Genesis By The Slice

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Gen 43:18c-30

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†. Gen 43:18c . . It must be, they thought; because of the silver,
replaced in our bags the first time, that we have been brought
inside-- as a pretext to attack us and seize us as slaves, with our
pack animals.

That's actually a pretty good mob trick; it's in movies like Godfather, and in
TV programs like The Sopranos all the time. The mark is thrown off guard
with courtesy, forgiveness, kindness, sympathy, generosity, and friendship;
until the moment of truth when the guns, knives, garrotes, anchor chains,
and/or bags of concrete come out. The men are justifiably worried; and so
rather than wait and be confronted about the silver, they come forward to
cop a plea.

†. Gen 43:19-22 . . So they went up to Joseph's house steward and
spoke to him at the entrance of the house. If you please, my lord,
they said; we came down once before to procure food. But when we
arrived at the night encampment and opened our bags, there was
each one's money in the mouth of his bag, our money in full. So we
have brought it back with us. And we have brought down with us
other money to procure food. We do not know who put the money in
our bags.

No true thief of course would go to all the trouble of actually bringing the
silver back; sort of like people who are given too much change from a
purchase and keep it; saying nothing.

†. Gen 43:23a . . He replied: All is well with you; do not be afraid.
Your god, the god of your father, must have put treasure in your
bags for you. I got your payment.

In the steward's thinking; which god is the god of your father? If he had
used the name Yhvh it would be easier to answer that question. But in light
of the times and the circumstances, it isn't unreasonable to assume that the
steward had no idea who their own personal god was, nor did he care; since
gods were plentiful in Egypt and the brothers would probably be like
everybody else and simply worship the one they inherited and grew up with
at home: whichever that might be.

†. Gen 43:23b-25 . . And he brought out Simeon to them. Then the
man brought the men into Joseph's house; he gave them water to
bathe their feet, and he provided feed for their burros. They laid out
their gifts to await Joseph's arrival at noon, for they had heard that
they were to dine there.

In the brothers' minds; all the leniency and courtesy being extended to them
was little more than a pretext designed to accomplish just one purpose: to
give them a false sense of security so they wouldn't suspect the real purpose
for being brought to Joseph's home; which they truly believed was to
confiscate their goods and their livestock, and to harness themselves in
slavery.

†. Gen 43:26-28 . .When Joseph came home, they presented to him
the gifts that they had brought with them into the house, bowing
low before him to the ground. He greeted them, and he said: How is
your aged father of whom you spoke? Is he still in good health? They
replied: It is well with your servant our father; he is still in good
health. And they bowed and made obeisance.

The Hebrew word for "obeisance" is shachah (shaw-khaw') which means to
prostrate oneself in homage. That very same word is translated "worship" in
other places. (e.g. Gen 22:5, Gen 24:26, Ex 34:14)

†. Gen 43:29a . . As he looked about and saw his brother Benjamin,
his own mother's son, he asked: Is this your youngest brother, the
one you told me about?

No doubt Joseph could tell by the looks on everybody's faces that it was
indeed Benjamin so he didn't have to wait for an answer before responding.

†. Gen 43:29b . . May God be gracious to you, my son.

To be "gracious" is the Hebrew word chanan (khaw-nan') which means to
stoop or bend in kindness to an inferior; viz: fraternize with someone below
you; viz: waive the privileges of rank and descend to a less formal or less
dignified level-- a mandated Christian social skill.

"Don't be conceited, and think so highly of yourself as to avoid associating
with people below you." (Rom 12:16)

Somebody might be curious why Joseph called Benjamin "son" instead of
brother. The Hebrew word for son (ben) is ambiguous and has a pretty wide
application. It can mean not only a direct descendant, but also a grandson;
or the result of an action like city building or township founding. It can also
mean a subject, like citizens in a kingdom.

It was no doubt in the "subject" aspect that Joseph applied it to his kid
brother-- not as kin, but as below himself in rank because in Egypt, nobody
was higher than Joseph except his own boss Pharaoh; which made Pharaoh
a father to everyone under his jurisdiction; including Joseph. And besides,
Joseph is not quite ready to reveal his true identity; so he has to maintain
an air of aristocracy in order to keep his brothers guessing.

†. Gen 43:30 . .Then Joseph made a hasty exit because he was
overcome with emotion for his brother and wanted to sob. Going
into his private room, he wept there.

Only people who have found long-lost relatives can understand the wave of
emotion that swept Joseph at this moment. It's a strange human
experience. When my own full brother found me after losing track of each
other for almost 26 years, I broke down and had to call in sick to work the
next day. It was overwhelming; and I don't even like the man. My brother
and I were never friends. In point of fact, our reunion took place over the
phone and via US Mail: we never did actually meet up face to face. I
informed him, in no uncertain terms, that if he ever came to my home I
would call the Sheriff. Anon, I took steps to insure he never wrote me, nor
called me, ever again. If my brother should die before me, I don't want to be
told about it; and won't go to his funeral.

Somebody might ask: Why don't you forgive your brother and let bygones
be bygones. No; they don't understand. My brother is toxic. He's on a third
marriage and has left behind him a wake of broken-hearted, psychologically
damaged wives and children. Everyone is secondary to his business
ambitions. Nobody is on a plane with those ambitions-- nobody. He's
extremely competitive, and always has to be the center of attention at the
expense of everyone else's self respect. My brother is cursed with a natural
talent for making people in his presence feel bad about themselves.

No, it's not as simple as bygones-- it's as simple as self defense. I am not
going to let my brother close enough to de-humanize me all over again, and
I am certainly not going to let him near any of my own family. It's just not
going to happen unless he goes through some very miraculous changes first.
Haven't you noticed how cautious Joseph has been with his own brothers?
That's the lesson of this section; don't miss it. Joseph has been carefully
gauging his elder brothers' reactions through all this to make very, very sure
he can trust them enough to let them back into his life. There was too much
at stake.

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Gen 43:31-34

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†. Gen 43:31-32 . .Then he washed his face and came out; and
regaining his composure, said: Serve the food. So they set him a
place by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who
ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat
food with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians.

Apparently the brothers didn't think anything of Joseph eating alone. Maybe
they just thought (as common Egyptian culture dictated) the other Egyptians
were too far below their host to be considered worthy of an invitation to sit
at his table. In their minds, to do so would have been fraternization; viz:
associating with people of lower official rank; thus implying that they were
equal in worth.

NOTE: If the steward had told them Joseph was a Hebrew, I wonder how
Jacob's sons would have reacted to that?

†. Gen 43:33 . . And they were seated before him, the firstborn
according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth;
and the men looked in astonishment at one another.

Reuben was the natural firstborn; but due to his incestuous tryst with Bilhah
back in Gen 35:22, he lost the rank and Jacob transferred it to Joseph
(1Chrn 5:1). However, with Joseph eliminated from the line-up, the position
around the table probably fell back to Reuben by default.

The seating arrangement wasn't at the brothers' discretion. It was totally
under their host's control and that's why they were all so amazed. According
to permutation, the odds of seating the 11 men according to their respective
ages by coincidence is like 39,917,000 ÷ 1.

Since they had no reason to believe that Joseph knew any more about their
family other than what they had already told him, perhaps at this point they
suspected he was either clairvoyant or else blessed with an amazing degree
of intuition; and they would have certainly been correct on that account
even if circumstances had been different because any man with the ability to
correctly interpret dreams should have no trouble figuring out birth orders.

NOTE: A Jewish Midrash (Genesis Rabba 92:5) has Joseph pretending to
"divine" their seating order by means of his special silver goblet-- a key item
coming up in just a few more verses.

†. Gen 43:34 . .Then he took servings to them from before him, but
Benjamin's serving was five times as much as any of theirs. So they
imbibed and were merry with him.

Every time I read that passage, my mind, like a knee-jerk reflex, instantly
fantasizes a really hulking, heaping, ranch-size platter of vittles placed
before Benjamin like is so often seen at buffets. Instead of making more
than one trip to the food bars, there's invariably at least one person who
piles everything they'll ever want onto just one plate, like Mt. Vesuvius, and
then does a delicate balancing act while cautiously maneuvering their way to
a table.

But a 5x serving isn't eo ipso a large amount; it would really depend upon
the size of a standard portion. And if the food was served a' la carte, then
five standard portions of just one item wouldn't necessarily take on the
appearance of a banquet. Gourmet foods, especially, are typically small
presentations that would barely qualify as an hors d'oeuvre to a strapping
man like an ice-road trucker or a Pacific northwest logger. Five servings of
gourmet food to one of those guys would amount to little more than an
appetizer. But the point is: Benny's plate contained quite a bit more than his
brothers' and that had to raise some curious eyebrows.

NOTE: The Hebrew word for "merry" is shakar (shaw-kar') which means to
become tipsy; in a qualified sense, to satiate with a stimulating drink or
(figuratively) influence; which indicates that the beverage Joseph's brothers
were served had alcohol in it.

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Gen 44:1-17

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†. Gen 44:1-2 . .Then he instructed his house steward as follows: Fill
the men's bags with food, as much as they can carry, and put each
one's money in the mouth of his bag. Put my silver goblet in the
mouth of the bag of the youngest one, together with his money for
the rations. And he did as Joseph told him.

When the brothers threw Joseph into that pit back in chapter 37, they fully
intended to leave him there to die; all alone. So it makes sense that Joseph
would want to gauge their reaction to his kid brother Benjamin being placed
in a similar danger. Would they do to Benjamin what they had done to
Joseph? . . . just leave him in Egypt as a slave and/or to rot in a dungeon
while they went back home to comfort and safety?

†. Gen 44:3-5 . . As morning dawned, the men were sent on their
way with their burros. They had not gone far from the city when
Joseph said to his steward: Go after those men at once, and when
you catch up with them, say to them "Why have you repaid good
with evil? Isn't this the cup my master drinks from and also uses for
divination? This is a wicked thing you have done."

Divination cups were usually made out of silver and adorned with symbols,
spells, and religious phrases; and oftentimes the owner's name was
inscribed on it too. Diviners used their goblets in various ways. Some read
surface patterns when a few drops of one liquid (e.g. oil) was dripped into a
second liquid (e.g. water). Others divined by the movement of objects
floating upon, or sinking within, the goblet's contents. Others yet studied the
patterns that particles of gold formed when they settled to the bottom.
Divining cups were a kind of crystal ball for determining future events or
solving current mysteries. I would suspect that Joseph's divination cup was a
personal gift from his father-in-law Mr. Poti-phera; priest of On.

†. Gen 44:6-8 . .When he caught up with them, he repeated these
words to them. But they said to him: Why does my lord say such
things? Far be it from your servants to do anything like that! We
even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we
found inside the mouths of our sacks. So why would we steal silver
or gold from your master's house?

The brothers' appeal to reason was of course a waste of righteous passion.
It's well known that kleptomaniacs suffer a persistent neurotic impulse to
steal without economic motive to do so. Booty to them is like blood to a
vampire; viz: just the sight of it excites. Every once in a while, a famous
celebrity gets caught shoplifting and we're all amazed that a millionaire
would stoop to such a petty crime.

†. Gen 44:9 . . If any of your servants is found to have it, he will die;
and the rest of us will become my lord's slaves.

The brothers' rash response evidences their complete confidence that there
is just no way on God's green earth that any of them would ever steal
anything at all; let alone from an Egyptian big shot's home. Many a poker
player has lost it all on just one hand with that kind of confidence.
Sometimes, you just can't tell what the other guy is holding; and in this
case, the situation is a stacked deck.

†. Gen 44:10 . .Very well, then; he said; let it be as you say. Whoever
is found to have it will become my slave; the rest of you will be free
from blame.

Either the steward wasn't listening, or he was instructed to say just exactly
those words. They all volunteered to enslave themselves, but he'll settle on
just the one who allegedly took the goblet, and it's because Joseph wants to
gauge the elder brothers' reaction to his own kid brother's danger. If they
failed to prove themselves honorable men, then I really think Joseph
planned to harbor Benjamin and dispatch an escort for his father; but
permanently ban the brothers from ever returning to Egypt. They would just
have to make do on their own the best as they could till the famine was over
regardless of their blood kinship.

†. Gen 44:11-13 . . So each one hastened to lower his bag to the
ground, and each one opened his bag. He searched, beginning with
the oldest and ending with the youngest; and the goblet turned up in
Benjamin's bag. At this they rent their clothes. Each reloaded his
pack animal, and they returned to the city.

"they" didn't really have to go back; Joseph's steward had already pre
released them. But surprise of surprises; instead of leaving Benny to rot in
slavery like they had done to his big brother many years previously, they
accompany him back to Egypt.

This turn of events wasn't due to a sincere concern for Benny's safety. As it
turned out, the real concern was for their father Jacob and how he would
handle the loss of yet another of Rachel's babies.

†. Gen 44:14-17 . .When Judah and his brothers re-entered the
house of Joseph, who was still there, they threw themselves on the
ground before him. Joseph said to them: What is this deed that you
have done? Do you not know that a man like me practices
divination?

. . . Judah replied: What can we say to my lord? How can we plead,
how can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered the crime of
your servants. Here we are, then, slaves of my lord, the rest of us as
much as he in whose possession the goblet was found. But he
replied: Far be it from me to act thus! Only he in whose possession
the goblet was found shall be my slave; the rest of you go back in
peace to your father.

