Genesis 48

Chap. XLVIII. Ver. 1—22. Joseph visits Jacob with his two sons, whom Jacob blesses.—It was during the same illness, if not at the same visit, when Jacob exacted from his son Joseph a promise to bury him in Canaan, that the latter brought his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, to receive his blessing. Before he gives this, however, Jacob recurs to a circumstance which he always used to mention with peculiar pleasure; namely, the vision with which he was favoured at Luz, which is Beth-el. ((Genesis 28:19). xxxv. 6, &c.) And now he intimates his determination of transferring the birthright, which Reuben had forfeited by his crime, ((1 Chronicles 5:1).) to Joseph and his sons— ‘Even as Reuben and Simeon (his two eldest sons) they shall be mine.”

But before we come to the blessing itself, there is something peculiarly affecting in the retrospective view which Jacob takes of the dealings of Providence with him, and with his fathers: “God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day.” It is like a traveller in the wilderness, who having climbed many hills, and forded many rivers, now looks back on his labours and his dangers with gratitude to God, and exclaims with the prophet, “Hitherto hath the Lord helped me.” But Israel traces back these blessings to the days of his fathers, Abraham and Isaac; and refers always with perfect satisfaction to the covenant made with them, and ratified repeatedly to himself, through which all its blessings were to flow to his posterity.

But he adds, may “the angel that redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads!” Yes, Jacob had seen many evils, as he said to Pharaoh, “Few and evil have been the days of thy servant;” but there was an angel that attended him through all his trials—the angel that redeemed him from all evil—the angel of Beth-el, with whom he wrestled and made supplication—the angel of the everlasting covenant; May he “bless the lads!” It is our mercy, as Christians, that this angel, who hath now assumed a nearer relation and a brighter form—as “God manifested in the flesh”—as he hath redeemed our souls by the price of his blood, so is he ever present to rescue us from temporal evils, or else to make them “work together for our good.” And he said, “In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.”

This greatly displeased their father Joseph especially as Jacob crossed his hands, to lay his right upon Ephraim, and his left upon Manasseh, contrary to the position in which they had been placed. Joseph, therefore, informed him that Manasseh was the eldest, supposing he might have mistaken them; but the venerable patriarch replied, “I know it, my son, I know it: he shall be great, but his younger brother greater.” Fuller here remarks, with his usual point, “God is as immutable as he is sovereign. It does not become us to contend with him; and it is to the honour of Joseph, that as soon as he perceived his father knew what he did, believing him to be directed from above, he acquiesced.” As a sort of appendage to this blessing of Joseph’s sons, Israel subjoins, with the greatest calmness, “Behold, I die;”

and shall not witness the blessings I am enabled to predict; “but God shall be with you, and bring you again into the land of your fathers. Moreover, I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.” This is supposed to refer to the parcel of land which Jacob bought of Shechem, which the Amorites might have taken possession of, and to recover which Israel was compelled to have recourse to arms. This, however, is all conjecture; but events are sometimes alluded to in the Scriptures, as in other histories, that are not expressly recorded, and which, therefore, cannot be now distinctly traced. Thus much is certain, that a parcel of ground near Shechem, which Jacob bought of the Hivites, fell to the lot of Joseph, and that there his bones were finally deposited; and this is more distinctly alluded to in the close of the chapter following.

See also (Joshua 24:32).

Notes on the verses

Ver. 19. Buy us and our land.—It appears from this, that the Egyptians considered themselves hitherto as free, though they now offered to submit to slavery. The following is found among the Gentoo (or Hindoo) laws: “Whoever, having received his victuals from a person during the time of a famine, hath become his slave upon giving to his provider whatever he received from him, and also two head of cattle, may become free from his servitude.”—Orient. Cust. Ver. 21. As for the people, he removed them.—Ainsworth says this was “to change their right, and to translate the property of the land to Pharaoh;” but the Samaritan, LXX., and Vulgate say, “he subjected the people to him (‘Pharao’) for servants;”

which Dr. Boothroyd thinks preferable, though it is not supported by MSS. Ver. 22. Priests — The word sometimes means princes, (as in the margin,) but certainly not in this chapter. Ver. 23. I have bought you.—The accounts which Diodorus Siculus gives, are said to corroborate this statement; but the facts they prove are a great deal for, according to him, the land was divided into three parts; one belonged to the priests, with which they provided all sacrifices, and maintained all the ministers of religion. A second part was the king’s, to support his court and his family, and the expenses of war. The remainder of the land belonged to the people, who appear to have been all soldiers, liable, at the king’s expense, to serve in all wars.

