8th to 12th

verse.

13th verse.

14th & 15th

verses.

16th to 18th

verse.

19th verse.

20th verse.

because of its cruelty: they will be divided the one from the other, and scattered abroad.

Judah is the subject for praise: he was brave in the presence of the enemy; as bold as a lion, none shall venture to confront him; Judah shall be both a king and a legislator, till Shiloh come. The Hebrew word Shiloh, admits of many interpretations; if rendered by the word "successor," it will imply the general sense. The advent of Shiloh, or the successor, was looked for even in the days of the Patriarchs; and in this instance, the legislator has probably foreshadowed himself as the desired Shiloh. As the compiler of this history, Moses has selected the most eminent of the sons of Jacob to be the ancestor of this future leader of the Hebrew people. Zebulun was a mariner: he was to dwell in a port on the sea-coast, which was a haven for ships.

Issachar was slothful. His idleness would
render him a servant to others, and he
would require to be driven.

Dan was a lawyer. Biting and venemous,
he would overthrow his adversary.
Gad was a soldier. At first conquered,
but conquering at last.

Asher.
was a courtier, and should have
high dignity, by contributing to royal
pleasures.

21st verse.

22nd to 26th

verse.

27th verse.

Napthali was timid, and effeminate, and abounding in conversation.

Joseph was the source of wealth: tried by adversity, but blessed by heaven, his superior qualities emancipated him from thraldom, and fitted him for blessings, both in life, in death, and in his posterity.

Benjamin was savage, destructive, and grasping.

These, together with Joseph's two sons (for the life of Joseph himself is terminated in the succeeding chapter), were the founders of the twelve tribes of Israel, and are the ancestors of the shepherd kings who conquered Egypt, according to the authority of the Egyptian historians, Manetho, Chæremon, and Lysimachus, as recorded in the works of Josephus.

18th to 23rd verse.

Jacob having commanded that his mortal remains should be conveyed to the land of Canaan, there to be interred in the cemetery at Mamre, which contained the ashes of his forefathers, prepared himself for death, and died.

Joseph is the only one of Jacob's children obsequies of who is moved at his father's death, for he

The funeral

Jacob, and

the death of Joseph.

1st verse. 2nd verse. 3rd to 5th

verse.

fell upon his father's face and wept upon him, and kissed him. And he commanded him to be embalmed, with the forms and ceremonies which prevailed amongst the Egyptians, and he petitioned Pharaoh to permit him to fulfil the oath he had sworn

unto his father, to bury him in the burying-place of

his ancestors at Mamre, in the land of Canaan, after which he would return. Pharaoh con

6th verse.

sented, and the ceremonial of his funeral was displayed with great pomp. After the operation of embalming, the body lay in state for forty days, and he was mourned for by the Egyptians seventy additional days.

The attendants at the funeral consisted of all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, 7th verse. and all the elders of the land of Egypt. Then all the persons of the house of Joseph, and of the houses of his brethren, and of his father's house, attended, and also chariots and horsemen, "and it was a very great company."

8th & 9th verses.

The cavalcade must have been very lengthened and imposing, and demonstrated Joseph's deep

10th verse.

affection for his father. When they came to the threshing-floors of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, they mourned with a very great and sore lamentation, and the mourning continued there for seven days. And from thence his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him beside Abraham, in the field before Mamre.

11th to 13th verse.

This splendid funeral is demonstrative of Joseph's power and wealth, and at the same time of his filial duty. The claims of Jacob's private character to this exhibition of the pomp of woe are not so manifest. Of the three patriarchs, Jacob was unquestionably the lowest. Mean, deceitful, and cowardly; his moral qualities do not approach those of the negative Isaac, and fall infinitely below those of his grandfather Abraham. Perfection does not appertain even to the highest grades of human character, and we therefore visit with

leniency the weaknesses which displayed themselves in those of the elder patriarchs; but the vices which distinguished the younger are deserving of reprobation. They disqualify him for a religious leader, and disentitle him to that favour and protection from God to which he profanely laid claim.

14th verse. 15th to 17th

verse.

18th verse.

On Joseph's return into Egypt, his brethren, apprehensive of his resentment, now no longer restrained by his father's presence, sent a messenger in their behalf to implore his pardon. These cruel and unprincipled men could not comprehend the beauty of Joseph's character; for when they went and fell down before his face, and acknowledged themselves as his servants, Joseph wept, and restored their confidence by the most touching sentiment. "Am I," he said, "in the place of God?" that is, am I competent to pass judgment upon you? you intended evil, but God has turned it to good to bring events to pass, such as they are this day. Now, therefore, fear not, I will nourish you and your families. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them."

19th to 21st

verse.

20th & 23rd verses.

66

Joseph lived to the age of a hundred and ten years; and he saw Ephraim's children of the third generation, and Manasseh's

children of the second generation.

14th to 26th verse.

Joseph exacted an oath from his brethren that they should carry up his bones from Egypt; but these faithless men do not appear to have complied with it, for on Joseph's death, "his body was embalmed, and he was put into a coffin in Egypt," the meaning of which is, that after his body

was embalmed, it was placed in one of the ornamented cases adapted for the bodies of distinguished persons, and deposited in a sarcophagus in a tomb, after the fashion of Egypt.

Although the circumstance does not absolve his brethren from their oath, yet we consider that Egypt was the best fitted to do honour to the remains of this great and good man. The history of Joseph is probably refreshing when contrasted with that of the men who surrounded him, and whose names are enveloped. in a halo of misplaced reverence. Gifted with a vigorous understanding, and with manners of great suavity, he was well calculated to exercise a powerful influence over all with whom he came in contact. From the lowly keeper of the prison, to the high and mighty Pharaoh, every one appeared to yield to the soundness of his understanding, and the trust they reposed in him was in no single instance misplaced.

We have no reason to believe he himself contemplated the conquest of his adopted country by the unscrupulous members of his family, whom he called into power. His proceedings in their behalf were prompted by fraternal affection, which, although momentarily deadened by the consciousness of his wrongs, now resumed its natural sway; and the manner in which he abstained from one reproachful expression towards his brethren, displayed a modesty and a tenderness entitled to the highest encomium. In a word, Joseph was a model of wisdom and of excellence, whose parallel we seek for in vain in the pages of sacred history; and the narrative of his virtuous life, replete with incident, will descend with interest and instruction to the remotest ages.