mh_parser/vol_split/1 - Genesis/Chapter 47.xml

<div2 id="Gen.xlviii" n="xlviii" next="Gen.xlix" prev="Gen.xlvii" progress="28.94%" title="Chapter XLVII">
<pb id="Gen.xlviii-Page_250" n="250"/>
<h2 id="Gen.xlviii-p0.1">G E N E S I S</h2>
<h3 id="Gen.xlviii-p0.2">CHAP. XLVII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Gen.xlviii-p1">In this chapter we have instances, I. Of Joseph's
kindness and affection to his relations, presenting his brethren
first and then his father to Pharaoh (<scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.1-Gen.47.10" parsed="|Gen|47|1|47|10" passage="Ge 47:1-10">ver. 1-10</scripRef>), settling them in Goshen, and
providing for them there (<scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.11-Gen.47.12" parsed="|Gen|47|11|47|12" passage="Ge 47:11,12">ver. 11,
12</scripRef>), and paying his respects to his father when he sent
for him, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.27-Gen.47.31" parsed="|Gen|47|27|47|31" passage="Ge 47:27-31">ver. 27-31</scripRef>. II.
Of Joseph's justice between prince and people in a very critical
affair, selling Pharaoh's corn to his subjects with reasonable
profits to Pharaoh, and yet without any wrong to them, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.13-Gen.47.26" parsed="|Gen|47|13|47|26" passage="Ge 47:13-26">ver. 13</scripRef>, &amp;c. Thus he approved
himself wise and good, both in his private and in his public
capacity.</p>
<scripCom id="Gen.xlviii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47" parsed="|Gen|47|0|0|0" passage="Ge 47" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Gen.xlviii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.1-Gen.47.12" parsed="|Gen|47|1|47|12" passage="Ge 47:1-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.47.1-Gen.47.12">
<h4 id="Gen.xlviii-p1.7">Pharaoh's Generosity; Jacob Presented to
Pharaoh. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xlviii-p1.8">b. c.</span> 1706.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gen.xlviii-p2">1 Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said,
My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and
all that they have,

<pb id="Gen.xlviii-Page_251" n="251"/>

are come out of the land
of Canaan; and, behold, they <i>are</i> in the land of Goshen.
  2 And he took some of his brethren, <i>even</i> five men,
and presented them unto Pharaoh.   3 And Pharaoh said unto his
brethren, What <i>is</i> your occupation? And they said unto
Pharaoh, Thy servants <i>are</i> shepherds, both we, <i>and</i>
also our fathers.   4 They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to
sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture
for their flocks; for the famine <i>is</i> sore in the land of
Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the
land of Goshen.   5 And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy
father and thy brethren are come unto thee:   6 The land of
Egypt <i>is</i> before thee; in the best of the land make thy
father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell:
and if thou knowest <i>any</i> men of activity among them, then
make them rulers over my cattle.   7 And Joseph brought in
Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed
Pharaoh.   8 And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old <i>art</i>
thou?   9 And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years
of my pilgrimage <i>are</i> a 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 in
the days of their pilgrimage.   10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh,
and went out from before Pharaoh.   11 And Joseph placed his
father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of
Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh
had commanded.   12 And Joseph nourished his father, and his
brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, according to
<i>their</i> families.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xlviii-p3">Here is, I. The respect which Joseph, as a
subject, showed to his prince. Though he was his favourite, and
prime-minister of state, and had had particular orders from him to
send for his father down to Egypt, yet he would not suffer him to
settle till he had given notice of it to Pharaoh, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.1" parsed="|Gen|47|1|0|0" passage="Ge 47:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. Christ, our Joseph,
disposes of his followers in his kingdom as it is prepared of his
Father, saying, <i>It is not mine to give,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.20.23" parsed="|Matt|20|23|0|0" passage="Mt 20:23">Matt. xx. 23</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xlviii-p4">II. The respect which Joseph, as a brother,
showed to his brethren, notwithstanding all the unkindness he had
formerly received from them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xlviii-p5">1. Though he was a great man, and they were
comparatively mean and despicable, especially in Egypt, yet he
owned them. Let those that are rich and great in the world learn
hence not to overlook nor despise their poor relations. Every
branch of the tree is not a top branch; but, because it is a lower
branch, is it therefore not of the tree? Our Lord Jesus, like
Joseph here, is not <i>ashamed to call us brethren.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xlviii-p6">2. They being strangers and no courtiers,
he introduced some of them to Pharaoh, <i>to kiss his hand,</i> as
we say, intending thereby to put an honour upon them among the
