On Genesis, Part 54: Salvation and Mercy

On Genesis, Part 54: Salvation and Mercy

Discussing Genesis chapters 42 and 43, where it is described that a grievous famine had persisted throughout the world of Jacob and his sons, we have commented at length on the Angst and Desperation that they must have suffered on account of it, as well as the Surrender and Submission that they were compelled to make before the governor of Egypt, so that they could obtain food and survive the famine. But upon their having done that, they were a special case, because Joseph had recognized them and treated them accordingly, but they did not recognize Joseph. The Scriptures were always written with a focus on the central characters with which it is concerned. So what we are not told in Scripture is that in the background, many other people from Canaan must have also journeyed to Egypt seeking to buy grain, and that must have also been how Jacob had initially even heard that there was grain in Egypt. But those who had bought it and traded it in Canaan would have sold it at a considerable markup, and for that reason it is very likely that Jacob had wanted his sons to go to Egypt and buy it for themselves.

Now here in Genesis chapter 44, before they would attain to any Salvation and Mercy, from their perspective the prospects of emerging from the famine unscathed must have been even more dismal, since at this point in Genesis, Benjamin had been charged with having stolen the governor’s silver goblet. However, as we had described the prophetic parallels with the history of the later children of Israel in relation to Christ which are found throughout these accounts, this situation also serves as a lesson for Christians today.

So with this, we must also make an observation which relates to certain significant circumstances in modern times. First, we shall read from the 116th Psalm, which is a Messianic prophecy: “12 What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? 13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. 14 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people. 15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” Of course, the cup of salvation was taken by Christ, who had challenged His apostles and said, as it is recorded in Matthew chapter 20: “22 … Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of …?” Shortly thereafter He warned them that they would indeed drink from that cup. Then even later, in Luke chapter 22, He spoke symbolically of the cup from which they had drank at Passover and said “20 … This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.”

But today, Christians are literally attempting to steal that cup of salvation from the hands of Christ, as He had promised it exclusively to Israel, but they endeavor to give it to every beast with two legs that pretends to love Jesus. For this, we read in Hebrews chapter 10 that: “28 One who sets aside a law of Moses, without compassion by two or three witnesses is put to death. 29 How much more severe a punishment do you suppose he who has trampled upon the Son of Yahweh would be accounted worthy? And who regarded as common the blood of the covenant in which he was sanctified? And who insulted the Spirit of that favor? 30 For we know the saying: ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will requite,’ and again ‘Yahweh will judge His people.’ 31 A fearful thing it is, to fall into the hands of Yahweh, who lives.” To consider something common is to esteem it as not being holy, a word which means separated and devoted to God.

Only the children of Israel had been considered holy by Yahweh God, the New Covenant was promised to them exclusively, and it is not to be shared with other peoples. So we read another promise, in the closing passages of Ezekiel chapter 37: “24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. 25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. 26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. 27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 And the heathen (the other nations) shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.” Only the children of Israel were the subjects of this message.

The promises of Christ cannot be interpreted in a manner which stands in conflict with the promises which Yahweh God had made to the people of Israel. Christ Himself professed as having come “but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” and also as having come to uphold the law and the prophets. Paul had professed that the hope in Christ was for the twelve tribes of Israel, in Acts chapter 26, and that Christ had come to confirm the promises which Yahweh God had made to the fathers, to the patriarchs of Israel, in Romans chapter 15. Never were the fathers promised anything concerning other peoples and races, other than the fact that they would supplant them, to the benefit of their own offspring. To make any attempt to snatch the cup of salvation from the hands of Christ and share it with anyone but Israel, is to make oneself an object of the wrath of Yahweh which was spoken of by Paul. The cup of salvation is His, and He has informed us of those with whom He would share it.

Returning our focus to Genesis chapter 44, in the opening verses of the chapter, as his brethren are about to depart Egypt and return to Canaan with a new supply of grain, Joseph contrives another ploy, and had his steward plant his silver goblet in the sack of Benjamin. Evidently, Joseph had done this because he sought to compel the sons of Jacob to bring their father to Egypt. But while that objective is ultimately attained, it will not quite work out in the way that Joseph had planned. As we shall see later in this chapter, upon the pleas of Judah, Joseph relented and revealed to his brethren his identity as their brother.

