Joseph's Justice Between Prince and People

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Genesis 47:1) Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, "My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; and indeed they are in the land of Goshen.”

In the last chapter, Jacob and Joseph's brothers and all their families had come to Egypt, to the land of Goshen.  Joseph's hope was that his family could stay in Goshen, which was set apart from the Egyptians, and where they could continue to tend their flocks and herds, something that was an abomination to the Egyptians, a subject touched upon in the last blog post.  Joseph had now told Pharaoh about it, and indeed Pharaoh himself had sent wagons to bring Joseph's family to him.

(2) And he took five men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh. (3) And Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.”

Joseph took five of his brothers to meet Pharaoh, and indeed he asked them their occupation, just as Joseph had told them he would.  Perhaps it was a question Pharaoh routinely asked of new potential settlers, wanting to know what advantage their trade might bring to his kingdom.  Joseph had previously prepared his brothers for this question and told them what to say, which was this honest answer.

(4) They said moreover to Pharaoh, “We have come to dwell in the land, for your servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan; now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”

The brothers went on to ask Pharaoh if they might dwell in the land of Goshen since they had no pasture for their flocks in the land of Canaan because of the severe famine there.

(5) And Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. (6) The land of Egypt is before you; have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen; and if you know any competent men among them, then make them rulers over my cattle."

Not only did Pharaoh agree that Joseph's family should dwell in Goshen, but he offered jobs of taking care of his cattle to any competent men among Joseph's brothers.  This would indicate that even though foreign shepherds were an abomination to the Egyptians, Pharaoh found some types of livestock useful, and desired competent men to take care of them.  However, the original word for "cattle" here is "miqneh", and it can mean "cattle" or "livestock", but also "possessions" or "property".  Although it most often referred to live property or possessions, if every shepherd was indeed an abomination to the Egyptians as Joseph had said, then perhaps it doesn't make a lot of sense that Pharaoh would offer his well-favored chief officer's brothers such a detestable lowly job.  Perhaps in this case the word does refer more to Pharaoh's personal property, and as Joseph was overseer of his country's concerns, he requested competent men among Joseph's brothers to be overseers of his domestic concerns.

(7) And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

Joseph brought his father Jacob before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.  Can a man really bless another man?  Upon researching the original word used for "bless" here, I found it was "barak".  Oh, that is so very interesting, but in the case of Jacob blessing Pharaoh, Strong's says that it means to kneel, and by implication, that means to bless God, as an act of adoration; and God can bless man as a benefit.  Some of the other meanings of the word are "congratulate", "praise", "salute", or "thank".  Jacob may have knelt in prayer before Pharaoh and thanked God for Pharaoh's kindness to him and his family, and asked Him to bless Pharaoh with health and happiness, etc.

As a side note, other meanings of the word "barak" are "to bless oneself", "to be adored", or as a euphemism, it means "to curse God (or the king)" or "to blaspheme".  That's all I'm going to say about that.  Let's just say I am contemplating it in my heart.

(8) And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?” (9) And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.”

It is interesting to note that Jacob calls his life a pilgrimage; he is but a stranger in this world traveling to his ultimate destination, his heavenly home.  "Few and evil" have been the days of his life; that is the same sentiment verbalized by Job, that man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.  Jacob had certainly seen his share of hardships, but I think any earthly life would have been considered short and evil compared to the glorious eternity that was waiting.  When Jacob spoke of his days not attaining to the days of his forefathers, I believe he merely meant the number of them.  He was an old man, aware that he was near the end of his life at 130 years of age.  His father Isaac had lived to 180 and his grandfather Abraham was 175.  Certainly all of those lived only a fraction of the time their fathers Adam and Noah and others before them had lived.

(10) And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh. (11) And Joseph placed his father and his brothers, 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 brothers, and all his father’s household with bread, according to the number in their families.

Once again Jacob blessed Pharaoh, in like manner as before, surely wishing him well and thanking him for honor and favor.  Joseph placed his father and his brothers to dwell in the best of the land of Egypt in the land of Rameses.  Rameses was obviously in the land of Goshen and may be the same "treasure city" said to have been built by the Israelites for Pharaoh in Exodus 1:11.  Joseph was able to provide for his family during the great famine in the land.

(13) And there was no bread in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. (14) 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 house. (15) And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For the money has failed.”

The famine in the region was very severe and there came a time when Joseph had gathered up all the money in the lands of Egypt and Canaan because the people had been using all their money to buy food that Joseph had stored for this time.  When they had no more money for food, the Egyptians came to Joseph looking for food anyway, because otherwise they would die before his eyes.

(16) And Joseph said, “Give your cattle, and I will give you bread for your cattle, if money fails." (17) And they brought their cattle to Joseph; and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys; and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year.

Joseph devised a barter plan in which the people traded their livestock for food.  At first thought, it might seem cruel that the people had to give up all their livestock for food, but then again, if they had no food, they certainly couldn't feed their livestock.  This way the people paid for their food, and all the livestock was cared for at royal expense.

