A. M. 2276. A. C. 1728; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3526. A. C. 1885. GEN. CH. xxxvii. To the end. grief, were forced to tell him in what manner they had | had it not been for an adventure of a nature somewhat disposed of him; whereupon Reuben, finding it impossible now to recover him, joined with them in contriving how to manage the matter with their father, so as to take off from themselves all manner of suspicion. To this purpose they killed a kid, and dipping Joseph's coat in the blood of it, a sent it to their father, as if they had found it in the field, and were fearful that it was their brother. Their father soon perceived whose coat it was; and supposing that some wild beast or other had slain his son, he rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth, and began to mourn for his death. In vain did the rest of his children endeavour to comfort him; his grief would admit of no remedy; his resolution was to clament his loss to the hour of his death; nor did he ever cease this disconsolate way of life, until he was told the surprising news of Joseph's advancement in Egypt. From the time that Joseph had admission into Potiphar's family, he showed such diligence and fidelity, and proved so successful in every thing he undertook, that his master soon took notice of him, and in some time, having made him his steward, d put all his affairs under his management. singular. He was now in the bloom of his youth, and of a beauty and comeliness so extraordinary, that his master's wife could not forbear conceiving an irregular passion for him. Upon several occasions, she had given him indications enough of her ardent desire to draw him into a wanton familiarity with her, but he was blind to her signs, and deaf to her soft speeches; so that she was at last resolved to break through the rules of her sex, and court him in plain terms. But how great was her surprise when, instead of a ready compliance, as she probably expected, she found herself not only denied, but severely reprimanded likewise for her disloyal passion! Being willing, however, to hope that another opportunity would prove more favourable, after several fruitless attempts, she at last laid hold on one, when all the family was abroad, and accosted him in so violent and passionate a manner, that she would not hear any farther denial. In vain it was for him to e Joseph at this time was about seven and twenty years old. For he was seventeen when he was sold to Potiphar, Gen. xxxvii. 2, and he was committed to prison immediately upon his noncompliance with his mistress's temptation; where, as far as it appears, he had not been long before he interpreted the In this condition Joseph might have lived very happy, dreams of the two disgraced courtiers; and two years after that a In one and the same verse it is said, that they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father:' but this seeming solecism is easily resolved, only by saying, that they sent it by the hands of persons who brought it to their father; or that they sent it by a messenger, as being afraid to be present at the first gust of their father's passion, and afterwards brought or produced it, when one of them, as Judah is supposed to have been their spokesman, related the tale which follows: by which artifice they seemed to give themselves an air of compassion, since it was no uncommon thing afterwards (as in the case of Julius Cæsar, and Julia his daughter, the wife of Pompey), on mournful occasions, to produce such affecting relics and remains. - Bibliotheca Biblica. b Rending the clothes was an eastern way of expressing either grief for calamity or horror for sin. Reuben was the first we read of, who, to denote his exceeding sorrow, rent his clothes; and as Jacob we find does the like, we may well suppose that it was an usual manner of expressing all grief and uneasiness of mind in those days; and by putting on sackcloth, which Jacob is here the first precedent of doing, but was afterwards commonly used upon all mournful occasions, he seemed to signify, that since he had lost his beloved son, he looked upon himself as reduced to the meanest and lowest condition of life.-Bibliotheca Biblica, Howell's History, and Burder's Oriental Customs. c Jacob expresses his sorrow in these words, I will go down unto the grave unto my son.' But if by the grave we are here to understand a place of sepulture, how could Jacob say that he would go down thither to his son, when he presumes here that he was not buried, but torn to pieces by wild beasts. To solve this difficulty, some imagine that the particle el should not, in this place, be rendered to, but, as it sometimes means, for, or in the stead of; and so the sense is, I will go down to the grave instead of my son,' who, unhappy child as he was, had no burial: but since the word scholah, in Greek äons, in Latin infernum, signifies very frequently the state of the dead in general, the much clearer sense of the words will be, I will not cease mourning until I die, and be laid in my grave.'