: but whenever God intends to make known his counsel by dreams, he engraves on them certain marks, which distinguish them from passing and frivolous imaginations, in order that their credibility and authority may stand firm. Thus Joseph, being certainly persuaded that he had not been deluded by an empty spectra, fearlessly announced his dream as a celestial oracle. Now, although the dominion is promised to him under a rural symbol, it is one which does not seem suitable for instruction to the sons of Jacob; for we know that they were herdsman, not ploughmen. Since they had no harvest which they could gather in, it seems hardly congruous that homage should be paid to his sheaf: But perhaps God designedly chose this similitude, to show that this prophecy was not founded upon the present fortunes of Joseph, and that the material of his dominion would not consist in those things which were at hand, but that it should be a future benefit, the cause of which was to be sought for elsewhere than at home.

8. Shalt thou indeed reign over us? Here it is plainly shown to us that the paternal favor of God towards the elect, is like a fan to excite against them the enmity of the world. When the sons of Jacob heard that they were fighting in vain against God, their unjust hatred ought, by such means, to have been corrected. For it was as if God, setting himself in the midst, would repress their fury by these words, “Your impious conspiring will be fruitless; for although you boast, I have constituted as your chief, the man whose ruin your wicked envy hurries you to seek.” Perhaps, also, by this consolatory dream, he intended to alleviate the trouble of the holy youth. Yet their obstinacy caused it to be the more increased. Let us then learn not to be grieved if, at any time, the shining of the grace of God upon us should cause us to be envied. The sons of Jacob, however, were but too acute interpreters of the dream: yet they deride it as a fable, because it was repugnant to their wishes. Thus it often happens that they who are ill-disposed, quickly perceive what is the will of God: but, because they feel no reverence, they despise it. To this contumacy, however, succeeds a stupor which destroys their former quick-sightedness.

9. And he dreamed yet another dream. The scope of this dream is the same. The only difference is, that God, to inspire greater confidence in the oracle, presents him with a figure from heaven. The brethren of Joseph had despised what was said concerning the sheaves; the Lord now calls upon them to look towards heaven, where his august Majesty shines forth. It may, however, be asked, how it can be reconciled with fact, that his mother, who was now dead, could come and bow down to him. The interpretation of certain Hebrews, who refer it to Bilhah, is frigid, and the sense appears plain without such subterfuges: for the sun and moon designate the head of the family on each side: thus, in this figure, Joseph sees himself reverenced by the whole house of his father.

10. And his father rebuked him. If Jacob suspected that the dream originated in vain ambition, he rightly rebuked his son; but if he knew that God was the author of the dream, he ought not to have expostulated with him. But that he did know it, may be hence inferred, because he is afterwards said seriously to have considered it. For Moses, making a distinction between him and his sons, says that they breathed nothing but the virus of envy; while he revolved in his own mind what this might mean; which could not have happened, unless he had been affected with reverence. But seeing that a certain religious impression on the subject rested on his mind, how was it that he rebuked his son? This truly was not giving honor to God and to his word. For it ought to have occurred to the mind of Jacob that, although Joseph was under his authority, he yet sustained a prophetic character. It is probable, when he saw his sons so malevolent, that he wished to meet the danger by feigning what he did not feel: for he was not offended at the dream, but he was unwilling to exasperate the minds of those who, on account of their pride, would not bear to be in subjection. Therefore I do not doubt that he feignedly reproved his son, from a desire to appease contention. Nevertheless, this method of pretending to be adverse to the truth, when we are endeavoring to appease the anger of those who rage against it, is by no means approved by God. He ought rather ingenuously to have exhorted his sons not to “kick against the pricks.” Or at least he should have used this moderate address, “If this is a common dream, let it be treated with ridicule rather than with anger; but if it has proceeded from God, it is wicked to speak against it.” It is even possible that the unsuitableness of the dream had struck the mind of the old man. For we know how difficult it is entirely to throw off all sense of superiority. Certainly, though Jacob declines slightly from the right course, yet his piety appears to be of no common order; because his reverence for the oracle so easily prevailed over every other feeling. But the most wicked obstinacy betrays itself in his sons, seeing they break out into greater enmity. For though they despise the dream, yet they are not made angry about nothing. Gladly would they have had their brother as a laughing-stock; but a certain secret sense of the Deity constrains them, so that, with or against their will, they are compelled to feel that there is something authentic in the dream. Meanwhile, a blind ferocity impels them to an unintentional resistance against God. Therefore, that we may be held in obedience to God, let us learn to bring down our high spirits; because the beginning of docility is for men to submit to be brought into order. This obstinacy in the sons of Jacob was most censurable, because they not only rejected the oracle of God through their hatred of subjection, but were hostile to his messenger and herald. How much less excusable, then, will be our hardness, if we do not meekly submit our necks to the yoke of God; since the doctrine of humility, which subdues and even mortifies us, is not only more clearly revealed, but also confirmed by the precious blood of Christ? If, however, we see many refractory persons at this day, who refuse to embrace the gospel, and who perversely rise up against it, let us not be disturbed as by some new thing, seeing that the whole human race is infected with the disease of pride; for by the gospel all the glory of the flesh is reduced to nothing; rather let us know that all remain obstinate, except those who are rendered meek by the subduing influence of the Spirit.

12. And his brethren went. Before Moses treats of the horrible design of fratricide, he describes the journey of Joseph, and amplifies, by many circumstances, the atrocity of the crime. Their brother approaches them in the discharge of a duty, to make a fraternal inquiry after their state. He comes by the command of his father; and obeys it without reluctance, as appears from his answer. He searches them out anxiously; and though they had changed their place, he spares neither labor nor trouble till he finds them. Therefore their cruelty was something more than madness, seeing they did not shrink with horror from contriving the death of a brother so pious and humane. We now see that Moses does not relate, without a purpose, that a man met Joseph in his wanderings, and told him that his brethren had departed to Dothan. For the greater was his diligence in his indefatigable pursuit, so much the less excusable were they by whom such an unworthy recompense was repaid.

18. And when they saw him afar off. Here again Moses, so far from sparing the fame of his own family by adulation, brands its chiefs with a mark of eternal infamy, and exposes them to the hatred and execration of all nations. If, at any time, among heathens, a brother murdered his brother, such impiety was treated with the utmost severity in tragedies, that it might not pass into an example for imitation. But in profane history no such thing is found, as that nine brethren should conspire together for the destruction of an innocent youth, and, like wild beasts, should pounce upon him with bloody hands. Therefore a horrible, and even diabolical fury, took possession of the sons of Jacob, when, having cast aside the sense of nature, they were thus prepared cruelly to rage against their own blood.

But, in addition to this wickedness, Moses condemns their impious contempt of God, Behold this master of dreams. For why do they insult the unhappy youth, except because he had been called by the celestial oracle to an unexpected dignity? Besides, in this manner, they themselves proclaim their own baseness more publicly than any one could do, who should purposely undertake severely to chastise them. They confess that the cause why they persecuted their brother was his having dreamed; as if truly this ass an inexpiable offense; but if they are indignant at his dreams, why do they not rather wage war with God? For Joseph deemed it necessary to receive, as a precious deposit, what had been divinely revealed unto him. But because they did not dare directly to assail God, they wrap themselves in clouds, that, losing sight of God, they may vent their fury against their brother. If such blindness seized upon the patriarchs, what shall become of the reprobates, whom obstinate malice drives along, so that they do not hesitate to resist God even to the last? And we see that they willingly disturb and excite themselves, as often as they are offended with the threatenings and chastisements of God, and rise up against his ministers for the sake of taking vengeance. The same thing, indeed, would at times happen to us all, unless God should put on his bridle to render us submissive. With respect to Joseph, the special favor of God was manifested to him, and he was raised to the highest dignity; but only in a dream, which is ridiculed by the wicked scorn of his brethren. To this is also added a conspiracy, so that he narrowly escaped death. Thus the promise of God, which had exalted him to honor, almost plunges him into the grave. We, also, who have received the gratuitous adoption of God amidst many sorrows, experience the same thing. For, from the time that Christ gathers us into his flock, God permits us to be cast down in various ways, so that we seem nearer hell than heaven. Therefore, let the example of Joseph be fixed in our minds, that we be not disquieted when many crosses spring forth to us from the root of God’s favor. For I have before showed, and the thing itself clearly testifies, that in Joseph was adumbrated, what was afterwards more fully exhibited in Christ, the Head of the Church, in order that each member may form itself to the imitation of his example.

20. And cast him into some pit. Before they perpetrate the murder, they seek a pretext whereby they may conceal their crime from men. Meanwhile, it never enters into their mind, that what is hidden from men cannot escape the eyes of God. But so stupid is hypocrisy, that while it flees from the disgrace of the world, it is careless about the judgment of God. But it is a disease deeply rooted in the human mind, to put some specious color on every extreme act of iniquity. For although an inward judge convicts the guilty, they yet confirm themselves in impudence, that their disgrace may not appear unto others.

And we shall see what will become of his dreams. As if the truth of God could be subverted by the death of one man, they boast that they shall have attained their wish when they have killed their brother; namely, that his dreams will come to nothing. This is not, indeed, their avowed purpose, but turbulent envy drives them headlong to fight against God. But whatever they design in thus contending with God in the dark, their attempts will, at length, prove vain. For God will always find a way through the most profound abyss, to the accomplishment of what he has decreed. If, then, unbelievers provoke us by their reproaches, and proudly boast that our faith will profit us nothing; let not their insolence discourage or weaken us, but let us confidently proceed.

21. And Reuben heard it. It may be well to observe, while others were hastening to shed his blood, by whose care Joseph was preserved. Reuben doubtless, in one affair, was the most wicked of them all, when he defiled his father’s couch; and that unbridled lust, involving other vices, was the sign of a depraved nature: now suddenly, he alone, having a regard to piety, and being mindful of fraternal duty, dissolves the impious conspiracy. It is uncertain whether he was now seeking the means of making some compensation, for the sake of which he might be restored to his father’s favor. Moses declares that it was his intention to restore the boy in safety to his father: whence the conjecture which I have stated is probable, that he thought the life of his brother would be a sufficient price by which he might reconcile his father’s mind to himself. However this may be, yet the humanity which he showed in attempting to liberate his brother, is a proof that he was not abandoned to every kind of wickedness. And perhaps God, by this testimony of his penitence, designed in some degree to lessen his former disgrace. Whence we are taught that the characters of men are not to be estimated by a single act, however atrocious, so as to cause us to despair of their salvation.

22. Cast him into this pit. The pious fallacy to which Reuben descended, sufficiently proves with what vehemence the rage of his brethren was burning. For he neither dares openly to oppose them, nor to dissuade them from their crime; because he saw that no reasons would avail to soften them. Nor does it extenuate their cruelty, that they consent to his proposal, as if they were disposed to clemency; for if either one course or the other were necessary, it would have been better for him immediately to die by their hands, than to perish by slow hunger in the pit, which is the most cruel kind of punishment. Their gross hypocrisy is rather to be noticed; because they think that they shall be free from crime, if only they do not stain their hands with their brother’s blood. As if, indeed, it made any difference, whether they ran their brother through with a sword, or put him to death by suffocation. For the Lord, when he accuses the Jews by Isaiah, of having hands full of blood, does not mean that they were assassins, but he calls them bloody, because they did not spare their suffering brethren. Therefore, the sons of Jacob are nothing better, in casting their brother alive under ground, that, as one buried, he might in vain contend with death, and perish after protracted torments; and in choosing a pit in the desert, from which no mortal could hear his dying cry, though his sighing would ascend even to heaven. It was a barbarous thought, that they should not touch his life, if they did not imbrue their hands in his blood; since it was a kind of death, not less violent, which they wished to inflict by hunger. Reuben, however, accommodating his language to their brutal conceptions, deemed it sufficient to repress, by any kind of artifice, their impetuosity for the present.

23. They stripped Joseph out of his coat The coat of many colors was supposed by some to be the garment belonging of right to the first-born; consequently, Reuben would be entitled to it, till he forfeited it by his misconduct. Jacob, therefore, is understood to have transferred this coat, together with the rank of primogeniture, from Reuben to the eldest son of Rachel, his most beloved wife. If this were so, it would make the conduct of Reuben, on this occasion, still more generous than it appears on the ordinary supposition. There is, however, this objection to such an interpretation, that Jacob is said to have made it for Joseph, (see ver. 3,) and not merely to have given it to him. — Ed. We see that these men are full of fictions and lies. They carelessly strip their brother; they feel no dread at casting him with their own hands into the pit, where hunger worse than ten swords might consume him; because they hope their crime will be concealed; and in taking home his clothes, no suspicion of his murder would be excited; because, truly, their father would believe that he had been torn by a wild beast. Thus Satan infatuates wicked minds, so that they entangle themselves by frivolous evasions. Conscience is indeed the fountain of modesty; but Satan so soothes by his allurements those whom he has entangled in his snares, that conscience itself, which ought to have cited them as guilty before the bar of God, only hardens them the more. For, having found out subterfuges, they break forth far more audaciously into sin, as if they might commit with impunity whatever escapes the eyes of men. Surely it is a reprobate sense, a spirit of frenzy and of stupor, which is withheld from any daring attempt, only by a fear of the shame of men; while the fear of divine judgment is trodden under foot. And although all are not carried thus far, yet the fault of paying more honor to men than to God, is too common. The repetition of the word coat in the sentence of Moses is emphatical, showing that this mark of the father’s love could not mollify their minds.

25. And they sat down to eat bread. This was an astonishing barbarity, that they could quietly feast, while, in intention, they were guilty of their brother’s death: for, had there been one drop of humanity in their souls, they would at least have felt some inward compunctions; yea, commonly, the very worst men are afraid after the commission of a crime. Since the patriarchs fell into such a state of insensibility, let us learn, from their example, to fear lest, by the righteous anger of God, the same lethargy should seize upon our senses. Meanwhile, it is proper to consider the admirable progress of God’s counsel. Joseph had already passed through a double death: and now, as if by a third death, he is, beyond all expectation, rescued from the grave. For what was it less than death, to be sold as a slave to foreigners? Indeed his condition was rendered worse by the chance; because Reuben, secretly drawing him out of the pit, would have brought him back to his father: whereas now he is dragged to a distant part of the earth, without hope of return. But this was a secret turn, by which God had determined to raise him on high. And at length, he shows by the event, how much better it was that Joseph should be led far away from his own family, than that he should remain in safety at home. Moreover, the speech of Judah, by which he persuades his brethren to sell Joseph, has somewhat more reason. For he ingenuously confesses that they would be guilty of homicide, if they suffered him to perish in the pit. What gain shall we make, he says, if his blood be covered; for our hands will nevertheless be polluted with blood. By this time their fury was in some degree abated, so that they listened to more humane counsel; for though it was outrageous perfidy to sell their brother to strangers; yet it was something to send him away alive, that, at least, he might be nourished as a slave. We see, therefore, that the diabolical flame of madness, with which they had all burned, was abating, when they acknowledged that they could profit nothing by hiding their crime from the eyes of men; because homicide must of necessity come into view before God. For at first, they absolved themselves from guilt, as if no Judge sat in heaven. But now the sense of nature, which the cruelty of hatred had before benumbed, begins to exert its power. And certainly, even in the reprobate, who seem entirely to have cast off humanity, time shows that some residue of it remains. When wicked and violent affections rage, their tumultuous fervor hinders nature from acting its part. But no minds are so stupid, that a consideration of their own wickedness will not sometimes fill them with remorse: for, in order that men may come inexcusable to the judgment-seat of God, it is necessary that they should first be condemned by themselves. They who are capable of cure, and whom the Lord leads to repentance, differ from the reprobates in this, that while the latter obstinately conceal the knowledge of their crimes, the former gradually return from the indulgence of sin, to obey the voice of reason. Moreover, what Judah here declares concerning his brother, the Lord, by the prophet, extends to the whole human race. Whenever, therefore, depraved lust impels to unjust violence, or any other injury, let us remember this sacred bond by which the whole of society is bound together, in order that it may restrain us from evil doings. For man cannot injure men, but he becomes an enemy to his own flesh, and violates and perverts the whole order of nature.

