《Expository Notes on the Whole Bible – Genesis》(Thomas Constable) Commentator

Israel's reunion with Joseph 46:28-30

This reunion recalls Jacob's former meeting with Esau (Genesis 32:3). In both situations after a long period of separation Jacob sent a party ahead to meet his relative.

"The land of Goshen, where the Hebrews lived, adjoined Avaris-now known to have been sited at Tell el-Dab'a (not at Tanis, as so many textbooks wrongly aver)." [Note: Kitchen, The Bible . . ., p. 76. ]

This opinion rests on belief in a late date for the Exodus in the thirteenth century B.C., however, and may not be correct.

Jacob had said that the loss of his sons would bring him to his grave in mourning (Genesis 37:35; Genesis 42:38). Joseph's "resurrection" had enabled his father to die in peace. Similarly the resurrection of a greater Joseph has allowed many to face death with courage and hope (cf. Philippians 1:21-26; 1 Peter 1:3).

Joseph encouraged his family to be completely honest with Pharaoh (Genesis 46:34). Dishonesty long plagued Jacob's family, but now Joseph led them out of this destructive behavior.

Believers should respond to divine providence by making their decisions in response to the initiative of His wise leaders. They should do so with confidence in His promises and dependent on His continuing guidance and provision.

Verse 31

God's provision of land and food for Israel 46:31-47:12

The major purpose of this section is probably to show how God sustained and blessed Jacob's family in Egypt during the remaining five years of the famine (cf. Genesis 46:12-13). It is also to demonstrate how He partially fulfilled His promises to the patriarchs to make them a blessing to the whole world (Genesis 46:25) as well as fruitful and numerous (Genesis 46:27).

Verse 31

12. Joseph's wise leadership 46:31-47:27

As a result of Joseph presenting his family members to Pharaoh, they received the best of Egypt's land. Jacob blessed Pharaoh in return for his goodness. In the years that followed, Joseph bought almost all of Egypt for Pharaoh, saved the Egyptians' lives, and furthered Israel's prosperity and blessing. Through him all the nations near Egypt also received blessing (cf. Genesis 12:3).

Verses 31-34

Egyptians loathed shepherds because agriculture was the basis of Egyptian society and the Nile River sustained it (Genesis 46:34). The Egyptians organized their fields carefully and controlled them relatively easily. The comparative difficulty of controlling sheep, goats, and cows led the Egyptians to think of those who cared for these animals as crude and barbaric. [Note: See Keil and Delitzsch, 1:374-75, and my note on 43:32.] Probably too the more civilized Egyptians distrusted any nomadic peoples. [Note: Wenham, Genesis 16-50, p. 445. ] This resulted in the Israelites living separate from the Egyptians where they increased and developed a distinct national identity and vocation as God had promised.

"Rameses III is said to have employed 3,264 men, mostly foreigners, to take care of his herds." [Note: Ibid., p. 446.]
47 Chapter 47
Verses 1-12

Jacob's blessing of Pharaoh (Genesis 47:7; Genesis 47:10) is unusual since it implies that in one sense (i.e., as one of God's elect) Jacob was superior to Pharaoh. Pharaoh was a man of immense worldly power and influence. "The lesser is blessed by the greater" (Hebrews 7:7).

"The least and most faltering of God's children has the superiority ... in the presence of the most elevated men of the world." [Note: Darby, 1:78.]

Jacob seems to have described his life as a sojourn (Genesis 47:9) primarily because he had not come into final possession of the Promised Land. He had, of course, also lived in widely separated places during his lifetime: Paddan-aram, Canaan, and now Egypt. His years were fewer than his fathers: 130 compared with Abraham's 175 and Isaac's 180. This comparison also suggests that neither Abraham nor Isaac had experienced the difficulties and distresses that Jacob had during his lifetime.

"When we first encountered Jacob he was struggling inside his mother's womb with his twin brother. As we come to the end of Jacob's life, he is struggling for his life in a famine-devastated Canaan. In between these first and last moments of struggle have been many trying experiences for Jacob. His life has had more sorrow than joy." [Note: Hamilton, The Book . . . Chapters 18-50, p. 612.]

"These words [Genesis 47:9] appear to be the author's attempt at a deliberate contrast to the later promise that one who honors his father and mother should 'live long and do well upon the land' (Deuteronomy 5:15 [sic 16]). Jacob, who deceived his father and thereby gained the blessing, must not only die outside the Promised Land but also, we learn here, his years were few and difficult. From his own words, then, we can see a final recompense for Jacob's actions earlier in the book." [Note: Sailhamer, The Pentateuch . . ., p. 227.]