There are several other circumstances here which we shall also consider before proceeding. First, Reuben had tried to make himself responsible for Benjamin and Jacob had refused him. But later, when Judah made a similar offer, and Jacob was compelled, he relented. So going into captivity in Egypt, Judah became responsible for Benjamin, and it is no coincidence that when the later Kingdom of Israel was divided in the days of Rehoboam, that Benjamin had therefore remained with Judah.

Furthermore, Benjamin was found with Joseph’s silver goblet. So considering the evidence that Joseph here serves as a prophetic type for Christ, and the allegorical manner in which we have imagined that goblet to represent the Cup of Salvation taken by Christ, it is no coincidence that most of the later apostles of Christ, who had declared that salvation to the world, also seem to have been from of the tribe of Benjamin, although Judah was evidently represented among them in the persons of James and Jude. Paul of Tarsus declared explicitly that he was from of Benjamin. All of these things, we must consider as lessons of instruction for Christians, that lend support to the many proofs that the Word of Yahweh our God certainly was authored by Him, whereby we also should realize that He alone is also the author of history itself.

So now, returning to the narrative, when the sons of Jacob were accused of having stolen the silver goblet, they professed that whoever stole it should be slain, and they offered themselves as slaves. But Joseph’s servant, his steward, who must have been privy to the reasons for the ploy, judged more sensibly and told them that whoever had the goblet would be kept in Egypt as his servant, while the others could go free. Then unexpectedly, when their brother Benjamin had been caught with the silver goblet, knowing that they could not return to Jacob without him, the brothers rent their clothes in shame, and returned to the city after the steward. Now we shall commence at that point where we had left off, in Genesis chapter 44:

14 And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house; for he was yet there: and they fell before him on the ground.

Here once again the brothers had unwittingly fulfilled Joseph’s dream, by prostrating themselves at his feet. The complete submission which such an act had represented in the ancient world is found in many ancient inscriptions from both before and after the time of Moses. In one of the Amarna Letters which the kings of Canaan had written to Pharaoh Akhenaten, Abimelech the king of Tyre had addressed him in part by saying: “To the king, my lord, my pantheon, my Sun-god say: Thus Abimilki, thy servant. Seven and seven times I fall at the feet of the king, my lord. I am the dirt under the feet of the king, my lord.” [1] The ancient kings, including the pharaohs of Egypt, had considered themselves to be the light of the world, the sun on earth, and the source of all law and righteousness. Understanding this, much of the similar Biblical language in reference to Yahweh God and Yahshua Christ may be understood in a meaningful historical context.

As Moses had done with Laban and his father, in Genesis chapter 24 (24:50) where they had answered the servant of Abraham and he wrote “Then Laban and Bethuel answered”, thusly he does also here. Since Judah will have a preeminent role in the conversation with Joseph throughout the balance of the events being described here in this chapter, so here already he is portrayed as having the leading role, and he certainly must have taken the leading role. In that earlier passage in Genesis, Laban had been given precedence even over his father, evidently because he had assumed a leading role in the discourse where the servant of Abraham had made solicitations for Rebekah, and also had that role later when Jacob had come to him in search of a wife. So ostensibly, these descriptions also serve as a literary device used to introduce the character who will be prominent in the events which follow.

Now Joseph responds to their display of submission:

15 And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine?

As we have already discussed where it was mentioned that the silver goblet had been used for the purpose of divining earlier in this chapter, it is immaterial as to whether Joseph had actually ever divined using that cup, and here it is clear that Joseph is claiming to have been able to divine at a time when he obviously did not even have possession of the cup. However it is also evident that he is only maintaining the ruse that he is an Egyptian, and therefore he must uphold that image. He did not need to divine the location of the cup, because he is the one who had instructed the steward to hide it in the place where it had been found. But with that observation, it is also evident that the Egyptians must have practiced such superstitions as divining, which are even more evident later, in the events which anticipated the Exodus of Israel in the time of Moses and Aaron. The Egyptians certainly had not been able to divine what had happened to them there.