28. Then there passed by Midianites. Some think that Joseph was twice sold in the same place. For it is certain, since Median was the son of Abraham and Keturah, that his sons were distinct from the sons of Ishmael: and Moses has not thoughtlessly put down these different names. Perhaps, however, the passage may be better explained by supposing the caravan which was passing, to be made up of Ishmaelites and Midianites. The Ishmaelites might form the larger and more conspicuous part of the company, and thus give the name to the whole; but the actual purchasers of Joseph might be the Midianitish merchants among them. — Ed. But I thus interpret the passage: that Joseph was exposed for sale to any one who chose, and seeing the purchase of him was declined by the Midianites, he was sold to the Ishmaelites. Moreover, though they might justly suspect the sellers of having stolen him, yet the desire of gain prevents them from making inquiry. We may also add, what is probable, that, on the journey, they inquired who Joseph was. But they did not set such a value on their common origin as to prevent them from eagerly making gain. This passage, however, teaches us how far the sons of Abraham, after the flesh, were preferred to the elect offspring, in which, nevertheless, the hope of the future Church was included. We see that, of the two sons of Abraham, a posterity so great was propagated, that from both proceeded merchants in various places: while that part of his seed which the Lord had chosen to himself was yet small. But so the children of this world, like premature fruit, quickly arrive at the greatest wealth and at the summit of happiness; whereas the Church, slowly creeping through the greatest difficulties, scarcely attains, during a long period, to the condition of mediocrity.

30. And he returned. We may hence gather that Reuben, under pretense of some other business, stole away from his brethren, that, unknown to them all, he might restore his brother, drawn out of the pit, to his father; and that therefore he was absent at the time when Joseph was sold. And there is no wonder that he was anticipated, when he had taken his course in a different direction from theirs, intending to reach the pit by a circuitous path. But now at length Reuben having lost all hope, unfolds to his brethren the intention which before he dared not confess, lest the boy should be immediately murdered.

31. And they took Joseph’s coat. They now return to their first scheme. In order that their father may have no suspicion of their crime, they send the bloody coat, from which he might conjecture that Joseph had been torn by some wild beast. Although Moses alludes to this briefly, I yet think that they rather sent some of their servants, who were not accessory to the crime, than any of their number. For he says soon afterwards, that his sons and daughters came to offer some consolation to him in his grief. And although in the words they use, there lurks some appearance of insult, it seems to me more probable that they gave this command to avert suspicion from themselves. For they feign themselves to be of confused mind, as is usual in affairs of perplexity. Yet whatever they intend, their wickedness drives them to this point, that they inflict a deadly wound upon the mind of their father. This is the profit which hypocrites gain by their disguises, that in wishing to escape the consequences of one fault, they add sin to sin. With respect to Jacob, it is a wonder that after he had been tried in so many ways, and always come forth a conqueror, he should now sink under grief. Certainly it was very absurd that the death of his son should occasion him greater sorrow than the incestuous pollution of his wife, the slaughter of the Shechemites, and the defilement of his daughter. Where was that invincible strength, by which he had even prevailed over the angel? Where the many lessons of patience with which God had exercised him, in order that he might never fail? This disposition to mourn, teaches us that no one is endued with such heroic virtues, as to be exempt from that infirmity of the flesh, which betrays itself sometimes even in little things; whence also it happens, that they who have long been accustomed to the cross, and who like veteran soldiers ought bravely to bear up against every kind of attack, fall like young recruits in some slight skirmish. Who then among us may not fear for himself, when we see holy Jacob faint, after having given so many proofs of patience?

35. And all his sons and daughters rose up. The burden of his grief is more clearly expressed by the circumstance that all his sons and daughters meet together to comfort him. For by the term “rose up,” is implied a common deliberation, they having agreed to come together, because necessity urged them. But hence it appears how vast is the innate dissimulation of men. The sons of Jacob assume a character by no means suitable to them; and perform an office of piety, from which their minds are most alien. If they had had respect unto God, they would have acknowledged their fault, and though no remedy might have been found for their evil, yet repentance would have brought forth some fruit; but now they are satisfied with a vanity as empty as the wind. By this example we are taught how carefully we ought to avoid dissimulation, which continually implicates men in new snares.

But he refused to be comforted. It may be asked, whether Jacob had entirely cast off the virtue of patience: for so much the language seems to mean. Besides, he sins more grievously, because he, knowingly and voluntarily, indulges in grief: for this is as if he would purposely augment his sorrow, which is to rebel against God. But I suppose his refusal to be restricted to that alleviation of grief which man might offer. For nothing is more unreasonable than that a holy man, who, all his life had borne the yoke of God with such meekness of disposition, should now, like an unbroken horse, bite his bridle; in order that, by nourishing his grief, he might confirm himself in unsubdued impetuosity. I therefore do not doubt that he was willing now to submit himself unto the Lord, though he rejects human consolations. He seems also angrily to chide his sons, whose envy and malevolence towards Joseph he knew, as if he would upbraid them by declaring that he esteemed this one son more than all the rest: since he rather desires to be with him, dead in the grave, than to enjoy the society of ten living sons whom he had yet remaining; for I except little Benjamin. I do not, however, here excuse that excess of grief which I have lately condemned. And certainly heproves himself to be overwhelmed with sadness, in speaking of the grave, as if the sons of God did not pass through death to a better life. And hence we learn the blindness of immoderate grief, which almost quenches the light of faith in the saints; so much the more diligent, then, ought we to be in our endeavor to restrain it. Job greatly excelled in piety; yet we see, after he had been oppressed by the magnitude of his grief, in what a profane manner he mixes men with beasts in death. If the angelic minds of holy men were thus darkened by sadness, how much deeper gloom will rest upon us, unless God, by the shining of his word and Spirit, should scatter it, and we also, with suitable anxiety, meet the temptation, before it overwhelms us? The principal mitigation of sorrow is the consolation of the future life; to which whosoever applies himself, need not fear lest he should be absorbed by excess of grief. Now though the immoderate sorrow of Jacob is not to be approved; yet the special design of Moses was, to set a mark of infamy on that iron hardness which cruelly reigned in the hearts of his sons. They saw that, if their father should miserably perish, consumed with grief, they would be the cause of it; in short, they saw that he was already dying through their wickedness. If they are not able to heal the wound, why, at least, do they not attempt to alleviate his pain? Therefore they are exceedingly cruel, seeing that they have not sufficient care of their father’s life, to cause them to drop a single word in mitigation of his sorrow, when it was in their power to do so.

36. And the Midianites sold him into Egypt It was a sad spectacle, that Joseph should be thus driven from one hand to another. For it added no small indignity to his former suffering, that he is set to sale as a slave. The Lord, however, ceased not to care for him. He even suffered him to be transferred from hand to hand, in order that, at length, it might indeed appear, that he had come, by celestial guidance, to that very dominion which had been promised him in his dreams. Potiphar is called a eunuch, not because he was one really; but because, among the Orientals, it was usual to denote the satraps and princes of the court by that name. The Hebrews are not agreed respecting the dignity which Moses ascribes to him; for some explain it as the “chief of the slaughterers,” The term applies primarily to butchers, who slaughter animals for food; then to persons who slaughter animals for sacrifice; and then to executioners who put men to the slaughter under the authority of the monarch or the state. — Ed. whom the Greek interpreters follow. But I rather agree with others, who say that he was “the prefect of the soldiers;” not that he had the command of the whole army, but because he had the royal troops under his hand and authority: such are now the captains of the guard, if you join with it another office which the prefects of the prison exercise. For this may be gathered from Genesis 39:1 See ver. 20 The words rendered “prefects of the prison,” are praefecti hospitii — and in the French, Prevosts de l’hostel — perhaps, prefects of the town-house, or town-hall, would have been more correct. The expression in the original, שר-הטבחים, sar-hatabachim, means the captain of the executioners; that is, of the king’s body guard, whose office it was to inflict capital punishments; as in the Turkish court at present. — See Gesenius’ Lexicon. — Ed

CHAPTER 38.

Genesis 38:1-30

1. And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.

1. Fuit autem tempore illo descendit Jehudah a fratribus suis, et declinavit ad virum Hadullamitem, et nomen ejus Hirah.

2. And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her.

2. Et vidit ibi Jehudah filiam viri Chenaanaei: et nomen ejus Suah: qui accepit eam, et ingressus est ad eam.

3. And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er.

3. Quae concepit, et peperit filium, et vocavit nomen ejus Her.

4. And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan.

4. Et concepit adhuc, et peperit filium, et vocavit nomen ejus Onan.

5. And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.

5. Et addidit adhuc, et peperit filium, et vocavit nomen ejus Salah: erat autem in Chezib, quando hunc ipsa peperit.

6. And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.

6. Et accepit Jehudah uxorem ipsi Her primogenito suo, et nomen ejus Thamar.

7. And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him.

7. Verum erat Her primogenitus Jehudah malus in oculis Jehovae, ideo interemit eum Jehova.

8. And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.

8. Et dixit Jehudah ad Onan, Ingredere ad uxorem fratris tui, et affinitatem contrahe cum ea, et suscita semen fratri tuo.

9. And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.

9. Et cognovit Onan, quod non sibi futurum esset semen: et erat quando ingrediebatur ad uxorem fratris sui, corrumpebat semen super terram, ne poneret semen fratri suo.

10. And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also.

10. Displicuit autem in oculis Jehovae quod fecit, ideoque mori fecit etiam eum.

11. Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father’s house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.

11. Et dixit Jehudah ad Thamar nurum suam, Mane vidua in domo patris tui, donec crescat Selah filius meus: dicebat enim, Ne forte moriatur etiam ipse, sicut et fratres ejus, et abiit Thamar, et mansit in domo patris sui.

12. And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah’s wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

12. Et multiplicati sunt dies, et mortua est filia Suah uxor Jehudah: et consolatus est se Jehudah, et ascendit ad tonsores ovium suarum, ipse, et Hirah amicus ejus, Hadullamita in Thimnath.

13. And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep.

13. Et nuntiatum fuit ipsi Thamar, dicendo, Ecce, socer tuus ascendit in Thimnath ad tondendum oves suas.

14. And she put her widow’s garments off from her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife.

14. Tunc removit vestes viduitatis suae a se, et operuit se velamine, et celavit se, mansitque in ostio Henaim, quod erat juxta viam Thimnath: viderat enim quod creverat Selah, ipsa vero non fuerat data ei in uxorem.

15. When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face.

15. Et vidit eam Jehudah, et putavit eam esse meretricem: operuerat enim faciem suam.

16. And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?

16. Et declinavit ad eam e via: et dixit, Age quaeso, ingrediar ad to (non enim noverat quod nurus sua esset). Illa dixit, Quid dabis mihi, si ingrediaris ad me?

17. And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it?

17. Et ait, Ego mittam hoedum caprarum de pecudibus. Et dixit, Num dabis pignus donec miseris?

18. And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.

18. Et dixit, Quod pignus vis ut dem tibi? Et dixit, Sigillum tuum, et pallium tuum, et virgam tuam, quae est in manu tua. Et dedit ei: et ingressus est ad eam, et concepit ex eo.

19. And she arose, and went away, and laid by her vail from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.

19. Illa surrexit, et abiit, et removit velamen suum a se, et induit se vestibus viduitatis suae.

20. And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand: but he found her not.

20. Et misit Jehudah hoedum caprarum per manum amici sui Hadullamitae, ut caperet pignus e manu mulieris; qui non invenit eam.

21. Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place

21. Et interrogavit viros loci illius, dicendo, Ubi est meretrix illa in Henaim juxta viam? Et dixerunt, Non fuit hic meretrix. Illa in Henaim juxta viam? Et dixerunt, Non huit hic meretrix.

22. And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place

22. Reversus est ergo ad Jehudah, et dixit, Non inveni eam: et etiam viri illius loci dixerunt, Non fuit hic meretrix.

23. And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.

23. Et dixit Jehudah, Capiat sibi, ne forte simus in probrum: ecce, misi hoedum hune, et to non invenisti eam.

24. And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.

24. Et fuit, circiter post tres menses, nuntiatum fuit ipsi Jehudah, discendo, Fornicata est Thamar nurus tua, et etiam ecce, est gravida ex fornicationibus. Et dixit Jehudah, Educite eam, et comburatur.

25. When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff.

25. Ipsa, quum educeretur, misit ad socerum suum dicendo, De viro cujus haec sunt, sum gravida. Et dixit, Agnosce quaeso, cujus sint sigillum, et pallium, et virga isthaec.

26. And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more.

26. Et agnovit Jehudah, et dixit, Justior me est: ideireo enim hoec fecit, quod non dedi eam Selah filio meo. Verum non addidit adhuc cognoscere eam.

27. And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb.

27. Et fuit, in tempore quo parturiebat ipsa, ecce, gemini erant in utero ejus.

28. And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.

28. Fuit autem, ea pariente, unus dedit manum, et accepit obstetrix, et ligavit ad manum ejus coccinum, dicendo, Iste egressus est prior.

29. And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez.

29. Et fuit, quum retraheret manum suam, ecce, egressus est frater ejus, et dixit, Cur rupisti super to interstitium? Et vocavit nomen ejus Peres.

30. And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.

30. Et postea egressus est frater ejus, ad cujus manum erat coccinum: et vocavit nomen ejus Zerah.

CHAPTER 37

Ge 37:1-4. Parental Partiality.

1. Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger--that is, "a sojourner"; "father" used collectively. The patriarch was at this time at Mamre, in the valley of Hebron (compare Ge 35:27); and his dwelling there was continued in the same manner and prompted by the same motives as that of Abraham and Isaac (He 11:13).

2. generations--leading occurrences, in the domestic history of Jacob, as shown in the narrative about to be commenced.

Joseph ... was feeding the flock--literally, "Joseph being seventeen years old was a shepherd over the flock"--he a lad, with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah. Oversight or superintendence is evidently implied. This post of chief shepherd in the party might be assigned him either from his being the son of a principal wife or from his own superior qualities of character; and if invested with this office, he acted not as a gossiping telltale, but as a "faithful steward" in reporting the scandalous conduct of his brethren.

3. son of his old age--Benjamin being younger, was more the son of his old age and consequently on that ground might have been expected to be the favorite. Literally rendered, it is "son of old age to him"--Hebrew phrase, for "a wise son"--one who possessed observation and wisdom above his years--an old head on young shoulders.

made him a coat of many colors--formed in those early days by sewing together patches of colored cloth, and considered a dress of distinction (Jud 5:30; 2Sa 13:18). The passion for various colors still reigns among the Arabs and other people of the East, who are fond of dressing their children in this gaudy attire. But since the art of interweaving various patterns was introduced, "the coats of colors" are different now from what they seem to have been in patriarchal times, and bear a close resemblance to the varieties of tartan.

4. could not speak peaceably unto him--did not say "peace be to thee" [Ge 43:23, &c.], the usual expression of good wishes among friends and acquaintances. It is deemed a sacred duty to give all this form of salutation; and the withholding of it is an unmistakable sign of dislike or secret hostility. The habitual refusal of Joseph's brethren, therefore, to meet him with "the salaam," showed how ill-disposed they were towards him. It is very natural in parents to love the youngest, and feel partial to those who excel in talents or amiableness. But in a family constituted as Jacob's--many children by different mothers--he showed great and criminal indiscretion.