Surely Jacob wouldn't blame the older boys for the loss, since he was fully
aware of the risks involved when he sent his sons back to Egypt for food;
and the evidence against Benjamin made it appear he had no one to blame
but himself for getting into trouble. And this time, the men wouldn't have to
fake a death like they did Joseph's. It was a perfect situation; and I really
think Joseph fully expected them to take advantage of Benjamin's plight and
go back home without Joseph's brother; clapping themselves on the back for
their good fortune at ridding themselves of yet one more "favorite" sibling.

I can only imagine Joseph's surprise to see them all, to a man, including the
Terrible Trio-- Rueben, Simeon, and Levi --following his steward home with
their clothing ripped, and their heads hung low with fear and anxiety.

Then, as if that wasn't surprise enough; Judah steps forward and pins the
blame, not on Benjamin, but on all eleven of their own selves; thus
demonstrating a degree of solidarity that I have no doubt Joseph had never
before seen among his prone-to-rivalry elder brothers. Instead of asking
how can Benjamin prove "his" innocence, Judah asks how can "we" prove
"our" innocence. So then, Benjamin's alleged guilt is the whole family's guilt,
rather than an individual matter; and in point of fact, it is a national matter
too because those twelve men (counting Joseph) as a unit, represented the
blossoming nation of Israel.

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Gen 44:18-34

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†. Gen 44:18 . .Then Judah went up to him and said: Please, my lord,
let your servant appeal to my lord, and do not be impatient with your
servant, you who are the equal of Pharaoh.

Joseph didn't dispute Judah on the matter of being the equal of Pharaoh. Not
that he was a pharaoh; but that to Egypt's people, Joseph was as close to
being the actual pharaoh as anybody under a pharaoh could possibly get.
Compare Dan 7:13-13 where a human being is honored with the powers of
God; so that God's subjects have to bend the knee to that highly exalted
man just as if he were God in person. (cf. Ps 110:1 and Php 2:9-11)

†. Gen 44:19-34 . . My lord asked his servants: Have you a father or
another brother? We told my lord: We have an old father, and there
is a child of his old age, the youngest; his full brother is dead, so that
he alone is left of his mother, and his father dotes on him. Then you
said to your servants: Bring him down to me, that I may set eyes on
him. We said to my lord: The boy cannot leave his father; if he were
to leave him, his father would die. But you said to your servants:
Unless your youngest brother comes down, you will not see my face.

. . .When we came back to your servant my father, we reported my
lord's words to him. Later our father said: Go back and procure some
food for us. We answered: We cannot go down; only if our youngest
brother is with us can we go down, for we may not see the man's
face unless our youngest brother is with us.

. . .Your servant my father said to us: As you know, my wife bore me
two sons. But one is gone from me, and I said: Alas, he was torn by
a beast! And I have not seen him since. If you take this one from me,
too, and he meets with disaster, you will send my white head down
to death in sorrow.

. . . Now, if I come to your servant my father and the boy is not with
us-- since his own life is so bound up with his --when he sees that
the boy is not with us, he will die, and your servants will send the
white head of your servant our father down to death in grief. Now
your servant has pledged himself for the boy to my father, saying: If
I do not bring him back to you, I shall stand guilty before my father
forever. Therefore, please let your servant remain as a slave to my
lord instead of the boy, and let the boy go back with his brothers.
For how can I go back to my father unless the boy is with me? Let
me not be witness to the woe that would overtake my father!

Judah's impassioned plea isn't for Benjamin's sake, but for the sake of his
father. That is an incredible turn-around since nobody seemed to care much
about Jacob's feelings back in chapter 37 when they all to a man
manipulated their dad into concluding Joseph was mauled to death by a wild
animal.

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Gen 45:1-8

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†. Gen 45:1-2 . . Joseph could stand it no longer. Out, all of you! he
cried out to his attendants. He wanted to be alone with his brothers
when he told them who he was. Then he broke down and wept
aloud. His sobs were so loud that the Egyptians could hear, and so
the news reached Pharaoh's palace.

The brothers have repeatedly proven their integrity, their family unity, and
their filial loyalty. Joseph could gain nothing more conclusive than Judah's
impassioned plea by additional stratagems; and by now, his own emotional
tension was becoming overwhelming; even for a big strong man like himself,
and it was all he could do to order his entourage out of the room before
totally losing his composure right in front of everybody.

I can well imagine the shock and confusion that Joseph's housekeeping staff
must have felt when their normally rock steady, no-monkey-business master
broke down and began sobbing like a little girl who just lost her favorite
Barbie down the garbage disposal. They had probably never once seen the
second highest man in Egypt make an open display of emotion like this
before; and the palace grapevine was instantly abuzz about it.

†. Gen 45:3a . . I am Joseph: he said to his brothers. Is my father
still alive?

That question is so unnecessary that it makes no sense he would even ask.
The brothers had mentioned Joseph's dad no less than fourteen times up to
this point. Reading between the lines, and given the stress of the moment,
what Joseph actually said was: Is my father really, really still alive!? And I
don't think he asked that question of his brothers; but of himself; like a
lottery winner who asks themselves: I won!? Me!?

I think, that as the years in Egypt accumulated, Joseph had given up his dad
for dead and fully expected never to see him again. The news of Jacob's
continuing existence has been just beyond belief, and way too good to be
true. No doubt some of us feel very strongly that the world would be a much
better place to be rid of our own dads; but not Joseph. He enjoyed a normal
relationship at home, and was in fact his own dad's favorite son over all the
others.

Joseph was a very fortunate man to have lived with a dad who filled his
developing years with love, nurturing, attention, and acceptance. Some of
us, your host included, have no clue what that must be like; and never will.
I've seen a report online indicating that upwards of 80% of prison inmates
were victims of child abuse. Following are some interesting "father" facts.

Only about 50% of America's kids will spend their entire childhood in an
intact family. 24,000,000 children in America sleep in homes where their
natural fathers do not live.

Approximately half of the kids in the United States will live in a single parent
home at some point before the age of 18.

Nationally, 40% of kids whose fathers live outside the home have zero
contact with them. The other 60 percent have contact an average of just 69
days during the year.

Kids from father-absent homes are 5x more likely to live in poverty, 3x more
likely to fail in school, 2 to 3x more likely to develop emotional and
behavioral problems, and 3x more likely to commit suicide.

Up to 70% of adolescents charged with murder are from fatherless homes;
and up to 70% of long-term prison inmates grew up in a fatherless home.

People like that can't be expected to connect with Joseph's feelings for his
dad. Reading this section in Genesis is about as emotional an experience for
them as reading the Wall Street Journal. I'm not criticizing; I'm only pointing
out that it's difficult for some people to relate to this section of Genesis all
because they were emotionally mangled in the meat grinder of a affection
starved childhood.

NOTE: The physical growth of thousands of North Korean children is being
stunted by malnutrition; while here in America where our cities' homeless
eat like kings in comparison, the emotional development of thousands of
children is being stunted by filial neglect and indifference. I really don't know
whom to say is the worse off . . NK children or US children.

†. Gen 45:3b . . But his brothers could not answer him, for his
sudden emergence was making them palpitate.

I think part of their internal shivering was due to the fact that they instantly
realized that this man, whom they assumed was a foreigner, knew their
language and perfectly understood everything they had been discussing in
his presence all along. Coupled with that was their instant terror that their
long-lost kid brother was in a pretty good position for revenge: to do unto
them as they had done unto him. And the brothers were utterly powerless to
prevent him from doing so.

†. Gen 45:4a . .Then Joseph said to his brothers: Come close to me.

You can just safely bet they had reflexively shrunk back from him as far as
the boundaries of the room would permit.

†. Gen 45:4b-7 . .When they had done so, he said: I am your brother
Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed
and do not be disappointed in yourselves for selling me here,
because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two
years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five
years there will not be plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead
of you to preserve for you a progeny on earth and to save your lives
by a great rescue.

If it was only God's ambition to preserve Israel's future, He could have easily
prevented the famine. And if He was looking ahead to Israel's rescue from
Egyptian slavery, then couldn't He have just simply ordered Jacob to move
everybody down to Egypt? No, that wouldn't have worked because the
Hebrews were an abomination to the Egyptians. They would never have
allowed the Hebrews to immigrate and settle in Egypt's choicest land under
normal circumstances. So then, God set things up so that Egypt would owe
the Hebrews a big favor; and would welcome them in spite of their disgust.
Pharaoh and the Egyptians couldn't just take Joseph's providence for
granted; no, they were deeply indebted for saving them all from starvation
and possibly conquest by foreign powers.

NOTE: Famines are the result of climate change; which is a natural earth
cycle. Nowadays, climate change is depicted as a man-made evil; but in
reality, climate change is normal and would happen anyway regardless of
the amount of fossil fuel man burns or doesn't burn. In other words: God
didn't cause the famine in Josephs' day as a special event like the Flood; no,
He simply saw it coming before anybody else did; just as He had seen many
like it in the past.

†. Gen 45:8 . . So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He
made me father to Pharaoh; lord of his entire household and ruler of
all Egypt.

The sense in which Joseph was a "father" to Pharaoh, was in the capacity of
a guardian; viz: of a provider and a protector. If not for Joseph, Pharaoh's
kingdom would have surely collapsed.

The Hebrew word for "father" is 'ab (awb); which is ambiguous in that it has
several applications. It can apply to a genetic ancestor (e.g. Gen 2:24), an
inventor of skills and trades (e.g. Gen 4:20-21), a political big shot (2Kgs
5:13), a spiritual counselor (2Kgs 6:21), and God. (Ps 44:1)

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Gen 45:9-28

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†. Gen 45:9-11 . . Now hurry back to my father and say to him "This
is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt.
Come down to me; don't delay. You shall live in the region of Goshen
and be near me-- you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks
and herds, and all you have. I will provide for you there, because
five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your
household and all who belong to you will become destitute."

Goshen was the fertile region in northeastern Egypt; situated to the west of
today's Suez Canal: a district of about 900 square miles; which is pretty
much the eastern half of the Nile delta.

NOTE: When Moses left Goshen, he didn't go directly to Palestine along the
coastal trade route; but took Yhvh's people a bit south first towards the
modern city of Suez (Ex 13:17-18). In his day, the Gulf Of Suez arm of the
Red Sea extended about 50 miles farther north than it does now. Lake
Timsah-- at the current town of Ismailia --and The Great Bitter Lake, and
the Little Bitter Lake are all that remain as witnesses to that portion of the
ancient sea bed.

†. Gen 45:12-13 . .You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother
Benjamin, that it is really I who am speaking to you. Tell my father
about all the honor accorded me in Egypt and about everything you
have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.

Jacob would want to know just exactly how the brothers learned Joseph's
Egyptian identity. By getting the news right from the horse's mouth, there
would be no reason for Jacob to doubt their story.

Joseph didn't refer to Jacob as "our" father; no, he made his association with
Jacob far more personal than that. He referred to Jacob as "my" father;
which reminds me of another's statement.

"Go to my brethren, and say unto them: I ascend unto my Father, and your
Father; and to my God, and your God." (John 20:17)

†. Gen 45:14-15 . .Then he threw his arms around his brother
Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. And he
kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers
talked with him.

I seriously think the ten brothers were so consternated to the point of
paralyzing terror as to be rendered utterly mute until Joseph adequately
allayed their fears, and proved his good will towards them with all his
blubbering and hugging; and I also think they never took their eyes off his
hands the whole time, half expecting him to draw a jeweled dagger and
pierce it through each man's liver in turn.

There was a time when the older brothers were so infected with rivalry
towards Joseph that any conversation they had with him, if they had any at
all, was punctuated with hostility (Gen 37:4). I think you can safely bet that
at this point, their conversation is re-punctuated with supplication, courteous
tones, humility, hats in hand, and profuse apologies rather than hostility.

Joseph was an extremely magnanimous man; with a degree of self control
that is really quite amazing. If anybody in the Old Testament was justified to
nurse a grudge, it has to be him. Surely he deserves some recognition for
exemplifying at least one of Christ's beatitudes.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." (Matt
5:9)

There are some people in this world who are simply implacable. They refuse
to bury the hatchet and move on. No, for them, rivalry, revenge, spite,
retaliation, stubbornness, and grudging are a way of life: every
disagreement is an act of war-- they're emotional and reactive, and they
thrive on criticism, sarcasm, chafing, carping, finding fault, thoughtless
remarks, demeaning comments, insults, contempt, ridicule, bickering, retort
upon retort, endless yeah-buts, telling other people off, recriminations, and
giving people a piece of their mind.

It should go without saying that warlike people can't possibly be allowed into
heaven because God's home is a place of peace. It just wouldn't be fair to
the others to let confrontational people loose in paradise to wreck it for
everybody.

†. Gen 45:21-22a . .The sons of Israel did so; Joseph gave them
wagons as Pharaoh had commanded, and he supplied them with
provisions for the journey. To each of them, moreover, he gave a
change of clothing;

Their "change of clothing" wasn't just some fresh clothes. The changes were
actually garments suitable for formal occasions like an audience with a king,
or hob-nobbing with aristocrats (e.g. Gen 41:14, 2Kgs 25:27-30). So the
changes were pretty expensive; like Valentino suits.

†. Gen 45:22b . . but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of
silver and several changes of clothing.

