Tanak Foundations-Concepts in Genesis-Chapters 45-46

Gen 45.1-28 tells us how Joseph reveals himself to his brothers; how he sends his brothers home with many gifts to bring his father to the land for protection; Jacob hears that Joseph lives and is a ruler in Egypt.

v 1…Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried, “Have everyone go out from me (his attendants).” So there was no man with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.

v 2…And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it (in the outer rooms) and the household of Pharaoh heard (that Joseph;s brothers had come).

v 3..,Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph (Ani Yosef). Is my father still alive (did he really survive all these afflictions; he can ask this for himself now)?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed (disconcerted; torn between belief and unbelief) at his presence.

v 4…Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come closer (Hebrew “Geshu na”) to me.” And they came closer. And he said, “I am your brother Joseph whom you sold into Egypt (he thinks they sold him, but they were the primary cause of of the sale to begin with).

v 5…And now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life (now God’s plan is evident).

v 6…For this famine has been in the land these two years and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting (a type of the seven year birth-pains).

v 7…And God sent me (as a “shaliach” like Yeshua) before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth (a great multitude as promised to Abraham) and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.

v 8… Now (that God’s plan is evident) therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God and he has made me a father (a mentor, counselor) to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

v 9…Hurry and go up to my father (with no delay) and say to him, “‘Thus says your son Joseph, “God has made me lord of all Egypt, come down to me, do not delay (so he can stop worrying).

v 10…And you shall live in the land of Goshen (meaning “draw near”; did Joseph call it that based on what he said in v 4, “geshu na”; this area was in the Faiyum in middle Egypt; there was a great granary there called the “Labyrinth” and it was one of the wonders of the ancient world, and the canals of Joseph were there, both built by Amenemhat III) and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children and your flocks and your herds and all that you have.

v 11…There I will also provide for you, for there are stil, five years of famine (to come), lest you and your household and all that you have be impoverished.”

v 12…And behold, your eyes see and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth (speaking Hebrew now without an interpreter) which is speaking with you.

v 13…Now You must tell my father of all my splendor in Egypt (it would not be easy to get Jacob to leave the land of promise), and all that you have seen; and you must hurry and bring my father down here.

v 14…Then he fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck (Hebrew “necks”) and wept and Benjamin wept on his neck (it was reciprocal).

v 15…And he kissed all his brothers and wept on them, and afterward his brothers talked with him (now that they know Joseph was not seeking vengeance).

v 16…Now when the news was heard in Pharaoh’s house that Joseph’s brothers had come, it pleased Pharaoh and his servants (because they loved Joseph).

v 17…Then Pharaoh (Amenemhat III) said to Joseph, “Say to your bothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go to Canaan,

v 18…and take your father and your households and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you shall eat of the fat of the land.’

v 19…Now you are ordered, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring (carry) your father and come.

v 20…And do not concern yourselves with your goods (leave some of it behind) for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’ ”

v 21…Then the sons of Israel did so, and Joseph gave them wagons according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey.

v 22…To each of them he gave changes of garments (two sets to change into upon occasion), but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of garments (because of his affection for him).

v 23…And to his father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with the best things of egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and and bread and sustenance for his father on the journey.

v 24…So he sent his brothers away and they departed, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the journey (over these events and who was most responsible, etc).”

v 25…Then they went up from Egypt and came into the land of Canaan to their father Jacob.

v 26…And they told him, saying, “Joseph is alive, and indeed he is ruler over all the land of Egypt (Joseph’s dream in Gen 37.6-8 was not about ruling over his brothers, but ruling over all of Egypt).” But he was stunned, for he did not believe them (he had thought Joseph was dead from being torn by animals all this time).

v 27…When they told him all the words of Joseph that he had spoken to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit (thoughts, desires) of their father Jacob revived.

v 28…Then Israel said, “It is enough (how great this is), my son Joseph is alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

Joseph was treated as first-born by Pharaoh and Joseph has two fathers in this story Which one did he forget? The names of his two children give us the answer).