Ge 37:5-36. The Dreams of Joseph.

5. Joseph dreamed a dream--Dreams in ancient times were much attended to, and hence the dream of Joseph, though but a mere boy, engaged the serious consideration of his family. But this dream was evidently symbolical. The meaning was easily discerned, and, from its being repeated under different emblems, the fulfilment was considered certain (compare Ge 41:32), whence it was that "his brethren envied him, but his father observed the saying" [Ge 37:11].

12. his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem--The vale of Shechem was, from the earliest mention of Canaan, blest with extraordinary abundance of water. Therefore did the sons of Jacob go from Hebron to this place, though it must have cost them near twenty hours' travelling--that is, at the shepherd rate, a little more than fifty miles. But the herbage there was so rich and nutritious that they thought it well worth the pains of so long a journey, to the neglect of the grazing district of Hebron [Van De Velde].

13-17. Israel said, ... Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem?--Anxious to learn how his sons were doing in their distant encampment, Jacob despatched Joseph; and the youth, accepting the mission with alacrity, left the vale of Hebron, sought them at Shechem, heard of them from a man in "the field" (the wide and richly cultivated plain of Esdraelon), and found that they had left that neighborhood for Dothan, probably being compelled by the detestation in which, from the horrid massacre, their name was held.

18. when they saw him afar off--on the level grass field, where they were watching their cattle. They could perceive him approaching in the distance from the side of Shechem, or rather, Samaria.

19. Behold, this dreamer cometh--literally, "master of dreams"--a bitterly ironical sneer. Dreams being considered suggestions from above, to make false pretensions to having received one was detested as a species of blasphemy, and in this light Joseph was regarded by his brethren as an artful pretender. They already began to form a plot for Joseph's assassination, from which he was rescued only by the address of Reuben, who suggested that he should rather be cast into one of the wells, which are, and probably were, completely dried up in summer.

23. they stripped Joseph out of his coat ... of many colors--Imagine him advancing in all the unsuspecting openness of brotherly affection. How astonished and terrified must he have been at the cold reception, the ferocious aspect, the rough usage of his unnatural assailants! A vivid picture of his state of agony and despair was afterwards drawn by themselves (compare Ge 42:21).

25. they sat down to eat bread--What a view does this exhibit of those hardened profligates! Their common share in this conspiracy is not the only dismal feature in the story. The rapidity, the almost instantaneous manner in which the proposal was followed by their joint resolution, and the cool indifference, or rather the fiendish satisfaction, with which they sat down to regale themselves, is astonishing. It is impossible that mere envy at his dreams, his gaudy dress, or the doting partiality of their common father, could have goaded them on to such a pitch of frenzied resentment or confirmed them in such consummate wickedness. Their hatred to Joseph must have had a far deeper seat. It must have been produced by dislike to his piety and other excellencies, which made his character and conduct a constant censure upon theirs, and on account of which they found that they could never be at ease till they had rid themselves of his hated presence. This was the true solution of the mystery, just as it was in the case of Cain (1Jo 3:12).

they lifted up their eyes, ... and, behold, a company of Ishmaelites--They are called Midianites (Ge 37:28), and Medanites, in Hebrew (Ge 37:36), being a travelling caravan composed of a mixed association of Arabians. Those tribes of Northern Arabia had already addicted themselves to commerce, and long did they enjoy a monopoly, the carrying trade being entirely in their hands. Their approach could easily be seen; for, as their road, after crossing the ford from the trans-jordanic district, led along the south side of the mountains of Gilboa, a party seated on the plain of Dothan could trace them and their string of camels in the distance as they proceeded through the broad and gently sloping valley that intervenes. Trading in the produce of Arabia and India, they were in the regular course of traffic on their way to Egypt: and the chief articles of commerce in which this clan dealt were

spicery from India, that is, a species of resinous gum, called storax, balm--"balm of Gilead," the juice of the balsam tree, a native of Arabia-Felix, and myrrh--an Arabic gum of a strong, fragrant smell. For these articles there must have been an enormous demand in Egypt as they were constantly used in the process of embalming.

26-28. Judah said, ... What profit is it if we slay our brother?--The sight of these travelling merchants gave a sudden turn to the views of the conspirators; for having no wish to commit a greater degree of crime than was necessary for the accomplishment of their end, they readily approved of Judah's suggestion to dispose of their obnoxious brother as a slave. The proposal, of course, was founded on their knowledge that the Arabian merchants trafficked in slaves; and there is the clearest evidence furnished by the monuments of Egypt that the traders who were in the habit of bringing slaves from the countries through which they passed, found a ready market in the cities of the Nile.

they ... lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold him--Acting impulsively on Judah's advice, they had their poor victim ready by the time the merchants reached them; and money being no part of their object, they sold him for

twenty pieces of silver--The money was probably in rings or pieces (shekels), and silver is always mentioned in the records of that early age before gold, on account of its rarity. The whole sum, if in shekel weight, did not exceed £3.

they brought Joseph into Egypt--There were two routes to Egypt: the one was overland by Hebron, where Jacob dwelt, and by taking which, the fate of his hapless son would likely have reached the paternal ears; the other was directly westward across the country from Dothan to the maritime coast, and in this, the safest and most expeditious way, the merchants carried Joseph to Egypt. Thus did an overruling Providence lead this murderous conclave of brothers, as well as the slave merchants both following their own free courses--to be parties in an act by which He was to work out, in a marvellous manner, the great purposes of His wisdom and goodness towards His ancient Church and people.

29-30. Reuben returned unto the pit--He seems to have designedly taken a circuitous route, with a view of secretly rescuing the poor lad from a lingering death by starvation. His intentions were excellent, and his feelings no doubt painfully lacerated when he discovered what had been done in his absence. But the thing was of God, who had designed that Joseph's deliverance should be accomplished by other means than his.

31-33. they took Joseph's coat--The commission of one sin necessarily leads to another to conceal it; and the scheme of deception which the sons of Jacob planned and practised on their aged father was a necessary consequence of the atrocious crime they had perpetrated. What a wonder that their cruel sneer, "thy son's coat," and their forced efforts to comfort him, did not awaken suspicion! But extreme grief, like every other passion, is blind, and Jacob, great as his affliction was, did allow himself to indulge his sorrow more than became one who believed in the government of a supreme and all-wise Disposer.

34. Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins--the common signs of Oriental mourning. A rent is made in the skirt more or less long according to the afflicted feelings of the mourner, and a coarse rough piece of black sackcloth or camel's hair cloth is wound round the waist.

35. and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son--not the earth, for Joseph was supposed to be torn in pieces, but the unknown place--the place of departed souls, where Jacob expected at death to meet his beloved son.

Wherein his father was a stranger - מגורי אביו megurey abiv, Jacob dwelt in the land of his father's sojournings, as the margin very properly reads it. The place was probably the vale of Hebron, see Gen 37:14.

These are the generations - תלדות toledoth, the history of the lives and actions of Jacob and his sons; for in this general sense the original must be taken, as in the whole of the ensuing history there is no particular account of any genealogical succession. Yet the words may be understood as referring to the tables or genealogical lists in the preceding chapter; and if so, the original must be understood in its common acceptation.

The lad was with the sons of Bilhah - It is supposed that our word lad comes from the Hebrew ילד yeled, a child, a son; and that lass is a contraction of ladess, the female of lad, a girl, a young woman. Some have supposed that King James desired the translators to insert this word; but this must be a mistake, as the word occurs in this place in Edmund Becke's Bible, printed in 1549; and still earlier in that of Coverdale, printed in 1535.

Brought unto his father their evil report - Conjecture has been busily employed to find out what this evil report might be; but it is needless to inquire what it was, as on this head the sacred text is perfectly silent. All the use we can make of this information is, that it was one cause of increasing his brothers' hatred to him, which was first excited by his father's partiality, and secondly by his own dreams.

A coat of many colors - כתנת פסים kethoneth passim, a coat made up of stripes of differently colored cloth. Similar to this was the toga praetexta of the Roman youth, which was white, striped or fringed with purple; this they wore till they were seventeen years of age, when they changed it for the toga virilis, or toga pura, which was all white. Such vestures as clothing of distinction are worn all over Persia, India, and China to the present day. It is no wonder that his brethren should envy him, when his father had thus made him such a distinguished object of his partial love. We have already seen some of the evils produced by this unwarrantable conduct of parents in preferring one child to all the rest. The old fable of the ape and her favorite cub, which she hugged to death through kindness, was directed against such foolish parental fondnesses as these.

And could not speak peaceably unto him - Does not this imply, in our use of the term, that they were continually quarrelling with him? but this is no meaning of the original: ולא יכלו דברו לשלם velo yachelu dabbero leshalom, they could not speak peace to him, i. e., they would not accost him in a friendly manner. They would not even wish him well. The eastern method of salutation is, Peace be to thee! שלום לך shalom lecha, among the Hebrews, and salam, peace, or salam kebibi, peace to thee my friend, among the Arabs. Now as peace among those nations comprehends all kinds of blessings spiritual and temporal, so they are careful not to say it to those whom they do not cordially wish well. It is not an unusual thing for an Arab or a Turk to hesitate to return the salam, if given by a Christian, or by one of whom he has not a favorable opinion: and this, in their own country, may be ever considered as a mark of hostility; not only as a proof that they do not wish you well, but that if they have an opportunity they will do you an injury. This was precisely the case with respect to Joseph's brethren: they would not give him the salam, and therefore felt themselves at liberty to take the first opportunity to injure him.

We were binding sheaves in the field - Though in these early times we read little of tillage, yet it is evident from this circumstance that it was practiced by Jacob and his sons. The whole of this dream is so very plain as to require no comment, unless we could suppose that the sheaves of grain might have some reference to the plenty in Egypt under Joseph's superintendence, and the scarcity in Canaan, which obliged the brethren to go down to Egypt for corn, where the dream was most literally fulfilled, his brethren there bowing in the most abject manner before him.

He dreamed yet another dream - This is as clear as the preceding. But how could Jacob say, Shall I and thy mother, etc., when Rachel his mother was dead some time before this? Perhaps Jacob might hint, by this explanation, the impossibility of such a dream being fulfilled, because one of the persons who should be a chief actor in it was already dead. But any one wife or concubine of Jacob was quite sufficient to fulfill this part of the dream. It is possible, some think, that Joseph may have had these dreams before his mother Rachel died; but were even this the case, she certainly did not live to fulfill the part which appears to refer to herself.

The sun and the moon and the eleven stars - Why eleven stars? Was it merely to signify that his brothers might be represented by stars? Or does he not rather there allude to the Zodiac, his eleven brethren answering to eleven of the celestial signs, and himself to the twelfth? This is certainly not an unnatural thought, as it is very likely that the heavens were thus measured in the days of Joseph; for the zodiacal constellations have been distinguished among the eastern nations from time immemorial. See Clarke at Gen 49:33 (note).

Go - see whether it be well with thy brethren - Literally, Go, I beseech thee, and see the peace of thy brethren, and the peace of the flock. Go and see whether they are all in prosperity. See Clarke on Gen 37:4 (note). As Jacob's sons were now gone to feed the flock on the parcel of ground they had bought from the Shechemites, (see Gen 33:19), and where they had committed such a horrible slaughter, their father might feel more solicitous about their welfare, lest the neighboring tribes should rise against them, and revenge the murder of the Shechemites.

As Jacob appears to have been at this time in the vale of Hebron, it is supposed that Shechem was about sixty English miles distant from it, and that Dothan was about eight miles farther. But I must again advertise my readers that all these calculations are very dubious; for we do not even know that the same place is intended, as there are many proofs that different places went by the same names.

Behold, this dreamer cometh - בעל החלמות baal hachalomoth, this master of dreams, this master dreamer. A form of speech which conveys great contempt.

Come now and let us slay him - What unprincipled savages these must have been to talk thus coolly about imbruing their hands in an innocent brother's blood! How necessary is a Divine revelation, to show man what God hates and what he loves! Ferocious cruelty is the principal characteristic of the nations and tribes who receive not the law at his mouth.

Reuben heard it - Though Reuben appears to have been a transgressor of no ordinary magnitude, if we take Gen 35:22 according to the letter, yet his bosom was not the habitation of cruelly. He determined, if possible, to save his brother from death, and deliver him safely to his father, with whose fondness for him he was sufficiently acquainted. Josephus, in his usual way, puts a long flourishing speech in the mouth of Reuben on the occasion, spoken in order to dissuade his brethren from their barbarous purpose; but as it is totally unfounded, it is worthy of no regard.

They stripped Joseph out of his coat - This probably was done that, if ever found, he might not be discerned to be a person of distinction, and consequently, no inquiry made concerning him.

They sat down to eat bread - Every act is perfectly in character, and describes forcibly the brutish and diabolic nature of their ruthless souls.

A company of Ishmaelites - We may naturally suppose that this was a caravan, composed of different tribes that, for their greater safety, were traveling together, and of which Ishmaelites and Midianites made the chief. In the Chaldee they are called Arabians, which, from ערב arab, to mingle, was in all probability used by the Targumist as the word Arabians is used among us, which comprehends a vast number of clans, or tribes of people. The Jerusalem Targum calls them סרקין Sarkin, what we term Saracens. In the Persian, the clause stands thus: karavanee iskmaaleem araban aya. "A caravan of Ishmaelite Arabs came." This seems to give the true sense.

For twenty pieces of silver - In the Anglo-Saxon it is thirty pence. This, I think, is the first instance on record of selling a man for a slave; but the practice certainly did not commence now, it had doubtless been in use long before. Instead of pieces, which our translators supply, the Persian has miskal, which was probably intended to signify a shekel; and if shekels be intended, taking them at three shillings each, Joseph was sold for about three pounds sterling. I have known a whole cargo of slaves, amounting to eight hundred and thirteen, bought by a slave captain in Bonny river, in Africa, on an average, for six pounds each; and this payment was made in guns, gunpowder, and trinkets! As there were only nine of the brethren present, and they sold Joseph for twenty shekels, each had more than two shekels as his share in this most infamous transaction.

Ruben returned unto the pit - It appears he was absent when the caravan passed by, to whom the other brethren had sold Joseph.

The child is not; and I, whither shall I go? - The words in the original are very plaintive, הילד איננו ואני אנה אני בא haiyeled einennu, vaani anah, ani ba!

Sent the coat of many colors - to their father - What deliberate cruelty to torture the feelings of their aged father, and thus harrow up his soul!

Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces! - It is likely he inferred this from the lacerated state of the coat, which, in order the better to cover their wickedness, they had not only besmeared with the blood of the goat, but it is probable reduced to tatters. And what must a father's heart have felt in such a case! As this coat is rent, so is the body of my beloved son rent in pieces! and Jacob rent his clothes.

All his sons and all his daughters - He had only one daughter, Dinah; but his sons' wives may be here included. But what hypocrisy in his sons to attempt to comfort him concerning the death of a son who they knew was alive; and what cruelty to put their aged father to such torture, when, properly speaking, there was no ground for it!

Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's - The word סריס saris, translated officer, signifies a eunuch; and lest any person should imagine that because this Potiphar had a wife, therefore it is absurd to suppose him to have been a eunuch, let such persons know that it is not uncommon in the east for eunuchs to have wives, nay, some of them have even a harem or seraglio where they keep many women, though it does not appear that they have any progeny; and probably discontent on this ground might have contributed as much to the unfaithfulness of Potiphar's wife, as that less principled motive through which it is commonly believed she acted.