Now Judah answers, and apparently he could not offer a substantial defense. It is plausible that he had remained unaware that Benjamin did not actually take the cup, because he even professes that the revelation of the trespass must have come from God. So while he pleads of their innocence and professes that there is no way to prove it, he nevertheless defers to the charges:

16 And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord's servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found.

Not being able to disprove the charges, Judah offered himself and all of his brethren as punishment. But like his steward before him, Joseph would not accept that. Rather ironically, in chapter 43 (43:18) where the brothers were first invited into the house of Joseph, not knowing why they had received such an invitation they had feared the prospect of being made into slaves. Now when they had been accused of wrongdoing, they offered themselves up voluntarily as slaves.

There is one other aspect of this to consider. If Joseph had accepted them all as slaves, Judah would not have been compelled to return to Canaan without Benjamin, and face the grief of his father. So perhaps he had imagined that permanent slavery in Egypt was a better option than seeing the wrath of his father as he was overcome with grief. However where he replies, Joseph would not accept holding them all as slaves for the alleged actions of only one of them:

17 And he said, God forbid that I should do so: but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your father.

In this statement, where he said “and as for you,” perhaps Joseph seems to have revealed the knowledge that Judah was not the man who had taken the cup, which as a gamble has one-in-eleven odds, and Joseph would not punish anyone except for the apparently guilty party. However we must bear in mind that this was also a ploy, because Joseph actually sought only to hold onto Benjamin while continuing to deceive his brethren, and ostensibly, he had hoped that holding Benjamin would also bring Jacob himself to Egypt. So now Judah, who evidently could not bear facing his father without Benjamin, makes a lengthy plea for mercy, which also informs Joseph that without Benjamin, they could not go home in peace, and that his father could not possibly have peace:

18 Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh.

The opening of Judah’s plea seems to have bordered on flattery, even if it was true. Now he recounts to Joseph, who is still a stranger in his eyes, a summary of the substance of their interactions wherein he also strives to show that he had dealt with him honestly:

19 My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother? 20 And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him. 21 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him. 22 And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die. 23 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more.

Judah’s explanation must have given Joseph the impression that it was his own fault that the men had been maneuvered into an impossible predicament. But on the other hand, that is also what Joseph had planned, because he apparently wanted them all to come to Egypt, as he shall state later in this chapter. However what Joseph could not have foreseen, is the degree to which Jacob had preferred the sons of Rachel over those of his other wives, the degree to which he had clung to and sheltered Benjamin in Joseph’s absence on account of that preference, and the degree to which he had grieved his apparent loss of Joseph himself.

So in light of the other prophetic parallels this has with the later history of the children of Israel, perhaps we may also understand that Yahweh God has subjected man to the vanity of this world, so that he may learn by it, as we may read in Ecclesiastes chapter 1 and Romans chapter 8. But man, being imperfect, will not always plan anything perfectly so that every possible circumstance is accounted for, even when he is inspired by Yahweh God, and he will not always respond perfectly when he is placed into an impossible situation. Therefore this may also serve as a lesson for Christians. Only Yahweh God Himself can plan perfectly, and respond perfectly, so that His will is fulfilled, rather than the will of man.

In his ongoing plea for mercy, Judah continues to describe his perception of these events from his own perspective:

24 And it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. 25 And our father said, Go again, and buy us a little food. 26 And we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down: for we may not see the man's face, except our youngest brother be with us.

Here Judah is sincere, where sincerity is in his favor, and it shows that he had sought to comply with the demands which Joseph had to see Benjamin even when his father did not desire to do so. Where he continues, however, Joseph could not have missed noticing certain implications:

27 And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bare me two sons: 28 And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I saw him not since: 29 And if ye take this also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.

This would have revealed to Joseph the fact that the sons of Jacob had never told their father the full account of what had happened in Dothan, that they themselves had left Joseph abandoned in a pit and thereby had exposed him to such a fate. We shall probably never know anything of the embarrassment or shame which Judah must have felt once he realized that he was actually speaking these things to Joseph, and it is never again mentioned, perhaps on account of the great mercy which Joseph had for his brethren. Joseph himself is portrayed as having explained the reasons for that in chapter 45 of Genesis.