Gen 46.1-34 tells us that Jacob comes to Egypt, and God speaks to Jacob on the way; a list of those who came with him; the meeting of Jacob and Joseph; they settle in the land of Goshen in the Faiyum where Joseph was.

v 1…So Israel (his spiritual name) set out with all that he had, and came to Beersheba (on the way to Egypt; where Abraham and Isaac lived and offered sacrifices), and offered sacrifices (Hebrew “zevachim” in the category of peace offerings; he gave thanks that Joseph was alive and he was apprehensive about leaving the land of promise and going to Egypt) to the God of Isaac his father (who never left the land).

v 2…And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob (the repetition expresses affection).” And he said, “Here I am (ready).”

v 3…And he said, “I am God (Elohay), the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt (since his father was forbidden to go), for I will make you a great nation there.

v 4…I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will surely bring you up again (to be buried in Machpelah), and Joseph will close your eyes (be there when you die).”

v 5…Then Jacob arose from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob and their little ones and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him (it seems Jacob’s wives had died; we know Rachel was dead, and Jacob says that he buried Leah in Machpelah in Gen 49.31; and there is no mention of Zilpah and Bilhah).

v 6…And they took their livestock and their property, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and came to Egypt, Jacob and all his descendants with him (not one stayed behind);

v 7…his sons and his grandsons with him, his daughters (Dinah and his daughters-in-law) and his granddaughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.

v 8…Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, Jacob and his sons, who went to Egypt: Reuben, Jacob’s first born.

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

v 10…And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jachin and Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman (he is the only son that married a Canaanite woman, against earlier admonitions not to-Gen 24.3, 28.1).

v 11…And the sons of Levi: Gershom and Kohath and Merari.

v 12…And the sons of Judah: Er and Onan and Shelah and Peretz and Zerach, but er and Onan died in the lnad of Canaan. And the sons of Peretz were Hezron and Hamul.

v 13…And the sons of Issachar: Tola and Puvvah and Yov and Shimron.

v 14…And the sons of Zebulon: Sered and Elon and Yachleel.

v 15…These are the sons of Leah whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, with his daughter Dinah, all his sons and daughters numbered thirty-three.

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

v 17…And the sons of Asher: Imnah and Ishvah and Ishvi and Beriah and their sister Serach. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.

v 18…These are the sons of Zilpah whom Laban gave his daughter Leah: and she bore to Jacob these sixteen persons.

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

v 20…Now to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore him.

v 21…And the sons of Benjamin: Bela and Becher and Ashbel, Gera and Naaman, Ehi and Rosh, Mupim and Hupim and Ard.

v 22…These are the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob; there were fourteen persons in all.

v 23…And the sons of Dan: Chushim.

v 24…And the sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel and Guni and Jezer and Shilem.

v 25…These are the sons of Bilhah whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, and she bore these to Jacob: these were seven persons in all.

v 26…All the persons belonging to Jacob, who came to Egypt, his direct descendants, not including the wives of Jacob’s sons, were sixty-six persons in all,

v 27…and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt were two; all the persons of the house of Jacob, who came to Egypt, were seventy (the number of completion, not one was lost).

v 28…Now he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to point out the way before him to Goshe.

v 29…And Joseph prepared his chariot and went up from Goshen to meet his father Israel(Goshen means “draw near”; did Joseph name it or did it already have that name; the word is close to the first words Joseph said in Gen 45.4, “geshu na” meaning draw near); as soon as he appeared before him, he (Joseph) fell on his neck and wept on his neck a long time.

v 30…Then Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die (in other words, “If I were to die right now I would die with the knowledge that you are still alive”), since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.”

v 31…And Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me,

v 32…and the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock; and their herds and all they have.’

v 33…And it shall come about when Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’

v 34…that you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth, even until now, both we and our fathers (and not settle you in the urban centers),’ that you may live in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is loathsome to the Egyptians (the Egyptians loathed sheep as food or sacrifices-Exo 8.22; Joseph said they could live in the fertile Goshen in 45.10, but he still needed Pharaoh’s permission)

Posted in All Teachings, Articles, Idioms, Phrases and Concepts, Prophecy/Eschatology, The Festivals of the Lord, The Tanak, Tying into the New Testament

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