You know, some people just never seem to learn. It was because of
favoritism that Joseph's brothers were provoked to malicious sibling rivalry
in the first place; and here he is repeating the very same mistake grandpa
Isaac made in chapter 25, and the very same mistake papa Jacob made in
chapter 37. Benjamin had done nothing to deserve preferential treatment
over and above his elder brothers. The only reason that Joseph treated him
better than the others is simply the fact that they shared the same mother;
that's all: which Webster's defines as nepotism.

†. Gen 45:23-24 . . And he sent to his father these things: ten jack
burros loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female burros
loaded with grain, bread, and food for his father for the journey. So
he sent his brothers away, and they departed; and he said to them:
See that you are not distracted along the way.

Apparently the trade route from Egypt to Canaan offered diversions aplenty
to entertain grown men; which Joseph would like his brothers to avoid this
time around because he was anxious to get his dad moved into Egypt as
soon as was practical. In point of fact, time was of the essence what with
five more years of famine conditions yet to come; with each succeeding year
much worse than those preceding it. I think Joseph wanted his dad settled in
before the worst of it took hold of the region and put them all, including their
livestock, in very imminent danger of perishing.

†. Gen 45:25-26 . . So they went up out of Egypt and came to their
father Jacob in the land of Canaan. They told him: Joseph is still
alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt. Jacob was stunned and didn't
believe them.

He didn't believe them because for one thing; he was led to believe all these
years that Joseph was dead and gone beyond recovery; hence Jacob was
incredulous and one could hardly blame him. As an example, suppose a total
stranger should walk up to your door some day and announce you won a 42
million-dollar Powerball lottery. Now add that to the fact that you have never
bought a Powerball lottery ticket in your whole life. Would you begin jumping
up and down and shouting hallelujah? I don't think so. I think you would be
skeptical; just as skeptical as Jacob.

The actual Hebrew of Gen 45:26 says that Jacob's heart became sluggish;
viz: his blood pressure dropped and he quite literally paled. We have to
remember that Jacob was 135 years old at this point in his life, and would
live only another seventeen more (Gen 47:28). Older people don't do well
with shock; it can actually kill them.

†. Gen 45:26-28 . . But when they told him everything Joseph had
said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry
him back, their father Jacob's strength returned. And Israel said: I'm
convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I
die.

No doubt Jacob had to sit down-- more likely lay down with his feet elevated
--while his sons related their adventures in Egypt; and quite possibly it was
right then that they confessed to their selling Jacob's favorite son into
slavery. Better they tell him now than wait till he finds out later from Joseph.

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Gen 46:1-30

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†. Gen 46:1 . . So Israel set out with all that was his, and he came to
Beer-sheba, where he offered sacrifices to the God of his father
Isaac.

I would imagine that Jacob was a bit uncertain as to whether or not he
should leave the promised land and go to Egypt, even though his granddad
had migrated for that exact same reason back in chapter 12. Jacob was
promised a multitude of offspring who were supposed to inherit Palestine,
and how ever could that happen if he wasn't even living in the land? And it
seemed every time a patriarch left Palestine they got into trouble. Jacob had
to wonder: Was he walking into a trap?

Jacob, being a prophet, may have suspected that the prediction below was
somehow related to his present circumstances.

"Then Yhvh said to Abram: Know for certain that your descendants will be
strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and
mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as
slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions." (Gen
15:13-15)

†. Gen 46:2-4a . . God called to Israel in a vision by night: Jacob!
Jacob! He answered: Here. And He said: I am 'El, the god of your
father. Fear not to go down to Egypt, for I will make you there into a
great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I myself
will also bring you back;

Although El's promise to accompany Jacob in Egypt was generous; He pretty
much had to because back in Gen 28:15 Yhvh said "Remember, I am with
you: I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land.
I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

Since Jacob was destined to die in Egypt, God's promise to "bring you back"
would be quite hollow unless He intended to raise Jacob from the dead some
day; which He does. (Matt 8:11)

There were so many 'els out and about in Jacob's day that it was necessary
for Jacob's god to pick His words carefully in order to make sure people fully
understood who He was so they didn't confuse Him with one of the other
deities popular in that day. By identifying Himself to Jacob as the "god of
your father" there was no mistaking who was speaking.

†. Gen 46:4b . . and Joseph's hand shall close your eyes.

That must have been a comforting prediction for Jacob. Not the dying part,
but the fact that he would die in Joseph's company, rather than dying
somewhere distant only for Joseph to hear about it later before he had a
chance to say his farewells.

†. Gen 46:5-7 . . So Jacob set out from Beer-sheba. The sons of
Israel put their father Jacob and their children and their wives in the
wagons that Pharaoh had sent to transport him; and they took along
their livestock and the wealth that they had amassed in the land of
Canaan. Thus Jacob and all his offspring with him came to Egypt: he
brought with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons, his daughters
and granddaughters-- all his offspring.

Not mentioned as participants in the wagon train were the slaves; the
"wealth that they had amassed in the land of Canaan" would have included
them as well as the livestock. If Isaac passed down granddad Abraham's
army to Jacob; then the whole troupe-- family, wagons, slaves, and of
course the herds; composed of sheep, goats, cows, burros, and camels -
must have been a very impressive sight traveling down the road to Shur into
Egypt.

The Hebrew word for "daughter" is ambiguous. It can mean an immediate
female offspring (e.g. Gen 46:15) or even all the females in a whole country
(e.g. Gen 28:8). But in this case, the females referred to were limited to
Jacob's own biological children (vs 7 and vs 26) rather than including every
female in the camp.

†. Gen 46:8-27 . .These are the names of the Israelites, Jacob and
his descendants, who came to Egypt-- all the persons belonging to
Jacob who came to Egypt --his own issue, aside from the wives of
Jacob's sons --all these persons numbered 66. And Joseph's sons
who were born to him in Egypt were two in number. Thus the total of
Jacob's household who came to Egypt was seventy persons.

The number would have to include both Joseph and Jacob in order to come
out right. The nose count has its problems with other portions of scripture
that contain the rosters. Expositors with higher IQ's and better educations
than mine haven't had much luck at harmonizing those discrepancies so I
could hardly expect myself to do any better.

†. Gen 46:28-29a . . He had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph, to
point the way before him to Goshen. So when they came to the
region of Goshen, Joseph ordered his chariot and went to Goshen to
meet his father Israel;

Judging from all past events, and the current ones at this point; Judah
appears to have been the most grown-up (mature and serious) of all the
other brothers, and a man whom Jacob could reasonably depend upon to
look after business and not goof around or allow himself to get distracted.

Judah's going ahead of Jacob wasn't really to get instructions as to where
Jacob should settle (the Hebrew of "point the way before him" is a bit
difficult) but rather, as point man (liaison) to inform Joseph of his father's
imminent arrival. Subsequently Joseph gassed up his Federally-provided
conveyance and roared off to meet his father and personally guide him to
the correct location.

NOTE: Some feel that Joseph's headquarters were in the vicinity of Ramses;
which supports Gen 45:10 that Jacob would settle where he would be "near
me"; that is: in Joseph's neighborhood-- sort of.

†. Gen 46:29b-30 . . he presented himself to him and, embracing him
around the neck, he wept on his neck a good while. Then Israel said
to Joseph: Now I can die, having seen for myself that you are still
alive.

There's sometimes an overtone of sadness at reunions as kin become
shaken a bit by the too obvious damage that the aging process wreaked
upon loved ones during the years of their absence; plus the sadness of not
being a part of all the years that long-lost kin have lived their lives without
us.

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Gen 47:1-7

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†. Gen 47:1-2 . .Then Joseph came and reported to Pharaoh, saying:
My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that is
theirs, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in the region
of Goshen. And selecting five of his brothers, he presented them to
Pharaoh.

Aren't you curious which five of the eleven brothers Joseph selected; and
what guided his decision?

When Christ went up on a mountain to transfigure (Matt 17:1, Mark 19:2)
he took along only three of his twelve hand-picked apostles. Some
expositors believe he took Peter, James, and John not because they were
the strongest in faith of the twelve; but on the contrary, the weakest. But
who really knows. It could be that Christ chose those three men because he
knew for himself they could be trusted to keep a secret. (cf. Mark 9:9-10)

Quite possibly, Joseph had carefully gauged all eleven brother's reactions
under the stress to which he only just recently had subjected them and
noted the ones who were not easy to intimidate. These would be his best
choice to meet the king because the last thing Joseph needed was his kin
stammering and shivering in the audience of his boss; the Pharaoh of Egypt.
He wanted them to leave the impression that they knew what they were
doing in the world of animal husbandry. (This is all conjecture of course
because I don't really know why Joseph selected the five.)

†. Gen 47:3 . . Pharaoh said to his brothers: What is your
occupation? They answered Pharaoh: We your servants are
shepherds, as were also our fathers.

Bang! Direct question/Direct answer-- no stammering, no shivering, no
apologizing, and no beating around the bush as if they had anything to be
ashamed of for being ranchers.

†. Gen 47:4 . .We have come; they told Pharaoh; to sojourn in this
land, for there is no pasture for your servants' flocks, the famine
being severe in the land of Canaan. Pray, then, let your servants stay
in the region of Goshen.

After first assuring the king that they had no intention of settling
permanently in his jurisdiction, they then boldly request exactly what they
want. It's a pity more people don't pray like Joseph's brothers because
there's no need to circumnavigate the issue with God. He already knows
what's on your mind before you even open your mouth so you might just as
well get right to the point.

"And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they
think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like
them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask
Him." (Matt 6:7-8)

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Heb 4:16)

The Greek word for "boldly" is parrhesia (par-rhay-see'-ah) which means all
out-spokenness, i.e. frankness, bluntness, and/or confidence.

In other words: God's people shouldn't be shy about speaking up and telling
Him exactly what's on their minds. Rote mantras like the Ave Maria and/or
the Our Father etc. are not what I call forthright, out-spoken, frank and/or
speaking up.

†. Gen 47:5-6 . .Then Pharaoh said to Joseph: As regards your father
and your brothers who have come to you, the land of Egypt is open
before you: settle your father and your brothers in the best part of
the land; let them stay in the region of Goshen. And if you know any
capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.

Communication between the brothers and Pharaoh was probably of the very
same nature as their own first encounter with Joseph; which was through an
interpreter. In this case, Joseph is the interpreter; viz: actually a mediator
between king and subjects. A mediator doesn't only interpret, but also looks
out for the best interests of both parties and brings about a resolution of
their differences; if any. The brothers were foreign herders, and for that
reason, the king was loathe to speak with them; much less to associate with
them. If not for Joseph, there would have been no audience; the men would
have been barred from Pharaoh's court.

Joseph was both an Israelite and an Egyptian. He understood, and moved
about, in both cultures; consequently he was accepted by each party as one
of their own.

In the same way; remove Christ, and nobody would ever be able to contact
God; not even anybody in the Old Testament. Since Christ is both Divine and
Human, he is perfectly capable of resolving the differences between God and
Man; and he is accepted by both because he's one of their own.

"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus" (1Tim 2:5)

†. Gen 47:7a . .Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and
presented him before Pharaoh.

Probably no other moment in Pharaoh's life would be more historic than this
one. Standing before him, as a feeble old common rancher, was one of the
most significant men who ever lived on this earth; but Pharaoh could have
never guessed it under the circumstances. How was Pharaoh to know that
this tired, broken down old man standing before him was to be the
progenitor of a monarch that would dominate not only the entire over-world;
but even the netherworld.

"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of
Adam, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days
and was escorted into His presence. He was given authority, glory and
sovereign power; that all peoples, nations and men of every language should
worship him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass
away, and his kingdom is the one that will never be destroyed." (Dan 7:13
14)

"God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above
every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven
and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus
Christ is supreme-- to the glory of God the Father." (Php 2:9-11)

†. Gen 47:7b . . and Jacob blessed Pharaoh

As a rule, the lesser is blessed of the better (Heb 7:7). However, it's possible
for the better to be blessed by the lesser too. (e.g. Ps 16:7, Ps 26:12, Ps
34:1, et al). It all depends on the nature of the blessing. There's nothing a
man can do to improve God's lot in life, but there's certainly a lot God can
do to improve a man's lot in life; however, either can say nice things about
the other.

Precisely what form Jacob's blessing took is difficult to know for certain; but
it could have been something like: Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the
earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and
over every living creature that moves on the ground (Gen 1:28) or maybe:
God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty
of corn and wine; let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee; be
lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee; cursed
be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee (Gen
27:28-29) or even as simple as: Let my lord the king live forever. (1Kgs
1:31)

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Gen 47:8-17

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†. Gen 47:8-9a . . And Pharaoh said unto Jacob: How old are you?
And Jacob said unto Pharaoh: The days of the years of my pilgrimage
are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the
years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the
years of the life of my fathers

The word "evil" isn't restricted to moral awfulness; but can indicate hard
times as well as just plain old bad luck (cf. Job 5:7, Isa 45:7). The days of
Jacob's life weren't totally disagreeable, though he makes it sound like that.

However, he did spend a good number of years in the outdoors, in all sorts
of weather, tending herds. That's not an easy life. Then there was the grief
visited upon him by the sons of his own flesh; Dinah was no help either. And
the peace in his home wrecked by the tension caused by the bitter sibling
rivalry between his wives Leah and Rachel; not to mention all the headaches
uncle Laban contributed.