-Le Clerc's Commentary. d The words in the text are, he knew not aught he had, save the bread which he did eat;' which is one of the highest expressions of confidence that we can imagine: for it signifies, that he was utterly careless about any thing that concerned his estate, not minding what his expense or receipts were; but taking his ease, left all to Joseph's honesty. In short, he thought of nothing, but only to enjoy what he had, without care or trouble.-Patrick's Commentary. he was released and promoted, namely, when he was thirty years old: so that we may reasonably conclude that this temptation befell him about three years before his releasement, that is, in the twenty-seventh year of his age. At this time it is supposable that he was a comely person enough, and the saying is, that "a comely person is a silent recommendation;" but the stories relating to his excessive beauty, as they are recorded by the Talmudists, are ridiculous, and not much better than what Mahomet, in his history of the patriarch, tells us, namely, that his mistress having invited the ladies of the town to a splendid entertainment, ordered Joseph to be called for, but that, as soon as he appeared, they were amazed at his beauty, and so confounded, that they knew not what they did, but instead of eating their meat they ate their fingers, and said among themselves, "This is not a man, but an angel."-Bibliotheca Biblica in locum, and Alcoran, chap. of Joseph. f Josephus tells us, that Potiphar's wife took the opportunity of a certain festival, when all the people were gone a merrymaking, to tempt Joseph; that, feigning herself sick, she decoyed him by that means into her apartment, and then addressed herself to him in words to this effect:-" It had been much better for you," says she, “had you complied with my first request; if for no other consideration, in regard at least to the dignity of the person who is become your petitioner, and to the excess of my passion. Besides, it would have saved me the shame of condescending to some words and expressions, which I am still out of countenance when I think of. You might perhaps make some doubt before, whether I was in earnest; but this is to satisfy you that I mean no ill by my persisting in the same mind. Take, therefore, your choice now, whether you will improve this opportunity of present satisfaction, in the embraces of a creature that loves you dearly, and from whom you may expect still greater things; or stand the shock of my hatred and revenge, if you will presume to value yourself upon the vain conceit of your chastity more than my favour," &c.— Antiquities, b. 2. c. 4. g Josephus, however, brings in his namesake expostulating the matter with his mistress, and reminding her of her duty to herself and her husband, to piety, and common fame. "What signifies,' says he, "a momentary pleasure, with a certain repentance immediately to ensue; an heaviness of heart for a thing once done, and an utter impossibility of recalling and undoing it, together with perpetual fears of discovery and disgrace? What does all this signify, I say, in balance of the most substantial comforts, and the most necessary duties of human life? Whereas, in a conjugal state, the selfsame delights are all free, safe, innocent, and warrantable, both before God and man. Consider again, how it would lessen your authority, to A. M. 2276. A. C. 1728; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3526. A. C. 1885. GEN. CH. xxxvii. TO THE END. expostulate the heinousness of the crime: her appetite | hurried poor Joseph away, and clapped him up in the was eager and impatient; and therefore she caught him king's prison; where we shall leave him for a while, to by the cloak, and pressed him to lie with her; and he take a view of what passed in his father's family. having no other way to escape, left his cloak in her hand, and fled. Whether it was that she feared, by his manner and behaviour, that he might accuse her to her husband, or that she was enraged at the slight put upon her proffered love; but so it was, that she resolved his immediate ruin and accordingly she began with a setting up a most horrid outcry, which immediately brought in all that were within hearing, and then showing them Joseph's cloak, which she pretended he put off in order to lie with her, she told them that he had made so furious an attempt upon her virtue, that nothing but her loud cries could have saved her. d Before the time that Joseph was sold into Egypt, Judah, his father's son by Leah, had married a Canaanitish woman name Shuah, by whom he had three sons, Er, Onan, and Shelah. Er being cut off for his wickedness before he had any children by his wife Thamar, Judah ordered his second son Onan, according to the custom of the country, to marry her, and to raise a posterity to his brother. Onan seemingly obeyed his father, but not brooking the thought that any of his children should inherit his brother's name who was dead, he took such a wicked and unnatural way to prevent having any, that God was provoked to punish him with sudden death likewise. His third son Shelah was not yet fit for marriage; and therefore Judah desired