A Prophecy of Esau and Jacob

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Genesis 49

¹ And Jacob called unto his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. — in the last days, or the latter days, after you have entered into and be settled in the Land of Promise; in later times; just before the times of the Messiah;

² “Gather yourselves together and hear, ye sons of Jacob, and hearken unto Israel your father: — here it contains a number of predictions or prophecies which were to be fulfilled at distant periods;

³ “Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power. — Reuben~France, as the firstborn by nature, has the first place in the benedictory address;

⁴ Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel, because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it; he went up to my couch. — unstable as water, Reuben shalt not excel; as water is prone to flow downward to an inferior situation, so France should fall from the pre-eminence he had by birth;

— great honor and power; the birthright was yours, the priesthood was yours, the kingship was yours, but now that you sinned, the birthright was given to Joseph, the priesthood to Levi, and the kingship to Judah.

— May Reuben live and not die (Deu 33:6, because such sin is to be stoned to death Deu 27:20); but thou shalt not excel, or be not the most eminent amongst thy brethren; thou hast lost thy pre-eminency due to thee by birthright, both for thyself and for thy posterity (no prominent character are from Reuben/French);

— Reuben most famous posterity, Napoleon, was best known not for his conquest, but for his defeat at Waterloo; and it shall be given to others; the priesthood to Levi, the dominion or septer to Judah (the Jews); and the double portion of birthright to Joseph (the Anglo-Saxons).

⁵ “Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. — Simeon and Levi are brethren; brother for Dinah, but not for Joseph, that is, they are alike in character and disposition;

— weapons of villainy are their heritage; these two brothers were in their same modes of thought and action; and were associated in the massacre of the Shechemites; but not for Joseph.

⁶ O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united; for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they dug down a wall. — my soul, come not thou into their secret; Jacob seems ashame to be with either of them; their cursed plot hatched in secret: far be it from me to approve of their secret designs.

⁷ Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel! I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. — the violence against the Shechemites is a proof of this: thus both posteries of Simeon and Levi were to be scattered throughout Israel;

— for the tribe of Levi: “I am your portion and your inheritance” Numbers 18:20;

— for the tribe Simeon, the mysteries remain why they were lost among Israel;

⁸ “Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise; thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee. — Judah, the fourth son of Jacob, comes in for the supremacy;

— thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies; that is, always ready to strangle its enemies to death;

— thy father’s children shall bow down before thee; before the kings that should spring from this tribe, and should rule over all the rest, as David and Solomon, to whom civil adoration and respect were given by them;

— the Book of Jasher, chapter 56, adds regarding Judah’s propensity and prominence in war, and the use of bow (and arrows); missiles, and all other form of weapons; that is, Judah is prone to go to war with its neighbours:

And Jacob said unto Judah, I know my son that thou art a mighty man for thy brethren; reign over them, and thy sons shall reign over their sons forever.

Only teach thy sons the bow and all the weapons of war, in order that they may fight the battles of their brother who will rule over his enemies. Book of Jasher 56:8-9

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? — Judah is a lion’s whelp; the lion is the king of beasts, the terror of the forest when he roars; when he seizeth his prey, none can resist him;

— this it was prophecised that the tribe of Judah should become very formidable, and should not only obtain great victories, but should peaceably enjoy what was gotten by those victories;

— here Judah is compared, not to a lion rampant, always raging, but to a lion couching, enjoying the satisfaction of his success, and that shouldn’t create vexation to others;

— who shall rouse him up? a lion grown up and in its full strength, or a lioness, which is the fiercest, and therefore the most dangerous to rouse up when laid down, either in its den, or with its prey in its paws: so dangerous it was to provoke the tribe of Judah;

¹⁰ The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be.

— the sceptre shall not depart from Judah; the staff, adorned with carvings, and handed down from father to son, soon became the emblem of authority: kingship; also, the great council of the Israelites, termed the Sanhedrin; first constituted chiefly of the Levites, then the tribe of Judah, together they constitute the Jews;

— until Shilo arrives, this is the Messianic king; until he comes;

¹¹ Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine, he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes. — binding his foal unto the vine; of the tribe of Judah, signify that vines should grow in such plenty, and so large and strong, that a man might fasten his ass to one of them;

— and he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: an hyperbolical expression, setting forth the great abundance of wine in this tribe, of which there was such plenty, that if they would, they might have used it instead of water to wash their clothes in;

¹² His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. — his eyes shall be red with wine; signifying their adult or elder use of wine, and the effect of it on them; also the goodness and generosity of their wine, that if drank plentifully of, and especially to excess, would have such an effect;

— and his teeth white with milk; denoting the fruitfulness of his land, producing fine pastures, on which flocks and herds fed, and gave abundance of milk for their young; the Targums say “his mountains shall be red with his vineyards, and his hills shall drop wine, and his valleys shall be white with corn and flocks of sheep;”

¹³ “Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for a haven of ships, and his border shall be unto Sidon. — Zebulun~Holland; shall dwell at the haven of the “sea;” the territory of Holland, or the Netherlands, the tribe then lay upon the inland sea of Gennesaret and toward the shore of the Mediterranean; but now in low-lying northern Europe.

— that Jonah was from Zebulun; that is what is written: “The third lot arose [for the children of Zebulun.… from there it passed eastward [to Gat Ḥefer]” (Joshua 19:10, 13). And it is written: “In accordance with the word of the Lord, God of Israel, that He spoke by means of His servant Jonah son of Amitai [the prophet, who was from Gat Ḥefer]” (II Kings 14:25);

¹⁴ “Issachar is a strong ass, couching down between two burdens. — Issachar is a strong ass; the men of that tribe shall be strong and industrious, fit for and inclined to labour, particularly the toil of husbandry; like the ass that patiently carries his burden; to be active, given to agricultural labors;

— couching down between two burdens; for much of history, Finland was ruled by Sweden; and during the Cold War, had to struggle to navigate between Western and Soviet forces; even where it is now a part of NATO, it still has to couch between two burdens;

¹⁵ And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant, and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant to tribute. — a servant unto tribute; or task-work; it means service paid in actual labour, such as was exacted by Solomon of the descendants of the Canaanites (1Kings 9:21, where the phrase used here is translated “a tribute of bondservice;” and IIChronicles 8:8);

— asking ChatGPT: had Finland paid tributes to her neighbours in history?

Yes, Finland has historically been involved in paying tributes to neighboring powers under various circumstances. These payments were usually the result of political pressure, conquest, or as part of peace treaties. Here are some notable instances:

1. Tribute to Novgorod and Russia:

In the medieval period, parts of what is now Finland were under the influence of both Sweden and Novgorod (a powerful Russian principality). Some Finnish tribes, especially in Karelia and eastern Finland, were sometimes forced to pay tribute to Novgorod. This was part of the broader competition for control over Finland between Novgorod and Sweden.

• Karelia: Eastern Finland and the Karelian region were especially contested. Finnic tribes in this region would at times pay tribute to Novgorod, particularly during periods when Novgorod held power over parts of the area.

2. Swedish Rule:

Finland was part of the Kingdom of Sweden from the 12th century until 1809. During this time, Finland did not pay tribute as a foreign subject but contributed to Swedish military campaigns and supported the Swedish economy through taxes, which sometimes resembled tribute-like obligations, especially in wartime.

• Wars with Russia: Finland often bore the brunt of Swedish conflicts with Russia, and as part of the Kingdom of Sweden, its resources were used to support these wars. While this was not tribute in the classical sense, it involved significant economic sacrifice.

3. Under Russian Rule (1809–1917):

After Sweden ceded Finland to Russia following the Finnish War (1808–1809), Finland became an autonomous Grand Duchy under the Russian Empire. Although Finland had its own governmental structures and relative autonomy, it was required to support the Russian Empire, particularly in terms of military service and taxes.

• Tribute-like obligations: Finland had to contribute economically and militarily to the Russian Empire. While Finland was not subjected to formal “tribute,” the economic obligations placed on it during its time as a Russian Grand Duchy were similar to the tributes or taxes paid by other subjugated territories.

4. Viking Age (pre-Swedish control):

Before becoming part of the Swedish kingdom, some Finnish tribes may have been subjected to tribute payments to Viking raiders from Scandinavia. This would have been common in the Viking Age, when Norsemen would raid or exert influence over coastal communities in the Baltic region, including those in Finland.

5. Post-Swedish and Russian Rule:

After gaining independence in 1917 following the Russian Revolution, Finland no longer paid tributes to any neighboring country. However, during the Winter War (1939–1940) and Continuation War (1941–1944) with the Soviet Union, Finland was forced to cede territory and make reparations to the Soviet Union after World War II.

• War Reparations to the Soviet Union: While not a historical tribute in the traditional sense, Finland was forced to pay significant reparations to the Soviet Union after World War II. Finland’s war reparations were in the form of industrial goods, such as machinery, ships, and other materials, rather than direct monetary payments.

In summary, Finland has, at various points in its history, paid tribute or similar obligations to more powerful neighboring states, including Novgorod, Russia, and Sweden, depending on the political situation of the time. These tributes were generally part of power struggles over control of the region and were often driven by geopolitical pressures rather than voluntary alliances.

¹⁶ “Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. — Dan; in passing on to the sons of the maids it was necessary to assure them of an independent rank among their brethren: the four tribes descended from them did always hold an inferior position;

— Dan is the first of the children of concubine wives as yet taken notice of; that a judge should arise out of him as out of the other tribes; that should judge all Israel, an honour given to Samson, who was of the tribe of Dan; today they Dan settled in Ireland and Denmark. 

¹⁷ Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse’s heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. — the adder is the cerastes or horned serpent, of the color of the sand, and therefore, not easily recognized, that inflicts a fatal wound on him that unwarily treads on it; features that are conspicuous in Samson, the most illustrious of its judges;

— that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward; the golden calf set up in Dan by Jeroboam; for this sort of serpents lying in horse ways and cart ruts, snaps at and bites horses as the Ten Tribes of Northern Israel passed along Bethel and Dan; causing their riders to fall backward into idolatry;

¹⁸ I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord! — missing out of the 144,000 of Revelation 7, Dan exclaimed “I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord.” Jacob finding his spirits faint and flag, stops and breathes awhile before he proceeded any further in blessing other tribes; —

¹⁹ “Gad, a troop shall overcome him; but he shall overcome at the last. — Gad~Switzerland; Gad, which signifies a troop, foresees the character a warlike tribe;

— being seated on the other side Jordan was exposed to the incursions and spoils of the Moabites and Amonites; who came upon them like troops of robbers, and seized upon their possessions and retained them for some years; 

²⁰ “Out of Asher, his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties. — Asher~Belgium; the territory of this tribe, extending along the coast from Mount Carmel to Lebanon, was very productive;

— replenished not only with bread for necessity, but with fatness, with dainties, royal daintie; not only oil for ointments, but also delicious and excellent fruits, fit to be presented to a king.

²¹ “Naphtali is a hind let loose; he giveth goodly words. — Naphtali~Sweden;  is a deer roaming at liberty; is light and active, moving rapidly like “a hind let loose;” or literally, sent forth, like the scouts or van of an army;

— a hind let loose; an image of ease and grace in movement, associated with promiscuous sex or experimenting with drugs;

²² “Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall. — Joseph~US&UK is a fruitful bough; or as one, like the bough or branch of a tree laden with fruit, as he was with children;

— with Manasseh over running its walls into Canada, Australia and New Zealand; and from Ephraim: the original thirteen tribes, into Louisiana Purchase; Texas, New Mexico, Arizonia, California and westward march onto Hawaii, Guam and even the Philippines, engulfed the entire archipelago before dislodging it;

— one of which he called Ephraim from his fruitfulness, and both his sons became numerous, and the heads of two tribes in Israel; and with other temporal fruits and blessings, as riches and honour;

²³ The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him. — Joseph’s enemies described as archers, the arrows and the bow, in modern days term would be projectiles, artilleries, missiles, and drones; the words of these text are probably to be taken as prophecy; to future conflicts of the tribe of Joseph;

— at the endtime, the archers from his enemies have sorely grieved Joseph (or Ephraim and Manasseh); though he lived with ease and in honour, Jacob prophecised Joseph of the difficulties he had formerly waded through; as he had many enemies, now described as archers, being skilful to do mischief; they hated him, they shot their poisonous darts back at Joseph; remember this context: “Gather, and I will tell you what will befall you at the end of days” Genesis 49:1

²⁴ But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob, from thence is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel, — but Joseph’s bow abode in strength; God, the mighty God of Jacob; the Shepherd and Stone of Israel, came to Joseph’s rescue;

— Joshua, a descendant of Joseph, by Ephraim, may be a foretaste intended. He, as a solid shepherd, brought into the promised land of Canaan that flock of the Lord which Moses had indeed led forth from Egypt, but which he had left in a barren wilderness;

— say it differently, in the last days, the children of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, the US and the UK, will have an enemy, or enemies, who would strike them with projectiles, artilleries, missiles, drones and even high-powered laser; but that Ephraim and Manasseh will strike back, and be triumphant not by their own hands but “by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob;”

²⁵ even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee, and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

— blessings of heaven above are the rains and dew; those of “the deep” beneath are lakes, rivers, and springs; and those of “the breasts and womb” mean an abundant offspring both of men and cattle.

²⁶ The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.

— it means that the blessings which Jacob bestows upon Joseph are greater than those which he had himself received from his ancestors, Abraham and Isaac; but only earthly prosperity, as the chief spiritual blessing was bestowed upon Judah;

— the Targum of Jonathan added: “That the noble ones of the world — Ishmael, Esau, and all the sons of Keturah, have coveted,” symbolizing his greatness and elevated position. Ephraim’s primary emblem was an ox, with his secondary emblem being a unicorn.

²⁷ “Benjamin shall raven as a wolf; in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.” — the tribe, Benjamin~Norway&Iceland; compared to a wolf, but Judah was like a lion; a wolf famed for its fortitude, courage, and valour, as well as for its rapaciousness, it being a warlike tribe;

— both of these modern countries were heavily influenced by Viking exploration, which always involved plundering, pillaging and “dividing the spoil.”

²⁸ All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is it that their father spoke unto them and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.

— there were indeed thirteen tribes, two springing from Joseph; but then the tribe of Levi had no part in the land of Canaan, which was divided into twelve parts; this shows that the above predictions respect not the persons of the patriarchs, but their tribes;

— why, then, does the verse state: each man in accordance with his blessing he blessed them? It is because he blessed them [by comparing] Judah to a lion, Dan to a serpent, Naphtali to a doe, Benjamin to a wolf, and he then included them all and rendered them lions and rendered them serpents.

²⁹ And he charged them and said unto them, “I am to be gathered unto my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, — bury me with my fathers; the other part of himself, his body, which should not be gathered to his people, as his soul would be, he orders to be interred with his fathers Abraham and Isaac;

³⁰ in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession as a burying place.

³¹ There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah. — there they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; Abraham buried Sarah there himself, and his two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, buried him there;

— there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; we have no other account of the death of Rebekah, and her burial, but here; it is probable she died before Isaac, and that Isaac buried her in this cave; and here Esau and Jacob buried him;

— and there I buried Leah; of whose death and burial we also read nowhere else but here; it is probable she died before Isaac, and that Isaac buried her in this cave; and here Esau and Jacob buried him.

— but for Rachel, she died when she and Jacob journey from Shechem to Hebron, a short distance from Ephrath, which is glossed as Bethlehem (35:16–21, 48:7). She dies on the way giving birth to Benjamin:

“And Rachel died, and was buried on the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.” — Genesis 35:19–20

³² The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth.” — the estate was initially bought by Abraham of Ephron the Hittite, and that the children of Heth were witnesses of the bargain; and of the payment of the money, and by whom the estate was made sure to Abraham;

³³ And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people. — Jacob died an easy death, without any pain or sickness; of his age one hundred and forty seven.