Where Judah continues, he further illustrates the fact that Jacob could not live without Benjamin:

30 Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life; 31 It shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave.

This must have greatly moved Joseph, since in his prior inquiries with his brethren, he had always showed his concern for Jacob by asking the men about their father. In Genesis chapter 43 his sons inform Jacob of their experience in Egypt: “7 And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down?” Then again, where they are described as having returned to Egypt later in that same chapter, upon seeing Joseph, we read “27 And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive? 28 And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance.”

Now Judah describes the pledge which he made to his father:

32 For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever. 33 Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren. 34 For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father.

So as we had conjectured earlier in this chapter, Judah certainly did prefer slavery to the prospect of returning to his father Jacob without Benjamin, and he was apparently more afraid that he would witness Jacob dying in grief, than being concerned for Jacob himself. If the men did not return at all, without the intervention of Yahweh Jacob would very likely have died from a miserable anxiety in the midst of the famine. 

So with this, we shall commence with Genesis chapter 45:

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.

“The Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard”: This indicates that Joseph may have been in Itjtawy, the seat of the pharaohs of the early 13th Dynasty of Egypt. If Egyptian chronology has been reconstructed closely enough to correspond with our Biblical chronology. Earlier in this commentary, in Part 49, we had rather tentatively identified this pharaoh of Joseph’s time with Merneferre Ay, who was the last pharaoh to rule both upper and lower Egypt until the emergence of the 18th Dynasty pharaoh Ahmose or Ahmosis I, who began to rule about a hundred and twenty years after Jacob had gone to Egypt.

Merneferre Ay is indeed the best candidate, since by the reckoning of at least some archaeologists he is esteemed to have ruled Egypt from 1681 to 1657 BC, and he is the only pharaoh of the period who is known to have ruled long enough to have been pharaoh for the entire fourteen years of the dream which Joseph had interpreted. The exact location of the capital city, Itjtawy, remains unknown to this day, but records suggest that it could not have been far from the Delta. The city had become the capital of Egypt in the time of the founder of the 12th Dynasty, Amenemhat I, who had ruled Egypt in the early 20th century BC, which was just before the time of the birth of Abraham.

Returning to Genesis, here it is quite clear that the appeals which Judah had made, and his description of the plight of Jacob in Canaan as well as Jacob’s apparent love for his lost son Joseph and for Benjamin above all of his other sons had moved Joseph to end his ruse and his ploy, and reveal himself to his brothers:

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.

They had earlier told Joseph that their father was still alive, so perhaps his insistence here merely underscores his concern. But he also must have seen that they were troubled:

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.

This leads us to discuss another apparent parallel in the lives of Joseph and of Yahshua Christ, although it is manifested in contrary ways:

Joseph was living his life as a great ruler in Egypt, second only to the pharaoh. But here, he had essentially denied himself and humbled himself in order to save his brethren and bring them all to Egypt, and his concern for his father had led him to do that. He could have maintained his ruse, but his ruse was also his reality: that he was the vizier of Egypt. Maintaining his ruse, he may have saved his brethren by accepting them as slaves. But instead, he denied himself and set aside his apparent identity as a powerful Egyptian official by revealing his true self to his brethren, and thereby he saved them all, his brethren as well as his father.

On the other hand, Yahshua Christ is actually God incarnate, but he had to deny Himself and live as a common man in order to save his brethren, while also showing great concern for His father. The concern for His Father was expressed in different terms, since He upheld the Word of Yahweh not only through His teaching, but also by forsaking Himself and His true nature as God and dying so that he may uphold the promises to Abraham. So this yet another way in which Joseph is a prophetic type for Yahshua Christ, even if the analogy is rather complex.

Joseph continues his revelation to his brethren:

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.

Here Joseph exhibits a profound understanding of the Will of God in the light of these unfolding events. Whether it was revealed to him explicitly or not is immaterial, Christians must know that all revelation is from of God, in one way or another. So Joseph, having known that it was by the hand of Yahweh that he was sent to Egypt, in order to save his brethren, could not in any way have blamed them for his having gone to Egypt, or for the manner in which he had gone to Egypt. Therefore, in a manner which is also very much like Christ, he could not possibly hold his brothers accountable in any way for what things they had done or said to him, because he knew that it was actually from of God that those things had happened. Now he warns them:

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.