Jacob also endured the latter years of his life with a handicap resulting from
his encounter with a divine being in chapter 32. It's odd how human nature
tends to dwell upon its misfortunes instead of spending more time reflecting
upon its blessings. For some, the glass is half empty, and for others it's half
full, and yet for others: the glass is too big.

At this point in his life Jacob is wore out: he's winding down, and ready to
retire. Aging folks tend to be a little on the negative side, and sometimes
dwell more on the bad memories rather than the good. It's wise to consider
that the aged weren't born that way. In reality; they're children who've been
alive for a long time. When I was a kid, I tended to think that senior citizens
were a species; not appreciating, till later in life, that I was actually looking
at my future.

†. Gen 47:9b . . in the days of their pilgrimage.

Jacob's use of the word "pilgrimage" reflects the cruel reality that none of us
comes into this world to stay. We're here for a while, but that's all: just a
while.

"Where are your forefathers now? And the prophets: do they live forever?"
(Zech 1:4-5)

"For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that's visible for a little time, and
then vanishes away." (Jas 4:14)

†. Gen 47:10 . . And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from
before Pharaoh.

Just how impressed Pharaoh was with Jacob is difficult to know, but the king
had to wonder to himself just how on earth a genius like Joseph could ever
arise from such humble root stock as this broken down, insignificant old man
who just walked out of his court. But one thing I know for sure: of the two
men; Jacob holds the higher rank in the grand scheme of things.

†. Gen 47:11-12 . . So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in
Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the
district of Rameses, as Pharaoh directed. Joseph also provided his
father and his brothers and all his father's household with food,
according to the number of their children.

Jacob's clan nourished themselves with seafood too.

"We remember the fish we ate in Egypt" (Num 11:5)

NOTE: My early childhood was cultured on John Wayne and cowboy
westerns in which the native Americans were usually either Apache or
Comanche, dwelling in arid regions nowhere near an ocean. Imagine my
surprise to learn of the Wampanoag people of Massachusetts baking clams
centuries before the first Europeans invaded their land.

Joseph's family lived in an area also known as Zoan (Ps 78:12) which was up
in the north, near the Mediterranean Sea in the East Nile delta. The area had
access to the sea, and there was lots of water and wetlands; so that seafood
and migratory fowl were never in short supply. Actually, all told, Jacob's
family fared quite well in Egypt in spite of the famine's overall severity.
Meanwhile, it wrecked everybody else.

†. Gen 47:13 . .There was no food, however, in the whole region
because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted
away because of the famine.

As mentioned earlier back in chapter 41, famines are usually the natural
result of insufficient rainfall.

†. Gen 47:14 . . Joseph gathered in all the money that was to be
found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, as payment for
the rations that were being procured, and Joseph brought the money
into Pharaoh's palace.

Some people accuse Joseph of profiteering; of exploiting the people's
hardship. But they fail to realize that he wasn't acting on his own. Joseph
answered to a higher authority: to Mr. Pharaoh. If Joseph had gone behind
Pharaoh's back and gave the Egyptians grain for free, then Joseph himself
would have been arrested and either put right back in prison or, worse,
gibbeted. Then who would his clan look to for representation with Pharaoh?

"it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful." (1Cor 4:2)

The New Testament Greek word for "faithful" is pistos (pis-tos') which
means: trustworthy. Webster's defines "trustworthy" as worthy of
confidence; viz: dependable.

To be dependable implies looking out for your boss' best interests rather
than either your own or anybody else's. (cf. Luke 11:12-27)

†. Gen 47:14-17 . .When the money of the people of Egypt and
Canaan was gone, all Egypt came to Joseph and said: Give us food.
Why should we die before your eyes? Our money is used up. Then
bring your livestock; said Joseph. I will sell you grain in exchange
for your livestock, since your money is gone. So they brought their
livestock to Joseph, and he gave them grain in exchange for their
horses, their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys. And he
brought them through that year with grain in exchange for all their
livestock.

This is the very first mention of a horse in the Bible.

NOTE: Most Native Americans had never seen a horse until the Spanish
brought them here sometime around 1540. It's believed the Pueblo people
were the first to make good use of the horse; but not by choice. It was as
slaves and laborers on Spanish ranchos that they learned how. After the
Pueblo revolted, they became prosperous horse traders; and by that means
the Plains Indians obtained horses; which greatly improved their nomadic
way of life; and their tactics in warfare too.

The Old Testament Hebrew words for "horse" are cuwc (soos) and cuc
(soos); which means not only a horse (as leaping), but also a swallow (from
its flight style). Both swallows and horses are quite nimble; and of the two,
I'd say the swallows are more so. They can flit like bats when in pursuit of
winged insects.

Horses were the animal of choice for pulling chariots in ancient Egypt. (e.g.
Ex 14:9)

Putting horses on the list of saleable livestock indicates that even relatively
prosperous breeders were falling on hard times too, so that no matter
whether the Egyptians were rich or poor, the famine was effecting them all.
The rich have to eat too, just like everybody else; and money alone makes
poor nourishment.

Here in America, when the last bit of arable land is finally bulldozed for
residential housing, and paved over for shopping centers, office buildings,
super highways, cemeteries, malls, light rails, factory sites and warehouses:
that's when we'll finally catch on that money isn't everything.

Only after the last tree is cut down,
The last of the water poisoned,
The last animal destroyed:
Only then will some realize
They cannot eat money.
- Cree Indian Prophecy -

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Gen 47:18-26

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†. Gen 47:18-19a . .The next year they came again and said: Our
money is gone, and our livestock are yours. We have nothing left but
our bodies and land. Why should we die right in front of you? Buy us
and our land in exchange for food; we will then become servants to
Pharaoh.

Joseph's plan had no intention of shackling the Egyptians in grinding poverty
and humiliation like the African slaves of America's pre civil war days.
Though they became Pharaoh's slaves, they also become share-croppers;
which is a very tolerable arrangement in comparison to slaves who are
permitted to keep none of the fruits of their labors. In effect then, the
Egyptians would actually be afforded the dignity of working for
compensation; and it was pretty generous too.

†. Gen 47:18-19b . . Just give us grain so that our lives may be
spared and so the land will not become empty and desolate.

They not only needed grain for food, but also enough to sow their fields in
anticipation of next season's crop. Whether the Egyptian populace at large
was aware of the famine's predicted duration can't be known for certain, but
farmers often sow even in famine years because who can tell if the weather
is going to change for the better or not. Joseph, of course, was privy to
knowledge of the famine's end, and I would think that he would surely share
that information with the delegations that negotiated with him in this matter.

†. Gen 47:20 . . So Joseph gained possession of all the farm land of
Egypt for Pharaoh, every Egyptian having sold his field because the
famine was too much for them; thus the land passed over to
Pharaoh.

It's reasonable to assume that Pharaoh's only interest would be what's
known as Egypt's so called "black" land; which is primarily the arable soil
located adjacent to the Nile's river banks and was at one time subject to
seasonal flooding; which replenished the soil with fresh deposits of silt each
year.

†. Gen 47:21-22 . . and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from
one end of Egypt to the other. However, he did not buy the land of
the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh
and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is
why they did not sell their land.

That regular State allotment must have made religion seem like an attractive
career path. Their constituents may have been suffering, but the priests
were doing just fine and coasting right through all the hard times. I think it's
notable that God wouldn't permit Judaism's priests to own land; nor permit
them to feed at the Federal trough either, thus making them fully dependent
upon the prosperity of ordinary pew warmers. Thus the Aaronic priests were
highly motivated to keep the people in a good standing with God in order to
keep themselves fed because lack of good standing could easily result in a
poor economy in Israel. (cf. Deut 28:1-68)

When Saul was king, there was a time in Israel when the priests didn't even
have enough food of their own on hand to supply David's escape (1Sam
21:1-6). That was a pretty good indication that Saul's kingdom had fallen
into spiritual decline during his administration; and definitely time for a
change in leadership.

†. Gen 47:23-24 . . Joseph said to the people: Now that I have
bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so
you can plant the ground. But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of
it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the
fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your
children.

Four-fifths is equal to 80% which is a very unusual percentage for share
croppers. In addition, there's no mention of either rents or leases. In other
words, the Egyptians lived on Pharaoh's land essentially for free. The only
rent they paid, if you could call it that, was the one-fifth of the land's
produce. That was a very good deal for the Egyptians because it was
flexible. In other words; no matter how well or how poorly the land produced
in any given year, whether little or much, the percentage never changed.
Thus they were always able to satisfy their obligation to Pharaoh even in
years when disease and/or insects decimated their crops. It was virtually
impossible to ever fall behind in payments.

Since Pharaoh owned all the land, and exacted neither rent nor lease from
share-croppers; it became possible for Egypt's poor to apply for a piece of
acreage. While the drought was a curse for some people; it was a blessing
for others.

†. Gen 47:25 . .You have saved our lives; they said. May we find
favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh.

The word "bondage" is from 'ebed (eh'-bed) which includes all kinds of
servitude; including outright slavery. Another word for "servant" is sakiyr
(saw-keer') which is a person who works for wages; viz: an employee.

It's reasonable to assume that not everyone in Egypt took up farming as
there would still be the need for goods and services like metal smiths,
butchers, seamstresses, barbers, shipwrights, wagon and chariot builders,
longshoremen, pottery, merchant marine, general mercantile, weavers,
shoemakers, freight haulers, ranchers, and building contractors; et al: every
sort of trade and commercial enterprise imaginable. Pharaoh had all the
money. So then, the barter system probably thrived in Egypt-- the farmers
trading out of their 80% and the merchants and tradesmen paying Pharaoh
his one-fifth out of what trickled down from the farmers. In other words: in
that economy, food was gold.

Nobody complained. One thing you could say about the Egyptians; they
didn't look a gift horse in the mouth. If not for Joseph's providence, they
would have all surely died, and lost everything, and they knew it too. Thanks
to him, instead of dying, they all enjoyed a pretty good standard of living.
There were some sacrifices to be made, yes, but all in all, they fared pretty
well under Joseph's administration.

†. Gen 47:26 . . So Joseph established it as a law concerning land in
Egypt-- still in force today --that a fifth of the produce belongs to
Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests that did not become
Pharaoh's.

The "today" in that passage of course refers of the author's own day.

The 20% flat tax was fair across the board for everybody; rich, poor, and
middle class alike-- no deductions and no exemptions.

Thank God Joseph was a man of integrity because the kind of power he
wielded has a way of tempting men to do some very greedy things; for
example: enforcement of the so-called law of supply and demand. Of one
thing we can be pretty sure: Pharaoh's approval rating no doubt broke all
the records thanks to his selection of Joseph to manage Egypt's affairs
during a very serious national crisis.

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Gen 47:27-31

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†. Gen 47:27-28 . . Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region
of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and
increased greatly in number. Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years,
and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven.

Jacob immigrated to Egypt when he was 130 (Gen 47:9) so he spent as
many years with Joseph at the last as he had at the first-- seventeen (cf.
Gen 37:2). At this point, the famine had been done and over for 12 years,
since it was during the second year of the seven-year famine that the people
of Israel arrived (Gen 45:11).

During those 12 years, and no doubt the other five too, Jacob's clan did very
well for themselves; so that they eventually became a political element to be
reckoned with (Ex 1:6-10). By the time of the Exodus, the Israelites
numbered over 600,000 adults, not counting children. Israelites were
accounted "children" until the age of 20 (Num 26:2). Here in America, we let
children of 18 vote for Presidents. Now that's scary.

It's interesting that another Pharaoh, in the future-- who would enslave
them in the book of Exodus --wasn't worried about the Israelites increasing
to the point of taking over his country, no, he was concerned they might up
and leave it. What's that saying? It's saying, that as a people, Jacob's clan
were excellent, productive citizens who accounted for a significant portion of
Egypt's gross national product.

The palace itself benefited from their ranching skills (Gen 47:5). No doubt
Hebrew beef from the Nile delta became a highly sought commodity
everywhere in Egypt. Jacob's people not only maintained a fishing industry,
but they farmed too (Num 11:5). And among them were experts in the
construction trades (Ex 1:11) and in every manner of skill and artifice (Ex
31:1-6, Ex 35:20-36:7).

That all tells me that the Israelites weren't freeloaders by any means. They
were hard workers who put their noses to the grindstone and contributed
their fair share to Egypt's prosperity just like today's Hispanic immigrants
contribute their own fair share to America's prosperity. In point of fact, if
today's Hispanic work force should all up and return to their native lands,
America's economy would really feel it. So is it really any wonder then why
the US Government does all it can to accommodate Hispanic immigrants;
even the illegal ones?

†. Gen 47:29a . . And when the time approached for Israel to die, he
summoned his son Joseph

Normally, the patriarchs would convene with a natural firstborn son for
serious family business, but that position was transferred to Joseph because
of Reuben's tryst with his father's concubine. (1Chrn 5:1)

NOTE: The reason genealogies aren't reckoned by birthright is because the
status is conferrable upon a younger sibling; which of course would produce
an inaccurate family chronology.

†. Gen 47:29b . . and said unto him: If now I have found grace in thy
sight,

The phrase "found grace in they sight" seems to be a Genesis colloquialism
for someone disposed to do you a favor; e.g. Gen 6:8 where God singled out
Noah to survive the Flood.

†. Gen 47:29c . . put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and
truly with me.

This is the second, and last, place in Genesis where a hand was placed under
a patriarch's thigh during the making of a promise. The first was Gen 24:2-
3, with Abraham.

