Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, and in verse 17 sends them back to their father with gifts, that they might bring him to himself; Jacob, in verse 26, can scarcely contain himself for joy.
Vulgate Text: Genesis 45:1-28
1. Joseph could no longer restrain himself with so many standing by -- so he commanded that all should go out, and that no stranger should be present at the mutual recognition. 2. And he raised his voice with weeping, which the Egyptians heard, and all the house of Pharaoh. 3. And he said to his brothers: "I am Joseph; does my father still live?" His brothers could not answer him, being struck with exceeding terror. 4. And he said to them gently: "Come near to me." And when they had come near: "I am," he said, "Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. 5. Do not be afraid, and let it not seem harsh to you that you sold me into these regions, for God sent me before you into Egypt for your salvation. 6. For it is two years since the famine began in the land, and five years remain in which there can be neither plowing nor reaping. 7. And God sent me ahead that you may be preserved on the earth, and may have food to live. 8. I was sent here not by your counsel but by the will of God, who has made me like a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and ruler in all the land of Egypt. 9. Make haste, and go up to my father, and you shall say to him: 'This is what your son Joseph commands: God has made me lord of all the land of Egypt; come down to me, do not delay, 10. and you shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your sons, and your sons' sons, your sheep and your herds, and all that you possess. 11. And there I will nourish you (for there are yet five years of famine remaining), lest you perish, and your house, and all that you possess. 12. Behold, your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my mouth that speaks to you. 13. Tell my father of all my glory, and of all that you have seen in Egypt; make haste, and bring him to me.' 14. And falling upon the neck of his brother Benjamin, he wept, and Benjamin likewise wept upon his neck. 15. And Joseph kissed all his brothers and wept over each one; after which they dared to speak to him. 16. And it was heard, and spread abroad by public report in the king's court: 'The brothers of Joseph have come,' and Pharaoh and all his household rejoiced. 17. And he told Joseph to command his brothers, saying: 'Load your beasts and go to the land of Canaan, 18. and take your father and kindred from there, and come to me; and I will give you all the good things of Egypt, that you may eat the marrow of the land. 19. Command them also to take wagons from the land of Egypt for the transportation of their little ones and their wives; and say: Take your father and come with all speed. 20. And leave nothing of your household goods, for all the riches of Egypt shall be yours.' 21. And the sons of Israel did as they were commanded. And Joseph gave them wagons according to Pharaoh's command, and provisions for the journey. 22. He also ordered two robes to be brought out for each of them; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver with five of the best robes. 23. And he sent the same amount of money and clothing to his father, adding ten donkeys laden with all the riches of Egypt, and as many she-donkeys carrying wheat and bread for the journey. 24. So he dismissed his brothers, and as they departed he said: "Do not quarrel on the way." 25. And going up from Egypt, they came into the land of Canaan to their father Jacob, 26. and they told him, saying: Joseph your son is alive, and he rules over all the land of Egypt. When Jacob heard this, as if waking from a deep sleep, he nevertheless did not believe them. 27. They on the contrary related the whole order of the matter. And when he had seen the wagons, and all that he had sent, his spirit revived, 28. and he said: It is enough for me if Joseph my son still lives: I will go, and I will see him before I die.
Verse 3: "I Am Joseph"
"I am Joseph." This unexpected voice, like a thunderbolt, says Rupertus, struck the brothers and rendered them astonished, speechless, and nearly out of their minds; for from the fearsome power of Joseph, they expected nothing but the death deserved by their crime.
Allegorical Interpretation (St. Ambrose)
Allegorically, St. Ambrose, in his book On Joseph, chapter 12, says: "What else did He then cry out, except, 'I am Jesus,' when He said to Pilate: 'You say it, because I am King. Come to Me, because I have drawn near to you, so that through the assumption of flesh I might make Myself a sharer of your nature.'" And much more so after His resurrection He showed Himself to His disciples, saying: "Do not be afraid, I am He. All power in heaven and on earth has been given to Me." So says St. Ambrose. See also Hugo the Cardinal.
The Charity of Joseph
Note here the charity of Joseph, who, injured even unto death, avenged his wrong first by forgetfulness and silence; then by caresses, embraces, kisses, tears, and sighs; then by the beneficial and perpetual nourishment of his brothers. "He therefore kissed each one, and wept over each one, and bathed the necks of the trembling ones with flowing tears, and thus washed away the hatred of his brothers with the tears of charity," says St. Augustine, Sermon 83 On the Seasons. Learn from Joseph that the most effective love-potion is: "that you may be loved, love." Truly St. Chrysostom, Homily 13 to the People, says: "Do you wish to be praised? Praise another. Do you wish to be loved? Love. Do you wish to obtain the first places? Yield them first to another."