his daughter-in By the time that her husband came home, she had dressed up her story so well, and expressed the pre-law to retire to her father's house, and there live a widow, tended indignity put upon her with such an air of resentment, that her credulous husband, little suspecting his wife's treachery, was so prepossessed with the circumstance of the cloak, that, without any farther inquiry, he make your servant your equal, by a shameful participation in one common crime; and pray, is it not better to trust to a good conscience, that fears no light, than to commit wickedness in until he became adult, and then he would make him her husband. Thamar did so, and waited till Shelah was come to man's estate; but finding no performance of Judah's promise, (as indeed he never heartily intended any,) she was resolved to make herself amends some other way, which she did by the following stratagem. Judah had lately buried his wife; and as soon as the the dark, and then live all your days in a restless dread of being friend with him, and went to Timnah, to divert himself a usual days of mourning were over, he took a particular detected," &c.-Antiquities, b. 2. c. 4. a There is something not unlike this revengeful artifice in Potiphar's wife, in the representation which the poet makes of Phaedra, when, in an aflair of the like nature, she finds herself rejected by her son-in-law Hippolytus:-"I myself will retort the crime, and spontaneously accuse him of an illicit love; favour me, ye faithful band of servants, lend me thine aid, thou, &c. Lo, rapidly he fled, and in his consternation left behind his sword; still yet we hold the token of his crime."-Seneca, Пірров. Upon Potiphar's coming home, Josephus makes his wife break out into these words:-" You will never deserve to live, husband, unless you make an example of that perfidious wretch, your man. He has forgotten what he was when you took him into your house, how kindly and respectfully he has been treated here, to a degree beyond his very hope, as well as his desert. The charge of your whole family is committed to him, the command of the rest of your servants, and the trust of all you have. What will you think of this fellow now, who, in requital of all your bounty and good offices, could have the impudence to attempt the violation of your bed, and to take the opportunity of this festival day, when you were out of the way, to break in upon my privacy, and press the enjoyment of his beastly ends. You have made him, in effect, master of all things under your roof; and would nothing serve him, but he must have your wife likewise? Here is the ungrateful villain's cloak, which, in his fright, he left behind him, when I cried out, as he was going to force me."-Antiquities, b. 2. c. 4. was, It is somewhat wonderful, that if Potiphar believed his wife's story, he did not immediately put him to death; but there is one thing which might check the violence of his passion, and that the great opinion he had for some time been confirmed in, of Joseph's virtue and integrity. Joseph, he saw, was young and beautiful, and therefore he might think it a thing not impossible for a lady of distinction to be in love with him, and upon a disappointment to be exasperated: as therefore he would not inflict any capital or corporal punishment on him, so he thought it prudent to hurry him away to prison unheard, lest, being allowed to speak in his own vindication, he might clear himself, and thereby bring discredit upon his family. It must not be denied, however, what St Chrysostom has observed, that here again was a special, and as it were a miraculous intervention of the divine power, which preserved his life as it did before, when he was cast into the pit. The superior influence which softened the heart of Reuben, restrained the hand of Potiphar, in order to make our patriarch a more glorious example, and to complete these events in the course of his life, which God had predetermined and foretold.-Chrys, Hom, in locum. d Though the latter part of Judah's story, relating to the incest with his daughter Thamar, was acted after Joseph was sold, and while he was in Egypt; yet the former part of it relating to his marriage, and the birth of his three sons, must needs fall out before Joseph was sold. For since there were but two and twenty, or at the most, but three and twenty years between Joseph's being sold into Egypt, and Jacob's going down thither, it could no ways be, that in so short a space of time, Judah could marry a wife, have three sons at three several times by her, marry two of her sons successively to one woman; defer the marriage of the third son to the same woman, beyond the due time; afterwards himself have sons by the same woman his daughter-in-law; and one of these sons, Pharez, beget two sons, Hezron and Hamul, Gen. xlvi. 12. ways be, I say, that all these transactions should be comprised in so short a time. And therefore we must suppose, that the business of his being married, and having children, was prior to Joseph's being sold; but that Moses, not willing to intermingle the story of the two brothers too much, brings all he had to say concerning Judah into the compass of one chapter, and so concludes his adventures, before he proceeds to those of Joseph.