†. Gen 47:29d-30a . . Do not bury me in Egypt, but when I rest with
my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are
buried.

Jacob's statement underscores the fact that when people are gathered to
their ancestors, it doesn't necessarily indicate burial because Jacob's remains
would be stored in Egypt until such a time as he could be transported back
to Canaan. So he would already be at rest with his ancestors prior to
actually being buried with them later. (cf. Gen 49:33, Gen 50:3, and Gen
50:12-13)

When you think about it, choosing the location of one's burial site has no
practical advantages to speak of. Some people want to buried overlooking
the sea or an orchard. But do they themselves really get much of a view?
No, they're gone on to the netherworld; and their remains, being
underground and quite without life or eyesight, have only the inky blackness
of a subterranean pit to view, if that.

So then, is there really any significance to Jacob's request? Yes, it means
that Jacob believed the land of Canaan was on his own property; rather than
just the land of his nativity. He wanted to be buried at home, rather than on
foreign soil. God had promised Jacob deed and title to that land back in
chapter 35; and although he never really possessed it in his own days, Jacob
was confident that God was a man of integrity who would eventually make
good on His promises. The patriarchs were amazingly patient. (Heb 11:13-
16)

†. Gen 47: 30b-31a . . He replied: I will do as you have spoken. And
he said: Swear to me. And he swore to him.

Some Bible students construe Jesus' words at Matt 5:33-37 to mean that
taking an oath is a sin. But that's not what he said at all. What he really said
in that passage is that taking an oath sets you up for a fall because human
beings cannot guarantee that unforeseen circumstances won't prevent them
from making good on their promises.

"Moses spoke to the heads of the Israelite tribes, saying: This is what Yhvh
has commanded: If a man makes a vow to Yhvh or takes an oath imposing
an obligation on himself, he shall not break his pledge; he must carry out all
that has crossed his lips." (Num 30:2-3)

If taking an oath were intrinsically a sin, then God himself would be a sinner
(e.g. Gen 22:15-18, Ps 89:3-4, Ps 89:35-37, Ps 110:4, Isa 14:24, Isa
45:23, Isa 54:9, Heb 4:3, et al). Jesus too would be in contradiction of his
own teachings because he testified under oath that he was the Messiah;
God's son (Matt 23:63-65). The holy angels would be sinners too. (Rev
10:5-6)

I think most people would have been satisfied to just take Joseph's word for
it; had they been fully aware of his reputation; but Jacob was old school. In
his experience, to trust a man's word-- especially his own (cf. Gen 27:1-40)
--even the word of the one son whom he loved and trusted above all the
others, was foolhardy.

"Let God alone be true, and everyone else in the world a liar." (Rom 3:4)

Well . . Jacob isn't taking any chances that his number-one son might get so
caught up in State business that he lets an idle promise to his dad slip
through a crack. The patriarchs regarded oaths very seriously because they
all believed in a God who held men accountable.

†. Gen 47:31b . .Then Israel bowed at the head of the bed.

There's differences of opinion among the experts how best to interpret that
verse; but in context, it appears to me that Jacob has become bedridden,
and is-- as best he can for a man of his age and health --doing obeisance to
Joseph as a courtesy in the manner that Abraham did with the Hittites back
in chapter 23. In other words; Jacob lowered his eyes and nodded his head
in a sort of salute; which, courtesy aside, was somewhat equal to saying:
Okay then; we're good.

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Gen 48:1-7

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†. Gen 48:1a . . Some time afterward, Joseph was told "Your father
is ill"

The Hebrew word for "ill" is chalah (khaw-law') and can mean not only sick,
but also weak (Judg 16:17) sad (1Sam 22:8) suppliant (1Kgs 13:6) injured
(1Kgs 22:34) in pain (Jer 4:31) drunk (Hos 7:5) and evil: as disaster or
misfortune. (Ecc 5:13)

†. Gen 48:1b . . So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and
Ephraim.

The visit was probably just a comfort call; like visiting a friend or relative at
the hospital. I really don't think it was prompted by a fear that Jacob was
going to die at any moment. Joseph's boys apparently came on their own,
rather than by request, because Jacob wasn't expecting them; and what kid
can resist a trip to grandpa's house.

The boys by this time were young men, having been born during the seven
years of plenty, prior to the beginning of the seven years of famine (Gen
41:50). Jacob lived in Egypt at least seventeen years prior to this current
event (Gen 47:28), and immigrated during the second year of the seven
years of famine (Gen 45:6, Gen 45:11). So his grandsons Manasseh and
Ephraim were both in their early twenties by now.

†. Gen 48:2 . .When Jacob was told "Your son Joseph has come to
see you" Israel gathered his strength and sat up in bed.

No greetings or social graces are recorded from this meeting; though they
must have occurred. Surely Jacob wouldn't just launch into a speech the
moment his kin walked through the door. How weird would that be;
especially since Joseph was Jacob's very favorite son? But Genesis skips over
that part of the meeting, and without even so much as hinting how the topic
came up at this point in the visit; just goes right to the meat of it.

The speech Jacob is going to make was probably one he had been
rehearsing in his mind for some time as he sensed the nearness of his
impending death; which would certainly serve to remind him that he was
running out of time; so if he was ever going to get these things off his chest,
he better do it at the very next opportunity, while he was able, because who
really knows how many more opportunities one might have left? People
often put off important things-- e.g. making out their will --till sudden death,
or the onset of dementia finally closes the door. Jacob had something
important to say about his two grandsons, so it was fortuitous that they
came along with their dad to visit grandpa that day.

†. Gen 48:3a . . And Jacob said to Joseph: El Shaddai appeared to me
at Luz

El Shaddai-- the god who controls the laws of nature (cf. Col 1:17) --is also
Yhvh because that's an appellation Genesis labels Him at Bethel (Gen
28:13). And an appellation Jacob labeled Him too, at the very same site.
(Gen 28:16-20)

Luz is Bethel (Gen 28:10-19, Gen 35:6-7). That location was an especially
sacred site for Jacob because it was his very first personal encounter with
God. You know, hearing about God, and reading about God, and praying to
God, just aren't the same as actually meeting God. Not the same at all.
Head knowledge is one thing, personal experience is quite another; yes,
quite, quite another. There's nothing like a close encounter with God to set
someone's faith in concrete.

†. Gen 48:3b . . and He blessed me

At this point, Jacob paraphrases the essential elements of El Shaddai's Luz
blessing, with the exception of one element which I would esteem even
more valuable than the prosperity elements: God's ever-abiding
companionship.

"Remember, I am with you: I will protect you wherever you go and will bring
you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have
promised you." (Gen 28:15)

†. Gen 48:4 . . and said to me; "I will make you fertile and
numerous, making of you a nation; and I will assign this land to your
offspring to come for an everlasting possession."

Although Israel's possession of Palestine is eternal, their occupation of it
isn't, as the Jews' past evictions have easily demonstrated.

Jacob's statement of the blessing is selective, and left out a couple of items;
one of which is that God also assigned the land to Jacob himself, not just to
his offspring (Gen 28:13) so God will have to resurrect Jacob in order to
make good on that portion of the blessing.

What Jacob does next in the book of Genesis may seem weird; but
apparently not an unusual practice in his own day. What he did was to
legally adopt his two grandsons; thus positioning Manasseh and Ephraim as
his own sons rather than Joseph's, which elevated the boys from their
natural status as grandsons to that of children biologically produced in his
own bedroom by he and Rachel.

Exactly how Ephraim and Manasseh felt about that isn't stated; nor would
they have had a say in it anyway as Jacob was the reigning paterfamilias at
the time; and within his own clan, Jacob was only one step in rank below
Yhvh.

†. Gen 48:5-7 . . Now, your two sons, who were born to you in the
land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, shall be mine; Ephraim
and Manasseh shall be mine no less than Reuben and Simeon.
Progeny born to you after them shall be yours; but they shall be
recorded under the names of their brothers in their inheritance. As I
was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of
Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from
Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath (that is,
Bethlehem).

Jacob adopted his own two grandsons Manasseh and Ephraim; thus instating
them positionally equal to his twelve original sons, which had the effect of
adding additional children to Rachel's brood just as effectively as the
children born of her maid Bilhah-- Dan, and Naphtali.

Jacob's motive for adopting Joseph's boys was in sympathy for his deceased
wife being cut off during her child-bearing years, which subsequently
prevented her from having any more children of her own. Ephraim and
Manasseh bring Rachel's total up to six: two of her own, two by her maid
Bilhah, and two by Joseph's wife Asenath.

This obscure bit of patriarchal prerogative has managed to evade the notice
of modern Jewry as evidenced by their stubborn rejection of Christ as a valid
candidate for David's throne on the basis that the boy didn't descend from
Solomon biologically. By demanding a strictly biological connection to
Solomon, they have effectively locked themselves into perpetual error; and
have impudently, and shamefully, taken it upon themselves to overrule
Jacob's precedent.

Now, fast-forward to the New Testament where the angel of The Lord spoke
to Joseph in a dream and ordered him to share the blame for Mary's out-of
wedlock pregnancy by taking part in naming the child.

"She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus" (Matt
1:21)

Joseph obeyed.

"And he gave him the name Jesus." (Matt 1:25)

A child's name in those days wasn't chipped into stone until its biological
father gave his consent. For example; John the Baptist's dad Zacharias was
ordered to give his impending child the name of John.

"The angel said to him: your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall
call his name John." (Luke 1:13-14)

"And later on, "John" wasn't accepted until Zacharias gave his consent. So it
was, on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they
would have called him by the name of his father, Zacharias. His mother
answered and said: No; he shall be called John. But they said to her: There
is no one among your relatives who is called by this name. So they made
signs to his father-- what he would have him called. And he asked for a
writing tablet, and wrote, saying: His name is John." (Luke 1:59-63)

Thus, by participating in the naming of Mary's baby, Joseph as much as
declared he was its biological father.

"Isn't this Joseph's son? they asked." (Luke 4:22)

By law; he sure was. But you see; it was necessary that God instruct Joseph
to follow Jacob's precedent in order to place Mary's baby in line for
Solomon's throne because David's crown never passes down through
Solomon's female descendants; no, only his males.

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[WebersHome]

Gen 48:8-16b

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†. Gen 48:8a . .When Israel

At this point, Genesis switches from Jacob's earthly name to his God-given
name; viz: his spiritual name; probably because the first portion of the
interview was personal business while the second half will be conducted in
Jacob's official capacity as a prophet.

The Hebrew word for "prophet" is nabiy' (naw-bee') which just means an
inspired man. Abel was a prophet (Luke 11:50-51) and Abraham was a
prophet (Gen 20:7). People needn't be high powered prognosticators like
Isaiah to be prophets. Anybody whom God empowers with a degree of
spiritual intuition is a prophet because prophets aren't necessarily predictors
of the future, nor revealers of sacred secrets, but also just simply savvy in
the knowledge of God. Where did they get that savvy? From seminary and
yeshiva? From rabbis and Sunday school teachers? No. From God's Spirit.

"Turn you at My reproof: behold: I will pour out My Spirit unto you, I will
make known My words unto you." (Prv 1:23)

It was Moses' wish that all of Yhvh's people were prophets. (Num 11:29)

In the future, they will. (Ezek 36:24-27)

†. Gen 48:8b-10a . . saw the sons of Joseph, he asked: Who are
these? They are the sons God has given me here; Joseph said to his
father. Then Israel said: Bring them to me so I may bless them. Now
Israel's eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly
see.

The leading cause of eyesight problems in older people is a condition known
as Macular Degeneration. The cone cells within the human eye work hard all
our lives, and when their waste products build up faster than the body can
clear them, tiny yellow spots can form around the fovea. As a person ages,
those plaques, along with leaky blood vessels, tend to interrupt normal rod
and cone functioning.

When you add MD into the mix with cataracts, glaucoma, and stiffening of
the lens, then the victim is really in a bad state of affairs; and in Jacob's
day, there was absolutely nothing people could do about it.

I've heard young people say that old people are cute; and that's probably
because of the grandpa/grandma charisma connected with senior citizens.
Well; let me tell those youngsters something: getting old is neither fun nor
cute; no, not at all. The aging process is cruel and very disagreeable. It
disfigures our faces, puts bags under our eyes, diminishes our libido, thins
our hair, dulls our hearing, misshapes our figures, makes us smell, sags our
flesh, adds pounds where we don't want them, shrinks our muscles, stiffens
our joints, weakens our stomach, recedes our gums, robs of us vitality and
stamina, makes us look haggard, turns down the corners of our mouths
giving us permanent frowns, and seriously diminishes our quality of life.

About thirty-five years ago, an elderly lady overheard my wife and I talking
about travel and the lady said: Do it now while you're young. I didn't really
appreciate her advice till my own age began passing 70. Now I know
what she meant. Travel isn't exciting; no, it's a chore. From where I live in
Oregon, it's only six hours by plane to New York City, but I don't visit the big
apple because the thought of sitting on an airplane all that time seems like
such a bother; and with my arthritic knee, I really couldn't walk around the
city and see the sights much anyway.

It would be difficult to believe that Jacob didn't recognize his own
grandsons; but with failing eyesight, it's to be expected that he would
require verbal authentication of their identities before proceeding with the
sacred business at hand.

