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47 - Commentary on The Book of Genesis · Commentary on The Book of Genesis

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Chapter forty four. Joseph, having entertained his brethren, dismissed them. But
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here we have them brought back in a greater fright than any they had been.
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And yet observe Numeral one what method he took both to humble them further,
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and also to try their affection to his brother Benjamin, by which he
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would be able to judge of the sincerity of their repentance for what they had
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done against himself, of which he was desirous to be satisfied before he manifested
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his reconciliation to them. This he contrived to do by bringing Benjamin into distress
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Verses one through seventeen. Numeral two. The good success of the experiment,
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he found them all heartily concerned, and Judah particularly both for the safety of
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Benjamin and for the comfort of their aged father Verses eighteen, and continued Joseph's
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policy b. C. Seventeen o seven Verses one through seventeen. And he
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can demanded the steward of his house, saying, fill the men's sacks with
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food as much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his
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sax's mouth, and put my cup, the silver cup in the sax mouth
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of the youngest and his corn money. And he did according to the word
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that Joseph had spoken. As soon as the morning was light, the men
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were sent away, they and their asses. And when they were going out
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of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said, unto his
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steward, up, follow after the men. And when thou dost overtake them,
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say unto them, wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good? Is not
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this it in which my lord drinketh, And whereby indeed he divineth ye have
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done evil in so doing? And he overtook them, and he spake unto
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them these same words, And they said, unto him, wherefore saith my
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lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing.
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Behold the money we found in our saxe mouths we brought again unto thee
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out of the land of Canaan. How then should we steal out of thy
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lord's house silver or gold, with whomsoever of thy servants it be found,
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Both let him die, and we also will be my lord's bondmen. And
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he said, now also let it be according unto your words. He with
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whom it is found shall be my servant, and ye shall be blameless.
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Then they speedily took down every man's sack to the ground, and opened every
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man's sack, and he searched and began at the eldest, and left at
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the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin's sack. Then they rent
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their clothes and laid it every man his ass and returned to the city.
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And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house, for he was yet there.
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And they fell before him on the ground. And Joseph said, unto
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them, what deed is this that ye have done? WoT ye not that
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such a man as I can certainly divine? And Judas said, what shall
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we say unto my lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we
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clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants. Behold,
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we are my Lord's servants, both we and he also, with whom the
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cup is found. And he said, God forbid that I should do so.
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But the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be
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my servant. And as for you, get you up in peace. Unto
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your father. Joseph, Heap's further kindness upon his brethren fills their sacks,
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returns their money and sends them away full of gladness. But he also exercises
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them with further trials. Our God thus humbles those whom he loves and loads
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with benefits. Joseph ordered his steward to put a fine silver cup, which
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he had and which it is likely was used at his table when they dined
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with him, into Benjamin's sack's mouth, that it might seem as if he
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had stolen it from the table and put it here himself after his corn was
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delivered to him. If Benjamin had stolen it, it had been the basest
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peace of dishonesty and ingratitude that could be. And if Joseph, by ordering
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it to be there, had designed really to take advantage against him, it
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had been in him most horrid cruelty and oppression. But it proved in the
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issue that there was no harm done, nor any designed on either side.
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Observe numeral one. How the pretended criminals were pursued and arrested on suspicion of
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having stolen a silver cup. The steward charged them with ingratitude, rewarding evil
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for good, and with folly in taking away a cup of daily use and
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which therefore would soon be missed and diligent search made for it. For so
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it may be read, is not this it in which my lord drinketh,
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as having a particular fondness for it, and for which he would search thoroughly
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verse five, Or by which, leaving it carelessly at your table, he
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would make trial, whether you were honest men or no Numeral two. How
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they pleaded for them. They solemnly protested their innocence and detestation of so base
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a thing verse seven. Urged it as an instance of their honesty that they
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had brought their money back verse eight, and offered to submit to the serverous
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punishment if they should be found guilty Verses nine to ten. Numeral three.