Captain of the guard - שר הטבחים sar kattabbachim, chief of the butchers; a most appropriate name for the guards of an eastern despot. If a person offend one of the despotic eastern princes, the order to one of the life-guards is, Go and bring me his head; and this command is instantly obeyed, without judge, jury, or any form of law. Potiphar, we may therefore suppose, was captain of those guards whose business it was to take care of the royal person, and execute his sovereign will on all the objects of his displeasure. Reader, if thou hast the happiness to live under the British constitution, be thankful to God. Here, the will, the power, and utmost influence of the king, were he even so disposed, cannot deprive the meanest subject of his property, his liberty, or his life. All the solemn legal forms of justice must be consulted; the culprit, however accused, be heard by himself and his counsel; and in the end twelve honest, impartial men, chosen from among his fellows, shall decide on the validity of the evidence produced by the accuser. For the trial by jury, as well as for innumerable political blessings, may God make the inhabitants of Great Britain thankful!

1. With this chapter the history of Joseph commences, and sets before our eyes such a scene of wonders wrought by Divine Providence in such a variety of surprising instances, as cannot fail to confirm our faith in God, show the propriety of resignation to his will, and confidence in his dispensations, and prove that all things work together for good to them that love him. Joseph has often been considered as a type of Christ, and this subject in the hands of different persons has assumed a great variety of coloring. The following parallels appear the most probable; but I shall not pledge myself for the propriety of any of them: "Jesus Christ, prefigured by Joseph, the beloved of his father, and by him sent to visit his brethren, is the innocent person whom his brethren sold for a few pieces of silver, the bargain proposed by his brother Judah, (Greek Judas), the very namesake of that disciple and brother (for so Christ vouchsafes to call him) who sold his Lord and Master; and who by this means became their Lord and Savior; nay, the Savior of strangers, and of the whole world; which had not happened but for this plot of destroying him, the act of rejecting, and exposing him to sale. In both examples we find the same fortune and the same innocence: Joseph in the prison between two criminals; Jesus on the cross between two thieves. Joseph foretells deliverance to one of his companions and death to the other, from the same omens: of the two thieves, one reviles Christ, and perishes in his crimes; the other believes, and is assured of a speedy entrance into paradise. Joseph requests the person that should be delivered to be mindful of him in his glory; the person saved by Jesus Christ entreats his deliverer to remember him when he came into his kingdom." - See Pascal's Thoughts. Parallels and coincidences of this kind should always be received cautiously, for where the Spirit of God has not marked a direct resemblance, and obviously referred to it as such in some other part of his word, it is bold, if not dangerous, to say "such and such things and persons are types of Christ." We have instances sufficiently numerous, legitimately attested, without having recourse to those which are of dubious import and precarious application. See the observation on Genesis 40. (Gen 40:23 (note)).

2. Envy has been defined, "pain felt, and malignity conceived, at the sight of excellence or happiness in another." Under this detestable passion did the brethren of Joseph labor; and had not God particularly interposed, it would have destroyed both its subjects and its object, Perhaps there is no vice which so directly filiates itself on Satan, as this does. In opposition to the assertion that we cannot envy that by which we profit, it may be safely replied that we may envy our neighbor's wisdom, though he gives us good counsel; his riches, though he supplies our wants; and his greatness, though he employs it for our protection.

3. How ruinous are family distractions! A house divided against itself cannot stand. Parents should take good heed that their own conduct be not the first and most powerful cause of such dissensions, by exciting envy in some of their children through undue partiality to others; but it is in vain to speak to most parents on the subject; they will give way to foolish predilections, till, in the prevailing distractions of their families, they meet with the punishment of their imprudence, when regrets are vain, and the evil past remedy.

These are the generations of Jacob - It is not a barren genealogy, as those of Esau, but a memorable useful history. Joseph brought to his father their evil report - Jacob's sons did that when they were from under his eye, which they durst not have done if they had been at home with him; but Joseph gave his father an account of their ill carriage, that he might reprove and restrain them.

He made him a coat of divers colours - Which probably was significant of farther honours intended him.

Though he was now very young, about seventeen years old, yet he was pious and devout, and this fitted him for God's gracious discoveries to him. Joseph had a great deal of trouble before him, and therefore God gave him betimes this prospect of his advancement, to support and comfort him.

Shalt thou indeed reign over us? - See here, How truly they interpreted his dream? The event exactly answered this interpretation, Ge 42:6, &c. How scornfully they resented it, Shalt thou that art but one, reign over us that are many? Thou that art the youngest, over us that are elder? The reign of Jesus Christ, our Joseph, is despised and striven against by an unbelieving world, who cannot endure to think that this man should reign over them. The dominion also of the upright in the morning of the resurrection is thought of with the utmost disdain.

His father rebuked him - Probably to lessen the offence which his brethren would take at it; yet he took notice of it more than he seemed to do.

And when they saw him afar off they conspired against him - It was not in a heat, or upon a sudden provocation, that they thought to slay him, but from malice propense, and in cold blood.

And Reuben heard it - God can raise up friends for his people, even among their enemies. Reuben of all the brothers had most reason to be jealous of Joseph, for he was the first - born, and so entitled to those distinguishing favours which Jacob was conferring on Joseph, yet he proves his best friend. Reuben's temper seems to have been soft and effeminate, which had betrayed him to the sin of uncleanness, while the temper of the two next brothers, Simeon and Levi, was fierce, which betrayed them to the sin of murder, a sin which Reuben startled at the thought of. He made a proposal which they thought would effectually destroy Joseph, and yet which he designed should answer his intention of rescuing Joseph out of their hands, probably hoping thereby to recover his father's favour which he had lately lost; but God over - ruled all to serve his own purpose of making Joseph an instrument to save much people alive. Joseph was here a type of Christ. Though he was the beloved Son of his Father, and hated by a wicked world; yet the Father sent him out of his bosom to visit us; he came from heaven to earth to seek and save us; yet then malicious plots were laid against him; he came to his own, and his own not only received him not, but consulted, This is the heir, come let us kill him. This he submitted to, in pursuance of his design to save us.

They call him into a pit - To perish there with hunger and cold; so cruel were their tender mercies.

They sat down to eat bread - They felt no remorse of conscience, which if they had, would have spoiled their stomach to their meat. A great force put upon conscience commonly stupifies it, and for the time deprives it both of sense and speech.

What profit is it if we slay our brother? - It will be less guilt and more gain to sell him. They all agreed to this. And as Joseph was sold by the contrivance of Judah for twenty pieces of silver, so was our Lord Jesus for thirty, and by one of the same name too, Judas. Reuben it seems, was gone away from his brethren when they sold Joseph, intending to come round some other way to the pit, and to help Joseph out of it. But had this taken effect, what had become of God's purpose concerning his preferment, in Egypt? There are many devices of the enemies of God's people to destroy them, and of their friends to help them, which perhaps are both disappointed, as these here; but the counsel of the Lord that shall stand. Reuben thought himself undone because the child was sold; I, whither shall I go? He being the eldest, his father would expect from him an account of him; but it proved they had all been undone, if he had not been sold.

He refused to be comforted - He resolved to go down to the grave mourning; Great affection to any creature doth but prepare for so much the greater affliction, when it is either removed from us, or embittered to us: inordinate love commonly ends in immoderate grief.

2 These are the generations of Jacob: Joseph being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren, and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah , his fathers wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report .

(i. e.) The events or occurrences which happened to Iacob in his Family and issue. So that word is used, Gen. 6. 9. and Numb. 3. 1. Or the word, These, may relate to what is said Gen. 35. 22. &c. The Genealogy of Esau being brought in by way of parenthesis, and that being finished, Moses returns to the Generations of Iacob, as his principal business, and proceeds in the History of their concerns.

Iacob placed Ioseph, with them rather then with the sons of Leah, either to keep Ioseph humble: Or for Iosephs security, because the other sons retained the old grudge of their Mother, and were more like to envy, contemn, hate and abuse him; Or as an observer of their actions whom he most suspected, as the following words may seem to imply.

Acquainted him with their lewd and wicked courses to the dishonour of God and of their Family, that so his Father might apply such remedies as he thought meet.

3 Now Israel loved Joseph more then all his children; because he was the son of his old age : and he made him a coat of many colours .

Being born when Iacob was Ninety one years old. Such Children are commonly best beloved by their Parents, either because such are a singular blessing of God, and a more then common testimony of his favour, and a mercy least expected by them and therefore most prized; or because they have more pleasing conversation with them, and less experience of their misbehaviour, of which the elder oft times are guilty, whereby they alienate their Parents affections from them. The antient Translations, Chaldee, Persian, Arabick and Samaritan, render the words thus, a wise or prudent son, old age being oft mentioned as a token of prudence, one born old, one wise above his years, one that had a gray head, as we say, upon green shoulders. This may seem the more probable, both because Ioseph was indeed such a Child, and gave good evidence of it in a prudent observation of his brethrens trespasses, and a discreet choice of the fittest remedy for them; and because the reason here alledged seems proper and peculiar to Ioseph, whereas in the other sense, it belongs more to Benjamin, who was younger then Ioseph, and cost his Mother dearer, and therefore might upon that account claim a greater interest in his Fathers affections.

Probably made of threds of divers colours interwoven together. Compare 2 Sam. 13. 18. This he gave him as a token of his special love, and of the rights of the first-born, which being justly taken from Reuben he conferred upon Ioseph, 1 Chron. 5. 1.

Marginal references: Or, pieces. Judg. 5. 30. 2 Sam. 13. 18.

4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more then all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him .

Their hatred was so deep and keen, that they could not smother it, as for their own interest they should have done, but discovered it by their churlish words and carriages to him.

5 And Joseph dreamed a dream , and he told it his brethren, and they hated him yet the more.

Which it is probable he did not understand, for then he would never have told it to them, who, as he knew very well, were likely to make an evil construction and use of it.

7 For behold, we were binding sheaves in the field , and lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright, and behold, your sheaves stood round about , and made obeisance to my sheaf.

A secret insinuation of the occasion of Iosephs advancement, which was from his counsel and care about the Corn of Egypt.

This was a posture of ministry and service, as is manifest both from Scripture and from common usage.

Marginal references: chap. 42. 6, 9. and 43. 26. and 44. 14.

8 And his brethren said to him, shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? and they hated him yet the more, for his dreams, and for his words .

For his relation of his dreams, which they imputed to his arrogancy.

9 And he dreamed yet another dream , and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and behold, the Sun and the Moon , and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.

That the repetition of the same thing, in another shape, might teach them, that the thing was both certain and very observable.

These were not mentioned in the first dream, because in the event, his brethren onely went at first to Egypt and there worshipped him, as afterwards his father went with them. Obj. His father did not worship him in Egypt. Ans. 1. He did worship him mediately by his sons, who in their fathers name and stead bowed before him, and by the presents, which he sent as testimonies of that respect which he owed to him. 2. It is probable, that Iacob did, before the Egyptians, pay that reverence to his son, which all the rest did, and which was due to the dignity of his place. As the Roman Consul was commended by his Father for requiring him to alight from his horse, as the rest did, when he met him upon the way.

Marginal references: chap. 46. 29.

10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren; and his father rebuked him , and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? shall I, and thy mother , and thy brethren indeed come to bowe down our selves to thee, to the earth?

Not through anger at Ioseph, or contempt of his dream, for it follows, he observed it, but partly lest Ioseph should be puffed up upon the account of his dreams, and principally, to allay the envy and hatred of his brethren.

Either 1. Rach[illegible: 1+ letters]., who was now dead, and therefore must rise again and worship thee: whence he may seem to infer the idleness of the dream, because the fulfilling it was impossible: or rather 2. Leah, his step-mother, one that filled his mothers place, being now Iacobs onely wife, and the mother of the Family.

11 And his brethren envied him: but his father observed the saying .

The words of Ioseph, or the thing, the dream which he told, well knowing that God did frequently at that time, signifie his mind by dreams, and perceiving something singular and extraordinary in this dream, and especially in the doubling of it.

Marginal references: D[illegible: 1+ letters]. 7. 28. Luk. 2. 19, 51.

12 And his brethren went to feed their fathers flock in Shechem .

In the parts adjoyning to Shechem, in the lands which he had purchased there, Gen. 33. 19. Let none think strange that he should send his sheep so far from him, both because that land was his own, and because his sheep being exceeding numerous, and he but a stranger in the land, was likely to be exposed to many such inconveniencies. Compare Gen. 30. 36. One may rather wonder that he durst venture his sons and his cattel there, where that barbarous massacre had been committed, chap. 34. 25. But those pastures being his own, and convenient for his use, he did commit himself and them to that same good Providence, which watched over him then and ever since, and still kept up that terrour which then he sent upon them. Besides Iacobs Sons and Servants made a considerable Company, and the men of Shechem being universally slain, others were not very forward to revenge their quarrel, where there was any hazard to themselves in such an enterprize.

13 And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send thee unto them : and he said, Here am I.

Having kept him for some time at home, and supposing that length of time had cooled their heats and wor[illegible: 1+ letters] out their hatred he now sends him to them.

17 And the man said, they are departed hence: for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan . And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.

A place not very far from Shechem, where afterwards a City was built. See 2 King. 6. 13.

19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.

Heb. this master of dreams, this crafty dreamer, that covers his own ambitious designs and desires with pretences or fictions of dreams.

Marginal references: Heb. Master of dreams.

20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit , and we will say, some evil beast hath devoured him : and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

Partly as unworthy of burial; partly to cover their villanous action; and partly that they might quickly put him out of their sight and minds.

There being great store of such creatures in those parts. See 1 King. 13. 24. 2 King. 2 24.

21 And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, Let us not kill him.

He did so, as to the violent and certain dispatch of his life which was intended: Or the act is here put for the purpose and endeavour of doing it, in which sence Balak is said to fight against Israel, Jos. 24. 9. and Abraham to offer up Isaac, Heb. 11. 17. So here, he delivered him, i. e. used his utmost power to deliver him, that so he might recover his fathers favour lost by his incestuous action.

Marginal references: chap. 42. 22.

25 And they sate down to eat bread : and they lift up their eyes and looked, and behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead , with their camels, bearing spicery, and balm , and myrrhe, going to carry it down to Egypt.

To refresh themselves, their consciences being stupified; and their hearts hardned against their brother, notwithstanding all his most passionate intreaties to them, Gen. 42. 21.

The Posterity of Ishmael. See Gen. 25. 18.

A famous place for balm and other excellent commodities, and for the confluence of Merchants. See Ier. 8. 22. and 22. 6.

Or rosin, as the antient and divers other translatours render it.

Marginal references: See v. 28, 36.

26 And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it, if we flay our brother , and conceal his bloud ?

If we suffer him to perish in the pit when we may sell him with advantage.

(i. e.) His death, as the word blood is oft used. See Deut. 17. 8. 2 Sam. 1. 16. and 3. 28.

28 Then there passed by Midianites Merchantmen, and they drew and lift up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.

