26 And they laded their asses with the corn, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye and departed thence.

37 And Reuben - spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again, 38 And he said, My son shall not go down

Ver. 13; chap. xxxvii. 33; xliv. 28.

upon me. Not badly translated by the Vulgate, In me hæc omnia mala reciderunt, “ All these evils fall back upon me." They lie upon me as heavy loads, hastening my death; they are more than I can bear!

Verse 37. Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee] What a strange proposal made by a son to his father, concerning his grandchildren! But they show the honesty and affection of Reuben's heart; he felt deeply for his father's distress, and was determined to risk and hazard every thing in order to relieve and comfort him: There is scarcely a transaction in which Reuben is concerned that does not serve to set his character in an amiable point of view, except the single instance mentioned chap. xxxv. 22, and which for the sake of decency and piety we should wish to understand as the Targumists have explained it. See the notes.

Verse 38. He is left alone] That is, Benjamin is the only remaining son of Rachel; for he supposed Joseph, who was the other son, to be dead.

Shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow] Here he keeps up the idea of the oppressive burden mentioned ver. 36, to which every occurrence was adding an additional weight, so that he felt it impossible to support it any longer.

pledges for Benjamin's safety.

B. C. 1707.

with you; for his brother is dead, A. M. 2297.
and he is left alone: if mischief
befall him by the way in the which ye go,
then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with
sorrow to the grave.

e

Chap. xxxvii, 35; xliv. 31.
If he

d Ver. 4; chap. xliv. 29.injured, if it lie in the compass of his power. do not, God will take care to exact it in the course of his providence. Such respect has he for the dictates of infinite justice that nothing of this kind shall pass unnoticed. Several instances of this have already occurred in this history, and we shall see several more. No man should expect mercy at the hand of God who, having wronged his neighbour, refuses, when he has it in his power, to make restitution. Were he to weep tears of blood, both the justice and mercy of God would shut out his prayer, if he made not his neighbour amends for the injury he may have done him. The mercy of God, through the blood of the cross, can alone pardon his guilt; but no dishonest man can expect this; and he is a dishonest man who illegally holds the property of another in his hand. The unnatural brethren who sold their brother are now about to be captivated themselves; and the binder himself is bound in his turn and though a kind Providence permits not the evil to fall upon them, yet, while apprehending it, they feel all its reality, conscience supplying the lack of prison, jailer, and bonds.

2. The ways of Providence are often to us dark and perplexed, so that we are ready to imagine that good can never result from what appears to us to be directly contrary to our interest; and we are often tempted to think that those very providential dealings of God, which have for their object our present and eternal welfare, are rather proofs of his displeasure, or evi

The following observations of Dr. Dodd on this verse are very appropriate and judicious: "Nothing can be more tender and picturesque than the words of the venerable patriarch. Full of affection for his beloved Rachel, he cannot think of parting with Benjamin, the only remaining pledge of that love, now Jo-dences of his vindictive judgment. All these things seph, as he supposes, is no more. We seem to behold the gray-headed, venerable father pleading with his sons, the beloved Benjamin standing by his side, impatient sorrow in their countenances, and in his all the bleeding anxiety of paternal love. It will be difficult to find in any author, ancient or modern, a more exquisite picture."

1. THERE is one doctrine relative to the economy of Divine Providence little heeded among men; I mean the doctrine of restitution. When a man has done wrong to his neighbour, though, on his repentance, and faith in our Lord Jesus, God forgives him his sin, yet he requires him to make restitution to the person

are against me, said poor desponding Jacob; whereas, instead of being against him, all these things were for him; and by all these means was the merciful God working for the preservation of himself and his family, and the fulfilment of his ancient promise, that the posterity of Abraham should be as the stars of heaven for multitude. How strange is it that our faith, after so many evidences of his goodness, should still be so weak; and that our opinion of him should be so imperfect, that we can never trust in him but while he is under our own eye! If we see him producing good, we can believe that he is doing so, and this is all. If we believe not, he abides faithful; but our unbelief must make our own way extremely perplexing and difficult.