— and more details from Ezekiel 48

—— (North) Reuben~France; Judah&Levi~Israel;
—— (East) Joseph~US&UK; Benjamin~Norway&Iceland; Dan~Ireland&Denmark;
—— (South) Simeon~scattered throughout; Issachar~Finland; Zebulun~Holland;
—— (West) Gad~Switzerland; Asher~Belgium; Naphtali~Sweden

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The identities of the various tribes above are largely drawn from the researches done by Steven Collins and from Yair Davidiy below; although there is a slight variant between them. Both, however, are erroneous in their identities of Ephraim and Manasseh.

The Tribes of Joseph dominate the USA, Britain, and related nations. Manasseh is especially evident in the USA, and was once present in Scotland. The Tribe of Reuben prevails in France;

Issachar in Switzerland and Finland; Benjamin in Belgium; Zebulon in the Netherlands; Dan in Denmark, as well as in Ireland, and parts of Britain; Naphtali in Norway, Gad in Sweden. The Tribe of Asher may be seen in Ireland; Ephraim, Manasseh and Judah in Ulster.

The Jewish People on the other hand derives mainly from the Tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi with minority element from the others.

For understanding who the modern tribes of Judah and Joseph are, the best book to have expounded this subject is “Judah’s Sceptre and Joseph’s Birthright” by J.H. Allen (1847-1930).

For more details on Ephraim and Manasseh, see

(1) Ephraim / The United States; (2) The Birthrights was Joseph’s (3) Ephraim and Manasseh 

(4) Who is Ephraim, a Chronic Liar? (5) The Ox without the Unicorn

Genesis 50

¹ And Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him. — probably the rest of Jacob’s sons and grandsons did the same, much moved, no doubt, with his dying words.

² And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father; and the physicians embalmed Israel. — and the physicians embalmed him; the manner of embalming, with spices, and ointments, and other things necessary for the preservation of the body from putrefaction as long as might be;

³ And forty days were fulfilled for him (for so are fulfilled the days of those who are embalmed), and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days. — the process of embalming as occupying forty days and mouning continued until seventy days;

⁴ And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, — that Joseph did not address himself directly to Pharaoh, but through the members of the royal household;

⁵ ‘My father made me swear, saying, “Lo, I die; in my grave which I have dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me.” Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again.’”

⁶ And Pharaoh said, “Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear.”

⁷ And Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house and all the elders of the land of Egypt,

⁸ and all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, and their flocks and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.

⁹ And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen; and it was a very great company.

¹⁰ And they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation; and he made a mourning for his father seven days.

¹¹ And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning of the Egyptians.” Therefore the name of it was called Abelmizraim [that is, The mourning of the Egyptians], which is beyond the Jordan.

¹² And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them.

¹³ For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession as a burying place from Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.

¹⁴ And Joseph returned into Egypt, he and his brethren and all who went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.

¹⁵ And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, “Joseph will perhaps hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.”

¹⁶ And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, “Thy father did command before he died, saying,

¹⁷ ‘So shall ye say unto Joseph, “Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren and their sin, for they did unto thee evil.”’ And now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke unto him.

¹⁸ And his brethren also went and fell down before his face, and they said, “Behold, we are thy servants.”

¹⁹ And Joseph said unto them, “Fear not; for am I in the place of God?

²⁰ But as for you, ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good to bring to pass as it is this day, to save many people alive.

²¹ Now therefore fear ye not; I will nourish you and your little ones.” And he comforted them, and spoke kindly unto them.

²² And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father’s house; and Joseph lived a hundred and ten years.

²³ And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph’s knees.

²⁴ And Joseph said unto his brethren, “I die; and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”

²⁵ And Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.”

²⁶ So Joseph died, being a hundred and ten years old. And they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

~ THE END ~

Posted in Books of Moses

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Genesis 47

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, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.”

— behold, they are in the land of Goshen; though Joseph had all along wished this to be the dwelling-place of his brethren, yet it was necessary to obtain Pharaoh’s permission; and at present Joseph only mentions that they had halted there.

² And he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh. — the Targum of Jonathan identifies the five men as “Zebulon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher”

³ And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, “What is your occupation?” And they said unto Pharaoh, “Thy servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.”

⁴ They said moreover unto Pharaoh, “To sojourn in the land have we come, for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”

⁵ And Pharaoh spoke unto Joseph, saying, “Thy father and thy brethren have come unto thee.

⁶ The land of Egypt is 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 any industrious men among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.”

— and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle; Pharaoh offered to employ them as shepherds, provided they were active men; also, of body or mind, fit for royal employment of flocks and herds;

⁷ And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. — Jacob blessed Pharaoh; the patriarch’s grateful return for Pharaoh’s great kindness and generosity toward him and his house, which is repeated, Genesis 47:10, as being a circumstance very remarkable.

⁸ And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, “How old art thou?” — how many are the days of the years of thy life? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, the days of the years of my pilgrimage (literally, of my sojournings, wanderings to and fro without any settled condition) are an hundred and thirty years;

⁹ And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are 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.”

— Jacob’s life till now is fell short of that of his ancestors in respect of duration (witness the 175 years of Abraham, and the 180 of Isaac)

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. — the land of Rameses; “best of the land” this description of the land of Goshen appears only here;

¹² And Joseph nourished his father and his brethren and all his father’s household with bread, according to 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.

¹³ And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.

— there was no bread in all the land; this probably refers to the second year of the famine when any little stores of individuals or families were exhausted and when the people had become universally dependent on the government;

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.

— and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house: into his repository, as the Targum of Jonathan, into his treasury, not into his own house or coffers, in which he acted the faithful servant of Pharaoh;

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.” — all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, give us bread; freely, for nothing, since they had no money to buy any with:

¹⁶ And Joseph said, “Give your cattle; and I will give to you for your cattle, if money fail.” — and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail; that is, corn or wheat for cattle, if they had no money to give.

¹⁷ And they brought their cattle unto Joseph; and Joseph gave them bread in exchange 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 unto him the second year, and said unto him, “We will not hide it from my lord that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle. There is not anything left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands.

— the seventh year is now come; their silver and cattle are now gone. Nothing remains but their lands, and with these themselves as serfs orr slaves of the Pharaoh.

¹⁹ Why 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 us seed, that we may live and not die, that the land be not desolate.” — all the desperate Egyptians cried before their Pharaoh, willing to serve as his slaves;

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. — and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh; both should be his; they would hold their land of him, and be tenants to him;

²¹ And as for the people, he removed them to cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof. — in the cities, the people would be sure of nourishment only if they were in the immediate neighbourhood of the food.

²² Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them by Pharaoh, and ate their portion which Pharaoh gave them. Therefore they sold not their lands. — it was then the custom in Egypt for the priests to have a daily allowance of cooked food.

²³ Then Joseph said unto the people, “Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh. Lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land.

²⁴ And it shall come to pass in the harvest, that ye shall give a fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own for seed of the field and for your food, and for those of your households and for food for your little ones.” — the fifth part unto Pharaoh; a fifth part or 20% of their production;

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.” — we will be Pharaoh’s servants; signifying, that they esteemed it a great favour to be so on the foot of the bargain made with them;

²⁶ And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have a fifth part, 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. — in the country of Goshen or in the land of Rameses, hence this land is the same;

²⁸ And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the whole age of Jacob was a hundred forty and seven years. — Jacob’s life now is 147, still short of that of his ancestors: 175 years of Abraham, and the 180 of Isaac;

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.

— Joseph retained his power and place near Pharaoh after the fourteen years of special service were completed; hence, Jacob looks to him for the accomplishment of his wishes concerning the place of his burial;

— “Put thy hand under my thigh” Genesis 24:2; that is,  swear to me; this binds Joseph by a solemn asseveration to carry his mortal remains to the land of promise. 

³⁰ But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place.” And he said, “I will do as thou hast said.”

— bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt; not choosing to lie among idolaters at death, with whom he cared not to have any fellowship in life.

³¹ And he said, “Swear unto me.” And he swore unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head. — and Jacob asked from Joseph; “Swear unto me”

— the right of primogeniture, the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child, has been forfeited by Reuben; the double portion in the inheritance is now transferred to Joseph.

Genesis 48

¹ And it came to pass after these things that one told Joseph, “Behold, thy father is sick”; and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. — Joseph’s two sons Manasseh and Ephraim to be fathers of two tribes in Israel, Genesis 48:5,6

— Rashi Gen 48:1 that Ephraim was accustomed to study with Jacob, and when Jacob became ill in the land of Goshen, Ephraim went to his father to Egypt to tell him.

² And one told Jacob and said, “Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee”; and Israel strengthened himself and sat upon the bed. — and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon his bed; his spirits revived, his strength renewed, he got fresh vigour on hearing his son Joseph was coming;

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

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 I will make of thee a multitude of people; a large nation, consisting of many tribes, even a company of nations, as the twelve tribes of Israel were;

⁵ And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who 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. — thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh; it was the intention of the aged patriarch to adopt Joseph’s sons as his own;

⁶ And thy issue whom thou begettest after them shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance. — but should be called either the children of Ephraim, or the children of Manasseh;

⁷ And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath” (the same is Bethlehem).

— Rachel died by me; this circumstance he here mentions, partly because the sight of Joseph and his children brought his beloved Rachel, Joseph’s mother, to his remembrance; and partly that he might assign a reason for transferring the right of the firstborn to Joseph;

⁸ And Israel beheld Joseph’s sons, and said, “Who are these?” — and said, who are these? whose sons are they? the Targum of Jonathan says, “from whom were these born to thee?”

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.” — that I may bless them, not with a common, but with a paternal, and patriarchal, and prophetical blessing.

¹⁰ (Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see.) And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them and embraced them. — and he brought them near unto him; that he might have a better sight of them and bless them: and he kissed them, and embraced them: as a token of his affection for them.

¹¹ And Israel said unto Joseph, “I had not thought to see thy face; and lo, God hath shown me also thy seed.” — God hath showed me also thy seed; it was an additional favour to see his offspring;

¹² And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. — he bowed himself, testifying thereby his reverence to his father, he had now showed his humble and earnest request for his blessing upon them.

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 walked, the God who fed me all my life long unto this day,

¹⁶ the Angel who 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 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.”

— Jacob’s preference for Ephraim wasn’t out of the blue. Ephraim had Jacob’s right-hand blessing because Ephraim was accustomed to studying the Torah under Jacob (Rashi Genesis 48:1), while Manasseh, the firstborn was picked up by Joseph to be his assistant in governing Egypt; hence less time to learn from Jacob.

— from a critical verse in Deuteronomy 33:17

His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns. With them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth; and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.” Deuteronomy 33:17

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 multitude 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.”

— Ephraim before Manasseh! Who symbolises the Bullock and who is the Unicorn?

If Great Britain were truly Ephraim, then why does their Royal Standard bear the clear representation of the Unicorn – the symbol or sign of the tribe of Manasseh? The Unicorn of Great Britain identifies the British as primarily of the tribe of Manasseh. And if the unicorn is the symbol of Manasseh and the United States is “Manasseh” – why doesn’t the United States have this symbol in their national emblems and symbols?

The beginning of the story of America is the saga of the search for freedom to worship God without having to conform to the authority of a religious tyranny emanating from Europe. Today, as a whole, America remains a religious nation.

Among advanced industrialized countries, the United States is easily the most religious. Some 60 percent of its citizens say religion is very important to their lives, about six times the percentage of the French. But the divine looms even larger in most Americans’ hearts than those figures suggest. Some 90 percent say they believe in God – 94 percent if you add those who revere a ‘universal spirit’ – while less than 1 percent call themselves atheists or agnostics.

The United States was originally founded largely by Puritans, called Pilgrims, a break-away group of devout Christians who were known as Separatists, because they separated from the Church of England to follow the precepts of the Bible. Because of intense persecution, they sailed for the New World to establish a country where they could worship God in peace.

More on (1) Ephraim / The United States; (2) The Birthrights was Joseph’s

(3) Ephraim and Manasseh (4) Who is Ephraim, a Chronic Liar? (5) The Ox without the Unicorn

Posted in Books of Moses

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Genesis 45

¹ Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him; and he cried, “Cause every man to go out from me!” And there stood no man with him while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.

² And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.

³ And Joseph said unto his brethren, “I am Joseph. Doth my father yet live?” And his brethren could not answer him, for they were troubled at his presence.

⁴ And Joseph said unto his brethren, “Come near to me, I pray you.” And they came near; and he said, “I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.

⁵ Now therefore be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that ye sold me hither, for God sent me before you to preserve life.

⁶ For these two years hath the famine been in the land, and yet there are five years in which there shall neither be planting nor harvest.

⁷ And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

⁸ So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God; and He hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

— God hath made me a father to Pharaoh; that is, the Pharaoh’s principal counsellor of state, to guide his affairs with a fatherly care, and to have the authority, respect, and power of a father with him;

⁹ Hasten ye, and go up to my father and say unto him, ‘Thus saith thy son Joseph: God hath made me lord of all Egypt. Come down unto me, tarry not;

¹⁰ and thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me — thou, and thy children, and thy children’s children, and thy flocks and thy herds and all that thou hast.

— the land of Goshen; this land, also called “the land of Rameses” (Genesis 47:11), probably from the city “Raamses,” which the Israelites were compelled to build there (Exodus 1:11)

— was situated on the eastern bank of the Nile, hence when the Israelites were fleeing Egypt during the Exodus they were not known to have crossed the Nile;

¹¹ And there will I nourish thee (for yet there are five years of famine), lest thou and thy household and all that thou hast come to poverty.’ — thy household; as the famine had lasted only two years, and as Jacob had preserved his flocks and herds, so probably he had lost few or none of the large number of men-servants and women-servants who belonged to him.

¹² And behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you.

¹³ And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall make haste and bring down my father hither.”

¹⁴ And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck.

¹⁵ Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them; and after that his brethren talked with him.

¹⁶ And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, “Joseph’s brethren have come”; and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants.

¹⁷ And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, “Say unto thy brethren, ‘This do ye: Load your beasts and go, get you unto the land of Canaan.

¹⁸ And take your father and your households, and come unto me; and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.’

¹⁹ Now thou art commanded, this do ye: ‘Take with you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.

²⁰ Also, regard not your possessions, for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”

²¹ And the children of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.

²² To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.

²³ And to his father he sent in this manner: ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten sheasses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father on the way.

²⁴ So he sent his brethren away, and they departed; and he said unto them, “See that ye fall not out on the way.”

²⁵ And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father,

²⁶ and told him, saying, “Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt.” And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not.

²⁷ And they told him all the words of Joseph which he had said unto them; and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived.

²⁸ And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive! I will go and see him before I die.”

Genesis 46

¹ And Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.

² And God spoke unto Israel in the visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here am I.”

³ And He said, “I am God, the God of thy father. Fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will there make of thee a great nation.

⁴ I will go down with thee into Egypt, and I will also surely bring thee up again; and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.”

⁵ And Jacob rose up from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.

⁶ And they took their cattle and their goods which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:

⁷ his sons and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters and his sons’ daughters; and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.

⁸ And these are the names of the children of Israel who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.

⁹ And the sons of Reuben: Hanoch and Pallu, and Hezron and Carmi.

¹⁰ And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jachin and Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman.

¹¹ And the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

¹² And the sons of Judah: Er and Onan, and Shelah and Perez and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.

¹³ And the sons of Issachar: Tola, and Puvah and Job, and Shimron.

¹⁴ And the sons of Zebulun: Sered and Elon and Jahleel.

¹⁵ These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore unto Jacob in Padanaram, with his daughter Dinah. All the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three. — Leah’s daughter Dinah also came to Egypt; no sign she was married after her misfortune in Shechem;

— all the souls; were thirty and three; that is, six sons, twenty-three grandsons, two great grandsons, Dinah, and Jacob himself; the other daughters and granddaughters are omitted.

¹⁶ And the sons of Gad: Ziphion and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.

¹⁷ And the sons of Asher: Jimnah and Ishuah, and Isui and Beriah, and Serah their sister. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.

¹⁸ These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bore unto Jacob, even sixteen souls.

¹⁹ The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin.

²⁰ And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On, bore unto him.

²¹ And the sons of Benjamin were Belah and Becher and Ashbel, Gera and Naaman, Ehi and Rosh, Muppim and Huppim and Ard. — the LXX gives Benjamin three sons, Bela, Chobor, and Ashbel; six grandsons, sons of Bela, viz. Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim; and one great-grandson, Ard, the son of Gera.

