_JACOB SENDS HIS SONS INTO AEGYPT TO BUY CORN, BUT KEEPS BENJAMIN AT HOME. JOSEPH KNOWS HIS BRETHREN, THOUGH THEY KNOW NOT HIM. HE PRETENDS TO THINK THEM SPIES, AND COMMANDS THEM TO BRING BENJAMIN TO HIM. THEY RETURNED FROM AEGYPT, AND RELATE THE MATTER TO THEIR FATHER, WHO REFUSES TO LET BENJAMIN G... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN JACOB SAW— That is, was informed, _had heard,_ as it is in the second verse. See Acts 7:12. _He said, why do ye look one upon another?_ a phrase expressing great distress, and ignorance of the means of relief.... [ Continue Reading ]
JOSEPH WAS THE GOVERNOR— שׁליט _shalit,_ one who is appointed ruler, or governor: the Arabic word _sultan_ comes from it. _AND JOSEPH'S BRETHREN CAME_— Hence, it seems very probable, that the names of all those strangers who came to AEgypt were brought to Joseph, either that such of them as he thou... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY KNEW NOT HIM— Every thing concurred to conceal Joseph from them; the alteration of his person; his dress; his state; and, above all, their having no apprehension of meeting him.... [ Continue Reading ]
YE ARE SPIES— This might be rendered, _are ye spies?_ or, _are ye not spies?_ are ye not come to spy out the nakedness of the land? by which means, the direct affirmation is removed. _The nakedness of the land_ signifies, the weak, unfortified places of the country. Le Clerc observes, that what made... [ Continue Reading ]
WE ARE ALL ONE MAN'S SONS— Their answer here was very pertinent; for it was not probable that a father would have sent his sons, and much less all of them, in one company, upon so dangerous an exploit; nor that one particular person, or family, would have formed a design against so capital a kingdom... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT IS IT THAT I SPAKE— This confirms what I said, and gives me just grounds for suspicion that _you_ really _are spies:_ you pretend to have another brother; why then should your father not have sent all, as well as so many. _Hereby ye shall be proved;_ this is the very point in which I will try y... [ Continue Reading ]
BY THE LIFE OF PHARAOH— This was a solemn protestation; as he valued the life and honour of his prince, he would do so and so. Judah explains it in this manner to his father, ch. Genesis 43:3. _The man did solemnly protest unto us;_ and certainly Judah, who heard him, must best understand his meanin... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR I FEAR GOD— As much as to say, I am influenced by a religious principle, though you might not expect it, in my place and station; and, as so influenced, cannot be guilty either of injustice or cruelty; on which account I will treat you with as much lenity as the suspicions I have urged will admi... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SAID ONE TO ANOTHER— Nothing can more strongly or beautifully picture to us the power of conscience, and the utility of affliction to awaken that power, than this conversation, and these mutual reproaches. We see, in their representation, the little innocent Joseph stretching out his tender han... [ Continue Reading ]
SPAKE UNTO THEM BY AN INTERPRETER— Not only to keep up an air of majesty, and to strike an awe upon his brethren, but to prevent his being discovered.... [ Continue Reading ]
TURNED HIMSELF ABOUT FROM THEM, AND WEPT— If the conduct of Joseph's brethren presents us with a striking proof of the power of conscience, Joseph himself affords us as striking a proof of the power of nature: affected at their confusion and distress, all the tenderness of the brother filled his hea... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY LADED THEIR ASSES— Some have inferred from this and the following verse, that they had only ten asses with them, an ass to each man: but the expression would lead one as much to believe, that they had only ten sacks, a sack on each ass, which would have been so small a quantity as would not hav... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR HEART FAILED THEM— In the strong Hebrew idiom, _their heart went out, or left their body:_ strong conscience was at work; they were afraid where no fear was: _What is this that God hath done unto us?_ say they. It is the nature of awakened guilt to be particularly full of apprehensions of God'... [ Continue Reading ]
REUBEN SPAKE UNTO HIS FATHER— Reuben's expressions seem to denote a suspicion of his sons in Jacob; and, however rapid and passionate they may be, they indicate, at least, something good in Reuben; a sanguine and earnest disposition to please his father; a just confidence in his own intentions, as w... [ Continue Reading ]
MY SON SHALL NOT— Nothing can be more tender and picturesque than these words of the venerable old patriarch. Full of affection for his beloved Rachel, he cannot think of parting with Benjamin, the only remaining pledge of their love, now that Joseph, as he supposes, is no more. We seem to behold th... [ Continue Reading ]