Joseph reveals himself, His father and family are invited to move to Egypt
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| 1 ¶ Then Joseph could
not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause
every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph
made himself known unto his brethren.
2 And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. 3 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence. 4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. |
2 -
Wept
... Egyptians ... heard Joseph's "office" must have been near
Pharaoh's. Also there were no air-tight doors and double-pane windows.
3 - I am Joseph An awesome moment. He had been known to the brothers as Zaphnath-paaneah and had spoken through an interpreter. 3 - Troubled You can imagine why. 4 - Your brother Although betrayed, he was still a brother. Do we sometimes harbor bitterness toward our relatives or toward a brother or sister in the faith? Forget the past. It's time to forgive. |
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| .5
Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me
hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. .8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. |
5 -
Be
not grieved nor angry with yourselves Joseph forgave his brothers
in the spirit of Christ.
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| 9 Haste ye, and go up
to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made
me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:
10 And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast: 11 And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty. 12 And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. 13 And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither. |
10 - Dwell in ... Goshen "Thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen] Probably this district had been allotted to Joseph by the king of Egypt, else we can scarcely think he could have promised it so positively, without first obtaining Pharaoh's consent. Goshen was the most easterly province of Lower Egypt, not far from the Arabian Gulf, lying next to Canaan, (for Jacob went directly thither when he came into Egypt,) from whence it is supposed to have been about fourscore miles distant, though Hebron was distant from the Egyptian capital about three hundred miles. At Goshen Jacob stayed till Joseph visited him, Ge 46:28. It is also called the land of Rameses, Ge 47:11, from a city of that name, which was the metropolis of the country. Josephus, Antiq., 1. ii., c. 4, makes Heliopolis, the city of Joseph's father-in-law, the place of the Israelites' residence. As Mvg geshem signifies rain in Hebrew, St. Jerome and some others have supposed that Nvg Goshen comes from the same root, and that the land in question was called thus because it had rain, which was not the case with Egypt in general; and as it was on the confines of the Arabian Gulf, it is very probable that it was watered from heaven, and it might be owing to this circumstance that it was peculiarly fertile, for it is stated to be the best of the land of Egypt. See Ge 47:6,11." (Adam Clark.) |
| 14 And he fell upon
his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck.
15 Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him. |
14,15
- Bejamin's ... wept The sudden transition from a condemned
criminal to a fondled brother, might have occasioned fainting or even death,
had not his tumultuous feelings been relieved by a torrent of tears. But
Joseph's attentions were not confined to Benjamin. He affectionately embraced
every one of his brothers in succession; and by those actions, his forgiveness
was demonstrated more fully than it could be by words." (JFB).
We all need to be tenderhearted to those around us. |
| 16 ¶ And the fame thereof
was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brethren are come: and it
pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants.
17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan; 18 And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land. |
16 - It pleased Pharaoh What a contrast between this monarch and the one that refused to permit the children of Israel to leave. |
| 19 Now thou art commanded,
this do ye; take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones,
and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.
20 Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours. 21 And the children of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. 22 To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment. |
19 - Take you wagons Hyksos had introduced horses and two-wheeled vehicles into Egypt. For travel within Egypt they apparently used boats. |
| 23 And to his father
he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt,
and ten she asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by
the way.
24 So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way. |
24 - Fall not out Don't lose your composure. |
| 25 ¶ And they went up
out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father,
26 And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not. .27 And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived: 28 And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die. |
28 - Israel Notice that he was "Jacob" in the previous verse. He was again the one who had prevailed with God. ge3227f. |
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