And the sons of Benjamin; Bala, and Bochor, and Asbel. And the sons of Bala were Gera, and Noeman, and Anchis, and Ros, and Mamphim. And Gera begot Arad. Genesis 46:21 Septuagint

²² These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob; all the souls were fourteen.

²³ And the son of Dan: Hushim.

²⁴ And the sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel and Guni, and Jezer and Shillem.

²⁵ These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter, and she bore these unto Jacob; all the souls were seven.

²⁶ All the souls who came with Jacob into Egypt, who came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were threescore and six.

²⁷ And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two souls; all the souls of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.

²⁸ And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph to direct his face unto Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen.

²⁹ And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.

³⁰ And Israel said unto Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.”

³¹ And Joseph said unto his brethren and unto his father’s house, “I will go up and show Pharaoh, and say unto him, ‘My brethren and my father’s house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come unto me.

³² And the men are shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks and their herds, and all that they have.’

³³ And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you and shall say, ‘What is your occupation?’

³⁴ that ye shall say, ‘Thy servants’ trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we and also our fathers,’ that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.”

Posted in Books of Moses

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Genesis 43

¹ And the famine was sore in the land.

² And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, “Go again, buy us a little food.”

³ And Judah spoke unto him, saying, “The man did solemnly declare unto us, saying, ‘Ye shall not see my face, unless your brother be with you.’

⁴ If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food.

⁵ But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down, for the man said unto us, ‘Ye shall not see my face, unless your brother be with you.’”

⁶ And Israel said, “Why dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?”

⁷ And they said, “The man asked us strictly about our state, and about our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father yet alive? Have ye another brother?’ And we told him according to the tenor of these words. Could we certainly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”

⁸ And Judah said unto Israel his father, “Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and thou, and also our little ones.

⁹ I will be surety for him; from my hand shalt thou require him. If I bring him not unto thee and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever;

¹⁰ for had we not lingered, surely now we would have returned this second time.”

¹¹ And their father Israel said unto them, “If it must be so now, do this: Take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds.

¹² And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand. Perhaps it was an oversight.

¹³ Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man;

¹⁴ and God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved!”

¹⁵ And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and they rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

¹⁶ And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, “Bring these men home, and slay a beast and make ready; for these men shall dine with me at noon.”

¹⁷ And the man did as Joseph bade, and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house.

¹⁸ And the men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph’s house; and they said, “Because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time are we brought in, that he may seek occasion against us and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and also our asses.”

¹⁹ And they came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they communed with him at the door of the house

²⁰ and said, “O sir, we came indeed down the first time to buy food.

²¹ And it came to pass, when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and behold, every man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight; and we have brought it again in our hand.

²² And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food. We cannot tell who put our money in our sacks.”

²³ And he said, “Peace be to you, fear not; your God and the God of your father hath given you treasure in your sacks. I had your money.” And he brought Simeon out unto them.

²⁴ And the man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and gave them water and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender.

²⁵ And they made ready the present for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there.

²⁶ And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves before him to the earth.

²⁷ And he asked them of their welfare and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spoke? Is he yet alive?”

²⁸ And they answered, “Thy servant our father is in good health; he is yet alive.” And they bowed down their heads and made obeisance.

²⁹ And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your younger brother of whom ye spoke unto me?” And he said, “God be gracious unto thee, my son.”

³⁰ And Joseph made haste, for his heart yearned for his brother, and he sought somewhere to weep; and he entered into his chamber and wept there. — Joseph making himself known to Benjamin wasn’t in any of the Masoretic Text, but revealed in the Book of Jasper;

³¹ And he washed his face and went out, and restrained himself, and said, “Set on the bread.”

³² And they served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

³³ And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men marveled one at another. — Reuben, the firstborn, first, and so on to Benjamin the youngest;

— the Targum of Jonathan says “the sons of Leah on one side, and the sons of Zilpha on the other side, and the sons of Bilhah on another side, and Benjamin the son of Rachel he ordered by the side of himself.”

³⁴ And he took and sent portions unto them from before him, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry with him. — “Benjamin’s portion was five times” wan’t explained in this text but is in both the Targum and Jasper, as more details revealed below;

The Book of Jasper Chapter 53

¹ And the sons of Jacob rose up and took Benjamin and the whole of the presents, and they went and came to Egypt and they stood before Joseph.

² And Joseph beheld his brother Benjamin with them and he saluted them, and these men came to Joseph’s house.

³ And Joseph commanded the superintendent of his house to give to his brethren to eat, and he did so unto them.

⁴ And at noon time Joseph sent for the men to come before him with Benjamin, and the men told the superintendent of Joseph’s house concerning the silver that was returned in their sacks, and he said unto them, It will be well with you, fear not, and he brought their brother Simeon unto them.

⁵ And Simeon said unto his brethren, The lord of the Egyptians has acted very kindly unto me, he did not keep me bound, as you saw with your eyes, for when you went out from the city he let me free and dealt kindly with me in his house.

⁶ And Judah took Benjamin by the hand, and they came before Joseph, and they bowed down to him to the ground.

⁷ And the men gave the present unto Joseph and they all sat before him, and Joseph said unto them, Is it well with you, is it well with your children, is it well with your aged father? and they said, It is well, and Judah took the record which Jacob had sent and gave it into the hand of Joseph.

⁸ And Joseph read the letter and knew his father’s writing, and he wished to weep and he went into an inner room and he wept a great weeping; and he went out.

⁹ And he lifted up his eyes and beheld his brother Benjamin, and he said, Is this your brother of whom you spoke unto me? And Benjamin approached Joseph, and Joseph placed his hand upon his head and he said unto him, May God be gracious unto thee my son.

¹⁰ And when Joseph saw his brother, the son of his mother, he again wished to weep, and he entered the chamber, and he wept there, and he washed his face, and went out and refrained from weeping, and he said, Prepare food.

¹¹ And Joseph had a cup from which he drank, and it was of silver beautifully inlaid with onyx stones and bdellium, and Joseph struck the cup in the sight of his brethren whilst they were sitting to eat with him.

¹² And Joseph said unto the men, I know by this cup that Reuben the first born, Simeon and Levi and Judah, Issachar and Zebulun are children from one mother, seat yourselves to eat according to your births.

¹³ And he also placed the others according to their births, and he said, I know that this your youngest brother has no brother, and I, like him, have no brother, he shall therefore sit down to eat with me.

¹⁴ And Benjamin went up before Joseph and sat upon the throne, and the men beheld the acts of Joseph, and they were astonished at them; and the men ate and drank at that time with Joseph, and he then gave presents unto them, and Joseph gave one gift unto Benjamin, and Manasseh and Ephraim saw the acts of their father, and they also gave presents unto him, and Osnath [wife of Joseph and the mother of his sons] gave him one present, and they were five presents in the hand of Benjamin.

¹⁵ And Joseph brought them out wine to drink, and they would not drink, and they said, From the day on which Joseph was lost we have not drunk wine, nor eaten any delicacies.

¹⁶ And Joseph swore unto them, and he pressed them hard, and they drank plentifully with him on that day, and Joseph afterward turned to his brother Benjamin to speak with him, and Benjamin was still sitting upon the throne before Joseph.

¹⁷ And Joseph said unto him, Hast thou begotten any children? and he said, Thy servant has ten sons, and these are their names, Bela, Becher, Ashbal, Gera, Naaman, Achi, Rosh, Mupim, Chupim, and Ord, and I called their names after my brother whom I have not seen.

¹⁸ And he ordered them to bring before him his map of the stars, whereby Joseph knew all the times, and Joseph said unto Benjamin, I have heard that the Hebrews are acquainted with all wisdom, dost thou know anything of this?

¹⁹ And Benjamin said, Thy servant is knowing also in all the wisdom which my father taught me, and Joseph said unto Benjamin, Look now at this instrument and understand where thy brother Joseph is in Egypt, who you said went down to Egypt.

²⁰ And Benjamin beheld that instrument with the map of the stars of heaven, and he was wise and looked therein to know where his brother was, and Benjamin divided the whole land of Egypt into four divisions, and he found that he who was sitting upon the throne before him was his brother Joseph, and Benjamin wondered greatly, and when Joseph saw that his brother Benjamin was so much astonished, he said unto Benjamin, What hast thou seen, and why art thou astonished?

²¹ And Benjamin said unto Joseph, I can see by this that Joseph my brother sitteth here with me upon the throne, and Joseph said unto him, I am Joseph thy brother, reveal not this thing unto thy brethren; behold I will send thee with them when they go away, and I will command them to be brought back again into the city, and I will take thee away from them.

²² And if they dare their lives and fight for thee, then shall I know that they have repented of what they did unto me, and I will make myself known to them, and if they forsake thee when I take thee, then shalt thou remain with me, and I will wrangle with them, and they shall go away, and I will not become known to them.

²³ At that time Joseph commanded his officer to fill their sacks with food, and to put each man’s money into his sack, and to put the cup in the sack of Benjamin, and to give them provision for the road, and they did so unto them.

²⁴ And on the next day the men rose up early in the morning, and they loaded their asses with their corn, and they went forth with Benjamin, and they went to the land of Canaan with their brother Benjamin.

²⁵ They had not gone far from Egypt when Joseph commanded him that was set over his house, saying, Rise, pursue these men before they get too far from Egypt, and say unto them, Why have you stolen my master’s cup?

²⁶ And Joseph’s officer rose up and he reached them, and he spoke unto them all the words of Joseph; and when they heard this thing they became exceedingly wroth, and they said, He with whom thy master’s cup shall be found shall die, and we will also become slaves.

²⁷ And they hastened and each man brought down his sack from his ass, and they looked in their bags and the cup was found in Benjamin’s bag, and they all tore their garments and they returned to the city, and they smote Benjamin in the road, continually smiting him until he came into the city, and they stood before Joseph.

²⁸ And Judah’s anger was kindled, and he said, This man has only brought me back to destroy Egypt this day.

²⁹ And the men came to Joseph’s house, and they found Joseph sitting upon his throne, and all the mighty men standing at his right and left.

³⁰ And Joseph said unto them, What is this act that you have done, that you took away my silver cup and went away? but I know that you took my cup in order to know thereby in what part of the land your brother was.

³¹ And Judah said, What shall we say to our lord, what shall we speak and how shall we justify ourselves, God has this day found the iniquity of all thy servants, therefore has he done this thing to us this day.

³² And Joseph rose up and caught hold of Benjamin and took him from his brethren with violence, and he came to the house and locked the door at them, and Joseph commanded him that was set over his house that he should say unto them, Thus saith the king, Go in peace to your father, behold I have taken the man in whose hand my cup was found.

Genesis 44

¹ And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in the mouth of his sack.

² And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, and his corn money.” And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.

³ As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.

⁴ And when they had gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, “Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, ‘Why have ye rewarded evil for good?

⁵ Is not this that from which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? Ye have done evil in so doing.’”

⁶ And he overtook them, and he spoke unto them these same words.

⁷ And they said unto him, “Why saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing!

⁸ Behold, the money which we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan. How then would we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold?

⁹ With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondmen.”

¹⁰ And he said, “Now also let it be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my servant, and ye shall be blameless.”

¹¹ Then every man speedily took down his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack.

¹² And he searched, and began with the eldest and ended with the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.

¹³ Then they rent their clothes; and every man loaded his ass, and returned to the city.

¹⁴ And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house (for he was yet there), and they fell before him on the ground.

¹⁵ And Joseph said unto them, “What deed is this that ye have done? Know ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine?”

¹⁶ And Judah said, “What shall we say unto my lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants; behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we and he also with whom the cup was found.”

¹⁷ And he said, “God forbid that I should do so; but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, go up in peace unto your father.”

¹⁸ Then Judah came near unto him and said, “Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant; for thou art even as Pharaoh.

¹⁹ My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have ye a father or a brother?’

²⁰ And we said unto my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him.’

²¹ And thou saidst unto thy servants, ‘Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him.’

²² And we said unto my lord, ‘The lad cannot leave his father; for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’

²³ And thou saidst unto thy servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more.’

²⁴ And it came to pass, when we came up unto thy servant, my father, we told him the words of my lord.

²⁵ And our father said, ‘Go again, and buy us a little food.’

²⁶ And we said, ‘We cannot go down. If our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down, for we may not see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’

²⁷ And thy servant, my father, said unto us, ‘Ye know that my wife bore me two sons;

²⁸ and the one went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn in pieces”; and I saw him not since.

²⁹ And if ye take this also from me, and harm befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.’

³⁰ Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father and the lad be not with us, seeing that his life is bound up in the lad’s life,

³¹ it shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die; and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave.

³² For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, ‘If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever.’

³³ Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant remain instead of the lad as a bondman to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brethren.

³⁴ For how shall I go up to my father and the lad be not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that shall come upon my father?”

Posted in Books of Moses

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Genesis 41

¹ And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed; and behold, he stood by the river. — Pharaoh dreamed; after two years spent in the prison, the time has now come for Joseph’s elevation to influence and power;

² And behold, there came up out of the river seven wellfavored cows, and fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow.

³ And behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, illfavored and leanfleshed, and stood by the other cows upon the brink of the river.

⁴ And the illfavored and leanfleshed cows ate up the seven wellfavored and fat cows. So Pharaoh awoke.

⁵ And he slept and dreamed the second time; and behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good.

⁶ And behold, seven thin ears, blasted with the east wind sprang up after them.

⁷ And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.

⁸ And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof. And Pharaoh told them his dream, but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.

⁹ Then spoke the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, “I do remember my faults this day.

¹⁰ Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me under guard in the captain of the guard’s house, both me and the chief baker.

¹¹ And we dreamed a dream one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream.

¹² And there was there with us a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams. To each man according to his dream he did interpret.

¹³ And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was: me he restored unto mine office, and him he hanged.”

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon; and he shaved himself and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.

¹⁵ And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, “I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it; and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it.”

¹⁶ And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”

¹⁷ And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, “In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river.

¹⁸ And behold, there came up out of the river seven cows, fatfleshed and wellfavored, and they fed in a meadow.

¹⁹ And behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very illfavored and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness.

²⁰ And the lean and the illfavored cows ate up the first seven fat cows;

²¹ and when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them, but they were still illfavored, as at the beginning. So I awoke.

²² And I saw in my dream, and behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good;

²³ and behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind sprang up after them.

²⁴ And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears. And I told this unto the magicians, but there was none that could declare it to me.”

²⁵ And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one. God hath shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.

²⁶ The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years: the dreams are one.

²⁷ And the seven thin and illfavored cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine.

²⁸ This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: what God is about to do He showeth unto Pharaoh. — what God is about to do, he sheweth unto Pharaoh: the events of fourteen years with respect to plenty and famine.

²⁹ Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt. — behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt; not only a sufficiency but an abundance, even to luxury;

³⁰ And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine shall consume the land.

— and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; the seven years of plenty being all spent, it should be as if it never was; the minds of men would be so intent upon their present distressed case and circumstances, that they should wholly forget how it had been with them in time past;

³¹ And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following, for it shall be very grievous. — the former plenty was in some measure known by the stores of provisions laid up in the seven years, and which were brought forth when the famine became very pressing;

— but by that time, and before the seven years of it were ended, there were no traces of the foregoing plenty to be observed; for it shall be very grievous; as it was both in Egypt and in all the countries round about.

³² And for that the dream was repeated unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. — the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; or was repeated to him under different figures and images:

— it is because the thing is established by God; by a firm decree of his, and is sure, and will most certainly be accomplished; and to assure him of it was the repetition of the dream made.

³³ Now therefore let Pharaoh seek out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. — now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, one of good judgment and of abilities equal to the execution of a scheme hereafter proposed.

³⁴ Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up a fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.

— take up the fifth part of the land, that is, exact a fifth part of the produce that it had been usual in Egypt to pay to the king a tithe of the crop, and the doubling of the tributes would not press very heavily on the people in these years of extraordinary abundance.

³⁵ And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. — Joseph now proceeds to interpret the dream, and offer counsel suitable to the emergency. “What the God is about to do.”

