28 ¶
And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto
Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. 29 And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went
up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he
fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. 30 And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die,
since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive. 31 And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto
his father’s house, I will go up, and shew Pharaoh, and say unto him, My
brethren, and my father’s house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come
unto me; 32 And the men are shepherds,
for their trade hath been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks,
and their herds, and all that they have. 33
And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say,
What is your occupation? 34 That ye
shall say, Thy servants’ trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until
now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen;
for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.
Chapter 45, verse 10 told us that Goshen was close to
where Joseph ruled from. It is commonly understood that the New Kingdom period
of ancient Egypt, the period of the Egyptian Empire was from around the 16th
century BC to the 11th century BC. This marked the peak of Egypt’s
power. It includes the time that Egypt had hegemony over the land of Canaan
which is important to understanding Numbers 14:9 and various extra-Biblical
documents from Canaan pleading for help from the Egyptians. It was preceded by
the Hyksos invasion and rule. I believe that Joseph’s Pharaoh was from this
time, that he was a Hyksos, and that is why he was favorable to Joseph and his
family. This is called Egypt’s Second Intermediate Period. Of course, much of
this is educated guesswork as the Egyptians did not refer to any of their eras
the way we refer to them and no one ever called themselves, “the Hyksos.” These
are all made-up terms by scholars.
In any event, Judah went first to meet Joseph and
Jacob and the rest followed. Christ is the first to rise from the dead never to
physically die again, to be resurrected. Judah is Christ’s physical ancestor.
Here is more typology that is great subject material for sermons. Joseph
prepared himself to greet his father in Goshen.
Joseph promised to introduce them to Pharaoh. Here is
more evidence for my view that the Pharaoh of Joseph’s time was a Hyksos, of
the so-called Shepherd-kings. To the leadership Joseph’s family of herders
would be welcome but to the Egyptians they were an abomination. The land of
Goshen separates their living from the rest of Egypt.
The word cattle includes
all herd animals not just beef cows as we use the word today.
Genesis
13:7 And there was a strife between the
herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite
and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.
Genesis
30:32 I will pass through all thy flock
to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the
brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and
of such shall be my hire.
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