Genesis 46.31-34-Joseph Prepares His Family To Meet Pharaoh
Tuesday March 27, 2007
Genesis: Genesis 46:31-34-Joseph Prepares His Family to Meet Pharaoh
Lesson # 303
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 46:28.
This evening we will complete our study of Genesis 46.
By way of review of the chapter, we have noted the following:
In Genesis 46:1-4, we read where Israel worshiped God at Beersheba and received a theophany, reassurance from God that his move to Egypt was according to His will as well as promises to make his descendants a great nation in Egypt.
Then, in Genesis 46:5-7, we saw Israel and his family migrating to Egypt and in Genesis 46:8-27, we studied the genealogy of the Israelites who migrated to Egypt from Canaan.
The genealogy contained in Genesis 46:8-27 is parenthetical and thus Genesis 46:28 resumes the record of Israel’s migration from Canaan to Egypt.
This move to Egypt would not only deliver Joseph’s family from the famine but also from the corrupt Canaanite influence, which had already begun to trouble his family (See Genesis 34 and 38).
The embryonic nation could develop into a great nation while in Egypt since the Egyptians unlike the Canaanites, would not seek to intermarry with Israel’s family since they despised Hebrews because of their occupation as shepherds.
Moses refers to the development of Israel’s family into a great nation while in Egypt.
Deuteronomy 26:5, “You shall answer and say before the LORD your God, ‘My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; but there he became a great, mighty and populous nation.’”
Then, in Genesis 46:28-30, we saw Joseph finally reuniting with his father and preparing his family to meet Pharaoh.
This evening we will study Genesis 46:31-34, where we will see Joseph preparing his brothers to meet Pharaoh.
Genesis 46:28, “Now he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to point out the way before him to Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.”
Genesis 46:29, “Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; as soon as he appeared before him, he fell on his neck and wept on his neck a long time.”
Genesis 46:30, “Then Israel said to Joseph, ‘Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.’”
Genesis 46:31-32, “Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household, ‘I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father's household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me and the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock; and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’”
If you recall, in Genesis 45:10, we saw that Joseph sent an invitation to his father through his brothers to settle in the land of Goshen.
Genesis 45:10, “You shall live in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children's children and your flocks and your herds and all that you have.”
“Goshen” is the proper noun Goshen (/v#G) (go-shen), which was located in the eastern part of the Nile Delta, northeast of the Egyptian capital, Memphis and approximately 900 hundred square miles, well suited for grazing and for certain types of agriculture and sparsely occupied allowing room for Hebrew expansion.
This area was also called the “land of Rameses” in Genesis 47:11 and according to the Exodus narrative, which records that the Israelites left Goshen under Moses and went from Rameses through the Wadi Tumilat (a valley connecting the Nile and the Bitter Lakes region, now a part of the Suez Canal system) to Succoth (Compare Exodus 8:18; 12:37; 13:17f).
Rameses was probably a later name of an urban complex including Avaris and was built to the north of Avaris, adjoined to it.
Then, we saw in Genesis 45:16-20, Pharaoh extended an invitation to Israel and his family to settle in Egypt.
Genesis 45:17-18, “Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go to the land of Canaan, and take your father and your households and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you will eat the fat of the land.’”
Notice that unlike Joseph, Pharaoh does not specify the pasturelands of Goshen, which indicates that Pharaoh is unaware that Joseph’s family are shepherds in need specifically of pastureland and so we see that Joseph needs to obtain authorization from Pharaoh to settle his father and his family in Goshen.
Therefore, in Genesis 46:31-34, we see Joseph wisely preparing his brothers for an audience with Pharaoh and rehearses the speeches and answers to be given on that occasion in order to receive the desired result of living in Goshen.
So Joseph informs his brothers in advance that he intends to request the land of Goshen for them.
Now, we must understand that Joseph is dealing with a very delicate situation here in that the Egyptians considered shepherds an abomination and Joseph’s family were just that.
Therefore, Joseph did not want to offend his family by making them feel that he had adopted the Egyptian attitude in order to please the Egyptians and was treating them as socially inferior.
He needed to be perfectly honest in the matter and secure for his family a position of comparative isolation geographically, which would segregate them from the Egyptians who held their occupation with such contempt.
On the other hand, this situation was also difficult for Pharaoh since he was the king of Egypt who was bound by Egyptian customs and prejudices.
However, he did not want to offend Joseph and his family either and so Pharaoh needed to have a solution, which would not offend his countrymen or Joseph’s family.
Therefore, Joseph’s proposal to Pharaoh to settle his family in Goshen would solve the problem since it would segregate Joseph’s family from the bulk of the Egyptian population, isolating them from the majority of the population.
Genesis 46:31-32, “Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household, ‘I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father's household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me and the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock; and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’”
The expression “to his brothers and to his father’s household,” seems redundant since Joseph’s brothers were a part of their father’s household, but such expressions are common in Hebrew and should be understood as “to his brothers and in particular to his father’s household.”
“His brothers” refers to Joseph’s eleven brothers: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, Benjamin, Dan, and Naphtali.
“His father’s household” would include the wives and children and grandchildren of Israel/Jacob’s sons, not to mention the women and children of Shechem who were absorbed into Jacob’s family according to Genesis 34:29 as well servants.