This story seems a little involved, and the persons to whom he was sold doubtful. Here seem to be two, if not three, sorts of Merchants mentioned, Ishmaelites, and Midianites here, and Medanites, as it is in the Hebrew ver. 36. which were a distinct people from the Midianites, as descending from Medan, when the Midianites descended from Midian, both Abrahams Sons, Gen. 25. 2. The business may be accommodated divers ways, either 1. the same persons or people are promiscuously called both Ishmaelites and Midianites, as they also are Iudg. 8. 1, 24, 28. either because they were mixed together in their dwellings, and by marriages: or because they were here joyned together and made one Caravan or company of merchants. And the Text may be read thus, And the Midianite merchant-men (either the same who are called Ishmaelites, ver. 27. or others being in the same company with them) passed by, and they (i. e. not the Merchant-men, but Iosephs brethren spoken of ver. 27. the relative being referred to the remoter antecedent, as it is frequently in the Scripture) li[illegible: 1+ letters]t up Ioseph and sold him to the Ishmaelites or Midianites, &c. or 2. the persons may be distinguished, and the story may very well be conceived thus, The Ishmaelites are going to Egypt, and are discerned at some distance by Iosephs brethren, while they were discoursing about their brother. In the time of their discourse the Midianites, who seem to be coming from Egypt, coming by the pit and hearing Iosephs cries there, pull him out of the pit, and sell him to the Ishmaelites, who carry him with them into Egypt. There they sell him to the Medanites, though that, as many other historical passages, be omitted in the sacred story. And the Medanites, or Midianites, if you please, onely supposing them to be other persons then those mentioned, ver. 28. which is but a fair and reasonable supposition, sell him to Potiphar.

Marginal references: Psal. 105. 17. Wisd. 10. 13. Act. 7. 9.; See Mat. 27. 9.

29 And Reuben returned unto the pit , and behold, Joseph was not in the pit: and he rent his clothes .

That according to his brethrens order, ver. 27. he might take him thence and sell him.

As the manner was upon doleful occurrences. See below ver. 34. Numb. 14. 6. Ezra 9. 3. Iob 1. 20. and 2. 12.

30 And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not , and I, whither shall I go ?

So he calls him comparatively to his brethren, though he was 17 years old, ver. 2.

(i. e.) Is not in the land of the living, or, is dead, [illegible: 1+ letters]s that phrase is commonly used, as Gen. 42. 13, 36. compared with Gen. 44. 20. Iob 7. 21. Ier. 31. 15. Lam. 5. 7. Mat. 2. 18.

Either to find the child, or to flee from our father? He is more solicitous then the rest, because he being the eldest brother, his father would require Ioseph at his hand, and being so highly incensed against him for his former crime, would be the more apt to suspect him, and deal more severely with him.

32 And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father, and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy sons coat or no.

They brought it by a messenger whom they sent: Men are commonly said to do what they cause others to do.

34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.

(i. e.) A course and mournful habit. This is the first example of that kind, but afterwards was in common use upon these occasions. See 2 Sam. 3. 31. 1 King. 20. 31. and 21. 27. &c.

35 And all his sons, and all his daughters rose up to comfort him: but he refused to be comforted: and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning: thus his father wept for him.

Dinah, and his daughters in law, and his sons daughters.

This Hebrew word Sheol is taken sometimes for hell, as Iob 11. 8. Prov. 15. 11. but most commonly for the grave. Or the place or state of the dead as Gen. 42. 38. and 44. 29, 31. Psal. 6. 5. and 16. 10. &c. And whether of those it signifies, must be determined by the subject and the circumstances of the place; here it cannot be meant of Hell, for Iacob neither could believe that good Ioseph was there, nor would have resolved to go thither, but the sense is, I will kill my self with grief, or I will never leave mourning till I dye.

Or, For my Son: so the preposition El is oft used for Al, as 1 Sam. 1. 27. and 4. 19, 21, 22, and 2 Sam. 21. 2.

36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaohs, and captain of the guard .

Whose office it was to apprehend and punish criminal persons. See Gen. 40. 3. Ier. 39. 9. Mark 6. 27.

Marginal references: Heb. Eunuch. But the word doth signifie not only Eunuchs, but also chamberlains, Courtiers and Officers.; Heb. chief of the slaughtermen; o[illegible: 1+ letters] Executioners.; Or, chief Marshall.

X. History of Jacob - Genesis 37-50

Its Substance and Character

The history (tholedoth) of Isaac commenced with the founding of his house by the birth of his sons (p. 171); but Jacob was abroad when his sons were born, and had not yet entered into undisputed possession of his inheritance. Hence his tholedoth only commence with his return to his father’s tent and his entrance upon the family possessions, and merely embrace the history of his life as patriarch of the house which he founded. In this period of his life, indeed, his sons, especially Joseph and Judah, stand in the foreground, so that “Joseph might be described as the moving principle of the following history.” But for all that, Jacob remains the head of the house, and the centre around whom the whole revolves. This section is divided by the removal of Jacob to Egypt, into the period of his residence in Canaan (Gen 37-45), and the close of his life in Goshen (Gen 46-50). The first period is occupied with the events which prepared the way for, and eventually occasioned, his migration into Egypt. The way was prepared, directly by the sale of Joseph (Gen 37), indirectly by the alliance of Judah with the Canaanites (Gen 38), which endangered the divine call of Israel, inasmuch as this showed the necessity for a temporary removal of the sons of Israel from Canaan. The way was opened by the wonderful career of Joseph in Egypt, his elevation from slavery and imprisonment to be the ruler over the whole of Egypt (Gen 39-41). And lastly, the migration was occasioned by the famine in Canaan, which rendered it necessary for Jacob’s sons to travel into Egypt to buy corn, and, whilst it led to Jacob’s recovery of the son he had mourned for as dead, furnished an opportunity for Joseph to welcome his family into Egypt (Gen 42-45). The second period commences with the migration of Jacob into Egypt, and his settlement in the land of Goshen (Gen 46-47:27). It embraces the patriarch’s closing years, his last instructions respecting his burial in Canaan (Gen 47:28-31), his adoption of Joseph’s sons, and the blessing given to his twelve sons (Gen 49), and extends to his burial and Joseph’s death (Gen 50).

Now if we compare this period of the patriarchal history with the previous ones, viz., those of Isaac and Abraham, it differs from them most in the absence of divine revelations-in the fact, that from the time of the patriarch’s entrance upon the family inheritance to the day of his death, there was only one other occasion on which God appeared to him in a dream, viz., in Beersheba, on the border of the promised land, when he had prepared to go with his whole house into Egypt: the God of his father then promised him the increase of his seed in Egypt into a great nation, and their return to Canaan (Gen 46:2-4). This fact may be easily explained on the ground, that the end of the divine manifestations had been already attained; that in Jacob’s house with his twelve sons the foundation was laid for the development of the promised nation; and that the time had come, in which the chosen family was to grow into a nation-a process for which they needed, indeed, the blessing and protection of God, but no special revelations, so long at least as this growth into a nation took its natural course. That course was not interrupted, but rather facilitated by the removal into Egypt. But as Canaan had been assigned to the patriarchs as the land of their pilgrimage, and promised to their seed for a possession after it had become a nation; when Jacob was compelled to leave this land, his faith in the promise of God might have been shaken, if God had not appeared to him as he departed, to promise him His protection in the foreign land, and assure him of the fulfilment of His promises. More than this the house of Israel did not need to know, as to the way by which God would lead them, especially as Abraham had already received a revelation from the Lord (Gen 15:13-16).

In perfect harmony with the character of the time thus commencing for Jacob-Israel, is the use of the names of God in this last section of Genesis: viz., the fact, that whilst in Gen 37 (the sale of Joseph) the name of God is not met with at all, in Gen 38 and 39 we find the name of Jehovah nine times and Elohim only once (Gen 39:9), and that in circumstances in which Jehovah would have been inadmissible; and after Gen 40:1, the name Jehovah almost entirely disappears, occurring only once in Gen 40-50 (Gen 49:18, where Jacob uses it), whereas Elohim is used eighteen times and Ha-Elohim seven, not to mention such expressions as “your God” (Gen 43:23), or “the God of his, or your father” (Gen 46:1, Gen 46:3). So long as the attention is confined to this numerical proportion of Jehovah, and Elohim or Ha-Elohim, it must remain “a difficult enigma.” But when we look at the way in which these names are employed, we find the actual fact to be, that in Gen 38 and 39 the writer mentions God nine times, and calls Him Jehovah, and that in Gen 40-50 he only mentions God twice, and then calls Him Elohim (Gen 46:1-2), although the God of salvation, i.e., Jehovah, is intended. In every other instance in which God is referred to in Gen 40-50, it is always by the persons concerned: either Pharaoh (Gen 41:38-39), or Joseph and his brethren (Gen 40:8; Gen 41:16, Gen 41:51-52, etc., Elohim; and Gen 41:25, Gen 41:28, Gen 41:32, etc., Ha-Elohim), or by Jacob (Gen 48:11, Gen 48:20-21, Elohim). Now the circumstance that the historian speaks of God nine times in Gen 38-39 and only twice in Gen 40-50 is explained by the substance of the history, which furnished no particular occasion for this in the last eleven chapters. But the reason why he does not name Jehovah in Gen 40-50 as in Gen 38-39, but speaks of the “God of his (Jacob’s) father Isaac,” in Gen 41:1, and directly afterwards of Elohim (Gen 41:2), could hardly be that the periphrasis “the God of his father” seemed more appropriate than the simple name Jehovah, since Jacob offered sacrifice at Beersheba to the God who appeared to his father, and to whom Isaac built an altar there, and this God (Elohim) then appeared to him in a dream and renewed the promise of his fathers. As the historian uses a periphrasis of the name Jehovah, to point out the internal connection between what Jacob did and experienced at Beersheba and what his father experienced there; so Jacob also, both in the blessing with which he sends his sons the second time to Egypt (Gen 43:14) and at the adoption of Joseph’s sons (Gen 48:3), uses the name El Shaddai, and in his blessings on Joseph’s sons (Gen 43:15) and on Joseph himself (Gen 49:24-25) employs rhetorical periphrases for the name Jehovah, because Jehovah had manifested Himself not only to him (Gen 35:11-12), but also to his fathers Abraham and Isaac (Gen 17:1 and Gen 28:3) as El Shaddai, and had proved Himself to be the Almighty, “the God who fed him,” “the Mighty One of Jacob,” “the Shepherd and Rock of Israel.” In these set discourses the titles of God here mentioned were unquestionably more significant and impressive than the simple name Jehovah. and when Jacob speaks of Elohim only, not of Jehovah, in Gen 48:11, Gen 48:20-21, the Elohim in Gen 48:11 and Gen 48:21 may be easily explained from the antithesis of Jacob to both man and God, and in Gen 48:20 from the words themselves, which contain a common and, so to speak, a stereotyped saying. Wherever the thought required the name Jehovah as the only appropriate one, there Jacob used this name, as Gen 49:18 will prove. But that name would have been quit unsuitable in the mouth of Pharaoh in Gen 41:38-39, in the address of Joseph to the prisoners (Gen 40:8) and to Pharaoh (Gen 41:16, Gen 41:25, Gen 41:28, Gen 41:32), and in his conversation with his brethren before he made himself known (Gen 42:18; Gen 43:29), and also in the appeal of Judah to Joseph as an unknown Egyptian officer of state (Gen 44:16). In the meantime the brethren of Joseph also speak to one another of Elohim (Gen 43:28); and Joseph not only sees in the birth of his sons merely a gift of Elohim (Gen 41:51-52; Gen 48:9), but in the solemn moment in which he makes himself known to his brethren (Gen 45:5-9) he speaks of Elohim alone: “Elohim did send me before you to preserve life” (Gen 41:5); and even upon his death-bed he says, “I die, and Elohim will surely visit you and bring you out of this land” (Gen 50:24-25). But the reason of this is not difficult to discover, and is no other than the following: Joseph, like his brethren, did not clearly discern the ways of the Lord in the wonderful changes of his life; and his brethren, though they felt that the trouble into which they were brought before the unknown ruler of Egypt was a just punishment from God for their crime against Joseph, did not perceive that by the sale of their brother they had sinned not only against Elohim (God the Creator and Judge of men), but against Jehovah the covenant God of their father. They had not only sold their brother, but in their brother they had cast out a member of the seed promised and given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, from the fellowship of the chosen family, and sinned against the God of salvation and His promises. But this aspect of their crime was still hidden from them, so that they could not speak of Jehovah. In the same way, Joseph regarded the wonderful course of his life as a divine arrangement for the preservation or rescue of his family, and he was so far acquainted with the promises of God, that he regarded it as a certainty, that Israel would be led out of Egypt, especially after the last wish expressed by Jacob. But this did not involve so full and clear an insight into the ways of Jehovah, as to lead Joseph to recognise in his own career a special appointment of the covenant God, and to describe it as a gracious work of Jehovah.The very fact that the author of Genesis, who wrote in the light of the further development and fuller revelation of the ways of the Lord with Joseph and the whole house of Jacob, represents the career of Joseph as a gracious interposition of Jehovah (Gen 39), and yet makes Joseph himself speak of Elohim as arranging the whole, is by no means an unimportant testimony to the historical fidelity and truth of the narrative; of which further proofs are to be found in the faithful and exact representation of the circumstances, manners, and customs of Egypt, as Hengstenberg has proved in his Egypt and the Books of Moses, from a comparison of these accounts of Joseph’s life with ancient document and monuments connected with this land.

The disappearance of the name Jehovah, therefore, is to be explained, partly from the fact that previous revelations and acts of grace had given rise to other phrases expressive of the idea of Jehovah, which not only served as substitutes for this name of the covenant God, but in certain circumstances were much more appropriate; and partly from the fact that the sons of Jacob, including Joseph, did not so distinctly recognise in their course the saving guidance of the covenant God, as to be able to describe it as the work of Jehovah. This imperfect insight, however, is intimately connected with the fact that the direct revelations of God had ceased; and that Joseph, although chosen by God to be the preserver of the house of Israel and the instrument in accomplishing His plans of salvation, was separated at a very early period from the fellowship of his father’s house, and formally naturalized in Egypt, and though endowed with the supernatural power to interpret dreams, was not favoured, as Daniel afterwards was in the Chaldaean court, with visions or revelations of God. Consequently we cannot place Joseph on a level with the three patriarchs, nor assent to the statement, that “as the noblest blossom of the patriarchal life is seen in Joseph, as in him the whole meaning of the patriarchal life is summed up and fulfilled, so in Christ we see the perfect blossom and sole fulfilment of the whole of the Old Testament dispensation” (Kurtz, Old Covenant ii. 95), as being either correct or scriptural, so far as the first portion is concerned. For Joseph was not a medium of salvation in the same way as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was indeed a benefactor, not only to his brethren and the whole house of Israel, but also to the Egyptians; but salvation, i.e., spiritual help and culture, he neither brought to the Gentiles nor to the house of Israel. In Jacob’s blessing he is endowed with the richest inheritance of the first-born in earthly things; but salvation is to reach the nations through Judah. We may therefore without hesitation look upon the history of Joseph as a “type of the pathway of the Church, not of Jehovah only, but also of Christ, from lowliness to exaltation, from slavery to liberty, from suffering to glory” (Delitzsch); we may also, so far as the history of Israel is a type of the history of Christ and His Church, regard the life of Joseph, as believing commentators of all centuries have done, as a type of the life of Christ, and use these typical traits as aids to progress in the knowledge of salvation; but that we may not be seduced into typological trifling, we must not overlook the fact, that neither Joseph nor his career is represented, either by the prophets or by Christ and His apostles, as typical of Christ, - in anything like the same way, for example, as the guidance of Israel into and out of Egypt (Hos 11:1 cf. Mat 2:15), and other events and persons in the history of Israel.

Gen 37:1-2

The statement in Gen 37:1, which introduces the tholedoth of Jacob, “And Jacob dwelt in the land of his father’s pilgrimage, in the land of Canaan,” implies that Jacob had now entered upon his father’s inheritance, and carries on the patriarchal pilgrim-life in Canaan, the further development of which was determined by the wonderful career of Joseph. This strange and eventful career of Joseph commenced when he was 17 years old. The notice of his age at the commencement of the narrative which follows, is introduced with reference to the principal topic in it, viz., the sale of Joseph, which was to prepare the way, according to the wonderful counsel of God, for the fulfilment of the divine revelation to Abraham respecting the future history of his seed (Gen 15:13.). While feeding the flock with his brethren, and, as he was young, with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, who were nearer his age than the sons of Leah, he brought an evil report of them to his father (רעה intentionally indefinite, connected with דּבּתם without an article). The words נער והוּא, “and he a lad,” are subordinate to the main clause: they are not to be rendered, however, “he was a lad with the sons,” but, “as he was young, he fed the flock with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah.”