The word earing seems to have been an Old English term which was apparently borrowed from the Latin verb aro or arare, which means to plow. The Hebrew word from which it was translated, חריש or charish, is to plow, and that is also how it was translated into Greek in the Septuagint.

Here Joseph informs his brethren that it has been at least two years of famine, and that there are five remaining, so they must have wondered how he could have possibly known that. Then, since there were seven years of plenty, and at this point two years of famine have already passed, it must be a little longer than two years, so it is at least nine years and perhaps a little longer since Joseph had stood before pharaoh, after he had been taken out of prison, as it is explained in Genesis chapter 41: “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 all the land of Egypt.”

So by this, in our Genesis chronology we have reckoned that Jacob had come to Egypt when Joseph was about forty years old, and Jacob, once he arrives, had stood before pharaoh had declared that he was a hundred and thirty years old. Much of our Genesis chronology hinges on these facts, which allow us to determine approximately how old Jacob was when he had first gone to Haran, as well as how old he was when Joseph was born. He was said to have been in Haran twenty years after he had departed from there (Genesis 31:38) and when Joseph was born not long before his departure that is when Jacob had first moved to leave (Genesis 30:24-25). The events subsequent to his first expressed desire to leave show that he may have stayed a year or two thereafter, so our chronology may be off that much relative to the timing of events here, but the differences are insignificant in the overall picture. That is because the balance of our chronology hinges, by necessity, on the age of Jacob where he stands before pharaoh.

Counting back further, with that we can determine the approximate year in which Jacob had come to Egypt, among other things. So according to our chronology, Jacob was born around 1795 BC, and he had come to Egypt around 1665 BC. At this point in Genesis, if Joseph is not quite forty years old, he will be forty, or at least, very close to forty by the time his father arrives in Egypt. For that reason, in our chronology we reckon his age at forty when that event occurs, however we also know that no chronology can be entirely perfect with the modicum of information with which we are supplied in Scripture. Now Joseph continues to address his brethren, and he continues to glorify God, rather than himself:

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.

Where Joseph is depicted as having said “He hath made me a father to pharaoh”, the Hebrew word אב or ab (# 1) has a wider range of meanings, and some of them are also intended where our English word father is used in similar idioms. Here it may have been translated as advisor or counsellor, as some modern translations have it. Gesenius notes this use of the word, citing 1 Maccabees 11:32 and other sources. [2] But in a very similar sense, Paul of Tarsus had used the term in his first epistle to the Thessalonians, in chapter 2, where he had told them “11 As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, 12 That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.” Likewise, throughout his own epistles, the apostle John had referred to his readers as “little children”.

Where Joseph is recorded as having said “and to save your lives by a great deliverance”, which is a fair interpretation of the corresponding Hebrew, Brenton’s Septuagint translation has “even to nourish a great remnant of you”, which is a fair interpretation of the corresponding Greek. But apparently, this passage, along with all of chapter 44 and chapter 45 as far as verse 14, is wanting in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Here once again, Joseph exhibits an attitude very much like that which Yahshua Christ Himself had exhibited, always giving Yahweh God the credit and the glory for the good things which he would be able to do for his father and his brethren, and for the salvation that they would have on account of his having become a ruler in Egypt. So now he instructs them further, and this fulfills his plan for them from the beginning, which was also Yahweh’s plan for them, but in a way in which he himself did not entirely anticipate:

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.

Where the King James Version has Goshen, the Septuagint has Gesem of Arabia. This seems to have been a Hellenistic interpretation which is patently incorrect, as the Septuagint translators had on more than one occasion misinterpreted the names or the locations of places as they were in ancient times. The circumstances of the Exodus account demonstrate beyond doubt that Goshen was in Egypt, and most likely in the eastern Delta area. The Nile Delta is 10,000 square miles in area. By some accounts, Goshen is the entire eastern half of the Delta, and portions extending beyond the Delta. Some Bible maps, such as one found in the article for the Land of Goshen at Wikipedia, extend Goshen beyond the bounds of the Nile Delta, in an area that covers roughly 8,000 square miles, which is much larger than the State of New Jersey. However it is unlikely that Jacob and his sons and their families, which at first had comprised of only about 75 men, could even manage such an extraordinary amount of land. It is much more likely that Goshen was only a smaller portion of Egypt within the area of the Delta.