The text describes the area where Jacob's family settled "the land of Rameses" here rather than Goshen (Genesis 47:11). "The land of Rameses" could have been another name for Goshen, or a larger area encompassing Goshen, or a district within Goshen.

The use of the name "Rameses" here and elsewhere (Exodus 1:11; Exodus 12:37; Numbers 33:3; Numbers 33:5) has become a kind of "red herring" for many interpreters. It has led them to conclude that these events occurred after one of the Pharaohs named Rameses lived. Rameses I reigned about 1347-1320 B.C. However the biblical chronological references (1 Kings 6:1; Exodus 12:40; et al.) point to a date for Israel's move to Egypt near 1876 B.C. How can we account for the use of the name Rameses here then?

It is possible that the name Rameses (also spelled Raamses) was in use when Jacob entered Egypt even though extra-biblical references have not confirmed this. [Note: Merrill, Kingdom of . . ., pp. 70-71; and Walter C. Kaiser Jr., A History of Israel, pp. 74-75.] "Raamses" simply means "Ra [the sun god] has created it." [Note: International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, 1939 ed., s.v. "Raamses," by C. R. Conder.] Second, Rameses may have been the name of this district later, in Moses' day, when he wrote Genesis. He could have used the modern name when writing Genesis rather than an older one that was in use in Jacob's day. A third possibility is that Rameses was the district name even later in history (e.g., after Pharaoh Rameses). A later scribe may have substituted "Rameses" for an older name that was in use when Moses wrote or when Jacob entered Egypt.

Other late names appear in Genesis. For example, the town of Dan (Genesis 14:14), formerly Laish (Judges 18:29), received the name "Dan" during the judges period (ca. 1350-1050 B.C.). Evidently someone after Moses' day substituted the modern name "Dan" for the older name in Genesis 14:14. This may account for references to the Philistines in Genesis too.

"How different is Jacob's descent to Egypt from his grandfather's (ch. 12)! Both seek out the safety of Egypt because of famine. To save himself Abraham engages in deceit. To save his family Jacob engages in blessing. The Pharaoh at Abraham's visit was only too happy to see Abraham return to his own country. The Pharaoh at Jacob's visit insists that Jacob stay and settle on some choice land. Abraham retreats from Egypt. For Jacob Egypt is his new home. Abraham leaves Egypt alive (and happy to be so!). Jacob will leave Egypt dead." [Note: Hamilton, The Book . . . Chapters 18-50, p. 613.]

Verses 13-19

"It was axiomatic in the ancient world that one paid one's way so long as one had anything to part with-including, in the last resort, one's liberty." [Note: Kidner, p. 211.]

"Both Egyptian and Mesopotamian slavery differentiated generally between formerly free people who became debt slaves and foreigners (usually war captives) who were bought and sold as chattel. Mesopotamian laws and contracts indicate that creditors obtained the service of the debt slave until the debt was covered, but chattel slaves belonged to their owners without much chance of release. Although we cannot know from Genesis, there is reason to believe that the voluntary submission of the people assumes that the enslavement was not permanent (cp. the law established by Joseph, Genesis 47:26)." [Note: Mathews, Genesis 11:27-50:26, p. 851.]

"The idea of slavery is not attractive to the modern mind, but in the ancient world it was the primary way of dealing with the poor and destitute. If people became slaves of Pharaoh, it was Pharaoh's responsibility to feed them and care for them. It was the best way for them to survive the famine." [Note: The NET Bible note on 47:19.]

This is the first mention of horses in the Bible, the primary beast of burden and military mechine at this time (Genesis 47:17). Egypt was an important source of horses in Solomon's day (cf. 1 Kings 10:28-29).

