1 Or. princes.

↑ Heb.

the days of the years of his life.

2.

except the land of the priests only, which became not Pharaoh's.

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 an 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, chap 24. put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly

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 Is- Heb. 11. rael bowed himself upon the bed's 21. head.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

I Joseph with his sons visiteth his sick father.
2 Jacob strengtheneth himself to bless them. 3
He repeateth the promise. 5 He taketh
Ephraim and Manasseh as his own, 7 He
telleth Joseph of his mother's grave. 9 He
blesseth Ephraim and Manasseh. 17 He
preferreth the younger before the elder.
He prophesieth their return to Canaan.
ND it came to pass after these

21

in Egypt:

purpose of maintaining the revenues of the state. Much has been written in condemnation, and again in vindication of these proceedings. Was Joseph a mere creature of Pharaoh's, desirous only of his master's aggrandizement? or was he bent on establishing a tyrannical absolutism in violation of the rights and liberties of the subject? The brevity of the narrative and our imperfect acquaintance with the condition of the people and the state of agriculture in ancient Egypt make it impossible fully to judge of the wisdom and equity of Joseph's laws. This much, however, is quite evident. The land in favourable years was very productive. In the plenteous years it brought forth by handfuls (ch. xli. 47). Even the fifth part of the revenue of corn (v. 34) was so abundant that it is described as like "the sand of the sea," and “without number” (v. 49). Yet there was a liability to great depression, as shewn by the seven years of famine: the monuments too indicate the frequent occurrence of scarcity, and there was evidently no provision against this in the habits of the people or the management of the tillage. If Pharaoh had not been moved to store up corn against the famine years, the population would most probably have perished. The peculiar nature of the land, its dependence on the overflow of the Nile, and the unthrifty habits of the cultivators, made it desirable to establish a system of centralization, perhaps to introduce some general principle of irrigation, in modern phraseology, to promote the prosperity of the country by great government works, in preference to leaving all to the uncertainty of individual enterprize. If this was so, then the saying, "Thou hast saved our lives," was no language of Eastern adulation, but the verdict of a grateful people,

The "fifth part" which was paid to Pharaoh for the revenues of the state, and perhaps for public works of all kinds, agricultural and others, was not an exorbitant impost. The Egyptians appear to have made no difficulty in paying one-fifth of the produce of their land to Pharaoh during the years of plenty; and hence we may infer that it would not have been a burdensome rent when the system of agriculture was put on a better footing.

days of Jacob, even the years of his life. 28. the whole age of Jacob] Lit. the

29. bury me not...in Egypt] Jacob had a firm faith that his descendants should inherit

the land of Canaan, and therefore desired to be buried there. Moreover, he very probably wished to direct the minds of his children to that as their future home, that they might be kept from setting up their rest in Egypt.

31. bowed himself upon the bed's head] So the Masorites point it. So the Targg., Symm., Aquila, Vulg., but the LXX., Syr., and Epistle to the Hebrews (xi. 21), read "on the top of his staff." The Hebrew word without the vowel points means either "bed" or "staff." The only distinction is in the vowel points, which do not exist in the more ancient MSS. It is therefore impossible to decide with certainty which was the original sense of the word. It is quite possible that the meaning is, as the Apostle quotes the passage, that after Joseph had sworn to bury him in Canaan, Jacob bowed himself upon the staff which had gone with him through all his wanderings (Gen. xxxii. 10), and so worshipped God. And this seems the more likely from the fact that it is not till after these things that one told Joseph, "Behold, thy father is

took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

2 And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.

3 And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at a chap. 28. a Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,

13.

& 35. 6.

4 And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.

¶ And now thy two sons, Eph5 raim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.

6 And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.

sick" (ch. xlviii. 1), so that Jacob probably had not as yet taken to his bed. At the same time we must not always press the quotations in the New Testament as proof of the true sense of the Hebrew original, for it is natural for the Apostles to quote the LXX. as being the Authorised Version, just as modern divines quote modern versions in the vernacular languages without suggesting a correction of their language, when such correction is unnecessary for their argument.