Gen 37:3-4

“Israel (Jacob) loved Joseph more than all his (other) sons, because he was born in his old age,” as the first-fruits of the beloved Rachel (Benjamin was hardly a year old at this time). And he made him פּסּים כּתנת: a long coat with sleeves (χιτὼν ἀστραγάλειος, Aqu., or ἀστραγαλωτός, lxx at 2Sa 13:18, tunica talaris, Vulg. ad Sam.), i.e., an upper coat reaching to the wrists and ankles, such as noblemen and kings’ daughters wore, not “a coat of many colours” (“bunter Rock,” as Luther renders it, from the χιτῶνα ποικίλον, tunicam polymitam, of the lxx and Vulgate). This partiality made Joseph hated by his brethren; so that they could not “speak peaceably unto him,” i.e., ask him how he was, offer him the usual salutation, “Peace be with thee.”

Gen 37:5-11

This hatred was increased when Joseph told them of two dreams that he had had: viz., that as they were binding sheaves in the field, his sheaf “stood and remained standing,” but their sheaves placed themselves round it and bowed down to it; and that the sun (his father), and the moon (his mother, “not Leah, but Rachel, who was neither forgotten nor lost”), and eleven stars (his eleven brethren) bowed down before him. These dreams pointed in an unmistakeable way to the supremacy of Joseph; the first to supremacy over his brethren, the second over the whole house of Israel. The repetition seemed to establish the thing as certain (cf. Gen 41:32); so that not only did his brethren hate him still more “on account of his dreams and words” (Gen 37:8), i.e., the substance of the dreams and the open interpretation of them, and become jealous and envious, but his father gave him a sharp reproof for the second, though he preserved the matter, i.e., retained it in his memory (שׁמר lxx διετήρησε, cf. συνετήρει, Luk 2:19). The brothers with their ill-will could not see anything in the creams but the suggestions of his own ambition and pride of heart; and even the father, notwithstanding his partiality, was grieved by the second dream. The dreams are not represented as divine revelations; yet they are not to be regarded as pure flights of fancy from an ambitious heart, but as the presentiments of deep inward feelings, which were not produced without some divine influence being exerted upon Joseph’s mind, and therefore were of prophetic significance, though they were not inspired directly by God, inasmuch as the purposes of God were still to remain hidden from the eyes of men for the saving good of all concerned.

Gen 37:12-20

In a short time the hatred of Joseph’s brethren grew into a crime. On one occasion, when they were feeding their flock at a distance from Hebron, in the neighbourhood of Shechem (Nablus, in the plain of Mukhnah), and Joseph who was sent thither by Jacob to inquire as to the welfare (shalom, valetudo) of the brethren and their flocks, followed them to Dothain or Dothan, a place 12 Roman miles to the north of Samaria (Sebaste), towards the plain of Jezreel, they formed the malicious resolution to put him, “this dreamer,” to death, and throw him into one of the pits, i.e., cisterns, and then to tell (his father) that a wild beast had slain him, and so to bring his dreams to nought.

Gen 37:21-24 Reuben, who was the eldest son, and therefore specially responsible for his younger brother, opposed this murderous proposal. He dissuaded his brethren from killing Joseph (נפשׁ פ הכּה ), and advised them to throw him “into this pit in the desert,” i.e., into a dry pit that was near. As Joseph would inevitably perish even in that pit, their malice was satisfied; but Reuben intended to take Joseph out again, and restore him to his father. As soon, therefore, as Joseph arrived, they took off his coat with sleeves and threw him into the pit, which happened to be dry.

Gen 37:25-28

Reuben had saved Joseph’s life indeed by his proposal; but his intention to send him back to his father was frustrated. For as soon as the brethren sat down to eat, after the deed was performed, they saw a company of Ishmaelites from Gilead coming along the road which leads from Beisan past Jenin (Rob. Pal. iii. 155) and through the plain of Dothan to the great caravan road that runs from Damascus by Lejun (Legio, Megiddo), Ramleh, and Gaza to Egypt (Rob. iii. 27, 178). The caravan drew near, laden with spices: viz., נכאת, gum-tragacanth; צרי, balsam, for which Gilead was celebrated (Gen 43:11; Jer 8:22; Jer 46:11); and לט, ladanum, the fragrant resin of the cistus-rose. Judah seized the opportunity to propose to his brethren to sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites. “What profit have we,” he said, “that we slay our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites; and our hand, let it not lay hold of him (sc., to slay him), for he is our brother, our flesh.” Reuben wished to deliver Joseph entirely from his brothers’ malice. Judah also wished to save his life, though not from brotherly love so much as from the feeling of horror, which was not quite extinct within him, at incurring the guilt of fratricide; but he would still like to get rid of him, that his dreams might not come true. Judah, like his brethren, was probably afraid that their father might confer upon Joseph the rights of the first-born, and so make him lord over them. His proposal was a welcome one. When the Arabs passed by, the brethren fetched Joseph out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites, who took him into Egypt. The different names given to the traders - viz., Ishmaelites (Gen 37:25, Gen 37:27, and Gen 37:28), Midianites (Gen 37:28), and Medanites (Gen 37:36) - do not show that the account has been drawn from different legends, but that these tribes were often confounded, from the fact that they resembled one another so closely, not only in their common descent from Abraham (Gen 16:15 and Gen 25:2), but also in the similarity of their mode of life and their constant change of abode, that strangers could hardly distinguish them, especially when they appeared not as tribes but as Arabian merchants, such as they are here described as being: “Midianitish men, merchants.” That descendants of Abraham should already be met with in this capacity is by no means strange, if we consider that 150 years had passed by since Ishmael’s dismissal from his father’s house, - a period amply sufficient for his descendants to have grown through marriage into a respectable tribe. The price, “twenty (sc., shekels) of silver,” was the price which Moses afterwards fixed as the value of a boy between 5 and 20 (Lev 27:5), the average price of a slave being 30 shekels (Exo 21:32). But the Ishmaelites naturally wanted to make money by the transaction.

Gen 37:29-35

The business was settled in Reuben’s absence; probably because his brethren suspected that he intended to rescue Joseph. When he came to the pit and found Joseph gone, he rent his clothes (a sign of intense grief on the part of the natural man) and exclaimed: “The boy is no more, and I, whither shall I go!” - how shall I account to his father for his disappearance! But the brothers were at no loss; they dipped Joseph’s coat in the blood of a goat and sent it to his father, with the message, “We have found this; see whether it is thy son’s coat or not.” Jacob recognised the coat at once, and mourned bitterly in mourning clothes (שׂק) for his son, whom he supposed to have been devoured and destroyed by a wild beast (טרף טרף inf. abs. of Kal before Pual, as an indication of undoubted certainty), and refused all comfort from his children, saying, “No (כּי immo, elliptical: Do not attempt to comfort me, for) I will go down mourning into Sheol to my son.” Sheol denotes the place where departed souls are gathered after death; it is an infinitive form from שׁאל to demand, the demanding, applied to the place which inexorably summons all men into its shade (cf. Pro 30:15-16; Isa 5:14; Hab 2:5). How should his sons comfort him, when they were obliged to cover their wickedness with the sin of lying and hypocrisy, and when even Reuben, although at first beside himself at the failure of his plan, had not courage enough to disclose his brothers’ crime?

Gen 37:36

But Joseph, while his father was mourning, was sold by the Midianites to Potiphar, the chief of Pharaoh’s trabantes, to be first of all brought low, according to the wonderful counsel of God, and then to be exalted as ruler in Egypt, before whom his brethren would bow down, and as the saviour of the house of Israel. The name Potiphar is a contraction of Poti Pherah (Gen 41:50); the lxx render both Πετεφρής or Πετεφρῆ (vid., Gen 41:50). סריס (eunuch) is used here, as in 1Sa 8:15 and in most of the passages of the Old Testament, for courtier or chamberlain, without regard to the primary meaning, as Potiphar was married. “Captain of the guard” (lit., captain of the slaughterers, i.e., the executioners), commanding officer of the royal body-guard, who executed the capital sentences ordered by the king, as was also the case with the Chaldeans (2Ki 25:8; Jer 39:9; Jer 52:12. See my Commentary on the Books of Kings, vol. i. pp. 35, 36, Eng. Tr.).

The History of Joseph. (b. c. 1729.)

1 And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. 4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

Moses has no more to say of the Edomites, unless as they happen to fall in Israel's way; but now applies himself closely to the story of Jacob's family: These are the generations of Jacob. His is not a bare barren genealogy as that of Esau (ch. xxxvi. 1), but a memorable useful history. Here is, 1. Jacob a sojourner with his father Isaac, who has yet living, v. 1. We shall never be at home, till we come to heaven. 2. Joseph, a shepherd, feeding the flock with his brethren, v. 2. Though he was his father's darling, yet he was not brought up in idleness or delicacy. Those do not truly love their children that do not inure them to business, and labour, and mortification. The fondling of children is with good reason commonly called the spoiling of them. Those that are trained up to do nothing are likely to be good for nothing. 3. Joseph beloved by his father (v. 3), partly for his dear mother's sake that was dead, and partly for his own sake, because he was the greatest comfort of his old age; probably he waited on him, and was more observant of him than the rest of his sons; he was the son of the ancient so some; that is, when he was a child, he was as grave and discreet as if he had been an old man, a child, but not childish. Jacob proclaimed his affection to him by dressing him finer than the rest of his children: He made him a coat of divers colours, which probably was significant of further honors intended him. Note, Though those children are happy that have that in them which justly recommends them to their parents' particular love, yet it is the prudence of parents not to make a difference between one child and another, unless there be a great and manifest cause given for it by the children's dutifulness or undutifulness; paternal government must be impartial, and managed with a steady hand. 4. Joseph hated by his brethren, (1.) Because his father loved him; when parents make a difference, children soon take notice of it, and it often occasions feuds and quarrels in families. (2.) Because he brought to his father their evil report. Jacob's sons did that, when they were from under his eye, which they durst not have done if they had been at home with him; but Joseph gave his father an account of their bad carriage, that he might reprove and restrain them; not as a malicious tale-bearer, to sow discord, but as a faithful brother, who, when he durst not admonish them himself, represented their faults to one that had authority to admonish them. Note, [1.] It is common for friendly monitors to be looked upon as enemies. Those that hate to be reformed hate those that would reform them, Prov. ix. 8. [2.] It is common for those that are beloved of God to be hated by the world; whom Heaven blesses, hell curses. To those to whom God speaks comfortably wicked men will not speak peaceably. It is said here of Joseph, the lad was with the sons of Bilhah; some read it, and he was servant to them, they made him their drudge.

5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. 6 And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: 7 For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. 8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. 9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. 10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? 11 And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.

Here, I. Joseph relates the prophetical dreams he had, v. 6, 7, 9, 10. Though he was now very young (about seventeen years old), yet he was pious and devout, and well-inclined, and this fitted him for God's gracious discoveries of himself to him. Joseph had a great deal of trouble before him, and therefore God gave him betimes this prospect of his advancement, to support and comfort him under the long and grievous troubles with which he was to be exercised. Thus Christ had a joy set before him, and so have Christians. Note, God has ways of preparing his people beforehand for the trials which they cannot foresee, but which he has an eye to in the comforts with which he furnishes them. His dreams were, 1. That his brethren's sheaves all bowed to his, intimating upon what occasion they should be brought to do homage to him, namely, in seeking to him for corn; their empty sheaves should bow to his full one. 2. That the sun, and moon, and eleven stars, did obeisance to him, v. 9. Joseph was more of a prophet than a politician, else he would have kept this to himself, when he could not but know that his brethren did already hate him and that this would but the more exasperate them. But, if he told it in his simplicity, yet God directed it for the mortification of his brethren. Observe, Joseph dreamed of his preferment, but he did not dream of his imprisonment. Thus many young people, when they are setting out in the world, think of nothing but prosperity and pleasure, and never dream of trouble.

II. His brethren take it very ill, and are more and more enraged against him (v. 8): Shalt thou indeed reign over us? See here, 1. How truly they interpreted his dream, that he should reign over them. Those become the expositors of his dream who were enemies to the accomplishment of it, as in Gideon's story (Judg. vii. 13, 14); they perceived that he spoke of them, Matt. xxi. 45. The event exactly answered to this interpretation, ch. xlii. 6, &c. 2. How scornfully they resented it: "Shalt thou, who are but one, reign over us, who are many? Thou, who are the youngest, over us who are older?" Note, The reign and dominion of Jesus Christ, our Joseph, have been, and are, despised and striven against by a carnal and unbelieving world, who cannot endure to think that this man should reign over them. The dominion also of the upright, in the morning of the resurrection, is thought of with the utmost disdain.

III. His father gives him a gentle rebuke for it, yet observes the saying, v. 10, 11. Probably he checked him for it, to lessen the offence which his brethren would be apt to take at it; yet he took notice of it more than he seemed to do: he insinuated that it was but an idle dream, because his mother was brought in, who had been dead some time since; whereas the sun, moon, and eleven stars, signify no more than the whole family that should have a dependence upon him, and be glad to be beholden to him. Note, The faith of God's people in God's promises is often sorely shaken by their misunderstanding the promises and then suggesting the improbabilities that attend the performance; but God is doing his own work, and will do it, whether we understand him aright or no. Jacob, like Mary (Luke ii. 51), kept these things in his heart, and no doubt remembered them long afterwards, when the event answered to the prediction.

12 And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. 13 And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I. 14 And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? 16 And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks. 17 And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan. 18 And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. 19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. 20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams. 21 And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him. 22 And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again.

Here is, I. The kind visit which Joseph, in obedience to his father's command, made to his brethren, who were feeding the flock at Shechem, many miles off. Some suggest that they went thither on purpose, expecting that Joseph would be sent to see them, and that then they should have an opportunity to do him a mischief. However, Joseph and his father had both of them more of the innocence of the dove than of the wisdom of the serpent, else he had never come thus into the hands of those that hated him: but God designed it all for good. See in Joseph an instance, 1. Of dutifulness to his father. Though he was his father's darling, yet he was made, and was willing to be, his father's servant. How readily does he wait his father's orders! Here I am, v. 13. Note, Those children that are best beloved by their parents should be most obedient to their parents; and then their love is well-bestowed and well-returned. 2. Of kindness to his brethren. Though he knew they hated him and envied him, yet he made no objections against his father's commands, either from the distance of the place or the danger of the journey, but cheerfully embraced the opportunity of showing his respect to his brethren. Note, It is a very good lesson, though it is learnt with difficulty and rarely practised, to love those that hate us; if our relations do not their duty to us, yet we must not be wanting in our duty to them. This is thank-worthy. Joseph was sent by his father to Shechem, to see whether his brethren were well there, and whether the country had not risen upon them and destroyed them, in revenge of their barbarous murder of the Shechemites some years before. But Joseph, not finding them there, went to Dothan, which showed that he undertook this journey, not only in obedience to his father (for then he might have returned when he missed them at Shechem, having done what his father told him), but out of love to his brethren, and therefore he sought diligently till he found them. Thus let brotherly love continue, and let us give proofs of it.