Verses 13-27

God's provision of land and food for Pharaoh 47:13-27

This section demonstrates the fulfillment of Jacob's blessing on Pharaoh (Genesis 46:31 to Genesis 47:6 and Genesis 47:7-10). Joseph was able to save Egypt and its neighbors from a very severe famine and to alleviate the desperate plight of the Egyptians. Pharaoh received money from Egypt and Canaan (Genesis 47:13-14), livestock (Genesis 47:15-17), land and slaves (Genesis 47:18-21; Genesis 47:23; Genesis 47:25), and 20 percent of future harvests (Genesis 47:23-26). Such a tax was not out of line with what was common in that day in the ancient Near East. Really it was small since the average was 33 and one third percent. [Note: Waltke, Genesis, p. 591; Thomas, pp. 451-52. See Brian Alexander McKenzie, "Jacob's Blessing of Pharaoh: An Interpretation of Genesis 46:31-47:26," Westminster Theological Journal 45 (Fall 1983):386-99.] God blessed Pharaoh because he had blessed the Israelites with the best of Egypt. Later, in Moses' time, God cursed another Pharaoh because he had dealt harshly with the Israelites (cf. Genesis 12:3).

"This entire situation informs the meaning of Exodus 1:8-11, which states that a new king came to power who did not know Joseph. Consequently-and ironically-that king began to enslave the Israelites to work in his projects. Had he remembered Joseph, he would have realized how loyal and faithful Israel could be in their sojourn in the land. Because this Pharaoh treated Israel well, they flourished, and he became powerful and wealthy; but because that new king treated Israel harshly, he would have none of the blessing of God, nor would he be able to hinder the prosperity of the people of God. From the beginning to the end of the Egyptian sojourn, prosperity and growth came from God's blessing. Those who acknowledged it shared in it." [Note: Ross, Creation and . . ., p. 687. Cf. 12:3.]

Verses 20-26

Early Greek writers, as well as monument evidence, seem to confirm Joseph's political reforms and redistribution of land in Egypt. [Note: Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, and Strabo. See Keil and Delitzsch, 1:379, and Cambridge Ancient History, 1:306-310.] In a very real sense Joseph became a savior of the Gentiles as well as the Jews. [Note: See Frankfort, pp. 36-43.] His 20 percent tax was generous compared to what is known elsewhere in the ancient Near East. [Note: Mathews, Genesis 11:27-50:26, pp. 851, 860; Sarna, Understanding Genesis, p. 322; and 1 Maccabees 10:29.]

"We might also add that the exception made to temple lands (Genesis 47:22; Genesis 47:26) shows that Joseph's action was not a crass land grab without regard for Egyptian tradition and society's welfare." [Note: Mathews, Genesis 11:27-50:26, p. 852.]

Verse 27

Under Joseph's administration Israel prospered, in contrast to Egypt, and increased in number without suffering deprivation or loss of independence. The fulfillment of God's promise to increase the seed of the patriarchs was advancing under Joseph's rule.

A wise leader knows that prosperity comes only from God, so he makes decisions in harmony with what God has revealed about how He has promised to bless.

Verse 28

13. Jacob's worship in Egypt 47:28-48:22

Jacob demonstrated his faith in God's promises by demanding that his sons bury him in the Promised Land. He also showed he had learned that God will bless those He chooses to bless by blessing the younger Ephraim over the older Manasseh.

Verses 28-31

Jacob's request to be buried in Canaan 47:28-31

Jacob lived 17 years in the care of Joseph who, ironically, had spent the first 17 years of his life in Jacob's care (Genesis 37:2). As Jacob's death seemed to be approaching, he called for Joseph and made him swear to bury him in the Promised Land rather than in Egypt (cf. Genesis 24:2-3). As the father of such a person as Joseph, Jacob could have had a very fine burial in Egypt. Notwithstanding, his request demonstrated his preference for the promise of God rather than the acclaim of the world (cf. Moses, Hebrews 11:24-25).

Placing the hand under the "thigh" was a ritual connected with making a solemn promise (cf. Genesis 24:2-3). Jacob worshipped God for granting his wish. He evidently prostrated himself on his bed in thanksgiving to Yahweh and or out of respect for Joseph (cf. Genesis 37:9-10). He may have been too weak to bow down on the ground (cf. Genesis 48:12; 1 Kings 1:47).

"Jacob, in life too often the cunning schemer who trusted his own wiliness to achieve his ends, now in the face of death shows that his ultimate hope is the promise of God." [Note: Wenham, Genesis 16-50, p. 452.]

48 Chapter 48
Verses 1-11

Jacob's adoption of Joseph's sons 48:1-11

The events recorded in the last three chapters of Genesis deal with the last days of Jacob and Joseph. In these last chapters there are many other references to earlier episodes in the book.

"This constant harking back to earlier episodes and promises is totally in place in a book whose theme is the fulfillment of promises, a book that regularly uses analogy between episodes as a narrative technique. And at the close of a book it is particuarly [sic] appropriate to exploit these cross-linkages to the full. It reinforces the sense of completeness and suggests that the story has reached a natural stopping point." [Note: Ibid., p. 461.]

