sion conveying to Joseph the grant of the most extensive power and authority as a minister of Pharaoh. It seems to be spoken in reply to some expressed reluctance on the part of Joseph to accept of all that honor and power which the king wished to confer. He might fear that the royal favor would expose him to envy, and perhaps the king to reproach. But here Pharaoh virtually assures him that his authority shall be submitted to universally by all classes of men and in all kinds of relations, small as well as great. He that re on which the lovers of the present world value themselves, will soon come to an end. But there are pleasant as well as afflictive changes. The man who at present wears rags may one day be clothed in sumptuous apparel. But let us not forget that a change of infinitely greater moment in the state of the soul passes upon all the redeemed of the Lord. Our natural condition under the power of sin, is incomparably more wretched than that of Joseph when the iron entered his soul. The garments of praise and salvation with which every believer in Jesus is array-sisted the authority of Joseph virtually ed, infinitely excel in beauty those perishing ornaments with which the kings of the East were accustomed to deck their favorites. When Christ gives liberty to the captives he bestows upon them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. But it is only at the resurrection that the contrast between our native character and condition and that which is wrought in virtue of Christ's atonement, shines forth in its full relief. Joseph doubtless felt heartfelt lively emotions of gratitude to Pharaoh, when his prison-garments were exchanged for royal vestments. But at that blissful period 'we shall greatly rejoice in the Lord, our souls shall be joyful in our God; for he hath clothed us with the garments of salvation, he hath covered with the robes of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorn-in the present case it was altogether eth himself with ornaments, and as a bride decketh herself with her jewels.' 44. Without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt. A proverbial mode of expres resisted the authority of Pharaoh. It honorary, and designed as a token of the high esteem in which he was held by the king, and a just expression of the great obligations under which he had laid the whole nation. The term itself is probably Egyptian, like 'Abrek' | means of bringing her to the knowl in a preceding verse, and is of equally doubtful import. It is usually understood to mean 'revealer of secrets' on the authority of most of the ancient versions, though Jerome refers it to a Coptic origin and renders 'savior or deliverer of the world.' Farther researches into these ancient languages, which are now going on among the learned in Europe, may perhaps eventually make us acquainted with its true sense.¶ Gave him to wife Asenath, &c. We know nothing more than we are here told of Asenath, or of Potipherah her father. But it is plain that Pharaoh intended by this connexion to honor Joseph and to strengthen his interest among the important families in the kingdom. We are not warranted in condemning the step on the part of Joseph, because we know not how far religion had at this time degenerated in Egypt. Jethro's daughter was not rejected by Moses because Jethro was priest of Midian. If Poti-pherah was as bad as heathen priests often were, his daughter might, nevertheless, be a woman well disposed to receive the truth from Joseph. We have no evidence that she was a worse woman than Joseph's own mother, who was not free from a tincture of idolatry, at least when she came with Jacob from Mesopotamia. Suppose Joseph to have married a wife trained up in superstition and idolatry, when it was not perhaps in his power to have obtained a better, his example will be no excuse to those Christians who yoke themselves with infidel or graceless women when there is no necessity for it. We have reason to believe that one who so habitually acknowledged God in all his ways, did not neglect to acknowledge | him in a matter of so much importance as the present; and why may not God have seen fit in his sovereign pleasure to bestow Joseph upon Asenath as the edge of himself? But although we 46 And Joseph was thirty | of Pharaoh, and went throughout years old when he stood before all the land of Egypt. Pharaoh king of Egypt: and Joseph went out from the presence o 1 Sam. 16. 21. 1 Kings 12. 6, 8. Dan. 1. 19. 47 And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls. 'Heliopolis;' i. e. city of the sun, and by the Hebrews 'Beth Shemesh;' i. e. house of the sun, Jer. 43. 13. Eighteen centuries ago this city was in ruins when visited by Strabo. At present, almost the only monument of its former grandeur is a column of granite seventy feet high, and covered with hieroglyphics, of which a particular description is given by Dr. Clarke. Josephus says this city being in the land of Goshen was given to the family of Jacob, when they first came to sojourn in Egypt. Joseph went out over the land of Egypt. A brief mention of the incident more fully detailed in the next verse. ing before the king; yet it was a greater honor to him that he gave to the king every reason to be satisfied with his conduct. Considering his age and the condition from which he had been raised, it would not have been unnatural that he should have shewn some of the effects which sudden elevations are apt to produce. But he who enabled him to repel temptation and to endure affliction, enabled him also to bear the glory that was conferred upon him with humility. He made no sinecure of his office, nor did he spend his days in pleasure, receiving the compliments of the friends whom his prosperity procured. He was, and he felt himself to be, exalted to power for the good and the safety of the people, and he entered at once upon the active discharge of the duties of his station. He went through all the land of Egypt, not to shew his greatness, but to see with his own eyes what was to be done, to issue the proper orders, and to see their execution. If the kindness of his former master had been a powerful motive with him to resist the solicitations of his abandoned mistress, the still greater favors received from Pharaoh were a sufficient motive, if he needed a motive, to the most unwearied activity and diligence in securing the country against the evils of the threatened famine. 