II. The bloody and malicious plot of his brethren against him, who rendered good for evil, and, for his love, were his adversaries. Observe, 1. How deliberate they were in the contrivance of this mischief: when they saw him afar off, they conspired against him, v. 18. It was not in a heat, or upon a sudden provocation, that they thought to slay him, but from malice prepense, and in cold blood. Note, Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer; for he will be one if he have an opportunity, 1 John iii. 15. Malice is a most mischievous thing, and is in danger of making bloody work where it is harboured and indulged. The more there is of a project and contrivance in a sin the worse it is; it is bad to do evil, but worse to devise it. 2. How cruel they were in their design; nothing less than his blood would satisfy them: Come, and let us slay him, v. 20. Note, The old enmity hunts for the precious life. It is the blood-thirsty that hate the upright (Prov. xxix. 10), and it is the blood of the saints that the harlot is drunk with. 3. How scornfully they reproached him for his dreams (v. 19): This dreamer cometh; and (v. 20), We shall see what will become of his dreams. This shows what it was that fretted and enraged them. They could not endure to think of doing homage to him; this was what they were plotting to prevent by the murder of him. Note, Men that fret and rage at God's counsels are impiously aiming to defeat them; but they imagine a vain thing, Ps. ii. 1-3. God's counsels will stand. 4. How they agreed to keep one another's counsel, and to cover the murder with a lie: We will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him; whereas in thus consulting to devour him they proved themselves worse than the most evil beasts; for evil beasts prey not on those of their own kind, but they were tearing a piece of themselves.

III. Reuben's project to deliver him, v. 21, 22. Note, God can raise up friends for his people, even among their enemies; for he has all hearts in his hands. Reuben, of all the brothers, had most reason to be jealous of Joseph, for he was the first-born, and so entitled to those distinguishing favours which Jacob was conferring on Joseph; yet he proves his best friend. Reuben's temper seems to have been soft and effeminate, which had betrayed him to the sin of uncleanness; while the temper of the next two brothers, Simeon and Levi, was fierce, which betrayed them to the sin of murder, a sin which Reuben startled at the thought of. Note, Our natural constitution should be guarded against those sins to which it is most inclinable, and improved (as Reuben's here) against those sins to which it is most averse. Reuben made a proposal which they thought would effectually answer their intention of destroying Joseph, and yet which he designed should answer his intention of rescuing Joseph out of their hands and restoring him to his father, probably hoping thereby to recover his father's favour, which he had lately lost; but God overruled all to serve his own purpose of making Joseph an instrument to save much people alive. Joseph was here a type of Christ. Though he was the beloved Son of his Father, and hated by a wicked world, yet the Father sent him out of his bosom to visit us in great humility and love. He came from heaven to earth, to seek and save us; yet then malicious plots were laid against him. He came to his own, and his own not only received him not, but consulted against him: This is the heir, come let us kill him; Crucify him, crucify him. This he submitted to, in pursuance of his design to redeem and save us.

23 And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him; 24 And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. 25 And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. 26 And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? 27 Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content. 28 Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt. 29 And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. 30 And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?

We have here the execution of their plot against Joseph. 1. They stripped him, each striving to seize the envied coat of many colours, v. 23. Thus, in imagination, they degraded him from the birthright, of which perhaps this was the badge, grieving him, affronting their father, and making themselves sport, while they insulted over him. "Now, Joseph, where is the fine coat?" Thus our Lord Jesus was stripped of his seamless coat, and thus his suffering saints have first been industriously divested of their privileges and honours, and then made the off-scouring of all things. 2. They went about to starve him, throwing him into a dry pit, to perish there with hunger and cold, so cruel were their tender mercies, v. 24. Note, Where envy reigns pity is banished, and humanity itself is forgotten, Prov. xxvii. 4. So full of deadly poison is malice that the more barbarous any thing is the more grateful it is. Now Joseph begged for his life, in the anguish of his soul (ch. xlii. 21), entreated, by all imaginable endearments, that they would be content with his coat and spare his life. He pleads innocence, relation, affection, submission; he weeps and makes supplication, but all in vain. Reuben alone relents and intercedes for him, ch. xlii. 22. But he cannot prevail to save Joseph from the horrible pit, in which they resolve he shall die by degrees, and be buried alive. Is this he to whom his brethren must do homage? Note, God's providences often seem to contradict his purposes, even when they are serving them, and working at a distance towards the accomplishment of them. 3. They slighted him when he was in distress, and were not grieved for the affliction of Joseph; for when he was pining away in the pit, bemoaning his own misery, and with a languishing cry calling to them for pity, they sat down to eat bread, v. 25. (1.) They felt no remorse of conscience for the sin; if they had, it would have spoiled their appetite for their meat, and the relish of it. Note, A great force put upon conscience commonly stupefies it, and for the time deprives it both of sense and speech. Daring sinners are secure ones. But the consciences of Joseph's brethren, though asleep now, were roused long afterwards, ch. xlii. 21. (2.) They were now pleased to think how they were freed from the fear of their brother's dominion over them, and that, on the contrary, they had turned the wheel upon him. They made merry over him, as the persecutors over the two witnesses that had tormented them, Rev. xi. 10. Note, Those that oppose God's counsels may possibly prevail so far as to think they have gained their point, and yet be deceived. 4. They sold him. A caravan of merchants very opportunely passed by (Providence so ordering it), and Judah made the motion that they should sell Joseph to them, to be carried far enough off into Egypt, where, in all probability, he would be lost, and never heard of more. (1.) Judah proposed it in compassion to Joseph (v. 26): "What profit is it if we slay our brother? it will be less guilt, and more gain, to sell him." Note, When we are tempted to sin, we should consider the unprofitableness of it. It is what there is nothing to be got by. (2.) They acquiesced in it, because they thought that if he were sold for a slave he would never be a lord, if sold into Egypt he would never be their lord; yet all this was working towards it. Note, The wrath of man shall praise God, and the remainder of wrath he will restrain, Ps. lxxvi. 10. Joseph's brethren were wonderfully restrained from murdering him, and their selling him was as wonderfully turned to God's praise. As Joseph was sold by the contrivance of Judah for twenty pieces of silver, so was our Lord Jesus for thirty, and by one of the same name too, Judas. Reuben (it seems) had gone away from his brethren, when they sold Joseph, intending to come round some other way to the pit, and to help Joseph out of it, and return him safely to his father. This was a kind project, but, if it had taken effect, what had become of God's purpose concerning his preferment in Egypt? Note, There are many devices in man's heart, many devices of the enemies of God's people to destroy them and of their friends to help them, which perhaps are both disappointed, as these were; but the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand. Reuben thought himself undone, because the child was sold: I, whither shall I go? v. 30. He being the eldest, his father would expect from him an account of Joseph; but, as it proved, they would all have been undone if he had not been sold.

31 And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood; 32 And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son's coat or no. 33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. 34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. 35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him. 36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard.

I. Joseph would soon be missed, great enquiry would be made for him, and therefore his brethren have a further design, to make the world believe that Joseph was torn in pieces by a wild beast; and this they did, 1. To clear themselves, that they might not be suspected to have done him any mischief. Note, We have all learned of Adam to cover our transgression, Job xxxi. 33. When the devil has taught men to commit one sin, he then teaches them to conceal it with another, theft and murder with lying and perjury; but he that covers his sin shall not prosper long. Joseph's brethren kept their own and one another's counsel for some time, but their villany came to light at last, and it is here published to the world, and the remembrance of it transmitted to every age. 2. To grieve their good father. It seems designed by them on purpose to be revenged upon him for his distinguishing love of Joseph. It was contrived on purpose to create the utmost vexation to him. They sent him Joseph's coat of many colours, with one colour more than it had had, a bloody colour, v. 32. They pretended they had found it in the fields, and Jacob himself must be scornfully asked, Is this thy son's coat? Now the badge of his honour is the discovery of his fate; and it is rashly inferred from the bloody coat that Joseph, without doubt, is rent in pieces. Love is always apt to fear the worst concerning the person beloved; there is a love that casteth out fear, but that is a perfect love. Now let those that know the heart of a parent suppose the agonies of poor Jacob, and put their souls into his soul's stead. How strongly does he represent to himself the direful idea of Joseph's misery! Sleeping or waking, he imagines he sees the wild beast setting upon Joseph, thinks he hears his piteous shrieks when the lion roared against him, makes himself tremble and grow chill, many a time, when he fancies how the beast sucked his blood, tore him limb from limb, and left no remains of him, but the coat of many colours, to carry the tidings. And no doubt it added no little to the grief that he had exposed him, by sending him, and sending him all alone, on this dangerous journey, which proved so fatal to him. This cuts him to the heart, and he is ready to look upon himself as an accessory to the death of his son. Now, (1.) Endeavours were used to comfort him. His sons basely pretended to do it (v. 35); but miserable hypocritical comforters were they all. Had they really desired to comfort him, they might easily have done it, by telling him the truth, "Joseph is alive, he is indeed sold into Egypt, but it will be an easy thing to send thither and ransom him." This would have loosened his sackcloth, and girded him with gladness presently. I wonder their countenances did not betray their guilt, and with what face they could pretend to condole with Jacob on the death of Joseph, when they knew he was alive. Note, The heart is strangely hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. But, (2.) It was all in vain: Jacob refused to be comforted, v. 35. He was an obstinate mourner, resolved to go down to the grave mourning. It was not a sudden transport of passion, like that of David, Would God I had died for thee, my son, my son! But, like Job, he hardened himself in sorrow. Note, [1.] Great affection to any creature does not prepare for so much the greater affliction, when it is either removed from us or embittered to us. Inordinate love commonly ends in immoderate grief; as much as the sway of the pendulum throws one way, so much it will throw the other way. [2.] Those consult neither the comfort of their souls nor the credit of their religion that are determined in their sorrow upon any occasion whatsoever. We must never say, "We will go to our grave mourning," because we know not what joyful days Providence may yet reserve for us, and it is our wisdom and duty to accommodate ourselves to Providence. [3.] We often perplex ourselves with imaginary troubles. We fancy things worse than they are, and then afflict ourselves more than we need. Sometimes there needs no more to comfort us than to undeceive us: it is good to hope the best.

II. The Ishmaelites and Midianites having bought Joseph only to make their market of him, here we have him sold again (with gain enough to the merchants, no doubt) to Potiphar, v. 36. Jacob was lamenting the loss of his life; had he known all he would have lamented, though not so passionately, the loss of liberty. Shall Jacob's freeborn son exchange the best robe of his family for the livery of an Egyptian lord, and all the marks of servitude? How soon was the land of Egypt made a house of bondage to the seed of Jacob! Note, It is the wisdom of parents not to bring up their children too delicately, because they know not to what hardships and mortifications Providence may reduce them before they die. Jacob little thought that ever his beloved Joseph would be thus bought and sold for a servant.

CHAP. XXXVII.

[non-Latin text not transcribed]

ANd Iakob dwelt, in the land of the sojournings of his father: in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Iakob; Ioseph being seventeene yeeres old, was feeding the flocke with his brethren, and he was a lad; with the sonnes of Bilhah and with the sonnes of Zilpah, his fathers wives: and Ioseph brought their evill report, unto his Father. And Israel, loved Ioseph, more then all his sonnes; because hee was the sonne of old age, unto him: and he made him a coat of many-colours. And his brethren saw, that their Father loved him, more then all his brethren; and they hated him: and could not speake to him, with peace. And Ioseph dreamed a dreame; and he told it to his brethren, and they hated him, yet the more. And hee said unto them; Heare I pray you this dreame, which I have dreamed. For behold, wee were binding sheaves, within the field; and loe my sheafe arose, and also stood upright: and loe your sheaves, compassed-about; and bowed-downe themselves to my sheafe. And his brethren said to him; shalt thou reigning reigne over us, or ruling rule over us? and they hated him, yet the more; for his dreames, and for his words. And he dreamed yet, another dreame; and told it to his brethren: and said, behold I have dreamed yet a dreame; and behold, the Sunne and the Moone, and eleven Starres, bowed-downe themselves unto me. And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him; what a dreame is this, which thou hast dreamed? shall I, and thy mother and thy brethren, comming come, to bow-downe our selves to thee, to the earth? And his brethren, envied him: but his father observed the saying. And his brethren went, to feed their fathers flocke, in Sechem. And Israel said, unto Ioseph; doe not thy brethren feed in Sechem? Come, and I will send thee unto them: and he said to him, loe here am I. And he said to him; Goe I pray thee, see the peace of thy brethren, and the peace of the flocke; and bring me word againe: and he sent him from the vallie of Chebron, and he came to Sechem. And a man found him; and behold he was wandring in the field: and the man asked him saying, what seekest thou? And he said, I am seeking my brethren: tell mee, I pray thee, where are they feeding? And the man said, they are departed hence, for I heard them saying, Let us goe to Dothan: And Ioseph, went after his brethren; and found them in Dothan. And they saw him, a farre off: and before hee came-neere unto them, they craftily-conspired against him, to slay him. And they said ech man unto his brother: behold, this master of dreames is comming. And now, come and let us kill him, and cast him into one of the pits; and wee will say, an evill wild-beast hath eaten him, and we shall see, what his dreames will be. And Ruben heard it; and hee delivered him, out of their hand: and said, let us not smite him, in soule. And Reuben said unto them; Shed no blood; cast him, into this pit which is in the wildernesse, and lay no hand upon him: that, he might deliver him, out of their hand; to returne him unto his father. And it was, when Ioseph was come unto his brethren: that they stript Ioseph out of his coat: the coat of many colours; which was on him. And they tooke him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. And they sate-downe, to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes, and saw; and behold, a way faring company of Ismaelites, was comming from Gilead: and their camels bearing, spicery, and balme and myrrh; going to cary it downe to Egypt. And Iudah said, unto his brethren: what profit is it, if wee kill our brother, and conceale his blood? Come, & let us sell him to the Ismaelites; and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother, our flesh: & his brethren hearkened. And there passed by, Midianites merchant men; and they drew, and lifted-up Ioseph, out of the pit; and sold Ioseph to the Ismaelites, for twenty (shekels) of silver: and they brought Ioseph, into Egypt. And Ruben returned, unto the pit; and behold Ioseph, was not in the pit: and he rent his clothes. And hee returned unto his brethren, and said: the lad is not; and I, whither shall I goe? And they took Iosephs coat: and killed a kid of the goates; and dipped the coat in the blood. And they sent the coat of many-colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, this have wee found: know now, whether it be thy sonnes coat, or no. And he knew it, and said, it is my sonnes coat; an evill wild-beast hath eaten him: Ioseph is torne is torne-in-peeces. And Iakob rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his loines: and mourned for his sonne, many daies. And all his sonnes, and all his daughters, rose-up to comfort him; and he refused to be comforted: and he said, for I will goe down unto my sonne, mourning, to hell: and his father wept for him. And the Medanites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an Eunuch of Pharaohs; the Provost Marshall.