See Orient. Lit. Ver. 31. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.—It is not very obvious what can be meant by the head of a bed, which consisted only of a mat, or a cushion, (for they had no bedsteads;) but the same word, read without the points, means a staff, which has generally a head. So the LXX. understood it, whom the apostle literally quotes, (Hebrews 11:21). “Jacob… worshipped, (leaning) upon the top of his staff.” Ainsworth admits that the LXX used a copy without points; which, indeed, are comparatively modern. See Ainsworth, Clarke, and Kennicott’s Rem. Chap. XLVIII. Ver. 2. And Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon his bed.—How should a feeble old man strengthen himself to sit up on his bed so effectually as by the use of a staff.

This explains, therefore, the close of the preceding chapter; and we have often seen age and weakness thus assisted rather than by down pillows: of which, certainly, Jacob never Ver. 10. His eyes were dim.—Hebrew, ‘heavy,’ so “that he could not see clearly,” or distinctly. Compare verse 11. Ver. 12. From between his knees.—That is, Israel’s, says Dr. Boothroyd. In verse eighth they were brought near to Israel, who kissed and embraced them, probably between his knees, being unable to support them on them. Joseph, therefore, drew them out to place them before his father as he wished, to receive the patriarchal blessing, the elder toward his right hand. And he bowed himself.—Joseph thus showed, that his external greatness did not render him forgetful of the respect due to his father, or of that veneration to which his age and piety entitled him.

The Egyptians, among whom he lived, according to Herodotus, were particularly remarkable for the reverence they paid to old age: “for if a young person meet his senior, he instantly turns aside to make way for him; if an aged person enter an apartment, the youth always rise from their seats;” and Savary observes, that the same reverence is yet paid to old age, on every occasion, in Egypt. Among the ancient Romans, it was considered a crime, worthy of death, not to rise up in the presence of an aged person; and acting a contrary part was deemed an awful mark of the deep degeneracy of the times:—See Juvenal, Sat. 1—Bagster. The Samaritan and LXX. make the lads bow, not Joseph, Ver. 16. The angel which redeemed me.—Here is an evident reference to (Genesis 32:24).—28. Compare (Psalms 34:22).—And let them grow into a multitude. Hebrew, “Increase like fishes,” the most prolific of all creatures. See Note on Chap. 1. 21. Ver. 21. ‘Behold, I die: but God shall be with you.—So said Joseph, Chap. 1. 24. Similar said Christ, (John 16:7).—Edwards. Ver. 22. One portion.—The Hebrew for “portion,” is Shechem, (literally “a shoulder,”) which strengthens the allusion above mentioned, but cannot refer to the capture of the place by Jacob’s sons, because that was totally disavowed and condemned by him. See (Genesis 49:6-7). Chap. XLIX. Ver. 2. Hearken unto Israel.—We have above adverted to picture writing and hieroglyphics. The most remarkable specimens of the former now known are in the exhibition of ancient Mexico, at the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly.

They announce to the emperor Montezuma the arrival of the Spaniards in South America. The various rivers they crossed are represented in blue stripes, and the routes of the different armies, by the marks of footsteps, in a manner approaching to hieroglyphics.—The following inscription, from the celebrated Temple of Minerva at Sais, in Egypt, is here given, to illustrate the use of hieroglyphics. An infant, an old man, a hawk, a fish and a river horse, are drawn to represent the following moral sentence: “* All you who come into the world, or go out of it, know this, that the gods hate impudence.” On hieroglyphics, see the article in Ency. Brit.; Warburton’s Divine Legation; Pococke’s Travels in Egypt. Ver.