CHAPTER XLIII.

The famine continuing, Jacob desires his sons to go again to Egypt and buy some food, 1, 2. Judah shows the necessity of Benjamin's accompanying them, without whom it would be useless to return to Egypt, 3–5. Jacob expostulates with him, 6. Judah replies, and offers to become surety for Benjamin, 7-10. Jacob at last consents, and desires them to take a present with them for the governor of Egypt; and double money, that which they had brought back in their sacks' mouth, and the price of the load they were now to bring; and, having prayed for them, sends them away, 11-15. They arrive in Egypt, and are brought

Judah shows the necessity of

CHAP. XLIII.

going immediately to Egypt.

to Joseph's house to dine with him, at which they are greatly alarmed, 16-18. They speak to the steward of Joseph's house concerning the money returned in their sacks, 19-22. He gives them encouragement, 23, 24.. Having made ready the present, they bring it to Joseph when he came home to dine, 25, 26. He speaks kindly to them, and inquires concerning their health, and that of their father, 27, 28. Joseph is greatly affected at seeing his brother Benjamin, 29–31. They dine with him, and are distinguished according to their seniority; but Benjamin receives marks of peculiar favour, 32–34.

2 And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food.

3. And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.

с

another brother? and we told him
according to the tenor of these words: could
we certainly know that he would say, Bring
your brother down?

8 And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones.

9 I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt

4 If thou wilt send our brother with us, we thou require him: if I bring him not unto will go down and buy thee food:

thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever:

10 For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned.h this second time.

11 And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds:

what was the present brought to Joseph on this occa-
After all the labour of commentators, we are
obliged to be contented with probabilities and conjec-
ture, According to our translation, the gifts, were
balm, honey, spices, myrrh, nuts, and almonds.
Balm]

Verse 8. Send the lad with me] As the original | sion? is not yeled, from which we have derived our word lad, but naar, it would have been better had our translators rendered it by some other term, such as the youth, or the young man, and thus the distinction in the Hebrew would have been better kept up. Benjamin was at this time at least twenty-four years of age, some think thirty, and had a family of his own. See chap. xlvi. 21.

That we may live, and not die] An argument drawn from self-preservation, what some have termed the first law of nature. By your keeping Benjamin we are prevented from going to Egypt; if we go not to Egypt we shall get no corn; if we get no corn we shall all perish by famine; and Benjamin himself, who otherwise might live, must, with thee and the whole family, infallibly die.

Verse 9. Let me bear the blame for ever]

vechatathi lecha col haiyamim, then shall I sin against thee all my days, and consequently be liable to punishment for violating my faith.

Verse 11. Carry down the man à present] From the very earliest times presents were used as means of introduction to great men. This is particularly noticed by Solomon: A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men, Prov. xviii. 16. But VOL. I. ( 17 )

tsori is supposed to signify resin in general, or some kind of gum issuing from trees. Honey] i debash has been supposed to be the same as the rob of grapes, called in Egypt dibs. Others think that honey, in the common sense of the term, is to be understood here: we know that honey was plentiful in Palestine.

Spices] n nechoth is supposed to mean gum storax, which might be very valuable on account of. its qualities as a perfume.

· Myrrh] lot, supposed by some to mean stacte; by others to signify an ointment made of myrrh.

Nuts] Dobotnim, by some rendered pistachio nuts, those produced in Syria being the finest in the world; by others, dates; others, walnuts; others, pine apples; others, the nuts of the terebinth tree.

Almonds] Dp shekedim, correctly enough translated, and perhaps the only article in the collection of which we know any thing with certainty. It is generally allowed that the land of Canaan produces the best almonds in the east; and on this account they might be deemed a very acceptable present to the

241

GENESIS.

A. M. 2297. 12 And take double money in in our sacks at the first time are A. M. 2297. your hand; and the money that we brought in: that he may seek was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, occasion against us, and fall upon us, and carry it again in your hand; peradventure it take us for bondmen, and our asses. was an oversight:

13 Take also your brother, and arise, go Joseph's house, and they communed with him again unto the man : at the door of the house,

governor of Egypt. Those who wish to see this sub-number with them; and which, if captured, would have ject exhausted must have recourse to the Physica Sacra of Scheuchzer.

