INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 37 In this chapter begins the history of Joseph, with whom the remaining part of this book is chiefly concerned; and here are related the hatred of his brethren to him, because he brought an ill report of them to his father, and because his father loved him, and which was in... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JACOB DWELT IN THE LAND WHEREIN HIS FATHER WAS A STRANGER,.... And this stands opposed unto, and is distinguished from the case and circumstances of Esau and his posterity, expressed in the preceding chapter, who dwelt in the land of their possession, not as strangers and sojourners, as Jacob an... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE [ARE] THE GENERATIONS OF JACOB,.... But no genealogy following, some interpret this of events or of things which befell Jacob, and his family, particularly with respect to his son Joseph, as Aben Ezra and Ben Melech take the sense of the word to be from Proverbs 27:1; but the words may refer... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW ISRAEL LOVED JOSEPH MORE THAN ALL HIS CHILDREN,.... He being the firstborn of his beloved Rachel, and a lovely youth, of a beautiful aspect, very promising, prudent and pious: the reason given in the text follows, BECAUSE HE [WAS] THE SON OF HIS OLD AGE; being ninety one years of age when he wa... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN HIS BRETHREN SAW THAT THEIR FATHER LOVED HIM MORE THAN ALL HIS BRETHREN,.... Which they perceived by various things in his behaviour to him, by his words, his looks, his gestures, and particularly by the coat he had made him, which distinguished him from the rest: THEY HATED HIM, AND COULD... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JOSEPH DREAMED A DREAM, AND HE TOLD [IT] HIS BRETHREN,.... As a dream, in the simplicity of his heart; not understanding it, or imagining there was any meaning in it; he told it not with any design to affront them, but as an amusement, and for their diversion, there being something in it odd and... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAID UNTO THEM, HEAR, I PRAY YOU, THIS DREAM WHICH I HAVE DREAMED. Hear now, so the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, immediately, directly, lest he should forget it, having perhaps dreamt it the night before; though our version expresses more modesty and submission. The dream follows:... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR, BEHOLD, WE [WERE] BINDING SHEAVES IN THE FIELD,.... So it was represented in his mind in a dream, as if it was harvest time, and he and his brethren were at work together in the field binding up sheaves of corn that were reaped, in order to be carried home: AND, LO, MY SHEAF AROSE, AND STOOD U... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HIS BRETHREN SAID UNTO HIM,.... After he had told his dream, being highly offended with him, understanding the dream, and the meaning of it, better than he did: SHALT THOU INDEED REIGN OVER US? OR SHALL THOU INDEED HAVE DOMINION OVER US? denying that he ever should, and reproving him for his va... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE DREAMED YET ANOTHER DREAM,.... Relating to the name subject as the former, and, for the confirmation of it, only the emblems are different, and more comprehensive: AND TOLD IT HIS BRETHREN, AND SAID, BEHOLD, I HAVE DREAMED A DREAM MORE; another dream, and which he told, either as not knowing... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE TOLD [IT] TO HIS FATHER, AND TO HIS BRETHREN,.... After he had told it to his brethren, he told it to his father a second time in their hearing, that he might pass his judgment on it, and give his sense of it before them: AND HIS FATHER REBUKED HIM; not as being ignorant of the meaning of th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HIS BRETHREN ENVIED HIM,.... Notwithstanding all the precaution Jacob took to prevent it; they suspecting and fearing that these dreams portended the pre-eminence of Joseph over them, or however served to fill his mind with the hopes and expectation of it: BUT HIS FATHER OBSERVED THE SAYING; wh... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HIS BRETHREN WENT TO FEED THEIR FATHER'S FLOCK IN SHECHEM. Very probably some considerable time after the telling of the above dreams; it was usual to remove flocks from place to place for the sake of pasturage; and sometimes at a great distance, as Shechem was from Hebron, where Jacob now dwelt... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ISRAEL SAID UNTO JOSEPH,.... After his brethren had been gone some time to Shechem: DO NOT THY BRETHREN FEED [THE FLOCK] IN SHECHEM? this question is put, not as ignorant of it, or doubting about it, but to put Joseph in mind of it, and in order to what follows: COME, AND I WILL SEND THEE UNTO... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAID TO HIM, GO, I PRAY THEE,.... Or "now" k, directly, immediately, which is more agreeable to the authority of a father: SEE WHETHER IT BE WELL WITH THY BRETHREN, AND WELL WITH THE FLOCKS; it having been many days, and perhaps months, since he had heard anything of them; and the rather Jac... [ Continue Reading ]
AND A CERTAIN MAN FOUND HIM,.... Many of the Jewish writers l say, this was an angel, the angel Gabriel, in the likeness of a man; but according to Aben Ezra, it was a traveller he met on the road; but it is more probable, as Schimidt observes, that it was some man at work in the field that came upo... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAID, I SEEK MY BRETHREN,.... Whom, no doubt, he described to the man, and told him who they were, and to whom they belonged; or otherwise the man would have been at a loss to know who he meant, and what further to say to him, and without which Joseph would never have made the following reque... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE MAN SAID, THEY ARE DEPARTED HENCE,.... They had been there, in the field where he and Joseph were, and which was probably the field before mentioned; but for good reasons, perhaps for want of pasture, or in order to find better feeding for their cattle, they were gone from thence, from the f... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THEY SAW HIM AFAR OFF,.... They knew him as soon as they saw him, by his stature, his gesture or manner of walking, and especially by his coat of various colours he now had on, Genesis 37:23; EVEN BEFORE HE CAME NEAR UNTO THEM; the distance he was from them when they first spied him is par... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY SAID ONE TO ANOTHER,.... According to the Targum of Jonathan, Simeon and Levi said what follows: nor is it unlikely, since they were hot, passionate, cruel, and bloody minded men, as appears by the affair of Shechem; and perhaps this may be the reason why Joseph afterwards, when governor of... [ Continue Reading ]
