The Pulpit Commentary — Genesis — Section 517

fruiting ; o.nd Da.thiue renders by jej=. food of those good years that come, and lay After which he (i. e. Pharaoh) informs Joseph up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let that the professional interpreters a.ttached to them keep food i.n the cities (or, foou in the the Court (the chartummim, or masters of cities, and let them keep it). And that food the occult sciences) could give him no idea. aha~l be for store (literally, somethiWJ de- of its meaning. posited) to the land against the seven years Vor. 25.-And Joseph said unto Pharaoh of famine, which shall be i.n the land of (tho inability of the magicians to read the Egypt; that the land perish not through dream of Pharaoh was the best proof that the famine-literally, and the land (i. e. the Joseph spoke from inspiration), The drell.lll people of the land) shal,l not be cut off in or of Pharaoh is one (i. e. the two dreams have by, the famine. ' the same significance) : God hath shewed Vera. 37, 38.-A.nd the thing was good Pharaoh what he is about to do (literally, in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all what the. Elohim is doing, i. e. is about to his servants. The advice tendered recom- do he causeth to be seen by PharMh). mended itself to the king and his ministers. Vers. 26-32.-Proceeding with the in- And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can terpretation of the dream, Joseph explains we find such a one as this is, a man in whom to Pharaoh that the seven good kine and the the Spirit of God is! The Ruach Elohim, as seven full ears point to a succession of seven understood by Pharaoh, meant the sagacity yeara of great plenty throughout all the and intelligence of a deity (cf. Numb. =vii. land of Egypt which were already coming 18; Job xxxii. 8; Prov. ii. 6; Dan. iv. 8, (ver. 29), after which there should a1ise 18; v. 11, 14; vi. 3). seven years of famine, in which all the Vera. 39, 40. -And Pharaoh said nnto plenty should be forgotten in the land, and Joseph, Forasmuch a.a (literally, after) God the famine should consume, or make an end (Elohim) hath shewed thee (literally, hath of, the land (ver. 30), and the plenty should caused thee to know) all this, there is none not be known i.n the land by reason of so discreet and wise as thon art: thou ahal t (literally, from the face of, used of the be over my house, e.nd according unto thy efficient cause of anything, hence on account word shall e.ll my people be ruled-literally, of) that famine following- literally, the according to thy mouth shall al,l my people famine, that one, after (things have happened) di,spose themselves, i. e. they shall render so,· adding (ver. 32), And for that the dream obedience to thy commands [LXX., Vulgatc, was doubled unto Pharaoh twice (literally, Onkelos, Saadias, Pererius, Dathius, Roscn- and as for the dm.ibling of the dream to miillcr, Keil, Kalisch, Lo.nge, llfurphy, o.nd PharMh twice); it is because the thing is others); though by many competent authori- established by God,-literally, the word (or ties (Calvin, Schultens, Knobel, .Ainsworth, thing spoken of) is firmly fixed, i. e. cer- Gesenius, Fiirst, Wordsworth, et al ii) the tainly decreed, by the Elohim- and God rendering is preferred, "upon thy mouth shall will shortly bring it to pass-literally, and all my people kiss," against which, however, hastening (is) the Elohim to do it. is the fact that not even then were governors Ve1·s. 33-36.-N ow therefore (addsJ oseph, accustomed to be kissed on the lips by their passing on to suggest measures suitable to subjects in token of nllegilmce. The sug- meet the extraordinary emergency predicted) gestion that the verb shoulu. be taken in the let Phare.oh look out a man disoreet (PJ.~, sense of "arm themselves," as in 2 Chron. xvii. 17 (Aben Ezra), docs not meet with niph. part. of )'~, intelligent, discerning), general acceptance. Only in the throne (or, e.nd wise, e.nd aet him over the land of more o.ccurately, only as to the throne) will I Egypt. Let Pharaoh do this, and let him be gree.ter than thou. e.ppoint officers (litemlly, let him set ove1·- Vera. 41-43.-And Phare.oh eaid unto 1eel's, Cl'1~~. from 1R!Ji, to look after, in hiph. Joseph, See, I he.ve set thee over all th, to cause to look after) over the land, and te.ke land of Egypt. This was tho royal edict 'lP the fifth p:i.rt of the land of Egypt-liter- constituting Joseph graud vizier or prime ally, let him fifth the land, i. e. levy a tax minister of tho empire: tho formal installa- upon its :eroduce to that extent (LXX., Vul- ticin in office followed. And Pharaoh took gate), which was double the annual impost oft' his ring from his hand,-the use of 11 exo.cted from Egyptian farmers, but which signet-ring by the monarch, which Bohlen the unprecedented fertility of the soil cnableu admits to be in accordance with tho accounts them to bear without complaint, if, indeocl, of classic authors(' In trod.,' p. 60), ho.s recent- ndequatc compensation was not given for the ly received a remarkable illustration by the second tenth (Roseumiiller)-in the seven discovery at Koujunjik, the site of the ancient plenteous years. Diodorus mentions the pay- Nineveh, of R seo.l impresseu. from the bezel ment of a fifth in productive years ns a of n metallic finger-ring, two inches long by primitive custom (vide Havernick, p. 219). one wide, anu. '::>caring the.imago, nnme, and And let them (the officers) ge.ther all the titles of the Egyptian king Sabaco (·vidd 4li4 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. [CH, XLI. 1-45.