With this love-potion St. Gregory of Nazianzus impressed his Catholic Constantinopolitans; for when they, having been harassed and oppressed by the Arians under Valens the Arian Emperor, and after his death, under Theodosius the orthodox Emperor, were thinking of returning like for like to them and afflicting them with equal troubles, Nazianzen said this to them: "Christ does not demand these things from us, my flock, nor does the Gospel teach us thus. An opportunity is now offered to us of converting those who were led astray by error. Let them, having been instructed, acknowledge their offenses, let them fall down before the Lord, let them confess their impiety, let them mingle with our flock. Let this be my vengeance, that those who injured us may obtain salvation, and profess to be noble the things they formerly persecuted. Be gentle in spirit, my children. He whose mind is mild and patient excels in prudence. Bestow benefits upon those who persecute you with hatred, and entirely forgive them their offenses. But if the spirit burns vehemently and does not allow itself to be restrained from anger, grant at least this second-best thing: that you commit these things to Christ and reserve them for the future tribunal. 'For vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord." With these words he calmed the people and drew them to his opinion, as Gregory the presbyter narrates in the Life of Gregory of Nazianzus.
Thus St. Martin refused to deprive the presbyter Brictio, his slanderer, of his office, saying: "If Christ endured Judas, why should I not endure Brictio?" Severus Sulpicius is the witness, in Dialogue 3.
With this love-potion the Martyrs often converted their executioners, when they restored to health by their prayers those punished by God, as is evident from the Life of St. Agnes who raised the Prefect's son who had attacked her; from the Life of Saints John and Paul, who freed the son of the Prefect Terentianus from a demon; from the Life of Saints Lawrence and Pergentinus, who by praying restored their executioners who had become stiff; from the Life of St. Sabinus, who healed the Governor Venustianus who was struck with pain in his eyes; from the Life of St. Potamiena, St. Christina, St. Anatolia, St. Eugenia, Daria, and very many others.
Verse 5: "God Sent Me"
Note secondly with St. Chrysostom: Joseph here lessens the sin of his brothers, not through fate or the Homeric Ate, that is, the goddess who was believed by the pagans to bring evils and harmful things, but through the providence of God, who directed their crime to the glory of Joseph, and to their own and the public good. Hence Joseph consoles and exhorts them not to grieve, or to afflict one another on account of this, since he himself does not grieve but rejoices; whence he says:
5. "God sent me," as if to say: God through your crime, by which you sold me, sent and directed me here, so that I might provide for the famine of you and others; therefore your iniquity against me is not so much to be condemned, as the providence and mercy of divine wisdom is to be proclaimed. So says St. Chrysostom.
Verse 6: The Famine and the Nile
6. "Nor will it be possible to plow," except only in a few fields adjacent to the Nile; for the rest will be barren, because the Nile, which serves as rain for Egypt, will not overflow as usual nor fertilize the fields.
Chronological Note
"For it is now two years." From this it is clear that these things took place, and that the brothers and their father Jacob descended into Egypt in the second year of the famine, when Jacob was 130 years old, and Joseph was 39; for at the age of 30 Joseph was raised to the principate: then 7 years of fertility followed, and two of famine; therefore he was in this second year of famine 39 years old, and consequently he was born in the year 91 of Jacob; for subtract 39 from 130, and you will have 91, as I said above. This is the basis and key of the chronology of this period: hence it must be frequently repeated.
Verse 8: God's Will and Human Action
8. "Not by your counsel, but by the will of God was I sent here." "By the will," that is, predetermining my exaltation, and only permitting my sale, so that through it I might be exalted: so Suarez and others generally. Hence he does not say: "You sent me," because you sinned in sending me; but, "I was sent," because God is the author of the suffering, as well as of my patience, by which I underwent and endured your crime; but He is not the author of your action: for this was sin. Thus concerning Christ, Peter says in Acts chapter 2, verse 23: "Him, being delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you by the hands of wicked men, afflicting Him, have slain." For God had decreed the passion of Christ, but not the crucifixion by the Jews.
For, as the Theologians say, "the action (of the Jews) displeased, but the passion (of Christ) was pleasing" to God.
