11 And their father Israel said unto them, If it be so now, do this: take of the choice fruits of the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spicery and myrrh, nuts, and almonds;
And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
A man's gift maketh room for him, And bringeth him before great men.
Because of thy temple at Jerusalem Kings shall bring presents unto thee.
The men of Dedan were thy traffickers; many isles were the mart of thy hand: they brought thee in exchange horns of ivory and ebony.
Make haste, my beloved, And be thou like to a roe or to a young hart Upon the mountains of spices.
A gift in secret pacifieth anger; And a present in the bosom, strong wrath.
Many will entreat the favor of the liberal man; And every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts.
Vow, and pay unto Jehovah your God: Let all that are round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared.
The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall render tribute: The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
And he lodged there that night, and took of that which he had with him a present for Esau his brother: two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milch camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten foals. And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove. And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee? then thou shalt say `They are' thy servant Jacob's; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, he also is behind us. And he commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him; and ye shall say, Moreover, behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept me. So the present passed over before him: and he himself lodged that night in the company.
Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast in like manner; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
At that time Berodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah; for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
And the king said unto Hazael, Take a present in thy hand, and go, meet the man of God, and inquire of Jehovah by him, saying, Shall I recover of this sickness?
`There is' a league between me and thee, between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent unto thee a present of silver and gold; go, break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.
besides `that which' the traders `brought', and the traffic of the merchants, and of all the kings of the mingled people, and of the governors of the country.
And Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought tribute, and served Solomon all the days of his life.
Then said Saul to his servant, But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God: what have we?
And for the precious things of the fruits of the sun, And for the precious things of the growth of the moons,
and God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release unto you your other brother and Benjamin. And if I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 43
Commentary on Genesis 43 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 43
Here the story of Joseph's brethren is carried on, and very particularly related
Gen 43:1-10
Here,
Gen 43:11-14
Observe here,
Gen 43:15-25
Jacob's sons, having got leave to take Benjamin with them, were observant of the orders their father had given them, and went down the second time into Egypt to buy corn. If we should ever know what a famine of the word means, let us not think it much to travel as far for spiritual food as they did for corporal food. Now here we have an account of what passed between them and Joseph's steward, who, some conjecture, was in the secret, and knew them to be Joseph's brethren, and helped to humour the thing; I rather think not, because no man was permitted to be present when Joseph afterwards made himself known to them, ch. 45:1. Observe,
Gen 43:26-34
Here is,