4. Unstable as water.—Rather, fetke ma; overflowing as a river, or a boiling spring; see Symmachus and the Vulgate. But the allusion may be more probably, to the Nile.—He went up to my couch.—A poetical repetition. The marginal reading, “My couch is gone,” seems unintelligible. Dr. Boothroyd reads, “Ascending my couch, then wast thou degraded.” Dr. Durell, “Thus by going up thou didst defile my bed.” The Great Mogul disinherited his own son for the same crime, and appointed his grandson to succeed him,—Sir J. T. Roe’s Embassy. Ver. 5. Instruments of cruelty.—Margin, “Their swords were weapons of violence.” So are all swords; the word signifies rage, fury, burning in the mind. Pagninus renders it to the sense, arma iniquitatis, weapons of wickedness.

Dr. Durell reads, “They have executed their violent stratagems.” Boothroyd, “They accomplished their violent schemes.” So Samaritan, LXX., Onkelos. Ver. 6. In anger they digged down a wall.—It is very doubtful whether Shechem was a walled town; and the same word (with a slight variation) means a prince: and so Kennicott, Clarke, Boothroyd, and all the modern commentators, understand it; namely, Shechem. A marginal note says, “they houghed oxen;” but this is weakly supported, and unnatural. Ver. 7. I will divide them.—The Jerusalem Targum adds, and the Jews generally believe, that the Simeonites were afterwards obliged to seek their living as schoolmasters, scattered among the other tribes like the Levites. Judah is a lion’s whelp, or cub, and as such, has been used to devour in the den the prey provided by the parent lion; now he goes up into the mountain and preys for himself; he coucheth as a lion or lioness, to lie in wait—and “who shall rouse him?”

It shall be at his peril. This describes the growing strength and importance of the tribe. See (Jeremiah 49:19). Nahum Ver. 10. The sceptre… nor a lawgiver.—The first word, Shebdet, is doubtless a short staff, and the other, no less clearly, a long one. The former was the staff of the tribe, ((1 Samuel 10:19-20). in the Heb.) and perhaps not very long, or, more properly, the staves of the magistrates, or judges; which might, for aught we know, be both as long and as strong as the staves of our constables. The sceptre and the staff, therefore, here represent the civil and judicial power, and form a parallelism, as usual, in the Hebrew poetry. The late ingenious Editor of Calmet suggests, that this word may mean pen; an iron one, most likely, to write in lead, or a chalky rock; (Job 19)

23. and therefore represented the teacher, or scribe, as well as king of Israel.—Fragments, Nos. 223, 333, 334. For a full exposition of this important prophecy, see Bp. Newton, Dissert iv Ver. 15. He became a servant unto tribute.—“They had no great inclination to go to war, and were therefore frequently infested, and subjected by strangers, especially in the time of the judges.”—Stackhouse. Ver. 17. An adder in the path.—Margin, “An arrow-snake.” The serpent here referred to is probably the Cerasves, or horned snake; it is small, but fatal in its poison, lies in wait for passengers in the sand, or the ruts or boomin and bites the heels of horses. The Orientals call it, “the lier in Ver. 21.

Which giveth goodly words—agrees neither with the character of a stag, nor of a tree: but branches, which is now admitted to be the proper sense of the term, will agree with either. See Parkhurst in Amar. For the latter, a tree, (the oak, or rather the terebinth, or turpentine-tree,) we have the authority of the LXX. of Bochart, Houbigant, Durell, Dathe, Michaelis Geddes, Clarke, Boothroyd. The Editor of Calmet, however, (in his Natural History,) has laboured, with much ingenuity, to support the former version of a hind; but unluckily the Hebrew is feminine, and the female deer have no horns. Mr. T. notwithstanding, thinks it may include both sexes; but of this he gives no instances. The meaning as to Naphtali, is the same; he inhabited an open champaign country, where the deer roamed at liberty, and the tree spread wide its branches.