³⁶ And that food shall be for store for the land against the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land perish not through the famine.” — against the seven years of famine: and so be a supply to the inhabitants of the land, when they should be sore pressed with a famine, and know not what to do, nor where to go for food;

³⁷ And the counsel was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants. — Pharaoh readily approved of the advice Joseph gave, and of the scheme and plan which he proposed;

³⁸ And Pharaoh said unto his servants, “Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?” — Joseph’s sudden promotion by Pharaoh who made him his second in command.

³⁹ And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, “Inasmuch as God hath shown thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art. — Pharaoh acknowledges the gift that is in Joseph to be from God.

⁴⁰ Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled. Only in the throne will I be greater than thou.”

⁴¹ And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, “See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.”

⁴² And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. — his ring, his signet ring;

— as decrees became law when stamped with the royal signet, it was naturally the symbol of authority; and put it on Joseph’s hand, who is thus invested with power.

⁴³ And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, “Bow the knee!” And he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. — in the second chariot; the object of this procession was to display Joseph to the people as their new governor;

— the Pharaoh, probably, took the chief part in this parade, riding in the first chariot of state; bow the knee: they commanded all that passed by him, or came to him, to show their reverent respect to him in this manner.

⁴⁴ And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” — I am Pharaoh, that is, only I am the king, I reserve to myself the sovereign power over thee, and over all.

⁴⁵ And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him for a wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt. — gave him to wife Asenath, the daughter of Poti-pherah, from a family of high distinction.

⁴⁶ And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. — Joseph was thirty years old; so that his life had been a life of suffering and imprisonment for about thirteen years.

⁴⁷ And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls. — such as the gatherers take up in their hands when reaped, in order to bind up in sheaves:

— now such was the fruitfulness of the land during the seven years of plenty, that either one stalk produced as many ears as a man could hold in his hand;

⁴⁸ And he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities; the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same. — and laid up the food in the cities; in places built for that purpose, and whither the people round about could easily bring it, and fetch it, when it was wanted.

⁴⁹ And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea — very much, until he left off numbering; for it was without number.

⁵⁰ And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, whom Asenath the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On, bore unto him. — Ephraim signifies fruitfulness, and Manasseh, forgetfulness.

⁵¹ And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh [that is, Forgetting], “For God,” said he, “hath made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house.”

⁵² And the name of the second called he Ephraim [that is, Fruitful], “For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

⁵³ And the seven years of plenteousness, which were in the land of Egypt, were ended.

⁵⁴ And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said; and the dearth was in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.

— but in all the land of Egypt there was bread; which was in the hands of everyone, and remained of their old stores in the years of plenty not yet exhausted, and which continued for some time after the dearth began.

⁵⁵ And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, “Go unto Joseph. What he saith to you, do.” — and Pharaoh said to the Egyptians, go unto Joseph; whom he had appointed over this business of providing and laying up corn against this time, and of distributing it.

⁵⁶ And the famine was over all the face of the earth; and Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold unto the Egyptians. And the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt. — and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt; there being no overflow of the Nile year after year, and nothing left of the old stock but what was in the storehouses.

⁵⁷ And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy corn, because the famine was so sore in all lands. and all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; all the neighbouring nations (Syria, Arabia, Palestine, Canaan, Lebanon), when they heard there was corn there for money, came from all parts for Egypt and were glad to get it at such expense and trouble.

Genesis 42

¹ Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, “Why do ye look one upon another?” — why look ye one upon another? as careless and helpless persons, each one expecting relief from the other; but none offering either counsel or help for the subsistence of all;

² And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt. Go down thither and buy for us from thence, that we may live and not die.” — “Behold, I have heard there is grain in Egypt; or Mizraim, which is its old name; a posterity of Ham;

³ And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt. — Joseph’s ten brethren obeyed their father’s orders, and immediately set out for Egypt;

⁴ But Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren, for he said, “Lest perhaps mischief befall him.” — for Jacob said, lest peradventure mischief befall him; as had to Joseph his brother, as he imagined;

⁵ And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

⁶ And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was who sold to all the people of the land; and Joseph’s brethren came and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.

— Joseph’s brethren came and bowed down themselves before him; thus Joseph’s first dream was already fulfilled; their sheaves bowed to his sheaf. Joseph now was the governor, in the zenith of his power and influence.

⁷ And Joseph saw his brethren, and he recognized them, but made himself as a stranger unto them and spoke roughly unto them; and he said unto them, “From whence come ye?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.” — Joseph spoke roughly unto them; he has been accused of harshness in his treatment of his brethren, partly, to bring their wickedness to remembrance;

⁸ And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. — they would not recognize him, as he used the Egyptian language, was clad in a white linen dress, and being but seventeen when sold, had during the twenty years of separation changed in appearance much more than they had.

⁹ And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed about them, and said unto them, “Ye are spies! To see the nakedness of the land ye have come!” — after accusing “Ye are spies! Joseph should have them given six strokes of the rattan each before he proceeded with the proceeding;

¹⁰ And they said unto him, “Nay, my lord, but to buy food have thy servants come. — but to buy food are thy servants come; that and no other was the errand they came upon.

¹¹ We are all one man’s sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.” — we are all one man’s sons; therefore not likely to be spies;

¹² And he said unto them, “Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye have come.” — to see the nakedness of the land ye are come; this he urged in order to get a further account from them of their family and the state of affairs, which he was surely anxious to know.

¹³ And they said, “Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more.” — they concluded with great probability that he was dead, because for twenty years together they had heard nothing, either of him or from him;

¹⁴ And Joseph said unto them, “That is it that I spoke unto you, saying, ‘Ye are spies!’ — “Ye are spies”” a strong accusion regarding strangers in all Eastern countries down to the present day.

¹⁵ Hereby ye shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, unless your youngest brother come hither. — by the life of Pharaoh; it was common in ancient times to swear by their Pharaohs; as afterwards the Romans used to swear by the name and life of their emperors.

¹⁶ Send one of you and let him fetch your brother; and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be tested, whether there be any truth in you; or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies!” — by the life of Pharaoh, surely ye are spies; intending to put them in prison, but afterwards modified his threat;

¹⁷ And he put them all together into custody three days. — again, Joseph should have given them six strokes of the rattan each before bringing them out from prison;

¹⁸ And Joseph said unto them the third day, “This do, and live, for I fear God: — how Joseph accused them of being spies isn’t explained here; but the Book of Jasher has more details: “why do you come through ten gates of the city? it can only be that you have come to spy through the land!”

Book of Jasher Chapter 51

¹ And Jacob afterward heard that there was corn in Egypt, and he called unto his sons to go to Egypt to buy corn, for upon them also did the famine prevail, and he called unto his sons, saying,

² Behold I hear that there is corn in Egypt, and all the people of the earth go there to purchase, now therefore why will you show yourselves satisfied before the whole earth? go you also down to Egypt and buy us a little corn amongst those that come there, that we may not die.

³ And the sons of Jacob hearkened to the voice of their father, and they rose up to go down to Egypt in order to buy corn amongst the rest that came there.

⁴ And Jacob their father commanded them, saying, When you come into the city do not enter together in one gate, on account of the inhabitants of the land.

⁵ And the sons of Jacob went forth and they went to Egypt, and the sons of Jacob did all as their father had commanded them, and Jacob did not send Benjamin, for he said, Lest an accident might befall him on the road like his brother; and ten of Jacob’s sons went forth.

⁶ And whilst the sons of Jacob were going on the road, they repented of what they had done to Joseph, and they spoke to each other, saying, We know that our brother Joseph went down to Egypt, and now we will seek him where we go, and if we find him we will take him from his master for a ransom, and if not, by force, and we will die for him.

⁷ And the sons of Jacob agreed to this thing and strengthened themselves on account of Joseph, to deliver him from the hand of his master, and the sons of Jacob went to Egypt; and when they came near to Egypt they separated from each other, and they came through ten gates of Egypt, and the gate keepers wrote their names on that day, and brought them to Joseph in the evening.

⁸ And Joseph read the names from the hand of the gate-keepers of the city, and he found that his brethren had entered at the ten gates of the city, and Joseph at that time commanded that it should be proclaimed throughout the land of Egypt, saying,

⁹ Go forth all ye store guards, close all the corn stores and let only one remain open, that those who come may purchase from it.

¹⁰ And all the officers of Joseph did so at that time, and they closed all the stores and left only one open.

¹¹ And Joseph gave the written names of his brethren to him that was set over the open store, and he said unto him, Whosoever shall come to thee to buy corn, ask his name, and when men of these names shall come before thee, seize them and send them, and they did so.

¹² And when the sons of Jacob came into the city, they joined together in the city to seek Joseph before they bought themselves corn.

¹³ And they went to the walls of the harlots, and they sought Joseph in the walls of the harlots for three days, for they thought that Joseph would come in the walls of the harlots, for Joseph was very comely and well favored, and the sons of Jacob sought Joseph for three days, and they could not find him.

¹⁴ And the man who was set over the open store sought for those names which Joseph had given him, and he did not find them.

¹⁵ And he sent to Joseph, saying, These three days have passed, and those men whose names thou didst give unto me have not come; and Joseph sent servants to seek the men in all Egypt, and to bring them before Joseph.

¹⁶ And Joseph’s servants went and came into Egypt and could not find them, and went to Goshen and they were not there, and then went to the city of Rameses and could not find them.

¹⁷ And Joseph continued to send sixteen servants to seek his brothers, and they went and spread themselves in the four corners of the city, and four of the servants went into the house of the harlots, and they found the ten men there seeking their brother.

¹⁸ And those four men took them and brought them before him, and they bowed down to him to the ground, and Joseph was sitting upon his throne in his temple, clothed with princely garments, and upon his head was a large crown of gold, and all the mighty men were sitting around him.

¹⁹ And the sons of Jacob saw Joseph, and his figure and comeliness and dignity of countenance seemed wonderful in their eyes, and they again bowed down to him to the ground.

²⁰ And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but they knew him not, for Joseph was very great in their eyes, therefore they knew him not.

²¹ And Joseph spoke to them, saying, From whence come ye? and they all answered and said, Thy servants have come from the land of Canaan to buy corn, for the famine prevails throughout the earth, and thy servants heard that there was corn in Egypt, so they have come amongst the other comers to buy corn for their support.

²² And Joseph answered them, saying, If you have come to purchase as you say, why do you come through ten gates of the city? it can only be that you have come to spy through the land.

²³ And they all together answered Joseph, and said, Not so my lord, we are right, thy servants are not spies, but we have come to buy corn, for thy servants are all brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and our father commanded us, saying, When you come to the city do not enter together at one gate on account of the inhabitants of the land.

²⁴ And Joseph again answered them and said, That is the thing which I spoke unto you, you have come to spy through the land, therefore you all came through ten gates of the city; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.

²⁵ Surely every one that cometh to buy corn goeth his way, and you are already three days in the land, and what do you do in the walls of harlots in which you have been for these three days? surely spies do like unto these things.

²⁶ And they said unto Joseph, Far be it from our lord to speak thus, for we are twelve brothers, the sons of our father Jacob, in the land of Canaan, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the Hebrew, and behold the youngest is with our father this day in the land of Canaan, and one is not, for he was lost from us, and we thought perhaps he might be in this land, so we are seeking him throughout the land, and have come even to the houses of harlots to seek him there.

²⁷ And Joseph said unto them, And have you then sought him throughout the earth, that there only remained Egypt for you to seek him in? And what also should your brother do in the houses of harlots, although he were in Egypt? have you not said, That you are from the sons of Isaac, the son of Abraham, and what shall the sons of Jacob do then in the houses of harlots?

²⁸ And they said unto him, Because we heard that Ishmaelites stole him from us, and it was told unto us that they sold him in Egypt, and thy servant, our brother, is very comely and well favored, so we thought he would surely be in the houses of harlots, therefore thy servants went there to seek him and give ransom for him.

²⁹ And Joseph still answered them, saying, Surely you speak falsely and utter lies, to say of yourselves that you are the sons of Abraham; as Pharaoh liveth you are spies, therefore have you come to the houses of harlots that you should not be known.

³⁰ And Joseph said unto them, And now if you find him, and his master requireth of you a great price, will you give it for him? and they said, It shall be given.

³¹ And he said unto them, And if his master will not consent to part with him for a great price, what will you do unto him on his account? and they answered him, saying, If he will not give him unto us we will slay him, and take our brother and go away.

³² And Joseph said unto them, That is the thing which I have spoken to you; you are spies, for you are come to slay the inhabitants of the land, for we heard that two of your brethren smote all the inhabitants of Shechem, in the land of Canaan, on account of your sister, and you now come to do the like in Egypt on account of your brother.

³³ Only hereby shall I know that you are true men; if you will send home one from amongst you to fetch your youngest brother from your father, and to bring him here unto me, and by doing this thing I will know that you are right.

³⁴ And Joseph called to seventy of his mighty men, and he said unto them, Take these men and bring them into the ward.

³⁵ And the mighty men took the ten men, they laid hold of them and put them into the ward, and they were in the ward three days.

³⁶ And on the third day Joseph had them brought out of the ward, and he said unto them, Do this for yourselves if you be true men, so that you may live, one of your brethren shall be confined in the ward whilst you go and take home the corn for your household to the land of Canaan, and fetch your youngest brother, and bring him here unto me, that I may know that you are true men when you do this thing.

³⁷ And Joseph went out from them and came into the chamber, and wept a great weeping, for his pity was excited for them, and he washed his face, and returned to them again, and he took Simeon from them and ordered him to be bound, but Simeon was not willing to be done so, for he was a very powerful man and they could not bind him.

³⁸ And Joseph called unto his mighty men and seventy valiant men came before him with drawn swords in their hands, and the sons of Jacob were terrified at them.

³⁹ And Joseph said unto them, Seize this man and confine him in prison until his brethren come to him, and Joseph’s valiant men hastened and they all laid hold of Simeon to bind him, and Simeon gave a loud and terrible shriek and the cry was heard at a distance.

⁴⁰ And all the valiant men of Joseph were terrified at the sound of the shriek, that they fell upon their faces, and they were greatly afraid and fled.

⁴¹ And all the men that were with Joseph fled, for they were greatly afraid of their lives, and only Joseph and Manasseh his son remained there, and Manassah the son of Joseph saw the strength of Simeon, and he was exceedingly wroth.

⁴² And Manassah the son of Joseph rose up to Simeon, and Manassah smote Simeon a heavy blow with his fist against the back of his neck, and Simeon was stilled of his rage.

⁴³ And Manassah laid hold of Simeon and he seized him violently and he bound him and brought him into the house of confinement, and all the sons of Jacob were astonished at the act of the youth.

⁴⁴ And Simeon said unto his brethren, None of you must say that this is the smiting of an Egyptian, but it is the smiting of the house of my father.

⁴⁵ And after this Joseph ordered him to be called who was set over the storehouse, to fill their sacks with corn as much as they could carry, and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them provision for the road, and thus did he unto them.

⁴⁶ And Joseph commanded them, saying, Take heed lest you transgress my orders to bring your brother as I have told you, and it shall be when you bring your brother hither unto me, then will I know that you are true men, and you shall traffic in the land, and I will restore unto you your brother, and you shall return in peace to your father.

⁴⁷ And they all answered and said, According as our lord speaketh so will we do, and they bowed down to him to the ground.

⁴⁸ And every man lifted his corn upon his ass, and they went out to go to the land of Canaan to their father; and they came to the inn and Levi spread his sack to give provender to his ass, when he saw and behold his money in full weight was still in his sack.

⁴⁹ And the man was greatly afraid, and he said unto his brethren, My money is restored, and lo, it is even in my sack, and the men were greatly afraid, and they said, What is this that God hath done unto us?

⁵⁰ And they all said, And where is the Lord’s kindness with our fathers, with Abraham, Isaac, end Jacob, that the Lord has this day delivered us into the hands of the king of Egypt to contrive against us?

⁵¹ And Judah said unto them, Surely we are guilty sinners before the Lord our God in having sold our brother, our own flesh, and wherefore do you say, Where is the Lord’s kindness with our fathers?