— Howell's History, b. 1; Universal History, b. 1. c. 7; and Bibliotheca Biblica in locum. It can no e It was not so bad for a man circumcised to marry the daughter of one uncircumcised, as it was for an Israelite to give a daughter in marriage to an uncircumcised husband, Gen. xxxiv. 14; for an uncircumcised man was accounted unclean, though he had renounced idolatry; but a woman, born of uncircumcised parents, if she embraced the true religion, was not so accounted. And such an one we may suppose Judah's wife to have been; otherwise he had offended his father, as much as Esau did Isaac, by marrying the daughter of Heth.-Patrick's Commentary. ƒThis is the first mention we have of this custom, which nevertheless seems to have been a very common one, and well understood even by young Onan; for he knew that the first-born child was not to be accounted his, but his deceased brother's, was to be called by his name, and inherit his estate. For this, say the Hebrew doctors, was an ancient custom in force before the law of Moses, that when a man died without issue, his brother should marry his wife, and that the first son, upon such marriage, was to be reputed her deceased husband's heir.-Patrick's and Le Clerc's Commentary. A. M. 2276. A. C. 1728; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3526. A. C. 1885. GEN. CH. xxxvii. TO THE END. little at the shearing feast. Thamar had intelligence of Judah no sooner saw her, but taking her to be what she appeared, he began to make his addresses to her. What she insisted on was only a reward for her compliance, which he readily agreed to, and promised to send her a kid; but she having a farther design upon him, demanded a pledge for the performance of his promise, hich was his signet, his bracelet, and his staff'; and so, being agreed, they went together, had their enjoyment, and she proved with child. Judah, according to his promise, sent by his friend Hirah (for that was his name) a kid to redeem his pledge; but when Hirah came to the place, the woman was gone, nor could he find, upon his best inquiry, that any such person as he described had ever been there: so that Judah, when he told him his ill success, thought it the wisest way to let her go off with the pledges, rather than run the hazard of his reputation, by making any farther search. About three months after this, word was brought him, that his daughter-in-law had played the harlot, and was certainly with child. Judah, though glad perhaps at the news, because her death would free him from the promise of giving his son Shelah to her, pretended however to be highly enraged at her incontinency, and ordering her to be brought forth," condemned her to be burnt according to the laws of the country. Thamar, instead of being surprised at this dreadful sentence pronounced against her, only sent the pledges to Judah, with this message, That the owner of these things was the person by whom she was with child: whereupon, struck with confusion, and reflecting on the injury he had done her, in withholding his son, he acknowledged her less culpable in a Among eastern nations, as well as elsewhere, women, who were guilty of adultery, were more severely punished than the men: whether it was that the injury done the husband was reputed to be more heinous, or that the men, having the power of making laws, took care to enact them in favour of themselves. Thus God is said, for the hardness of their hearts,' to have indulged the Jews in the matter of divorcing their wives; but the wives had not the like privilege over their husbands. In many places a man might have as many wives as he could maintain, but the women were to be content with one husband. And in like manner, here Judah, we find, condemns Thamar, though a widow, for her crime, to be burnt; whilst himself, in the same state of widowhood, thought fornication a very pardonable crime. It is questioned, however, by what right and authority he could pass this sentence upon her: and to answer this, it is supposed, that every master was judge and chief magistrate in his own family; and that therefore Thamar, though she was a Canaanite, yet being married into Judah's family, and having brought disgrace upon it, was properly under his cognizance. His cognizance, however, according to the opinion of some, did not extend so far as to have her burnt at the stake, as we call it, but only branded in the forehead for a whore; though others deny that his authority extended even so far: for being in a strange place, it can hardly be thought, that the power of life and death, or indeed of any other penalty, was lodged in him: and therefore they think that the words mean no more than this,-That she should be brought before a court of judicature, and sentenced according to the laws of the country.