Genesis 45:26

26._And Jacob’s heart fainted_. We know that some persons have fainted with sudden and unexpected joy. Therefore, certain interpreters suppose that the heart of Jacob was, in a sense, suffocated, as if seized by a kind of ecstatic stupor. But Moses assigns a different cause; namely, that not having confidence in his sons, he was agitated between hope and fear. And we know, that they who are held in suspense, by hearing some incredible message, are struck with torpor, as if they were lifeless. It was not, therefore, a simple affection of joy, but a certain mingled perturbation which shook the mind of Jacob. Therefore, Moses shortly after says, that his spirit revived; when he, having returned to himself, and being composed in mind, believed that which he had heard to be true. And he shows that his love towards Joseph had not languished through length of time, inasmuch as he set no value u...

25-28 To hear that Joseph is alive, is too good news to be true; Jacob faints, for he believes it not. We faint, because we do not believe. At length, Jacob is convinced of the truth. Jacob was old, and did not expect to live long. He says, Let my eyes be refreshed with this sight before they are closed, and then I need no more to make me happy in this world. Behold Jesus manifesting himself as a Brother and a Friend to those who once were his despisers, his enemies. He assures them of his love and the riches of his grace. He commands them to lay aside envy, anger, malice, and strife, and to live in peace with each other. He teaches them to give up the world for him and his fulness. He supplies all that is needful to bring them home to himself, that where he is they may be also. And though, when he at last sends for his people, they may for a time feel some doubts and fears, yet the tho...

Verse Genesis 45:26. _JACOB'S HEART FAINTED_] Probably the good news so overpowered him as to cast him into a swoon. _He believed them_ _not_-he thought it was _too good news to be true_; and though it occasioned his swooning, yet on his recovery he could not fully credit it. See a similar case, Luke 24:41....

- Joseph Made Himself Known to His Brethren 10. גשׁן _gôshen_, Goshen, Gesem (Arabias related perhaps to גשׁם _geshem_ “rain, shower”), a region on the borders of Egypt and Arabia, near the gulf of Suez. The appeal of Judah is to Joseph irresistible. The repentance of his brothers, and their attachment to Benjamin, have been demonstrated in the most satisfactory manner. This is all that Joseph sought. It is evident, throughout the whole narrative, that he never aimed at exercising any supremacy over his brothers. As soon as he has obtained an affecting proof of the right disposition of his brothers, he conceals himself no longer. And the speech of Judah, in which, no doubt, his brothers concurred, does equal credit to his head and heart....

EXPOSITION GENESIS 45:16 AND THE FAME THEREOF—literally, _the voice, _hence rumor (cf. Jeremiah 3:9)—WAS HEARD IN PHARAOH'S HOUSE (having been brought thither doubtless by some of the Court officials), SAYING, JOSEPH'S BRETHREN—it is probable that they would style him Zaphnath-paaneah (cf. Genesis 41:45) ARE COME (_i.e._ are arrived in Egypt): AND IT PLEASED PHARAOH WELL, AND HIS SERVANTS—literally, _it was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants _(cf. Genesis 41:37). The...

AND TOLD HIM,.... What had happened to them in Egypt: SAYING, JOSEPH [IS] YET ALIVE; who was thought by him and them to have been dead long ago: AND HE [IS] GOVERNOR OVER ALL THE LAND OF EGYPT; deputy governor, and had such power and authority that nothing was done without his order; the executive power or administration of government was put into his hands, and all the officers of the kingdom were under him, he was next to Pharaoh: AND JACOB'S HEART FAINTED, FOR HE BELIEVED THEM NOT; it was too great and too good news to be true; though it was desirable, it was unexpected; it amazed him, he knew not what to think, or say or believe about it; there was such a conflict of the passions in him, that he could not compose himself, or reason with himself about it; and what might serve the more to hinder his belief of it was, that this report of theirs was contrary to what they themselves ha...

Genesis 45:9. _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:_ Joseph, having made himself known to his brethren, bids them return to their father, and bring him down to Egypt to see his long-lost son. Genesis 45:10. _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: 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._ It is just like Joseph to speak thus kindly, and to put the invitation so attractively to his father: «Thou shalt be near unto me.»

CHAPTER 45 JOSEPH REVEALS HIMSELF _ 1. He reveals himself (Genesis 45:1)_ 2. His address (Genesis 45:4) 3. He kissed his brethren (Genesis 45:14) 4. Pharaoh's command (Genesis 45:16) 5. His brethren sent away and their return to Jacob (Genesis 45:21) These three Chapter s belong together because they lead up to the great climax in the story of Joseph. The nobility of the character of Joseph is here fully brought out. Besides being a wise man, the great statesman of Egypt, he had a heart of tender

Joseph's Brethren bring the News to Jacob 16. _the fame_ Lit. "the voice." It is not the sound of Joseph's weeping, but the news of the discovery of his brethren....

JACOB'S HEART FAINTED— The Vulgate, and some others, render this passage, _Jacob awoke, as it were, out of a dead sleep,_ yet _he believed them not._ The particle כי _ki,_ rendered _for_ in our version of the Bible, often signifies _but, but yet,_ or _although:_ and thus the meaning of the passage is, that though Jacob did not perfectly believe, or had not heard enough to be sufficiently confirmed in the belief of their words; yet the very hearing of Joseph's being yet alive, whom he thought so long dead, gave such a sudden shock to his blood and animal spirits, and poured in such a tide of joy upon his heart, as quite overpowered the venerable patriarch, and made him fall into a swoon. That sudden transports of joy, as well as other passions, will produce this effect, is well known from experience. Le Clerc quotes a remarkable instance out of Aulus Gellius. "After the battle of Cannae,...