Here it is evident that at this point in his tenure in Egypt, Joseph is confident enough that he would have the authority to obtain for his brethren a portion of land in a location that he had already determined. So Joseph was confident that the pharaoh would approve and uphold his promises to his brethren.

The ways in which Joseph is a prophetic type for Christ are numerous. Christ also promised His brethren that His Father would grant them a place in His kingdom, which they could not imagine for themselves. Christ promises complete mercy for His brethren in spite of all of their sins against Him. Christ promises absolute salvation for His brethren, just as Joseph told his brethren here that God sent him “to save your lives by a great deliverance”, and Christ was confident that He was accomplishing the Will of Yahweh, just as Joseph also professed here that what he had done, and what he would do for his brethren, was also the Will of Yahweh. By now Joseph is also confident that his brethren accept that it truly is he who is speaking to them:

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.

Moses need not have recorded the reactions of the sons of Israel to Joseph’s words, if indeed they were not rendered speechless. Rather, the record of their subsequent actions is sufficient to exhibit their trust in what they had heard here.

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.

So now there is a complete reconciliation between Joseph and his brothers, and with all certainty they should have learned not to despise him any longer, and to glorify Yahweh God for what they had experienced, as Joseph had certainly provided them with that example.

Now the focus shifts to the acceptance of these events by the Egyptians themselves:

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.

As we have already seen in verse 2 of this chapter, as soon as Joseph had wept, “the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.” So this indicates that wherever Joseph was, in Itjtawy or possibly in some other capital city of the Egyptians, he must have been near to the royal residence of the pharaoh.

All Egyptian eyes would have been on Joseph, it seems, for one reason or another. He was a Hebrew, and being a Hebrew, it may be reasonable to conjecture that the pharaoh had taken a great political risk by making him the vizier of Egypt, above all other Egyptians, since the Egyptians had historically distrusted Hebrews and all other Asiatics. This distrust is reflected in the disdain which was echoed by the adulterous wife of Potiphar who had dishonestly declared to her staff that her husband had “brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us”, when she suspected that Joseph may have reported her own infidelity to his master. However with Joseph’s success, which is already evident for nine years of a fourteen year prophecy, the pharaoh would be vindicated for his decision, and he must have related both his dream and Joseph’s interpretation to the other members of his court in order to help justify that decision.

The Hebrew word translated as fame here in verse 16 is קול or קל, qowl or qol, which is most literally a voice. Here it was translated into the Greek of the Septuagint as φωνή or phonê, which is also literally a voice in Greek, and the idiom was maintained into the New Testament period. For example, where it was said of Christ in Luke chapter 4: “37 And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about”, it is evident there and in many other places that the words for voice in either language may have been translated into English as report in these contexts. Even in some contexts in English, the word report is used as a synonym for sound, for example when the report of a gunshot is heard.

So upon pharaoh’s having received what must have been a rather full report of these events in relation to Joseph:

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.

This pharaoh must have had great esteem for Joseph, which was magnified by the fact that for nine of the fourteen years prophesied by Joseph’s interpretation of his dream, the dream has been fulfilled in the precise manner in which Joseph had explained it. Therefore the pharaoh must have known that God was with Joseph, as there could be no other logical explanation.

So the pharaoh continues to exceed any expectation of hospitality in looking after Joseph’s family:

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.

The word translated as stuff is כלי or keliy (# 3627), which may refer to household goods, utensils, equipment, vessels, or even carriages, among other things. But in this context, the word for wagon in verses 19 and 21 is עגלת or agalah, which is more explicitly a wagon or a cart. In relation to their earlier trip to Egypt, where this same word keliy was translated as vessels in Genesis chapter 43 (43:11), we had postulated that the sons of Jacob may have had a cart or carts with them on their journey, and that may still hold true both here and there. However ostensibly, they would not have had enough carts to move their entire households, so in either case the offer is credible, and the wagons would have been needed.