Verse 8: "Father of Pharaoh"
"Who made me as it were a father of Pharaoh." "Father," that is, ruler, counselor, governor. For Joseph so managed all the affairs of Pharaoh by his counsel and prudence, as if he had been his father. So says Vatablus. Again, he managed the grain and provisions for the entire court, indeed for the entire kingdom of Pharaoh, as if he had been the head of the household of the entire kingdom. Thus the king of Tyre calls his intimate counselor, namely Hiram, his father, in 2 Chronicles 11:13. And Haman is called the father of Artaxerxes, Esther 13:6. Therefore "father of the king" was a title of honor and the highest dignity, in the courts of the kings of Tyre, Egypt, and Persia, just as among the Spaniards, Italians, and French there is the steward, whom they call Mayordomo, who manages the provisions and other necessities of the court, just as a head of household manages his home. So says Pineda, Book 5, On Solomon, page 197.
Beautifully St. Chrysostom says in Homily 64, in the person of Joseph: "That servitude won me this sovereignty, that sale raised me to this glory; that affliction was for me the occasion of this honor; that envy produced for me this renown. Let us not only hear these things, but also imitate them, and thus console those who have afflicted us, not imputing to them what they committed against us, and bearing all things with great benevolence, like that admirable man."
Verse 9: Joseph's Message to Jacob
9. "He commands," that is, he signifies, announces, requests: for Joseph could not, nor did he wish to, properly command his father.
Verse 11: "Lest You Too Perish"
11. "Lest you too perish." In Hebrew it is: pen tivvaresh, lest you be impoverished, that is, lest you labor in want and hunger, and so perish. So the Chaldean and Vatablus.
Verse 18: "The Marrow of the Land"
18. "The marrow of the land." In Hebrew it is, the fat of the land, that is, the crops and the best and richest fruits of the land.
Verse 22: "Two Robes"
22. "Two robes." In Hebrew it is, changes of garments: therefore at least two, so that they could exchange one with the other from time to time. For the plural number among the Hebrews includes the dual.
Note: Changes of garments are called by the Hebrews beautiful and excellent, such as we put on for feasts, when we exchange the cheaper everyday ones for more honorable festive ones: hence our Translator rendered it "robes."
Three Hundred Pieces of Silver
"Three hundred pieces of silver." Three hundred Brabantine florins; for the silver shekel, or stater, was worth and weighed four Spanish royals. On this see more at Exodus 30:43.
Verse 24: "Do Not Quarrel on the Way"
24. "Do not quarrel on the way." In Hebrew it is, do not contend, namely, each casting upon the other and reproaching the crime committed against me. Just as Reuben had begun to do a little before, saying: "Did I not say to you: Do not sin against the boy, and you did not listen to me? Behold, his blood is required," chapter 42, verse 22. So says St. Chrysostom.
Morally, St. Ambrose, in his book On Joseph, chapter 13, says: "He teaches that discord is especially to be avoided on a journey, where the very companionship of traveling ought to be inviolable, and should have the fellowship of grace."
Verse 26: "As If Waking from a Deep Sleep"
26. "As if waking from a deep sleep." Astonished and stupefied, so that he could neither speak, nor understand, nor conceive so great a thing: for such are those who suddenly awake; in Hebrew it is, his heart grew faint, that is, he received such great consolation that from joy and wonder his heart nearly failed, his vital spirit ceased, and thus he nearly fell into a swoon.
Verse 27: "His Spirit Revived"
27. "His spirit revived." Like the flame of a lamp which, dying as the oil runs out, revives when oil is poured in, says St. Chrysostom. Hence he reads from the Septuagint: "the old man was rekindled (that is, he says, 'from an old man he was made young'), the decrepit one looking upon the land." In like manner Jacob, whose heart had previously grown faint from the wonder of so unexpected and incredible a thing and the most joyful report, verse 26, now seeing the wagons and all the equipment sent to him by Joseph, came back to himself, believed the joyful news about Joseph being alive, and thus as it were revived. The Chaldean translates: the Holy Spirit rested upon Jacob their father; because, as the Hebrews explain, the Holy Spirit does not remain in men who are sad, grieving, melancholic, and therefore sluggish and slothful, but in those who are cheerful, joyful, vigorous, energetic, and active, such as Jacob now became: and therefore he received the prophetic spirit, as is evident in the following chapter, verse 4, of which he had hitherto been deprived while mourning. So they say, for what their testimony is worth.
Verse 28: "It Is Enough for Me"
28. "It is enough for me." In Hebrew, it is much for me, as if to say: I rejoice abundantly; this news so joyful surpasses my wishes and hopes; there is nothing more that I could desire or wish for. "Now that young man has raised up my mind, and driven away the weakness of old age, and strengthened my reason," says St. Chrysostom, Homily 65.