-Selden de Jure Nat, b. 7. c. 5, Le Clerc's and Patrick's Commentary, Howell's and Universal History. b The words in the text are, She hath been more righteous When the time of her delivery was come, she was brought to bed of twins, but the manner of their birth was somewhat surprising; for though one of them put forth his hand, about which the midwife tied a scarlet thread, to distinguish him for the first-born; yet as he withdrew it, his brother got before him, and so came first into the world; which occasioned his name to be Pharez, that is, one breaking forth, as the other with the thread on his hand was called Zarah. To return to Joseph. He had not been long in prison, before his virtuous and obliging deportment gained him the favour of the keeper, insomuch that he was intrusted with the management of the affairs belonging to the prison, and with the custody of the prisoners themselves. At this time there were two persons of note, the king's cupbearer, and his chief baker, for some offence or other, committed to the same prison where Joseph was, and by the head-keeper, intrusted to his care and attendance. To this purpose, Joseph coming to their apartment one morning, and finding them both pensive and melancholy upon the account of a dream which each of them had had the night before, and under more concern still, because in that place, they could have no person to interpret for them; to allay their superstitious humour, in trusting to diviners and soothsayers, he told them, in the first place, that the interpretation of dreams did not depend upon rules of art, but if there were any certainty in it, it must proceed from a divine inspiration, and then desired to know what it was that they dreamed. The cupbearer began, and told him that in his sleep he fancied he saw a vine, with three branches, which all on a sudden budded, then blossomed, and so bore ripe grapes; and that he had in his hand the king's cup, into which having squeezed the juice of the grapes, he gave it to the king, and the king drank it from his hand as usual. To this Joseph replied, that as the three branches denoted three days, it would not exceed the compass of that time, before the king, having made an inquiry into than I:' not more virtuous or chaste, for she knowingly committed adultery and incest when he designedly did neither; but more just, in that he, by withholding Shelah from her, had provoked her to lay this trap for him. So that, though Thamar was wickeder in the sight of God, yet she may be said to be juster before Judah, or to have done no more in drawing him into this scrape, than what he justly deserved.-Poole's Annotations. c The expression which Joseph here makes use of concerning the king's cupbearer and baker, Pharaoh shall lift up thy head," seems somewhat too literally translated, since the words in the original mean no more, than that Pharaoh would have them brought forth and examined. The ancients, we are to know, in keeping their reckonings or accounts of time, or their list of domestic officers or servants, made use of tables with holes bored in them, in which they put a sort of pegs or nails with broad heads, exhibiting the particulars, either number or name, or whatever it was. These nails or pegs the Jews call heads, and the sockets of the heads they call bases. The meaning therefore of 'Pharaoh's lifting up his head' is, that Pharaoh would take out the peg which had the cupbearer's name on the top of it to read it; that is, would sit in judgment, and make examination into his accounts. For it seems very probable, that both he and the baker, had becu either suspected or accused of having cheated the king, and that, when their accounts were examined and cast up, the one was acquitted, while the other was found guilty. And though Joeph uses the same expression in both cases, yet we may observe, a d A. M. 2276. A. C. 1728; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3539. A. C. 1872. GEN. CH. xxxvii. TO THE END. the conduct of his servants, would restore him to his favour and his post again. Only he desired, that if his interpretation proved true, he would, in his prosperity, be pleased to remember him, and to recommend his case to the king; since the truth was that he had been fraudulently taken from his own country and cast into prison without any fault or offence of his. Hearing so happy an interpretation of this dream, the baker was the readier to propose his, which was to this effect:-That while, as he thought, he had on his head three wicker baskets, in the uppermost of which were several kinds of baked meats for the king's table, the birds came and ate them out of the basket. To which Joseph immediately replied, that the three baskets, even as the three branches had done, signified three days; but that in the space of that time, the king having made scrutiny into his behaviour, and found him guilty, would order him to be hanged upon a gibbet, for the fowls of the air to devour his flesh. And as Joseph foretold, so it came to pass: for three days after this, the cupbearer was restored and the baker hanged. The cupbearer, however, when himself had got into prosperity again, thought little of Joseph, till, in about two years after this, an accident happened which forced him in a manner to call him