7 And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in chap. 35 the land of Canaan in the way, when 19 yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Beth-lehem.

8 And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, Who are these?

9 And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.

heavy.

10 Now the eyes of Israel were *dim for age, so that he could not see. † Heb. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.

II And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.

12 And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.

Christ came, who is over all God blessed for ever. There was, however, a kind of secondary birthright given to Ephraim (see xlix. 22 sq.), who became ancestor of the royal tribe among the ten tribes of Israel.

at Luz] i. e. Bethel. See ch. xxviii. 17, 19, xxxv. 6, 7.

5. as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine] Thy two sons shall be as much counted to be my sons, as Reuben and Simeon, my own two eldest sons, are counted to be mine; accordingly Ephraim and Manasseh became patriarchs, eponymi, heads of tribes. Some think that, as Reuben was deprived of his birthright, so here the birthright is given to Ephraim, the elder son of the firstborn of Rachel. But the birthright seems rather to have been transferred to Judah, his three elder brothers being disinherited, the first for incest, the other two for cruelty (see ch. xlix. 8-10). Accordingly, Judah became the royal tribe, from whom as concerning the flesh

14-29.

7. Rachel died by me] When adopting the sons of Joseph, Jacob turns his thoughts back to his beloved Rachel, for whose sake especially he had so dearly loved Joseph. Rosenm., Gesenius and some others propose to translate here "Rachel died to my sorrow," lit. "upon me," and therefore as a heavy burden to me; but the received translation is supported by the Versions, and by the frequent use of the preposition in the sense of "near me," "by my side."

12. Joseph brought them out from between his knees] Joseph brought them out from between Jacob's knees, where they had gone that he might embrace them, and probably placed them in a reverent attitude to receive the patriarch's blessing.

d Heb. 11.

21.

Heb. as fishes do increase.

13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near unto him.

14 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.

15 ¶ And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,

16 The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.

17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father's hand, to

and he bowed himself with his face to the earth] i.e. Joseph bowed down respectfully and solemnly before his father. The LXX. has "They bowed themselves," which differs but by the repetition of one letter from the received reading.

14. guiding his hands wittingly] So Gesen., Rosenm., and most modern interpreters; but the LXX. Vulg. &c. "putting his hands crosswise." This has been defended by some, comparing an Arabic root, which has the sense "to bind, to twist," but it cannot be shewn ever to have had the sense "to cross."

16. The Angel which redeemed me from all evil] There is here a triple blessing:

"The God, before whom my fathers walked, "The God, which fed me like a shepherd, all my life long,

"The Angel, which redeemed (or redeemeth me) from all evil."

It is impossible that the Angel thus identified with God can be a created Angel. Jacob, no doubt, alludes to the Angel who wrestled with him and whom he called God (ch. xxxii. 24-30), the same as the Angel of the Covenant, Mal. iii. 1. Luther observes that the verb "bless," which thus refers to the God of his fathers, to the God who had been his Shepherd, and to the Angel who redeemed him, is in the singular, not in the plural, VOL. I.

remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head.

18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.

19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a 'mul- + Heb. titude of nations.

20 And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

21 And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.

22 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.

fulness.

showing that these three are but one God, and that the Angel is one with the fathers' God and with the God who fed Jacob like a sheep.

22. Moreover I have given to thee one portion] There is little doubt but that this rendering is correct. The past tense is used by prophetic anticipation, and the meaning is, "I have assigned to thee one portion of that land, which my descendants are destined to take out of the hands of the Amorites." The word rendered portion is Shechem, meaning literally "a shoulder," thence probably a ridge or neck of land, hence here rendered by most chem, the city of Samaria, was probably named versions and commentators "portion." Shefrom the fact of its standing thus on a ridge or shoulder of ground. (See on Gen. xii. 6.) Accordingly here the LXX., Targ. of PseudoJonath., as also Calvin, Rosenm., and some moderns, have rendered not "portion," but "Shechem," a proper name. The history of Shechem is doubtless much mixed up with the history of the Patriarchs, and was intimately connected with all their blessings. It was Abraham's first settlement in Palestine, and there he first built an altar (ch. xii. 6). There too Jacob purchased a piece of ground from Hamor the father of Shechem, and built an altar (xxxiii. 18-20). This was, however, not "taken out of the hand of the Amorite with sword and bow," but obtained peaceably