Once again we see that owning livestock was common among the Egyptians, so the idea explored previously that the Egyptians detested the Hebrews because they sacrificed the animals that the Egyptians held sacred doesn't seem likely.  If every shepherd was an abomination to the Egyptians, I believe it had to be that they detested foreign wandering shepherds that reminded them of the King-shepherds that had ravished their land.  They seemed to be pretty comfortable at this time with herds and flocks of animals that surely had to be tended, if not shepherded across the country.

(18) When that year was ended, they came to him the next year, and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is spent; my lord also has our herds of livestock; there is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands. (19) Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants of Pharaoh; give us seed, that we may live and not die, that the land not be desolate.”

The people came to Joseph again when their food was gone and they had no more livestock to give in exchange for food.  This was the seventh year of the famine, and the people asked to trade their land and themselves for food.  Once they gave up their land, it made sense that they offered themselves in labor to till the land that now belonged to Pharaoh.  As this was the last year of the famine, all the vast land of Egypt would have to be tilled and planted and Pharaoh would have to have people to do it.  I think it's important to recognize that this particular plan was initiated by the people themselves.  Rather than them being forced into slavery, they were offering to work on land that no longer belonged to them in exchange for food.

(20) And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine prevailed over them; so the land became Pharaoh's. (21) And as for the people, he moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end.

Every last Egyptian sold his land to Joseph for food.  Joseph was, of course, merely Pharaoh's agent, so all the land became Pharaoh's, and the people were moved off their lands and into the cities of Egypt.  Since all the provisions were stored in the cities and the people had no more livestock or land, I imagine this was the most logical solution.  When you think about it, Pharaoh may be seen as generous in giving the people a place to stay when they had sold their homes to him and were homeless.  Then again, as servants, I suppose they required servants' quarters and those were furnished to them.  Once again, although it may seem harsh to us, I believe the people were doing what they had to do to stay alive and were probably grateful to have food and a place to stay.

(22) Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had portions assigned to them by Pharaoh, and they ate their portions which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their lands.

Actually, not every last Egyptian sold his land, but as the scripture actually said, "every man of the Egyptians" sold his land, distinguished from the "priests of Egypt" who had no need to sell their land, because it had been formerly allotted to them by Pharaoh, and they received allotted portions of provisions and therefore had food to eat.

(23) Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh; look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. (24) And it shall come to pass in the increase that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh and four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and for your food, for those of your households and as food for your little ones.”

Joseph told the people he had indeed bought all their land and the people themselves for Pharaoh, and that they would take seed he provided to them and sow the land for Pharaoh.  In the "increase", or yield or product of the seed, they were to give one-fifth back to Pharaoh, but were allowed to keep four-fifths for themselves and their families, for food and for replanting the fields.  It would seem that the people still lived on their farms to be able to do this.  It doesn't appear to be a uniform amount of seed that each person was given, but rather what was needed to sow the field, and one-fifth of whatever was harvested was given as a sort of tax to Pharaoh and the people kept the rest to feed their families and sow their land.  Perhaps the people were brought to the cities temporarily to reinforce the fact that their land was no longer theirs, but then returned to live on it to work it for Pharaoh.  We aren't really told the details of how it all worked, but it seems a fair plan since the people really no longer owned anything of their own.

(25) And they said, “You have saved our lives; let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants.” (26) And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have one-fifth, except for the land of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh’s.

Verse 25 proves that the people did not feel forcibly enslaved by Pharaoh, but rather felt that their lives had been saved and they willingly worked for Pharaoh.  The fact that Joseph made it a law seems to indicate that it was a sort of enforceable tax that had been laid upon the people, but the people were also protected by that law and were ensured four-fifths of the fruits of their labor.  Joseph, as an agent of Pharaoh's, worked out a just plan that gave Pharaoh his payment for the stored food, but allowed the people to live and not be completely ruined.  Matthew Henry in his Commentary on the Whole Bible called this matter "Joseph's justice between prince and people".

(28) And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the whole age of Jacob was one hundred and forty-seven years.

Jacob lived in Egypt 17 years; he came there when he was 130 and lived there till he died at 147.  Biblical scholars point out that Jacob cared for Joseph 17 years before he was taken from him, and now Joseph cared for his father 17 years, surely many more than Jacob ever expected as he saw himself as very old and ready to die right after he saw Joseph again.

I am following a chronological Bible study arranged by Skip Andrews, and he purposely skipped verse 27 and covered it at a slightly later time.  I'm not sure why, as both verse 27 and verse 28 speak of the totality of time Jacob spent in Egypt, but I will go with it.  I have given up questioning the order and continue to follow it as I don't want to miss any verses.

(29) And the time drew near that Israel must die, and he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; please do not bury me in Egypt, (30) But let me lie with my fathers, and you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” And he said, “I will do as you have said.” (31) And he said, “Swear to me.” And he swore to him. And Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed.

When the time drew near when Jacob knew he was going to die, he called Joseph and asked him to swear that he would not bury him in Egypt, but rather carry him out and bury him with his fathers.  Putting one's hand under the thigh of the person to whom he was swearing was a token of his subjection to the person to whom the first was swearing, of his willingness to serve the person in this request.  Jacob wanted to be buried in the land of Canaan with Isaac and Abraham, in their promised land.  Joseph swore to do what his father asked, and Jacob bowed himself on the head of his bed, surely in worship and thanksgiving to God.