Commentaires bibliques

Genesis 50:7. All the servants of Pharaoh— All may be put here, as Mat 3:5 for a great number; the major part; all the principal officers of the court. The elders of his house, i.e.. the persons of first dignity, a title of honour used, 2

Sam. Genesis 12:17. and so in various languages, senator, senior, signior, signeur, are used as titles of distinction: so our first Saxon ancestors gave the name ealder-man to a governor of a province, as we do now to a magistrate of a city. Thus the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of AEgypt, signify, persons of the first authority and dignity, both in court and country. With these went all the family of Jacob, and a numerous cavalcade of chariots and horsemen, Genesis 12:9 a grand procession to travel so great a distance; for it was near three hundred miles. The splendor and magnificence of our patriarch's funeral, says Parker, seems to be without a parallel in history. What hitherto have most affected me in the comparison, were, indeed, the noble obsequies of Marcellus, as Virgil has described them: but how do even these, with all their parade of poetry about them, fall short of the plain and simple narrative before us! for what are the six hundred beds, for which the Roman solemnities, on this occasion, were so famous, in comparison of that national itinerant multitude, which swelled like a flood, and moved like a river;—to all Pharaoh's servants, to the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of AEgypt: i.e.. to the officers of his household, and the deputies of his provinces, with all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father's house, conducting their solemn sorrow, for near three hundred miles, into a distant country.

return to '

Genesis 50:10. They came to the threshing-floor of Atad— Atad is, according to some, the proper name of a person; according to others, the word is an appellative, and signifies brambles; and so should be rendered the threshing-floor of brambles. See Judges 9:14.Psalms 58:9; Psalms 58:9. The place is supposed to be about two leagues from Jericho, on the other side Jordan, at fifty miles distance from Hebron. Beyond Jordan, is, by Junius and others, translated, at the passage of Jordan, which agrees with some of the ancient persons. Those who justify our translation suppose these words to have been spoken in respect of the place where Moses was when he wrote this history, which was in the wilderness of Arabia, on the east of Jordan; Deuteronomy 1:1; Deuteronomy 25:19.

He made a mourning for his father seven days— We have here the most ancient monument of the mourning of seven days, which was afterwards observed among the Jews. See Numbers 19:19. 1 Samuel 31:13. Sir 22:12. And their rejoicing at weddings was of the same continuance. See ch. Genesis 29:27. Other passages however shew that their funeral mourning, on other occasions, lasted a month, or thirty days; Numbers 20:29. Deuteronomy 21:13; Deuteronomy 34:8. It is difficult to say why Joseph observed this ceremonial at the threshing-floor of Atad: the most probable reason is that which is given by Musculus, that they chose this place for the solemnity, as being a proper place for them to rest their weary cattle, which had travelled a long way through the solitary and sandy desert, and needed refreshment. See Calmet's Dissertation on the Funerals of the Hebrews. Note; 1. Those who have been eminent in their day deserve to be honourably attended to their grave. The death of a great good man is not only a loss to his family but to his country. 2. When we attend the funerals of others, it becomes us seriously to think of our own. 3. Who could have thought, that the nation who thus lamented the father could afterwards so sorely have afflicted the children? 4. We must not give way to over-much sorrow; the living call for our regard, and our tears cannot profit the dead.

return to '

Genesis 50:15. When Joseph's brethren saw— One cannot have a stronger proof of the restless anxiety of a guilty conscience, than in this message and address of Joseph's brethren to him; nor can any thing more finely describe the feelings of an ingenuous disposition, than the actions and words of Joseph on this occasion. Sensibly touched at the message, he wept, Gen 50:17 when it was delivered to him; while, with the utmost benignity and tenderness, he removed all their fears, when his brethren appeared before him. This single circumstance is sufficient to remove every imputation from the character of Joseph, who, it is certain, had he been a bad man, now enjoyed the fairest opportunity to wreak his revenge; whereas his whole conduct speaks nothing but tenderness, piety, (Genesis 50:20.) generosity, and affection.