P

by purchase. Some have thought therefore that the allusion is to the victory over the Shechemites by Simeon and Levi related in ch. xxxiv., the Shechemites being here called Amorites, though there Hivites, because Amorite was a generic name, like Canaanite: but it is hardly likely that Jacob should boast of a conquest by his sons, as though it were his own, when he strongly reprobated their action in it, and even "cursed their anger, for it was fierce, and their wrath, for it was cruel" (ch. xlix. 7). Though, therefore, it is undoubtedly told us, that Jacob gave Shechem to Joseph, and that Joseph was therefore buried there (Josh. xxiv. 32; John iv. 5. See also Jerome, 'Qu. in Gen.' xlix.); and though there may be some allusion to this gift in the words here made use of, by a paronomasia so common in Hebrew, it is most likely that the rendering of the Authorised Version is correct. The addition of "one" to "portion" seems to decide for this interpretation. "I have given thee one Shechem," would be very hard to interpret.

CHAP. XLIX. 1. in the last days] The future generally, but with special reference to the times of Messiah. The Rabbi Nachmani

des says, "According to the words of all, the last days denote the days of Messiah." The passages in which it occurs are mostly Messi anic predictions (see Num. xxiv. 14; Isa. ii. 2; Jer. xxx. 24; Ezek. xxxviii. 16; Dan. x. 14; Hos. iii. 5; Mic. iv. 1). The exact words of the LXX. are used in Heb. i. 1, and virtually the same in Acts ii. 17; 2 Tim. iii. 1; 1 Pet. i. 20; 2 Pet. iii. 3, where the reference is to the times of Christ. (See Heidegger, Vol. II. XXIII. 6; Gesen. 'Thes.' p. 73.) The prophecy of Jacob does not refer exclusively to the days of Messiah, but rather sketches generally the fortunes of his family; but all is leading up to that which was to be the great consummation, when the promised Seed should come and extend the blessings of the Spiritual Israel throughout all the world. It is to be carefully noted, that the occupation of Canaan by the twelve tribes under Joshua was not the point to which his expectations pointed as an

end, but rather that from which his predictions took their beginning. It was not the terminus ad quem, but the terminus a quo. The return to Canaan was a fact established in the decrees of Providence, the certainty of which rested on promises given and repeated to the Patriarchs. Jacob therefore does not repeat this, farther than by the injunction, in the last chapter, and again at the end of this, that he should be buried, not in Egypt, but at Machpelah, the buryingplace of his fathers.

3. the beginning of my strength] Some important Versions (Aquila, Symm., Vulg.) render "the beginning of my sorrow," a possible translation, but not suited to the parallelisms. For the expression, as applied to firstborn sons, comp. Deut. xxi. 17; Ps. lxxviii. 51, Cv. 36.

4. Unstable as water] or "boiling over like water." The meaning of the word is uncertain. The same root in Syriac expresses "wantonness;" in Arabic, "pride," "swelling arrogance." In this passage it is clearly connected with water. The Vulgate translates, "Thou art poured out like water." Symmachus renders "Thou hast boiled over like water." The translation of the LXX. is peculiar, but it also seems to point to boiling as well as to the insolence of pride (¿§úßpiσas ws Modern lexicographers ὕδωρ, μὴ ἐκζέσης). (as Gesen., Lee, &c.) generally give "boiling

over."

thou shalt not excel] Perhaps, though, through thy swelling wantonness, thou risest

up like water when it boils, yet it shall not be so as to excel and surpass thy brethren. Not one great action, not one judge, prophet, or leader from the tribe of Reuben is ever mentioned in history.

then defiledst thou it] "Thou hast polluted" or "desecrated it."

