Commentaria in Genesim
42. AND HE TOOK HIS RING FROM HIS OWN HAND.—This was a signet ring, which the king gave to Joseph, that in his name he might decree and seal whatever he would. The king wears a ring both for sealing and for betrothal; for with it he Philo and Rupert further note four insignia and ornaments of a king in that ancient age, which the king shared with Joseph. For Joseph first, in place of the fetters of the prison, received a golden chain from the king. Secondly, in place of the servile bond and iron ring, he received the royal ring. Thirdly, in place of a mean garb, he was clothed in a robe of fine linen. Fourthly, in place of the squalor of the dungeon, he obtained the ample chariot of command. These four Rupert applies allegorically to Christ rising again. Mystically St. Ambrose, in the book On Joseph: “What means, he says, the ring set upon the finger, unless that we understand that the pontificate was committed to his faith, that he himself might seal others? What the robe, which is the clothing of wisdom, unless that the principality of heavenly prudence was bestowed on him by that king? The golden chain seems to express good understanding. The chariot signifies the lofty height of merits.” See here in Joseph how humility precedes glory, and how true is that axiom of Christ: “He that humbleth himself shall be exalted”; even as after clouds the sun, and after darkness light. Hear Wisdom 10:13: “She (wisdom) forsook not the just man (Joseph) when sold, but delivered him from sinners; and she went down with him into the pit (the cistern into which he was cast by his brethren), and in bands she left him not, till she brought him the sceptre of the kingdom, and power against those that oppressed him, and showed them to be liars that had defiled him, and gave him everlasting glory.” Rightly then is this emblem given to Joseph: “Patient innocence is great glory.” Excellently said St. Giles, companion of St. Francis: “Though the Lord should rain stones and rocks from heaven, they will not hurt us, if we be such as he requires us to be.” And St. Chrysostom, hom. 63: “See, he says, how the captive (Joseph) is suddenly made king of all Egypt: hast thou seen how great a thing it is to bear temptations with thanksgiving? For this reason Paul also said, Rom. 5: Tribulation worketh patience, patience trial, trial hope: and hope confoundeth not. See then: he bore afflictions patiently, patience made him proved, and being proved he lived in great hope, and hope did not confound him.” And further on: “As merchants who wish to gather money do not
43. HIS SECOND CHARIOT,—in which the one second to the king was wont to ride. So Lipomanus, Pererius and others. Whence Vatablus renders “the chariot of the second man,” namely the chariot in which he who was second to the king was wont to ride. By this chariot, therefore, Joseph was declared and made second to Pharao, so as to be next to him in honour and dignity. See here how Joseph is not puffed up by prosperity, just as he was not broken by adversity. For truly said St. Augustine in his Sentences, Sent. 246: “Him no misfortune breaks whom no good fortune corrupts,” and the converse.
WHEN THE CRIER PROCLAIMED THAT ALL SHOULD BOW THE KNEE BEFORE HIM.—In Hebrew it is, the crier crying, Abrech, which Aquila, Elias in Tisbi, and our translator here render “bend the knee,” so that abrech is an imperative hiphil from the root berech, that is, knee, as if aleph were put for he: for aleph and he are guttural letters, near neighbours and interchangeable; or rather abrech is Egyptian, not Hebrew: for the Egyptian crier cried to the Egyptians, certainly in Egyptian, abrech, that is, bend the knee, as I said. St. Jerome, in the Hebrew Traditions on Genesis, explains abrech as if it were the same as “tender father”; for ab signifies father, rech tender. The Chaldee also otherwise: They cried, he says, Abrech, that is, This is the father of the king; for rech among the Egyptians is the same as king, says Lipomanus (2). Hence the Targumist also renders thus: they cried, Long live the father of the king, who is a prince in wisdom and tender in years. Philo, in the book On Joseph, wonders at the sudden transformation by which in one day he was raised from the lowest to the highest. “Who, he says, would have expected that within one day a slave would become a lord, a prisoner the foremost of all, the deputy of a prison a viceroy, and that he would dwell in a palace instead of a prison, and from the extreme of ignominy climb to the supreme height of honour?”
44. I AM PHARAO: WITHOUT THY COMMAND NO MAN SHALL MOVE HAND,—as if to say: I, as king, promise and swear to thee that I will so make all mine subject to thee that no one shall dare to resist thy orders; nay, without thy order scarcely shall any dare to move foot or hand. It is a hyperbole.
The kings of Egypt were called Pharaos, from the first Pharao; as after Alexander the Great the same were called Ptolemies, from Ptolemy son of Lagus, who after Alexander was the first king of Egypt.