Egyptians. Thus Christ presents his brethren in the court of
heaven, and improves his interest for them, though in themselves
unworthy and <i>an abomination to the Egyptians.</i> Being
presented to Pharaoh, according to the instructions which Joseph
had given them, they tell him, (1.) What was their business—that
they were shepherds, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.3" parsed="|Gen|47|3|0|0" passage="Ge 47:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>. Pharaoh asked them (and Joseph knew it would be one
of his first questions, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.46.33" parsed="|Gen|46|33|0|0" passage="Ge 46:33"><i>ch.</i>
xlvi. 33</scripRef>), <i>What is your occupation?</i> He takes it
for granted they had something to do, else Egypt should be no place
for them, no harbour for idle vagrants. If they would not work,
they should not eat of his bread in this time of scarcity. Note,
All that have a place in the world should have an employment in it
according to their capacity, some occupation or other, mental or
manual. Those that need not work for their bread must yet have
something to do, to keep them from idleness. Again, Magistrates
should enquire into the occupation of their subjects, as those that
have the care of the public welfare; for idle people are as drones
in the hive, unprofitable burdens of the commonwealth. (2.) What
was their business in Egypt—to sojourn in the land (<scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.4" parsed="|Gen|47|4|0|0" passage="Ge 47:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), not to settle there for
ever, only to sojourn there for a time, while the famine so
prevailed in Canaan, which lay high, that it was not habitable for
shepherds, the grass being burnt up much more than in Egypt, which
lay low, and where the corn chiefly failed, while there was
tolerably good pasture.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xlviii-p7">3. He obtained for them a grant of a
settlement in the land of Goshen, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.5-Gen.47.6" parsed="|Gen|47|5|47|6" passage="Ge 47:5,6"><i>v.</i> 5, 6</scripRef>. This was an instance of
Pharaoh's gratitude to Joseph; because he had been such a blessing
to him and his kingdom, he would be kind to his relations, purely
for his sake. He offered them preferment as shepherds over his
cattle, provided they were men of activity; for it is the man who
is diligent in his business that shall stand before kings. And,
whatever our profession or employment is, we should aim to be
excellent in it, and to prove ourselves ingenious and
industrious.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xlviii-p8">III. The respect Joseph, as a son, showed
to his father.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xlviii-p9">1. He presented him to Pharaoh, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.7" parsed="|Gen|47|7|0|0" passage="Ge 47:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. And here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xlviii-p10">(1.) Pharaoh asks Jacob a common question:
<i>How old art thou?</i> <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.8" parsed="|Gen|47|8|0|0" passage="Ge 47:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>. A question usually put to old men, for it is natural
to us to admire old age and to reverence it (<scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.32" parsed="|Lev|19|32|0|0" passage="Le 19:32">Lev. xix. 32</scripRef>), as it is very unnatural and
unbecoming to despise it, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.5" parsed="|Isa|3|5|0|0" passage="Isa 3:5">Isa. iii.
5</scripRef>. Jacob's countenance, no doubt, showed him to be very
old, for he had been a man of labour and sorrow; in Egypt people
were not so long-lived as in Canaan, and therefore Pharaoh looks
upon Jacob with wonder; he was as a show in his court. When we are
reflecting upon ourselves, this should come into the account, "How
old are we?"</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xlviii-p11">(2.) Jacob gives Pharaoh an uncommon
answer, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.9" parsed="|Gen|47|9|0|0" passage="Ge 47:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. He
speaks as becomes a patriarch, with an air of seriousness, for the
instruction of Pharaoh. Though our speech be not always of grace,
yet it must thus be always with grace. Observe here, [1.] He calls
his life <i>a pilgrimage,</i> looking upon himself as a stranger in
this world, and a traveller towards another world: this earth his
inn, not his home. To this the apostle refers (<scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Heb.11.13" parsed="|Heb|11|13|0|0" passage="Heb 11:13">Heb. xi. 13</scripRef>), <i>They confessed that they
were strangers and pilgrims.</i> He not only reckoned himself a
pilgrim now that he was in Egypt, a strange country in which he
never was before; but his life, even in the land of his nativity,
was a pilgrimage, and those who so reckon it can the better bear
the inconvenience of banishment from their native soil; they are
but pilgrims still, and so they were always. [2.] He reckons his
life by <i>days;</i> for, even so, it is soon reckoned, and we are
not sure of the continuance of it for a day to an end, but may be
turned out of this tabernacle at less than an hour's warning. Let
us therefore number our days (<scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.90.12" parsed="|Ps|90|12|0|0" passage="Ps 90:12">Ps. xc.