to remembrance. that speaking to the baker, he adds, that 'Pharaoh shall lift up thy head from off thee,' that is, shall order thy name to be struck out of the list of his servants by taking the peg out of the socket. -Bibliotheca Biblica in locum. The king his master had; in one night, two very portentous dreams, which gave him the more uneasiness, because none of the Egyptian Magi could give him the least light into their meaning. Seeing the king therefore in this perplexity, the cupbearer could not forbear | telling him, that while he and the chief baker were under his majesty's displeasure in prison, each of them, in the same night, had a dream, which a young man, an Hebrew, then in prison with them, interpreted exactly, and as the event happened; and that, in his opinion, he had a talent that way much superior to any that had hitherto been consulted. Pleased with this discovery, and eager to have his dream explained, the king gave orders immediately for Joseph to be sent for; who, after he had shaved and dressed himself, was introduced into his presence, where he had not been long, before the king related his dream to him, namely, "That as he was walking on the banks of the river Nile," as he thought, " he saw seven fat kine, which fed in the meadows. And soon after that, seven others, exceeding lean, and frightful to behold, which came and ate up the fat ones, and yet looked not a bit the better; and that, after this he dreamed again, and fancied that he saw seven full ears of corn, proceeding all from the same stalk, which were in like manner devoured by seven others, that were blasted and withered." As soon as the king had ended, Joseph, giving him first to understand that it was by the assistance of God alone that he was enabled to be an interpreter of dreams, There is nothing of a distrust of God's goodness, justice, or power, in making use of human means. The release of the king's told him, that the seven kine, and seven ears of corn, eupbearer appeared to Joseph to be a good opportunity, pointed signified the same thing, and the repetition of the dream out by providence, for him to lay hold on, and he would have been wanting to his own preservation, had he not employed it. d The Chaldeans of old were the most famous people in the Though therefore it may be thought, that his asking this court- world for divination of all kinds; and therefore it is very probaofficer to represent his case to the king, might be in reward or ble that the word Hhartoumim, which we render magicians, is compensation for his prediction; yet even herein he may be jus- not of Hebrew, but Chaldee origin. The roots, however, from tified by apostolical authority, which in cases of this nature whence it springs (if it be a compound word, as probably it is) instructs, (1 Cor. ix. 4. and Gal. vi. 6.,) that temporal advan- are not so visible; and therefore commentators are perplexed to tages may very lawfully be both asked and received. In the know by what method men of this profession proceeded in their ruphearer's not remembering him, however, we may observe inquiry into secret things; whether they pretended to expound something that seems providentially to have turned to his advan-dreams, and descry future events, by natural observations, by the tage, since had he been discharged before Pharaoh's dream, he art of astrology, which came much in request in future ages, by might many ways have missed of that prodigious favour and such rules as are now found in the books of oneirocritics; or by advancement, which by this means he attained.-Bibliotheca certain characters, images, pictures, and figures, which were Billica in locum. engraved with magical rites and ceremonies. It is not to be doubted indeed but that the magicians, whom Pharaoh consulted for the interpretation of his dreams, made use of some at least, if not all these arts; and the Jewish doctors would make us believe, that after several attempts of divers kinds, they came at last to this exposition, that Pharaoh's daughters (for they supposed him to have seven) should die, and that he should have seven others born to him in their stead; but this being not at all satisfactory to their master, put the cupbearer in mind of Joseph's great abilities that way.-Le Clerc's and Patrick's Commentary. e The words wherein Joseph prefaces his interpretation of Pharaoh's dreams, are much of the same kind with what we find Daniel addressing Nebuchadnezzar upon the like occasion :— The secret, which the king hath demanded, cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, show unto the king; but there is a God in heaven, who revealeth secrets and maketh known unto the king what shall be in the latter days.'—(Dan. ii. 27, 28.) Both these holy men insinuate, that the interests of princes are more especially the care of divine providence, and that therefore, for their admonition, he frequently sends dreams and visions upon them. And this declaration, previous to the exposition, was perfectly proper, and of mighty force to bespeak the king's attention and regard, at the same time that Joseph was asserting the being and interposition of Almighty God in the guidance of human affairs.