45. AND HE CALLED HIM IN THE EGYPTIAN TONGUE THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD,—because he had delivered the world from the destruction of the impending famine. You see here that Joseph is a type of Christ, the Saviour of the world. Note: For “saviour of the world” the Hebrew is tsophnat paneach, which is corruptly read in the Septuagint as Psonthomphanech. Some think it a Hebrew word, signifying “revealer of secrets,” namely of dreams. So Josephus, Philo, the Chaldee, Theodoret, St. Chrysostom and the Rabbis. But more credit is to be given to St. Jerome, who dwelt long in Judea, saying that this word is not Hebrew but Egyptian; for why should Pharao, an Egyptian, in Egypt, impose on Joseph not an Egyptian but a Hebrew name? Therefore tsophnat paneach in Egyptian signifies saviour of the world. Whence, although the Egyptian expression is not in the Hebrew, it was yet prudently and rightly added by our Interpreter for the sake of explanation (1).
Now compare all these honours with what Joseph suffered before, and you will see that he suffered nothing which was not (as Rupert notes) signally rewarded to him. For first, for the hatred of his brethren he gained the favour of the king and his princes. Secondly, for exile he obtained exaltation. Thirdly, for the labour of his hands in servitude he received a golden ring. Fourthly, for the cloak which the adulteress had torn from him he was clothed with a robe. Fifthly, for fetters he was girt with a golden chain. Sixthly, for having ministered to prisoners he is now appointed prince. Seventhly, for the lowliness of the prison he sits upon the royal chariot. Eighthly, for having been despised, he is now honoured by all with bended knee. Ninthly, for the name of a slave he receives a royal name, and is called Saviour of the world. Tenthly, for having despised the adulteress and base pleasure he receives a most noble wife. If God thus rewards the labours and sorrows of his own in this life, what will he do in the life to come? Surely: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him.”
Allegorically, the Father exalted Joseph, that is, Christ, saying: “This is my beloved Son.” The robe of fine linen is the glory of the body, with which his innocence is clothed. He gave the ring, because the Father sealed him. The golden chain signifies the glorious endowments of the body. He set him upon the chariot, because he gave all things into his hands. The crier who went before was John the Baptist. He set him over all Egypt, that is, the world. He gave him judgment, and the name Saviour of the world, and the Church for his spouse.
AND HE GAVE HIM TO WIFE ASENETH, THE DAUGHTER OF PUTIPHARE.—The Hebrews, Jerome, Rupert, Abulensis, think that this Putiphar is the same as Joseph’s first master, who was likewise called Putiphar, as I said in chap. 39, verse 4. But it is truer that this one is different from that: for this one was a priest, that one a captain of the soldiers; this one lived at Heliopolis, that one at Memphis in the royal city. So St. Augustine, Chrysostom, Lyranus, Lipomanus, Oleaster, Pererius.
OF HELIOPOLIS.—Heliopolis, that is, the city of the sun, was so called from the worship of the sun.
46. NOW HE WAS THIRTY YEARS OLD WHEN HE STOOD BEFORE THE KING.—Note that Scripture marks this number, first, for the sake of chronology. Secondly, that we may know that Joseph served 14 years, namely from his 16th year to his 30th. Thirdly, that we may see that God abundantly compensated these labours and sorrows of Joseph: for his calamity lasted only 14 years; but his principality and prosperity lasted 80 years, namely from his 30th year to his 110th, in which he died. Fourthly, that we may know that Joseph surpassed his years in virtue: for as a young man he suffered so much, and achieved so much. So St. Chrysostom. Fifthly, that we may know this age to be mature, and fit for ruling and teaching. Thus David was made king at 30. Ezechiel began to prophesy at 30. John the Baptist and Christ began to preach at 30.
Note for chronology: Joseph was 30 years old when he was made prince of Egypt; soon followed the fertility of seven years; then the two years of barrenness and famine, when his brethren and his father came to him; they came therefore in the ninth year of his principality: the father was then 130 years old, as is plain from chap. 47, verse 9. Joseph, however, was then 39, as is plain from what has been said.
Hence it follows first that Joseph was born in the 91st year of Jacob. For subtract the 39 years of Joseph’s life from It follows secondly that Jacob, fleeing Esau, went from Chanaan into Mesopotamia in the 77th year of his age, and returned thence into Chanaan in the 97th. For Joseph was born in the 91st year of Jacob, and was born in the 14th year after Jacob had come into Mesopotamia, as I showed at Genesis 30. After Joseph’s birth, moreover, Jacob remained in Mesopotamia six other years, serving Laban for the flocks, so that in the 20th year from his coming he returned thence into Chanaan, Genesis 31. Jacob therefore came into Mesopotamia in the 77th year of his age; and thence after 20 years he returned to Chanaan, namely in the 97th year of his age.
49. AS THE SAND OF THE SEA.—It is a hyperbole.