11 And Israel their father saith unto them, `If so, now, this do: take of the praised thing of the land in your vessels, and take down to the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds;
And they sit down to eat bread, and they lift up their eyes, and look, and lo, a company of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, and their camels bearing spices, and balm, and myrrh, going to take `them' down to Egypt.
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? For wherefore hath not the health of the daughter of my people gone up?
The gift of a man maketh room for him, And before the great it leadeth him.
Because of Thy temple at Jerusalem, To Thee do kings bring a present.
Sons of Dedan `are' thy merchants, Many isles `are' the mart of thy hand, Horns of ivory and ebony they sent back thy reward.
Or to a young one of the harts on mountains of spices!
A gift in secret pacifieth anger, And a bribe in the bosom strong fury.
Many entreat the face of the noble, And all have made friendship to a man of gifts.
Vow and complete to Jehovah your God, All ye surrounding him. They bring presents to the Fearful One.
Kings of Tarshish and of the isles send back a present. Kings of Sheba and Seba a reward bring near.
And he lodgeth there during that night, and taketh from that which is coming into his hand, a present for Esau his brother: she-goats two hundred, and he-goats twenty, ewes two hundred, and rams twenty, suckling camels and their young ones thirty, cows forty, and bullocks ten, she-asses twenty, and foals ten; and he giveth into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and saith unto his servants, `Pass over before me, and a space ye do put between drove and drove.' And he commandeth the first, saying, `When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and hath asked thee, saying, Whose `art' thou? and whither goest thou? and whose `are' these before thee? then thou hast said, Thy servant Jacob's: it `is' a present sent to my lord, to Esau; and lo, he also `is' behind us.' And he commandeth also the second, also the third, also all who are going after the droves, saying, `According to this manner do ye speak unto Esau in your finding him, and ye have said also, Lo, thy servant Jacob `is' behind us;' for he said, `I pacify his face with the present which is going before me, and afterwards I see his face; it may be he lifteth up my face;' and the present passeth over before his face, and he hath lodged during that night in the camp.
`Go, gather all the Jews who are found in Shushan, and fast for me, and do not eat nor drink three days, by night and by day; also I and my young women do fast likewise, and so I go in unto the king, that `is' not according to law, and when I have perished -- I have perished.'
At that time hath Berodach-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick;
And the king saith unto Hazael, `Take in thy hand a present, and go to meet the man of God, and thou hast sought Jehovah by him, saying, Do I revive from this sickness?'
`A covenant `is' between me and thee, between my father and thy father; lo, I have sent to thee a reward of silver and gold; go, break thy covenant with Baasha king of Israel, and he goeth up from off me.'
apart from `that of' the tourists, and of the traffic of the merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the land.
And Solomon hath been ruling over all the kingdoms, from the River `to' the land of the Philistines and unto the border of Egypt: they are bringing nigh a present, and serving Solomon, all days of his life.
And Saul saith to his young man, `And lo, we go, and what do we bring in to the man? for the bread hath gone from our vessels, and a present there is not to bring in to the man of God -- what `is' with us?'
And by precious things -- fruits of the sun, And by precious things -- cast forth by the moons,
and God Almighty give to you mercies before the man, so that he hath sent to you your other brother and Benjamin; and I, when I am bereaved -- 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,