12</scripRef>), and measure them, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.39.4" parsed="|Ps|39|4|0|0" passage="Ps 39:4">Ps.
xxxix. 4</scripRef>. [3.] The character he gives of them is,
<i>First,</i> That they were few. Though he had now lived 130
years, they seemed to him but a few days, in comparison with the
days of eternity, the eternal God, and the eternal state, in which
a thousand years (longer than ever any man lived) are but as one
day. <i>Secondly,</i> That they were evil. This is true concerning
man in general, <i>he is of few days, and full of trouble</i>
(<scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.14.1" parsed="|Job|14|1|0|0" passage="Job 14:1">Job xiv. 1</scripRef>); and, since
his days are evil, it is well they are few. Jacob's life,
particularly, had been made up of evil days; and the pleasantest
days of his life were yet before him. <i>Thirdly,</i> That they
were short of the days of his fathers, not so many, not so
pleasant, as their days. Old age came sooner upon him than it had
done upon some of his ancestors. As the young man should not be
proud of his strength or beauty, so the old man should not be proud
of his age, and the crown of his hoary hairs, though others justly
reverence it; for those who are accounted very old attain not to
the years of the patriarchs. The hoary head is a crown of glory
only when it is found in the way of righteousness.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xlviii-p12">(3.) Jacob both addresses himself to
Pharaoh and takes leave of him with a blessing (<scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.7" parsed="|Gen|47|7|0|0" passage="Ge 47:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): <i>Jacob blessed Pharaoh,</i>
and again, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.10" parsed="|Gen|47|10|0|0" passage="Ge 47:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>,
which was not only an act of civility (he paid him respect and
returned him thanks for his kindness), but an act of piety—he
prayed for him, as one having the authority of a prophet and a
patriarch. Though in worldly wealth Pharaoh was the greater, yet,
in interest with God, Jacob was the greater; he was God's anointed,
<scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.15" parsed="|Ps|105|15|0|0" passage="Ps 105:15">Ps. cv. 15</scripRef>. And a
patriarch's blessing was not a thing to be despised, no, not by a
potent prince. Darius valued the prayers of the church for himself
and for his sons, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezra.6.10" parsed="|Ezra|6|10|0|0" passage="Ezr 6:10">Ezra vi.
10</scripRef>. Pharaoh kindly received Jacob, and, whether in the
name of a prophet or no, thus he had a prophet's reward, which
sufficiently recompensed him, not only for his courteous converse
with him, but for all the other kindnesses he showed to him and
his.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xlviii-p13">2. He provided well for him and his,
<i>placed him in Goshen</i> (<scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.11" parsed="|Gen|47|11|0|0" passage="Ge 47:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>), <i>nourished him</i> and all his with food
convenient for them, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.12" parsed="|Gen|47|12|0|0" passage="Ge 47:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>. This bespeaks, not only Joseph a good man, who took
this tender care of his poor relations, but God a good God, who
raised him up for this purpose, and put him into a capacity of
doing it, as Esther came to the kingdom for such a time as this.
What God here did for Jacob he has, in effect, promised to do for
all his, that serve him and trust in him. <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.37.19" parsed="|Ps|37|19|0|0" passage="Ps 37:19">Ps. xxxvii. 19</scripRef>, <i>In the days of famine they
shall be satisfied.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.xlviii-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.13-Gen.47.26" parsed="|Gen|47|13|47|26" passage="Ge 47:13-26" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.47.13-Gen.47.26">
<h4 id="Gen.xlviii-p13.5">Distressed Occasioned by the
Famine. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xlviii-p13.6">b. c.</span> 1706.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gen.xlviii-p14">13 And <i>there was</i> no bread in all the
land; for the famine <i>was</i> very sore, so that the land of
Egypt and <i>all</i> the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the
famine.   14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was
found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn
which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's
house.   15 And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in
the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said,
Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money
faileth.   16 And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will
give you for your cattle, if money fail.   17 And they brought
their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread <i>in
exchange</i> for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of
the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all
their cattle for that year.   18 When that year was ended,
they came

<pb id="Gen.xlviii-Page_253" n="253"/>

unto him the second year, and said
unto him, We will not hide <i>it</i> from my lord, how that our
money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not
ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:
  19 Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our
land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be
servants unto Pharaoh: and give <i>us</i> seed, that we may live,
and not die, that the land be not desolate.   20 And Joseph
bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold
every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the
land became Pharaoh's.   21 And as for the people, he removed
them to cities from <i>one</i> end of the borders of Egypt even to
the <i>other</i> end thereof.   22 Only the land of the
priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion <i>assigned
them</i> of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave
them: wherefore they sold not their lands.   23 Then Joseph
said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your
land for Pharaoh: lo, <i>here is</i> seed for you, and ye shall sow
the land.   24 And it shall come to pass in the increase, that
ye shall give the fifth <i>part</i> unto Pharaoh, and four parts
shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and
for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.