46. And Joseph was thirty years old, &c. As he was seventeen years of age when he was sold into slavery, thirteen years of course were spent in that afflictive condition, of which probably three at least were passed in the walls of a prison. He no doubt had cherished the hope of being much sooner delivered from his troubles and restored to the arms of his affectionate father. But it was happy for him that he did not know beforehand when God would be pleased to give him the expected end of his sorrows. Thirteen years of suffering would have been fearful in prospect. But the retrospect was pleasant, when there was no dread of their return. The remembrance of grief turned into joy gives a 47. The earth brought forth by handrich compensation for its bitterness. fuls. That is, in vast abundance; one Though light is always pleasant, it is kernel yielding a whole handful, or doubly so after darkness. He was each stalk producing as much corn as, now raised to a place of rank and dis- popularly speaking, the hand could tinction. He had the honor of stand-grasp. This, or even more than this 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. 49 And Joseph gathered corn p as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number. p. ch. 22. 17. Judges 7. 12. 1 Sam. 13. 5. Ps. 78. 27. 50 And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came: which Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On bare unto him. 51 And Joseph called the name of the first-born Manasseh; For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house. q ch. 46. 20. & 48. 5. productiveness, is not at this day unusual in Egypt. Mr. Jowett, in his 'Christian Researches,' states that when in Egypt he plucked up a few stalks out of the cornfields. We counted the number of stalks which sprouted from single grains of seed, carefully pulling to pieces each root, in order to see that it was one plant. The first had seven stalks; the next three; then eighteen; then fourteen. Each stalk would bear an ear.' The annexed cut represents a species of wheat which now actually grows in Egypt. EGYPTIAN WHEAT. 48. And he gathered up all the food, &c. The report of Pharaoh's dream, and of the interpretation, must have spread through all the land of Egypt, with the account of Joseph's advancement; and many of the people would undoubtedly see that it was for their interest to be frugal and provident, and would act accordingly. But as the years of plenty would not soon come to an end, many would no doubt think it unnecessary to be in haste to make provision for days of famine that were yet at a considerable distance. Of this Joseph was well aware. He foresaw that a great part of the inhabitants of the land must perish, unless he prevented the danger by his own care. Accordingly he gathered up all the food of the seven years, and laid it in the cities which he made depots for the surrounding country. He left great abundance for present use. That which was laid up was the fifth part, according to his own suggestion and the royal mandate; and this was laid up and carefully preserved in the storehouses which he had caused to be prepared for its reception. 50, 51. Unto Joseph were born two sons, &c. These sons, as is usual in the Scriptures, are significantly named, the names being expressive of the state of his mind in his present situation. We commonly look no farther than the instruments employed by provi 52 And the name of the second [ 54 And the seven years of called he Ephraim: For God hath dearth began to come, accordcaused me to be fruitful in the ing as Joseph had said: and the land of my affliction. dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. 53 And the seven years of plenteousness that was in the land of Egypt, were ended. r ch. 49. 22. dence in conferring benefits or inflicting evils upon us. But Joseph saw that all his adversities and all his prosperity came from God. He was grateful to Pharaoh, but he was grateful chiefly to God, for the happy change in his condition. God had made him to forget all his toil, and his father's house, and therefore he named his first son Manasseh, which signifies forgetting or making to forget. He did not mean by this, however, that his remembrance of his toil was obliterated from his mind. His mention of it when he gave the name to his son, was a proof that in one sense he still remembered it. It was in fact his duty to remember it. How could he have retained just impressions of the divine goodness, if he had forgotten the evils from which he was delivered? But in another sense he forgot his misery. He did not so cherish the recollection as to allow it to embitter his present enjoy ment. The memory of his troubles was comparatively lost in the happiness by which they were succeeded. So also of what he says about his father's house. He had not literally forgotten his father nor the kindness showered upon him from the days of his childhood. Neither had he literally ceased to remember the cruel treatment of his brother; but he ceased to lay it to heart; the painful remembrance of the past was expelled from his mind, when his adversity was changed into prosperity. 52. The name of the second called he s Ps. 105. 16. Acts 7. 11. t ver. 30. Ephraim. That is, fruitful, as he himself immediately after explains it. He had formerly been like a heath in the desert, but now he was like a tree planted by the rivers of water, which brings forth abundance of fruit and whose leaf does not wither. This happy change he ascribes to the divine goodness. Perhaps it was owing to a suggestion from above that the name 'Ephraim' was given to Joseph's second son, rather than his first. As far as we know, he had no more children of his own body, but he was fruitful in his remote progeny, especially by Ephraim, and we find a striking allusion to this name in the blessings of Jacob; 'Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over a wall.' See Note on Gen. 49. 22. 53. The seven years of plenteousness were ended. When the people heard that the days of plenteousness were to be seven years, thousands would no doubt be strongly tempted to say to their souls, "Eat, drink, and be merry; to-morrow shall be as this day, and so shall the next and many following days and years be, and much more abundantly.' But the day of prosperity was now at an end and the days of adversity had arrived. The end of all the changing things in this world of change will soon come, and then the beginning of them will appear like yesterday when it is past. 'A perpetuity of bliss is bliss,' and that only. 54. And the seven years of dearth be |