-Le Clerc's Commentary, and Bibliotheca Biblica in locum. The words in the text are, from the land of the Hebrews,' which some men suppose were added by Joshua, or some other writer, after the death of Moses; because in Moses' days, and much less in Joseph's, Canaan was not known by that name. It is not the whole land of Canaan, however, that Joseph here means, but only that part of it which lay about Hebron, where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had for a long while lived; (Gen. xxii. 1, 2. | xxxv. 27. xxxvii. 14.) It is said, indeed, that they were strangers and sojourners in the country; but then they were strangers of great note and high renown, who were treated as princes, lived by their own laws, and made leagues not only with private men, but with cities and with kings; (Gen. xxiii. 6. xxi. 22. xxvi. 28. xxxiv. 6.;) the fame of whose deeds could not but be spread abroad, both by the victory which Abraham got in a battle over several kings, and by the sacking of Shechem, which their neighbours durst not revenge; all which might very well make that part of the country wherein they, for three generations, had resided, not improperly be called the land of the Hebrews.'Patrick's Commentary. eAs flush as the chief baker was with hopes, there is this obvious difference between his and the cupbearer's presage, namely, that he was not an agent, but a sufferer in his dream; for he did not give a cake or a confection to the king as the other did the cup, but the fowls of the air descended upon his basket. and fled off with the dainties that were in it.- Patrick's Comment. the A. M. 2276. A. C. 1728; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3539. A. C. 1872. GEN. CH. xxxvii. TO THE END. only denoted the certainty of the event; that therefore, bow the knee.' Nor was this all: for to attach him as the lean kine seemed to eat up the fat, and the still closer to his service, and make him forget the very withered ears to consume the full and flourishing, so, thoughts of ever returning to his own country, dhe after seven years of great plenty, other seven years of changed his name to that of Zaphnah-paaneah, which extreme famine should succeed, which would lay waste signifies a prime minister, and matched him into a all the country, and leave no signs of the former plenty: noble family, to Asenah, the daughter of Potipherah, and therefore, since it had pleased God thus to inform priest or prince of On; by whom he had two sons, the king what seasons he intended to bring upon the former of whom he called Manasseh, intimating that God earth, he hoped he would make a right use of the infor-made him forget all his toils; and the other Ephraim, mation, by appointing a wise and prudent man over his because he had made him fruitful in the land of his whole kingdom, who should take care to build granaries, affliction. and appoint officers under him in every province, who should collect and lay up a a fifth part of each plentiful year's product against the succeeding years of famine. a This interpretation, and the good advice given upon it, made the king conceive so great an opinion of Joseph's wisdom, that he thought no one could be so fit to manage the office of collecting the corn in the years of plenty as he who had suggested a scheme so very beneficial. He, therefore, in a short time, made him his deputy over the land of Egypt, and to that purpose invested him with the usual ensigns of that station; gave him his own signet from off his finger; caused him to be clothed in a robe of fine linen, and put a golden chain about his neck; ordered him to ride in a chariot next to his own; and wherever he went, heralds to go before, and, in token that the viceroy was coming, to proclaim to the people, c a Since there were to be as many years of scarceness as of plenty, some have made it a question why Joseph advised no more than a fifth part of the corn, in plentiful years, to be laid up: but to this it may be replied, that the greater and richer sort were used, in time of plenty, to fill their storehouses with provision against a scarcer year, which sometimes happened; that in the times of famine, men were wont to live more frugally and parsimoniously, as the Egyptians at this time, according to Josephus, were obliged to do by Pharaoh's special command; that, even in the years of famine, tillage went on, and the harvest might be something, (though not mentioned by reason that the product was comparatively inconsiderable,) especially in the lands lying near the Nile; and that, as the tenth part was an ordinary tribute due to the kings of Egypt, in the years of extraordinary plenty, (when the fifth was no more than the tenth in other years,) Pharaoh might think it proper to double this charge, or, what is rather to be supposed from a good king and a good counsellor, to buy as much more as was his tribute, which he might do at an easy rate, when such a vast plenty made corn extremely cheap.-Patrick's Commentary. 