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How the theft was fastened upon Benjamin in his sack the cup was found,
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to whom Joseph had been particularly kind. Benjamin, no doubt, was ready
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to deny upon oath the taking of the cup. And we may suppose him
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as little liable to suspicion as any of them. But it is in vain
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to confront such notorious evidence. The cup is found in his custody. They
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dare not arraign Joseph's justice, nor so much as suggests that perhaps he that
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had put their money in their sacks mouths had put the cup there. But
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they throw themselves upon Joseph's mercy and numeral four here is their humble submission for
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sixteen. Number one, they acknowledge the righteousness of God. God hath found
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out the iniquity of thy servants, perhaps referring to the injury they had formerly
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done to Joseph for which they thought God was now reckoning with them. Note,
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even in those afflictions wherein we apprehend ourselves wronged by men, yet we
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must own that God is righteous and finds out our iniquity. Number two,
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they surrender themselves prisoners to Joseph. We are my Lord's servants. Now,
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Joseph's dreams were accomplished to the utmost. Their bowing so often and doing homage
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might be looked upon but as a compliment, and no more than what other
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strangers did. But the construction they themselves, in their pride, had put
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upon his dreams was shalt thou have dominion over us? Chapter thirty seven,
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verse eight. And in this sense it is not at length fulfilled. They
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own themselves his vassals, since they did inviduously so understand it, so it
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shall be fulfilled in them. Numeral five. Joseph, with an air of
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justice, gives sentence that Benjamin only should be kept in bondage, and the
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rest should be dismissed, For why should any suffer by the guilty. Perhaps
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Joseph intended hereby to try Benjamin's temper, whether he could bear such a hardship
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as this, with the calmness and composure of mind that became a wise and
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good man. In short, whether he was indeed his own brother in spirit
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as well as blood. For Joseph himself had been falsely accused, and had
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suffered hard things in consequence, and yet kept possession of his own soul.
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However, it is plain he intended hereby to try the affection of his brethren
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to Benjamin and to their father. If they had gone away contentedly and left
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Benjamin in bonds, no doubt Joseph would have soon released and promoted him and
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seem notice to Jacob, and he would have left the rest of his brethren
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justly to suffer for their hard heartedness. But they prove to be better affected
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to Benjamin than he feared. Note we cannot judge what men are by what
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they have been formerly, nor what they will do by what they have done.
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Age and experience may make men wiser and better. Those that had sold
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Joseph would not now abandon Benjamin. The worst may mend in time. Juda's
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appeal on behalf of Benjamin b. C. Seventeen o Seven, Verses eighteen
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through thirty four. Then Judah came nearer unto him and said, O,
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my Lord, let thy servant, I pray thee speak a word in my
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Lord's ear, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant, for thou
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art even as pharaoh. My lord asked a servants, saying, have ye
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a father or brother? And we said, unto my Lord, we have
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a father, an old man, and a child of his old age,
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a little one, and his brother is dead, and he alone is left
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of his mother, and his father loveth him. And thou settest unto thy
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servants, bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon
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him. And we said, unto my Lord, the lad cannot leave his
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father, for if ye should leave his father, his father would die.
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And thou settest unto thy servants. Except your youngest brother come down with you,
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ye shall see my face no more. And it came to pass when
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we came up unto thy servant my father, we told him the words of
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my lord. And our father said, go again and buy us a little
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food. And we said, we cannot go down. If our youngest brother
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be with us, then we will go down, for we may not see
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the man's face except our youngest brother be with us. And thy servant my
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father said, unto us, ye know that my wife bear me two sons,
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and the one went out from me. And I said, surely he
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is torn in pieces, and I saw him not since. And if ye
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take this also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down
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my gray hair with sorrow to the grave. Now therefore, when I come
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to thy servant my father and the lad be not with as, seeing that
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his life is bound up in the Lad's life, it shall come to pass
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when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die,
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and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father
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with sorrow to the grave. For thy servant became surety for the lad unto
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my father, saying, if I bring him not unto thee, then I
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shall bear the blame to my father forever. Now, therefore I pray thee
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let thy servant abide instead the lad a bondman to my lord, and let
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the lad go up with his brethren. For how shall I go up to
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my father and the lad be not with me, lest peradventure I see the
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evil that shall come on my father. We have here a most ingenious and
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pathetic speech which Judah made to Joseph on Benjamin's behalf, to obtain his discharge
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from the sentence passed upon him. Perhaps Judah was a better friend to Benjamin
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than the rest were, and more solicitous to bring him off. Or he
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thought himself under greater obligations to attempt it than the rest, because he had
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passed his word to his father for his safe return. Or the rest shows
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him for their spokesman, because he was a man of better sense and better
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spirit, and he had a greater command of language than any of them.
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His address, as it is here recorded, is so very natural and so
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expressive of his present feelings, that we cannot but suppose Moses, who wrote
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it so long after, to have written it under a special direction of him
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that made man's mouth numeral one. A great deal of unaffected art and unstudied,
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unforced rhetoric there is in this speech. Number one. He addresses himself
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to Joseph with a great deal of respect and deference, calls him his lord,
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himself and his brethren his servants, begs his patient hearing, and ascribed
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sovereign authority to him. Thou art even as pharaoh, one whose favor we
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desire, and whose wrath we dread as we do pharaohs. Religion does not
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destroy good manners, and it is prudence to speak respectfully to those at whose
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mercy we lie. Titles of honor to those that are entitled to them are
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not flattering titles. Number two he represented Benjamin as one well worthy of his
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compassionate consideration Verse twenty. He was a little one compared with the rest of
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them, the youngest, not acquainted with the world, nor even inured to
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hardship, having always been brought up tenderly with his father. They made the
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case the more pitiable that he alone was left of his mother, and his
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brother was dead, namely Joseph. Little did Judah think what a tender point
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he touched upon. Now Judah knew that Joseph was sold, and therefore had
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reason enough to think that he was alive. At least he could not be
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sure that he was dead. But they had made their father believe he was
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dead, And now they had told the lies so long that they had forgotten
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the truth and begun to believe the lie themselves. Number three. He urged
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it very closely that Joseph had himself constrained to them to bring Benjamin with them,
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had expressed a desire to see him verse twenty one, and had forbidden
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them his presence unless they brought Benjamin with them Verses twenty three and twenty six,
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all which intimated that he designed him some kindness. And must he be
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brought with so much difficulty to the preferment of perpetual slavery? Was he not
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brought to Egypt in obedience, purely in obedience to the command of Joseph?
