Genesis 47:11 Komentář

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 (Gen 47:1-10), settling them in Goshen, and providing for them there (Gen 47:11, Gen 47:12), and paying his respects to his father when he sent for him (Gen 47:27-31). 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 (Gen 47:13, etc.). Thus he approved himself wise and good, both in his private and in his public capacity.

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 47 This chapter gives an account of the presentation of five of Joseph's brethren, and then of his father, to Pharaoh, and of what passed between them, Gen 47:1; of Joseph's settlement of them, according to the direction of Pharaoh, in the land of Rameses in Goshen, and of his provision for them there, Gen 47:11; of his getting into his hands, for Pharaoh, the money, cattle, and lands, of the Egyptians, excepting the lands belonging to the priests, for corn he had supplied them with, Gen 47:13; of his giving them seed to sow with, on condition of Pharaoh's having a fifth part of the produce, Gen 47:23, of the increase of Jacob's substance in Egypt, and that of his children; of the time of his living there, and his approaching death, when he called Joseph to him, and obliged him by an oath to bury him in the burying place of his fathers, Gen 47:27.

And. Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and his father's household, with bread,.... For though there might be in Rameses pasture sufficient for their cattle, yet not corn for their families, the famine still continuing; during which time Joseph, as a dutiful and affectionate son, and as a kind brother, supplied them with all necessary provision, signified by bread: according to their families; according to the number of them, some of his brethren having more and others less in their families; and in proportion to their number he distributed food unto them, so that there was no want: or "according to the mouth of an infant" (a); he nourished them like infants, he put as it were the bread into their mouths, and fed them with as much care and tenderness as infants are fed; and they had no more care to provide food for themselves than children have, such a full and constant supply was handed forth to them: in this Joseph was an eminent type of Christ, who supplies the wants of his people. (a) "ad os parvuli", Montanus, Schmidt.

And to that we also add that Joseph together with Benjamin was recognized by his brothers who had arrived, and he admitted them to his dining table, as I have just said. However, he did not give them any gift but ordered them to leave again in order that they bring to him the father, I mean, Jacob. After he came down and Joseph saw him there together with his children and family, he gave them the best parts of his land. This narrative is a clear sign that the Israelites themselves, by coming back in the latter times of the world, will be received by Christ, that is, when they will be in accord with the new people, that is symbolized, as I have said, by Benjamin. In addition, the inheritance we hope for will be given to us only by the holy fathers. As those who died in the faith, as the wise Paul says, “did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect,” so we wait for the fathers, so that we will not be made perfect apart from them. In the same manner and together with the holy fathers of the first, the second and the last people we will receive the very good inheritance of the heavenly kingdom that is not made by human hands in Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to God the Father with the Holy Spirit, world without end. Amen.

Joseph informs Pharaoh that his father and brethren are arrived in Goshen, Gen 47:1. He presents five of his brethren before the king, Gen 47:2, who questions them concerning their occupation; they inform him that they are shepherds, and request permission to dwell in the land of Goshen, Gen 47:3, Gen 47:4. Pharaoh consents, and desires that some of the most active of them should be made rulers over his cattle, Gen 47:5, Gen 47:6. Joseph presents his father to Pharaoh, Gen 47:7, who questions him concerning his age, Gen 47:8, to which Jacob returns an affecting answer, and blesses Pharaoh, Gen 47:9, Gen 47:10. Joseph places his father and family in the land of Rameses, (Goshen), and furnishes them with provisions, Gen 47:11, Gen 47:12. The famine prevailing in the land, the Egyptians deliver up all their money to Joseph to get food, Gen 47:13-15. The next year they bring their cattle, Gen 47:16, Gen 47:17. The third, their lands and their persons, Gen 47:18-21. The land of the priests Joseph does not buy, as it was a royal grant to them from Pharaoh, Gen 47:22. The people receive seed to sow the land on condition that they shall give a fifth part of the produce to the king, Gen 47:23, Gen 47:24. The people agree, and Joseph makes it a law all over Egypt, Gen 47:25, Gen 47:26. The Israelites multiply exceedingly, Gen 47:27. Jacob, having lived seventeen years in Goshen, and being one hundred and forty-seven years old, Gen 47:28, makes Joseph promise not to bury him in Egypt, but in Canaan, Gen 47:29, Gen 47:30. Joseph promises and confirms it with an oath, Gen 47:31.

JOSEPH'S PRESENTATION AT COURT. (Gen. 47:1-31) Joseph . . . told Pharaoh, My father and my brethren--Joseph furnishes a beautiful example of a man who could bear equally well the extremes of prosperity and adversity. High as he was, he did not forget that he had a superior. Dearly as he loved his father and anxiously as he desired to provide for the whole family, he would not go into the arrangements he had planned for their stay in Goshen until he had obtained the sanction of his royal master.

Joseph placed his father and his brethren . . . in the best of the land--best pasture land in lower Egypt. Goshen, "the land of verdure," lay along the Pelusiac or eastern branch of the Nile. It included a part of the district of Heliopolis, or "On," the capital, and on the east stretched out a considerable length into the desert. The ground included within these boundaries was a rich and fertile extent of natural meadow, and admirably adapted for the purposes of the Hebrew shepherds (compare Gen 49:24; Psa 34:10; Psa 78:72).

When Joseph had announced to Pharaoh the arrival of his relations in Goshen, he presented five out of the whole number of his brethren (אחיו מקצה; on קצה see Gen 19:4) to the king.

Joseph assigned to his father and his brethren, according to Pharaoh's command, a possession (אחזּה) for a dwelling-place in the best part of Egypt, the land of Ramses, and provided them with bread, "according to the mouth of the little ones," i.e., according to the necessities of each family, answering to the larger or smaller number of their children. כּלכּל with a double accusative (Ges. 139). The settlement of the Israelites is called the land of Ramses (רעמסס, in pause רעמסס Exo 1:11), instead of Goshen, either because the province of Goshen (Γεσέμ, lxx) is indicated by the name of its former capital Ramses (i.e., Heroopolis, on the site or in the immediate neighbourhood of the modern Abu Keisheib, in Wady Tumilat (vid., Exo 1:11), or because Israel settled in the vicinity of Ramses. The district of Goshen is to be sought in the modern province of el Sharkiyeh (i.e., the eastern), on the east side of the Nile, towards Arabia, still the most fertile and productive province of Egypt (cf. Robinson, Pal. i. 78, 79). For Goshen was bounded on the east by the desert of Arabia Petraea, which stretches away to Philistia (Exo 13:17, cf. Ch1 7:21) and is called Γεσέμ Ἀραβίας in the Septuagint in consequence (Gen 45:10; Gen 46:34), and must have extended westwards to the Nile, since the Israelites had an abundance of fish (Num 11:5). It probably skirted the Tanitic arm of the Nile, as the fields of Zoan, i.e., Tanis, are said to have been the scene of the mighty acts of God in Egypt (Psa 78:12, Psa 78:43, cf. Num 13:22). In this province Joseph assigned his relations settlements near to himself (Gen 45:10), from which they could quickly and easily communicate with one another (Gen 46:28; Gen 48:1.). Whether he lived at Ramses or not, cannot be determined, just because the residence of the Pharaoh of that time is not known, and the notion that it was at Memphis is only based upon utterly uncertain combinations relating to the Hyksos.