Matthew Poole and continuators on Genesis 41

1 AND it came to pass at the end of two full years , that Pharaoh dreamed: and behold, he stood by the river .

After the Butlers restitution to his place. Heb. years of days, for full years, as 2 Sam. 14. 28. Ier. 28. 3. as a month of days is put for a full month, Gen. 29. 14. which is compleat to a day.

Nilus, called the River simply, because of its eminency, as Homer or Virgil are called, the Poet.

Marginal references: Heb. year of days.

2 And behold, there came up out of the river , seven well-favoured kine , and fat-fleshed, and they fed in a medow.

This suits well with the nature of the thing, for both the fruitfulness and the barrenness of Egypt depended under God upon the increase or diminution of the waters of that River.

Which when they appeared in dreams did portend, in the opinion of the learned Egyptians, the years or times to come, and them either good or bad according to their quality.

3 And behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill-favoured, and leanfleshed, and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river .

Which shews how sparingly the river overflowed the Lands.

5 And he slept, and dreamed the second time: and behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good.

Which are fit and proper resemblances of the thing here intended, both because the fertility of a Land doth mainly consist in the abundance and goodness of these, and because, ears of Corn appearing to any in a dream did, in the judgment of the Egyptian wise-men, signifie years, as Iosephus notes.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1+ letters]at.

6 And behold, seven thin ears and blasted with the East-wind , sprang up after them.

A boisterous wind, and in those parts of the World very pernicious to the fruits of the Earth, Ezek. 17. 10. and 19. 12. Hos. 13. 15.

7 And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears: and Pharaoh awoke, and behold it was a dream .

Not a realthing, as Pharaoh in his sleep imagined it to be. Heb. behold the dream. i. e. The dream did not vanish, as dreams commonly do, but was fixed in his mind, and he could not shake it off: by which he saw that it was no common or natural, but a divine and significant, dream.

8 And it came to pass in the morning, that his spirit was troubled , and he sent and called for all the Magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof; and Pharaoh told them his dream : but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.

Because he understood not the meaning of it, and dreaded the consequences of it. Compare Gen. 40. 6. Dan. 2. 1, 3. Matth. 27. 19.

Whose profession it was to discover secret and future things, which they did either by the observation of the Stars, or by other superstitious practises and the help of evil spirits. See Exod. 7. 11, and 8. 19. Dan. 2. 2, 10.

Who were conversant in the study of nature, and by reason of their great sagacity did oft-times make happy conjectures.

He calls them both one dream, either because they seemed to portend the same thing, or because they were the product of one night and were divided onely by a very little interruption.

9 Then spake the chief Butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day.

Not against Ioseph by ingratitude, but against the King: by which expression he both acknowledgeth the Kings justice in imprisoning him and his clemency in pardoning him.

11 And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he: we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream .

Of which phrase see on Gen. 40. 5.

13 And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was, me he restored unto mine office, and him he hanged.

Either 1. Pharaoh. But then he would have mentioned either his name or title, and not have spoken so slightly and indecently of him. Or rather 2. Ioseph, of whom he spake last, and who is here said to restore the one, and to hang the other, because he foretold those events, as Ieremy is said to pull down and destroy those Nations, Ier. 1. 10. whose destruction he did onely foretell.

14 The Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon : and he shaved himself , and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.

Or, Prison, by a Synecdoche of the part for the whole. For it is not probable that Ioseph who was now so much employed and entrusted with all the affairs of the prison and Prisoners, Gen. 39. 21, 22, 23. should still be kept in the dungeon properly so called.

For till then he suffered his hair to grow, as the manner was for persons in prison or under great sorrow, 2 Sam. 19. 24. But to appear in a mournful dress before the King was not convenient, nor usual. Compare Esth. 4. 4.

Marginal references: Psal. 105. 20; Heb. made him run.

16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, it is not in me : God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace .

I cannot do this by any power or vertue or art of my own, for I am but a man, as your Magicians are, but onely by inspiration from the great God. Thus he gives the honour from himself unto God, and leads Pharaoh to the knowledge of the true God. For the phrase compare Matth. 10. 20. 1 Cor. 15. 10.

Or, May God give, &c. It is my desire that God would vouchsa[illegible: 1+ letters]e to Pharaoh a comfortable and happy answer.

21 And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them , but they were still ill-favoured, as at the beginning: So I awoke.

They seemed to be neither fatter in the flesh, nor fuller in their bodies. As many times in Famine men eat much, but are not satisfied, because God withdraws his blessing from it, by which alone it is that meat nourisheth us.

Marginal references: Heb. come to the inward parts of them.

25 And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one , God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.

To wit, In its design and signification, both dreams portend the same thing.

30 And there shall arise after them seven years of famine, and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt: and the famine shall consume the land.

There shall be no relicks of it to keep it in mens minds, which will be so taken up with the contemplation of their present misery and future danger, that they will have neither heart nor leasure to reflect upon their former plenty, the remembrance whereof will but aggravate the present calamity.

34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt, in the seven plenteous years.

Not by force or violence, for Ioseph would never be the author of such unrighteous Counsels, but by purchase at the common price, which was like to be very low in that case, and therefore might easily be compassed by that rich and mighty Prince.

Quest. Why not half, seeing the years of Famine were as many as the years of plenty? Answ. Because 1. Men would and should live more sparingly in times of Famine. 2. It was likely that very many men would lay up great quantities of Corn in those years, partly because they could not spend it all, and partly in expectation of a scarcer and dearer time, when they might either use it themselves or [illegible: 1+ letters]ell it to their advantage. 3. The fifth part of those years of great plenty, might be more then the half, yea equal to the whole crop of ordinary years.

Marginal references: Or, overseers.

38 And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the spirit of God is?

Or, of the Gods, in his Heathen Language. One whom God hath endowed with such admirable Knowledge and Wisdome.

39 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this , there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:

i. e. Hath given thee this extraordinary gift of fore-seeing and foretelling things to come and of giving such sage advise for the future.

40 Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled : only in the throne will I be greater than thou.

(i. e.) direction and command. Heb. mo[illegible: 1+ letters]th, which is oft put for command, as Exod. 17. 1. and 38. 21. Numb. 3. 16, 39, &c.

Or, be fed; they shall receive their provisions from thy hand and according to thy disposal. Others shall kiss, viz. the hand, as inferiours used to do upon their address to or conference with great persons. See Io[illegible: 1+ letters] 31. 27. Hosea 13. 2. But it was frivolous for Ioseph to command them to do that which by the custom of the place they were obliged and wont to do. Some render the words thus, and that agreeable to the Hebrew, at thy mouth shall the people kiss. Which may be understood either properly, as inferiours did sometimes kiss their superiors in token of their homage. See 1 Sam. 10. 1. or rather metaphorically, as the same phrase is used Psal. 2. 12. Prov. 24. 26. receive all thy commands with reverence and submission.

i. e. In soveraign power and dignity.

Marginal references: Psal. 105. 21. Mac. 2. 53. Act. 7. 10.; Heb. armed or kiss.

42 And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Josephs hand, and arayed him in vestures of fine linen , and put a gold chain about his neck.

Which was both a token of highest dignity and an instrument of greatest power, by which he had authority to make and [illegible: 1+ letters]ign what decrees he thought fit in the Kings name. See Esth. 3. 10. and 8. [illegible: 1+ letters]2.

Wherewith the greatest Potentates were arayed. See Prov. 31. 22, 24. Ezek. 16. 10. Luk. 16. 19. Rev. 19. 8.

Another badge of great honour. See Prov. 1. 9. Ezek. 16. 11. Dan. 5. 7, 16, 29.

Marginal references: Or, silk.

43 And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had : and they cryed before him, Bowe the knee : and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.