  25 And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find
grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants.
  26 And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this
day, <i>that</i> Pharaoh should have the fifth <i>part;</i> except
the land of the priests only, <i>which</i> became not
Pharaoh's.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xlviii-p15">Care being taken of Jacob and his family,
the preservation of which was especially designed by Providence in
Joseph's advancement, an account is now given of the saving of the
kingdom of Egypt too from ruin; for God is King of nations as well
as King of saints, and provideth food for all flesh. Joseph now
returns to the management of that great trust which Pharaoh had
lodged in his hand. It would have been pleasing enough to him to
have gone and lived with his father and brethren in Goshen; but his
employment would not permit it. When he had seen his father, and
seen him well settled, he applied himself as closely as ever to the
execution of his office. Note, Even natural affection must give way
to necessary business. Parents and children must be content to be
absent one from another, when it is necessary, on either side, for
the service of God or their generation. In Joseph's transactions
with the Egyptians observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xlviii-p16">I. The great extremity that Egypt, and the
parts adjacent, were reduced to by the famine. There was no bread,
and they <i>fainted</i> (<scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.13" parsed="|Gen|47|13|0|0" passage="Ge 47:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>), they were ready to die, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.15 Bible:Gen.47.19" parsed="|Gen|47|15|0|0;|Gen|47|19|0|0" passage="Ge 47:15,19"><i>v.</i> 15, 19</scripRef>. 1. See here what a
dependence we have upon God's providence. If its usual favours are
suspended but for a while, we die, we perish, we all perish. All
our wealth would not keep us from starving if the rain of heaven
were but withheld for two or three years. See how much we lie at
God's mercy, and let us keep ourselves always in his love. 2. See
how much we smart by our own improvidence. If all the Egyptians had
done for themselves in the seven years of plenty as Joseph did for
Pharaoh, they had not been now in these straits; but they regarded
not the warning they had of the years of famine, concluding that
to-morrow shall be as this day, next year as this, and much more
abundant. Note, Because man knows not his time (his time of
gathering when he has it) therefore his misery is great upon him
when the spending time comes, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.6-Eccl.8.7" parsed="|Eccl|8|6|8|7" passage="Ec 8:6,7">Eccl.
viii. 6, 7</scripRef>. 3. See how early God put a difference
between the Egyptians and the Israelites, as afterwards in the
plagues, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Exod.8.22 Bible:Exod.9.4 Bible:Exod.10.23" parsed="|Exod|8|22|0|0;|Exod|9|4|0|0;|Exod|10|23|0|0" passage="Ex 8:22,9:4,10:23">Exod. viii. 22; ix.
4, 26; x. 23</scripRef>. Jacob and his family, though strangers,
were plentifully fed on free cost, while the Egyptians were dying
for want. See <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p16.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.65.13" parsed="|Isa|65|13|0|0" passage="Isa 65:13">Isa. lxv.
13</scripRef>, <i>My servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry.