†. Gen 48:10b-12 . . So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his
father kissed them and embraced them. And Israel said to Joseph: I
never expected to see you again, and here God has let me see your
children as well. Joseph then removed them from his knees, and
bowed low with his face to the ground.

I seriously doubt the boys were sitting on Jacob's knees since they were
grown men; but the wording suggests they had each taken a turn kneeling
between Jacob's knees so he could embrace them and then got up and
stepped back to let the other in. In the next sequence, the brothers likely
knelt again, only this time one on either side, so Jacob could reach the tops
of both their heads from a sitting position.

I'm guessing Joseph's bow was either a gesture of whole-hearted approval
and/or submission to Jacob's position as the supreme, God-appointed
patriarch over Yhvh's people at that time so that whatever Jacob says, goes,
regardless of how anybody else in the family, including Joseph, might feel
about it.

Would to God the elderly were treated with such respect nowadays. One of
my favorite movie lines is from "Moonstruck" starring Cher and Nicolas Cage
wherein the grandpa makes this statement at the breakfast table one
morning prior to offering his son a father's advice. "I am old; and the old are
not wanted. And if they say it, they have no weight."

In other words: the typical young person really doesn't care too much for an
elderly person's opinions; nor even for their feelings. There was a time when
my grown son would force me to give him room in a narrow hallway so he
wouldn't have to shoulder me aside as we passed. He not only wouldn't yield
to a senior citizen, but he wouldn't even yield to his own biological father;
and to this day-- in his thirties and no less inconsiderate, no less arrogant,
and no less aggressive than before --actually has the chutzpah to regard
himself a mature Christian man.

†. Gen 48:13-14 . . And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his
right toward Israel's left hand and Manasseh on his left toward
Israel's right hand, and brought them close to him. But Israel
reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim's head, though he
was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on
Manasseh's head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.

Jacob's inspired intuition guided his hands to the boy God wanted to have
the higher rank in spite of the natural dictates of primogeniture.

†. Gen 48:15a . .Then he blessed Joseph

All three men there that day were "Joseph" so the blessing wasn't really
directed to Mr. Joseph himself alone but rather to his tribe as a unity.

†. Gen 48:15b . . saying: The god in whose ways my fathers Abraham
and Isaac walked, the god who has been my shepherd from my birth
to this day--

On the surface it might appear that God was Jacob's shepherd beginning at
chapter 28, when he was on the lamb from Esau; but in truth, God was
Jacob's shepherd from day one, beginning with Rachel's pregnancy in
chapter 25 when God decreed the elder would serve the younger. That's an
interesting note; because it indicates that God foreknew each and every
human being who would value spiritual things; and from eternity, he began
making sure they survived any and all misfortune in order to take advantage
of His salvation. (cf. Eph 1:4-5)

†. Gen 48:16a . .The Angel

Referring to God as an angel may be unusual; but certainly not
disrespectful. The Old Testament patriarchs never did see The True God in
person; they encountered only representations and apparitions either as
voices, fire, wind, smoke, or human forms. Those served as proxies for God,
and as such, had to be worshipped and respected as God. The "angel of The
Lord" appears many, many times in the Old Testament and really means:
the messenger of the Lord; which of course we know by now at this point in
Genesis was actually the rather curious divine being whose name is his
master's.

†. Gen 48:16b . . who has redeemed me from all evil--

The word "redemption" is often associated with salvation from the wrath of
God; but it primarily means to rescue, spare, and/or provide for and protect.
(e.g. Gen 38:6-10, Lev 25:25, Lev 25:47-49, and Ruth 3:1-4:12)

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Gen 48:16c-22

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†. Gen 48:16c . . may He bless the lads.

Jacob himself was blessed by The Angel in Gen 32:24-29.

Webster's defines "bless" as 1) to speak well of; viz: approve, 2) to confer
prosperity or happiness upon, 3) to protect, to preserve, 4) to endow, and
5) to favor.

I suppose there's a middle ground somewhere between blessing and cursing,
which could probably be labeled a zone of indifference: but in regards to
God, indifference is dangerously close to a curse because where there's
indifference, there's no blessing. Some might consider indifference a
blessing in itself, but personally I would far rather be blessed than ignored.
To be ignored is to be neglected, and in regards to matters of eternal
consequence; that can't be a good thing.

†. Gen 48:16d . . And may my name live on in them, and the names
of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;

Jacob certainly got his wish. The Israelites have survived some pretty
extreme genocidal attempts on their existence, but they're still here, and in
them, the names of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have remained famous; and
a perpetual reminder of the Bible's God.

What is the purpose of Yhvh's people anyway? To chafe and annoy the world
with their arrogance and their superiority complexes? No, they hold the
distinction of being the one political body on earth who's sacred duty is to
prevent the knowledge of God from becoming lost forever; a virtual human
depository of divine revelation.

"Moses was in the assembly in the desert, with The Angel who spoke to him
on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers; and he received living words to pass
on to us." (Acts 7:38)

"the Jews were entrusted with the whole revelation of God." (Rom 3:2)

What Jacob conferred upon Manasseh and Ephraim wasn't just the dubious
fortune to be identified with the world's most famous patriarchs, but rather,
the solemn duty of perpetuating the patriarchs' religion too. That's a heavy
responsibility; one that Esau himself scoffed, and finally traded for a
temporary pleasure.

Identification with Israel is not something to brag about; rather, it's
something to be frightened about.

"Hear this word, O people of Israel, that Yhvh has spoken concerning you,
concerning the whole family that I brought up from the land of Egypt: You
alone have I singled out of all the families of the earth-- that is why I will
call you to account for all your iniquities." (Amos 3:1-2)

In other words; people called to an association with the Bible's God are held
to a higher standard than outsiders.

†. Gen 48:16e . . And may they grow into a multitude in the midst of
the earth.

The Hebrew word for "grow" is dagah (daw-gaw'); which means to spawn.

Webster's defines "spawn" as: to produce young; especially in large
numbers.

Curiously, this one verse is the only instance in the entire Old Testament
where dagah appears.

Increasing by spawning is quite a bit different than increasing by other
means like adoption or naturalizing; so the blessing of spawning that Jacob
conferred upon the two men is somewhat similar to the blessing of fertility
that God conferred upon Adam and his wife at the very beginning. (Gen
1:27-28)

Being fruitful just means being fertile, and doesn't automatically imply
generating a multitude, whereas spawning implies both fertility and massive
numbers of offspring together. As an example of the proliferation implied by
spawning; Coho salmon lay an average of 3,096 eggs per fish in just one run
upriver.

†. Gen 48:17-19a . .When Joseph saw that his father was placing his
right hand on Ephraim's head, he thought it an error; so he took hold
of his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's.
Not so, Father; Joseph said to his father; for the other is the
firstborn; place your right hand on his head. But his father objected,
saying: I know, my son, I know.

Joseph himself was an inspired man; so you'd think he'd instantly perceive
that Jacob's prioritizing Ephraim over Manasseh was from God; but didn't.
That's curious, and tells me that inspired people aren't always 100% inspired
all the time. Inspiration is, after all, a Divine prerogative rather than a
personal talent. God is under no one's beck and call; and inspired people are
able to understand certain things only as God himself decides when, where,
and how to get in their heads and clear things up.

For example according to 1John 2:26-27 all believers are endowed with a
special anointing that enables them to grasp God's meanings; but does that
mean they can get by on their own without Spirit-empowered Bible
teachers? No. It's via Spirit-empowered Bible teachers that God
communicates His meanings. (Eph 4:11-15)

†. Gen 48:19b . . He too shall become a people, and he too shall be
great. Yet his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his
offspring shall be plentiful enough for nations.

This is now the third instance in Genesis where the right of the firstborn is
seen transferred to a younger sibling. The first instance was Jacob and Esau,
and the second was Joseph and Reuben. The important lesson to be learned
from this is that in the Bible, the male born first isn't eo ipso the firstborn.
That may seem trivial but when its applied to Christ, it's a really big deal.

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." (Col 1:14
15)

Was Christ the first human born in all creation? No; Adam was; and there
was a time when Adam was the creation's senior patriarch; but not any
more. That honor has been transferred to Christ so that there is not a man
on earth superior to that one. (Dan 7:13-14, Matt 28:18, Php 2:9-11)

†. Gen 48:20-22 . . So he blessed them that day, saying: By you shall
Israel invoke blessings, saying: God make you like Ephraim and
Manasseh. Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. Then Israel said
to Joseph: I am about to die; but God will be with you and bring you
back to the land of your fathers. And now, I assign to you one
portion more than to your brothers, which I wrested from the
Amorites with my sword and bow.

There exists no specific Biblical record of Jacob's own personal conquest of
Canaanite peoples; so what Jacob is doing here is apparently predicting
Joshua's conquest of Canaan as something so certain to take place that he
could speak of it as an historical fact already accomplished; similar to the
manner in which the apostle John reported many of his visions in the book of
Revelation as having taken place as he watched them.

Jacob was an inspired man, so it shouldn't surprise anyone if he was
permitted a vision of his offspring's future successes in Palestine. Whatever
Joshua was to conquer in later years, would certainly be credited to Jacob's
sword and bow just as surely as if he'd been there and led the attacks
himself because it was his own blood kin who eventually did all of it, which
would be in keeping with his prediction that "God will be with you and bring
you back to the land of your fathers." Joseph's body returned to the land as
a mummy. But the prediction is a reality: Joseph will return to the land some
day, not just to be buried, but to take up residence. (Ezk 37:1-14, Dan
12:1-2, Heb 11:8-16)

The "one portion more than to your brothers" was in keeping with the
custom of the firstborn son inheriting a double portion of his father's estate.

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†. Gen 49:1-4 . . And Jacob summoned his sons and said: Come
together that I may tell you what is to befall you in days to come.
Assemble and hearken, O sons of Jacob; hearken to Israel your
father:

. . . Reuben, you are my first-born, my might and first fruit of my
vigor, exceeding in rank and exceeding in honor. Unstable as water,
you shall excel no longer; for when you mounted your father's bed,
you brought disgrace-- my couch he mounted!

Reuben was clearly a reckless, impetuous individual ruled by the passions
and impulses of human nature rather than better judgment. Compare Isa
57:20 where the ocean is depicted subject to the forces of nature rather
than under its own control.

The affair to which Jacob referred occurred in Gen 35:22. Even today in
modern industrial societies, it is not only unthinkable for a man to sleep with
one of his father's wives; but even with one of his girlfriends. True, Bilhah
and Jacob weren't officially married but still, she was the legal mother of two
Israeli tribal heads: Dan and Naphtali.

Because of his illicit tryst, Reuben lost the firstborn's position (1Chrn 5:1)
demonstrating once again that the biblical rank of firstborn isn't restricted to
the son born first, but is a transferable status that can be bestowed upon a
younger male sibling.

†. Gen 49:5 . . Simeon and Levi are a pair; their weapons are tools of
lawlessness.

With Rueben demoted, Simeon would have been next in primogeniture, and
after him; Levi. But the two men are alike as peas in a pod and brothers in
arms— they're both criminals who simply cannot be trusted to conduct
themselves in a manner befitting the honor and the dignity properly
associated with the position of Israel's firstborn. If Reuben was water, then
Simeon and Levi are leaky boats with no oars, no sail, no rudder, and no
compass.

Ironically, Levi produced Aaron, Israel's line of high priests; and the whole
tribe of Levi is exempt from war though they were sired by a bloody man. It
would appear then, that the office of Israel's firstborn is far more sacred
than any of the Levitical priests, including the Aaronic category.

NOTE: Moses descended from Levi. (Ex 2:1-10)

†. Gen 49:6a . . Let not my person be included in their council, let not
my being be counted in their assembly.

Simeon and Levi were not the kind of people from whom a sensible person
would deem it wise to seek advice and counsel. In other words; they were a
bad influence.

Jacob's initial reaction to the murders committed by two of his eldest sons
back in chapter 34 was one of concern for his family's safety, and the effect
the deed had upon his reputation in those parts. Not till now does he
excoriate the two men for their conduct; and the denunciation is severe.

†. Gen 49:6c . . For when angry they slay men, and when pleased
they maim oxen.

Simeon and Levi not only committed malicious murders; but also took
satisfaction in cruelty to animals. People like that always justify their cruelty
by saying they're teaching the animal a lesson and/or breaking it of a bad
habit. But in their case it's a lie. They're just heartless and violent; that's all.

One could almost excuse Cain for murdering his kid brother in a fit of rage
because in his day there were no divine prohibitions against murder and/or
manslaughter. But Simeon and Levi had no excuse. They didn't act upon a
sudden provocation, and both of those men knew full well God prohibited
murder and manslaughter because they lived many years after grandpa
Noah came off the ark. (cf. Gen 9:5-6)

By all rights, Jacob should have had those two sons of his executed for what
they did back in Shechem; but like they say: blood is thicker than water.
Jacob let them get away with murder because they're kin, which is the sin of
partiality; defined by Webster's as inclined to favor one party over another;
viz: bias.

†. Gen 49:7 . . Cursed be their anger so fierce, and their wrath so
relentless. I will divide them in Jacob, scatter them in Israel.

Jacob was speaking for Yhvh in the last sentence; and the purpose of
dividing and scattering was apparently to make it all the more difficult for
the two tribes to unite in a dastardly cause.

Jacob cursed only his sons' anger rather than the sons-- actually, their
category of anger; which he described as fierce and relentless.