In the Kings second Chariot, that he might be known and owned to be the next person to the King in power and dignity. Compare 2 Chron. 35. 24. Esth. 6. 8. and 10. 3. Dan. 5. 29.

They commanded all that passed by him or came to him to shew their reverent respect to him in this manner. Compare Esth. 3. 2. Others tender father, to signifie that he was to be owned as the father of the Countrey, because by his prudence and care he had provided for them all and saved them from utter ruine.

Marginal references: Or, tender father: Heb. Abrech.

44 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh , and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.

(i. e.) I onely am the King, I reserve to my self the soveraign power over thee and over all. As the name of Caesar among the Romans was commonly used for the Emperour, so the name of Pharaoh for the King. Or thus, I have the supreme power, and therefore as I have authority to give thee the following power, so I will make it good to thee and oblige all my people to observe and obey thee.

No man shall do any thing in the publick affairs of the Kingdom concerning matters of War or Peace, without thy commission or licence.

45 And Pharaoh called Josephs name Zaphnath-Paaneah , and he gave him to wife Asenath, the daughter of Poti-pherah , Priest of On ▪ and Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.

(i. e.) The revealer of secrets, as the Hebrews generally understand it, and with them most others.

Not that Potiphar, Gen. 39. 1. both because he had another Title and dwelt in another place, and because it is not probable Ioseph would have married the daughter of so unchast a mother, but another and a greater person. It is the observation of a late ingenious and learned writer, that among the Egyptians there were three words or endings of words near akin, but differing in signification, and in the degree of dignity and authority to which those names were annexed, Phar, which belonged to inferiour officers, and Pherah, which was given to those of greater dignity and power, and Pharaoh, which was appropriated to the King.

Or Prince as the word signifies, Exod. 18. 1. 2 Sam. 8. 18. and 20. 26. and elsewhere. This sense is the more probable both from Iosephs high quality, and from his holy disposition, whereby he hated Idolatry, and would never have married the daughter of an idolatrous Priest.

A famous City of Egypt called also Aven, Ezek. 30. 17. and afterwards, as some think, Heliopolis, now Damiata. See Ier. 43. 13.

Upon his employment and to execute the Kings command, and his own counsel.

Marginal references: Or, Prince.

46 (And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh King of Egypt,) and Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout ali the land of Egypt .

Which is here noted to teach us, 1. That Iosephs short affliction was recompensed with a much longer prosperity, even for 80 years. 2. That Iosephs excellent wisdom did not proceed from his large and long experience, but from the singular gift of God.

As his chief minister: to stand before another is the posture and designation of a servant, as 1 Sam. 16. 21. Dan. 1. 19.

To provide places for his stores, and to constitute officers for the management of them.

47 And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls .

Or, unto handfuls, to wit, growing upon one stalk: or, unto heaps: or, as the antients render it, for the barns or storehouses, i. e. in such plenty that all their storehouses were filled with heaps of corn.

48 And he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field which was round about every city, laid he up in the same.

That is, either all sorts of grain which was proper for food: or all which he intended to gather, to wit, the fifth part, ver. 34.

51 And Joseph called the name of the first-born, Manasseh: for God, said he, hath made me forget all my toyl, and all my fathers house .

(i. e.) Hath expelled all sorrowful remembrance of it by my present comfort and glory.

(i. e.) The toil of my fathers house, or the toil and misery which for many years I have endured by means of my fathers family, and my own brethren who sold me hither. A figure called Hendyadis.

Marginal references: That is, forgetting.

52 And the name of the second called he Ephraim: for God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction .

(i. e.) In the land which hitherto hath been to me a land of affliction.

Marginal references: That is, fruitful.

54 And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said, and the dearth was in all lands : but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.

In all the neighbouring countries, as appears by comparing this with Gen. 42. 1.

Marginal references: Psal. 105. 15.

55 And when all the land of Egypt was famished; the people cryed to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph: what he saith to you, do.

As to their King and common father. Compare 2 King. 6. 26.