Therefore, there could have been as many as 300 people belonging to Israel/Jacob’s household.
Remember, the purpose of the genealogy of Genesis 46:8-27 was not to record the name of every person who migrated from Canaan to Egypt but to name those who will become tribe and family heads.
“I will go up” is the verb `alah (hlu), which does “not” denote the idea of vertical movement, although, this can be the verb’s meaning, but in the context of Genesis 46:31 denotes the idea of Joseph “approaching” Pharaoh for the purpose of receiving authorization to settle his family in the land of Goshen.
“I…will tell (Pharaoh)” is the verb naghadh (dg^n*) (naw-gad), which in the hiphil (causative) stem means Joseph “caused” Pharaoh to be informed of the arrival of his family in Egypt from Canaan.
“Shepherds” is composed of: (1) Masculine plural qal participle form of the verb ra`ah (hur) (raw-aw), which means, “shepherd” (2) Feminine singular noun tso’n (/ax)) (tsone), which means, “sheep.”
The verb ra`ah, “shepherd” is used as a transitive verb meaning that the noun tso’n, “flocks” functions as its direct object in order to describe the activities of Joseph’s family members who care for sheep.
Therefore, the word “shepherds” in the Hebrew text literally reads, “shepherd sheep” emphasizing the “activities” related to the occupation of a shepherd.
“For” is the conjunction ki (yK!) (kee), which functions to introduce a causal clause, which explains why Joseph’s brothers shepherd sheep, namely, because they have always been men of livestock.
“They are” is the 3rd person common plural qal perfect form of the verb hayah (hyh), which means, “they have always been” and denotes the state of Joseph’s brothers of always being shepherds since it has been passed down from generation to generation.
This word implies that Joseph’s brothers were not looking to change their occupations but simply their residences.
“Keepers” is the masculine plural noun `enosh (vw{na$) (en-oshe), which means, “men.”
“Flock” is the masculine singular noun miqneh (hn#q+m!) (mik-neh), which means, “livestock” referring to sheep and goats.
The term miqneh, “flock” emphasizes both sheep and goats whereas the noun tso’n emphasizes only sheep.
Therefore, the statement “the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock” in the Hebrew text literally reads, “The men shepherd sheep because they have always been men of livestock.”
The phrase “the men shepherd sheep” emphasizes the “function” or “activities” related to the occupation of being a shepherd whereas the phrase “they have always been men of livestock” emphasizes the occupation itself.
“Herds” is the noun baqar (rqb) (baw-kawr), which refers to not only the cattle and oxen that God blessed Israel/Jacob with while in Paddan Aram with Laban (See Genesis 30-31) but it also refers to the offspring of these animals, which were born in Canaan.
The phrase “all that they have” refers to the material possessions of Joseph’s family.
There is a very definite progression of thought conveyed by Joseph to his brothers: (1) Joseph’s brothers “are” shepherds; (2) They have always “been” shepherds; (3) They have brought their flocks to Egypt.
This progression of thought is designed to lead Pharaoh to the conclusion that Joseph’s family must settle in Goshen.
Genesis 46:33-34, “When Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,' that you may live in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is loathsome to the Egyptians.’”
“Loathsome” is the noun to`evah (hb*u@w{T) (to-ay-vaw), which means, “abomination,” which refers to anything greatly disliked or abhorred, a vile, detestable action, condition or habit.
This noun indicates that the Egyptians greatly disliked and abhorred the occupation of being a shepherd and considered it as detestable.
The reason why the Egyptians held shepherds in such contempt is that the Egyptians who were mainly urban city dwellers distrusted and feared nomadic peoples much like the modern attitude towards gypsies.
The Egyptian monuments portray shepherds as distorted, dirty, emaciated figures.
Even though shepherds were detestable to the Egyptians, Joseph instructs his brothers that they are to be honest with Pharaoh and tell him that they have been shepherds from their youth as were their ancestors so that he will give them the land of Goshen.
This in turn would segregate their family from the rest of the Egyptian population and would meet their needs as shepherds.
The racial bigotry of the Egyptians towards Hebrew shepherds would serve to maintain the Israelites as a separate people.
Even though the Israelite’s exile in Egypt was in many respects a bitter experience for them, it was a gracious act on the part of God since it protected them from the corrupt Canaanite influence.
Therefore, the divine rationale for the Lord permitting Joseph to be sold into slavery in Egypt was to relocate his family so as to protect them from the corrupting Canaanite influence.
Unlike the Canaanites, the Egyptians would be unwilling to integrate with the Israelites and absorb them into their culture since they considered their worship of God repulsive as well as the profession of shepherding.
The segregated culture of the Egyptians guaranteed that the embryonic nation of Israel could develop into a great nation within the Egyptian borders.
It is interesting that the shepherds in Israel were the first to receive the news of the Savior being born in the town of Bethlehem (Luke 2:8-20) and they too were a despised, ostracized group of people who first received the good news of the Messiah being born.
The Pharisees hated the shepherds but our Lord identified with them, calling Himself the “Good Shepherd” (John 10:11, 14) and in fact He is described in Hebrews 13:20 as the “Great Shepherd” of the sheep and Peter describes our Lord as “the Shepherd” (1 Pet. 2:25).
Shepherds were an abomination to the Egyptians just as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is an abomination to the world since He is rejected today.