Genesis 46:28

And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

ARRIVAL OF JACOB IN EGYPT.

(28) To direct his face unto Goshen.—Joseph does not bring his brethren into the narrow and populous Nile Valley which formed Egypt proper, because they could not have maintained there an isolated mode of life. But this was indispensable for them if they were to multiply into a nation fit to be the guardians and depositories of a growing revelation, until the fulness of the time should come, when the world would be ready to receive the perfect knowledge of God’s will. As the Egyptians were an agricultural people, and hated sheep and shepherds (Genesis 46:34), the Israelites would run no danger of being absorbed by them so long as they continued to devote themselves to their old pursuits. As Goshen was admirably suited for a pastoral life, they would remain there as distinct and separate from the rest of mankind as they had been in Canaan.

Benson Commentary

Genesis 46:28-30. Direct his face unto Goshen — Which was near the entrance of Egypt. The meaning seems to be, to give Joseph notice of his approach, that he might come to Goshen to meet him. Now let me die — Not but that it was desirable to live with Joseph, and to see his honour and usefulness; but he had so much satisfaction in this first meeting, that he thought it too much to desire or expect any more in this world.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

46:28-34 It was justice to Pharaoh to let him know that such a family was come to settle in his dominions. If others put confidence in us, we must not be so base as to abuse it by imposing upon them. But how shall Joseph dispose of his brethren? Time was, when they were contriving to be rid of him; now he is contriving to settle them to their advantage; this is rendering good for evil. He would have them live by themselves, in the land of Goshen, which lay nearest to Canaan. Shepherds were an abomination to the Egyptians. Yet Joseph would have them not ashamed to own this as their occupation before Pharaoh. He might have procured places for them at court or in the army. But such preferments would have exposed them to the envy of the Egyptians, and might have tempted them to forget Canaan and the promise made unto their fathers. An honest calling is no disgrace, nor ought we to account it so, but rather reckon it a shame to be idle, or to have nothing to do. It is generally best for people to abide in the callings they have been bred to and used to. Whatever employment and condition God in his providence has allotted for us, let us suit ourselves to it, satisfy ourselves with it, and not mind high things. It is better to be the credit of a mean post, than the shame of a high one. If we wish to destroy our souls, or the souls of our children, then let us seek for ourselves, and for them, great things; but if not, it becomes us, having food and raiment, therewith to be content.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The settlement in Goshen is now narrated. "Judah he sent before him." We have already seen why the three older sons of Jacob were disqualified for taking the lead in important matters relating to the family. "To lead the way before him into Goshen" - to get the requisite directions from Joseph, and then conduct the immigrants to their destined resting-place. "And went up." Egypt was the valley of the Nile, and therefore, a low country. Goshen was comparatively high, and therefore, at some distance from the Nile and the sea. "And he appeared unto him." A phrase usually applied to the appearance of God to men, and intended to intimate the unexpectedness of the sight, which now came before the eyes of Jacob. "I will go up." In a courtly sense, to approach the residence of the sovereign is to go up. Joseph intends to make the "occupation" of his kindred a prominent part of his communication to Pharaoh, in order to secure their settlement in Goshen. This he considers desirable, on two grounds: first, because Goshen was best suited for pasture; and secondly, because the chosen family would thus be comparatively isolated from Egyptian society.

The two nations were in some important respects mutually repulsive. The idolatrous and superstitious customs of the Egyptians were abhorrent to a worshipper of the true God; and "every shepherd was the abomination of Egypt." The expression here employed is very strong, and rises even to a religious aversion. Herodotus makes the cowherds the third of the seven classes into which the Egyptians were divided (Herodotus ii. 164). Others include them in the lowest class of the community. This, however, is not sufficient to account for the national antipathy. About seventeen or eighteen centuries before the Christian era it is probable that the Hyksos, or shepherd kings, were masters of the southern part of the country, while a native dynasty still prevailed in lower Egypt. The religion of these shepherd intruders was different from that of the Egyptians which they treated with disrespect. They were addicted to the barbarities which are usually incident to a foreign rule. It is not surprising, therefore, that the shepherd became the abomination of Egypt.