6 Here we may observe again, that Joseph directs Pharaoh to look up to God as the author of all these events, and that not in an ordinary, but extraordinary manner, since such fertility and such famine did not proceed from mere natural causes, but from an overruling providence, which made the river Nile overflow its banks so largely for seven years together, and so occasion a great plenty; and then, for the next seven years, overflow very little, if at all, and so produce a very sore and long famine. Nor can it be objected to Joseph that he was guilty of presumption or boldness in giving his advice to Pharaoh concerning the provision that was to be made against the ensuing scarceness, since he was conscious to himself that he was best able to give such advice, and would have been guilty of the sin of omission, had he neglected to do it, in so great and so general a concern.Patrick's Commentary, and Bibliotheca Biblica in locum. e Annotators are much at a loss to determine of what original the word abrech is, some pretending that it is altogether Hebrew, while others make it a compound of Hebrew and Syriac, and others contend, at the same time, that it is purely Egyptian. Those who pretend that it is Hebrew, besides the signification of bowing the knee, which it very well bears, by dividing it into two words, make it import a tender father, and suppose that Joseph might very properly be called a father in point of his consummate wisdom, and young or tender in regard to his In the mean time, Joseph being now about thirty years old when he was raised to this height of power, took a progress through the whole kingdom; built granaries, appointed proper officers in every place, and, in short, ordered all things with such prudence and 6 years. Those who make it a mixture of Hebrew and Syriac, divide it, in like manner, into two words, and suppose that as ab, in the Hebrew, is father, so rech or rach, in the Syrian tongue, is king, in the same sense that Joseph says of himself, father unto Pharaoh,' (Gen. xlv. 8.) that is, in giving him wholeand perhaps with allusion to this very name, God has made me a some counsel, even as a father does his children: but those who contend for its being purely Egyptian, do freely confess, that at this distance of time, and under such obsoleteness of that language, it is next to impossible to find out the genuine significa tion of an honorary term, as this very probably was; and therefore they observe, that as the Jewish historian makes no mention of this circumstance in Joseph's story, he might be induced to that omission by reason of his not understanding this word of exotic growth. In this uncertainty of opinions, therefore, we have thought it the best way to follow that translation which some of the best Hebrew interpreters, the Septuagint and Vulgate versions have approved.-Heidegger's Hist. Patriar., vol. 2. Essay 20. d It was an ancient custom among eastern princes, upon their promotion of any favourite, to give him a new name. Nebu chadnezzar, we read, (Dan. i. 7.,) imposed new names upon Daniel and his companions in Babylon; and it was the custom of the Mogul never to advance a man, but he gave him a new name, and that significative of something belonging to him: but here the question is, what the meaning of the name which Pharaoh gave Joseph is? In the Hebrew text it is Zaphnah-paaneah, but in the Egyptian and Greek Pentateuch it is Pson-thonphanech. The oriental versions, however, are pretty unanimous in rendering it—a revealer of secrets, but there are some reasons why this should not be its true interpretation. For the time when Pharaoh gave the patriarch this name, was when he advanced him from the condition of an imprisoned slave to that of a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt;' and, therefore, it is reasonable to suppose that he gave it in commemoration of such promotion, rather than of his expounding dreams; because to have called him an interpreter of dreams only, had been degrading him to the level of magicians. Now if Pharaoh gave him this name in memory of his promotion, it is very likely that this name was strictly and properly Egyptian, otherwise the common people could not have understood it, though Moses, in his recording it, might endeavour to accommodate it to the Hebrew idiom; and if it was Egyptian, the word in that language signifies what we call a prime minister; or strictly the first, or prince of the lords.-Bibliotheca Biblica, Occasional Annotations, 41. e The reader must remember not to confound this name with Potiphar, who bought Joseph of the Ishmaelites, because their names in Hebrew are not differently written. The one, however, is called the captain of the guards, the other the prince of priest of On; so that the former must have had his residence in the capital, to be always about the king; but the latter lived at On or Heliopolis, about twenty miles distant from Memphis, the metropolis of the kingdom: nor can we suppose that Joseph would ever have married his master's daughter, lest she should have proved not unlike her mother, for whose incontinence he had so severely smarted.—Universal History, b. 1. c. 7. |