return to '

Genesis 50:16. Thy father did command— It seems most probable, from the history, that this was a story feigned by the brethren, in order to influence Joseph the more; and this supposition well suits with that mean temper which they here shew; a temper which induced them to think Joseph capable of the most permanent and deep resentment, as well as to subject themselves in the most abject manner; Behold, we be thy servants, Genesis 50:18. It is no wonder that a great and generous soul, like Joseph's, could not bear such behaviour, or refrain from tears. Besides the request of their father, they urge their common religion, the servants of the God of thy father. This has always been reckoned one of the firmest bonds of affection, yea, even among the heathens themselves, per communes deos, per communia sacra, by their common gods, their common religion, was the most solemn manner of adjuring among the Greeks and Romans.

return to '

Genesis 50:17. And now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father— What a conjuration of pardon, says Bishop Hall, was this! What wound could be either so deep, or so festered, that this plaster could not cure? They say not the sons of thy father; for they knew Jacob was dead, and they had degenerated; but the servants of thy father's God: how much stronger are the bonds of religion than of nature? If Joseph had been rancorous, this deprecation had charmed him; but now it resolves him into tears! They are not so ready to acknowledge their old offence as he to protest his love; and if he chide them for any thing, it is for that they thought they needed to entreat him; since they might have known it could not stand with the fellow-servant of their father's God, to harbour maliciousness, or to purpose revenge.

return to '

Genesis 50:19. For am I in the place of God?— See ch. Genesis 30:2. where this same phrase occurs; the meaning of which seems to be the same in both places; as if Joseph had said, "Shall I presume to oppose myself to what is come to pass, as if I were God?" Or, shall I punish you for that which God hath turned so much to the advantage of us all? The words also may well be rendered affirmatively, I am in the place of God; i.e.. I have been the instrument, under God, of your preservation and support hitherto; and can you think that I should prejudice those whom Providence has enabled me so signally to bless? See ch. Genesis 45:5.

Learn hence, 1. They who would have forgiveness should humble themselves to ask it. 2. We are bound to treat them with especial kindness, who are worshippers of the same God and sharers in the same covenant. 3. God, though never the author of evil, can bring good out of evil; not that sin thereby is less malignant, but he appears more glorious. 4. Broken spirits need kind words. 5. A brotherly heart will be not only ready to forgive the injurious, but the first to comfort them when desponding.

return to '

Genesis 50:22. Joseph lived an hundred and ten years— A shorter life than his ancestors; because he was the son, says Bishop Patrick, of his father's old age, and lived a great part of his time amidst afflictions and care, having the weight of a great kingdom's affairs lying upon him; for eighty of these years he spent in AEgypt, being but thirty years old when he first stood before Pharaoh. Shuckford says that he governed AEgypt during the reigns of four kings, and died in the twentieth year of the reign of Ramesse-Tubeate, fifty two years after his father, and in the year of the world 2367. He had the pleasure of seeing his father's prophetic blessing upon his two sons in part fulfilled; for he saw great-grandchildren from Ephraim; and grandchildren from one branch of Manasseh, Gen 50:23 were brought up upon Joseph's knees; that is, according to the Chaldee, were brought up or educated by Joseph. The phrase seems to allude to the natural custom of dandling children upon the knees. Job, in ch. Genesis 3:12. says, Why did the knees prevent me? i.e.. Why was I sustained or dandled on the nurse's or midwife's knee? See ch. Genesis 30:3.

return to '

Genesis 50:24. God will surely visit you— See ch. Genesis 21:1. The subsequent words, and bring you out of this land, evidently shew in what manner Joseph believed that GOD would visit the Israelites. Thus he died in the same faith with his ancestors, agreeable to what the apostle to the Hebrews says: By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel, and gave commandment concerning his bones. Hebrews 11:22.

return to '