Verse 23. And he said] The address of the steward in this verse plainly proves that the knowledge of the Verse 16, Slay, and make ready] no teboach true God was in Egypt. It is probable that the stewtebach, slay a slaying, or make a great slaughter-ard himself was a Hebrew, and that Joseph had given let preparations be made for a great feast or entertain-him intimation of the whole affair; and though he was ment.. See a similar form of speech, Prov. ix. 2; not at liberty to reveal it, yet he gives them assu1 Sam. xxv. 11; and Gen. xxxi. 54, rances that the whole business would issue happily.

25 And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there.

26 And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present-which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth.

27 And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive? 28 And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive." And they bowed down their heads, and made

b

Verse 27. And he asked them of their welfare] This verse may be thus translated: "And he asked them concerning their prosperity; and he said, Is your father prosperous, the old man who ye told me was alive! And they said, Thy servant our father prospers; he is yet alive."

Verse 29. He lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin]. They were probably introduced to him successively; and as Benjamin was the youngest, he would of course be introduced last.

with his brethren.

B. C. 1707.

30 And Joseph made haste; for A. M. 2297. e his bowels did yearn upon his brother and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there...

f

31 And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread. 32 And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians which did eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

33. And they sat before him, the first-born according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one at another.

34 And he took and sent messes unto them from before him but Benjamin's mess was i five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry with him.

k

This is exactly the way in which a Hindoo receives a brews] There might have been some political reason guest. As soon as he enters, one of the first civilities for this, with which we are unacquainted; but indeis the presenting of water to wash his feet. So indis-pendently of this, two may be assigned. 1. The Hepensable is this, that water to wash the feet makes a brews were shepherds; and Egypt had been almost part of the offerings to an image. ruined by hordes of lawless wandering banditti, under the name of Hycsos, or King-shepherds, who had but a short time before this been expelled from the land by Amasis, after they had held it in subjection for 259 years, according to Manetho, committing the most wanton cruelties. 2. The Hebrews sacrificed those animals which the Egyptians held sacred, and fed on their flesh. The Egyptians were in general very superstitious, and would have no social intercourse with people of any other nation; hence we are informed that they would not even use the knife of a Greek, because they might have reason to suspect it had cut the flesh of some of those animals which they held sacred. Among the Hindoos different castes will not eat food cooked in the same vessel. If a person of another caste touch a cooking vessel, it is thrown away. Some are of opinion that the Egyptian idolatry, especially their worship of Apis under the figure of an or, was posterior to the time of Joseph; ancient monuments are rather against this opinion, but it is impossible to decide either way. The clause in the, Alexandrian Septuagint stands thus, Bdeλvyua yap. "For εστιν τοις Αιγυπτιοις [πας ποιμην προβατων,] [every shepherd] is an abomination to the Egyptians ;" but this clause is probably borrowed from chap. xlvi. 34, where it stands in the Hebrew as well as in the Greek. See the note on chap. xlvi. 34,

- God be gracious, unto thee, my son!] A usual salutation in the east from the-aged and superiors to the younger and inferiors, which, though very emphatic and expressive in ancient times, in the present day means no more than "I am your humble servant," or "I am exceedingly glad to see you;" words which among us mean-just nothing. Even in David's time they seem to have been, not only devoid of meaning, but to be used as a cloak for the basest and most treacherous designs: They bless with their mouths, but they curse inwardly. Hence Joab salutes Amasa, kisses him with apparent affection, and stabs him in the same moment! The case of Judas, betraying the Son of man with a kiss, will not be forgotten.

Verse 32. They set on for him by himself, &c.] From the text it appears evident that there were three tables, one for Joseph, one for the Egyptians, and one for the eleven brethren. ~

Verse 33. The first-born according to his birthright] This must greatly astonish these brethren, to The Eygptians might not eat bread with the He- find themselves treated with so much ceremony, and