COME NOW THEREFORE, AND LET US SLAY HIM,.... Agree to do it, and actually do it: AND CAST HIM INTO SOME PIT; or, "one of the pits" s, which were near, and were dug for the collection of rainwater, as was usual in those countries where water was scarce: AND WE WILL SAY, SOME EVIL BEAST HATH DEVOURE... [ Continue Reading ]
AND REUBEN HEARD [IT],.... Overheard what they said, not being in the consultation; perhaps knowing his temper and disposition to be more mild and gentle, and being the elder brother, might fear he would overrule matters against them, and therefore Simeon and Levi did not choose to have him in the d... [ Continue Reading ]
AND REUBEN SAID UNTO THEM, SHED NO BLOOD,.... Innocent blood, as the Targum of Jonathan; the blood of a man, a brother's blood, one that had not done anything wherefore it should be shed, and which would involve in guilt, and bring vengeance on them: he seems to put them in mind of the original law... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN JOSEPH WAS COME UNTO HIS BRETHREN,.... To the very place where they were, and had, in a kind and obliging manner, asked of their welfare, and related their father's concern for them, who had sent him on this errand: THAT THEY STRIPPED, JOSEPH OUT OF [HIS] COAT; HIS COAT OF... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY TOOK HIM, AND CAST HIM INTO A PIT,.... Into the same that Reuben pointed to them, whose counsel they gladly took and readily executed, supposing he meant the same thing they did, starving him to death: AND THE PIT [WAS] EMPTY, [THERE WAS] NO WATER IN IT; only serpents and scorpions, as the... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY SAT DOWN TO EAT BREAD,.... Not at all concerned at what they had done, nor in the least grieved for the affliction of Joseph, and without any pity and compassion for him in his distress, but joyful and glad they had got him into their hands, and like to get rid of him for ever: AND THEY LI... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JUDAH SAID UNTO HIS BRETHREN,.... In sight of the Ishmaelites, a thought came into his mind to get Joseph sold to them; WHAT PROFIT [IS IT] IF WE SLAY OUR BROTHER, AND CONCEAL HIS BLOOD? it could be no advantage to them even if they could have concealed his blood from men; and if it was discove... [ Continue Reading ]
COME, AND LET US SELL HIM TO THE ISHMAELITES,.... For a slave, and that will defeat his dream; and as these were going down to Egypt, where they would sell him, he would be far enough from them, and there would be no probability of his ever being lord over them: AND LET NOT OUR HAND BE UPON HIM; to... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN THERE PASSED BY MIDIANITES, MERCHANTMEN,.... The same with the Ishmaelites before mentioned, as appears from the latter part of this verse; for as these were near neighbours, so they might join together in merchandise, and travel in company for greater safety, and are sometimes called the one,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND REUBEN RETURNED UNTO THE PIT,.... It is very probable he had pretended to go somewhere on business, with an intention to take a circuit, and come to the pit and deliver his brother, and go home with him to his father. The Jews say b he departed from his brethren, and sat down on a certain mounta... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE RETURNED UNTO HIS BRETHREN,.... From the pit, and whom he suspected had took him and killed him, as was their first design, not being with them when they proposed to sell him, and did: AND SAID, THE CHILD [IS] NOT; not in the pit, nor in the land of the living, but is dead, which is sometime... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY TOOK JOSEPH'S COAT,.... After they had told Reuben what they had done with him, who being willing to make the best of things as it was, joined with them in the following scheme: by this it appears, that when they took Joseph out of the pit they did not put his coat on him, but sold him nake... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY SENT THE COAT OF [MANY] COLOURS,.... Which was what they dipped in the blood of the kid; this they sent to Jacob in such a condition, by the hand of some messenger; the Targum of Jonathan says, the sons of Zilpah and Bilhah; but more probably some of their servants, whom they instructed wha... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE KNEW [IT], AND SAID, [IT IS] MY SON'S COAT,.... He took it, and examined it, and was soon convinced, and well assured it was his son's coat; read the words without the supplement "it is", and the pathos will appear the more, "my son's coat!" and think with what a beating heart, with what trem... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JACOB RENT HIS CLOTHES,.... As expressive of his grief and mourning for the death of his son, as he supposed: AND PUT SACKCLOTH UPON HIS LOINS; put off his usual apparel, and put on a coarse garment on his loins next to his flesh, as another token of his great trouble and affliction for the los... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ALL HIS SONS AND ALL HIS DAUGHTERS ROSE UP TO COMFORT HIM,.... His sons must act a most hypocritical part in this affair; and as for his daughters, it is not easy to say who they were, since he had but one daughter that we read of, whose name was Dinah: the Targum of Jonathan calls them his sons... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE MIDIANITES SOLD HIM INTO EGYPT,.... Or Medanites, who sprung from Medan, a brother of Midian, and son of Keturah, Genesis 24:2; and were distinct from the Midianites, though they dwelt near them, and were now in company with them, and with the Ishmaelites, and were all concerned in the buyin... [ Continue Reading ]