Here pharaoh had not only upheld all of Joseph’s own words, but he even exceeded them in his magnanimity towards his brethren. Much later in history, over seven hundred years later, Solomon in chapter 19 of his Wisdom would describe at length the relationship between the children of Israel and the Egyptians, leading up to the Exodus, and he wrote, in part, where he begins by contrasting the Sodomites to the Egyptians: “14 For indeed those others not knowing did not hospitably receive those present, but these had enslaved guests who were benefactors.” Saying “those others” Solomon referred to the reception of the angels by the men of Sodom. But then saying “but these”, he had referred to these Egyptians here in Genesis. The pharaoh must have known that Joseph was his benefactor, since Joseph’s interpretation of his dream had preserved all of Egypt from the famine.

Where Solomon continues in Wisdom chapter 19 he made another comparison, and again, he first speaks of the Sodomites: “15 And not only, but there shall be a certain visitation of them, since hatefully they received the strangers”. Then he once again contrasts their behavior with that of later Egyptians, where he said: “16 and they having admitted with festivities those whom already having been partakers of their customs, had mistreated them terribly in labors.” So here Solomon informs us that the Egyptians had received Israel with festivities, and that certainly is manifest where Jacob is later described as having stood before the pharaoh and had spoken to him. Where Solomon spoke of their mistreatment, he was describing the Egyptian enslavement of Israel which would happen nearly a hundred years after Israel had went to Egypt. At least, Joseph would live in Egypt for another seventy years from this point, and it seems that he had died in peace, although the circumstances of Israel at the time of his death is not recorded.

Now the sons of Jacob must have readily complied with the words of Joseph and of the pharaoh:

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.

Just as Joseph had given his brother five times as much food, probably much more than he could eat, as it is recorded in Genesis chapter 43 (43:34), he gives him here more clothing than he could probably wear on the journey. The fact that Joseph readily allowed Benjamin to take the journey is an exhibit of the concern which he had for Jacob, and how he was willing to put his brethren and father ahead of himself. The love of Joseph for his kindred is therefore manifest in his willingness to deny himself and make sacrifices on their behalf, even sacrifices of trivial things.

The pharaoh continues in his good will towards Joseph’s brethren:

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.

Of course, ten she asses could carry much more than one man could eat in several months, but the supplies were evidently for his entire household, and not just for Jacob himself.

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.

The Hebrew word translated as heart is translated literally, while the word translated as fainted is פוג or puwg (# 6313), which the original Strong’s Concordance defines as to grow numb or to be feeble. In the Septuagint, the words had been translated with a Greek phrase, ἐξέστη ἡ διάνοια, which literally means that his thoughts were put out of place, but which Brenton had appropriately translated as amazed.

Of course Jacob would find such a story incredulous, since for twenty-three years he had accounted Joseph for dead, and it must have seemed even more incredible regardless of the circumstances, that a Hebrew of any status could become a governor in Egypt.

But the gifts alone would convince him that they were telling the truth, so they must have been quite substantial, far beyond the capability of the men to have attained on their own:

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.

We could probably never truly imagine how Jacob could have felt at this moment, hearing that a son over whose apparent death he had grieved for twenty-three years, had indeed come to be a ruler of Egypt, which had arguably been the most powerful kingdom in the world for at least several centuries up to this time. As we have already explained in different terms, this is also a prophetic type for Christ, as He would overcome death to inherit the entirety of the Creation of Yahweh, even if it is also true that He actually is Yahweh God incarnate as a man.

This story of Joseph in Egypt is indeed one of the most profound and powerful accounts in our Scriptures, until that of the ministry of Christ. I do not think that my discussions can truly give it justice, but I pray that they have not detracted from it. Yahweh willing, we shall return to Genesis and Jacob’s descent into Egypt in the near future.

Footnotes

1 Ancient Near Eastern Texts Related to the Old Testament 3rd edition, James Pritchard, editor, 1969, Harvard University Press, p. 484.

2 Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament, translated by Samuel Prideaux Tregelles, Baker Books, 1979, p. 2.