- Jacob in Goshen

11. רעמסס ra‛mesês, Ra'meses "son of the sun."

31. מטה mı̂ṭṭāh, "bed." מטה maṭṭeh "staff."

Arrangements are now made for the settlement of Israel in Goshen. The administration of Joseph during the remaining years of the famine is then recorded. For the whole of this period his father and brothers are subject to him, as their political superior, according to the reading of his early dreams. We then approach to the death-bed of Jacob, and hear him binding Joseph by an oath to bury him in the grave of his fathers.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Ge 46:28-34. Arrival in Egypt.

28. he sent Judah before him unto Joseph—This precautionary measure was obviously proper for apprising the king of the entrance of so large a company within his territories; moreover, it was necessary in order to receive instruction from Joseph as to the locale of their future settlement.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

To direct his face unto Goshen; Heb. to prepare, or to teach him, the way before his face, i.e. before his coming to Goshen; i.e. to show him where it was, and into what part of it he should come and settle himself; or to give notice unto Joseph of his approach, before his face or coming into Goshen.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph,.... Who was the more honourable of his sons, and in greater esteem with Jacob than his elder brethren were, Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, who by their conduct had greatly displeased him: moreover, he was a man of a polite address, and had endeared himself to Joseph by his speech to him, in which he discovered so much affection both to his father, and his brother Benjamin, and was upon all accounts the fittest person to be sent to Joseph:

to direct his face unto Goshen; to inform Joseph of his father's coming, that a place might be prepared for him to dwell in, as both the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase it; and particularly to direct what place in Goshen he would have him come to, and meet him at:

and they came into the land of Goshen; which was the first part of the land of Egypt that lay nearest to Canaan: the Greek version of the whole verse is,"he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to meet him at Heroopolis, or the city of the heroes, in the land of Rameses,''which is confirmed by Josephus (x); See Gill on Genesis 45:10.

(x) Antiqu. l. 2. c. 7. sect. 5.

Geneva Study Bible

And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

28. Judah] Jacob selects Judah as the brother who would be most certain to have secured the affection of Joseph.

to shew the way … Goshen] The meaning is obscure. According to the English version, Judah was to act as an outrider, or advanced guard, to shew Jacob the route into Goshen. Another interpretation is “that he, Joseph, might give instructions to him, Judah,” before Jacob’s arrival. The versions represent a slightly different reading: Judah is sent ahead to arrange “that he (Joseph) should appear before (Sam., Syr. Pesh.), or ‘come to meet’ (LXX συναντῆσαι) him” (Jacob).

Goshen] See note on Genesis 45:10. The LXX here expands “Goshen” into “at Heroopolis into the land of Rameses” (καθʼ Ἡρώων πόλιν εἰς γῆν Ῥαμεσσῆ), probably a duplicate rendering; cf. Genesis 47:11.

Heroopolis (modern Tel el-Maskhuta) is the same as “Pithom,” a town at the eastern extremity of the Wady-el-Tumilat, built by the Israelites (Exodus 1:11) for the Pharaoh of the oppression, Rameses II.

28–34. Jacob’s Meeting with Joseph (J, E)

This passage follows upon Genesis 46:1-5.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 28. - And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph (the noble qualities displayed by Judah had manifestly secured, as they had Certainly merited, the affectionate admiration and hearty confidence of the aged patriarch), to direct his face unto Goshen; - i.e. that Joseph might supply him with the necessary instructions for conducting the pilgrims to their appointed settlement (Dathius, Rosenmüller, Keil, Lange, Ainsworth, Murphy, 'Speaker's Commentary'), rather than that Joseph might meet him in Goshen (LXX., Vulgate, Samaritan, Kalisch) - and (having received the necessary directions) they came into the land of Goshen. The LXX. read εἴς γῆν Ῥαμεσσῆ, as in Genesis 47:11. Genesis 46:28

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

This list of the house of Jacob is followed by an account of the arrival in Egypt.

Genesis 46:28

Jacob sent his son Judah before him to Joseph, "to show (להורת) before him to Goshen;" i.e., to obtain from Joseph the necessary instructions as to the place of their settlement, and then to act as guide to Goshen.