John Calvin Commentary Genesis 37:35

"And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down to Sheol to my son mourning. And his father wept for him." — Genesis 37:35 (ASV)

And all his sons and daughters rose up. The burden of his grief is more clearly expressed by the circumstance that all his sons and daughters met together to comfort him. For by the term “rose up,” a common deliberation is implied, as they had agreed to come together because necessity urged them.

But from this, it appears how vast is the innate pretense of humankind. The sons of Jacob assume a character by no means suitable to them and perform an act of piety from which their minds are entirely estranged. If they had had respect for God, they would have acknowledged their fault. And though no remedy might have been found for their evil, yet repentance would have brought forth some fruit; but now they are satisfied with a vanity as empty as the wind. By this example, we are taught how carefully we should avoid pretense, which continually entangles people in new snares.

But he refused to be comforted. It may be asked whether Jacob had entirely cast off the virtue of patience, for the language seems to imply as much. Besides, he sins more seriously because he knowingly and voluntarily indulges in grief; for this is as if he would purposely increase his sorrow, which is to rebel against God.

But I suppose his refusal was restricted to the alleviation of grief that humans might offer. For nothing is more unreasonable than that a holy man, who all his life had borne the yoke of God with such a meek disposition, should now, like an unbroken horse, bite his bridle, so that by nourishing his grief, he might confirm himself in uncontrolled impulsiveness.

Therefore, I do not doubt that he was willing now to submit himself to the Lord, though he rejected human consolations. He also seems to angrily chide his sons, whose envy and malice towards Joseph he knew, as if he would reproach them by declaring that he valued this one son more than all the rest. For he would rather be with him, dead in the grave, than enjoy the company of the ten living sons he still had remaining (for I except little Benjamin).

I do not, however, excuse here that excess of grief which I have recently condemned. And certainly, he shows himself to be overwhelmed with sadness in speaking of the grave, as if the sons of God did not pass through death to a better life. Thus we learn the blindness of immoderate grief, which almost extinguishes the light of faith in the saints; all the more diligent, then, should we be in our endeavor to restrain it.

Job greatly excelled in piety; yet we see, after he had been oppressed by the immensity of his grief, in what a profane manner he groups humans with beasts in death. If the angelic minds of holy men were thus darkened by sadness, how much deeper gloom will rest upon us, unless God, by the shining of his word and Spirit, should scatter it, and we also, with appropriate vigilance, meet the temptation before it overwhelms us?

The principal alleviation of sorrow is the consolation of the future life; whoever applies himself to this need not fear being absorbed by excessive grief.

Now, though Jacob’s immoderate sorrow is not to be approved, Moses’ special design was to set a mark of disgrace on that iron hardness which cruelly prevailed in the hearts of his sons.

They saw that if their father should miserably perish, consumed with grief, they would be the cause of it; in short, they saw that he was already dying because of their wickedness.

If they are not able to heal the wound, why, at least, do they not attempt to alleviate his pain? Therefore, they are extremely cruel, seeing that they do not have sufficient care for their father’s life to cause them to utter a single word to lessen his sorrow, when it was in their power to do so.