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And would he not show him some mercy? Some observed that Jacob's sons,
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in reasoning with their father, had said, we will not go down unless
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Benjamin go with us Chapter forty three, verse five, But that when Judah
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comes to relate the story, he expresses it more decently. We cannot go
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down with any exception to speed well. Indecent words spoken in haste to our
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superiors should be recalled and amended. Number four. The great argument he insisted
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upon was the insupportable grief it would be to his aged father if Benjamin should
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be left behind in servitude. His father loveth him verse twenty. This they
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had pleaded against Joseph's insisting on his coming down verse twenty two. If he
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should leave his father, his father would die much more if now he be
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left behind, never more to return to him. This old man of whom
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they spoke had pleaded against his going down. If mischief befall him, you
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shall bring down my gray hairs, that crown of glory, with sorrow to
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the grave verse twenty nine. This, therefore Judah presses with a great deal
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of earnestness. His life is bound up in the Lad's life verse thirty.
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When he sees that the lad is not with us, he will faint away
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and die immediately verse thirty one, or will abandon himself to such a degree
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of sorrow as will in a few days make an end of him. And
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lastly, Judah pleads that for his part, he could not bear to see
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this. Let me not see that evil that shall come on my father Verse
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thirty four. Note it is the duty of children to be very tender to
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their parents comfort, and to be afraid of everything that may be an occasion
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of grief to them. Thus the love that descended first must again ascend,
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and something must be done towards recompense for their care. Number five, Judah,
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in honor to the justice of Joseph's sentence, and to show his sincerity
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in this plea, offers himself to become a bondsman instead of Benjamin verse thirty
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three. Thus the law would be satisfied. Joseph would be no loser.
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For you may suppose Judah a more able bodied man than Benjamin, and fitter
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for service. And Jacob would better bear the loss of him than Benjamin.
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Now so far as he from grieving at his father's particular fondness for Benjamin,
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that he was himself willing to be a bondman to indulge it. Now had
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Joseph been, as judas supposed him, an utter stranger to the family,
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yet even common humanity could not be wrought upon by such powerful reasonings as these.
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For nothing could be said more moving, more tender It was enough to
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melt a heart of stone. But Joseph, who was nearer akin to Benjamin
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than Judah himself was, and who at this time felt a greater affection both
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for him and his aged father than Judah did, nothing could be more pleasing
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nor more happily. Said. Neither Jacob nor Benjamin needed an intercessor with Joseph,
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for he himself loved them Numeral two upon the whole man. Let us
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take notice. Number one, how prudently Judah suppressed all mention of the crime
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that was charged upon Benjamin. Had he said anything by the way of acknowledgment
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of it, he would have reflected on Benjamin's honesty, and seemed too forward
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to suspect that had he said anything by way of denial of it, he
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would have reflected on Joseph's justice and the sentence he had passed. Therefore,
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he wholly waves that head and appeals to Joseph's pity. Compare with this that
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of Job in humbling himself before God Job chapter nine, verse fifteen. Though
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I were righteous, yet would I not answer? I would not argue,
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but petition, I would make supplication to my judge. Number two, What
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good reason dying Jacob had to say, Judah, thou art whom thy brethren
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shall praise. Chapter forty nine, verse eight, for he excelled them all
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in boldness, wisdom, eloquence, and especially tenderness for their father and family.
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Number three. Judah's faithful adherence to Benjamin now in his distress, was
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recompensed long after by the constant adherents of the tribe of Benjamin to the tribe
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of Judah, when all the other ten tribes deserted it. Number four.
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How fitly does the apostle, when he is discoursing of the meditation of Christ,
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observe that our Lord sprang out of Judah Hebrews Chapter seven, verse fourteen.
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For like his father Judah, he not only made intercession for the transgressors,
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but he became a surety for them, as it follows there verse twenty
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two, testifying therein a very tender concern both for his father and for his
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brethren. End of Chapter forty four