Ver. 22. Joseph is a fruitful bough.—Dr. Clarke supposes Jacob to be the vine, Joseph the son, or branch, and his posterity the daughters of that branch, or the smaller branches. Thus he renders it: “The son of a fruitful (vine) is Joseph; The son of a fruitful (vine) by a fountain, The daughters (branches) shoot over the wall. They sorely afflicted and grieved him; The chief archers had him in hatred; But his bow remained in strength,” &c. Such is the beautiful and poetic form of the whole chapter, and we regret we have not room to give it all in the same way. In the Hebrew idiom, every inventor is the father of such invention; (see Notes on (Genesis 4:21-22).) so here, those supposed to excel in archery, ‘the chief archers,”

are in the Hebrew, “lords (or masters) of the bow.” Ver. 24. From thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel.—There is some doubt whether these words are to be referred to the Almighty, or to Joseph: if to the latter, they describe him as the Shepherd of Jacob’s family, and the foundation of the nation of Israel, and so an eminent type of Christ. But modern commentators refer them to the Almighty himself, who is the Shepherd and the Rock of Israel. ((Psalms 80:1). xxxi. 2.) So Dr. Clarke translates the words, “By the hand of the mighty one of Jacob; By the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.” Ver. 28. These are the twelve tribes.—The similarity of some of these emblems to the signs of the Zodiac, has been shown by Dr.

Clarke; particularly Reuben and Aquarius; Simeon and Levi and the Gemini; Judah and Leo; Asher and Virgo; Dan and Scorpio; Joseph and Sagittarius. Some have hence argued, that the sacred writer borrowed those images from astronomy; but is it not far more likely that astronomers have taken them from hence? Have we any writings of equal antiquity with those of Moses? Have we any Zodiac as ancient as the days of Jacob? Chap. L. Ver. 2, 3. And Joseph commanded to embalm his father.—By this it appears that embalming was the office of the physicians, which in Egypt, were very numerous. The process, according to Herodotus and Diodorus, (Greek historians,) was as follows: ‘The time of mourning was while the body lay with the embalmers; seventy days.

During (the first part of) this time, the body lay in nitre, the use of which was, to dry up all superfluous moisture; and when, in the compass of thirty days this was reasonably well effected, the remaining forty were employed in anointing it with gums and spices, to preserve it, which was the proper embalming. The former circumstance explains the reason why ‘the Egyptians mourned for Israel threescore and ten days;’ the latter, the meaning of the ‘forty days that were fulfilled for Israel, being the days of those who were embalmed.’”—Warburton’s Divine Legation. Ver. 4. Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh.—“Joseph could not appear before Pharaoh himself, on account of the death of his father.”—Boothroyd.

Ver. 5. Which I have digged.—It is probable that Jacob had dug a grave back in the vast cave of Machpelah, which he had purchased.— Ver. 10. A very loud and sore lamentation.—This is exactly the genius of the people of Asia, especially of the women. Their sentiments of joy or grief are, properly, transports; and their transports are ungoverned, excessive, and outrageous. When any one returns from a long journey, or dies, his family bursts into cries, that may be heard near doors off. Especially are those cries long in the case of death, and frightful; for their mourning is right down despair, and ‘an image of hell.” This continues forty days.—Sir J. Chardin.—Harmer. Threshing floor of Atad.—This place was situated, according to Jerome, between the Jordan and the city of Jericho, two miles from the former, and three from the latter, where Bethagla was afterwards built.—Procopius of Gaza states the same. As the Hebrew word signifies thorns, the place might have been remarkable for their production; though all the versions, except the Arabic, consider it as a proper name.

As Moses wrote or revised his history on the east side of Jordan, beyond Jordan, in his five books, means westward of Jordan; but in other parts of Scripture it generally means, eastward.—Bagster. Ver. 19 Am I in the place of God?—It belongs to God to execute vengeance, and Joseph did not intend to usurp his prerogative.—Thus he instructed his brethren not to fear him, but to fear God; to humble themselves before God, and to seek his forgiveness.—Bagster