land of Goshen, a place fit for your occupation, and at a distance from Pharaoh and his court; for every shepherd [is] an abomination unto the Egyptians, especially the Israelitish shepherds; because they lived by selling those cattle for slaughter which the Egyptians held sacred; particularly the ox and the cow, which the Egyptians worshipped as emblems of Osiris and Isis,

L'

REFLECTIONS.

1. ET us acknowledge God in all our journeys and removes. The patriarchs walked with God; so Jacob did in this important affair. The heathen never set out on a journey, without offering sacrifices to their deities. It is good in all our ways to acknowledge God, to beg his protection and blessing; it is that which maketh men rich and prosperous. A horse, or any carriage, is but a vain thing to trust to for safety. Let us have our eyes ever toward the Lord; he can make our journey safe and successful. It is an old saying, that' prayer and provender hinder no man.'

2. Let the thought which comforted Jacob, when going down to Egypt, comfort us when going down to the grave. v. 4. We may go with fear and trembling, but we have God's promise to rest upon, that he will not suffer his servants to perish in the grave; but will surely bring us up again. Let us rejoice in this thought, and be willing to go. where God would have us, since he will go with us. Yea, says David, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thy rod and thy staff shall comfort me!

3. How comfortable will be the interview of good men in heaven! It was agreeable to Jacob to see Joseph again; what congratulations and joy were there on this occasion! But how much more excellent will the meeting of parents and children, and friends be, in that better world! There will be no weeping, even for joy, all will be tranquillity and peace, harmony and eternal friendship. What an happy meeting will that be! An heathen philosopher could say, 'Let us make haste to our heavenly country; there are our fathers, and there are all our friends.' Should not the christian then say so; bless God for the prospect of meeting them there, and cultivate sincere affection and friendship one toward another, that we may relish the heavenly country?

4. It is a great instance of friendship, to keep those that we love out of the way of temptation. Joseph was desirous that his brethren should abide in their calling, and remain in Goshen; he did not wish to prefer them at court, to put them in places of trust and power, and raise them above the station in which they were brought up, and for which they were best qualified: but to

keep them to the innocent life of shepherds, that they might not be corrupted by the vices and idolatry of the Egyptian court: that they might not forget Canaan, but be desirous of returning to it, and keep together while they were absent from it. Parents will do right and well to choose such settlements in life for their children, where they will be most free from temptation, and those occupations in which they will be in least danger of being corrupted if those are not so profitable, yet they are much to be preferred by all, except those who think this world better than the other. Let us learn to watch over one another, as Joseph did over his brethren; and labour to keep all around us, especially our relations, from those stations and circumstances which would be injurious to their virtue, and make them forget their heavenly country. Let us thus watch over others as well as ourselves, and pray also that we enter not into temptation.

That in the days

It is promised to good men, in Psalm xxxvii. 19. of famine they shall be satisfied; this was the case here. Joseph presents his father and brethren to Pharaoh; they are provided for, while the famine greatly prevails. We have an ac◄ count of Joseph's prudent management at this time; and his promise to his father concerning his funeral.

'T

HEN Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they [are] in the land of Goshen. Though prime minister, he came to know Pharaoh's pleasure. 2 And he took some of his brethren, [even] five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh. Some say the meanest of them, lest Pharaoh should have employed them at court, or in the ar3 my. 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; our ancesAtors have always been used to this employment. They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come, during the famine; 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 spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and : 6 thy brethren are come unto thee: 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] men of activity among them, then make

7

them rulers over my cattle.
that their business, and their

permit.

This was the highest preferment resolution of continuing in it would

And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh, saluted him, pray8 ing for his welfare, and giving him thanks for his bounty. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old [art] thou? In the original, 9 how many are the days of the years of thy life? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage, of my wandering life, [are] an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, full of labour and toil, trouble and vexation, more than my fathers had, and I have not attained unto the days of the years of the life 10 of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.* And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh; took his leave, commending him to God.

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. 12 And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, according to [their] families.