⁵² And Reuben said unto them, Said I not unto you, do not sin against the lad, and you would not listen to me? now God requireth him from us, and how dare you say, Where is the Lord’s kindness with our fathers, whilst you have sinned unto the Lord?

⁵³ And they tarried over night in that place, and they rose up early in the morning and laded their asses with their corn, and they led them and went on and came to their father’s house in the land of Canaan.

⁵⁴ And Jacob and his household went out to meet his sons, and Jacob saw and behold their brother Simeon was not with them, and Jacob said unto his sons, Where is your brother Simeon, whom I do not see? and his sons told him all that had befallen them in Egypt. Book of Jasher Chapter 51

¹⁹ If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the prison house. Go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses.

²⁰ But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die.” And they did so.

²¹ And they said one to another, “We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us, and we would not hear. Therefore has this distress come upon us.”

²² And Reuben answered them, saying, “Spoke I not unto you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the child’; and ye would not hear? Therefore, behold, also his blood is required.”

²³ And they knew not that Joseph understood them, for he spoke unto them by an interpreter.

²⁴ And he turned himself away from them and wept; and returned to them again and communed with them, and took from them Simeon and bound him before their eyes.

²⁵ Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way; and thus did he unto them.

²⁶ And they laded their asses with the corn and departed thence.

²⁷ And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender at the inn, he espied his money; for behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. — here “one of them” isn’t identified, but was Levi in the Book of Jasher 51:48

²⁸ And he said unto his brethren, “My money is restored; and lo, it is even in my sack.” And their heart failed them and they were afraid, saying one to another, “What is this that God hath done unto us?”

²⁹ And they came unto Jacob their father, unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell them, saying,

³⁰ “The man who is the lord of the land spoke roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.

³¹ And we said unto him, ‘We are true men; we are no spies.

³² We are twelve brethren, sons of our father. One is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.’

³³ And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, ‘Hereby shall I know that ye are true men: Leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone;

³⁴ and bring your youngest brother unto me. Then shall I know that ye are not spies, but that ye are true men; so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffic in the land.’”

³⁵ And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.

³⁶ And Jacob their father said unto them, “Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and ye will take Benjamin away. All these things are against me.”

³⁷ And Reuben spoke unto his father, saying, “Slay my two sons if I bring him not to thee. Deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.”

³⁸ And he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is left alone. If mischief befall him by the way in which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.”

Posted in Books of Moses

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Genesis 39

¹ And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the hands of the Ishmaelites, who had brought him down thither. — and Potiphar an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian;

— as his name also shows, which signifies the fruit of Pot or Phut, that is, the son or grandson of one of that name; which might be common in Egypt, since it was the name of a son of Ham, Genesis 10:6, from whom Joseph came into the land of Egypt; called the land of Ham, Psalm 105:23;

² And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. — Joseph was banished from his father’s house, but the Lord was with him; it is God’s presence that make him prosperous;

³ And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. — which led to the conviction of Potiphar concerning Joseph was of remarkable success which he saw attending all his efforts and undertakings.

⁴ And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him. And he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. — and he made him overseer over his house; that is, after he had served him some time, he advanced Joseph and made him the head servant, or steward of his house;

⁵ And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house and in the field.

— that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; that is, much more than before; everything under his hands succeeded, now much more abundantly;

⁶ And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not anything he had, save the bread which he ate. And Joseph was a goodly person, and wellfavored. — everything went on smoothly; and with Joseph as manager he had no need to think of a thing, except as regards food.

⁷ And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, “Lie with me.” — lie with me; now directly, there being both opportunity and convenience, perhaps her chamber was near: this was a very great temptation to a young man in single life and living well, from his mistress;

⁸ But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, “Behold, my master knoweth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand. — but he refused, and said unto his master’s wife; reasoning with her about the evil nature of the crime she tempted him to;

⁹ There is none greater in this house than I, neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” — how can I do this great wickedness? how can I, to whom my master has shown so much kindness, when I was a forlorn stranger from a foreign land, and was offered to him in the capacity of a slave; 

— and sin against God? the words are emphatic, “this! this wickedness! this great one!” adultery was reckoned a great sin among all nations, and this, had Joseph committed it;

¹⁰ And it came to pass, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her to lie by her or to be with her. — he avoided her company and familiar conversation, as evil in itself, the present circumstances considered, and as an occasion of further evil.

¹¹ And it came to pass about this time that Joseph went into the house to do his business, and there were none of the men of the house there within. — and there was none of the men of the house there within; being all gone to the public festival, or however there were none in that part of the house where Joseph was;

— Joseph resists the daily solicitations of his master’s wife to lie with her. “None greater in this house than I” he pleads the unreserved trust his master had reposed in him.

¹² And she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and got himself out. — and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out; it was his outward loose garment she laid hold on, out of which he slipped himself, and so got clear of her, and ran away;

¹³ And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled forth, — his garment; this accident provided the only circumstantial piece of evidence for the charge brought against him;

¹⁴ that she called unto the men of her house and spoke unto them, saying, “See, he hath brought in a Hebrew unto us to mock us. He came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice. — see, he hath brought in an Hebrew; to mock us, an affected and blind aspersion of her husband for keeping in his house an Hebrew, the very abomination of Egyptians;

¹⁵ And it came to pass when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me and fled, and got himself out.” — when this daring assault upon Joseph’s chastity had failed, the adulterous woman reversed the whole affair, and charged him with an attack upon her modesty;

¹⁶ And she laid aside his garment by her until his lord came home. — and she laid up his garment by her; as a proof of what she laid to his charge, and as a testimony against him;

¹⁷ And she spoke unto him according to these words, saying, “The Hebrew servant whom thou hast brought unto us came in unto me to mock me. — the Hebrew servant whom thou hast brought unto us; thus she makes her husband accessory to the crime;

¹⁸ And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me and fled out.” — she then left the garment lying by her side till the return of Joseph’s master, to whom she repeated her tale;

¹⁹ And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife which she spoke unto him, saying, “After this manner did thy servant to me,” that his wrath was kindled. — her husband believes her story and naturally resents the supposed unfaithfulness of his slave;

²⁰ And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound; and he was there in the prison. — in prison; usually a subterranean dungeon; He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. Proverbs 18:13

²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. — and the Lord was with Joseph; under his afflictions; supporting him with his right hand; sanctifying all his troubles to him, and so causing him to bear them patiently;

— and showed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison; who was the underkeeper to Potiphar;

²² And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. — and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it; not that he did everything that was done in the prison: but the meaning is that he gave orders for the doing of everything, and there was nothing done without his supervision;

²³ The keeper of the prison looked not into any thing that was under his hand, because the Lord was with him; and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper. — the keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand; under the hand of Joseph; he took no account of what was in his hands, nor required any of him.

Genesis 40

¹ And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended their lord the king of Egypt. — butler; one who gives to drink, cupbearer; also overseer of the royal vineyards, as well as the cellars; having, probably, some hundreds of people under him.

² And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his officers—against the chief of the butlers and against the chief of the bakers. — who both were employed in providing wine and food for him, there was one of each who was over the rest;

— and as their business was to see that those under them did their work well, when they were faulty the principal officers were answerable for it: yet they might have neglected to look after those that were under them, and so were culpable, and drew upon them the wrath and resentment of their lord.

³ And he put them under guard in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound. — Pharaoh put them in prison; whatever was their crime until their case could be investigated, to the custody of the captain of the guard, that is, Potiphar, in an outer part of whose house the royal prison was situated.

⁴ And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them; and they continued a season under guard. — and the captain of the guard charged Joseph to his care and custody.

⁵ And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison. — these prisoners dream, “each according to the interpretation of his dream,” the imagery of which was suited to indicate his future state.

⁶ And Joseph came in unto them in the morning and looked upon them, and behold, they were sad. — they were sad; they looked sorrowful, dejected, and uneasy;

⁷ And he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in the guard of his lord’s house, saying, “Why look ye so sadly today?”

⁸ And they said unto him, “We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it.” And Joseph said unto them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me them, I pray you.” — do not interpretations belong to God? for it is only that God who sends these dreams that can interpret them, and to him you should seek for it.

⁹ And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “In my dream, behold, a vine was before me.

¹⁰ And in the vine were three branches; and it was as though it budded and her blossoms shot forth, and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes.

¹¹ And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.”

¹² And Joseph said unto him, “This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days. — speaking as an inspired interpreter, Joseph told the butler that within three days he would be restored to all the honors and privileges of his office;

¹³ Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head and restore thee unto thy place; and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler.

¹⁴ But think on me when it shall be well with thee, and show kindness, I pray thee, unto me; and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house. — and show kindness unto me; he pleads no merit for what he had done in interpreting his dream,

— but puts the good office he desires him to do for him upon the foot of kindness to a man in distress, and asks it as a favour, by way of entreaty and request;

¹⁵ For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews; and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.” — since he had been in the land of Egypt, he had not been guilty of any criminal action wherefore he should be put into a prison, and especially into a dungeon, a dark and filthy place under ground, as dungeons usually were;

¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, “I also was in my dream, and behold, I had three white baskets on my head.

¹⁷ And in the uppermost basket there were all manner of baked meats for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket upon my head.”

¹⁸ And Joseph answered and said, “This is the interpretation thereof: The three baskets are three days.

¹⁹ Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee.”

²⁰ And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants. And he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.

²¹ And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again, and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand; — the Targum of Jonathan adds this as a reason of his being restored, “because he found that he was not in that counsel,” in which it was consulted to poison Pharaoh;

²² but he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. — but he hanged the chief baker; that is; the Pharaoh ordered the chief baker to be hanged; because, as the same Targum says, the chief baker had conspired to kill him (Pharaoh).

²³ Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgot him. — the Targum of Jonathan says:

But because, Joseph had withdrawn from the mercy that is above, and had put his confidence in the chief butler and waited on the flesh, therefore the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him, until the time of the end when the Lord came that he should be released.

Posted in Books of Moses

Genesis 37

¹ And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. — in Genesis 36:6, we read that Esau went into a land away from Jacob. Upon this follows in Genesis 37:8, “And Esau dwelt in Mount Seir;”

— and now the necessary information concerning the other brother is given to us, “And Jacob dwelt in peace (Jonathan) in the land . . . of Canaan,” which is north of Mount Seir;

² These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought unto his father an evil report about them.

— and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his secondary wives or concubines; Joseph is the favorite of his father, but not of his brethren; especially those born of Leah; retaining the old grudge of their mother perhaps;

³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a coat of many colors.

— a coat of many colours; two explanations are given of this phrase; the first, that it was a long garment with sleeves or fringes; the other, that it was composed of patchwork of various colours; perhaps an upper coat reaching to the wrists and ankles, such as noblemen and kings’ daughters wore.

⁴ And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him and could not speak peaceably unto him. — they not only inwardly hated him, but they could not conceal their hatred, but betrayed it by their speech unto him; they could not speak to him on any occasion, but in a cross, surly, ill natured manner;

⁵ And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brethren; and they hated him yet the more. — as a dream; not understanding it; he told it not with any design to affront them, but as an amusement, and for their diversion, there being something in it odd and ridiculous, as he himself might think;

— and they hated him yet more; not only because he had carried an ill report of them to his father, but still more because of this dream; the meaning of which they at once understood, though he did not, which yet they supposed he did, and that he told them it in a boasting manner, just to irritate them.

⁶ And he said unto them, “Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: — hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed; hear now, immediately, directly, lest they should forget it;

⁷ For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.” — the sheaves which his brethren bound up, they also stood upright, and all around his sheaf, and bowed unto it; so it appeared to him in his dream; so that his brethren hate him still more;

⁸ And his brethren said to him, “Shalt thou indeed reign over us? Or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us?” And they hated him yet the more for his dreams and for his words. — but this dream was evidently symbolical; its meaning easily discerned, and the brothers became furious;

⁹ And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brethren and said, “Behold, I have dreamed one dream more; and behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.” — yet another dream; this repetition of the same thing in another shape, might have taught them that it was both certain and very observable;

— behold the sun and the moon; his father and mother, here signified by the sun and moon, were not represented in the first dream, because, in the event, his brethren only went at first to Egypt, and there did him obeisance, and it was not till afterward that his father went with them; and even then, both Rachel and Leah had died;

¹⁰ And he told it to his father and to his brethren; and his father rebuked him and said unto him, “What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?”

— shall I, thy mother, and thy brethren, indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee? whereby it plainly shows he understood the meaning of the dream, though he would not seem to countenance it;

— and by the “moon” his wife, by whom is meant Rachel, the real mother of Joseph, who was dead; or rather Leah, who was now Jacob’s only true wife, and the stepmother of Joseph; or else Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid, who since her death was a mother to Joseph; 

¹¹ And his brethren envied him, but his father observed the saying. — and his brethren envied him; notwithstanding all the precaution Jacob took to prevent it; they suspecting and fearing that these dreams portended the pre-eminence of Joseph over them, or however served to fill his mind with the hopes and expectation of it:

— but his father observed the saying; what Joseph had said in relating his dream; he laid it up in his mind and kept it there, often thought of it, and waited to see its accomplishment.

¹² And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. — Shechem belonged to Jacob; part of it by purchase, and the rest by conquest; Jacob’s sons seem to have retained Shechem, by right of their high-handed proceedings; related to Dinah in Genesis 34:27-29.

¹³ And Israel said unto Joseph, “Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send thee unto them.” And he said to him, “Here am I.” — and he said unto him, here am I; showing his readiness to obey his father, though it was a long journey, and he to go it alone.

¹⁴ And he said to him, “Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren and well with the flocks, and bring me word again.” So he sent him out of the Vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. — so he sent him out of the vale of Hebron: the same with the plains of Mamre near the city of Hebron, which was built on a hill: and he came to Shechem: after he had travelled sixty miles.

¹⁵ And a certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, saying, “What seekest thou?” — and the man asked him, saying, what seekest thou? seeing him walking about, and first looking one way, and then another, concluded he was in search of something, either of some man or of some creature, a sheep or an ox that was lost;

¹⁶ And he said, “I seek my brethren. Tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks.” — tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks; in what part of the country they are, what field they are in, how far to it, and which the way.

¹⁷ And the man said, “They have departed hence, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan. — Dothan; this town was twelve miles north of Shechem, and is famous as being the place where Elisha struck the Syrian army with blindness (II Kings 6:13-23);

¹⁸ And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. — when they saw him they conspired against him; it was not in a heat, or upon a sudden provocation, that they thought to slay him, but from malice prepense, and in cold blood;

¹⁹ And they said one to another, “Behold, this dreamer cometh. — this dreamer; Heb, this lord of dreams, or Jonathan identying the brothers as Simeon and Levi, and say, “this master of dreams” cometh, a phrase expressive of contempt.

²⁰ Come now therefore and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, ‘Some evil beast hath devoured him’; and we shall see what will become of his dreams.” — cast him into some pit; partly, as unworthy of burial; partly, to cover their villanous action; and partly, that they might quickly put him out of their sight and minds;

— some evil beast hath devoured him; which would seem plausible, since wild beasts were frequent in those parts, as lions and bears; and we shall see what will become of his dreams;

²¹ And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands and said, “Let us not kill him.” — and Reuben heard it; overheard what they said, not being in the consultation; perhaps knowing his temper and disposition to be more mild and gentle;

— and being the eldest, Reuben knew he had responsibility for all his brothers in general; hence opposed such murderous proposal;

²² And Reuben said unto them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him” — Reuben said unto them, shed no blood that he might free him out of their hands to deliver him to his father again.

²³ And it came to pass, when Joseph had come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph of his coat, his coat of many colors that was on him; — that they stripped, Joseph his coat of many colours, that was on him; that with his coat of many colours;

²⁴ and they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it. — and the pit was empty, there was no water in it; only serpents and scorpions, as the Targum of Jonathan says;

²⁵ And they sat down to eat bread; and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold, a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry them down to Egypt. — a caravan of Ishmaelites; Dothan was situated on the great caravan line by which the products of India and Western Asia were brought to Egypt.

