Comentarios bíblicos

9. pilgrimage] R.V. marg. sojournings. See Genesis 17:8, Genesis 28:4, Genesis 36:7, Genesis 37:1 (P). The two renderings depend upon the metaphorical, or literal, explanation of Jacob’s words. Is it the metaphorical pilgrimage of life? or is it the frequent change of Jacob’s abode to which he makes reference? The latter is perhaps preferable, (1) on account of the allusion to the lives of his fathers, and (2) because this metaphor in the Bible seems to be based on the experience of the patriarchs themselves. Cf. 1 Chronicles 29:15; Psalm 39:12; Psalm 119:19; Psalm 119:54; Hebrews 11:9; Hebrews 11:13.

few] i.e. by comparison with the traditional days of old (Genesis 5:1 ff., Genesis 11:10 ff.) according to P.

evil] Alluding to the flight from home, the hardships of the service in Haran, the loss of Joseph, the death of Rachel, the violence of Simeon and Levi (chap. 34).

they have not attained] Jacob’s life of 130 years at this juncture seemed short in comparison with the 175 years of Abraham (Genesis 25:7) and the 180 years of Isaac (Genesis 35:28).

11. placed] Lit. “caused to dwell”; as we should say, “settled.”

the land of Rameses] This description of the land of Goshen appears only here, and in the LXX of ch. Genesis 46:28. A town named Rameses is mentioned in Exodus 1:11; Exodus 12:37; Numbers 33:3; Numbers 33:5. In Exodus 1:11 Rameses is the name of one of the two store cities built by the children of Israel on the east of the Delta, according to Petrie = Tel er-Reṭabeh. The name given to it was probably that of the Pharaoh of the oppression, Rameses II. If so, the description of this region, where Joseph’s brethren are settled, by the name of “the land of Rameses,” is, strictly speaking, an anachronism, i.e. a chronological anticipation of facts, the country being denoted by a name which it came to bear two centuries later. It is a very natural thing for the Israelite writer to do; and can hardly be regarded in the light of a literary error.

12. according to their families] The margin, according to the number of their little ones, gives the literal rendering. Delitzsch comments, “little children being mentioned because they would require much food, and also because people would be less willing to see them in want.” Cf. Genesis 45:11.

13–27a (J (?)). The Famine in Egypt, and Joseph’s Policy

13. in all the land] or “in all the earth.” LXX πάσῃ τῇ γῇ; Lat. in toto orbe. Cf. Genesis 41:54; Genesis 41:57; Acts 11:28, “a great famine over all the world.” “Very sore”: cf. Genesis 12:10, Genesis 41:31; Genesis 41:56, Genesis 43:1.

fainted] A striking metaphor (the Heb. word not occurring again in O.T.) to express the complete collapse of the inhabitants of Egypt and Canaan: LXX ἐξέλιτε. Notice the association of Canaan with Egypt in these three Genesis 47:13-15. Afterwards only Egypt is spoken of.

14. gathered up] Joseph’s policy of State granaries was completely successful. He accumulated vast wealth for his master, the King of Egypt.

Pharaoh’s house] i.e. the royal treasury, “the White House,” as it was known in Egypt. Cf. Genesis 41:40.

15. And when the money] The inhabitants of Egypt, finding that their money was expended, voluntarily proposed the surrender, firstly, of their cattle, and secondly, in the following year (Genesis 47:18-19), of their persons and their land. There is no mention of murmuring or uprising among the people. Private ownership, except in the case of the priests (Genesis 47:22), was surrendered. The whole people became Pharaoh’s servants, practically serfs, paying him a land tax of 20 per cent. annually (Genesis 47:26).

16. I will give you] The word “bread” is evidently understood; and is found supplied in the Sam., LXX and Vulg. versions.

17. horses … flocks, and for the herds] Heb. cattle of the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds. Observe here the mention of horses first in the list, followed by sheep, cattle, and asses. Compare the list of the live stock belonging to the nomad Abraham in Genesis 12:16, “sheep, oxen, he-asses, men-servants, maid-servants, she-asses, camels.” Camels are not mentioned here. Egyptologists inform us that the inscriptions do not record the mention of horses before the New Monarchy, circa 1530 b.c.: see note on Genesis 12:16. The Egyptians owed to the Hyksos the introduction of horses and chariots.

fed them] Heb. led them as a shepherd. The same word as in Genesis 33:14, “lead on softly,” and in Psalm 23:2, “he leadeth me beside the still waters.”