Annotations. [non-Latin text not transcribed] Here beginneth the ninth section of the Law, called And (Iakob) dwelt. See Gen. 6. 9. and 28. 10. Vers. 1. of the sojournings] or pilgrimages, that is, (as the Geeke saith) wherein his father Isaak sojourned: so Gen. 17. 8. and 28. 4. Hereby Gods remembrance of his promise to Iakob, and providence for him is manifested, Gen. 28. 13. and 36. 6. 7. also Iakobs faith, Heb. 11. 9. Psal. 37. 3. Vers. 2. These] which are rehearsed in Gen. 35. 23.—26. for this is a prosecuting of that historie, which was by narration of Esaus pedegree, interrupted: or, these which follow, are the generations, that is, the storie of things which did befall him: see Gen. 6. 9. and 25. 9. old] Hebr. sonne of 17. yeere: see Gen. 5. 32. As his father nourished him a childe 17. yeeres, so hee againe nourished his aged father 17. yeeres in Egypt, Gen. 47. 9. 28. alad] or yong man: which word is used not onely for yong in yeeres, but often for a servant, or minister, see Gen. 14. 24. In this sense, it noteth Iosephs humility; and how his father, though hee loved him most, yet brought him up without idlenesse, or cockering. So Christ the Sonne of man, came not to bee served, but to serve: Matth. 20. 28. report] or infamie: their infamous cariage, which caused ill report of them. It intimateth Iosephs good affection, and godlinesse. And this was one occasion, which his brethren tooke to hate him. So Christ was hated of the world, for testifying that the workes thereof were evill, Ioh. 7. 7. Vers. 3. of old-age unto him] that is, of his old-age, borne when his father was old: so Gen. 44. 20. The Chaldee applieth this old age, to Iosephs manners, saying, he was a wise sonne unto him. And others say, was not Benjamin also a sonne of old age? But because (Iakob) saw by (the spirit of) prophesie, that Ioseph should reigne, therefore he loved him, above all his sonnes, Pirkei R. Eliez. ch. 38. many colours] Hebr. passim, that is, varieties, and so the Greeke hath (poikilon,) various or manifold, to weer, in threeds and colour; an embroydered coat; such kings daughters used to weare, 2 Sam. 13. 18. Such God spiritually clotheth his Church withall, Psal. 45. 14. 15. Ezek. 16, 10. 13. and thereby is signified the varietie of wisedome and manifold graces given to his people, Ephes. 3. 10. 1 Pet. 4. 10. Song 1. 9. 10. And Christ had such, above his fellowes, Psal. 45. 8. Heb. 1. 9. Vers. 4. with peace] or, unto peacé, that is, peaceably, gently, lovingly: for of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh, Matth. 12. 34. The Greeke translateth, no peaceable thing. Vers. 5. dreamed] by such meanes God used of old to shew unto men, what he was about to doe; Gen. 41. 25. Iocl 2. 28. Numb. 12. 6. 1 King. 3. 5. Such dreames were to bee regarded as oracles of God: other, have their deceits and vanities: see Gen. 20. 3. And God sent dreames to his people, sometime to comfort, sometime to chasten, and afflict the[illegible: 1 span] Matt. 2. 19.—22. Iob 7. 13. 14. the more] Hebr. they added yet to hate him. So Christ and his disciples for declaring Gods word, were hated of men, as Ioh. 17. 14. I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them. This storie of Ioseph is a patterne of afflictions, which the godly suffer in this world for Christs sake and for the word of their testimony: and it ministreth comforts to the distressed. V. 7. binding] Hebr. sheaving, or sheaf-binding. This being harvest worke, and harvest usually signifying the latter time or end, Psal. 126. 5. 6. Matt. 13. 39. Rev. 14. 15. God foreshewed, not the present but future honour which Ioseph should have, after many dayes of sorrow. Also when his brethren went into Egypt for corne, this dreame was fulfilled. Gen. 42. 6. within] or, in the midst of a field. compassed] or stood-round about: and this is a signe of honour to him that is compassed. Therefore the testimoniall of Gods glorious presence, usually is in the midst; and others stand about, Num. 2. 17. Rev. 4. 3. 4. So Exod. 18. 13. Ps. 7. 8. & 142. 8. bowed downe] or did obeysance: as was fulfilled in Gen. 42. 6. Vers. 8. reigning reign] that is, in deed reigne: so after, in deed rule: and in verse 10. in deed come. They apply this dreame unto themselves, (as did also the Madianites, Iudg. 7. 13. 14) which aggravated their sinne, in resisting Gods manifested will, Ioh. 15. 22. The manner of speaking, is also a denyall: shalt thou reign? that is, thou shalt not: see Gen. 18. 17. Thus Moses, and Christ himselfe, were refused by their people, Act. 7. 27. 35. Luk. 19. 14. Vers. 10. brethren] Abrahams seed were likened to starres for multitude, Gen. 22. 17. here Iakobs children are likened to starres, for glory, shining as lights in the world, Phil. 2. 15. and in Dan. 8. 10. they are also the host of heaven. Iakob and his wife are here the sunne and moone; such honour God vouchsafeth to his contemned servants. And Ioseph in this, as in many other particulars, may resemble Iesus, at whose name all knees must bow, Phil. 2. 10. Vers. 11. observed] laid it to heart, howsoever for the present, he gave his sonne a light rebuke; not fully perceiving the end of the thing. Thus is it spoken also of Mary the mother of Christ, Luke 2. 19. 51. Vers. 14. the peace] that is, the welfare, or how they prosper: as the Greeke explaineth it, if they be well. See Gen. 41. 16. As Ioseph here, so Christ was sent to the lost sheepe of the house of Israel, not onely to know, but to procure their peace, Matt. 15. 24. Luk. 19. 42. to Sechem] which was about 60. English miles, distant from Chebron. There also was that great massacre committed a while before, by Iakobs sonnes, Gen. 34. The danger of the place, might make Iakob more careful to inquire of their welfare. V. 15. a man] The Hebrew Doctors understand this of the Angel Gabriel, called in Dan. 9. 21. the man Gabriel: Pirket R. Eliez. ch. 38. but this is uncertain. Vers. 16. seeking my brethren] this setteth forth Iosephs care & diligence. So the Sonne of man came, to seeke and save that which was lost: Luk. 19. 10. Vers. 17. Dothan] or Dothain; for both waies it is written. The Greeke calleth it Dothaim. It was a place about 8. miles from Sechem. In this towne was Elizeus the Prophet, 2 King. 6. 13. Vers. 18. craftily conspired] or malignantly, as the Greeke translation saith. This word is also used in Psal. 105. 25. and Num. 25. 18. of the Egyptians and Madianites, craftily plotting against the Israelites. So the husbandmen conspired the death of the Sonne of God, Luk. 20. 14. This is the heire, come let us kill him. Vers. 19. master of dreames] this they speake in mockage: the Greeke translateth it, a dreamer. The Hebrew phrase meaneth one that hath great skill in dreaming, or a captaine dreamer: as his brethren, are after called masters of arrowes, that is, cunning archers, for their malicious practises against him, Gen. 49. 23. and a master of anger, is an angry furious man, Prov. 22. 24. and 29. 22. Vers. 20. one of the pits] or, some pit; this setteth forth their inhumane cruelty, that would kill their brother, and not vouchsafe him honest buriall: to which they next adde, a lye to dissemble their murder; and a contempt of the oracles of GOD, which they sought and thought to defeat. So running headlong together, into a world of wickednesse: envie carying them, Acts 7. 9. Gen. 49. 23. Vers. 21. delivered him] to weet, in respect of death which they intended against him. in soul] that is, so as to take away his life: smite him dead. A like phrase is in Ier. 40. 14. Deut. 19. 6 11. for which in Numb. 35. 11. 15. is said, to smite a soule; so also in Levit. 24. 17. 18. where soule, is put for the life of man or beast. See Gen. 19. 17. Smiting is used for killing, Gen. 4. 15. Vers. 22. that] or, to the end that. The Greeke addeth, sor he sought, that he might deliver him. It appeareth by Gen. 42. 22. that Ruben exhorted them to more then they would yeeld unto. Vers. 23. stript Ioseph] so Iesus also was stripped by the wicked, Mat. 27. 28. Here Ioseph, in the anguish of his soule, besought his brethren, for favour, but they would not heare him. Genes. 42. 21. Vers. 24. no water] into such a dungeon was Ieremie put, Ier. 38. 6. and out of such a pit in figure, God delivereth his people, as Zacharie 9. 11. I have sent forth thy prisoners, out of the pit, wherein is no water. Vers. 25. eate bread] so doe the wicked, eating Gods people, Psal. 14. 4. This sheweth they wanted remorse, or sought (at least) to put it away with banqueting, as eating of bread sometime signifieth, Exod. 18. 12. See also Gen. 25. 34. way-faring-company of Ism.] the Greeke translateth, wayfaring Ismaelites, and the Chaldee calleth them a troupe of Arabians. After in verse 28. they are called Madianites, and in verse 36. Medanites, so they were a mixt people, dwelling in that country, called therefore by the Chaldee Arabians which signifieth Mixed people, see Gen. 10. 7. Gilead] which was a place of merchandise, as appeareth also in Ier. 8. 22. and 22. 6. and 46. 11. spicerie] in Hebrew Necoth, which is thought to be a certaine fruit of some, waxe. baum] or rosin, as the Greeke translateth it: a thing good to heale wounds, Ier. 8. 22. and 46. 11. and 51. 8. myrrh] or Ladanum, which is a sat moisture on the herb Ladum, or, the fruit of the Lot tree, according to the Hebrew name, Lot. So Gen. 43. 11. Or according to the Greeke Stacte, (commonly called Storax liquida) which is made of the fatte of new myrrh, as Dioscorides saith in b. 1. c. 62. V. 26. conceale] or, cover, (hide) his blood, Iob 16. 18. Vers. 27. hearkened] or, heard, and so consented, and obeyed. Vers. 28. Midianites] children of Midian Abrahams sonne by Keturah, Genes. 25. 2. who dwelt in the Ismaelites country, (which also were Abrahams children by Hagar, Gen. 16. 15. therefore they are here called by both names. So in Iudg. 8. 22. 24. 26. It may also bee translated thus, And the men, the Midianite merchants, passed by. shekels] or shillings: this word the Chaldee expresseth, which wanteth in the Hebrew. What a shekel was, see noted on Genes. 20. 16. Christs price was a little more, whom Iudas Iscariot sold for 30. shekels, Mat. 27. 3. yet that was but the price of a slaves life, Exod. 21. 32. here Ioseph is by the counsell of his brother Iudas the Patriarch, sold for a slave, Psal. 105. 17. for twenty shekels. After by the law, mens persons of Iosephs age, were in case of vowes, valued at twenty shekels, Levit. 27 5. but those were shekels of the sanctuary, double the value of common shekels. The Hebrew Doctors referre unto this, that threatning against Israel, because they sold the just one for silver; and the poore for a paire of shooes, Amos 2. 6. and they feigne, that of the 20. shekels, every of the tenne Patriarchs had two shekels, to buy shooes for their feet: Pirkei R. Eliez. ch. 38. Vers. 29. rent his clothes] a signe of sorrow, and renting of the hart with griefe, Ioel 2. 13. So Iakob did, v. 34 & others, Iob 2. 12. Gen. 44. 13. Num. 14. 6 Vers. 30. is not] to weet, alive: so hee thought; and so the phrase signifieth, Ier. 31. 15. for he supposed, his brethren had killed him: as verse 20. Vers. 31. a kid] or, goat-bucke. By this pollicie, Iakob should suppose his sonne was dead, and and make no further inquirie after him. Vers. 33. is torne is torne] or, tearing is torne, that is, surely torne: the Chaldee saith, killed. This is added to all Iakobs former sorrowes, and one of the most grievous; for which he admitted no comfort; verse 35. Isaak also was yet alive, and a partaker of his son Iakobs griefe. See the notes on Gen. 35. 29. Vers. 34. sackcloth] another signe of sorrow, with which they sometime added earth or ashes upon their heads, 2. Sam. 3. 31. 1 King. 21. 27. Nehem. 9. 1. Est. 4. 1. Vers. 35. all his sonnes] the evill doers counterfeit sorrow, and conceale their cruell fact, Reuben himselfe also keepeth counsell. The Rabbines say, they had bound themselves by a curse not to bewray it. R. Eiezer. per. 38. to hell] or, to the grave: the word meaneth not the grave digged or made with hands, named in Hebrew Keber; but the common place, or state of death, here called in Hebrew Sheol; which hath the signification of craving or requiring, because it is one of the foure things that are never satisfied, Prov. 30. 15. 16. The Greeke, and new Testament usually translate it Hades or Haides, which word is by change of letters, formed of the Hebrew Adam, and Adamah, the earth, unto which for sinne, God hath condemned Adam and all his race to returne, Gen. 3. 19. For so in the first booke of the ancient Greeke oracles of Sibylla, it is said: they call it Haden, for that Adam first went thither, when he tasted death. As Abram, is in Greek Habram, Gen. 12. 1. and Habraam, Luk. 3. 34. and Mizraim, in Greeke is Misrain, Gen. 10. 6. Hemam, is Haiman, Gen. 36. 22. so of Adam they formed Haiden, and after the Greeke termination Haides, or Hades: such changes of letters are usuall. The Chaldee paraphrase; (when it keepeth not the Hebrew word,) most commonly translateth it the house of the grave, or place of buriall. Our English, commeth from the old Saxon or German word Helle: in which tongues originally Hel signifieth High and Deepe; Leh, is low: and so it meaneth a low or deepe place; and agreeth with the Hebrew Sheol, which is said to be Low and Deepe, Deut. 32. 22. Iob 11. 8. And as death is appointed for all men, so is this Sheol, Psal 89. 49. Eccles. 9. 10. as death is sometime desired of the godly, so Iob desired to be hid in Sheol, Iob 14. 13. By this Hell therefore in Scripture, is not meant the place of the damned onely, but of all that goe out of this world: as Sibylla in the fore-named place, saith, all earthly men are said to goe into the houses of Haides. And as for the wicked, they have a prison, 1 Pet. 3. 19. and place of torments, in hell, Luk. 16. 23. which the Scripture calleth everlasting fire, Mat. 25. 41. and by another Hebrew name, Gehenna; whereof see Mat. 5. 22. the Greekes called that place Tartaros, Homer. Iliad. 8. unto which word the Apostle hath reference, in 2 Pet. 2. 4. Tartarosas, He cast them downe (to Hell or) into Tartarus. So on the contrary, Heaven is not onely the place of the Angels, and holy men, but generally all above us, as the aire, sphears, &c. where the fowles flye, and the sunne and stars runne their courses, as is shewed on Gen 1. 7. And the place of joyes in heaven, is called the garden of Eden, or Paradise, Luk. 23. 43. to which the heathens alluded by the garden of Alcinous: Homer, Odyss. 7. Iakob therefore by going, downe to hell, meaneth a departing out of this life into the common place and state of death, whither all must goe. So after in Gen. 42. 38. and 44. 29. 31. See also the annotations on Psal. 16. 10. Vers. 36. Medanites] which were the posterity of Medan, the sonne of Abraham, and brethren to the Medianites before mentioned, vers. 28. Gen. 25. 1. 2. these were mixed in dwelling with the Ismaelites, as they were generally before called in verse 25. Eunuch] properly and commonly this word is used for a gelded man, Esai. 56. 3. 4. 5. Mat. 19. 12. and is borrowed of the Greeke Eunouchos, which signifieth a keeper of the bed, or Chamberlaine: in Hebrew hee is called Saris. Such gelded men they used to have in Kings courts, for Chamberlaines to keepe their women, Est. 2. 3. and 4. 4. But in Israel, the law allowed not such, Deut. 23. 1. Through custome, the name was also given to other chiefe officers and courtiers, as here to Potiphar, who was a maried man, Gen. 39. 7. and after to the kings chiefe butler and baker, Gen. 40. 2. Therefore the Chaldee here translates it Rabba, a Prince, or Officer. Provost Marshal] or prince of the slaughter men; or Captaine of the guard: he was an officer that kept malefactors in prison, Gen. 40. 3. and was sent with a band of men to doe execution upon rebells: 2 King. 25. 8. 10. Or, as the Greeke translateth it, the chiefe Cooke: for so the Hebrew word is sometime used for a Cooke that killeth and dresseth meate, 1 Sam. 9. 23. and 8. 13.