Commentaria in Genesim
Prophecy and Blessing of Joseph
GOODLY TO BEHOLD.—In Hebrew it is ale ain, which can be rendered in two ways: First, above a fountain, as if to say: Joseph is and will be a son of fruitfulness, that is, fruitful like a tree planted and bearing fruit by a fountain. So the Chaldee, Vatablus and others.
Secondly, it can be rendered, above the eye, as if to say: Joseph was so beautiful that he held sway over the eyes of beholders, and ravished them to love of him, as he ravished the eyes of his Egyptian mistress. This our Interpreter followed, when he renders “goodly to behold,” and the Septuagint, when they render desirable. Whence follows:
THE DAUGHTERS (namely of Egypt) RAN TO AND FRO UPON THE WALL,—upon the walls of houses and cities, to see thee, O Joseph, so beautiful a youth, distinguished by royal attire, as the saviour of the country and the world, and in turn to be seen by thee. So Cajetan and Lipomanus. Rupert, however, restricts this to Joseph’s mistress; but too narrowly: for it is not doubtful that many other women desired to see Joseph’s beauty, and admired it (2).
Allegorically, Joseph is Christ, beautiful in form above the sons of men, whom accordingly Abraham and the Patriarchs longed to see.
VERSE 23. BUT THEY EXASPERATED HIM,—with bitterness of words and deeds the brothers afflicted Joseph, though so comely and lovable.
AND QUARRELLED WITH HIM,—saying: “Shalt thou be our king?” and: “Behold the dreamer cometh; come, let us kill him.”
HAVING DARTS,—both of words, namely of biting mockeries, lies and calumnies, of which it is said Psalm 54, 22: “His words are smoother than oil, and the same are darts;” and of blows: for when they stripped him, thrust him forth, cast him into the pit, and finally sold him into Egypt, they pierced him with darts of words and blows!
Allegorically, Joseph is Christ, against whom the Jews
VERSE 24. HIS BOW SAT IN THE STRONG.—“Bow,” that is, strength and defence, as if to say: Amid such hatreds of his brothers and persecutions, in slavery, in the Egyptian prison, Joseph did not lose heart, did not languish, but
... the just man sold she forsook not in bonds, until she brought him the sceptre,” etc. (1).
BY THE HANDS OF THE MIGHTY ONE OF JACOB.—For mighty the Hebrew has abbir, which is one of the names of God, although it is communicated participatively, like the other names of God, to men.
stood, nay sat, constant and strong, all his hope fixed in the most strong God, as if to say: His bow, with which he defended himself against enemies, Joseph committed to God most strong, most skilled in shooting, that it might be directed by his hand; not otherwise than Eliseus, 4 Kings chap. 13, verse 16, said to the king of Israel: “Put thy hand upon the bow; and when he had put his hand, Eliseus put his hands over the king’s hands.” Whence the arrows sent forth were arrows “of salvation.” So did Job also, who accordingly said, chap. 29, verse 20: “My glory shall always be renewed, and my bow in my hand shall be repaired.”
The Hebrews hand down that this name is full of mysteries; for the first letter aleph signifies ab, that is, Father. The second, beth, signifies ben, that is, Son. The third, resh, signifies ruach, that is, the Holy Spirit: for as these three letters are in one name abbir, so these three persons are in one divine essence.
Moreover beth is the middle between aleph and resh, because the Son is the middle between the Father and the Holy Spirit: for the Son proceeds from the Father, and from the Son and the Father proceeds the Holy Spirit. Finally to beth itself is joined yod, which is a letter of the name of Jesus, because the Son alone was made man, and called Jesus, that is, saviour of men. So they.
THENCE THE SHEPHERD CAME FORTH, THE STONE OF ISRAEL.—The word thence signifies not place but cause, and means the same as therefore, or on that account. Note: God in Hebrew is called el, that is, strong, robust by excellence, God indeed by essence; Joseph therefore, by hope in God, as in a most strong and impregnable citadel, sat, was fenced in by the help of abbir, that is, the mighty God, whom Jacob worshipped, and in whom Joseph, sold and captive, had fixed all his hope: as if to say: Because Joseph sat and rested as in a most strong and impregnable citadel. For, as the Wise Man says, Proverbs 18, 10: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the just runneth to it, and shall be exalted.” Therefore the shepherd came forth, that is, he was made ruler and prince of the Egyptians, and stone, that is, the firmament of the people of Israel; so Ecclesiasticus explains it, chap. 49, verse 17. For Joseph, both his father Israel and his brethren and their families, equally with the Egyptians in the seven years of famine, fed and nourished, and so strengthened and established them that they should not perish of hunger (2).
DISSOLVED ARE THE BONDS OF HIS ARMS AND HANDS.—The Hebrew japhozu is derived from the root pazas, whose proper and genuine signification is uncertain and unknown. Whence interpreters here render variously.
First, Kimchi, Pagninus, Vatablus and others render, the arms of his hands were strengthened, or consolidated. Secondly, the Chaldee renders, then the best gold was set upon his arms, as if pazas signified to gild, or to adorn with gold, from pas, or ophas, which signifies the best and most excellent gold. Whence the Arabs also call gold fes. Hence the city of Fessa was so called because, when the foundations of the city were laid, a heap of fes, that is, of gold, was found there: and thence the city and kingdom of Fessa, so powerful in Mauritania, took its name, if we believe John Leo in his Description of Africa, book III. Thirdly, Oleaster renders, the arms of his hands stretched themselves, as if to say: As those who, with the bow drawn, prepare to shoot a dart, stretch out their arms: so Joseph, his chains loosed, put forth his hand to the helm of the kingdom and its ornaments alike. Fourthly, our Vulgate and the Septuagint render, are loosed the bonds (for the arms of Joseph were bound with chains) of his arms and hands. All these versions tend to the same sense and aim: yet this last seems the most genuine; for the Hebrew pazas properly signifies, not to gild, as the Rabbis will have it, but to grow soft, to become pliant, and to be dissolved like the best gold, as our Pineda learnedly shows in Solomon, book IV, chap. 18. See how hope in the strong God did not deceive Joseph. Hear Wisdom chap. 10: “She (eternal and uncreated Wisdom, which is God himself)