dying advices of their parents but it was not probable
that Joseph should do so, after having so long evinced a dispo- sition most contrary to that of which he was suspected.]
2. They unite with it their own most humble and earnest entreaties —
[However strong may be our propensity to revenge, the entreaties of a penitent offender will disarm us. It is scarcely possible for a man to revenge himself on one who lies prostrate at his feet. But there is a very peculiar delicacy in this address which they make to Joseph : in speaking to him of Jacob, they do not designate him as their father, but as his ;
" Thy father did command." And when they speak to him of themselves, they do not designate themselves either as Jacob's sons, or as Joseph's brethren, but as " the servants of the God of thy father ; " thus keeping out of view every thing which might appear presumptuous, and calling to their aid Joseph's love to his parent, and his duty to his God. If this was the result of ingenuity, we admire it ; but if of real humility, we greatly applaud it: for there is a delicacy in humility, a beau- tiful and lovely delicacy, which, though in words it amount to little, as indicating the spirit by which a man is actuated, is extremely valuable. The true point to be aimed at in asking forgiveness is humility : to be open and ingenuous in our con- fessions, to take shame to ourselves for what we have done amiss, and to make all the reparation in our power, this is the spirit we should cultivate ; and it is pleasing to see these long- obdurate men brought at last to a measure of this experience.]
Reserving for a while our further observations on this part of our subject, we pass on to notice,
II. The effect produced on Joseph's mind —
Considering how long they had forborne to humble themselves aright, he might well have upbraided them, both with their former cruelty, and their subsequent impenitence: or he might have imposed conditions upon them, as Solomon afterwards did on Shimei : or he might have pardoned them in kind and conde- scending terms. But the way in which he expressed his forgiveness was more eloquent and convincing than any words which human ingenuity could ever have devised : " Joseph zvept when they spake unto him."
His weeping was from mixed emotions in his mind. The human heart is susceptible of greatly diversified impressions even at the same moment. The two Marys, when they had ascertained beyond a doubt the resurrection of their Lord, " departed from the sepulchre with fear and great joy\" Thus in the breast of Joseph, we apprehend, there was a mixture both of grief and joy :
1 . Of grief —
[It must have been inexpressibly painful to him to have
such suspicions entertained respecting him, especially after he
had for the space of seventeen years manifested such uniform
kindness towards them. A man possessed of a generous mind
b Matt, xxviii. 8.
G2.J Joseph's brethren fulfil the prophecy. 317
cannot endure that all the love he exercises should be construed as a mere hypocritical pretence, covering a rooted enmity that will break forth as soon as an opportunity shall enable him to manifest it with effect : yea, the more conscious a man feels of his own integrity, the more deeply will he feel such unfounded suspicions. If jealousy is painful to him who harbours it, it is no less painful to him who is undeservedly the object of it. This avowal therefore of their secret fears could not but inflict a deep wound on his tender spirit.
At the same time it must be distressing to Joseph to see, that, after all they had witnessed of piety in their father Jacob, and all the reason they had to believe he was possessed of the same divine principle, they should betray such ignorance of religion, as to suppose, that, where the lowest degrees of it existed, a vindictive spirit could be indulged. If indeed they thought him a determined hypocrite, they might suppose him capable of harbouring such resentment : but, if he had any hope of forgiveness from God himself, he never could suffer such feelings to rankle in his breast. Whilst therefore they doubted the influence of true religion in him, they shewed, that they were in a very great degree strangers to it them- selves : and this discovery must have been painful to him, in proportion to the love he bore them, and the desire he felt for their eternal welfare. Hence that expression of his, " Am I in the place of God," to whom exclusively " vengeance belongs," and whose prerogative, if I avenged myself, I should usurp c?]