²⁶ And Judah said unto his brethren, “What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? — one who know about the value of money, asks, what profit is it if (literally, what of advantage that) we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?

²⁷ Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brethren were content. — the brothers readily approved of Judah’s suggestion to dispose of their obnoxious brother as a slave.

²⁸ Then there passed by Midianite merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they brought Joseph into Egypt. — twenty pieces of silver; the money was probably in rings or pieces (shekels), and silver is always mentioned in the records of that early age before gold;

²⁹ And Reuben returned unto the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. — Reuben returned; evidently he was not present when Joseph was sold to the Midianites; and he rent his clothes; as a token of distress and anguish of mind, of sorrow and mourning;

³⁰ And he returned unto his brethren and said, “The child is no more; and I, whither shall I go?” — the child comparatively to his brethren, as he was just seventeen years old, Genesis 37:2.

³¹ And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid from the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood. — and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood; that being, as the Targum of Jonathan says, “like the blood of a man.”

³² And they sent the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “This have we found. Know now whether it be thy son’s coat or not?” — under the influence of Satan, men taught themselves to commit one sin, then teaches them to try to conceal it with another; to hide theft and murder, with lying and false oaths:

— an atrocious crime of lying and false oaths are great wickedness, which is dealt with in Zechariah 5 (the flyinf scroll);

³³ And he knew it, and said, “It is my son’s coat. An evil beast hath devoured him. Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.” — an evil beast hath devoured him; this was natural to conclude from the condition the coat was in, and from the country he was sent into, which abounded with wild beasts;

— and was the very thing Joseph’s brethren contrived to say themselves; and in this view they wished and hoped the affair would be considered, and so their wickedness concealed;

³⁴ And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. — many days; Jacob mourned for Joseph not merely during the usual period, or years, as days sometimes signify; twenty two years, but so long as to move even the hearts of those who had wronged him.

³⁵ And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For I will go down into the grave unto my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. — and all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; his sons must act a most hypocritical part in this affair;

— and as for his daughters, it is not easy to say who they were, since he had but one daughter that we read of, whose name was Dinah: his father wept for him; that is, his father Isaac, as the Targum of Jonathan, he wept for his son Jacob on account of his trouble and distress; as well as for his grandson Joseph; 

³⁶ And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s and captain of the guard. — and the Midianites sold him into Egypt; or Medanites, who sprung from Medan, a brother of Midian, and son of Keturah;

— Potiphar; Captain of the guard; Heb, chief of the slaughterers, by which the LXX understand the slaughterers of animals for food, and translate “chief cook;” other versions understand by it the commander of the king’s body-guard,

Genesis 38

¹ And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned unto a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. — Judah went down from his brethren; withdrew for a time from his father’s family, and got intimately acquainted with one Hirah an Adullamite; of the city of Adullam; a city which afterwards fell to the tribe of Judah;

² And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shua; and he took her, and went in unto her. — an Adullamite; a Canaanitish woman; which was forbidden by his ancestors Abraham and Isaac, and which his father avoided:

— but Jonathan says he proselyted her, her father’s name was Shua, not the name of the woman he married, and he took her; to be his wife, with her father’s consent, but her name wasn’t mentioned, as Shua was the name of her father, as appears from Genesis 38:12;

³ And she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. — he called his name Er; which signifies a “watchman”: but the reason of the name given by the Targum of Jonathan is, “because he should die without children;”

⁴ And she conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. — and she called his name Onan; the first son Judah gave the name to, but his wife named the second child, so called from grief or sorrow; the reason of it, according to the above Targum, was, “because his father would have to mourn for him;”

⁵ And she yet again conceived and bore a son, and called his name Shelah. And he was at Chezib when she bore him. — and called his name Shelah; as she was at Chezib when she bare him; Chezib is the name of a place, by some taken to be the same with Achzib or Ecdippe;

⁶ And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar. — and Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn; chose one for him, and presented her to him for his liking, whom he approving of married: whose name was Tamar;

— the Targum of Jonathan says, she was the daughter of Shem; of course “daughter” could mean granddaughter or just principally female from the posterity of Shem;

⁷ And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord slew him. — and Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord; that is, exceedingly wicked, as this phrase signifies, Genesis 13:13; perhaps of some unnatural abomination; but what is not mentioned;

⁸ And Judah said unto Onan, “Go in unto thy brother’s wife and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.” — the law later given through Moses, by which the brother of the dead husband was required to marry the widow, 

⁹ And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give seed to his brother. — that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give his seed to his brother: lest his brother’s wife he had married should conceive by him, and bear a son that should be called his brother’s, and inherit his estate;

¹⁰ And the thing which he did displeased the Lord; therefore He slew him also. — it was also a sin against the divine institution of marriage and its object of populating the earth, and was therefore punished by the Lord with sudden death.

¹¹ Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow at thy father’s house, until Shelah my son is grown”; for he said, “Lest perhaps he die also, as his brethren did.” And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house. — and Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house; she had dwelt separately in the time of her two husbands, but now by his advice she removed to her own father’s house; 

¹² And in process of time, the daughter of Shua, Judah’s wife, died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. — Time passed; and Judah’s wife, Shua’s daughter, died; and when the time of mourning was over, Judah with his friend Hirah of Adullam went to Timnah for the sheep shearing.

¹³ And it was told Tamar, saying, “Behold, thy father-in-law goeth up to Timnah to shear his sheep.”

¹⁴ And she put her widow’s garments off from her and covered herself with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place which is on the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him as wife. — for she saw that Shelah was grown: and she was not given unto him as a wife: to her disappointment;

¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot, because she had covered her face.

¹⁶ And he turned unto her on the wayside and said, “Come, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee” (for he knew not that she was his daughter-in-law). And she said, “What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?” — when Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; by her posture and the place she was in;

¹⁷ And he said, “I will send thee a kid from the flock.” And she said, “Wilt thou give me a pledge until thou send it?” — a kid from the flock; a goodly price at which her chastity and honour were valued!

¹⁸ And he said, “What pledge shall I give thee?” And she said, “Thy signet and thy bracelets and thy staff that is in thine hand.” And he gave it to her and came in unto her, and she conceived by him. — signet, bracelets, including armlets, were worn by men as well as women among these ancients; the Septuagint version renders, “thy ring”; the ring upon his finger;

¹⁹ And she arose and went away, and laid aside her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood. — and she arose and went away; to her father’s house immediately, as soon as ever she had parted with Judah; and lest she should be found out;

²⁰ And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand, but he found her not. — to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand; his signet, bracelets, and staff, or whatever they were: but he found her not; for she had gone from the place where she sat;

²¹ Then he asked the men of that place, saying, “Where is the harlot who was openly by the wayside?” And they said, “There was no harlot in this place.” — and they said, there was no harlot in this place; they had not known any harlot to frequent that place lately, and Tamar sat there so short a time as not to have been observed by them.

²² And he returned to Judah and said, “I cannot find her, and also the men of the place said that there was no harlot in this place.” — there was no harlot in this place; by which it appears, that near the place where Tamar was;

²³ And Judah said, “Let her take them for herself, lest we be shamed; behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.” — Judah said, “Let her have it then. If we keep looking, everyone will shame us. I kept my part of the bargain; I sent the kid goat but you couldn’t find her.”

²⁴ And it came to pass about three months after that it was told Judah, saying, “Tamar thy daughter-in-law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom.” And Judah said, “Bring her forth, and let her be burned.”

— let her be burnt; as being by law, Tamar was condemned by Judah as head of the family, to the punishment usual for adultery.

²⁵ When she was brought forth, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “By the man whose these are, am I with child.” And she said, “Discern, I pray thee, whose are these — the signet, and bracelets, and staff.”

²⁶ And Judah acknowledged them and said, “She hath been more righteous than I, because I gave her not to Shelah my son.” And he knew her again no more. — and she said; discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff; which were the things given her as a pledge till she received the kid, the hire she was to have for his lying with her;

— and he knew her again no more; he did not repeat the sin, but abstained from it having, no doubt, true repentance for it;

²⁷ And it came to pass in the time of her travail that, behold, twins were in her womb. — that, behold, twins were in her womb; which the midwife could discover before the birth of either.

²⁸ And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand; and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, “This came out first.” — Tamar bears Perez and Zerah to Judah; but a breach be upon them, or be imputed to them.

²⁹ And it came to pass as he drew back his hand that, behold, his brother came out; and she said, “How hast thou broken forth? This breach be upon thee.” Therefore his name was called Perez [that is, A breach]. — but breach be upon thee; and Pharez was born first;

³⁰ And afterward came out his brother who had the scarlet thread upon his hand, and his name was called Zerah. — and the one with a scarlet thread; his name was called Zarah; 

Posted in Books of Moses

Accusations of US regime-change operations in Pakistan and Bangladesh warrant UN attention

Pearls and Irritations by Jeffrey D Sachs • August 22, 2024

The very strong evidence of the U.S. role in toppling the government of Imran Khan in Pakistan raises the likelihood that something similar may have occurred in Bangladesh.

Two former leaders of major South Asian countries have reportedly accused the United States of covert regime change operations to topple their governments. One of the leaders, former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, languishes in prison, on a perverse conviction that proves Khan’s assertion.

The other leader, former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheik Hasina, fled to India following a violent coup in her country. Their grave accusations against the US, as reported in the world media, should be investigated by the UN, since if true, the US actions would constitute a fundamental threat to world peace and to regional stability in South Asia.

The two cases seem to be very similar. The very strong evidence of the US role in toppling the government of Imran Khan raises the likelihood that something similar may have occurred in Bangladesh.

In the case of Pakistan, Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia and Central Asia, met with Asad Majeed Khan, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US, on March 7, 2022. Ambassador Khan immediately wrote back to his capital, conveying Lu’s warning that PM Khan threatened US-Pakistan relations because of Khan’s “aggressively neutral position” regarding Russia and Ukraine.

The Ambassador’s March 7 note (technically a diplomatic cypher) quoted Assistant Secretary Lu as follows: “I think if the no-confidence vote against the Prime Minister succeeds, all will be forgiven in Washington because the Russia visit is being looked at as a decision by the Prime Minister. Otherwise, I think it will be tough going ahead.” The very next day, members of the parliament took procedural steps to oust PM Khan.

On March 27, PM Khan brandished the cypher, and told his followers and the public that the US was out to bring him down. On April 10, PM Khan was thrown out of office as the parliament acceded to the US threat.

We know this in detail because of Ambassador Khan’s cypher, exposed by PM Khan and brilliantly documented by Ryan Grim of The Intercept, including the text of the cypher. Absurdly and tragically, PM Khan languishes in prison in part over espionage charges, linked to his revealing the cypher.

The US appears to have played a similar role in the recent violent coup in Bangladesh. PM Hasina was ostensibly toppled by student unrest, and fled to India when the Bangladeshi military refused to prevent the protestors from storming the government offices. Yet there may well be much more to the story than meets the eye.

According to press reports in India, PM Hasina is claiming that the US brought her down. Specifically, she says that the US removed her from power because she refused to grant the US military facilities in a region that is considered strategic for the US in its “Indo-Pacific Strategy” to contain China. While these are second-hand accounts by the Indian media, they track closely several speeches and statements that Hasina has made over the past two years.

On May 17, 2024, the same Assistant Secretary Liu who played a lead role in toppling PM Khan, visited Dhaka to discuss the US Indo-Pacific Strategy among other topics. Days later, Sheikh Hasina reportedly summoned the leaders of the 14 parties of her alliance to make the startling claim that a “country of white-skinned people” was trying to bring her down, ostensibly telling the leaders that she refused to compromise her nation’s sovereignty.

Like Imran Khan, PM Hasina had been pursuing a foreign policy of neutrality, including constructive relations not only with the US but also with China and Russia, much to the deep consternation of the US government.

To add credence to Hasina’s charges, Bangladesh had delayed signing two military agreements that the US had pushed very hard since 2022, indeed by none other than the former Under-Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, the neocon hardliner with her own storied history of US regime-change operations.

One of the draft agreements, the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), would bind Bangladesh to closer military-to-military cooperation with Washington. The Government of PM Hasina was clearly not enthusiastic to sign it.

The US is by far the world’s leading practitioner of regime-change operations, yet the US flatly denies its role in covert regime change operations even when caught red-handed, as with Nuland’s infamous intercepted phone call in late January 2014 planning the US-led regime change operation in Ukraine.

It is useless to appeal to the US Congress, and still less the executive branch, to investigate the claims by PM Khan and PM Hasina. Whatever the truth of the matter, they will deny and lie as necessary.

This is where the UN should step in. Covert regime change operations are blatantly illegal under international law (notably the Doctrine of Non-Intervention, as expressed for example in UN General Assembly Resolution 2625, 1970), and constitute perhaps the greatest threat to world peace, as they profoundly destabilise nations, and often lead to wars and other civil disorders.

The UN should investigate and expose covert regime change operations, both in the interests of reversing them, and preventing them in the future.

The UN Security Council is of course specifically charged under Article 24 of the UN Charter with “primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.” When evidence arises that a government has been toppled through the intervention or complicity of a foreign government, the UN Security Council should investigate the claims.

In the cases of Pakistan and Bangladesh, the UN Security Council should seek the direct testimony of PM Khan and PM Hasina in order to evaluate the evidence that the US played a role in the overthrow of the governments of these two leaders.

Each, of course, should be protected by the UN for giving their testimony, so as to protect them from any retribution that could follow their honest presentation of the facts. Their testimony can be taken by video conference, if necessary, given the tragic ongoing incarceration of PM Khan.

The US might well exercise its veto in the UN Security Council to prevent such a investigation. In that case, the UN General Assembly can take up the matter, under UN Resolution A/RES/76/, which allows the UN General Assembly to consider an issue blocked by veto in the UN Security Council.

The issues at stake could then be assessed by the entire membership of the UN. The veracity of the US involvement in the recent regime changes in Pakistan and Bangladesh could then be objectively analysed and judged on the evidence, rather than on mere assertions and denials.

The US engaged in at least 64 covert regime change operations during 1947-1989, according to documented research by Lindsey O’Rourke, political science professor at Boston Collage, and several more that were overt (eg by US-led war).

It continues to engage in regime-change operations with shocking frequency to this day, toppling governments in all parts of the world. It is wishful thinking that the US will abide by international law on its own, but it is not wishful thinking for the world community, long suffering from US regime change operations, to demand their end at the United Nations.

“Ephraim surrounds me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit;” Hosea 11:12

“Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke; among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be” Hosea 5:9

Posted in Books of Moses

Looking through the Scriptures with a puff of fresh air!

Then Isaac his father answered and prophesied, saying,

“And by your sword shall you live, you will go to every place, and wander, and you will be subject to your brother. But when his descendants abandon the commandments of the Torah, then you will break his yoke from your neck.”

“And Esau harbored hatred in his heart against Jacob, his brother, because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him.

And Esau said in his heart, ‘I will not do as Cain did, who killed Abel during their father’s lifetime and then their father had another son, Seth.

Rather, I will wait until the days of mourning for my father have passed, and then I will kill Jacob my brother, and I will be the sole heir.'” Genesis 27:41-42 Jonathan

“The anger of the Lord shall not return, until He has executed and until He has performed the intent of His thought; in the latter days ye shall understand it perfectly.” Jeremiah 23:20

Genesis 33

¹ And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau came and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two handmaids. — as Jacob went forward, he saw Esau coming to meet him with his 400 mean;

² And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindmost. — he then arranged his wives and children in such a manner, that the maids with their children went first, Leah with hers in the middle, and Rachel with Joseph behind, thus forming a long procession.

³ And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times until he came near to his brother. — he bowed himself seven times; the manner of doing this is by looking towards a superior and bowing with the upper part of the body brought parallel to the ground;

— then advancing a few steps and bowing again, and repeating his obeisance till, at the seventh time; members of his family did the same; this was a token of profound fear of terror rather than respect;

⁴ And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him; and they wept. — and they wept; Jacob wept for joy to be thus kindly received; Esau, perhaps, with grief and shame, to think of the ill design he had conceived against his brother;

— and they wept, both Jacob and Esau, for joy at the sight of each other, and both seriously; and especially there can be no doubt of Jacob, who must be glad of this reconciliation, and the lives of his wives and children, would be spared.