Webster's defines "fierce" as a behavior exhibited by humans and animals
that inspires terror because of the wild and menacing aspect of fury in
attack. Ferocity is an aspect commonly seen among roaring, snarling lions
savagely attacking prey. There's neither sportsmanship nor sympathy in
ferocity; only sheer terror, brutality, and blood lust.

Webster's defines "relentless" as: 1) not softening or yielding in
determination; viz: tough, hard, and stern, and 2) not letting up or
weakening in vigor or pace; viz: constant, persistent.

Ironically, the wrath of God is depicted in much the same way. (Isa 13:9)

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Gen 49:8-15

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†. Gen 49:8 . .You, O Judah, your brothers shall praise; your hand
shall be on the nape of your foes; your father's sons shall bow low to
you.

Reuben was the original ranking brother, then the position passed to Joseph,
and finally to the family of Judah's grandson David; and that's where it
remains to this day. (Ps 89:20-27)

†. Gen 49:10a . .The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the
scepter from between his feet

Refer to: 2Sam 7:16, 2Sam 23:5, Ps 85:35-38, Ps 89:4 , and Ps 89:30

†. Gen 49:10b . . And the homage of peoples be his.

The "peoples" of that verse are non Jews; viz: Gentiles. The jurisdiction of
Davidic monarchs is normally limited to their own country, among their
fellow Jews; but one is coming in Judah's family who will one day rule the
entire world. (Dan 7:13-14 and Ps 2:7-9)

This next prediction is the scariest one of all.

†. Gen 49:11 . . He washes his garment in wine, his robe in blood of
grapes.

See: Isa 63:1-6, and Rev 19:15-16

†. Gen 49:13 . . Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore; he shall be a
haven for ships, and his flank shall rest on Sidon.

Zebulun never did actually occupy a Mediterranean shore (Josh 19:10-16)
but their proximity to the coast, via the territory of Ashur, gave them
opportunity to earn their livings in sea related trades like stevedoring, ship
building, and possibly crews on fishing vessels and cargo ships owned and
operated by the Philistines and Phoenicians.

Zebulun's flank didn't extend to the coastal city named Sidon, but to a
region generally known as Sidonia-- which included the city of Trye --a
territory often labeled Sidon for short.

†. Gen 49:14-15 . . Issachar is a strong-boned burro, crouching
among the sheepfolds. When he saw how good was security, and
how pleasant was the country, he bent his shoulder to the burden,
and became a toiling serf.

Men like Zebulun, and Issachar are the invisible people. They don't want
much out of life; and they're never really in the news as movers and
shakers; the paparazzi don't follow them around, nor are they among the
rich, famous, and powerful. Zebulun, and Issachar represent the blue collar
labor force, the non-professional working men and women who make a
country productive in goods and services.

Unfortunately, the two tribes, on the whole, believed in peace at any price,
and were wont to trade their independence for corvee labor in order to avoid
conflict with overlords and invaders-- the two notable exceptions being
Zebulun's response when mustered for duty with Gideon (Judg 6:35) and
the two tribes responses when mustered by Barak (Judg 5:14-15) but they
rarely took the initiative to go on the offensive.

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Gen 49:16-21

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†. Gen 49:16 . . Dan shall govern his people, as one of the tribes of
Israel.

That prediction alludes to Dan's autonomous attitude towards the other
tribes. In point of fact, Dan's tribe didn't join forces with the others in the
north to help repel oppressors. (Judg 5:17)

A good example of Dan's autonomous attitude is Mr. Samson. During his
tenure as a Judge in Israel (Judg 13:1-16:31) Samson never mustered an
army nor led his own men in a charge up a San Juan hill. He fought alone,
and he died alone; and seemed to prefer it that way. Definitely neither a
commander nor a team player.

†. Gen 49:17 . . Dan shall be a serpent by the road, a viper by the
path, that bites the horse's heels so that his rider is thrown
backward.

A number of poisonous snakes-- e.g. rattlesnakes --don't hunt for food by
chasing their prey in racy pursuit but choose rather to coil up and patiently
wait along the edges of paths for something to come along. They're typically
sluggish on the move but very speedy on the strike. Rattlers, especially, are
powerful strikers that don't even have to clamp down to bite. Their strike
inertia is powerful enough to drive their fangs into a target's flesh like
sewing needles.

When rattlers bite large animals like horses, it's not for food, but generally a
reflexive response to a perceived threat; which suggests that Dan's tribe
would have hair-trigger tempers that flair up at every provocation-- real or
imagined --totally surprising the objects of their fury. People like that are
extremely reactive: they're never rational and objective, no, they are
emotional, thin-skinned and easily insulted; they get mad over nothing, and
every disagreement is an act of war.

It's conceivable that the viper-ish nature of Dan's tribe reminded Jacob of
Gen 3:15's prediction to crush the head of the Serpent who caused Man's
ruin; and possibly prompted his next remark.

†. Gen 49:18 . . I wait for your deliverance, O Lord!

Everyone becomes curious at one time or another how the Old Testament's
luminaries were saved prior to Christ's crucifixion. Well, the interesting thing
is: they were all aware that Christ was on the way.

"Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to
come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out
the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was
pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that
would follow." (1Pet 1:10-11)

A prophet is simply an inspired man-- the earliest known were Abel (Luke
11:50-51) Enoch (Jude 1:14) Noah (2Pet 2:5) and Abraham. (Gen 20:7)

In other words: pre-crucifixion believers looked forward to Christ, while
post-crucifixion believers look back.

"Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He
saw it and was glad." (John 8:56)

†. Gen 49:19 . . Gad shall be raided by raiders, but he shall raid at
their heels.

Gad's tribe, along with Rueben and Manasseh, chose to settle on the wrong
side of the Jordan River instead of crossing over into Canaan (Num 32:1
32). Their decision effectively isolated them from the other nine tribes and
left their eastern flank vulnerable to desert marauders; which were more
nuisance than anything else as Gad's tribe were competent warriors and able
to hold their own. (cf. 1Chrn 5:18)

Though the major portion of Christ's ministry was confined within the
national borders of Israel, he crossed over the Jordan on occasion to visit
the three tribes on the east side (Matt 11:21, Mark 6:45). Gad was the
region of the famous swine-herd suicide. (Mark 5:1-13)

†. Gen 49:20 . . Asher's bread shall be rich, and he shall yield royal
dainties.

Asher's tribe was apportioned land bordering Zebulun and Naphtali, along
the Mediterranean coastline in the region of ancient Tyre. The area was
famed for its fertility (Deut 33:24). Ashur was located in a Phoenician
stronghold of political and commercial activity. The phrase "he shall yield
royal dainties" possibly alludes to the tribe's best produce being sold to
supply the homes of Phoenician dignitaries.

NOTE: This chapter in Genesis wasn't recorded in prose, but rather, Hebrew
poetry, making it difficult, if not impossible, for translators to correctly
interpret some of Jacob's sayings. The poem contains tricky metaphors
rather than clear facts; which only complicates the section even more.

†. Gen 49:21 . . Naphtali is a hind let loose, which yields lovely
fawns.

A hind is a female of the red deer species-- males are harts. (e.g. Ps 42:1)

Red deer aren't a domestic breed; so the metaphor refers to a captured hind
being returned to the wild rather than butchered for its meat. Apparently,
this particular hind was pregnant when captured, and the hunter knew the
unborn would certainly die if he killed their mother. By returning the
expectant hind to the field, the hunter helped assure the survival of local
herds; and he no doubt intended to hunt the fawns as adults in the future.
That was not only humane, but also a very wise conservation measure too.

Exactly what Jacob meant to convey by this metaphor is difficult to ascertain
with confidence. It could be that Naphtali's people exhibited artifice, artistry,
intelligence, abilities and aptitudes that their enemies would recognize as far
too valuable to waste by just indiscriminately killing them off in wholesale
slaughter simply to seize their lands and goods.

As an example; some of Nazi Germany's scientists were brought to American
and became very useful in developing the USA's rocket science, and
subsequently NASA's space program. What if the US had executed those
scientists because they were responsible for the buzz bombs that devastated
London? No; sometimes human resources are well worth the restraint to
spare them.

NOTE: Barak, an ordinary man recruited by Deborah to become a military
commander, was of Naphtali. (Judg 4:4-5:31)

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Gen 49:22-33

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†. Gen 49:22 . . Joseph is a wild burro, a wild burro by a spring--
wild colts on a hillside.

That sentence has been translated at least two other ways, totally different
than the above's 1985 JPS Tanakh.

1• A charming son is Joseph, a charming son to the eye (Stone Tanach)

2• Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, whose branches
climb over a wall. (NIV)

Oddly, neither of the Hebrew words for donkey-- chamowr (the male) and
'athown (the female) --nor the word gephen for vine --are anywhere in that
sentence. Instead, the words translated "wild burro" by the JPS are parah
and ben which mean "fruitful son" so the NIV is probably closer to the
correct meaning than the other two. And besides; "wild burro" is the
description God assigned to Ishmael back in chapter 16; and I hardly think
Joseph fits the description of a man whose hand is against everyone, and
everyone's hand against him.

Jacob's assessment of Joseph is similar to the assessment of a blessed man
in the very first Psalm.

"Blessed is the man who has not followed the counsel of the wicked, nor
taken the path of sinners, nor joined the company of the insolent; rather,
Yhvh's teaching is his delight, and he studies that teaching day and night. He
is like a tree planted beside streams of water, which yields its fruit in
season, whose foliage never fades, and whatever it produces thrives.

. . . Not so the wicked; rather, they are like chaff that wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not survive judgment, nor will sinners stand in the
assembly of the righteous. For Yhvh cherishes the way of the righteous, but
the way of the wicked is doomed." (Ps 1:1-6)

†. Gen 49:23 . . Archers bitterly assailed him; they shot at him and
harried him.

The "archers" in that sentence are the kind who wait in ambush.

Well, that certainly happened to Joseph. He was totally ambushed by his
very own brothers, and then later on, ambushed by Potipher's wife. But he
escaped them all. They thought to ruin Joseph, but he prospered instead.

†. Gen 49:24-25a . .Yet his bow stayed taut, and his arm were made
firm by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob-- there is the
Shepherd, the Rock of Israel --the God of your father who helps you,
and Shaddai who blesses you

It is so easy to admire Joseph's perseverance in the face of overwhelming
adversity while overlooking the real reason behind his success. It was Yhvh's
providence all the way. Left to himself, it's very likely Joseph would have
been dead before he was thirty years old; either by murder, execution, or
suicide.

†. Gen 49:25 . .With blessings of heaven above, blessings of the
deep that lurk below, blessings of the breast and womb.

Those blessings consist of rain, dew, and abundant water resources; all of
which depict fruitfulness of the soil and the fecundity of both man and beast.

†. Gen 49:2 6. .Your father's blessings surpassed the blessings of my
ancestors, to the utmost bounds of the eternal hills. May they rest on
the head of Joseph, on the brow of the elect of his brothers.

Compare Deut 33:13-17 where Manasseh and Ephraim are indirect
recipients of Joseph's blessings, and will apparently conquer and colonize
quite a bit of the earth some day in the future.

Jacob pronounced Joseph the "elect" of his brothers not out of a spirit of
favoritism, but out of a spirit of prophecy. You can easily tell that Yhvh is
micro-managing the entire meeting.

Compared to man, the hills really are eternal; viz: perpetual from one
generation to another. Jacob's ancestors included Abel, Seth, and Noah.
They were good men but none of them inherited the promises God made to
Abraham; which are promises just as everlasting as the hills; if not more so.

†. Gen 49:27 . . Benjamin rends in pieces, like a wolf-- in the
morning he consumes the prey, and in the evening he apportions the
booty.

That is hardly the picture of a peaceful, agrarian society. Israel used to be a
land of milk and honey (Ex 3:8) and you have to wonder what on earth
happened that caused the transformation of a tribe of herders and farmers
into human predators.

As a testament to the cruel nature of the tribe of Benjamin, Israel's first
king; the ego-driven Mr. Saul, came from there. (1Sam 9:1-2)

The nightmarish events of Judges 19 and 20 took place in Benjamin's
borders and led to the tribe's decimation in a brief civil war.

†. Gen 49:28 . . All these were the tribes of Israel, twelve in number,
and this is what their father said to them as he bade them farewell,
addressing to each a parting word appropriate to him.

Numbering the tribes of Israel is tricky because Jacob has twelve birth sons,
and two adopted sons; which adds up to fourteen. But the tribes are always
listed so that the numbering comes out to twelve. Compare the list at Rev
7:5-8 where everybody but Dan and Ephraim are named so that the number
again comes out to twelve. The same strange numbering system was
employed in counting the Lord's apostles. Even after Judas was eliminated,
they were still referred to as the twelve. (1Cor 15:5)

†. Gen 49:29-33 . .Then he instructed them, saying to them: I am
about to be gathered to my kin. Bury me with my fathers in the cave
which is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, the cave which is in the
field of Machpelah, facing Mamre, in the land of Canaan, the field
that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite for a burial site-- there
Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried; there Isaac and his wife
Rebecca were buried; and there I buried Leah --the field and the
cave in it, bought from the Hittites.

. . .When Jacob finished his instructions to his sons, he drew his feet
into the bed and, breathing his last, he was gathered to his kin.

