_JOSEPH RELATES HIS DREAMS TO HIS BRETHREN: THEY ENVY HIM; AND, CONSPIRING HIS DEATH, FIRST CAST HIM INTO A PIT, AND AFTERWARDS SELL HIM TO SOME MERCHANTS, WHO CARRY HIM DOWN TO AEGYPT, AND SELL HIM TO POTIPHAR. JACOB, SUPPOSING HIM SLAIN, LAMENTS HIM WITH THE DEEPEST GRIEF._ _Before Christ 1871._... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS FATHER WAS A STRANGER— i.e.. A sojourner, not one of the original inhabitants and possessors of the land: the Hebrew, in the margin of our Bibles, _in the land of his father's sojourning,_ is perhaps the most proper. The LXX have it, _in which his father dwelt._... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS OF JACOB— i.e.. These are the things which befel Jacob, the transactions of him and his family. As nothing is here said of _genealogy,_ or beget-ting children, it is plain that the original word here, as in some other passages of Scripture, should be rendered _the history._... [ Continue Reading ]
SON OF HIS OLD AGE— We find Benjamin too was particularly beloved by Jacob; but he was not yet grown up to give proofs of superior piety and virtue, as Joseph had done. Jacob was about ninety years old, when Joseph was born. Onkelos renders it, _because he was a wise son to him,_ taking old age for... [ Continue Reading ]
COULD NOT SPEAK PEACEABLY— The usual salutation with the Eastern nations was, _peace be unto thee,_ which Dr. Shaw assures us is still retained among them; and may be one reason for the frequent use of the word _"peace"_ in the New Testament. REFLECTIONS.—Nothing of the pathetic perhaps ever equall... [ Continue Reading ]
JOSEPH DREAMED—AND THEY HATED HIM YET THE MORE— Every thing conspired to inflame the envy and malice of his brethren. Artabanus and Justin* ascribe, and very justly, this envy to Joseph's superiority over his brethren in wisdom, piety, and virtue. It will appear very plain from the sequel how these... [ Continue Reading ]
HE TOLD IT TO HIS FATHER, &C.— The old man, it is evident, was struck with the dream, and doubted not of its bearing an important meaning; _he observed the saying;_ but fearing, perhaps, lest the young man might be too much elevated by the idea of superiority over his brethren, and thus incur their... [ Continue Reading ]
SO HE SENT HIM OUT OF THE VALE OF HEBRON, &C.— _Hebron,_ where Jacob now dwelt, was at a considerable distance (sixty miles, according to Ainsworth) from Shechem, where Jacob having purchased some lands, ch. Genesis 33:19. his sons, driving their flocks to pasture according to the custom from place... [ Continue Reading ]
REUBEN HEARD—AND HE DELIVERED, &C.— It should seem by this, as if they had seized upon Joseph as he approached nearer to them, and were about to dispatch him; when Reuben interposed, and saved his life. As Reuben was the eldest brother, he had probably most authority among them; but, knowing the inv... [ Continue Reading ]
A COMPANY OF ISHMEELITES— They are called both Ishmeelites and Midianites, Genesis 37:28.; see Judges 8:1. It is most likely that they were, to use a modern phrase, a caravan of Arabian spice-merchants, consisting both of Midianites and Ishmeelites, travelling in companies for their greater safety,... [ Continue Reading ]
TWENTY PIECES OF SILVER— About forty-seven shillings English, as it is generally understood to mean twenty shekels: an inconsiderable price; but they were in haste to get rid of him, upon any terms. Who discerns not, in all this transaction, a striking resemblance of the Jews' envy and hatred to _hi... [ Continue Reading ]
AND REUBEN RETURNED UNTO THE PIT, &C.— We remarked on Genesis 37:2 that the sons of Jacob fed their flocks separately: this is confirmed by the present verse. For it is unquestionable, that Reuben, after he had saved his brother Joseph's life, left the rest of them, probably to attend his own flock;... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SENT—AND THEY BROUGHT, &C.— i.e.. The brethren sent the coat by messengers to their father, _which messengers brought_ it to Jacob.... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL HIS SONS AND ALL HIS DAUGHTERS, &C.— Though Jacob had but one daughter of his own, yet, as his sons were married, _all his daughters_ may well be supposed to include his daughters-in-law. They _rose up to comfort him,_ does not imply any information from them of Joseph's being alive: the contrar... [ Continue Reading ]
AN OFFICER OF PHARAOH'S— Pharaoh, as we have before observed, was the common name of the kings of AEgypt. The person here mentioned is said to have been _captain of the guards_ שׂראּהטבחים _Sar-hatabachim, chief of the slaughter-men_ or _executioners,_ or _captain of the guards;_ for princes ancient... [ Continue Reading ]