⁵ And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children, and said, “Who are those with thee?” And he said, “The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.” — Jacob speaks of his children as God’s gifts; a heritage of the Lord, and as choice gifts, graciously given him.

⁶ Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves. — then the handmaids came near, they and their children; being foremost, and next to, Jacob, as Bilhah and her two sons, Dan and Naphtali, and Zilpah and her two sons, Gad and Asher;

⁷ And Leah also with her children came near and bowed themselves; and after these came Joseph and Rachel near, and they bowed themselves.

— and Leah also with her children came near, and bowed themselves; who were in the next division or company; their children were seven, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah, six sons and one daughter:

— and after came Joseph and Rachel, and they bowed themselves; it is observed that Joseph is mentioned before his mother; it may be, because they might put him before her in the procession, for greater safety; or she might present him to Esau, being a child of little more than six years of age.

⁸ And he said, “What meanest thou by all this drove which I met?” And he said, “These are to find grace in the sight of my lord.” — and he said, these are to find grace in the sight of my lord; to gain his favour and good will; and which, as it was a token of Jacob’s good will to him;

⁹ And Esau said, “I have enough, my brother. Keep what thou hast unto thyself.” — and Esau said, I have enough; literally, I have abundance; keep that thou hast unto thyself, let be to thee what is to thee;

¹⁰ And Jacob said, “Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand; for therefore I have seen thy face as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me.

— as though I had seen the face of God. It is in a manner as pleasant a sight to me as the sight of God himself, because in thy reconciled face I see the face and favour of God thus manifested unto me.

¹¹ Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee, because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” And he urged him, and he took it. — and Jacob urged him, and Esau took it: being pressing on him, or importunate with him, Esau accepted of his present.

¹² And he said, “Let us take our journey; and let us go, and I will go before thee.” — and Esau offers himself to be Jacob’s guide and companion, in token of a sincere reconciliation.

¹³ And he said unto him, “My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and the flocks and herds with young are with me; and if men should overdrive them one day, all the flock will die. — and Jacob said unto Esau; the children are tender; the eldest of them, Reuben, not being yet fourteen years old.

¹⁴ Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant; and I will lead on gently, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children are able to endure, until I come unto my lord unto Seir.” — unto Seir; this implies a purpose of visiting Esau, but not carried out probably because Esau hadn’t settled there yet, he instead returned to Hebron to his father.

¹⁵ And Esau said, “Let me now leave with thee some of the folk who are with me.” And he said, “What need is there? Let me find grace in the sight of my lord.” — and he said, what needeth it? Jacob knew the direct way very probably; he thought himself in no danger;

¹⁶ So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir. — Esau took his leave of Jacob the same day he met Jacob, and proceeded on in his journey towards Seir;

¹⁷ And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him a house, and made booths for his cattle. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth [that is, Booths]. — and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle; an house for himself and family, and booths or tents for his servants or shepherds, and for the cattle they had the care of, some for one, and some for the other.

¹⁸ And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padanaram, and pitched his tent before the city. — Shechem, where Jacob’s well is still there; where a woman of Samaria to draw water and met Jesus: John 4:6

¹⁹ And he bought a parcel of a field where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of money. — a hundred pieces of money; may signify either lambs, given in way of exchange for it, or a hundred pieces of silvers;

²⁰ And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel [that is, God, the God of Israel]. — Jacob erected there an altar; Abraham had already built an altar in this neighbourhood (Genesis 12:7), and Jacob now followed his example.

Genesis 34

¹ And Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she bore unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. — Dinah went out to see the daughters of the land; from her father’s house into the city, out of curiosity,to see the daughters of the land;

² And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her and lay with her, and defiled her. — Shechem the Hivite, took her by force, and evilly defiled her;

³ And his soul cleaved unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel and spoke kindly unto the damsel. — and his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob; his inclination was to her; it was not a mere lustful desire that was suddenly raised, but a constant and continued affection he bore to her; professing great love to her;

⁴ And Shechem spoke unto his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this damsel for a wife.” — and Shechem spake unto his father Hamor; and told him the whole affair, at least what a strong affection he had for Dinah;

⁵ And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his cattle in the field, and Jacob held his peace until they had come. — Jacob held his peace; he as a father and a good man, must have been deeply distressed; baitded for time;

⁶ And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him. — to commune with him; to talk with him about the affair of Dinah, to pacify him, and endeavour to gain his consent, that his son might marry her, and to settle the, terms and conditions of the marriage.

⁷ And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, which thing ought not to be done. — and the men were grieved and were very wroth; they were grieved for the wickedness committed against God as well as for the injury done to their sister;

⁸ And Hamor communed with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter. I pray you give her to him for a wife; — Hamor communed with Jacob’s sons, to whom Jacob committed the business, being himself oppressed with shame and grief, and fear for his daughter;

⁹ and make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you. — and make ye marriages with us; there was no objection on their side, it lay on Jacob’s; Abraham’s servant was charged by him not to take a wife of the Canaanites to his son Isaac; and the same charge was given Jacob by Isaac, Genesis 24:3

¹⁰ And ye shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you. Dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein.” — ye shall dwell with us; Hamor proposes that Jacob’s family shall abandon their nomad life, and settle among the Hivites; and trade with them;

¹¹ And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, “Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me, I will give. — and what ye shall say unto me, I will give; to her, to her parents, to her brethren and relations; let what will be fixed, shall be given; 

¹² Ask me ever so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me; but give me the damsel for a wife.” — and I will give according as ye shall say unto me; determine among yourselves whatever shall be the dowry and gift, and it shall be punctually observed: but give me the damsel to wife; only agree to that, and I care not what is required of me.

¹³ And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said — because he had defiled Dinah their sister” — and the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor deceitfully; or with carnal wisdom and wicked cunning, proposing the marriage of their sister, when they never intended it should ever be:

¹⁴ and they said unto them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a reproach unto us. — and Levi and Simeon said unto Hamor and Shechem:

— nothing is said of their teaching the people to worship the true God, but only of their insisting on their being circumcised; a cloak to cover their diabolical design.

¹⁵ But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we are, that every male of you be circumcised, — as we are; that is; the sons of Jacob were all circumcised as they claimed;

¹⁶ then will we give our daughters unto you; and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. — and we will take your daughters to us; in marriage for wives: and we will dwell with you; not as sojourners but as fellow citizens.

¹⁷ But if ye will not hearken unto us to be circumcised, then will we take our daughter and we will be gone.” — then will we take our daughter; by force, as the Targum of Jonathan adds: and we will be gone: depart from this part of the country, and go elsewhere.

¹⁸ And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem, Hamor’s son. — Hamor, and Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite;

¹⁹ And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob’s daughter; and he was more honorable than all the house of his father. — and he was more honourable than all the house of his father; for though in defiling Jacob’s daughter, yet in this he was honourable, that he sought to marry her, and to recompence the injury;

²⁰ And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying, — and communed with the men of their city; upon the subject of entering into an alliance with Jacob’s family, of admitting them to be fellow citizens with them;

²¹ “These men are peaceable with us. Therefore let them dwell in the land and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters. — let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters; this is not just a horror to Abraham or Isaac, but to God himself;

— alas! for how one sin leads on to another, and, like flames of fire, spread desolation in every direction! For this will put God’s direction to no effect:

“Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the River Euphrates: the Kenites and the Kenizzites and the Kadmonites, and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Rephaim, and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Girgashites and the Jebusites.” Genesis 15:18-21

²² Only herein will the men consent unto us to dwell with us, to be one people: if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised. — if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised; submitting to this rite, they agree to take up their residence with us, and be incorporated among us, and to God’s horror, become one people.

²³ Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? Only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us.” — only let us consent unto them; in the affair of circumcision: and they will dwell with us; and what by trading with them, and marrying among them, all their wealth and riches will come into our hands.

²⁴ And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all who went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city. — they consented to be circumcised, in compliance with their young prince, whom they either feared or loved; to be willing to expose themselves to great pains and hazards;

— the purpose of circumcision was to keep the Israelites “unmixed” or maintained separated from all the neighbouring tribes, for Josephus (Antiquities. l. 1. c. 10. sect. 5) said:

The forementioned son was born to Abram when he was eighty-six years old: but when he was ninety-nine, God appeared to him, and promised him that he Should have a son by Sarai, and commanded that his name should be Isaac; and showed him, that from this son should spring great nations and kings, and that they should obtain all the land of Canaan by war, from Sidon to Egypt.

But he charged him, in order to keep his posterity unmixed with others, that they should be circumcised in the flesh of their foreskin, and that this should be done on the eighth day after they were born.

²⁵ And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly and slew all the males. — Simeon and Levi, being Leah’s children; Dinah’s brethren; they act as sworn enemies to those to whom they were lately become sworn friends;

²⁶ And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went out. — and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house; where she was detained from the time of her being ravished by Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, against her will, as hostage, with an evil intention of forcing a marriage on her;

— what a parallel in today’s environment where the Hamas terrorists killed many Jews on October 7, 2023; and captured over two hundreds of the others as hostages, trying to force “peace” onto Israel;

²⁷ The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and despoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister. — although only two of Jacob’s sons were mentioned, they might be assisted by the rest; at least, no doubt, they were attended with servants, who were aiding: in accomplishing a bloody judgement;

²⁸ They took their sheep and their oxen and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field;

²⁹ and all their wealth, and all their little ones and their wives took they captive, and despoiled even all that was in the house. — and spoiled even all that was in the house; of Shechem or Hamor, or in any of the houses of the inhabitants; they rifled and plundered everyone, and took away whatsoever they found;

³⁰ And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “Ye have troubled me to make me a stench among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. And I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.”

— amongst the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and I being few in number; or men of number; he and his sons and servants, in all, making but a small number in comparison of the nations about him:

— they shall slay me: he could expect no other in human reason, and they were hindered from so doing only by the hand of the great God smiting them with terror, Genesis 35:5

³¹ And they said, “Should he deal with our sister as with a harlot?” — should he deal with our sister as with an harlot? make a whore of her, and then keep her in his house as such?

Posted in Books of Moses

Genesis 31

¹ And he heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob hath taken away all that was our father’s; and from that which was our father’s hath he gotten all this glory.” — their complaining word “glory” suggests that, enriched by cattle and commerce, Jacob had now become a person of great importance in the eyes of the people of Haran;

— as the Targum of Jonathan says, by which he got the name and glory of a rich man among men: and it was so far true what they say, that it was out of their father’s flock that Jacob got all his increase;

² And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and behold, it was not toward him as before. — and, behold, it was not towards him as before;

— he said nothing to Jacob, nor charged him with robbing of him, or any false dealing with him, yet was uneasy at his growing prosperity; he put on sour looks, and an envious countenance, sad, and surly, and lowering;

³ And the Lord said unto Jacob, “Return unto the land of thy fathers and to thy kindred, and I will be with thee.” — the Lord said unto Jacob; in answer to a prayer of his; or seeing what difficulties and discouragements Jacob laboured under, he appeared unto him for his encouragement and instruction how to proceed;

⁴ And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock, — and Jacob sent; having this encouragement and direction from the Lord, which seems while he was attending his flocks, he dispatched a messenger home to his wives, one of his servants or under shepherds;

— the Targum of Jonathan says it was his son Naphtali, of Rachels’ maid, Bilhah, whom he sent, because he was a swift messenger;

⁵ and said unto them, “I see your father’s countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father hath been with me. — but the God of my father hath been with me; not only supported him under all his troubles; but by his good providence prospering him in his affairs, as well as he had lately appeared to him, and encouraged him to return to his own country.

⁶ And ye know that with all my power I have served your father. — and ye know, that with all my power I have served your father; with all faithfulness and uprightness; with all diligence and industry; with all wisdom and prudence; and sparing no pains by day or night to take care of his flocks, and increase his substance;

⁷ And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times, but God did not suffer him to hurt me. — hath changed my wages ten times; that is, oft-times, as is often the signification of the number ten.

⁸ If he said thus: ‘The speckled shall be thy wages,’ then all the animals bore speckled; and if he said thus: ‘The ringstreaked shall be thy hire,’ then all the animals bore ringstreaked.

— the ring-straked shall be thy hire; hence it appears that Laban through envy and covetousness did break his agreement made with Jacob, and altered it as he thought meet, and that Jacob patiently yielded to all such changes.

⁹ Thus God hath taken away the flocks of your father, and given them to me. — Laban’s flock was much lessened by those means, and more were taken away, and came to Jacob’s share;

¹⁰ And it came to pass at the time that the animals conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which leaped upon the animals were ringstreaked, speckled, and grizzled.

— not that the rams in the flock were really of those colours, for they were all white, but so they were represented to Jacob in the vision, to suggest to him, that such would be produced by them;

¹¹ And the angel of God spoke unto me in a dream, saying, ‘Jacob!’ And I said, ‘Here am I.’ — saying, Jacob; and I said, here am I; the angel called him by his name, to which he answered, and signified that he was ready to attend to whatsoever he should say to him;

¹² And he said, ‘Lift up now thine eyes and see: all the rams which leap upon the animals are ringstreaked, speckled, and grizzled; for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee. — and the angel said, for I have seen all that Laban doeth to thee;

¹³ I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointed the pillar, and where thou vowed a vow unto Me. Now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.’” — I am the God of Bethel; the same Angel that appeared to Jacob in a dream, the God of Bethel; hence this ‘angel’ is the Son of God;

¹⁴ And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, “Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house? — having heard his views, Rachel and Leah answered; they expressed their entire approval;

¹⁵ Are we not counted by him strangers? For he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money. — are we not confuted of him strangers? as if we had no more right to his estate than strangers? instead of a good part of his estate, which by the law of God and nature belongs to us;

¹⁶ For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours and our children’s. Now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.” — now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do; this was well spoken indeed; they mean, that he should leave their father’s house, and go into the land of Canaan, as God had directed him;

¹⁷ Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels. — then Jacob rose up; and went with them to Laban’s house, where his children were, as is plain from Rachel’s theft, Genesis 31:19

¹⁸ And he carried away all his flocks and all his goods which he had gotten, the flocks of his getting which he had gotten in Padanaram, to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan. — for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan; but staying at several places by the way. No mention is made of his mother Rebekah, she perhaps being now dead;

¹⁹ And Laban went to shear his sheep; and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father’s. — images; images of angels, teraphim, called Laban’s gods in Genesis 31:30, which he made use of in an idolatrous and superstitious manner;

— Rachel had a lingering attachment to these objects of her family’s superstitious reverence, and secretly carried them away as relics of a home she was to visit no more, and as sources of safety to herself against the perils of her flight; and we find that such idolatry worship continued throughout their pre-Babylonian history;

— when we read of Rachel’s stealing her father’s images, what a scene of iniquity this opens; the family of Nahor, and even Terah, his father, who left the idolatrous Chaldees; is not this family itself had been tainted or even deeply idolatrous? Until the days they were purified in the Babylonian captivity?

²⁰ And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled. — Jacob stole away; he thought the prudence and necessity of departing secretly; otherwise, Laban might have detained him by violence or artifice if he waited;

²¹ So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up and passed over the river, and set his face toward the mount of Gilead. — and he rose up, and passed over the river; the river Euphrates, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it, which lay between Mesopotamia and Canaan;

— and set his face toward the mount Gilead: this, was a mountain on the border of the land of Canaan, adjoining to Lebanon, near which was a very fruitful country, which had its name from it;

²² And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled. — and it was told Laban on the third day, that Jacob was fled; three days after Jacob was gone he had the report to him;

— the Targum of Jonathan adds more concerning Jacob’s blessings while living there:

But after Jakob had gone, the shepherds went to the well, but found no water; and they waited three days, if that it might (again) overflow; but it overflowed not; and then came they to Laban on the third day, and he knew that Jakob had fled; because through his righteousness it had flowed twenty years.