"It is appropriate that the end of Genesis should draw to a close with repeated references to the thematic word of the book (b-r-k, 'to bless')." [Note: Mathews, Genesis 11:27-50:26, p. 863.]

This very important section explains how Ephraim and Manasseh came to have equal standing with Joseph's brothers and why Joseph did not become the head of a tribe. Manasseh would have been between 20 and 26 years old at this time (Genesis 41:50; Genesis 47:28). Ephraim, of course, was younger.

It was as Israel, the prince with God, that Jacob performed this official and significant act (Genesis 48:2-4; cf. Hebrews 11:21). His action was in harmony with God's will and purpose for the chosen family, and it involved the patriarchal promises to which he referred (cf. Genesis 35:10-12).

"Jacob may be losing his health, but he is not losing his memory. He can recall the incident of many years earlier when God appeared to him at Luz [Bethel] (Genesis 35:9-15). He repeats the promises of God about fertility, multiplication, that his seed will be an assembly of nations, and finally the promise of land. The only essential element of that theophany he does not repeat is the name change from Jacob to Israel. In this way, Jacob minimizes his role and maximizes God's role in that event." [Note: Hamilton, The Book . . . Chapters 18-50, p. 628.]

By adopting Joseph's first two sons as his own and giving them equal standing with Joseph's brothers, Jacob was bestowing on Joseph the double portion of the birthright (Genesis 48:5; cf. Genesis 48:22; 1 Chronicles 5:1-2). He was also in effect elevating Joseph to the level of himself. Joseph was the first son of Jacob's intended first wife. Jacob's reference to Rachel (Genesis 48:7) shows that she, as the mother of Joseph, was in his mind in this act. This act honored her. The other sons of Joseph received their own inheritances.

"Verse 7 has long puzzled biblical interpreters. Why the mention of Rachel at this point in the narrative, and why the mention of her burial site? If we relate the verse to what precedes, then the mention of Rachel here could be prompted by the fact that just as she had borne Jacob 'two sons' (Genesis 44:27, Joseph and Benjamin) at a time when he was about to enter (Genesis 48:7) the land, so also Joseph gave Jacob 'two sons' (Genesis 48:5) just at the time when he was about to enter Egypt." [Note: Sailhamer, "Genesis," p. 271.]

Jacob's eyes were failing in his old age (Genesis 48:10) so he may not have recognized Ephraim and Manasseh (cf. Genesis 27:1). However it seems more likely that by asking "Who are these?" (Genesis 48:8) Jacob was identifying the beneficiaries as part of the legal ritual of adoption and or blessing (cf. Genesis 27:18). The eyesight of both Isaac and Jacob failed in their old age.

"There is a slight touch of irony here: Jacob had secured Isaac's blessing by guile and deceit, while Joseph is securing the blessing for his sons by honesty and forthrightness." [Note: Davis, p. 294.]

Jacob gave God the credit that he was able to see Joseph's sons (Genesis 48:11). He had come to acknowledge God's providential working and grace in his life as he realized how faithful God had been to him in spite of his unfaithfulness.

Verses 12-20

Jacob's blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh 48:12-20

Ephraim and Manasseh had been standing close to Jacob, between his knees, so he could see and touch them (Genesis 48:12). Ancient Near Eastern adoption ritual included placing the adopted child on the knees of the adopting parent to symbolize giving him birth in place of the birth mother. [Note: See I. Mendelsohn, "A Ugaritic Parallel to the Adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh," Israel Exploration Journal (1959):180-83.] Now Joseph took them back to where he had been standing, in front of his father. He then bowed before Jacob.

"Joseph may be the second most powerful man in Egypt, but he never loses his respect for his father, and he never ceases to be gracious toward him." [Note: Hamilton, The Book . . . Chapters 18-50, p. 635.]

Arranging Manasseh and Ephraim in the normal order for Jacob's blessing, by their age, Joseph then brought them forward again (Genesis 48:13).

This is the first of many scriptural instances of the laying on of hands (Genesis 48:14). By this symbolic act, a person transferred a spiritual power or gift to another. This rite was part of the ceremony of dedicating a person or group to an office (Numbers 27:18; Numbers 27:23; Deuteronomy 34:9; Matthew 19:13; Acts 6:6; Acts 8:17; etc.), offering sacrifices, and the healings Jesus Christ and the apostles performed. In this case Jacob symbolically transferred a blessing from himself to Joseph's sons. Once uttered, blessings were irreversible (cf. Numbers 23:20; Romans 11:29).