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 14 of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. 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 15 house. 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? 16 for the money faileth. And Joseph said, Give your cattle; 17 and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail. 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, which was the 18 sixth year of the famine. When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year of their great extremity, and the seventh year of the famine, and said unto him, We will not hide [it] from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not aught left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies and our lands: 19 Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our

Abraham lived one hundred and seventy five years, Isaac one hundred and eighty. Jacob had reason indeed to say, his days were few and evil; he had calamities in abundance, In Reuben, and Simeon, and Levi; in Judah and Dinah; in Er and Onan; Benjamin and Jo. seph: what with the wickedness of some, and the misfortunes of others, his was a most af flicted family, and it is a wonder his heart was not broken. Surely the title of The God of Jacob, must have in it, principally, a view to a future state!

land? (the land is said to die, when it becomes desolate for want of tillage ;) buy us and our land for bread, and we and our lands will be servants unto Pharaoh : and give [us] seed, that we may live and not die, that the land be not desolate.* 20 And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh : for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine 21 prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh's. And as for the people, he removed them to cities from [one] end of the borders of Egypt even to the [other] end thereof, to the nearest cities where there was corn laid up; which was an act 22 of prudence, compassion, and generosity. Only the land of the priests, or princes, bought he not; for the priests had a portion [assigned them] of Pharaoh, a decree of Pharaoh that it should be so, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them wherefore they sold not their lands. They were princes, counsellors, and chief magistrates, as well as priests, and had a settled stipend from the crown.

23 Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh : lo, [here is] seed 24 for you, and ye shall sow the land. And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth [part] unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones. He dealt mercifully with 25 them, yet faithfully for his lord.† 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, his farmers and tenants. 26 And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, [that] Pharaoh should have the fifth [part ;] except the land of the priests, or princes, only, [which] became not Pharaoh's.‡

27

28

And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly, according to the promise in chap.

xlvi. 3.

And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the days of the years of his life, or the whole age of Jacob, was

Some have wondered they did not mutiny before this time; but garrisons in the eities, and guards over the granaries, might prevent it.

Joseph hath been reflected upon as acting a base part in buying the land, and enslaving the people; but Joseph only acted as the minister of Pharaoh, and by his direction; he · could not give the corn away; it was reasonable the crown should have some advantage; only a fifth part was laid up by the king's orders; particular persons might store up great quantities for themselves: if they used it too freely, or sold it to strangers for an extrava gant price, they only were to blame; they knew how long the famine was to last, and were fairly forewarned. It was great kindness in Joseph to take their cattle, or they would hate perished; and as to their lands, they were but tenants to the crown before this, as they were under an arbitrary government; and, whatever we may think, they acknowledged it as a great kindness. See Chandler's Answer to Morgan.

Thus he gave them their lands again, only reserved a fifth part of the produce for Pharaoh; he laid on the land a tax of four shillings in the pound. They were thus exempted from arbitrary impositions, and secured in the full possession of their lands, on paying a reasonable tax, as much as we in Eritain are at this day.

29 an hundred forty and seven years. 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, as a testimony of subjection and obedience, and deal kindly and truly with me, show me 30 true kindness; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt: But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place, in token of my assurance that God in due time will bring back my posterity, and settle them in Canaan, und as a sign of my expectation and desire of the heavenly inheritance, whereof Canaan is a type. And 31 he said, I will do as thou hast said. And he said, Swear unAnd he sware unto him. And Israel, who probably was now sitting up in his bed, or on the side of it, bowed himself upon the bed's head, or upon the top of his staff, and worshipped God with thankfulness for his promises, and for this present mercy.

to me.

IT

REFLECTIONS.

T is an instructive view of human life which this patriarch gives us we are strangers and travellers; are not at home. To this the apostle refers, Heb. xi. 13. All his life was a pilgrimage, as well as the time since he left Egypt. So is our life; our stay is short; we are going to another state and world, and we have many inconveniences in our journey. Let us consider life in this view, and not act as if we were to continue here always, nor expect too much in the way. Let us often think of changing our habitations, bless God for what he hath done for us hitherto, and rejoice that there remaineth a rest for the people of God hereafter.

2. Let christians show kindness at home. Joseph is a good example of filial piety; he was tender of his aged father, nourished him, sware to him that he would do as he desired him, and was very kind to all his brethren. Children, learn hence, to honour your father and mother; do not forsake them when they are infirm and old; love your brethren, and be ready to do all the good you can for them. Thus you will imitate Joseph, and likewise the blessed Jesus; and at last have a place with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of your heavenly Father.

3. See what a terrible thing famine is, and let it teach us to be thankful for our daily bread. Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath, will he give for his life; his money, his cattle, his land; he will part with all, even liberty itself, to save life. Let us be thankful this is not our case, that we are not reduced to this extremity. God gives us all things richly to enjoy. Let us improve our money, our cattle, our land, for that God who feeds VOL. I. Bb