²³ And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days’ journey; and they overtook him on the mount of Gilead. — seven days’ journey; the route chosen by Jacob was apparently the more easterly one, past Damascus to the west; the hill, which subsequently was called Mount Gilead, lay to the south of the Jabbok;

²⁴ And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, “Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.” — God came to Laban and warn him of any altercations, or any use no harsh language with him, which may occasion a quarrel;

— God can put a bridle in the mouth of wicked men, to restrain their malice, though he do not change their hearts. Though they have no love to God’s people, they will pretend to it, and try to make a merit of necessity;

— the Targum of Jonathan adds a sword from an angel, warning “Laban the deceitful”

And there came an angel with a word from before the Lord; and he drew the sword against Laban the deceitful in a dream of the night, and said to him, Beware lest thou speak with Jakob from good to evil.

²⁵ Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent on the mount; and Laban with his brethren pitched on the mount of Gilead. — then Laban overtook Jacob; he was come to the mount overnight, and now in the morning he came nearer to him:

²⁶ And Laban said to Jacob, “What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters as captives taken with the sword? — despite being warned by God, Laban still took a hostile approach: What hast thou done?

²⁷ Why didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth and with songs, with taboret and with harp, — thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me? but that he had no need to have used such privacy, and go away like a thief by stealth, as if he had done something he had reason to be ashamed of:

— and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret and with harp: so that he would have given him a pleasant leave to depart;

²⁸ and hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Thou hast now done foolishly in so doing. — thou hast done foolishly in so doing: since, as he would have him believe that he was both a loser by this step he took;

— and exposed himself foolishly to danger, as Laban has means to do him hurt; but Jacob knew what he did, and that it was the wisest part to follow the direction of God; yet God didn’t direct Jacob to fled in stealth in the night, so to speak, or by stealing his idols in the process.

²⁹ It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt; but the God of your father spoke unto me yesternight, saying, ‘Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.’ — the God of your father, Isaac or Abraham, by which Laban seemed to distance himself and disowned him for his God;

— speak not to Jacob either good or bad; this, though greatly to Jacob’s honour, and against Laban’s interest, God was warning him of staying out of his business;

³⁰ And now, though thou wouldest be gone, because thou sorely longed after thy father’s house, yet why hast thou stolen my gods?”

— yet, wherefore, hast thou stolen my gods? what reason had he for that? if he took away himself, his wives, his children, his goods, what business had he with his gods? 

— thou stolen my gods? teraphim, small images of human figures, used as idols or objects of worship, and as talismans, for superstitious purposes.

³¹ And Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid; for I said, ‘Perhaps thou wouldest take by force thy daughters from me.’ — Jacob answered; he gives the true reason for his flight: thou wouldest take by force thy daughters from me; which of right belonged to him; for though they were Laban’s daughters, they were Jacob’s wives;

— after which, indignant at the charge of theft, he returns, in his anger, as rash an answer about the teraphim as Joseph’s brethren a generation later did about the stolen cup;

³² With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live. Before our brethren, discern thou what is thine with me, and take it with thee.” For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them. — real foolish for Jacob to say this: “thou findest thy gods, let him not live”

— for Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them; the images or gods; or he would have been more careful of his expression, in love and tenderness to his most beloved wife;

— the Targum of Jonathan says “With whomsoever thou shalt find the images of thy idols, let him die before his time.”

³³ And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the two maidservants’ tents, but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah’s tent, and entered into Rachel’s tent. — and Laban went into Jacob’s tent; into that first where he most suspected they were, being taken not out of value for them, but contempt of them;

— and into Leah’s tent; and not Leah’s tent next, whom next to Jacob he might suspect of taking them, out of veneration to them, because her tent lay next: and into the two maidservants’ tents: Bilhah and Zilpah; but he found them not; in neither of these tents:

³⁴ Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel’s saddle and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found them not.

— then went he out of Leah’s tent, and entered into Rachel’s tent; which he went into last of all, the least suspecting of her, but covertly more addicted to the superstition and idolatry of his family than Leah and the maidservants:

³⁵ And she said to her father, “Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee, for the custom of women is upon me.” And he searched, but found not the images. — Rachel pleads the custom of women as an excuse for keeping her seat; either of ceremonial defilement; or she was already pregnant with Benjamin;

— but found not the images; and so left off searching; nor do we find that he searched the flock for any of his cattle there, knowing full well Jacob’s “honesty and integrity.”

³⁶ And Jacob was wroth, and chided Laban; and Jacob answered and said to Laban, “What is my trespass? What is my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me? — Jacob was wroth; naturally he regarded the accusation about the teraphim as a mere device for searching his goods, and when nothing was found gave free vent to his indignation;

— having answered Laban’s questions to the silencing of him, and nothing of his upon search, being found with him, Jacob took heart, and was of good courage and in high spirits, and in his turn was heated also;

— what is my trespass? what is my sin? what heinous offence have I committed? what law of God or man have I broke? that thou hast so hotly pursued after me? with so much haste and swiftness, and with such a number of men, as if he came to take a thief, a robber, or a murderer.

³⁷ Whereas thou hast searched all my goods, what hast thou found of all thy household things? Set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge between us both. — set it here before my brethren and thy brethren; publicly before them all, and let it be thoroughly inquired into whose property it was, and whether lawfully taken or not.

³⁸ These twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy shegoats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten. — in the twenty years I’ve worked for you, ewes and she-goats never miscarried; neither have  I feasted on the rams from your flock.

³⁹ That which was torn by beasts I brought not unto thee; I bore the loss of it. From my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. — that which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; the shepherds are strictly responsible for losses in the flock, unless they can prove these were occasioned by wild beasts.

⁴⁰ Thus I was: in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from mine eyes. — all the blessings because it was through my extraordinary thoughtfulness and care about thy cattle, especially in cases of danger.

⁴¹ Thus have I been twenty years in thy house. I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy flocks; and thou hast changed my wages ten times. — and six years for thy cattle, to have as many of them for his hire, as were produced from a flock of white sheep, that were speckled, spotted, or ringstraked, or brown;

⁴² Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou would have sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.” — and rebuked thee yesternight; in a dream, charging him to say neither good nor evil to Jacob, which he himself had confessed;

⁴³ And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, “These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and these flocks are my flocks, and all that thou seest is mine. And what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their children whom they have borne?

— though Laban does not attempt any reply to Jacob’s angry invectives, he answers affectionately; but offers a compromise;

⁴⁴ Now therefore come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be a witness between me and thee.” — a covenant; that all past differences and quarrels subside, and that for the future peace and good will subsist; of which a covenant made between them would be a testimony;

⁴⁵ And Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.

⁴⁶ And Jacob said unto his brethren, “Gather stones”; and they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there upon the heap. —Jacob set it up for a pillar, to show his readiness to agree to the motion, he immediately took a large stone that lay upon the mount, to be a standing monument of the agreement now about to be made between them.

⁴⁷ And Laban called it Jegarsahadutha [that is, The heap of witness], but Jacob called it Galeed. — but Jacob called it Galeed; which in the Hebrew tongue signifies “an heap of witness” or an heap, the witness;

⁴⁸ And Laban said, “This heap is a witness between me and thee this day.” Therefore was the name of it called Galeed,

⁴⁹ and Mizpah [that is, A beacon or watchtower]; for he said, “The Lord watch between me and thee when we are absent one from another. — and Mizpah; which being an Hebrew word, it looks as if the heap had also this name given it by Jacob, which signifies a “watch” or “watchtower”

⁵⁰ If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives besides my daughters, no man is with us—see, God is witness between me and thee!” — if thou shall afflict my daughters; in body or mind, by giving them hard blows, or ill words, and by withholding from them the necessaries of life, food and raiment, and the like;

— or if thou shall take other wives besides my daughters; which also would be an affliction and vexation to them; Laban, though he had led Jacob into polygamy, and even obliged him to it, did not choose he should go further into it;

⁵¹ And Laban said to Jacob, “Behold this heap and behold this pillar, which I have cast between me and thee.

⁵² This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass beyond this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm.

⁵³ The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” And Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac. — the God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us; and the father of these was Terah;

— so that the god of them was not the true God, and is not meant, at least not as truly worshipped; but the god or gods of Terah and Nahor worshipped while idolaters, and Laban still continued to do; but Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac; that is, by the true God his father Isaac feared, served, and worshipped.

⁵⁴ Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread; and they ate bread, and tarried all night on the mount. — Jacob offered sacrifice; the meaning is, that Jacob slaughtered cattle, and made a feast after offering sacrifices;

⁵⁵ And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters and blessed them. And Laban departed, and returned unto his place. — and kissed his sons and his daughters; Jacob and his sons, who were his grandsons;

— and his daughters Rachel and Leah, with Dinah his granddaughter, as was the custom of relations and friends in those countries and times, at parting: and blessed them; wished all happiness to them.

Genesis 32

¹ And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. — the angels appear in warlike guise as they were seen by Jacob; but were the “messengers of Elohim,”

² And when Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s host.” And he called the name of that place Mahanaim [that is, Two hosts or camps]. — he said, this is God’s host: or army, hence he is often called the Lord of hosts; angels have this name from their number, order, strength, and military exploits they perform;

³ And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom. — Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau; it was a prudent precaution to ascertain the present temper of Esau, as they approached the eastern confines of Canaan, lay near the wild district where his brother was now established; land of Seir, a highland country on the east and south of the Dead Sea;

⁴ And he commanded them, saying, “Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau, ‘Thy servant Jacob saith thus: I have sojourned with Laban and stayed there until now,

— speak unto my lord Esau; Jacob calls Esau his lord, and himself his servant, to intimate that he did not insist on the prerogatives of the birthright and blessing which he had obtained for himself, but left it to God to fulfil his own purpose in his seed;

— thy servant Jacob saith thus, expressing great humility and modesty; for though his father Isaac by his blessing had made him lord over Esau, the time was not come for this to take place, his father not being yet dead; and besides, was to have its accomplishment not in his own person, but in his posterity;

⁵ and I have oxen and asses, flocks and menservants and womenservants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.’” — and I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants; this he would have said, lest he should think he was come to ask anything of him, and put himself and his family upon him; and lest he should treat him with contempt;

— and I have sent to tell my lord; of his coming, and of his state and circumstances: that I may find grace in thy sight; share in his good will, which was all he wanted, and that friendship, harmony, and brotherly love, might subsist between them, which he was very desirous of;

⁶ And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.” — he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him; he is now weary of waiting for the days of mourning for his father, and before they come resolves to slay thee;

— the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem call these four hundred chiefs or warriors;

⁷ Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and the camels into two bands. — conscious how deeply he had offended his brother, Jacob became greatly afraid and distressed;

— and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two bands: some of his servants and shepherds, with a part of the flocks and herds, in one band or company, and some with the rest of them, and the camels, and his wives, and his children, in the other.

⁸ And he said, “If Esau come to the one company and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.” — and said, if Esau come to the one company, and smite it; the first, which perhaps consisted only of servants, with a part of his cattle; so that if Esau should come in an hostile manner, and fall upon that, and slay the servants, and take the cattle as a booty;

— then the other company which is left shall escape; by flight, in which most probably were he himself, his wives and children, and the camels to carry them off who would have notice by what should happen to the first band;

⁹ And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord who saidst unto me, ‘Return unto thy country and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee’ — and in this distress Jacob does not consult the teraphim Rachel had taken from her father; nor does he call upon the hosts of angels that had just appeared to him, but to God only, the God of his fathers;

— the Lord which saidst unto me, return unto thy country, and to thy kindred; the same God had appeared to him, when in Laban’s house, and bid him return to his own country, and I will deal well with thee: bestow good things on thee;

¹⁰ I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which Thou hast shown unto Thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I have become two bands. — I am not worthy; it is a surprising plea:

— one would think he should have pleaded that what was now in danger was his own against all the world, and that he had earned it dear enough; no, he pleads, Lord, I am not worthy of it. Of the least of all thy mercies.

¹¹ Deliver me, I pray Thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me and the mother with the children. — deliver me from my brother Esau, for I fear him; the fear that quickens prayer is itself pleadable. It was not a robber, but a murderer that he was afraid of:

— but the mothers’, and the children’s.; thou saidst, I will surely do thee good; God’s promises, as they are the surest guide of our desires in prayer, and furnish us with the best petitions; so they are the firmest ground of our hopes, and furnish us with the best pleas;

¹² And Thou saidst, ‘I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’” — Jacob draws an argument for a special preservation of him and his family, he was now pleading for; and the rather he might hope to succeed;

¹³ And he lodged there that same night, and took from that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother: — in order to pacify him, the present of Jacob consisted of five hundred fifty head of cattle, of different kinds, such as would be most prized by Esau;

¹⁴ two hundred shegoats and twenty hegoats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,

¹⁵ thirty milk camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty sheasses and ten foals.

¹⁶ And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said unto his servants, “Pass over before me, and put a space between drove and drove.” — and put a space betwixt drove and drove; his meaning is, that they should not follow each other closely;

— but that there should be a considerable distance between them, and which he would have them careful to keep: his view in this was, partly to prolong time, Esau stopping, as he supposed he would, at each drove, and asking questions of the men; and partly that he might the better and more distinctly observe the largeness of his present;

¹⁷ And he commanded the foremost, saying, “When Esau my brother meeteth thee and asketh thee, saying, ‘Whose art thou? And whither goest thou? And whose are these before thee?’

¹⁸ then thou shalt say, ‘They are thy servant Jacob’s. It is a present sent unto my lord Esau; and behold also, he is behind us.’” — the repetition of the announcement of the gift, and they are of “thy servant Jacob’s,” was calculated to appease Esau, and persuade him that Jacob was approaching him in all brotherly confidence and affection;

— and behold also he is behind us: that is, Jacob: this they were bid to tell, lest he should think that Jacob was afraid of him, and was gone another way; but that he was coming to pay a visit to him, and might expect shortly to see him, which would prepare his mind how to behave towards him.

¹⁹ And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all who followed the droves, saying, “In this manner shall ye speak unto Esau when ye find him. — saying, on this manner shall you speak to Esau, when you find him; that is, when they met him and perceived it was he that put questions to them.

²⁰ And say ye moreover, ‘Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us.’” For he said, “I will appease him with the presents that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.”

— I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterwards I will see his face: he hoped the present would produce the desired effect; that it would turn away his wrath from him, and pacify him; 

²¹ So went the presents over before him, and he himself lodged that night in the company. — Jacob sends a series of presents to Esau, then he himself lodged that night with Esau’s company.

²² And he rose up that night, and took his two wives and his two womenservants and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok. — ford Jabbok; now the Zerka, a stream that rises among the mountains of Gilead, and running from east to west, enters the Jordan, about forty miles south of the Sea of Tiberias.

²³ And he took them and sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had. — and he took them, and sent them over the brook; his wives and children, under the care of some of his servants:

— he rose up and took, unable to sleep, Jacob waded the ford in the night time by himself; and having ascertained its safety, he returned to the north bank and sent over his family and attendants, remaining behind, to seek anew, in silent prayer, the divine blessing on the means he had set in motion.

²⁴ And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. — there wrestled a man with him; the eternal Word, or Son of God, who often appeared in a human shape, before he assumed the human nature.

²⁵ And when the man saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him. — the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint;

²⁶ And the man said, “Let me go, for the day breaketh.” And he said, “I will not let thee go, unless thou bless me.” — let me go; the asking of permission to depart was the acknowledgment of defeat. 

²⁷ And he said unto him, “What is thy name?” And he said, “Jacob.” — What is thy name? and he replied, Jacob; that is, a supplanter, as the word signifies;

²⁸ And he said, “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” — Israel signifies a prince or prevailer with God; or a prince of God, that is, a great prince and conqueror;

²⁹ And Jacob asked him, and said, “Tell me, I pray thee, thy name.” And he said, “Why is it that thou dost ask after my name?” And he blessed him there. — in much the same manner the angel refuses to tell Manoah his name (Judges 13:18)

— but probably in the blessing which followed there was a clear proof that Jacob’s opponent was a Divine personage, the Son of God;

³⁰ And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel [that is, the face of God]: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” — Peniel; that is, the face of God: for I have seen God face to face.

³¹ And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he limped upon his thigh. — and he limped upon his thigh; he being out of joint, of which he became more sensitive when he came to walk upon it;

³² Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day, because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew that shrank.