Happy art thou, O Israel.</i> Whoever wants, God's children shall
not, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p16.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.10" parsed="|Ps|34|10|0|0" passage="Ps 34:10">Ps. xxxiv. 10</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xlviii-p17">II. The price they had come up to, for
their supply, in this exigency. 1. They parted with all their money
which they had hoarded up, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.14" parsed="|Gen|47|14|0|0" passage="Ge 47:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>. Silver and gold would not feed them, they must have
corn. All the money of the kingdom was by this means brought into
the exchequer. 2. When the money failed, they parted with all their
cattle, those for labour, as the horses and asses, and those for
food, as the flocks and the herds, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.17" parsed="|Gen|47|17|0|0" passage="Ge 47:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. By this it should seem that we
may better live upon bread without flesh than upon flesh without
bread. We may suppose they parted the more easily with their cattle
because they had little or no grass for them; and now Pharaoh saw
in reality what he had before seen in vision, nothing but lean
kine. 3. When they had sold their stocks off their land, it was
easy to persuade themselves (rather than starve) to sell their land
too; for what good would that do them, when they had neither corn
to sow it nor cattle to eat of it? They

<pb id="Gen.xlviii-Page_254" n="254"/>

therefore sold that next, for a further supply of corn. 4. When
their land was sold, so that they had nothing to live on, they must
of course sell themselves, that they might live purely upon their
labour, and hold their lands by the base tenure of villanage, at
the courtesy of the crown. Note, <i>Skin for skin, and all that a
man hath,</i> even liberty and property (those darling twins),
<i>will he give for his life;</i> for life is sweet. There are few
(though perhaps there are some) who would even dare to die rather
than live in slavery, and dependence on an arbitrary power. And
perhaps there are those who, in that case, could die by the sword,
in a heat, who yet could not deliberately die by famine, which is
much worse, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Lam.4.9" parsed="|Lam|4|9|0|0" passage="La 4:9">Lam. iv. 9</scripRef>. Now
it was a great mercy to the Egyptians that, in this distress, they
could have corn at any rate; if they had all died for hunger, their
lands perhaps would have escheated to the crown of course, for want
of heirs; they therefore resolved to make the best of bad.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xlviii-p18">III. The method which Joseph took to
accommodate the matter between prince and people, so that the
prince might have his just advantage, and yet the people not be
quite ruined. 1. For their lands, he needed not come to any bargain
with them while the years of famine lasted; but when these were
over (for God will not contend for ever, nor will he be always
wroth) he came to an agreement, which it seems both sides were
pleased with, that the people should occupy and enjoy the lands, as
he thought fit to assign them, and should have seed to sow them
with out of the king's stores, for their own proper use and behoof,
yielding and paying only a fifth part of the yearly profits as a
chief rent to the crown. This became a standing law, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.26" parsed="|Gen|47|26|0|0" passage="Ge 47:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>. And it was a very good
bargain to have food for their lands, when otherwise they and
theirs must have starved, and then to have their lands again upon
such easy terms. Note, Those ministers of state are worthy of
double honour, both for wisdom and integrity, that keep the balance
even between prince and people, so that liberty and property may
not intrench upon prerogative, nor the prerogative bear hard upon
liberty and property: in the multitude of such counsellors there is
safety. If afterwards the Egyptians thought it hard to pay so great
a duty to the king out of their lands, they must remember, not only
how just, but how kind, the first imposing of it was. They might
thankfully pay a fifth where all was due. It is observable how
faithful Joseph was to him that appointed him. He did not put the
money into his own pocket, nor entail the lands upon his own
family; but converted both entirely to Pharaoh's use; and therefore
we do not find that his posterity went out of Egypt any richer than
the rest of their poor brethren. Those in public trusts, if they
raise great estates, must take heed that it be not at the expense
of a good conscience, which is much more valuable. 2. For their
persons, he removed them to cities, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.21" parsed="|Gen|47|21|0|0" passage="Ge 47:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>. He transplanted them, to show
Pharaoh's sovereign power over them, and that they might, in time,
forget their titles to their lands, and be the more easily
reconciled to their new condition of servitude. The Jewish writers
say, "He removed them thus from their former habitations because
they reproached his brethren as strangers, to silence which
reproach they were all made, in effect, strangers." See what
changes a little time may make with a people, and how soon God can
empty those from vessel to vessel who had settled upon their lees.
How hard soever this seems to have been upon them, they themselves
were at this time sensible of it as a very great kindness, and were
thankful they were not worse used: <i>Thou hast saved our
lives,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.25" parsed="|Gen|47|25|0|0" passage="Ge 47:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>.
