Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 1.djvu/242

210 they had forgotten the truth, and began to believe the lie themselves.

III. He urged it very closely, that Joseph had himself constrained them to bring Benjamin with them, had expressed a desire to see him, (v. 21.) and had forbidden them his presence, unless they brought Benjamin with them, (v 23, 26.) all which intimated that he designed him some kindness, and must he be brought with so much difficulty to the preferment of a perpetual slavery? Was he not brought to Egypt, in obedience, purely in obedience, to the command of Joseph; and would he not show him some mercy? Some observe, that Jacob's sons, in reasoning with their father, had said, We will not go down, unless Benjamin go with us, (ch. 43. 5.) but that when Judah comes here to relate the story, he expresses it more decently, "We cannot go down, with any expectation to speed well." Indecent words spoken in haste to our superiors, should be recalled and amended.

IV. The great argument he insists upon, was, the insupportable grief it would be to his aged father, if Benjamin should be left behind in servitude; His father loveth him, v. 20. This they had pleaded against Joseph's insisting on his coming down, (v. 22.) "If he should leave his father, his father would die; much more if now he be left behind, never more to return to him." This the old man, of whom they spake, had pleaded against his going down, (v. 29.) If any mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs, that crown of glory, with sorrow to the grave. This therefore Judah presses with a great deal of earnestness, "His life is bound up in the lad's life; (v. 30. ) when he sees that the lad is not with us, he will faint away, and die immediately, (v. 31.) or will abandon himself to such a degree of sorrow, as will, in a few days, make an end of him." And lastly, Judah pleads, that, for his part, he could not bear to see this, (v. 34. ) Let me not see the evil that shall come on my father. Note, It is the duty of children to be very tender of their parents' comfort, and to be afraid of every thing that may be an occasion of grief to them. Thus the love that descended first, must again ascend, and something must be done towards a recompense for their care.

V. Judah, in honour to the justice of Joseph's sentence, and to show his sincerity in this plea, offers himself to become a bondman instead of Benjamin, v. 33. Thus the law would be satisfied; Joseph would be no loser; (for we may suppose Judah a more able-bodied man than Benjamin, and fitter for service;) and Jacob would better bear the loss of him than of Benjamin. Now, so far was he from grieving at his father's particular fondness for Benjamin, that he is himself willing to be a bondman, to indulge it. Now, had Joseph been as Judah supposed him, an utter stranger to the family, yet even common humanity could not but be wrought upon by such powerful reasonings as these; for nothing could be said more moving, more tender; it was enough to melt a heart of stone: but to Joseph, who was nearer akin to Benjamin than Judah himself was, and who, at this time, felt a greater affection both for him and his aged father, than Judah did, nothing could be more pleasingly or more happily said. Neither Jacob nor Benjamin needed an intercessor with Joseph; for he himself loved them.

Upon the whole matter, let us take notice, 1. How prudently Judah suppressed all mention of the crime that was charged upon Benjamin. Had he said any thing by way of acknowledgment of it, he had reflected on Benjamin's honesty, and seemed too forward to suspect that; had he said any thing by way of denial of it, he had reflected on Joseph's justice, and the sentence he had passed: therefore he wholly waveswaives [sic] that head, and appeals to Joseph's pity. Compare with this that of Job, in humbling himself before God, (Job 9. 15.) Though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, I would not argue, but petition, I would make supplication to my judge. 2. What good reason dying Jacob had to say, Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise, (ch. 49. 8.) for he excelled them all in boldness, wisdom, eloquence, and especially tenderness for their father and family. 3. Judah's faithful adherence to Benjamin, now in his distress, was recompensed long after by the constant adherence of the tribe of Benjamin to the tribe of Judah, when all the other ten tribes had deserted it. 4. How fitly does the apostle, when he is disocursing of the mediation of Christ, observe, that our Lord sprang out of Judah; (Heb. 7. 14.) for, like his father Judah, he not only made intercession for the trangressors, but he became a surety for them, as it follows there, (v. 22. ) testifying therein a very tender concern, both for his father and for his brethren.

CHAP. XLV. It is a pity that this chapter and that foregoing should be parted, and read asunder. There we had Judah's intercession for Benjamin, with which, we may suppose, the rest of his brethren signified their concurrence; Joseph let him go on without interruption, heard all he had to say, and then answered it all in one word, I am Joseph. Now, he found his brethren humbled for their sins, mindful of himself, (for Judah had mentioned him twice in his speech,) respectful to their father, and very tender of their brother Benjamin; now, they were ripe for the comfort he designed them, by making himself known to them, which we have the story of in this chapter: it was to Joseph's brethren as clear shining after rain, nay, it was to them as life from the dead. Here is, I. Joseph's discovery of himself to his brethren, and his discourse with them upon that occasion, v. 1..15. II. The orders Pharaoh, hereupon, gave to fetch Jacob and his family down to Egypt, and Joseph's despatch of his brethren, accordingly, back to his father with those orders, v. 16..24. III. The joyful tidings of this brought to Jacob, v. 25..28.

HEN Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that 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 did send 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 the which there shall neither be earing 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,