The phrase "gathered to his kin" is an action separate from being buried side
by side with kin in a cemetery. Jacob was gathered to his kin immediately
upon expiration, but wasn't buried with them till more than seventy days
after his demise.

According to Christ, though Jacob's flesh expired many centuries ago in
Egypt, he continues to exist somewhere else.

"But now, as to whether the dead will be raised-- even Moses proved this
when he wrote about the burning bush. Long after Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob had died, he referred to Yhvh as the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob. So He is the God of the living, not the dead.
They all live unto Him." (Luke 20:37-38)

There is a region in the netherworld where faithful Israelites were at one
time warehoused waiting for the resurrection of their bodies. (e.g. Luke
16:19-31, cf. Matt 17:1-9)

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Gen 50:1-9

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†. Gen 50:1 . . Joseph threw himself upon his father's face and wept
over him and kissed him.

It almost looks like Joseph smothered his dad; but in reality that scene was
probably a bit difficult to put in writing because there's so much emotion. I
think what we're actually looking at there is a one last cheek-to-cheek
farewell with Joseph clutching his father's hand; and I would not have liked
to be in the room when it took place because Joseph was terribly broken up
by his dad's passing.

The word for "wept" is bakah (baw-kaw') and means not just to weep, but to
bemoan; which Webster's defines as: to express deep grief and/or distress.
Deep grief is what people undergo when they experience loss.

If there is one salient characteristic of Jacob's family, I would have to say it
was a lack of affection. Joseph seemed the only one in the entire home who
was truly bonded with his dad. His siblings were somehow detached; and I
think that the multiplicity of their mothers might have something to do with
that.

When I found out that my own dad had two sons besides me by two other
women, it destroyed any notion I had of feeling special in my own home;
especially when the only son my dad was ever really proud of was one that
didn't even live with us; but with whom my dad stayed in contact over the
years without telling me.

†. Gen 50:2 . .Then Joseph ordered the physicians in his service to
embalm his father, and the physicians embalmed Israel.

It is apparently well known that mummification, with all its elaborate ritual,
played a crucial role in Egyptian religion and was bound up with the cult of
Osiris and concepts of the afterlife. Survival of death was taken for granted
by the Egyptians. Central to this notion was the belief in the importance of
the physical preservation of the deceased's body. They took meticulous care
to prevent the putrefaction of the corpse in order to ensure the right of the
dead to immortality.

I seriously doubt Egypt's religion played a role in Joseph's decision to
embalm his dad. His reason was simply one of practicality. The body was to
be transported to Palestine for burial, and if care wasn't taken to preserve it,
poor old Jacob would be in a terrible state of decay by the time they arrived;
and very smelly too.

Joseph's own personal physicians performed the task rather than
professional morticians, thus assuring nobody would come around to defile
Jacob with pagan rituals, garments, and/or enchantments and spiritual
potions. Jacob's life, and afterlife, were fully consecrated to Yhvh; and no
pagan deities were permitted an attempt to claim a share of his future. (cf.
Jude 1:9)

†. Gen 50:3 . . It required forty days, for such is the full period of
embalming. The Egyptians bewailed him seventy days

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the bewailing wasn't mandatory like that of
North Korea's when Kim Jong Il passed. Citizens of that country are not only
denied the freedom of speech, but they don't even have the freedom of
tears.

There exists no information about embalming procedures from Joseph's era
but there is some available from the fifth century BC and from the late
Hellenistic period. Herodotus (Histories 2.86) reports that bodies were
soaked in niter (potassium nitrate) for seventy days,

Diodorus of Sicily (Histories 1.91) describes a thirty-day dressing of the
corpse with oils and spices and seventy-two days of public mourning for a
king. That practice probably corresponds to the American flag being raised at
half mast for deceased dignitaries and notable personages.

Jacob was afforded royal honors no doubt brought about by Josephs'
influence, and his connections with Egypt's aristocrats; sort of like John F.
Kennedy Jr's burial at sea from the US Navy's Spruance class destroyer USS
Briscoe. J.F.K. Jr. never served in the US military, nor in any Federal civil
service capacity whatsoever; ergo: he certainly did not merit burial at sea
from a US Navy vessel; but the Kennedy dynasty is very influential, and well
connected; and has been for a good many years beginning with patriarch
Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. That just goes to show that there's advantages to
being connected in this world.

Anyway, under his son Joseph's auspices, Jacob's was the most grandiose
funeral of any of Israel's primary patriarchs, including Abraham the
paterfamilias of the entire family.

†. Gen 50:4a . . and when the wailing period was over, Joseph spoke
to Pharaoh's court

It's curious that Joseph didn't meet with Pharaoh in person; I mean, after
all, Joseph was second in command over the entire country of Egypt, and
certainly outranked all of Pharaoh's courtiers. It's guessed by some that in
the Egypt of Joseph's day, a dead man's close kin were deemed unfit to
approach a Pharaoh. Whether it was for religious reasons, or just simply
customary propriety is unknown.

†. Gen 50:4a-5a . . saying: Do me this kindness, and lay this appeal
before Pharaoh: "My father made me swear, saying; I am about to
die. Be sure to bury me in the grave which I made ready for myself
in the land of Canaan."

Apparently some time in the past, prior to his immigration to Egypt, Jacob
spent some time in Abraham's cemetery preparing a spot in it for his own
burial so that his surviving kin only had to take him there-- no muss, no
fuss, no money problems, and no legal hassles. It's a good idea for people to
make arrangements for their own burials rather than leaving it all up to the
inconvenience of their kin.

†. Gen 50:5b . . Now, therefore, let me go up and bury my father;
then I shall return.

It's quite probable that Joseph's assurance of his return anticipated
Pharaoh's anxiety that Joseph might stay back in the land with his brothers
if permitted to leave the country and thus The Man would lose the services
of not only his kingdom's best cattle ranchers but also the services of an
extraordinarily capable bureaucrat.

†. Gen 5:6 . . And Pharaoh said: Go up and bury your father, as he
made you promise on oath.

Pharaoh's choice of words, though inadvertent, were quite appropriate.
Travel to Israel is to go "up" and to leave it is to go down. Israel is biblically
regarded as the top of the mountains. (Isa 2:2-3)

†. Gen 50:7-8 . . So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him
went up all the officials of Pharaoh, the senior members of his court,
and all of Egypt's dignitaries, together with all of Joseph's
household, his brothers, and his father's household; only their
children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the region of
Goshen.

Leaving the children and the flocks back in Egypt was not only a practical
consideration but served to reassure Pharaoh that Joseph and his family fully
intended to return as he had promised; which sort of reminds me of a scene
in Goodbye Girl when Richard Dreyfuss leaves his guitar behind when he
goes to a new acting job to assure Marsha Mason he'll be back. When people
pick up and move; lock, stock, and barrel; you pretty much know they aren't
coming back; which is probably why a later-to-come Pharaoh wouldn't let
Moses go to worship with everything his people possessed. (Ex 10:24)

Precisely why Pharaoh's courtiers, and all of Egypt's dignitaries came along
is hard to understand unless protocol and custom demanded they pay their
respects because of Joseph's rank. Though he wasn't really a home boy,
Joseph's marriage to the daughter of the priest of On, and his Pharaoh-given
name of Tsophnath Pa'neach, made him a naturalized Egyptian; and he was
entitled to just as much of the nation's respect afforded its native sons.

NOTE: I've heard it said that the reason half of us go to funerals is to pay our
respects to people we couldn't be bothered with when they were alive.

†. Gen 50:9 . . Chariots, too, and horsemen went up with him; it was
a very large troop.

The unit of fighting men was no doubt to safeguard all the dignitaries.
Palestine was a frontier in those days; and a caravan of aristocrats would be
a really tempting target for brigands.

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[WebersHome]

Gen 50:10-26

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†. Gen 50:10 . .When they came to Gorena ha-Atad, which is beyond
the Jordan, they held there a very great and solemn lamentation;
and he observed a mourning period of seven days for his father.

A geographic location described as "beyond the Jordan" suggests the east
side of the river but the term is ambiguous and can just as easily mean west
(e.g. Deut 3:18-20).

The Hebrew word for Gorena is goren (go'-ren) which identifies smooth
places; e.g. threshing floors or any cleared space like a parade ground.
Judging by the size of Joseph's cortege, I'd have to say Gorena ha-Atad
comprised some appreciable acreage.

Seven days became a traditional period of Jewish mourning (e.g. 1Sam
31:13, Job 2:13)

†. Gen 50:11 . . And when the Canaanite inhabitants of the land saw
the mourning at Goren ha-Atad, they said; This is a solemn mourning
on the part of the Egyptians. That is why it was named Abel-mizraim,
which is beyond the Jordan.

Abel-mizraim means Meadow of the Egyptians. Unfortunately, it's precise
location has been lost in antiquity.

†. Gen 50:12-14 . .Thus his sons did for him as he had instructed
them. His sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in
the cave of the field of Machpelah, the field near Mamre, which
Abraham had bought for a burial site from Ephron the Hittite. After
burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and
all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

If Joseph and his brothers were aware of the prediction Yhvh made to
Abraham back in Gen 15:13-14, then they probably returned to Egypt with
heaviness knowing in advance the slavery and the oppression in store for
their progeny.

†. Gen 50:15 . .When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was
dead, they said: What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and
pays us back for all the wrong that we did him?

Where did they get the idea that Joseph was bearing any grudge at all, let
alone "still" bearing a grudge? You know what they did? They did just what
Laban did to Jacob back in chapter 31 when he threatened Jacob with Divine
retribution if he abused Rachel and Leah or dumped them for other women.
Jacob had worked for Laban, on his ranch, up close and personal for twenty
years and never gave Laban one single reason to either believe, or suspect
that Jacob might do unkind things to his wives. In other words: Laban
projected; that is: he assumed everyone was like himself. Now that's an
ego!

Joseph's brothers had a wicked conscience. It wasn't beyond them to project
their own base motives upon everybody else and assume everybody else
would do the very same things they themselves would do in their place.
They totally brushed aside the gracious reception they received in Joseph's
house back in chapter 45 and replaced his hospitality with their own corrupt
imaginations; not to mention the seventeen years just past when they lived
a very good life in Egypt under Joseph's generous auspices. Nobody's
reputation is safe in the hands of people like that who fail to take into
consideration someone's impeccable track record.

†. Gen 50:16-17a . . So they sent this message to Joseph: Before his
death your father left this instruction: So shall you say to Joseph;
Forgive, I urge you, the offense and guilt of your brothers who
treated you so harshly. Therefore, please forgive the offense of the
servants of the God of your father.

That is one of the most bold, bare-faced lies in the entire Bible. If Jacob had
desired Joseph to let his brothers off like they said, he would have met with
Joseph and said so himself in person rather than elect the brothers as his
messengers posthumously.

†. Gen 50:17b . . And Joseph was in tears as they spoke to him.

The people referred to as "they" were not the brothers, but rather, the
messengers they sent. I've no doubt whatsoever that Joseph suspected the
message was a lie concocted by his brothers as a desperate measure to save
their own skins. His disappointment in them for not trusting him must have
been overwhelming. Joseph had never done even one single thing in his
entire life to deliberately injure his brothers and this is how they react?

†. Gen 50:18-21 . . His brothers went to him themselves, flung
themselves before him, and said: We are prepared to be your slaves.
But Joseph said to them: Have no fear. Am I a substitute for God?
Besides, although you intended me harm, God intended it for good,
so as to bring about the present result-- the survival of many people.
And so, fear not. I will sustain you and your children. Thus he
reassured them, speaking kindly to them.

They say repetition is an effective teaching aid; and it's probably because
some people just don't pay attention. Joseph had already made a similar
speech to his brothers once before already in chapter 45 and here he is
having to do it all over again. Their lack of trust in his word as a man of
honor and integrity is just unforgivable.

†. Gen 50:22-26 . . So Joseph and his father's household remained in
Egypt. Joseph lived one hundred and ten years. Joseph lived to see
children of the third generation of Ephraim: the children of Machir,
son of Manasseh, were likewise born upon Joseph's knees.

. . . At length, Joseph said to his kin: I am about to die. God will
surely take notice of you and bring you up from this land to the land
that He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. So
Joseph made the children of Israel swear, saying: When God has
taken notice of you, you shall carry up my bones from here.

. . . Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years; and he was
embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.

Josephs' "coffin" was probably an ornate mummy case; and kept in storage
above ground in a special location sort of like a shrine or a memorial. As
they say: Out of sight -- Out of mind. Keeping Joseph's remains perpetually
on view would make it difficult for the people of Israel to forget him.

Did Joseph ever make it back home again? Yes; he finally did.

"Now the Israelites went up armed out of the land of Egypt. And Moses took
with him the bones of Joseph, who had exacted an oath from the children of
Israel, saying: God will be sure to take notice of you; then you shall carry up
my bones from here with you." (Ex 13:18-19)

"The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were
buried at Shechem, in the piece of ground which Jacob had bought for a
hundred kesitahs from the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, and which
had become a heritage of Joseph's progeny." (Josh 24:32)

Genesis records Jacob purchasing the property (Gen 33:17-20). But Stephen
said it was Abraham's transaction (Acts 7:15-16) which strongly suggests
that the county recorder in the community of Shechem was a bit careless
with his paperwork and let Abraham's deed slip through a crack;
necessitating Jacob pay for the lot all over again; no doubt at a higher price
the second time around.

-- The End --

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