Jacob's blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh also carried prophetic significance and force (Genesis 48:19-20). Under the inspiration of God, Jacob deliberately gave Ephraim the privileged first-born blessing and predicted his preeminence. This was the fourth consecutive generation of Abraham's descendants in which the normal pattern of the firstborn assuming prominence over the second born was reversed: Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, Joseph over Reuben, and Ephraim over Manasseh. We can see this blessing in the process of fulfillment during the Judges Period when the tribe of Ephraim had grown very large and influential. The combined tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh increased from 72,700 in the second year after the Exodus (Numbers 1:32-35) to 85,200 40 years later (Numbers 26:28-37). By contrast the tribes of Reuben and Simeon decreased from 105,800 to 65,930 during the same period. The Ephraimites took the lead among the ten northern tribes and flourished to the extent that the Jews used the name Ephraim equally with the name Israel. The Ephraimites occasionally demonstrated an attitude of superiority among the tribes that we can trace back to this blessing (e.g., Judges 12:1; et al.). The Hebrew phrase translated "a multitude (group) of nations" (Genesis 48:19) appears only here in the Old Testament and probably means a company of peoples, namely, numerous. The reference to Israel in Genesis 48:20 applies to the nation in the future from Jacob's viewpoint.

Verse 21-22

Jacob's announcement of Joseph's birthright 48:21-22

Jacob (Israel, the prince with God) firmly believed God's promise to bring his descendants back into the Promised Land (cf. Genesis 46:4). Jacob's prophetic promise to Joseph (Genesis 48:22) is a play on words. The word for "portion" means ridge or shoulder (of land) and is the same as "Shechem." Shechem lay in Manasseh's tribal territory. The Israelites later distributed the land among the tribes (Joshua 24:1) and buried Joseph at Shechem (Joshua 24:32). Jacob regarded the land that he had purchased there (Genesis 33:18-20) as a pledge of his descendants' future possession of the whole land. In Jesus' day people spoke of Shechem (near Sychar) as what Jacob had given to Joseph (John 4:5).

Jacob spoke as though he had taken Shechem from the Amorites by force (Genesis 48:22). Probably Jacob viewed Simeon and Levi's slaughter of the Shechemites as his own taking of the city (Genesis 34:27-29). [Note: Waltke, Genesis, p. 601.] Another view is that Moses used the perfect tense in Hebrew, translated past tense in English ("took"), prophetically. In this usage, which is common in the Old Testament, the writer spoke of the future as past. The idea was that, since God predicted them by divine inspiration, events yet future are so certain of fulfillment that one could speak of them as already past. Here the thought is that Israel (Jacob) would take Canaan from the Amorites, the most powerful of the Canaanite tribes, not personally, but through his posterity (cf. Genesis 15:16). [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, 1:385.] Other scholars have suggested still another explanation.

"It is not impossible that the property which Jacob owned at Shechem was taken away by the Amorites after he left the region (cf. Genesis 35:4-5) and that he eventually returned and repossessed it by force of arms?" [Note: Davis, p. 294. Cf. H. Vos, p. 165; Aalders, 2:267; Leupold, 2:1158; Bush, 2:384; and Thomas, p. 464.]

Apparently Jacob gave Joseph Shechem, which he regarded as a down payment of all that God would give his descendants as they battled the Canaanites in the future.

"For Joseph it was an honour that his father entrusted him with his funeral in Palestine (47.30f.). In 48.21f., the implication in family law is finally drawn: Joseph, instead of Reuben, receives the double heritage as a sign of his primogeniture (48.22a). Just as the son is commanded to bury the father in Palestine, so it is in Palestine that the priority of Joseph within the family takes effect. These two scenes thus enclose a detailed blessing for Joseph and his sons, so filling out the promise of his superiority in Palestine (48.22a)." [Note: Horst Seebass, "The Joseph Story, Genesis 48 and the Canonical Process," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 35 (June 1986):30.]

Believers whom God has shepherded for a lifetime can see God's purposes and plans for the future more clearly even though the maturing process has been difficult for them. [Note: See William J. McIlwain Jr., "My Ways Are Not Your Ways," Exegesis and Exposition 3:1 (Fall 1988):92-100.]