Note, There is good reason that the Saviour of our lives should be
the Master of our lives. "Thou hast saved us; do what thou wilt
with us."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xlviii-p19">IV. The reservation he made in favour of
the priests. They were maintained on free cost, so that they needed
not to sell their lands, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.22" parsed="|Gen|47|22|0|0" passage="Ge 47:22"><i>v.</i>
22</scripRef>. <i>All people will thus walk in the name of their
God;</i> they will be kind to those that attend the public service
of their God, and that minister to them in holy things; and we
should, in like manner, honour our God, by esteeming his ministers
highly in love for their work's sake.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.xlviii-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.27-Gen.47.31" parsed="|Gen|47|27|47|31" passage="Ge 47:27-31" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.47.27-Gen.47.31">
<h4 id="Gen.xlviii-p19.3">Jacob's Charge Concerning His
Burial. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xlviii-p19.4">b. c.</span> 1706.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gen.xlviii-p20">27 And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the
country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and
multiplied exceedingly.   28 And Jacob lived in the land of
Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was a hundred
forty and seven years.   29 And the time drew nigh that Israel
must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I
have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my
thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee,
in Egypt:   30 But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt
carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he
said, I will do as thou hast said.   31 And he said, Swear
unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the
bed's head.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xlviii-p21">Observe, 1. The comfort Jacob lived in
(<scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.27-Gen.47.28" parsed="|Gen|47|27|47|28" passage="Ge 47:27,28"><i>v.</i> 27, 28</scripRef>);
while the Egyptians were impoverished in their own land, Jacob was
replenished in a strange land. He lived seventeen years after he
came into Egypt, far beyond his own expectation. Seventeen

<pb id="Gen.xlviii-Page_255" n="255"/>

years he had nourished Joseph (for so old he was
when he was sold from him, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.37.2" parsed="|Gen|37|2|0|0" passage="Ge 37:2"><i>ch.</i>
xxxvii. 2</scripRef>), and now, by way of requital, seventeen years
Joseph nourished him. Observe how kindly Providence ordered Jacob's
affairs, that when he was old, and least able to bear care or
fatigue, he had least occasion for it, being well provided for by
his son without his own forecast. Thus God considers the frame of
his people. 2. The care Jacob died in. At last <i>the time drew
nigh that Israel must die,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.29" parsed="|Gen|47|29|0|0" passage="Ge 47:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>. Israel, a prince with God, that
had power over the angel and prevailed, yet must yield to death.
There is no remedy, he <i>must die:</i> it is appointed for all
men, therefore for him; and there is no discharge in that war.
Joseph supplied him with bread, that he might not die by famine;
but this did not secure him from dying by age or sickness. He died
by degrees; his candle was not blown out, but gradually burnt down
to the socket, so that he saw, at some distance, the time drawing
nigh. Note, It is an improvable advantage to see the approach of
death before we feel its arrests, that we may be quickened to do
what our hand finds to do with all our might: however, it is not
far from any of us. Now Jacob's care, as he saw the day
approaching, was about his burial, not the pomp of it (he was no
way solicitous about that), but the place of it. (1.) He would be
buried in Canaan. This he resolved on, not from mere humour,
because Canaan was the land of his nativity, but in faith, because
it was the land of promise (which he desired thus, as it were, to
keep possession of, till the time should come when his posterity
should be masters of it), and because it was a type of heaven, that
better country which he that said these things declared plainly
that he was in expectation of, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p21.4" osisRef="Bible:Heb.11.14" parsed="|Heb|11|14|0|0" passage="Heb 11:14">Heb.
xi. 14</scripRef>. He aimed at a good land, which would be his rest
and bliss on the other side death. (2.) He would have Joseph sworn
to bring him thither to be buried (<scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p21.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.47.29 Bible:Gen.47.31" parsed="|Gen|47|29|0|0;|Gen|47|31|0|0" passage="Ge 47:29,31"><i>v.</i> 29, 31</scripRef>), that Joseph, being
under such a solemn obligation to do it, might have that to answer
to the objections which otherwise might have been made against it,
and for the greater satisfaction of Jacob now in his dying minutes.
Nothing will better help to make a death-bed easy than the certain
prospect of a rest in Canaan after death. (3.) When this was done
<i>Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head,</i> yielding himself,
as it were, to the stroke of death ("Now let it come, and it shall
be welcome"), or worshipping God, as it is explained, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p21.6" osisRef="Bible:Heb.11.21" parsed="|Heb|11|21|0|0" passage="Heb 11:21">Heb. xi. 21</scripRef>, giving God thanks for
all his favours, and particularly for this, that Joseph was ready,
not only to put his hand upon his eyes to close them, but under his
thigh to give him the satisfaction he desired concerning his
burial. Thus those that go down to the dust should, with humble
thankfulness, bow before God, the God of their mercies, <scripRef id="Gen.xlviii-p21.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.22.29" parsed="|Ps|22|29|0|0" passage="Ps 22:29">Ps. xxii. 29</scripRef>.</p>
</div></div2>