5. instruments of cruelty are in their habitations] Probably, "Their swords are instruments of violence;" so the Vulg., several Rabbins, and the most eminent moderns. The word occurs only here, is very variously rendered by the Versions, and is of doubtful deri

vation.

6. mine honour] Probably a synonym for "my soul" in the first clause of the parallelism. The soul as being the noblest part of man is called his glory. See Ps. viii. 5 (6 Heb.), xvi. 9, xxx. 12 (13 Heb.), lvii. 8 (9 Heb.), cviii. 1 (2 Heb.); (Ges. 'Thes.' p. 655). digged down a wall] Hamstrung an ox. So the margin "houghed oxen." The singular "an ox" must be used to retain the parallelism with "a man" in the former clause, both have a collective intention. This is the rendering of the LXX. and gives the commoner sense of the verb. It is therefore adopted by most recent commentators. The same Hebrew word, with a distinction only in the vowel point, means "ox" and "wall."

7. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel] This was most literally fulfilled, for when Canaan was conquered, on the second numbering under Moses, the tribe of Simeon had become the weakest of all the

tribes (Numb. xxvi. 14); in Moses' blessing (Deut. xxxiii.) it is entirely passed over; and in the assignment of territory it was merely mingled or scattered among the tribe of Judah, having certain cities assigned it within the limits of Judah's possession (Josh. xix. I-9); whilst the Levites had no separate inheritance, but merely a number of cities to dwell in, scattered throughout the possessions of their brethren (Josh. xxi. 1-40). With regard to the latter, though by being made dependent on the tithes and also on the liberality of their fellow countrymen, they were punished, yet in process of time the curse was turned into a blessing. (See Mede, Works,' Bk. 1. Disc. XXXV.) Of this transformation of the curse into a blessing there is not the slightest intimation in Jacob's address: and in this we have a strong proof of its genuineness. After this honourable change in the time of Moses (due in great part to the faithfulness of Moses himself and of the Levites with him), it would never have occurred to the forger of a prophecy to cast such a reproach, and to foretell such a judgment on the forefather of the Levites. In fact, how different is the blessing pronounced by Moses himself upon the tribe of Levi in Deut. xxxiii. 8 sqq. (See Keil.)

brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee.

9 Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?

10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from be

66

8. Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise] Judah, thou, thy brethren shall praise thee. The word "thou" is emphatic, probably, like " Judah," in the vocative, not, as some would render it, "Thou art Judah," which is far tamer. The reference is to the meaning of the name. Leah said, "Now will I praise the Lord, therefore she called his name Judah" (ch. xxix. 35). Judah, notwithstanding the sad history of him and his house in ch. xxxviii., shewed on the whole more nobleness than any of the elder sons of Jacob. He and Reuben were the only two who desired to save the life of Joseph (ch. Xxxvii. 22, 26); and his conduct before Joseph in Egypt is truly noble and touching (see ch. xliv. 18-34). Hence, when Reuben is deprived of his birthright for incest, Simeon and Levi for manslaughter, Judah, who is next in age, naturally and rightly succeeds to it.

thy hand shall be in the neck of thine ene mies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee] He was to be victorious in war, and the leading tribe in Israel; the former promise being signally fulfilled in the victories of David and Solomon, the latter in the elevation of Judah to be the royal tribe; but both most fully in the victory and royalty of David's Son and David's Lord.

9. Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up] Judah is compared to the most royal and the most powerful of beasts. The image is from the lion retiring to the mountains after having devoured his prey: not probably, as Gesenius and others, "thou hast grown up from feeding upon the prey."

as an old lion] As a lioness (Bochart, 'Hieroz.' I. p. 719; Ges. 'Thes.' p. 738). The standard of Judah was a lion, very probably derived from these words of Jacob.

10. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, &c.] Render

A sceptre shall not depart from Judah Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until that Shiloh come,

And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.